me + xmas

me×!xmas×

me + xmas
Family Christmas photos!
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Brett and I checking out of
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Came home and digitized a bunch of old photos at my parent's place.
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This ornament is really cute. Love looking back at old photos. (Who would've guessed that about me, right?)
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...fun age to watch him...
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Christmas morning, 1988. (Check those mullets!)
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Christmas 1987 - my brother and I freaking out about getting the long-awaited PHANTASY STAR for the Sega Master System. This was the first RPG I ever got into and it exploded both of our brains!
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Christmas 1987! Me and Brett getting ready to open some videogame presents!
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...who needed a post-breakfast nap!
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Thanks, Mom! Three winters later and I still wear this guy all the time.
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Pre-dinner holiday photo for my dad's holiday newsletter!
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Around 4pm we all got cleaned up for company and even humored my mom and put on the matching sweaters!
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...that my dad got one as well! Hahah.
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Speaking of a Christmas story, the next morning my brother and I opened presents from our mother to find matching sweaters! And it turned out...
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Hot chocolate mixes for me!
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I got memory foam-lined slippers! It's like your feet are getting a hug.
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...she came bearing gifts! Ellen is an EXPERT present-selector.
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I recently bought a keyboard and started teaching myself piano so Meredith's parents got me a bunch of awesome books on music theory!
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Outliers, Sway and RAGNAR'S URBAN SURVIVAL: A Hard-Times Guide to Staying Alive in the City. Hahaha.
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The books Meredith selected for me were all bulls-eyes: Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die.
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In love with my stocking loot.
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...and lots and lots of books.
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...."B" belt....
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Other gifts included at bottle cap tripod...
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I love NY rat-shirt!
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Then back at home Meredith and I exchanged presents.
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Here's the Xmas Dinner pic. Jordan, Jeanine, Pappi, My mom, Dave and Pat Litte and Mer and me.
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After we were done opening presents, we had a contest to see who could turn the Christmas tree on from the greatest distance (the tree's hooked up to a clapper, remember?). Here's me celebrating my win all the way from across the room. My dad said my ability to clap the loudest probalby had something to do with my "callused palms." Whatever that means. hahaha.
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(I only got red sparkle-glue on mine.)
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Here's me with my comedy shirt from Aunt Barb and Uncle Tom!
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Woooo!
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...and here's me and Mer. (You love my Christmas sweater - go on, say it).
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I lost.
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I'll kick this entry off in Meredith's apartment with a re-cap of a few of the presents I received - here are my glow in the dark skull socks!
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"Now throw your hands in the air and scream!"
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For Christmas day, my grandparents and one of my mom's sister's family (The Carricks) came to our house. Christmas dinner in the house y'all. When I say "Hey," you say "Ho!" Now when I say "Je" you say "sus!"
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That evening we all put on our most festivest Christmas sweaters (check out the bright green v-neck I dug up in my dad's closet)...
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The Battjer Treat Hounds.
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...and packed in the car to go to south Jersey for our annual Christmas Eve with my great uncle and aunt Walt and Ann (You know the drill by now, we do it every year (. Here's the backseat crizzew: me, mom and Brett's girlfriend Amy.
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I managed to net a much larger fish - check me out holding my fancy "Learn to Speak Spanish" software that I asked for.

Dad to me a few weeks later: "So, is the Spanish software working?"
Me: "Yes."
My Dad: "En espanol, por favor." Me: "Si."
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...and my Aunt Ann.
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Here's me getting ready to open my one present (from mom).
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Sharing the Magic of Unwrapping a Present Together.
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This photo is the one we went with for the Photo Greeting Card. The rule was that when you smiled, both your top and bottom rows of teeth had to be visible. Otherwise it wasn't a true "Holiday Cheer" smile.
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Barlow hears the ocean, Dzija & Amy hold the fish as I play 'Jingle Bells' on a conch shell for visiting neighbor-dog Benson.
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The Construction-Themed Holiday Shot. (At this point, we'd been renovating our loft space for the last 6 months and one of these seemed appropos.) Dzija with googles and expanding foam insullation, Amy with extension cord, Barlow with dry-wall gun and helmet, me with cordless impact nail gun.
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I love presents!
I edited together this montage of some choice cuts of the hits from the evening. (My favorite moment is Fatty's expression at 3:20) Enjoy! Track listing:
1. Christmas Wrapping
2. I Can't Go for That
3. Christmas Wrapping (part 2)
4. Head Over Heels
5. Plush
6. Peace on Earth / Ziggy Stardust
7. Let's Go
8. Fairytale Of New York
9. Creep
10. Don't You Want Me
11. Do They Know It's Christmas?