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A Holly Jolly Giveaway, part one!

All this Christmas music I’ve been listening to lately has put me into the cheeriest mood.

Or maybe it is just because Jon brought me home a Caramel Brulee latte last night since Starbucks is doing a buy one, get one free on all holiday drinks and I’m still feeling the effects of happiness in a cup. Nathan has been at his best to ruin this mood, but I WILL HOLD ON TO IT.

At least, this was my little pep talk I gave myself as I went to the mailbox this afternoon, leaving my disobedient son in the house so I could have a few minutes in the cold air by myself.

Two will not go down as my favorite age, I’m nearly one hundred percent certain.

Whatever the case, I think it’s about time for a few fun giveaways for the Christmas season!! Between now and December 14th, I will be giving away an autographed book a week!

Merry Christmas, friends!

First up for giveaway, is the first installment in Maya’s story:

Want to win Cool Beans? Leave a comment letting me know your favorite Christmas tradition!!

And if you’re ready to start getting in the Christmas spirit, check out my e-novella, The Christmas Watch, on a Kindle, smart phone or computer near you!!

I’ll pick the winner of Cool Beans on Monday! Good luck everyone! 🙂
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55 thoughts on “A Holly Jolly Giveaway, part one!”

  1. My favorite Christmas tradition is having family over for dinner.We play games (family trivia, word search containing family members names, and family bingo). We even have gag gifts that we use to play "musical gift" (like musical chairs);last person with the gift gets to keep it.

  2. I love spending time with my family and the dinner we have, but my favorite tradition is the preparation. Decorating the tree, hanging up stockings and wrapping the gifts is such a treasured time knowing my family will be blessed by it all.
    Go Jon for bringing you home a latte, how sweet!
    Thanks for the giveaway(s), Erynn! Cool Beans is on my TBR list and I'll definitely be checking out The Christmas Watch 🙂
    Blessings,
    Kara Grant

  3. My favorite Christmas tradition is having my aunt and her family come to visit. It's an amazing time with her and I love it each year!
    And I also love driving through town and looking at all the houses around that are decorated.

  4. My favorite Christmas tradition is when my family goes out on Christmas Eve and we drive around looking at luminarias and Christmas lights. Then we come home and eat dinner together. After we have dinner we read the story of Jesus's birth and then we open our presents. It's something I always look forward to.

  6. First, I want to say I'm sorry about Nathan. I'm actually working on a scene with a disobedient little boy in my next book, which is kind of ironic. 🙂

    Ok, my favorite tradition. It's probably singing in my church choir in our annual Christmas cantata, plus accompanying the children's choir and acting! Music is a huge part of my life, so playing/singing Christmas music is also big for me. 🙂

    Thanks for doing a giveaway!

  7. My favorite family tration is on Christmas eve we go to church for the service then come home, eat snack foods and then we open our gifts from our grandparents. after that we watch the Nativity story. Once the movie is over we go to bed and hardly sleep 🙂 and we wake up at 6 in the morning and open our santa gifts then my mom makes breakfest. Once breakfest is done we go back downstairs and take turns opening the rest of the gifts from family! 🙂 The rest of they day we watch christmas movies, and relax! :))

  8. My favorite Christmas tradition is my family's cookie day. all the girls in my family, aunts, cousins, etc pick 1 or 2 desserts to bake together. I have made chocolate covered pretzels 4 years in a row 🙂 mainly so I can sneak all the other cookies 😉

  9. My favorite Christmas tradition is the chance to buy presents for all my favorite people at one time. I think one of my love languages is gift giving. I love finding the perfect gift for every person I really really care about.

    And the moments when Christmas music is playing and I am able to pause and drink everything in: how amazing God is to have sent His son, and how blessed he had made my life.

  10. My favorite Christmas tradition is when on Christmas Eve, we all go to the movies together (in the afternoon), then get pizza for dinner. Then my family goes to the church service in the evening, and then we go to our local Cookout restaurant and all get milkshakes and drive around town looking at Christmas lights. 🙂

    -Oh, and will the book be a print copy? or Kindle version? (or do we get to choose if we win?)

  16. My favorite Christmas tradition is putting up the Christmas tree with my mom, and then watching Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation together until we cry from laughing so hard!!

  18. My favorite Christmas tradition is putting up the tree on Thanksgiving Day (…or a few days before) with Christmas carols playing in the background. Some of the best memories.
    -Allie S.

  19. my favourite christmas tradition is when my mums side of the family all come over for dinner on christmas night because alot of them live more than 3 hours away and that is the only time of year we get to see them. sharing presents and just enjoying each others company. heres to seeing them in less than 6 weeks 😀

  21. My favourite tradition is the Dutch Christmas song ('Ere zij God') that my church sings every year. So awesome.

  22. My church does an annual Christmas service and it's all lit up with candles and twinkle lights and just magical. That is my absolute favorite thing to do every year. =)

  23. My favorite Christmas tradition began with my parents before I was even born. When they first started dating, they began what would become the yearly family tradition of visiting Natchitoches to see Christmas lights. Originally we lived only 30 min. away…30 min. away from streets of lights, shopping, and funnel cakes. Though we live hours away now, we still make the trip every year without fail, complete with a funnel cake and hot chocolate!

  24. My favorite Christmas tradition is when my family comes home from church on Christmas Eve and drinks eggnog, eats cookies, reads the story of the birth of Jesus, and opens one gift apiece. So magical!

  25. My favorite Christmas tradition is when we open our presents we have clues about what is inside and we try to guess before we open them.

  26. Hard to choose just one favorite tradition, since Christmas is my favorite time of the year, but I guess I'd have to say going to church for Midnight Mass on Christmas. There is something so wonderfully peaceful at that time of night that makes it easy to picture the original Christmas night.

  27. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is decorating Christmas cookies with my siblings, listening to Christmas music, buying presents, and just being with the family. 🙂 I love your blog and your books!

  29. My mom and I go to sing Händel's Messiah every year at an old church downtown, then we treat ourselves to a giant slice of chocolate cake from a chocolate café nearby 🙂

    Also, on Christmas Eve, my parents read the Christmas story to us and light small candles as the story progresses. Then, at midnight, they light the biggest candle to signify Jesus' birth, and we sing and wish each other a merry Christmas!

  30. We don't have any of our very own yet, but are thinking of ones to try & see if they stick. We're considering chopping down our own tree as a family this year & maybe doing elf on a shelf next year…have you tried that with your little guy? It's supposed to help behaviour during the Christmas season! I'm sure he's just learning & testing all boundries is part of that. I'll get to go through what you are in a year;-) He sure is cute though!!

  31. We have the Christmas tradition of going to the movies after dinner on Christmas Day. It's always been good to get out of the house for a little while and enjoy a fun, family friendly movie. 🙂

  32. Erynn,
    I don't think you'll quite agree with my favorite Christmas tradition! My family does not start listening to Christmas music/watching Christmas movies until the day after Thanksgiving. When everyone is posting about listening to Christmas music, my family is counting down the days and making plans about how we'll attack the Christmas spirit first! We have this tradition to a tee…we have a systematic map of which order we need to watch movies and which playlists to listen to first! My favorite part is when any of us bring a new friend over…we all GROAN if they have never heard of our classic, like "White Christmas" or "Christmas in Connecticut" or "I'll Be Home for Christmas". Our Christmas season is dedicated to bringing people to the light and convert them to the Christmas Classics!
    Sarah sarbear19 @ gmail.com

  34. My sister and I like to lay under the Christmas tree and look up at all the lights. It's so pretty. And then of course we check out what kind of presents are under the tree.

  35. My mom always made a tomato and cheese noodle casserole on Christmas Eve. This was her "easy" meal for the big day before Christmas. I love making this casserole on Christmas Eve. Everyone enjoys it for dinner and best of all–there's lots left for snacking after midnight mass!

  36. I love Christmas too! I love the weather (I'm in MN so that means snow from Thanksgiving on)! I love the music (currently I'm alternating between Josh Groban's "Noel" & Dave Barnes' "A Very Merry Christmas" on repeat basically non-stop). I love that its a time for family. I recently moved back home & I am really excited to be home for the holidays this year! During that holidays we decorate early and often. We bake tons of Christmas cookies & decorate them together. We hang stockings on the stair case & get little "12 days of Christmas" presents every morning. It is amazing how a little piece of chocolate & an unexpected little gift brightens up your morning!

  37. My favorite Christmas tradition is putting up the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving and buying a new Christmas ornament every year! Oh yeah and I can't forget making Christmas cookies every year too!

  38. I have two favorite traditions. When I was little my dad was the manager of a local grocery store and after my family had unwrapped their gifts my dad would take me to his store to hang out since he needed to go to make sure everything was ok at the store. It was so much fun walking around the empty store, playing with the PA system and other equipment. My second favorite tradition is one my mom started. Every year my sisters and I will get an ornament tying in with our interests that year. An example will be my tea pot because I liked tea parties; Anne of Green Gables because I loved to read that book, etc. Over the years we have gotten many, many ornaments so now its fun to see our lives enshrined on the Christmas tree!

  39. Hey Erynn! I'm new here and I love your books, I am now reading ReMatch for the 4th time,
    Im sorry to say that I hate christmas music! I love TobyMac though:P
    My favorite part of the ReMatch is when they all have Princess Bride names.
    And I was wondering (Boy,I'm long-winded:) So I was wondering if you could havde like a livestream soon or something..
    Please answer these questions! Im dying here:P
    Evie

  40. Oh and PS please update Double shots discription! Thanks!
    (And maybe a chapter of Paige Torn on the book for us followers?:)
    You would be the worlds-best-author!
    Does sucking up work?:)
    Evie:)

  41. I love watching Christmas movies with my family. Every year my mom and I watch White Christmas and the entire family gathers around for Christmas Vacation. We also take my nephew around to see Christmas lights. So fun!

  43. My favorite Christmas tradition is making sugar cookies every year at my grandparents house. All the grandchildren come and we take turns rolling out the dough. Everyone picks out their favorite cookie cutters and gets to have one pan full. My grandma makes her homemade frosting in the pastry bags and we all get to decorate the cookies. Then my grandma picks out the ones she wants to keep (some from everyone)and we get to take the rest home! We play Christmas music and get to spend the whole day together. Afterwards, my grandparents make a delicious meal for everyone!

  44. My favorite tradition is watching Christmas movies with the kids while putting up the tree. This year, we are going to start another tradition of picking out 25 books, wrapping each of them in christmas paper and put them under the tree. Then, each night, we choose one book out of the basket, unwrap it and read that book before bed 🙂

  45. Ooh, so hard to pick a favorite. I love the first playing of Christmas music. But I guess the best part was always setting up the tree while the Evie Carlson "Come on Ring Those Bells" RECORD (yes, the big old records) plays. Then playing i-spy with the Christmas ornaments in the colorful Christmas tree lighted room.

  46. My favorite Christmas tradition is waking up on Christmas morning and placing the baby Jesus figurine in the manger of our Nativity Scene under the tree. This is always such a beautiful reminder of the real reason we are celebrating!

    Melissa O.

  47. Well i posted this comment on Goodreads, but obviously that was the wrong place so i'll post it here.
    My favorite Christmas tradition would probably be decorating and choosing a tree. As a family, we got to a Christmas tree farm and argue forever over the perfect tree. Once we've decided, my dad and brother cut down the tree. While they shake the loose needles, we get hot chocolate. Then we go home and put up the tree. My brother, sister, and I walk around in Santa hats hanging ornaments after my dad puts the lights on. Then we continue to decorate the rest of the house and I help my dad decorate the outside.
    This is my first year in college, and I told my mom that when I come home for Thanksgiving we have to decorate because I don't want to miss out on it.
    Just wanted to let you know how much I love your books. I've read every single one. The first book that I ever read of yours was Miss Match. I came across it at Goodwill, read it in a couple of days, and immediately ordered the rest of the series. I do not own the Maya Davis series because I borrowed them but I've been wanting to get them for a while now. Thanks for the chance to win Cool Beans!

    Jessica

  48. My favorite Christmas traditions is finding the pickle. Every year, for as long as I can remember, my parents have hidden a pickle ornament on the tree on Christmas day. My brother and I race to find it and the winner receives a present the whole family can enjoy together (usually a family movie, game to play, or a gift card the whole family can enjoy to a restaurant). I love racing against my brother to try and find an ornament that blends in so well. Some years it feels like we spend hours looking for that pickle. 🙂

    Sarah

  49. My favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas breakfast. Every Christmas morning the entire family drives over to my Grandmother's house for breakfast. She makes enough food to feed an army and all ten of us squeeze into her tiny kitchen to sit at her table originally meant to only seat four. It is one of the few times that the entire family gets together and I love the chance to see the whole family and play with my little cousin who is turning four this year.

  51. My favorite Christmas tradition is going to a tree farm and cutting down fresh Christmas trees every year with my grandfather. This will be my first Christmas without him and we are going to continue on with the tradition.

  52. My dad and I always go shopping for my mom's gift (from him) on Christmas Eve. Then we bring home Kentucky Fried Chicken from the next city over (it's not in my hometown) and sometimes we'll go to church. I love it even though I'm all grown up and don't live at home any more (31 here!)

  53. My favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas Eve. We continually snack on food throughout the day, make last minute runs to the store (mostly for dad), then gather in the kitchen to enjoy favorite finger foods for dinner. This is followed by the most exciting part of all: opening the stockings by the fire, watching "The Grinch," and concluding with our favorite, George C. Scott's "A Christmas Carol." Merry Christmas!

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