{"id":382,"date":"2014-12-22T03:58:15","date_gmt":"2014-12-22T03:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/?p=382"},"modified":"2014-12-22T04:02:17","modified_gmt":"2014-12-22T04:02:17","slug":"merry-christmas-vs-happy-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/2014\/12\/22\/merry-christmas-vs-happy-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays!<\/p>\n<p>I have always loved saying Merry Christmas to people, but I noticed over the last couple of years I would also say Happy Holidays to people. Especially if that&#8217;s what they said to me first. I mean it was just as easy to say Happy Holidays as it was Merry Christmas, but it wasn&#8217;t as much fun to say. <\/p>\n<p>This year I decided to do something different. I went to see Kirk Cameron&#8217;s movie <a href=\"http:\/\/www.savingchristmas.com\">Saving Christmas<\/a> and I loved it. By the end of the movie I decided wherever I went, whatever store I went to I would wish someone a Merry Christmas. I have done this all month. When I was done paying for something I would wish the cashier a Merry Christmas. If I saw someone in passing I would wish them a Merry Christmas. If some said Happy Holidays to me I would reply with Merry Christmas. <\/p>\n<p>Do you know what happened every time I wished someone a Merry Christmas this month? Their faces lit up, they smiled a big smile and they said &#8220;Merry Christmas to you too!&#8221; It was an awesome feeling to see those faces light up when they heard me say Merry Christmas to them!  I wish more people would say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays. Why? Because Merry Christmas has a much warmer feeling to it and it puts a smile on a persons face. So with that said. <\/p>\n<p>Merry Christmas everyone!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/IMG_0453.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/IMG_0453.jpg?w=640\" alt=\"IMG_0453.JPG\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays! I have always loved saying Merry Christmas to people, but I noticed over the last [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[19,107,113,112],"series":[],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-weekly-thoughts","tag-christmas","tag-happy","tag-holidays","tag-merry"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"anchor":{"key":"anchor","url":"","label":"Anchor","class":"anchor","icon":"anchor.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/feed\/podcast\/default-podcast","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"AVE55Sl5tk\"><a href=\"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/2014\/12\/22\/merry-christmas-vs-happy-holidays\/\">Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/2014\/12\/22\/merry-christmas-vs-happy-holidays\/embed\/#?secret=AVE55Sl5tk\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays&#8221; &#8212; #HEYYOU\" data-secret=\"AVE55Sl5tk\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Jhx8-6a","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3110,"url":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/2020\/01\/10\/i-am-a-walking-contradiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":382,"position":0},"title":"I Am A Walking Contradiction","author":"SrKbear","date":"January 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was looking at our Christmas tree and I thought \"the holidays are over.\" Then I looked under the tree and I thought how bare the tree looked without any wrapped Christmas presents. It looked rather depressing. All I could think was how sad it was that it's all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My weekly thoughts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My weekly thoughts","link":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/Fun\/my-weekly-thoughts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_1417.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_1417.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_1417.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_1417.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_1417.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3378,"url":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/2020\/12\/12\/christmas-then-and-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":382,"position":1},"title":"Christmas Then and Now","author":"SrKbear","date":"December 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hey, It's Christmas time! I thought about writing a post about decorating the house and sending out Christmas cards and then I realized I already did those posts a couple of years ago. And then I started to think about what Christmas was like growing up, what it was like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My weekly thoughts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My weekly thoughts","link":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/Fun\/my-weekly-thoughts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Christmas-then-and-now-featured-.jpg?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Christmas-then-and-now-featured-.jpg?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Christmas-then-and-now-featured-.jpg?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Christmas-then-and-now-featured-.jpg?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":687,"url":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/2015\/12\/20\/winter-weather\/","url_meta":{"origin":382,"position":2},"title":"Winter Weather","author":"SrKbear","date":"December 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Winters in Upstate New York are COLD. That is really the best way to describe them. Since I love the cold weather, this isn\u2019t a problem for me. I love it when it snows here! Call me odd, but I really do love the snow. I love watching the snow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My weekly thoughts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My weekly thoughts","link":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/Fun\/my-weekly-thoughts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Outdoor Tree in Snow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_1585-e14506525361181.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_1585-e14506525361181.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_1585-e14506525361181.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2378,"url":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/2018\/07\/30\/my-favorite-holiday\/","url_meta":{"origin":382,"position":3},"title":"My Favorite Holiday","author":"SrKbear","date":"July 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking back on my childhood I think it\u2019s safe to say Christmas was my favorite holiday. I really liked all holidays growing up, but Christmas had to be without a doubt my favorite. When I was little my family used to go to my grandma Christiano\u2019s house for Christmas Eve.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My weekly thoughts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My weekly thoughts","link":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/Fun\/my-weekly-thoughts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/554606175.314034.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/554606175.314034.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/554606175.314034.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/554606175.314034.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/554606175.314034.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2530,"url":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/2018\/12\/01\/christmas-markets-in-strasbourg-france\/","url_meta":{"origin":382,"position":4},"title":"Christmas Markets in Strasbourg France","author":"SrKbear","date":"December 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh my goodness! The Christmas Markets in Strasbourg, France are Amazing! \u00a0 But before I tell you about them let\u2019s go back a couple of months. So back in September my husband suggested going to Strasbourg, France, Germany and Switzerland for Thanksgiving to do something different this year. We figured\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My weekly thoughts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My weekly thoughts","link":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/Fun\/my-weekly-thoughts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Christmas.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Christmas.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Christmas.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Christmas.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Christmas.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6791,"url":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/2024\/12\/17\/my-first-christmas-without-my-parents-it-hurts\/","url_meta":{"origin":382,"position":5},"title":"My First Christmas Without My Parents, It Hurts","author":"SrKbear","date":"December 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I love Christmas! Christmas is my favorite holiday. It always has been and probably always will be. Growing up I loved spending time with my parents and my relatives. I loved going Christmas shopping with my parents and I loved spending Christmas Eve with my dad's family and Christmas Day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My weekly thoughts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My weekly thoughts","link":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/Fun\/my-weekly-thoughts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_6903-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_6903-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_6903-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_6903-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_6903-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":386,"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathleensmith.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}