About the Next Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy ...

So far, I have only had one submission for this upcoming carnival. I realize that today is supposed to be the deadline for the carnival. Since I haven't received very many submissions, I will still accept submissions that are submitted tomorrow as well.

Christmas Catch-up ...

As I haven't had time to write posts for the last five days, I've decided to play catch-up with this entry and include the past entries in this post.

When I was in elementary school, each classroom would have a Christmas party on one of the last few days before the Christmas break. Usually, we would make Christmas ornaments for our parents, and maybe have some snacks. As I got older and went to Middle and High school, I didn't have classrooms that had parties. Instead, my classmates and I would either watch a movie or would make stuff such as Christmas decorations or little Christmas boxes. In my German classes, we would make Christmas cards in German for our parents. As far as I can remember, most of the schools that I attended did not have any Christmas pageants. When I attended my second high school, the school had a Christmas concert in the gym. I don't know if one would consider it a Christmas pageant, but I believe that is the closest that I have come to one. ...

As for Christmas celebrations or Christmas services, the churches that my family attended always had a Christmas Eve service. I have only been to a couple of Christmas Eve services. At Ward's, the first church my family attended, they had an evening service. The pews would be decorated with garland-wrapped poles and lit candles on top. From what I can remember of the service I attended, the sermon was on Jesus' birth. In addition to a Christmas Eve service, Ward's had a Midnight New Year's Eve service, but I never went to one of the services. After my family moved, we attended another church. This church had at least two evening Christmas Eve services. Again, the sermon was on Jesus' birth, but there would be music at the services. A couple of times, my mom played the piano for the services. Another difference was that all of the attendees held candles that were lit during the service. (Yes, even kids were allowed to hold candles, but the parents kept an eye on them. They were only lit for a couple of minutes, and then they were blown out.) In addition to holding candles, we would also sing songs. ...

As for stockings, both my brother and I had stockings. We did not hang our stocking up every year, but when we did, we hung on the mantle of the fireplace. The few times that we did hang up our stockings, our stockings were filled with small presents, like socks or movies. Of course, the presents in our stockings were not the only the presents we got. We did get other presents. ...

Speaking of presents, they had to be bought. Until the past couple of years, I didn't really buy Christmas presents. I don't know when my parents went shopping as I never went looking for my parents' hiding place for the presents. I only started to buy gifts a few years ago, and when I did, I bought gifts at book sales on my school's campus. I guess you could say that I bought gifts early since the sales were at least a couple of weeks before my school went on Christmas break. ...

When it comes to Christmas, though, I don't associate remembering dead relatives with Christmas. I don't visit cemeteries at Christmas time, since my ancestors are buried in cemeteries to far away from home. As for remembering deceased relatives, we would talk about fond memories that we had of them. Of course, we did not just talk about relatives. At one Christmas dinner, we reminisced about one of the pastors at Ward's who had passed away just a few days before that Christmas. ...

As for music, we listened to Christmas music in the car and on the radio on days before Christmas and on Christmas. (I don't have a favorite Christmas song, but I like several of the Christmas songs.) We did not go caroling, although one year a group of neighborhood children went door to door caroling. ...

As you can see, I've had quite a bit of catching up to do. Hopefully, I'll be able to contribute to the next two entries.

Day 21 Posted!

Day 21 of the Advent meme has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!

New Poll Created!

A new poll has been created! The question for this poll is, "Where in the British Isles are your ancestors from?" The choices for this poll are:

• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Ireland
• Other Islands

You can choose more than one choice, and you have about a week to vote. Enjoy!

Poll Results

The poll is now closed and the results are in! The question for this poll was, "Where in Southern Europe are your ancestors from?" Two people voted, and the results are:

• Spain - 1 vote
• Portugal - 0 votes
• Italy - 1 vote
• Greece - 0 votes
• Other Balkan Peninsula countries - 0 votes

To those who voted, thank you for voting. Please keep an eye out for the next poll. Enjoy!

20th Day of the Avent Meme Posted!

The advent meme for day twenty has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!

Day 19 of the Advent Meme Posted!

The 19th entry of the advent meme has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!

Day 18 of the Advent Meme Posted!

The 18th day of the advent meme has been posted. You can read it here. Enjoy!
(Again, I did not have time to write an article for this day.)

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The carnival of genealogy has been posted! The topic for the next edition is genealogical New Year's resolutions. Enjoy!

Day 17 of the Advent Meme Posted!

The 17th day of the advent meme has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!
(Again, I did not have time to write an entry.)

Day 16 of the Advent Meme Posted!

The entry for day sixteen of the advent meme has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy! (I didn't submit an entry this time. I would have liked to submit one, but I did not have time.)

Day 15 of the Advent Meme Posted!

Day 15 of the Advent meme has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!

Carol of the Blogs ...

FootnoteMaven has come up with a meme where bloggers post their favorite Christmas carols. I haven't been able to post my favorite carol as I haven't had much time lately, but now I do have a little more time.

One of my favorite carols is Silent Night, Holy Night:

Silent night, Holy night,

All is calm, all is bright,

'Round yon Virgin Mother and Child

Holy Infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, Holy night,

Shepherds quake at the sight,

Glories stream from heaven afar,

Heav'nly hosts sing Alleluia;

Christ the Savior is born,

Christ the Savior is born.

Silent night, Holy night,

Son of God, love's pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face,

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

This song was originally written in German. For more information on the song and the lyrics in German and English, go to this website: http://www.cvc.org/christmas/sinite.htm. (Note: I got the lyrics of the song from the website above.) Have a Merry Christmas, and Enjoy!

Day 14 of Advent Meme Posted!

Day 14 of the Advent meme has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!

Day 13 of Meme Posted!

Day 13 of the Advent meme has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!

New Poll Created!

A new poll has been created! The question for this poll is: "Where in Southern Europe are your ancestors from?" The choices for this poll are:

• Spain
• Portugal
• Italy
• Greece
• Other Balkan Peninsula countries

You can choose more than one category when voting. The poll will close in about a week.

Gingerbread Houses ...

One of my most favorite things to do around Christmas time was to make a gingerbread house. Most of the homes that I made were done when I was in elementary school. I always loved putting the icing and candy on the house. I remember mainly that I ate the candy after I had taken the house home and the icing had harden. I never really finished eating the gingerbread house that I made, and my mom always stated that icing was unhealthy and inedible. Of course, that never stopped me from eating some of the icing.

My family knew that I liked making gingerbread houses, and a couple of times I received a gingerbread house kit for Christmas. And, yes, I did put them together. I haven't made a gingerbread house in a few years since I've been up to college and have not had the time to make one. Either way, if I ever get the time to do so, I'll make one.

Reminder ...

I just want to remind everyone that the due date for the next Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy is December 21. The topic for the next carnival is on Christmas traditions, either traditions that your ancestors from Central and Eastern Europe passed down in the family or Christmas traditions of countries from Central and Eastern Europe.

Fruitcake ...

I think in my life I have only eaten fruitcake once, and I know I did not like it. I think it might have been given to my mom as a gift from work, but I can't say so for sure. Personally, I have never received fruitcake as a gift, and I don't believe that I will ever give fruitcake as a gift. I don't think my parents have ever given fruitcake as a gift, but then I could be wrong. I know my mom does not like fruitcake. I think fruitcake must one of the most loathed foods out there as every comedy on TV has some type of skit that revolves around fruitcake and Christmas. At least it seems that way to me.

Day 12 of the Advent Meme Posted

Day twelve of the Advent meme has been posted. You can read it here. Enjoy!