http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php Christmas forums brought to you by mymerrychristmas.com, the largest and best Christmas website online en Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:22:05 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/images/styles/xmass/misc/rss.jpg http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=103 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:30:30 GMT Time is flying and Halloween is right around the corner. So many things are planned. A camping trip with our youth group from church is this Friday.... Time is flying and Halloween is right around the corner. So many things are planned. A camping trip with our youth group from church is this Friday. Friday is also Fall Picture day at my daughters school. A field trip to the pumpkin patch in a couple of weeks. And lets not forget PTO meetings and 4H meetings.

Lets start with the Camping trip this Friday. Luckily it's only a overnight/day trip and not the entire weekend. One cold night is enough for me HA! It's mostly girls going on the trip with a couple of boys. We're going fishing, nature walks, and flashlight hide n seek. Lots of good food and fellowship.

Fall picture day...wow those pictures can be expensive!!! Hair must be done, clothes must be ironed! The girls want to look their best because this is their yearbook pictures. I'm going to be taking my daughters to a farm to do their Fall pictures myself. I can have more then one pose and it's not gonna cost me a arm and a leg!

For the life of me, I can't imagine why the school decided to pick a pumpkin patch that's out of state (about an hour drives from here) for 1st graders. Sure it sounds nice, they have a petting zoo, hayrides, pumpkins (of course), and a corn maze. I'm sure the kids will enjoy it but they'd have more time to enjoy a local pumpkin patch. My youngest daughter, Cami, is soo excited so we'll have fun regardless of the location.

And soon it'll be time for trick or treating. I'm not sure I want my daughters to go this year. Our little town is now part of the Metropoltion area of Washington DC. We have had soooooooo many people move into our area. The traffic is horrible when you go into housing developments and it just doesn't seem safe. The girls really want to get dresssed up and go trick or treating though. We have places where you can go where cars aren't involved but they are just as packed as the housing developments. It's getting crazy around here thats for sure.

My oldest daughter, Danielle, was picked to be the reporter for her 4H club. She had a officers training meeting last night. Danielle is an excellent writer so I think this job is good for her. She was soo excited when she learned she could send in articles to our newspaper about 4H.

I think I've babbled long enough now. Take Care until next time!!

~M~ ]]> Christmas Snow Angel http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=103 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=102 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:46:42 GMT Hello All! Yay for my first blog entry!! I know for sure I'm not going to be able to post everyday because hello student nurse/ part time job/ part time dancer ... BUT I will try as much as possible. Soo today I had two tests in bio and chem and I think i did well on chem but not so good on bio...lol but I heard the prof. scales all of the tests...soo im hoping i did good. I've noticed the hay stock things are around the poles downtown which welcomes in the fall season and I'm going to the fair on Sunday AND Tuesday, so I'm pretty excited. AND tommorrow is the first day of October, which means its almost November which means its almost December! Woohoo 85 days!!cheesy ]]> melindasue http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=102 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=101 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:15:29 GMT Well, we have 89 days to go until Christmas!! WhoooHOOOO!! I am elated!! I can't wait to start shopping, baking, cooking, wrapping presents, and planning!
I hope all my friends and family have a wonderful Christmas experience this year!cheesy ]]> Faithmom6 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=101 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=100 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:58:46 GMT Survey posted before last christmas

WOULD YOU RATHER...
1. Get kissed under the mistletoe or in the snow?
oh can't I have both? ? I would say getting kissed while it's snowing would be pretty darn romantic...

2. Santa or Rudolph?
santa

3. Stocking or presents?
hmmm....I love stockings...I guess it depends on what's in them

4. Egg nog or hot cider?
Hot chocolate mmmmm, but hot cider over egg nog

5. Angel or star?
angel

6. Decorating the tree, or putting lights on the outside?
I do it all

7. Warm cozy fires or sleigh rides?:
warm cozy fire after a sleighride baby

8. Family time or friend time?
everybody

9. Expensive presents or presents that come from the heart?
.....................I can't possibly choose.

10. Snow ball fight or snowman?
snowman all the way. Snowball fights are only fun when you're winning. ;)

11.Coal or present?
How much is coal worth these days? kidding!

12.Open presents quickly or slowly?
slowly. I love to open & enjoy each one before the next

13. Diamonds or rubies?
Ruby is my birthstone & i love it, but if you wanna spend how about Moissanite?

14. Caroling or christmas stories?
Christmas Stories I suppose?

15. Snowy days or ice days?
Snow Days....on ice days we lose power.

16.Red or Green?
I can't choose here either!

1. Best christmas present received?
I really LOVE the way-too-expensive necklace someone special got me last year ... but my parents did get me my laptop!

2. Whats the number one thing you want for christmas?
I can't say. Something that you can't put a price on, can't ask for, and I should wait for.

3. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe?
not that i remember.... *hint hint*

4. Age you stopped believing in Santa clause:
it was a gradual thing. But I guess the year I saw who was delivering Santas presents

5. Do you send thank you notes?
Not usually, but I mean to send them to my grandparents/cousins this year

6. Do you wake your parents up early to open presents?
my sister wakes us all up at like 4am ]]> BritneyBug http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=100 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=99 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:59:10 GMT Ok, so things have not gone quite as I planned because I tend to be quite the procrastinator. I bought the stuff I needed to put together my... Ok, so things have not gone quite as I planned because I tend to be quite the procrastinator. I bought the stuff I needed to put together my Christmas planner, but it's still in the bag--lol! I've had quite a lot on my plate lately (which I'm sure everyone else does as well). My semester started (I'm a history/english major) and I've been pretty busy with that. My son is only in first grade and he has homework every day so I have to help him with it and it takes up an inordinate amount of time! Needless to say, my house shape up has not been progressing as I hoped. It's such an overwhelming job, it's easy to put it on the back burner rather than dig in and get going. I was just thinking today though that I'm going to have to get serious this week. No more putting it off if I want my Christmas to be as great as I planned this year! First order of business will be to get my planner put together so I can get my game plan set and then I'm off! Wish me luck--I'm going to need it!
:)) ]]> miller4plusmore http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=99 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=98 Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:10:14 GMT A week ago my wife and I returned from a rare kind of vacation. We took it alone -- just the two of us.

As parents to seven children there hasn't been much "just the two of us" time. We find it important to have a date night once a week and every now and then just steal away together.

But this trip was something special. We traveled from Utah to New York state, where we explored for four days before heading off on a cruise to Canada and New England.

This destination had no special meaning to us other than a promise of cooler weather, plenty of historic sights to see and, of course, the potential for scouting of some unusual Christmas shops.

We like to find the small, out-of-the-way Christmas shops.

I think just about any true lover of Christmas out there harbors a fantasy of owning a Christmas shop. I know I do. I have a career of retail experience, know just a little about Christmas and have plenty ideas of how to "do it right". I travel a great deal -- and I stop to see Christmas shops where ever I find them. And frankly, a lot of people just get it wrong.

We had some other needs in shopping Christmas shops as well. There is, after all, the annual ornament exchange. We wanted to find a unique ornament out there that might reflect Christmas in our travels.

In the end, we saw maybe four different Christmas shops between Canada and New England. There are, of course, others. But these were all we could find to bump into in our travels.

And none of them were very good, honestly.

In Cooperstown, New York there is a baseball themed Christmas shop. That was about as disappointing a stop as a Christmas shop could be. Most items were made in China and lacked any kind of creativity. And the prices!

In Bar Harbor, Maine there are a couple of Christmas shops and they were much better. But one shop, claiming to be an All-American shop with only made in the USA products, quickly took the spirit of Christmas away by not selling anything under $20.

I'm all for people making money. But, c'mon. There are few ornaments out there worth $40 or more and this place was full of them. For your garden variety made from dough and resin ornaments there wasn't much there to distinguish this particular shop -- other than the fact that they were convenient for cruise ship tourists who were looking in a place that might at one time of the year become very Christmasy.

I suppose my venturing into these Christmas shops is more about feeling Christmas than it is actually buying it.

I would buy more of it but honestly they don't represent much value to me. Christmas, you see, isn't about the latest and the greatest.

And that is why, I think, we see Christmas shops come and go like they do. They aren't marketed for the spirit of Christmas. They are marketed for the profit from the season.

I have a hunch, that when the day comes when I open my Christmas shops, that the profit to be made will come because the spirit of the season is what really appeals. If you have that, you'll succeed.

Case in point: the highlight of this trip, as we posted in these forums from the dark lobby of a Manhattan hotel, was getting a chance to meet Jay.

Jay runs our radio station and we've celebrated Christmas and have "known" each other here for years. But we had never met.

What a great Christmas moment that was! We had a delightful visit and one that we'll remember fondly for years to come.

You certainly won't find one like Jay in any Christmas shop anywhere in the world!

For all the searching for Christmas we did we only found it in meeting Jay. It made the whole trip.

]]> Jeff Westover http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=98 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=97 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:58:46 GMT Its sept, & before I realize it oct will be here and the whirlwind of the holidays will be upon us.

This year unfortunately my folks will not be down in dec. They will be down in Jan. so I guess it will be like having a second Christmas.

While I wish we could all be together on Christmas day, sometimes its just not possible, given the distance between us.

However my determination to make sure I capture everything about THIS Christmas on video remains, & the importance still remains ]]> dvdguy http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=97 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=96 Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:14:46 GMT I thought I would post a link to a gif of my latest wireframe addition. It's on the homepage for Lori's Lighted D'Lites in Florida: http://www.lorislighteddlites.com/ The first one pictured, of the yellow dog decorating the tree is the one I've ordered. That pup looks just like Cisco, my 6 month old yellow Lab.

This will be his first Christmas, as well as Libby's. Libby is another yellow lab and is just 5 weeks old. Ed, the bf, and I have been to the kennel to visit her each weekend for the past 2 weeks. In two more weeks, Ed will make his final decision (he has first pick out of the 6 females in the litter) and we will bring her home. So this Christmas is going to be fun with two puppies to watch around the tree and the presents and the lights.

The two yellows won't be here at my house all the time, however. Ed has his own place and is in the process of building a large, indoor/outdoor kennel for them. Cisco has spent most of his time here because Ed didn't want him to be alone at his place all day. So, Cisco has made himself at home with my old Lab Hudson and the cat since June. Ed won't be keeping the dogs outside all the time, just during the day while he's at work. The two will come inside when he gets home so they will have plenty of time to cuddle and be sociable.

Back to the decorations, the puppy theme will work well with the collection of elves and animals collecting, stacking, loading, etc toys and presents that I already own. That will make three to four distinct themes in my display: 1) Santa fishing/camping with lots of wildlife around, 2) Elves caring for reindeer at the stable and 3) Elves loading sleigh, seals tossing packages, etc. The sometimes used 4th theme is a city street with a church, choir, passers by, and street lights. Sometimes that theme is stand alone, other times those items are blended into one or more of the other themes.

I'm already looking forward to setting it all up! ]]> MarthaK http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=96 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=95 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:49:35 GMT After some encouragement from the Queen of the Yule Blog her ownself, Gingerbug, here is my first ever real post! Following Mark Twain’s advice to... After some encouragement from the Queen of the Yule Blog her ownself, Gingerbug, here is my first ever real post! Following Mark Twain’s advice to write about what you know (or did someone else say that?), pretty much limits my feeble mind.

For about the last three months I have been contemplating the ~Mistletoe Mix~ on Merry Christmas Radio. Jayish has been very gracious to play CDs that my family has cranked out to friends and family every year. Seeing that I had the equipment laying around to set up a regular recording office, I thought that cranking out a new show for MCR per week would be a snap. Boy! Was I wrong!

First, I had to drag all the stuff from a building out in back of our house. My brother and I are selling off some of the equipment from our small recording service (RichJon Recordings) that we recently closed. He helped me pick out and set up what I needed to record a show.

Actually, let me back up; First, my wife and I had to clear out a spare room in the house to make room for the stuff I needed from the “little house.” Well, that is easier said than done, as we all know! Long story short (aren’t those the best?), I managed to fumble my way through to set up what I thought I needed. Setting up home studio ain’t nothing like setting up to record a Gospel group in a church or large room!

So! With a lot of technical advice from my brother, who always engineered our recording sessions, I was finally ready to start the first MCR ~Mistletoe Mix~. Three months of fumbling, contemplating, procrastinating, and never writing any ideas down on paper finally brought me to the point of “do it or don’t!”

Two hours should have been no problem, remember? By the time I was finished with the first hour, I was digging deep into a Christmas music collection that I thought was big. Now, the good thing about all that digging is that I’ll play stuff that I don’t necessarily like. Perhaps you will. About the only line I’ll draw in the proverbial Yule sand is that I won’t play anything that one can hear on a regular basis on any Christmas broadcast or web radio station. You can bet your elf shoes that if you hear "White Christmas" it will be in a whole different wrapping! You all have put up with my posts about what lies below the surface of the same fifty Tinsel Tunes that are played into the ground. I’ll spare you here…for now.

By the time I was finished, two weeks had passed! I now have a greater appreciation for the time and effort involved in producing the finished product! The once a week show originally planed will be a monthly show now. As I gain experience and tweak the operation (setting mic levels, normalizing music levels, etc), I may bump up to two shows a month if Jayish will allow.

I would like to thank Jeff Westover for making MCR happen, Jayish for making it continue to happen, and Kevin Dunn for the great example, and all of you that have offered encouragement. All I have to do now is fall flat on my face!

More later!

Meanwhile, I need ideas and tunes! I'm thinking about a few themes for upcoming ~Mistletoe Mix~ shows. Help me think of a list of songs featuring:

1)- Alternate modes of Transportation for Santa. We all know about the reindeer and sleigh. What are some of the others? I"ll start, "Santa's Coming in a Whirlybird" by Gene Autry.

2)- Dancing. The obvious is "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree." What are some others? Off the top of my head, Santa has done the twist and the mambo.

3)- Naughty List. Lorne Greene, aka Ben Cartwright, will definitely make an appearence (a ~MM~ tradition) and some folks who have spent time in jail over Christmas will drop by! I may even break down and play "I'm gettin' Nuthin' For Christmas!" Or, Heaven forbid!, "Santa Baby." Please find me enough where I won't have to! (And remember boys and girls, a preposition is a terrible thing to end a sentence...with.)

If we can't find enough theme tunes to fill an entire two-hour show, I'll play as many as we find.

It's not too late for a suggestion for a Christmas/Halloween tune. While I probably won't be playing any outright Halloween tunes, I'll be featuring a few sinister Christmas ones! ]]> RadioJonD http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=95 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=94 Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:05:37 GMT I took advantage of an end-of-summer sale and picked up the two wireframes I wanted to add this year. I am looking forward to getting it lit up! ... I took advantage of an end-of-summer sale and picked up the two wireframes I wanted to add this year. I am looking forward to getting it lit up!
Labor Day weekend gave me three days to make headway on the wireframes already here. I have the jumping frog halfway finished and I was only working on it during breaks from other tasks around the house.

In other news, my lab pup Cisco has been declared demodex free! He had a horrible bout with the mites as a pup that caused agonizing itching and hair loss. Now his fur is soft, full and yellow-white.

Pardon me for a moment of self-congratulations; I was able to program music into my new cell phone without the aid of a 12-year-old! The phone can use up to a 4 gig micro disc, but I only had a 1 gig on hand. Despite that, I was able to download a host of Christmas music to my cell phone. I need to burn some more albums to my desktop so that I can fill out the disc.

More later... ]]> MarthaK http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=94 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=93 Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:28:52 GMT The Christmas bug bit me last week....and that bug bit me hard...unfortunately nobody really wants to hear about my plans already....and is a little... The Christmas bug bit me last week....and that bug bit me hard...unfortunately nobody really wants to hear about my plans already....and is a little bit annoyed when I tell them about all the threads over here...They are not mad, they just don´t really listen after a few minutes. I am really waiting for November now, so my Christmas Mood can unite with the Christmas mood of many others and that preparations can go full swing. I bought all the presents for my daughter already and will buy two (one for each of my God-children) this month...that will keep me happy and will help the purse as well.

I am trying to figure out why the spirit hit me so hard this time...The first Christmas with my daughter...boy was I exited...but I think this year...she´ll be 2 years and 9 months by Christmas, she will realize the things going on much more....and I am already looking forward to this.

Seeing her eyes glow with exitement, her helping mommy and granny bake cookies....her jumping for joy when she sees Santa, seeing her play with her toys and on....I just can´t wait...and that anticipations makes me very happy!

have a nice day fellas

Tanja ]]> trackrebel http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=93 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=92 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:48:13 GMT I have spent the past few weekends working on my wireframes while watching the Olympics. I have 3 new frames I am putting lights on, as well as 6... I have spent the past few weekends working on my wireframes while watching the Olympics. I have 3 new frames I am putting lights on, as well as 6 frames from 2004 that I need to put new lights on.

New this year: Toy sled, little red wagon, and a jumping frog.
Reintroduced this year with fresh lights: a doghouse, 3 street lights, a large star, and a hat-tipping snowman.


As for a theme, I'm thinking of adding one more new frame that I found at Lori's Lighted D'Lites, of a dog decorating a tree. My theme? Puppy's first Christmas, in honor of Cisco, my yellow lab (now 6 months old and 50lbs!).

Getting that depends on finances and catching the sale, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

More later. ]]> MarthaK http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=92 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=91 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:19:28 GMT I began my Christmas preparations inspired by Christmas in July and finished the first task last week. I created a new myspace page totally devoted... I began my Christmas preparations inspired by Christmas in July and finished the first task last week. I created a new myspace page totally devoted to Christmas. It turned out beautifully! If you would like to check it out, here is the link:

http://www.myspace.com/christmasspiritallyear

If you are on myspace, send me an add request. I'd love to see you there!

Now that I've finished that task, my next one is a biggie--cleaning and organizing my house from top to bottom. I'm going to host a Christmas party/open house this year since I probably will not be hosting Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. My grandfather is homebound because he had three heart attacks this year so my family will probably want to have the dinners over at their house. So since I'm planning on having a party, I really have to get this house done early! I'm going to utilize the holiday grand plan. I'm printing the pages and organizing my Christmas notebook by the end of the week (Sunday) so I can get started. Let me just say that I'm excited about it and dreading it at the same time! But it will be SO worth it.

If anyone has any tips on staying motivated when taking on a task this size, please leave me a comment.

Thanks!

:)) ]]> miller4plusmore http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=91 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=89 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:56:23 GMT I christmascreations have found myself guilty of heavy procrastination in the decluttering of my home and neglect of my physical and emotional... I christmascreations have found myself guilty of heavy procrastination in the decluttering of my home and neglect of my physical and emotional happiness.

The time has been long overdue for me to cleanup and organize my bedroom. Having 2 beds, 2 dressers, and items for me and my 3 boys in there has cluttered up the space drastically. The clutterbug has bit me and I need to fight back!!!!

With a very hectic work schedule and being a single mom, the time to do that is very limited!!! I have alot of housework to catch up on as soon as the boys go back to school. Every time I go to work it seems my boys get away with a lot (since my dad watches them) and the house is in COMPLETE chaos!!!

I have broken the cleaning rule of focussing on one room at a time but when I feel overwhelmed in one room I move to another room to keep me going and hit the internet when I need a break also.

So with all that said, starting next week I will be putting myself on probation!! I will not be allowed to go shopping or buy anything new until I am content with my living space. I will also be limiting my time on the computer in the day time. I can't do too much housework at night when I send the boys to bed do that should be fine.

I will bring a box/bag of papers with me to work so I can sort through it when I have extra time. Thank God I can do that right now but if I get a job with the schools (crossing fingers) then I won't have that time soon enough but I will have a favorable job with weekends off and more time to spend with my boys!!! I will also get all my reading done at work or before bed only.

I will also begin working on setting up a menu plan once baseball season begins again to help reduce that stress/complications of my days and nights!!!

I wonder if anyone else has put themselves on probation???:cry: ]]> christmascreations http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=89 http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=88 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:23:35 GMT You guys guess what I got a promotion. You are now looking at the new Administrative Manager so cool right. More pay more Christmas shopping! :gift: You guys guess what I got a promotion. You are now looking at the new Administrative Manager so cool right. More pay more Christmas shopping! :gift: ]]> Silverbells http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=88