"OMG you're Jewish AND you celebrate Christmas??? That must be SO nice!"

Uh, yeah, I guess. I'm pretty confident this happens to me, and people like me every. SINGLE. Winter. Yes, my Mother is Jewish. No, my father is not. So I do happen to be in that weird little intra-religious limbo.

This Winter season, I will have had the honor of celebrating Hanukkah with my beautiful roomies on campus, (props to you guys for the adorable gifts each night) and spending the Christmas season with my family at home during the most wonderful time of the year. Although it is not the most common occurrence, being able to enjoy both of these cultures is equally as amazing. There may not be a designated 'Hanukkah" section in Macy's for your holiday shopping needs, but that doesn't mean it still isn't celebrated.

One of the best things about being able to celebrate both is the amount of culture that I have had the pleasure of experiencing in my life. Fortunately, I have been able to trot back and forth across this little lawn of religion. I have the cutest collection of Menorahs in my house, probably in my closet next to my mini Christmas tree. I shop for presents to put near the dreidels, but also have a dreidel ornament for my family's tree.

One of the misconceptions people often have, and I'm referring to the reactions kids gave in elementary school, was that you get double the presents. Now, this is not necessarily true. In my family, we dedicated the gift giving to Christmas, because it seemed like a bigger deal to do all the unwrapping at one time on Christmas morning.

But now, realizing it more than ever, is that the things in our lives, (or just me) that we desire, are less material and more things that can't be bought. Just the thought of being home, and the ability to be with my family and those that I care about most during the most wonderful time of the year is such an amazing present. And maybe I have college to thank for that, since I haven't been home for longer than one week at a time, but it is definitely something that I will never take advantage of again.

Another beautiful thing about being inter-religious or whatever term you would like to coin to categorize this, is that I have traditions on both sides of the family. On my mom's side, I have the privilege of celebrating Hanukkah with, sometimes during the Thanksgiving season when we are in New England, and can exchange gifts and say the blessing together, others when all that's needed is a little card in the mail, usually accompanied with a bag of gelt or a little present.

On my dad's side, every year the entire gang gets together at my Grandparent's house for a big dinner and gift exchange, all in front of the most family orientated/decorated Christmas tree known to man. If there was a picture of total holiday happiness, this would be it. Even all of the family dogs get presents each year.

So next time you meet someone that maybe has one, two, or three different religions going on. (Yea, I'm not sure how that would work but work with me here) take a second to appreciate all of the different traditions they most likely have. Maybe it's not all about the presents or the gelt or the money, maybe it's about the extra holiday where they get to catch up with family members and sip on tea or make brownies with their Grandma. Maybe it's about seeing your Grandpa's face when he opens your gift, or throwing the wrapping paper across the room like a snowball, and passing the Shammas to light all the candles on the last night of Hanukkah.

If you're asking me, with all of the bias that I can use to say this, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that we are the luckiest of all.

Merry Christmakkuh, and a Happy New Kwanzaa.