Nerd in Another City

If you’ve seen this week’s episode of my web series, then you’d know that my family and I love traditions. And we have a lot of unique things we do to celebrate Christmas. (If you haven’t seen it yet, CLICK HERE.)

Whenever I tell people what we do on Christmas, I get 1 of 2 reactions. People are either really confused and borderline appalled… “You do WHAT on Christmas? Well, I nevah!” Or else they want to join in the fun… “Is your family looking to adopt a 27 year old from Sacramento?” (PS, the answer is always yes. Everyone is welcome with our family.)

It all started 6 years ago when my brothers, my cousins and I wanted to take some photos for our family’s Christmas presents. And instead of going to a JCPenny’s and taking boring, “normal” family portraits, we decided to get dressed up in Victorian garb and take pictures in our Granny’s 143 year old historical home, Eastbank.

When we took a look at the photos together we realized a few things. #1. How much fun we had. #2. How much fun we all could have if we did it again at Christmas. and #3. How much more fun it would be if we had a different theme every year. And why not start with Harry Potter.

As often happens in our family, things spiraled from there. Next thing we knew, a green screen was put up, a costume contest was started and friends and neighbors started showing up at our door in costume to join the fun. And let me tell you… it’s a lot of fun!! The best part is that every member of my family gets it. We are all a bunch of nerds. Once one of us gets into something we start to share it and then it spreads like wildfire. My mom read the Harry Potter books and fell in love with them. Then she recommended them to me and my brother. Next we told our cousin and aunt that they had to read them as well. And by then it was all over. We were a family full of Potterheads. Which is why we picked Harry Potter as the theme for our first themed family Christmas.

And the rest is history, Narnia (2010), Star Wars (2011), Lord of the Rings (2012), Doctor Who (2013), Superheroes and Villains (2014) and next year we will have Star Trek Christmas.

So if you’re in the greater Orlando area next year around Christmas time and you have a Star Trek uniform hanging in your closet just waiting to be worn, then come on over, take pics in front of our green screen and have a Christmas you will never forget!!  And to see the pictures from Christmas’ past head over to our family Facebook page: CLICK HERE

And check out the Buzzfeed post HERE.