Editor's Note: Congratulationst to Raina, Debra, and Henri for winning this week's contest!
The holiday season is upon us yet again. Chances are you can’t go anywhere without hearing Christmas music, seeing holiday decorations, and receiving constant reminders about how you must get your shopping done. While the holidays can be overwhelming, everyone has something they always love about the holiday season.
What is your favorite part about the holidays? Is it spending time with family? Giving the perfect gift? Or maybe the great post-holiday sales?
Tell us what your favorite part about the holidays is and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!
We're doing three giveaways — one for random comments, one for random Facebook "Likes", and another one for random tweets.
If you're inspired to write a whole blog post OR you have a photo on flickr to share, please link to it in the comments or tweet it.
Note: Due to recent changes in Facebook's promotions guidelines, we have restructured the entry format of our giveaways.
Good Luck!
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The best past is just being with my family who I don't see very often.
The best past is just being with my family who I don't see very often.
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Enjoying the presence of the present in each family member who we come into contact with during the holidays...
The best time for me is spending time with family & friends.
I would have to say the reminders of why we celebrate are my favorite thing about Christmas! But a very close second is our local Open House. It is a lovely event in our downtown, all the stores stay open from 6-9 pm on the first Friday night in December, the streets are blocked off to traffic, and the Christmas tree is lit up for the first time that year. Each merchant has goodies and specials, and the high school steel drum band plays Christmas carols. My official kick-off to the Christmas season! (Of course, listening to the steel drum band play "Sleigh Ride" and dancing in the street with my daughter is a major plus!)
my fav is the gatherings and the x'mas lights/trees!
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tweeted https://twitter.com/#!/oshkoshbgosh123/status/146581125882576897
Relaxing with the family after all the work is done.
My favorite part is being cozy and warm inside, watching Christmas movies and relaxing (after all the shopping is done, of course!).
My favorite part is all the festive food!
Christmas cookies.
gift giving!
My favorite part about the holidays is reuniting with family and friends!
I tweeted! http://twitter.com/#!/junethomemaker/status/146600251841708032
I'm a Facebook follower!
The surprises!! The surprise of finding the perfect gift when you had no idea what it would be, the surprise of receiving the perfect gift, the surprise on the faces of the little ones, the surprise of a beautiful light display on your daily commute, the surprise of a new version of an old favorite carol...
The best part of the holiday for me is the food!! Instad of giving gifts to the adults, my family gets together for a big meal that feaures everyone's holiday favorites. No one person cooks so there is no pressure and lots of giggling and teasing in the kitchen.
The best part of it for me is seeing all the lights and the look and my girls face as they see them!
favorite part getting my nieces and nephews a unqiue gift they enjoy. Spending time with family and remembering it is about the kids and memories
http://twitter.com/#!/cjsorel/status/146620030140940290 tweeted
My favorite thing about the holidays is, hands down, experiencing the joy and wonder of Christmas all over again through my children's eyes. I love their excitement over simple things like seeing Christmas lights, decorating the tree and baking special cookies.
Easy, spending time with my parents. At 22 I'm only just starting to realize how awesome they are.
My favorite part of the holidays is Christmas Eve Mass with my entire extended family and singing in the choir. My soul rejoices and I truly feel the real meaning of Christmas at that time.
I love giving gifts to my friends and relatives, I LOVE decorating my christmas tree, and I especially love seeing all of my relatives during this time of year.
My favorite part is the time with the family.
I absolutely love the smells associated with the holidays! Pine trees, baking, cinnamon, fireplaces, fresh snow...
(All of that besides family time of course, but I don't think that should just be pushed to the holiday season!)
I also have 'liked' Wisebread on FB! <3
My favorite part of the holidays is having a week off from work to relax and recharge.
Spending time with friends and family is most important.
The best bit, it's you can just relax and forget all the normal days worries and miserys.
I like the parties. Any excuse to party.
The family gathering at our house with whole family~ nieces, nephews, cousins, kids! And the Christmas Tree and beautiful lights everywhere!
Oh the yummy food, cookies and time with family
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Getting out of the city and just enjoying quiet time at my parents' ranch. No TV, no Internet, just good old-fashioned fun!
My favorite part of the holidays is spending time with my family and eating my mom's home cooking! YUM!
I liked you on FB and left a comment under the entry! ;)
My favorite part of the holidays is focusing my children and myself on what this season is really all about, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and all that means or should me to us all. Sacrificial giving, selflessness, brotherly love, kindness, compassion. Demonstrating the characteristics of Christ not only during the Christmas season but all year long, each moment of every day exemplifying and glorifying the One that we celebrate at Christmas. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!
Sharing a meal with my extended family. The combination of food and company is always a special joy.
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The cookies, obviously!
I love getting together with my family at my mom's house. It's truly just like old times when we all gather there and Christmas seems like the only time that happens. I love our kids getting to play with their seldom-seen cousins and getting to see their parents act like goofballs together. It just says "Home" to me and I hope my children feel the same way one day.
My favorite part of the holidays is the sense of anticipation...of seeing family and friends, sharing homemade food, admiring decorations, and soaking up the atmosphere.
My favorite part about the Holidays is:
when the stockings are filled, after the gifts are wrapped and placed under the tree, in the evening listening to Christmas music and warming in the glow of the logs burning in our fireplace, sitting there with my wife, remembering Christmases past.
I love getting away to spend time with my family. I'm not at my house, so there's not a lot of projects I have to do. I don't know a lot of people in town so I don't have a lot of social obligations (although I know a few people, so I can go see them to take a break from my family). I get to play with all my nephews' cool toys and taunt my brother-in-law's fish, and curl up with the cats to read or watch DVDs after all the little people go to bed. Mostly, it's about taking a break from the rest of my life and spending time reconnecting with my family. Oh, and fruitcake. Mom makes great fruitcake (totally not kidding).
The best part is Christmas Day, when we can forget the stress of the season and sit around, relax, and enjoy our presents.
Eating lots of treats that are only available this time of year. And seeing how excited my dog gets when he receives a new toy. :)
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Shopping in stores with Xmas music and decorations!
I enjoy watching the schmaltzy movies and listening to the sentimental songs with my family.
Christine
I already like you on FB.
My favorite part of the holidays is time off to spend on myself. I opted out of the holiday craziness many years ago, and now I enjoy watching everyone else run around like crazy people getting all stressed while I take a bubble bath and read some good books! :)
my favorite part is the smells. Cinnamon, peppermint, fires, Christmas trees, roasts, sides, etc. It's the part that keeps me happy year after year.
I'm looking forward to seeing my kid open up presents!
I Like WB. hahaha very nice!
The magic. It always comes, some time, some way.
getting together with friends and family who I rarely see.
Christmas Day, when the madness and stress are over. After dinner when we go for a walk as a family is really nice.
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Getting together with my family to read the Christmas story and have a great meal.
I tweeted! http://twitter.com/#!/Monzarts/status/146775966755205121
My favorite part of the holidays is spending time with my family and friends, eating great food and not having to spend the day at work.
Looking for Rudolph...
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Im kind of a minimalist saver so it may sound kind of sad, but the best part about the holidays for me is looking forward to the new year. I always dread the shopping, planning, decorating, etc that comes along with the holiday season. I love seeing family I have not seen in awhile but I wish it was under different circumstances. I would much rather see them on a random day during the year where we can actually sit and connect vs a huge family gathering where you are lucky to get a half conversation in with a few family members. So the best part of the holidays for me is being done with the stress and having a brand new year full of opportunities to look forward to.
I love watching Christmas movies!
My favorite part is how excited my daughters get about everything - from the first Christmas lights to show up on neighbors' houses to decorating holiday cookies. They make the season so much fun.
My favorite part of the holidays is getting to spend more time with my family. Once the kids are on winter break and I'm on winter break, things aren't nearly so hectic and we can finally slow down and spend some relaxing time together.
Aside from the basic answers of Christ and family, I LOVE seeing peoples' homes decorated with lights, and I love Christmas music. :)
The best part about the holidays for our family (we don't celebrate like others do) is the extra time to spend with family and friends. Unfortunately, this year we won't have as much extra time off with the holiday being on the weekend!
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Spending time with family and falling asleep under the Christmas tree.
I love decorating the house and bringing out all the lights for the front of the house. I love our neighborhood and the cheerful displays of Christmas for the month of December!
My favorite thing about the holidays is being together with family.
I love going home. I've never spent a Christmas away from my family. It's a nice constant.
My favorite part is giving gifts to my sons and grandson, things that they will enjoy and make them happy. We've started a tradition of picking a gift we've been given, then giving it away to a local charity that distributes gifts to other children in need. For us, that's really the best part of the holidays.
The not having to work part!
the vacation time and all the holiday sales
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I bought a noble fir wreath and hung it on my front door. It smells so good and makes me happy every time I see it. Also, as a child we only ever had white Christmas lights because my mom thought colored lights were tacky so now I LOVE having colored lights up. I think they're festive...
Hot chocolate and holiday movies on Hallmark channel! :)
The best part is watching my kids on Christmas morning!
Getting together with family.
The love and hope shared over the holidasy and Christmas are such a heartwarming part of the year. I love watching the hope and delight in the faces of the young ones... and listening to others as they search for people to bless this season... I love that this time of year always encourages people to look for others to bless and encourage in so many ways... love the singing and joy in the hearts of many... even in the hardest of times, it still brings joy to the heart of all that grasp the seasons joy!
I enjoy the music and folks saying Merry Christmas to each other. I like to see the relatives and other we don't see much through out the year and the food of course.
My favorite part is the day after Christmas when we can relax at home, munch on cookies and eat leftovers.