Voted on by you, here are your Top 10 favorite Christmas movies:

1. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
2. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
3. Home Alone (1990)
4. Elf (2003)
5. White Christmas (1954)
6. Christmas Story, A (1983)
T7. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
T7. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) (TV)
9. Love Actually
10. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Honorable mention:
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1984), Holiday Inn (1942), Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Christmas Carol, A (1954), Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1983) (TV), Muppet Christmas Carol, The (1992), Santa Clause, The (1994)

#2 – PacNo5: Seattle, Oregon, and Vancouver – If you’ve been around me for more than 10 minutes this year, you’ve definitely heard me go on-and-on about the Pacific Northwest.

I’ll quit talking about this place soon. Maybe.

My impulse purchase of plane tickets to Seattle one Saturday morning was one of the best random decisions I ever made.

Nine fun-filled days in Seattle, Portland, Rural Washington and Oregon, plus a day in Vancouver.

This trip sparked the purchase of my mini-camera, which I now carry with me everywhere.

People have asked me: “What was your favorite part of the trip?”
- Eating salmon in the Space Needle?
- The drive to Mount St. Helens?
- Walking across that freaky swing bridge?

While those moments were all unbelievable… I’d have to say the best part was standing on the sand in Cannon Beach, Oregon in the shadow of Haystack Rock, staring at the Pacific Ocean.

There’s just something about knowing that you can stand in a spot for as long as you want, and nobody can tell you when to leave. That’s why I love to travel by myself. Not that it doesn’t get a little lonely every now and then, but when you travel solo, you not only control the trip, you control the amount of time spent reflecting on the things of the world, big and small.

Alright… enough with the goobie reflection time.

#3 – Leaving Mississippi – This event doesn’t make the top of the list because I wanted it to happen. It makes the top because it happened.

I never imagined that when my parents dragged me out of bed one weekday during my Junior year of high school to visit MC that it would have this much of an impact on my life. From being a four-year undergrad, to a last-minute offer for full-paid graduate school, to being asked to come on as a full-time staff member.

Aside from simply leaving MC, I left “friends.” I put the word friends in quotation marks because that is such a weak word to describe the unbelievable impact so many people in the Magnolia State had on my life. It wasn’t easy to leave, which is probably why I was back in town three of the first four weekends after I moved.

Who knows, I might just be back soon.

#4 – Relationships – Old friends, new friends, red friends, blue friends… 2005 was a year of mingling for sure.

Saturday nights at Schimmel’s. Late nights in Rankin County with the Pinelake crowd. The aforementioned “Wedding Bonanza.”

I made quite a bit a new friends from other colleges and universities… namely, Mississippi State. State folks are a different breed. They’re fun, accomodating, but they never quit talking about Starkville. No one knows why. But we’ll let that slide.

Weekends on the Pettus’ couch and guestbed were the norm. Extended lunches at Chik-fil-A and Two Sister’s. Nights at home yelling at the television over Laguna Beach.

But while a large number of individuals had a great impact on my life, a small group of inidividuals had a huge impact on my life.

You know who you are. Thanks.

#5 – Hurricane Katrina – I wouldn’t actually put this in a “best of” category. I consider more of a “most impact” story.

As Katrina neared, my area of Central Mississippi started to take notice. Darkness fell, the power blew, and rumors of descruction in Biloxi were picked up via our television… whose source of electricity was our car battery.

Days of gasless automobiles and cold-water-showers (if you had any water) were overshadowed by the fear and concern for our neighbors on the coast and in New Orleans.

The nights spent trying to fall asleep in the hot-hot Mississippi heat without an air conditioner. I’ll never forget the erie silence of the city, a silence only broken by the soft hums of portable generators in the distance.

I don’t know if-and-when I’ll ever not be slightly nervous everytime the weatherman uses the phrase “tropical storm.” When you experience a hurricane, even in it’s mildest form… it has an effect, both good and bad.

#6 – The Wedding Season That Was – I think it’s over… anyone else getting hitched? Anybody?

Good, but May is just four months away. If there wasn’t a wedding every weekend in 2005, then there was two weddings per weekend.

From Jackson to Jasper, from Atlanta to Auburn, from Clinton to Columbus… I’ve given out more rice than a Chineese buffett. But in all honesty, it was a wonderful year for weddings.

But, statistically, 50% will be divorced within 20 years.

I’m only kidding folks. I’m only kidding.

#7 – Chicago – In the most last-minute of random tag-along trips, I got to spend quality time with two of my favorite girls from my college days, and made a new friend as well.

Lindsey Box [facebook], Laura Pickard [facebook] and Mollie McCormick [facebook] and I braved the windy city during four glorius days in mid-October. It was cold, but we wore thick clothes. It was tight, but the girls slept three to a bed while I kept watch. But most of all, it was fun.

Good food, good music, good hang-out spot, good encounters with stars… good times.

#9 – The Presidential Innauguration – Fellow MC grad David Ash and I packed our bags for 3 fun-filled days of snow, politics, and de-icing of planes. Just David, myself, my DC pal Erin Rexroth… and 650,000 of our closest friends stood in the freezing DC snow and ice while “W” took office for another four years.

I got a solid minute of face-time on ABC’s Good Morning America as friends and family called my cellphone to ask, “Were you just blowing kisses at the entire nation?”

Yes. Yes, I was.

#10 – The Book is Back – This item is more of a process of 2005. I began reading again. Those of you who know me best know of my disdain for books. I just can’t believe that people waste so much time on one, single, book.

However, in 2005 my attitude changed a great deal. I started (started) more than 10 books, picked up mag subscriptions to Forbes and Fortune, and I’ve also found a spot in my day for massive reading of blogs and other online news articles.

Problem is, I’m a work-a-holic, so the thought of leaving my computer to focus on one single project still doesn’t appeal to me… until I do it, and again realize how much I love to read.

A Christmas Story – Where do I begin. I actually own a ‘Red Ryder B-B-Gun‘ as well as a ‘Leg Lamp.’ I don’t know what it is about this movie that captivates me every year. I can (but try not to) quote every line of this movie 10 minutes before it happens. I’m even on the fan email list of the individual who purchased the house used in the movie.

I love this movie… plain-and-simple. Random fact… I don’t own it, refuse to. It’s always a surprise to catch it running on TBS, TMC, or TNT.

It’s a Wonderful Life – What most people don’t know about this movie is that when it was first released on Christmas Day in 1946. It did such a horrible job at the box office that the studio who produced the film went bankrupt. Therefore, any television station who wanted to show the movie could do so without having to pay large royalties. That’s why it ended up showing up on television every five minutes until its popularity swelled, and NBC bought the rights.

“This is a very interesting situation!“

Miracle on 34th Street – “Which one?” you might say (if you know your Christmas movies). I like the Santa Claus of the 1947 movie better, but I like the ending of the 1994 movie better. However, they are both classics… you can’t go wrong on either one of them.

Home Alone – In my opinion, this is the Christmas movie that defines my generation. You remember those ads? “How many times have you seen Home Alone?” I still can’t get enough of this movie. The second one is great, but the first will always be a Christmas classic.

Elf – Take one part Christmas, and two parts Will Ferrell… and you’ve got yourself a new Christmas favorite. Too many one-liners to quote here. Just go see it, again and again.

“The yellow ones don’t stop.”

Prancer – When this little girl finds Santa’s lost ‘Prancer’, she also finds herself. You think I’m being cheesey, but just wait ’til you see this Christmas tear-jerker. There’s a ‘Prancer 2‘, but I’ve never seen it… and don’t plan to, as this Christmas classic can’t be beat.

Santa Claus, The Movie – This oh-so-cheesey 80′s movie is one of my favorites from my childhood. However, it loses it’s entertainment value as I grow older and simply serves as a nostalgic piece of my Christmas viewing.

I’m not the only one who had a b’day lately.

In case you missed it, the Internet turned 10-years-old last week. Yes, ten.

In honor of the big day, the Webby Awards have rated the top ten web moments that changed the world.

I’m sure over the next couple of years, more than half of these may fall off the. But for now, the list:

Number 1: The Dotcom Boom and Bust (1995-2001)

2 . The Drudge Report Breaks Lewinsky Scandal (1998)

3 . Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Named Time’s Man of the Year (December 1999)

4 . Elections Worldwide (2004)

5 . September 11th (2001)

6 . Asian Tsunami (2005)

7 . Napster Shut Down (July 2001)

8 . Live 8 on AOL (July 2005)

9 . Match.com Booms (2002)

10 . SARS Virus Discovered Online (2003)

The Webby Awards – 10 web moments that changed the world

#8 – Graduate School Highs & Lows – My journey to graduate school began in July of 2003 with hopes that it would end by August 2004. After MC asked me to come on as a full-time staffer, that date was pushed back to December 2005. But, as many of you have recently come to find out, I never recieved 3 emails I was supposed to ave recieved regarding my Comprehensive Exams (which are necessary for us Corp. Communication folks to graduate). Therefore… I have to wait until March of this year to take those comps… then I’ll be done.

But, once again, I know I’ll never regret the late night term papers and peeling through Supreme Court documents. This degree, when it’s done (even though it technically has been since July 2005) will be something I know that I worked to obtain