Sooo cute! You have really patient cats.

You might like these too. The siamese is super chill the manx will glare at us LOL!!

lion mane

I kind of relate to you not being near your family. Which is a joke, because I actually live in my mother's basement right now. But like I'm not very Christmas-y with MY family. I got excited once that last package rolled in, forced everything to get wrapped, and we had our present exchange here December 9

But my husband's mother, she is SO Christmas-y. She's very religious (Without forcing it on the rest of us, so it's not so bad) and very family orientated. But she lives in Canada, five hours (minimum) away from where my husband and I currently live. Plus, I work full time (He does too, but he gets a full week off for Christmas, I might not be a cashier any more, but I'm still customer service oriented and only have Christmas off officially) and getting PTO during this season can be a real struggle. We've been able to make it work the past two years, but I just know it'll happen soon where we won't and I'm nervous about letting my mother in law down.

I love the idea of video chatting for the holidays, though. Honestly, I love technology so much. It is spectacular for people who have loved ones who aren't near by. When I was in Canada, I skyped my mother almost every day. For three years.

I felt like it took me moving away from my folks and sibling to really appreciate the Christmas holiday. Since we were little my dad always made cinnamon roles Christmas morning and only Christmas morning lol. Then for breakfast he would make his special omelettes (my mom is the one that normally cooks) full of veggies, ham and cheese. There always seems to be a John Wayne movie Marathon going on and would be put on during breakfast and would stay on through out the day. I always loved hearing him in the background as we opened presents. Later on my mom would prepare a small feast of Honey glazed ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc. It was the perfect fun filled day.

I moved to go to college and unfortunately the weather in my state can be harsh and cold, leading to roads being shut down. So I'm unable to go home sometimes for Christmas. Those years I missed the warmth of my family and holiday traditions, but also i started having a deeper appreciation for everything my family does to make the holidays what they are. I hope that when I have children they will also look back and have fond memories.

Well, to be into the Christmas spirit is a little hard for me since I have depression and stuff and this year also my dad's injury is messing with things, but I am trying. The feeling kicks off with holiday music on the radio and then after my birthday we put up the indoor decorations, by we I usually mean me. The little fake tree and the garlands and little toy things make the living room festive. Then the presents... we go overboard because we all love giving gifts to make each other happy, hopefully. Then we have a tree and garlands and presents all over and it looks like Christmas so I can feel more like Christmas when I look at it. Yeah.

My biggest tradition that I do every year is bake tons of goodies for all my co-workers, friends and family. It just warms my heart when I see their faces light up as I hand out my little care packages to them. I will bake peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, coconut macaroons, homemade Twix bars, coconut fudge bars, rice crispies treats, cream cheese cookies, chocolate crinkles and more! Another thing I make is bird baskets. I render beef fat into suet, add peanut butter, cornmeal, oatmeal and sunflower seeds and create suet cakes and use the rest to coat pine cones that I gather while hiking. I put them into festive baskets and wrap them up to give as gifts. Funny story: Years ago, when I started making these baskets, I made one for my mom. She called me up a couple days after Christmas and asked what I put in the 'fudge' I made because it tasted funny. I was so confused at first, but then realized that she had eaten a slice of bird suet! I'm like 'Mom! That's for the birds!' We had a good laugh over that one!
I also like to be with family now that both of my parents have passed. It's sad not having them around anymore, but each year we make new memories that we can cherish year after year.

the first christmas song like.. the itch is there after halloween, but i generally manage to restrain myself until december to decorate. but then there is the first christmas song on the radio and BOOM the whole month is christmas.

i'll go have a looksie at what fun things people have come up with!

@ tori i need the story behind that cranberry salad tbh

It wouldn't be the holidays without christmas morning stockings! It's one of the best parts and they usually take quite awhile to open :D My partner and I also usually spend one day where it's just us. We do stuff together all day and mostly offline - hiking, movies, puzzle, baking, card games, nap, whatever! We play video games together sometimes but never just online (like us each sitting here on Subeta lol). Without that time it just wouldn't be the holidays!

P.S. I think it's kinda funny Darkheart Phantom decided to crash the party and make it so we can't get ornament boxes today! If anyone needs some, I've got plenty to spare - just send me a message!

your kitties are beautiful! (Hope you don't mind me crashing your conversation with other people)

In Russia, we don't celebrate Christmas like most people think of it, but instead Orthodox Christmas, which is the 7th of January. Despite my father not growing up in Russia (he grew up in the United States), his family has always celebrated this way, because they were still Orthodox Christians. They'd moved away from Russia due to the climate there, believing it wasn't a safe, healthy place to raise a child. In fact, Christmas, along with any other religious celebration, was banned in Russia from after the 1917 Revolution until 1992. New Years became the big holiday there, and even today, it remains so. I'd definitely research more into it if you're at all interested. It doesn't seem strange to me, as it may to others, because it is the way I grew up.

My father did not raise me (but he did raise my brother), and I was extremely impoverished as a child and teenager. I had never celebrated my birthday or any holiday until I was sixteen years old and moved to Belfast. Most people I met, many of whom are now my best and closest friends, didn't understand 1) what Orthodox Christmas was or 2) how I couldn't have celebrated anything. Around this time, I reconnected with my father and brothers, who I hadn't seen since I was two years old, and we began celebrating together. Every year, I would fly out to either Dallas (only the first year) or Atlanta (where they moved to due to my brothers being harassed) and spend the holidays with my father, his partner, and my brothers. I'd usually end up missing the first few days of term because school would be in session either before, the day of, or the day after Orthodox Christmas.

This year, however, I am not flying out for the holidays. I visited my father during the semester when there was a break in my classes (not an official break, but none of my classes met, so) to belatedly celebrate the twenty-first birthday of myself and my brother. Essentially, I supervised while my brother got blackout drunk and peeled him off the floor afterwards. So instead, I'm staying at my flat and celebrating with my friends/roommates/freeloaders. We have a tiny tabletop tree and fairy lights everywhere. They'll give me my presents on the 7th (which also gives them more time to save), and I'll give mine on the 25th. Of course, the only important holiday is, of course, New Years. ;D

I will be completely honest here, Christmas stopped being a good time for me after my Granny passed in 2003.

My granny was the life of christmas. It was her favourite holiday, she would wear this one Christmas sweat shirt every year and I miss it a lot. Her middle name was Joyce, she preferred to be called that over her given name. She would take whatever bow was on a present and stick it on her head, interchanging them throughout the day. She had the most wonderful laugh and always a twinkle in her eye with mischief and knowing secrets. She kept my secrets until the day she died.

After she passed, Christmas hasn't fully been the same for me. She was everything I felt Christmas should mean. Love, family, warmth, laughter. My family tries to keep those things going but it always feels like something is missing now. Maybe that will change, I don't know.

Since I've been on subeta it's helped me have a different kind of tradition. Being able to gives things to people I care about greatly makes the holiday in general more bearable. :)

I'm sorry for your loss. My grandmothers were wonderful people. I miss them

I didn't know that about Christmas in Russia; thank you for sharing! I think starting new holiday traditions with friends can be just as joyful & fun as any age-old tradition, and I think it's cool that you're going to get your presents on the 7th instead of the 25th :)

My condolences to you & your loved ones, I'm sending lots of hugs & good vibes your way <3 I hope some Lumi cheer can help make the holidays a bright time for you again <3

[-Plisetsky] Yeah, Orthodox/Russian Christmas follows the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian, so January 7th actually corresponds with December 25th. It's just like the November Revolution here, which actually happened in the end of October. Russia didn't switch to the Gregorian calendar until after the Revolution. But people get stuck in their ways, and since it's a religious celebration, it still occurs in January.

No, she's just generally rotten.

super cute

I make my own cards and holiday cards are my favorite to make! I feel like people don't send enough mail anymore. I hate how we only use our phones to communicate. It's not the same sending a text to someone to wish them a Merry Christmas. I have all of my family's addresses, but if I make new friends through out the year I always make sure to /slyly/ ask for their addresses. That way I can surprise them with a card for Christmas at the end of the year! I make a list of people for cards just like many people do for presents. It gets me in the holiday mood and usually pretty early during the year! I have to start on my cards early because life has a funny way of keeping you busy ;)

Not at all! Do you have any pets?

not at the moment. My dad has a dog that I love on and the campus has lots of lovely stress therapy dogs, but I personally don't own a critter at the moment. Sadly, my bf doesn't care much for kitties :(

Thank you so much to everyone who read my entry and said it resonated with them. I appreciate the ornaments!! :)

So sorry this reply is late! I'm glad you got out on a walk. Have you taken any since then?

Sorry this reply is so late! I only know from facebook posts, to be honest! So don't feel bad. I'm not much of a gamer either. I was never good at them. I'll have to give these a try though. BTW - happy birthday!!!!

OMG that just made me laugh so hard xD This literally sounds like something I would do! I got a christmas gift today from a coworker and one of the items was a cute box full of something that looked like fudge. I popped one out and said Oh what flavor?! Before my coworker smacked it out of my hand and said it's a dog treat for my dog xD