A True Christmas Gem - Ashley Wolynes - with Surprise ; )

I am delighted to have Ashley with me today! She has become such a good friend and I'm thrilled she agreed to come onto my blog for the blogfest : ) I know most of you probably know Ashley, but for those of you who don't she is just like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Anyway, without further ado, here's Ashley!!

What is your favorite part(s) of the Christmas season?

The Lights. When I see Christmas lights outlining the eves of house while I’m driving down the road at night, I can never get enough, and don’t get me started on all the lights people have synchronized to music. *sigh* And if possible, they're even more beautiful when there is snow on the ground for it to glisten off of. Mind you, we only get about an inch of snow, but it does the job. And Jesus. I know it sounds super corny, but Jesus is the true reason for Christmas and I love celebrating Him. Oh, and walk through Bethlehem’s are the best, just saying. In fact, we went to one this last week and it was FANTASTIC!

GREAT choice! I'm with you on the synchronized lights...but I can't imagine doing it. I have a feeling that it's super tough, you know? I agree, Christmastime is the one time of the year that snow is more than okay, it's welcomed! We need some more before Saturday! LOL! Are you a big celebrator of Christmas?

Need you ask? Of course! I’m the one who decorates the house, inside and out, the car and the tree. Last year, we lost our Christmas tree during our most recent move and so we had no tree to put up when it came time.
But, luckily we had a little Charlie-Brown-like tree we usually put up outside still intact. So, I took some of our outdoor garlands and a WHOLE LOT of Christmas lights and fashioned myself a good ol’ Fraser Fir for us. Until my mom say it and declared it passable and suggested that I don’t go into the Christmas-tree-making business. ;)

LOL! If you put your mind to it, I know you'd succeed in the Christmas-tree-making businees : ) But that is too funny!! I think Charlie Brown trees are kinda cute in an ugly way ; ) LOL! What are some of your traditions? (I.e. food, gift giving, family traditions, etc)?

Well, one of the Wolynes Family traditions was started back when we were no bigger than a cotton bush and when we just had no patients for waiting; my Mom would allow us to open one present (usually the ones from our Aunt Michelle) on Christmas Eve. Another family tradition that also came into being while we were little was our Christmas Feast/Buffet. See, we all had a favorite food and we weren’t too keen on turkey/chicken and mash potatoes at the time, so my mom made up a menu, which mostly consisted of cookies and cakes, of everything we liked and would have it all on our dining room table on Christmas morning. And the only other tradition that I can think of that we still have today is sitting on the stairs.
It sounds weird, I know. But, see, if you were under 18 yrs. Old, you would wake up, grab you blankets and pillow and sit on the stairs till my mom would tell us that everything was ready. That tradition was also started to keep us away from the food and presents for as long as possible.

Poor Ashley, still stuck on the stairs!! Lol...but that's really clever of your mom to do :) Keeps you out of her hair lol....Do you have a favorite Christmas themed book/recommendation? Movie?

A Christmas story! We watch A Christmas Story every Christmas morning, and sometimes many times that day. It’s always super funny and so much fun to watch together as a family. And this year the favorite book is The Polar Express. My nephew, Cabot, asked me to read that books so many times, that I have the lines down pat, for sure. ;)

AWESOME choices!! Alicia and I watch A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve, which is a new tradition. We didn't even see it for the first time until 2 years ago!! But now we love seeing it! If you had to pick one “symbol” of Christmas (i.e. ornaments, the tree, the lights, the nativity set, etc.), what would you pick as your favorite?

A lighted nativity! It’s the best of both worlds. Christmas lights and Jesus! What more could you ask for? Of course, just make sure we keep the little baby Jesus and His meager away from my dog Felix. Around the holidays, Felix gets an appetite for little defenseless babies, especially those made of plastic! :D



Poor plastic baby Jesus!! Lol that's too funny though : ) What did you ask Santa for this year? *wink*

A Home for Christmas. But, that’s a whole other story.
But, if it had to be something that could fit in a box, I’d ask Santa for a 1930’s replica Cathedral radio to go on my night stand. They look so very vintage and I love that.

Aw, Ash. We're all keeping you and your family in our thoughts. I'm sorry this year is a stressful one for you : ( But that radio sounds cool! I can see you liking something like this, unique, timeless, but still totally revelant lol! What was one gift that you always wanted, but never got?

A rainbow pony that I could ride in our front yard. Of course, every little kid wants a pony, and sadly Parents are in cahoots together in not giving their little children ponies! A Conspiracy I tell you! Jk/jk

See, I think the reason I never wanted a pony was because I had cows at my grandparent's house ; )

These are some bests. Just fill them in with your favorite/the best.

Christmas present as a child?
A Furby. Those things where AWESOME! I remember mine was the little one and had brown fur. They were ahead of their time, for sure! (YESSSS!!)

Christmas song?
The Carol Of The Bell’s. I love how the voices are perfectly blended into one beautifully harmonious song.

Place to spend Christmas day?
There is no better place to spend Christmas day than at my house with all my family around. I love it that it gets so loud, you can hear yourself and then when the unwrapping starts and red and green paper goes a flyin’, it’s lends a sort of excitement and activity, that wasn't there before.

Christmas food?
Well, it really wasn’t a “Christmas” food, but we ate is on one Christmas Eve and I have never forgotten it. One Christmas eve my Mom made rich and buttery Lobster tails, with baked-in-the-oven potatoes. Hmmm It’s was all sooooo good, but alas, My Mom has not made Lobster tail since, and for that I mourn the lost deeply. *sigh*

Thank you SOOO much Hannah for the interview. I love the party so far and I just hope you and all your readers have an extra blessed Christmas this year. Christmas is a grand time, which seems to come a lot slower, than it goes, but make sure to remember it’s not all about the presents or the lack of Lobster tail, but about Jesus and His glorious, yet humble, birth! Merry Christmas, Y’all!!!

No, thank YOU Ashley : ) It was fun for me to hear all about your traditions and I'm sure for everyone else too. I also want to publically thank you for all the support you've given me over the past few months? I've lost track of how long I've known you now : P Thank you, Ashley. I can't imagine having a Christmas without wishing you a Merry Christmas now!!

Today is another giveaway!! It's a little random, but that's okay ; ) We're giving away a signed copy of Margaret Daley and Debby Guisti's Christmas Peril today! It's signed by Debby. So it's a two for one today!! All you need to do is give Ashley some support and maybe even pop over to visit her spectacular blog! And remember an email of course too ; )

For +1 extra entries:
- Follow Ashley's blog
- Add Ashley's blog button to your blog (remember to leave a url)
- Find the very first time I left a comment for Ashley on her blog and tell me what she was talking about in her post, this is tough! But a hint: it's right near the beginning of a month that falls in the middle of the year : )

And onto the songs!! The first one is in honor of Ashley, that's a BIG hint! LOL! This song, though it's not a Christmas song, is still a beautiful song that I wanted to share with you :) And okay, I've been good not to bring it up yet...you love it, you hate, you want to forget about it but just can't!! But at least I gave you a cool arrangement!

Okay that's all for today, folks! I would just like to ask you all to kind of keep me in your thoughts, if that's not too self-centered lol...I'm having a doctors appointment today that we're not sure what is going to come of it. I should have more news tomorrow, but I hadn't wanted to mention information that wasn't concrete yet! Lol...
Talk to you all tomorrow when I've got a neat post!
Hannah