It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper... it's so much more fun to open gifts when they're wrapped
2. Real tree or Artificial? definitely real
3. When do you put up the tree? I don't... my parents do :( but then I get to enjoy it when I go home :)
4. When do you take the tree down? If my mom had her way, the day after Christmas, but my dad and I can usually convince her to keep it up until about New Year's
5. Do you like eggnog? Nope
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Totally Hair Barbie, though I'm pretty sure I cut off her hair at one point
7. Hardest person to buy for? um.... everybody???
8. Easiest person to buy for? Myself. I know myself better than I know anyone else.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? I have a couple
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither... I'm not to that point in my life yet, though most people will get a "Merry Christmas" text on the 25th!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? um... I'm not sure
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Home Alone, Home Alone: Lost in NY, Elf, and White Christmas (but White Christmas is the only one I actually own...)
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? a couple of weeks before the big day!
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I remember
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My mom's coffee cake
16. Lights on the tree? Yes, white!
17. Favorite Christmas song? O, Holy Night
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Technically, I travel. But I travel to my home. But this year is going to be weird because my parents are in a new house that I've never been in.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blixen, and Rudolph! (I'm sure the spelling is wrong...)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? one or two on Christmas Eve, then the rest in the morning!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? All the snow! Most people would love it, but not me. I like going home to Georgia where it is snow-free!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? um... my family has never done themes or colors. We're all about the ornaments meaning something, like the Cozumel bell ornaments from a summer cruise or the Santas painted on seashells from Savannah.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? as long as there's ham, I don't care what goes with it
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? a happy, healthy niece :)

Appearantly I'm funding hate...

One of my favorite websites is imdb.com. Tonight, I found this article and found that by being in Utah, I'm funding hate. Is anyone else incredibly SICK!!!! of the ignorance surrounding the Mormon church and its involvement with Prop 8? I know I sure as heck am... I mean, half the people in my phone are gay. Half the people I work with are gay. I have 2 gay cousins. Even my landlord is gay! I listen to gay singers. I own movies with gay actors. I watch TV shows with gay actors. But because I'm Mormon and I live in Utah, I fund hate. Guess I better tell my landlord I'm moving out because I no longer want to fund "the hate" I feel towards his lifestyle... Oh, and can someone please explain the connection between Sundance and Prop 8? Because I'm pretty sure Robert Redford isn't Mormon and that Sundance didn't encourage California voters to vote for Prop 8.

Film Stars And Fans Urged To Boycott Sundance Over Proposition 8 Connection

Gay rights campaigners are asking Hollywood stars and film fans to boycott next year's Sundance Film Festival in Utah, accusing one of the event's backers of supporting California's gay marriage ban.

According to political activist John Aravosis, Cinemark Theaters boss Alan Stock - a Mormon who owns a number of Sundance venues - made a personal $9,900 (GBP6,600) donation to support Proposition 8, which was passed last month, outlawing same-sex unions in the Golden State.

A representative for the Sundance Institute has defended the festival - which was founded by Robert Redford - insisting all the movies screened at Cinemark Theaters are available at other cinemas.

But AmericaBlog.com editor Aravosis is dissatisfied, telling the New York Daily News, "If you go to Utah, you're funding hate.

"Just moving movies around is not enough. Money from this festival is funneled directly to the Mormon Church and to a supporter of Proposition 8. Sunshine should simply say they won't screen films in a hate theatre."

A Sundance Institute spokesperson says, "(The festival) has a long history and in fact was founded on the idea of championing diversity. It is our hope that people will embrace the festival for its commitment to diversity, not avoid it."

Sundance will take place between 15 and 25 January 2009 in Park City, Utah.