What do YOU celebrate this time of year?

MandyPug

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#1
With all the holiday controversy going on, lets hear it. What holiday/tradition/religious thing do you celebrate? Can be legit or made up, whatever you want.

This year I'm planning on celebrating Festivus (for the rest of us). But typically i celebrate modern commercialized christmas and will probably do an exchange of some sort.
 
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#3
I do a secular Christmas because my family does but for my own personal family, we celebrate Yule....which also happens to by my daughters birthday so it gets trickly. Basically, instead of focusing on a day, we focus on the energies or spirit of this time of year, the introspection and preparing for the next year, the cleansing of things we nee to let go of, etc.
 

Xandra

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#4
Christmas!!!!

Don't have a religious bone in my body but it has an interesting background!!! Winter!!! Food!!! Presents!!! Decorations!!! Yes please!!!
 

Fran101

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#5
Christmas (without the religion) lol we get the tree, presents, christmas music, santa, cookies etc..
It's all very fun!

As for traditions we have to make/create/plan an activity as gifts for family. No buying things at big stores...which I love.

Oh and lots of champagne
 
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#6
Christmas!!!!

Don't have a religious bone in my body but it has an interesting background!!! Winter!!! Food!!! Presents!!! Decorations!!! Yes please!!!
haha, its background is interesting and those parts of it yes, have nothing to do with the religion that celebrates it:)
 

NicoleLJ

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#7
Christmas non religious since I am Atheist. We are doing a gift exchange with family. We start decorating on December 1st.
 

sparks19

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#8
Christmas... both the religious kind and the non religious kind

We go to Christmas eve service (I will be singing "What child is this" this year at our service) and we thank God for everything and for Jesus' sacrifice and we observe the day as Jesus' birth.

We also do the whole Santa thing with cookies and milk and oats/apples/carrots for his reindeer sprinkled on the lawn, Christmas lights, Christmas tree, writing a letter to Santa, the presents, the christmas movies, the night before Christmas story, ETC ETC ETC.

It's fun... especially with a child Hannahs age. it's the BEST to see her face when she sees Santa at the mall or all the presents on Christmas morning, etc. These times are short and very limited and I'm going to enjoy ever second of it. We have been watching www.reindeercam.com where Santa comes and feeds two of his reindeer three times a day and it's so magical. We set up our tree last week and we've been listening to non stop Christmas music for two weeks already lol.

I can't WAIT to get to Disney and pair my two favorite earthly things... Christmas and Disney. it doesn't get anymore magical than Christmas at Disney (except not on THE day because that's just insane)
 

sillysally

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#9
Christmas. I suppose we celebrate it as a religious holiday. It is believed that Christ was actually born in the spring/early summer (I've heard both), so Christmas is more the symbolic celebration of His birthday than literal (probably originally put this time of year to coincide with Yule and/or winter solstice). It is an "official" religious holiday for certain denominations, an unofficial one for others (the ones that don't keep religious holiday calendars) and some sects of Christianity (Jehovah's Witness and some Quakers) don't celebrate it at all.

I not sure that we celebrate separate religious and secular Christmases-it's just kind of rolled into one for us. The inlaws even observe the Epiphany, which I had never heard of until I met DH-lol.
 

Moth

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#10
We celebrate Christmas as a family Holiday...a time to get together with family and friends.

Personally I celebrate Yule as a spiritual Holiday at this time of year.
 

eddieq

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#11
I celebrate the birth of Christ primarily, but I also participate in the secular portions and traditions. I love Christmas music (secular and religious) and the fun "Santa" traditions, etc.
 

CaliTerp07

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#12
Advent, Christmas, Epiphany...but mostly Christmas. It is a good excuse to get the entire family together, which doesn't happen very often.
 

Toller_08

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#13
Christmas, without religion. It's just so much fun and cheery. I love Christmas music, giving gifts, getting together and having fun and socializing and eating good food with family! Everything about it makes me happy, except for the choosing what to get people part (since I can't think of any ideas).
 

thehoundgirl

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#14
Christmas. :) As a family holiday get together too. And Christmas isn't about all the presents and Christmas tree to us. It's about family time and that's better than any present, really.
 

~Dixie's_Mom~

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#16
We celebrate Christmas but not as the birth of Christ, or for any religious reason. We celebrate the birth, life, and death of Christ every day. But we celebrate family, and love, and the joy of Christmas time. :)
 

milos_mommy

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#17
Christmas, non-secular, the good old American way with extra capitalism

Yule/Solecist just with a yule log or yule candles and holly/mistletoe

I used to celebrate Hanukkah as well, because most of my friends were Jewish and my ex/his family were also, but this is the first year I'm away from my friends and without Zach, so I doubt I'll do anything for that. I might just go to a service at temple alone, if I don't think it will be too depressing.

Oh, and December 8th is Bodhi, or Enlightenment Day, in Buddhist tradition, but there aren't any celebrations really, and no where around here to go to service except a thai temple where I don't understand anyone, so I'll just meditate extra hard and try to be an extra good Buddhist.
 

Fran27

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#19
We celebrate as a family Holiday too. Don't care one bit about the religious bit. It's more about the spirit of it all, I guess.
 

Kilter

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#20
We do church and Christ's birthday, along with Santa and Frosty and all of that. The kids will pick out and donate a toy, and buy gifts for the church (they started that a few years ago, they do a tree with ideas, and people pick up some supplies or other items, so the church gets stocked up), as well as buy but mainly make gifts for others. Nothing too insane on that end, actually so far most of their gifts are used which is fine.

Christmas eve we will go to Church, DH is playing trumpet, then Santa comes to the house in the fire truck to give out candy and make sure we're home for later. We hang out in the morning after opening gifts then go to dinner at the BIL's house.
 

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