Pink is my signature color: Christmas Traditions

I love traditions (me and Tevye are two peas in a pod). I like Family Reunions, homecoming games, and annual trips with my girlfriends. I especially love holiday traditions. I love the Texas vs A&M game on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I love the marathon of Roseanne episodes on Halloween. I love how in my family, the older cousins eventually take over hiding eggs at Easter for the younger cousins. I love pinching people on St Patrick's Day who aren't wearing green. But nothing is better than Christmas traditions.

It has taken me awhile to get into the holiday spirit this year, but now I'm totally there. I can't wait for Christmas. My favorite part of Christmas are all the traditions: the ones that are a part of our culture, the ones we have as a family, and the ones that I've created with Mr. Bunny over the last few years. They are little things and most people will think they are silly, but they make me feel happy and Christmasy.

1) Mr. Bunny and I have gone on a drive to look at Christmas lights every year since we first met. It makes me happy. It makes me think of the line from John Mayer's song St Patrick's Day- "Something in the way the blue lights on the black night can make you feel more". So true, John.

2) The way my parent's decorate the house. My Dad always has the highest lights on the block--I think it is a source of pride for him and the whole family. My Mom always gets out all of her Christmas stuff to decorate the mantle and coffee table. For me, those items are as much a part of Christmas as milk and cookies for Santa. My parents always get a real tree--it is a tradition to go out and pick the perfect Douglas Fir off of the Christmas Tree lot. Then we come home and decorate it while listening to Christmas music. My sister and I always enjoy hanging our special baby ornaments from the years we were born. When we were in the old house, we would always listen to Nat King Cole, Barbara Streisand and Bing Crosby on my parents' record player. Now we listen to Sufjan Stevens on the DVD player. But I still get the same happy feeling.

3) Going to church on Christmas Eve. At the end of the awesome service filled with great music, we all light candles and sing "Silent Night". During the last verse, we always raise our arm higher, and I always watch through eyes blurred with tears--its just so beautiful.

4) Decorating our own tree in our apartment. It's fake but it looks pretty good. Scout has allergies, so a real tree would (and has) made her miserable. This is a safe alternative. We decorate the apartment the weekend after Thanksgiving. The hubby always gives me at least one Christmas ornament for my birthday, and I love to put them in places of honor on the tree. We usually watch a Chrismas movie while decorating-this year it was "The Holiday". Then,after the apartment is decorated, we sit and look at the beautiful tree and it makes me smile and wiggle my toes a little.

5) Opening family presents on Christmas Eve and doing Santa presents and stockings on Christmas morning. Santa presents are not wrapped. I love this. It spreads out the merriment. And yes, we still do Santa even though we are in our 20s. It's a tradition.