Ice Skating-
Wells:
Ice skating is almost always wildly embarrassing and extremely overrated. The cold temperatures coupled with the inability to properly glide on the ice never fail to leave me disheveled. Also, it severely damages my ego when I see a five-year-old whipping out impressive spins and jumps while I’m gripping onto the wall for dear life. I will never understand how ice skating is seen as a “fun” holiday event as it has never once brought a smile to my face that wasn’t out of pure fear. For these reasons, I give ice skating a two out of five.
Saley: Ice skating is one of the best winter activities. With the ability to skate inside and outside, it is perfect for any weather! It can be done alone, on a date, with a group of friends, with family, etc. Even if someone doesn’t know how to skate, they can use the wall or items that the business has. However, the hockey players that go to free skate are too chaotic. They almost crash into everyone and cause wrecks on the rink. Overall, ice skating is fun but watch out for the reckless skaters. I give ice skating four and a half out of five.
Gingerbread House Building-
Wells:
In theory, gingerbread house building sounds like a cute and easy activity to do with friends. Fair warning, it’s not. Every time I either lose my patience due to the unstable structure of the cookie or end up with icing thrown in my direction. On second thought, that may just be my friends. Regardless, gingerbread houses are useless because they never look good enough to be put out for decoration, but they are also never eaten. For the mess they create and the lack of practicality, I give gingerbread house building a three out of five.
Saley: I love building gingerbread houses! Competing with friends or family can create an additional fun element to it. With the store-bought kits, the icing can be difficult to stick to the actual gingerbread pieces. An easy way that has increased the likeability of this activity is making homemade icing. Another great thing about building gingerbread houses is the creativity of it, like the use of the different candies to look like windows, doors, etc. The worst part of building gingerbread houses is the cleanup of it. For each color of icing, I need a different butter knife and piping bag. Icing manages to be feet away from the workspace even if I am trying to keep things clean. I give gingerbread house building four out of five.
Secret Santa-
Wells:
Secret Santa gift exchanges are probably in my top 10 holiday activities. The secrecy of not knowing who has you along with the excitement of buying a gift for an unsuspecting friend is an unmatched feeling. It genuinely brings everyone a laugh when we see what each person got and take turns deciphering who had whom. However, curiosity tends to get the best of me and I end up figuring out who everyone has before the event even starts. Secret Santas are a fun and easy way to spend time with friends while also celebrating the holiday spirit. For these reasons, I give Secret Santa gift exchanges a four out of five.
Saley: Secret Santa is one of the worst holiday activities. Even if everyone agrees to not tell anyone who they have, everyone knows who has them by the time the gift exchange date comes around. Additionally, there are some individuals who spend way above the agreed amount and some who grab things from their house because they forgot about it. However, with a big friend group, I understand the logical standpoint of doing Secret Santa to spend money on one person and not on a gift for everyone in the group. I give Secret Santa gift exchanges a two out of five.
