Thursday, November 29, 2012

Holiday Memories









Hey everybody!  Glad that you stopped by. If you look to the left you will see Cover for RJ Scott's Blog Hop for December 1st and 2nd.  If you click on it, that will take you to a list of everyone who is participating in her hop.  There are a lot of contests going on so make you check it out.

For Silver hoppers there is a list at the bottom if you are looking for today's snowflake.

Today, I am sharing a little bit of my holiday memories and running a contest for today and tomorrow.  Leave a comment listing my favorite gift and one of my hated foods along with your email address.  If you get them right, I'll draw names for a $5.00 amazon gift card or you can pick a book from my back list or a copy of my January 2013 release.  Good luck!





The holiday season has changed for me as I have matured (gotten older, aged, wizened…yeah, I'm not young anymore, just youngish). 

As a child, it was about the surprised on Christmas morning from Santa Claus. The holiday season always started with the music and the classic TV shows that we watched every year like clockwork: Charlie Brown's Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jack Frost, Frosty the Snowman, A Christmas Carole, 


Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life (at least a half dozen times). The extended family got together and we could play with our cousins, compare toys, and eat an insane amount of pie, cake, and cookies. We helped mom make all the holiday candies: caramel apples, peanut brittle, rice crispy treats, divinity (super yum), several different types of fudge, brownies, and some concoction of cookie dough, chocolate chips, caramel, and brownie mix. We 


ate like there was no tomorrow and were still stick thin because playing outside was a must.

Nostalgia hits me hard around this time of year and I find myself thumbing through the picture albums and texting people saying, "Hey! You remember when…" I had tried to recreate the holidays of my youth and never could. There were different people, different places, and different customs. Recreating the food didn't set the atmosphere because everything had changed and I 




had to find my own typical holiday. When you're a kid, burning to grow up and get out on your own you don't take into account that everything changes, you don't realize that you can't pick or choose.

Creating your own holiday experience is very much a journey to learning who you are as an individual. I slowly moved away from mimicking the holidays of my elders and found my own traditions for reasons that were personal and important to me. I still enjoy visiting and eating holiday dishes I don't typically have. But it doesn't bother me 



anymore that holidays at my house were different.

Of course there's somethings that I don't miss (the yucky corn casserole, baked beans, or candied yams). I do wish I was able to get together with my extended family. We are all spread out in different cities and states. The upside is I can indulge in my secret love of fruitcake without being picked on. (I seriously don't understand the stigma surround the dessert.)



As a child my most favorite Christmas was related to the very first picture on this post. It was the year that I got my very own Tonka Truck.  Count them, there were three trucks under the tree and the only thing I remember is that I got a truck just like my brothers.  Those were the metal ones, too.  Tonka tough!  We'd race them by bracing both hands on the sides and running down the sidewalk. My shoelaces would frequently come undone and one day I was running the truck, my laces wrapped around the back wheels and I went face first over the top of the truck into the cement. I still loved my truck!

Thank you for sticking around and listening to me ramble through my holiday memories.  I broke out the photo albums and attached some family remembrances.  I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season!  xoxo



You can find me on:
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Email: lexi.ander.author@gmail.com


Here is your list and GOOD LUCK!

Lexi Ander
Link: http://bit.ly/TQylNf

Sarah Bella
Link: http://bit.ly/Q2OBwD

William Cooper
Link: http://bit.ly/Q1QWb8

D. McEntire
Link: http://bit.ly/U0T8Ow

T. C. Archer
Link: http://bit.ly/ZPeanw

Tarah Scott
Link: http://bit.ly/S5NQ3S

The Mischief Corner
Link: http://bit.ly/WjBZnv

Lily Harlem
Link: http://bit.ly/T8sdSe

Maria MoonStar
Link: http://bit.ly/U0QJDC

S.A. Garcia
Link: http://bit.ly/Q1RgXj

Marie Ashley
Link: http://bit.ly/QlHvVl

Eve Tesoro
Link: http://bit.ly/RKyiCQ

Silver Blog
Link: http://bit.ly/Wi7uyq
Scarlet Blackwell - author of Homeless at Christmas
Link: http://bit.ly/105J6z4

NJ Neilsen - author of A Moon-Runner Christmas
Link: http://bit.ly/T8ETth
TN Tarrant - author of A Not So Straight Christmas
Link: http://on.fb.me/U72w5h
Karly Maddison - author of A Puppy for Christmas
Link: http://bit.ly/T8rHDE
Toni Griffin - author of A Very Holland Christmas
Link: http://bit.ly/QPwBXG
Cheyenne Meadows - author of Christmas with Mesa
Link: http://bit.ly/ZPfDKx
Heidi Lynn Anderson - author of Christmas Longing
Link: http://bit.ly/U0Rnkq
LM Brown - author of Someone Like You
Link: http://bit.ly/UMtXnb
Vicktor Alexander - author of Chocolate Vanilla Swirl
Link: http://bit.ly/RKyO3J
Jannie Lund - author of Clear as Glass
Link: http://bit.ly/SCpA7T
Piper Whitney - author of Fractured Heart
Link: http://bit.ly/T4jzlg
Nicole Dennis - author of 7 Days of Christmas
Link: http://bit.ly/SW7Rc6
Kim Fielding - author of Joys R Us
Link: http://bit.ly/105Kz8z
Silvia Violet - author of Needing a Little Christmas
Link: http://bit.ly/XmrQIb
Elyzabeth M. VaLey - author of Punishing Santa
Link: http://bit.ly/T8ECGK
Freddy MacKay - author of Snowed
Link: http://bit.ly/UMqEfI
Annabelle Jacobs - author of Snowflakes and Strangers
Link: http://bit.ly/S23OxE/
Pelaam - author of Christmas Magic
Link: http://on.fb.me/Wjy5Lw
Rebecca Leigh - author of The Angel's Fall
Link: http://bit.ly/ZP8wBK
N Phillips - author of The Christmas Mix Up
Link: http://on.fb.me/108x33S
Grace Roselyn - author of The Treasure of Christmas
Link: http://bit.ly/QlEWCG
Ellen Heights - author of Three Men and a Christmas Goddess
Link: http://bit.ly/XokyDJ
Mathilde Watson:
Link: http://bit.ly/U73dvb
Andi Anderson
Link: http://bit.ly/QQzKGO
Lillian Frances - author of When Love Flue In
Link: http://bit.ly/T8EYNw
Azura Ice - author of Wrapped Around Your Handlebars
Link: http://bit.ly/TQx5tz
Ashlynn Monroe - author of A Most Unexpected Gift
Link: http://bit.ly/UMrwRz
SJD Peterson
Link: http://bit.ly/TKh8mv
EM Lynley
Link: http://bit.ly/QlFDMi
Gregg A. Endless
Link: http://bit.ly/SUVXPH
Elinor Gray
Link: http://bit.ly/Xmt06v
Emma Paul
Link: http://bit.ly/Jt6lLH
Caitlin Ricci
Link: http://bit.ly/T8FWt6
Vona Logan
Link: http://bit.ly/U737nB
M.A. Stacie
Link: http://bit.ly/S25gA1
Dawn H. Hawkes
Link: http://bit.ly/SUWfpG
Meredith Russell
Link: http://bit.ly/QPvCae
R.J. Scott
Link: http://bit.ly/UMshK8
Lisa Worrall
Link: http://bit.ly/RKzzKe
Trillium
Link: http://bit.ly/Uyvhnv
Jessica E. Subject
Link: http://bit.ly/XQIgaW
RC Bonitz
Link: http://bit.ly/T3dRjD


18 comments:

  1. love all the photos you posted!

    parisfan_ca@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! My husband was horrified that I put some of his kid pictures up. ~evil cackle~

      Delete
  2. Great photos! It's fun to look back...I need to get some old pics from my mom! Happy Holidays :)

    raynman1979 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  3. You hated corn casserole, but loved getting a Tonka truck!

    vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Corn casserole with nasty onions and sugar, man, I could not eat it. :)

      Delete
  4. Love the photos, Tonka truck and candied yams!!


    brendurbanist at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! Thanks! I would pluck the melted marshmellows off the yams.

      Delete
  5. Who doesn't like baked beans? But Tonka trucks rock.

    The pictures remind me of some in my mom's photo albums from when I was a kid.

    drainbamaged.gyzmo at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My family puts a ton of brown sugar, catsup, and some mustard into their baked beans. Ah, no, not for me!

      Delete
  6. Oooh, If I'm still on time, please count me in!
    Heh, You loved the Tonka Truck and hated the yucky corn casserole, baked beans, and candied yams. ;P

    Judi
    arella3173_loveless@yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're not too late Judi! Today is the last day. I will be drawing tonight. :)

      Delete
  7. Hi everyone! Blog Hopping with RJ Scott will continue until this evening when I'll pull names and send out emails. Thank you so much for stopping by!

    If your following the Silver Pub Blog, you'll know that some of their authors are blog hopping with them everyday for the month of December. I'm one of them which means I'll have at least one more giveaway this month along with Silver's giveaways for the snowflakes you find.

    So make sure you come back. I'll have something new going on every day. Hope to see you around!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh yeah.... TONKA TRUCKS ROCK!!


    Just sayin'

    ReplyDelete
  9. Reading this for some reason I flashed on a memory I hadn't thought of for a long time. One year I saw Rich Little on stage doing A Christmas Carol. It was so funny, he did all the parts as different celebrity impersonations. That was a good evening. Count me in please.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lovely photos! And the answers are Tonka Truck and candied yams! Thanks for participating in the hop!
    OceanAkers @ aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. I so enjoyed the pictures you've shared with us! Happy Holidays to you and your family!

    ~Rush~
    taina1959@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'd like to thank everybody for stopping by and participating!

    The husband pulled the names out of the hat this morning! (He had a very Vanna White flourish when he did.) Congratulations to Juliana and Judi! Whoot! Way to Go!!

    I'm participating with a couple of blog hops this month: Silver Publishing month long blog hop (details on Silver's blog) and on December 14th the Purrfectly Gifttastic Blog Hop. It's going to be a month long of fun!

    ReplyDelete