December 19, 2023 • 28 mins
As the holiday season approaches, we often find ourselves wrapped up in the warm embrace of tradition. But what happens when life throws us a curveball, and those cherished customs no longer fit our reality? This episode is a heartfelt journey through the evolution of holiday celebrations, from the silly quirks of a kickball team's Christmas to the profound impact of a loved one's illness on our festive routines. Laughter mingles with tears as we share stories of modifying time-honored traditions, proving that it's not only okay to adapt, but necessary for our happiness and stress management.
Join Kristelle and Jace for an episode that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the power of evolving traditions to bring us together in laughter, reflection, and love.
A Siarza Production
Hosted by Kristelle Siarza Moon & Jace Downey
Executive Producer: Kristelle Siarza Moon
Producer: Jace Downey
Video/Editing: Justin Otsuka
Watch episodes at siarza.com/siarza-podcast
Follow us on FB, IG, TT, YT and TW @siarzatheagency
Follow Kristelle @kristellesiarza
www.misskristelle.com
Follow Jace @jacedowneyofficial
www.jacedowney.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jace (00:00):
We have actually changed our traditions as a family and
some of that I'm really gratefulfor because it's reduced a lot
of stress.
For a while, we kept doingthings just because that's how
they've always been done, whichcan happen with traditions.
And I see a lot of people doingand they're like, oh, we're
doing this, and then we have todo this, and there's like, have
y'all paused down and asked like, does this still make sense for
(00:20):
the family?
Kristelle (00:25):
Hold it together.
Clearly, we cannot hold ittogether.
Jace (00:30):
This is Mr Zero Fun Zone over here.
Don't laugh at any point.
Geez, so you want clean audio.
What is that Come?
Kristelle (00:38):
on.
Jace (00:39):
Editing.
Are you doing your job well,precisely?
Kristelle (00:42):
What?
Why?
So we've had a fun start tothis show already, and it hasn't
even started yet, why not?
So welcome back to Story ofSuccess and Stuff.
We're on our second to lastepisode before the season ends.
That is true.
This is crazy to think.
How many episodes, Justin?
Jace (01:01):
have we filmed?
This will be 26,.
I think yeah.
Kristelle (01:05):
No way.
Yeah, are you pulling my?
I'm very goal-able.
Jace (01:08):
No, I'm telling you, we just did 25.
Kristelle (01:12):
Oh my god, I know I can't believe.
We've had 25 opportunities tosit in front of each other and
talk about everything andnothing at the same time,
including to the point where Italk very loudly at the same
time, sorry.
Jace (01:27):
So second to last episode, talking about traditions which
I can't hear the word and not go.
Tradition from Fiddler on theRoof.
Ok, thank you.
Also sorry for the sound onthat.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I blew it.
Kristelle (01:41):
But now I want to talk Broadway, because you said
Fiddler on the Roof.
Yes, so traditions is our topic, of course, and now I need a
soundboard.
I'm going to write that in thelist of things that we need.
Do you know the soundboardwhere you press a button and it
just says oh, like for likeeffects, uh-huh.
Oh season two, OK Season two.
Jace (02:00):
I mean, you're the wallet, so give us the cue EP and we'll
get it rockin'.
Kristelle (02:08):
So, talking about traditions, of course it's
Christmas time, happy holidays.
Of course, if you celebrateHanukkah, if you celebrate any
type of holiday tradition, tisthe season to be, jolly.
Jace (02:21):
Or not, we are big fans of Festivus in my family, which is
not a jolly holiday necessarily.
Kristelle (02:29):
I can see you as a Seinfeld family.
Jace (02:30):
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah, come to 23rd, therewill be grievances aired.
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
Kristelle (02:36):
So how do you celebrate Festivus every year?
Jace (02:40):
Usually just a slew of jokes and sometimes actual
things that are annoying aboutone another, shared in joke
format via text message and thennever talked about again.
Kristelle (02:50):
Oh, Airing grievances .
That totally makes sense.
Jace (02:54):
There's usually feats of strength, but we're not always
in the same room so can't alwaysdo those.
Yeah, yeah, there'd be theFestivus poll if you were doing
it traditionally, of course.
Kristelle (03:05):
Yeah, kick Wall already had their big tradition
this Saturday.
Jace (03:09):
I saw that on.
Kristelle (03:09):
Instagram.
Yes, it was Lamaka.
Yes, story is that is at ourkickball team.
People have wondered whythere's llamas in my life.
No, you've never wondered.
Jace (03:19):
I would never wonder that To me.
I just go yep, that makes sense.
Kristelle (03:22):
Yeah, yeah, it's become a character in my life,
the llama itself.
Before it was cool, beforeeverybody and their mom started
to have llamas everywhere.
So I think Spence and I startedplaying kickball together when
we first started dating 2014.
And I would say that literallythis kickball team has been a
part of our love story as acouple.
(03:45):
So we were on a team togethercalled Sister Mary Catherine
School for the Girls, and, ofcourse, every school needs to
have a mascot, obviously, and itwas a llama.
Jace (03:54):
And was it a holy llama?
Kristelle (03:56):
It was a very inappropriate llama.
Oh OK, it's a dull kickball.
Jace (04:00):
Yeah sure, Just seeing it with the name of the school.
Yeah, making a llama, holywould be, you know, correct,
seems inappropriate.
Kristelle (04:07):
So the tagline for the cheer, the chant, is do it
in the pew Sure.
So that's very inappropriate,of course.
And so the llama, so thekickball team.
Over the last 10 years we'veall gotten together for
Christmas, Done a white elephant, exchange drink and be merry.
But we did different this year,since we're a lot older we're
not in our 20s anymore, becausewe literally all met in our 20s
(04:29):
and early 30s.
We had it early, we had it atlike 4 o'clock in the afternoon,
all the way up to 8.
And everybody was like this isgreat, I can go to bed.
Jace (04:40):
That all things should start around that time yeah.
Kristelle (04:43):
So, llama, because a really great tradition and
really it was really nicebecause some of us have all kind
of changed Like.
Some of us are so brought up,some of us have had children,
some of us have grown up and weactually got.
We were the last couple to getmarried and so we all came
together and it was like wow,it's like the gang's back
together again.
It was really nice to actuallysee all your friends and see
(05:04):
where they've evolved and howthey've changed and how they've
grown up how much grumpier.
They are Best white elephantexchange gift and I'll talk
about some of the things thatare traditions to you.
I think it was really funny.
So we love to have a good time.
Somebody made a bag thatliterally was rated by Walgreens
.
We had a knee, brace tums yeah,what else did we have?
Jace (05:30):
We had other ant acids Two different ant acids OK.
Kristelle (05:34):
Two types of ibuprofen, yeah, and a bottle of
whiskey, oh, ok, yeah, theperfect, any.
Jace (05:40):
Band-Aids.
I always need Band-Aids.
No, it was not.
Yeah, you do.
I'm going to say stocking stufffor idea.
I just never like and I haveall these first aid kits.
I have one in my car, I haveone in my hiking backpack, I
have one in Lunar Ray, all theseplaces.
But then when I just need afreaking Band-Aid in my house, I
have no Band-Aids and I'm likejust get a first aid kit for
your house, Jayce.
Kristelle (06:00):
Come on.
Jace (06:00):
That's great, but I love what you're talking about on.
Maybe throughout the rest ofthe year you all get busy.
Like you said, they havefamilies People have changed all
of this and then you have thetradition of coming together for
this holiday party andreuniting consistently at the
same time of year.
That's actually one of myfavorite parts of traditions is
that they do bring us backtogether with the people that
(06:23):
are important to us in our livesor those we have history with.
Kristelle (06:25):
Yeah, Well, and I think about the definition of
culture, right.
So definitions of cultures islanguages, arts and language,
and arts and traditions.
Yeah, shared agreements, Sharedagreements that actually help
everybody come back together orbring people together.
It's the commonality, right?
So here's a question that Ilike to ask, especially as so
(06:50):
I'm turning 37 here pretty soon,which is nuts On the 28th of.
December.
Anyone wants to send?
Jace (06:56):
birthday wishes.
Kristelle (06:57):
Oh, my god, I can't so.
I always say that because for37, 38 years, how old am.
I turning 37.
Oh shit, I always screw this up.
For 30 some odd years yeah, for30 some odd years I had the
same traditions OK, but itwasn't until 2017 that
everything started to reallydisrupt for me in terms of
(07:18):
holiday traditions.
So, what's changed for you inthe last?
I'll share with you whatchanged for me in the last 10
years and how it, kind of like,made me grow up.
Oh yeah, how is it?
Yeah, how has it changed foryou, or has it changed for you
at all?
Jace (07:34):
It has, yeah, and I'll speak to the growing up piece,
but I'd love to hear what andwhat happened in 2017.
You left this with acliffhanger there.
Kristelle (07:42):
My mom started to get sick.
That's right.
She has a history of pancreaticissues and that's actually very
common in the Cuberoside, mymom's side of the family.
We lost my grandmother and myaunt the oldest aunt and it
passed seven or eight siblingsand then all of a sudden it was
(08:02):
my mom that she's like, oh, youhave a bad pancreas.
And we're like, oh shit, it'squite possible that I might.
It's quite possible that anyoneelse might.
We all have a lot of life tolive right.
But it was that 2017.
So it was like December 1.
I turned 30.
It was like seven years ago Iturned 30.
And she was in the hospital onmy 30th birthday 30th birthday
(08:25):
party and I felt really bad.
But she was so the morningafter she's like or she's in the
hospital that night and she'slike oh, it's probably
Galstone's Chris, it's fine,just bring Jonathan, your dad
will be here, he'll be all right.
The morning after she's likeit's a little bit more serious,
you might want to grab Jonathan.
And then everything elsestarted to dovetail.
So it was the first Christmasshe spent at home.
We didn't go anywhere.
(08:47):
We were supposed to go out oftown and we couldn't.
Another part was I'm trying tothink she was in the hospital
during New Year's Eve, becauseit's usually Christmas Eve party
, party, party.
My birthday one little party,and then New Year's Eve, one big
party.
And so it was just always boom,boom, boom.
And then all of a sudden, itwas just everything was to a
(09:09):
halt.
And ever since then it hasn'tbeen the same right.
My mom and dad decided toretire in the Philippines, so
they're there often, so I don'tget to see them.
And then not a lot of peopleknow I actually have this really
shitty custody situation that Idon't actually see my son on
Christmas, sometimes Totallydon't.
And it built I say, oh, itbuilds character.
But once you throw that intothe mix, or it's like you don't
(09:31):
really know what year you'regoing to have him or not, or his
parents try to take his dad,his parents, on his mom.
His dad's like, oh, can I havehim this year again?
And we're like, why?
And then it started.
And then COVID started to addto it.
It's like we really haven't hada stable tradition in Christmas
that it's just not the sameanymore since my 20s or younger.
(09:51):
So it is what it is, but thatkind of defines you in terms of
how you make the best out of ashitty situation.
That's the truth.
Yeah, so curious to see whattraditions you had or have had
to change.
Jace (10:03):
We've switched them up quite a bit as well.
I am pretty nostalgic and Iwanted to keep Christmas the way
it was when we were kids.
My mom went way out of her way,especially as a single mom, to
make sure Christmas was anincredibly magical time for us.
We would decorate the house andwe did Santa stuff, and she
(10:28):
would get like buy giftsthroughout the whole year and
hide them, and then we wouldwake up on Christmas morning and
my sister my middle sister andI, who shared a room, would go
wake up my big sister, and thenall three of us would go and we
were supposed to go into mymom's room so that she could go
check to make sure Santa hadfinished and was gone.
But what she was really doingwas turning on all of the
Christmas lights, getting theoven going for cinnamon rolls,
(10:52):
getting like she used to make amold cider, so the house would
smell like cinnamon and all, andso she would go like prep
everything.
Oh my god, she's like MarthaStewart.
My mom's incredible, like she'sawesome, yeah, and then we
would walk out and it'd be likemagical Christmas.
Kristelle (11:07):
Like home alone.
Christmas style, Except withoutbeing neglected by parents.
Jace (11:11):
Yes, very similar, except being left alone in New York.
And so I wanted to hold on tothat.
And as we got older, everybodystarted prioritizing convenience
, where we used to get togetherChristmas Eve we would do a New
Mexico Christmas tamales,enchiladas, things like that and
then Christmas Day we would doa ham and pie and all of the
(11:33):
things.
And then it became well, let'sjust open gifts on Christmas Eve
instead of Christmas morning,that way everyone can do their
own thing and wake up atwhatever time on Christmas.
And I'm like, no, I want us allto be in our jammies and to
come to mom's house and to doChristmas like we would and do
cinnamon rolls and all of thethings.
And it was like, well, that'sjust inconvenient.
(11:54):
And then my oldest niece camewhen we were all kind of young,
and so then things started beinggeared more towards her, and so
I thought, ok, here we go, wegot the kids back and we're
going to do kid Christmas again.
But then, as we grew, my sisterdoes her own thing with her
kids.
She's got three girls, like mymom did, so they do their own
thing.
And now it's all become like,well, what's just convenient,
(12:15):
and they have a custody thingtoo, and so that started to
really hurt my heart and Istarted getting really depressed
around Christmas time, which iscommon for a lot of people and
I think for me that's because Iwant to hang on to the magic of
childhood and nobody would letme.
I'm like, why do we have to begrown up?
I want to have that and I wouldcome home for Christmas because
(12:36):
I was living out of town for along time.
Kristelle (12:38):
Oh yeah.
Jace (12:39):
And then it would be like just all of this trying to plan
and coordinate and it wasn't funanymore.
And so finally I decided Idon't have to live by everyone
else's Christmas and I don'thave to get depressed around
this time of year because otherpeople won't play with me the
way that I want to playChristmas.
Yeah, and it's just like then.
I'm going to do it my own way.
And part of my growing up wasrecognizing that my happiness is
(13:03):
my responsibility, not for mymom to continue on, not for my
sister to be on board with, butto just create my own traditions
that make me really happy.
And I remember the first yearof that.
I was living in Austin and myroommates were gone to their
families for the holidays and Iwas home alone and eight Not
left accidentally.
(13:23):
I was purposefully strategicallyhome alone with the pups and
just ate cinnamon rolls andwatched Christmas movies all day
by myself.
That's great, I know.
And when I told people thatthey're like oh honey, I'm so
sorry you were by yourself onChristmas and I was like hell.
No, it was one of my favoriteChristmases.
It was super fun, and so nowI've started to develop my own
traditions and to keep whatevermagic I can for myself, and if
(13:46):
other people don't want toparticipate, that's fine.
Kristelle (13:49):
I do it on my own.
I feel like I celebrateChristmas throughout the entire
month, and I do that because ofthere's always Lamika, sure,
there's always my birthday.
Now there's a new traditionthat's starting, which is the
crew Christmas.
Jace (14:06):
Oh for your balloon fiesta .
Your balloon crew, yeah, theballoon crew.
Kristelle (14:09):
So I'm hosting it and I love hosting parties.
I just love hosting parties.
Jace (14:13):
Me too.
Kristelle (14:14):
And I need to make sure that the team has a good
party.
We had our Christmas party here.
I'm sorry, that was a reallyfun time.
Jace (14:20):
It was so fun.
Also, where are our ornaments?
Because?
Kristelle (14:23):
I have them at home.
I have them at home, they dry.
Jace (14:25):
I really liked our joint ones.
Kristelle (14:28):
Yes, it made me so happy, yeah.
So, side note, there was justthis little ornament and Jace
was playing beer pong with water, with water, with water,
because we're at that age, yeah,we're at that age.
And you were just like hey,chris, can you put some glitter
on it?
I was like I got you and Istarted to paint the glitter and
the damn thing just fell offthe top.
And your reaction was the bestpart.
(14:50):
You're like it's OK, I'll justsay that my four-year-old niece
did it.
Jace (14:53):
I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I love it even more
Now.
It's a story and they all gotmessed up and it's fantastic.
Kristelle (15:01):
I'm going to come and tell the boys bring the staff
ornaments, Bring the staff.
Jace (15:06):
I got a space on my tree all right here, yeah, I put up a
tree this year For the firsttime, I realized, since 2018, I
have not put up a Christmas treesince 2018.
Kristelle (15:15):
How do you decorate it?
That's like it.
There's a tradition indecorating Christmas tree too.
Jace (15:19):
So because I'm the only one in my family who's
sentimental, nobody else haswanted our ornaments from
childhood or anything like that.
So since my mom doesn't hostChristmas anymore, I was
supposed to.
I'll tell you a resentmentstory later, but not on the air,
maybe.
So I was like, well, if I'mgoing to host Christmas, can I
put up our tree?
And so I went and got the treethat we've used at my mom's
(15:43):
house for years and theornaments from childhood as well
as a couple others, I'vecollected myself throughout the
years.
And so I put up a tree and Iactually did it on purpose on
Wednesday night before Charlie'spassing, so that he would be
there with us and that the housewould be special and that I
(16:03):
would have that memory with himand not do it afterwards.
Side note it was actuallyreally interesting.
Our last episode started withus talking to and about Charlie.
Kristelle (16:14):
Oh.
Jace (16:14):
Yeah, and for those who don't know, my dog.
He was 16, super long, happylife, but he passed a couple of
weeks ago, so there won't be a.
He won't be with us forChristmas this year, which makes
me sad, but I'm glad he wasthere to kind of make the house
special.
Kristelle (16:32):
Yeah, and how are you going to incorporate?
It sounded like you alreadystarted to incorporate him into
this year and you'll alwaysremember him as a part, because
he's he's a, he's a lastinglegacy on on your life, right,
yeah?
So, yeah, how have you startedto think about like, or have you
thought about incorporating himinto your Christmas plans?
(16:53):
Even the spirit of him, he?
Jace (16:55):
kind of just come on with me everywhere.
At this point One of the thingsthat was really comforting to
me was a friend who led me inkind of a meditation and invited
him into my heart and thingslike that.
And now it just feels like he'sthere hanging out, playing,
having fun all the time.
So I talk to him kind of bringhim everywhere with us.
(17:17):
So it's, it's weird.
The house feels really weird,my life feels weird, yeah, but
that that is a cool part.
I always used to say like Iwish I could just take you
everywhere in my pocket, and nowI kind of can.
Kristelle (17:28):
Yeah, he's the spirit of him.
It's always the he, the body isa vessel right In terms of grief
, and so the memory of him willalways last for a very long time
, and the tradition of havinghim in the office, I think is is
difficult.
It was, it was for us not tosee him around.
It was always really I was eventelling somebody sorry, really
side note like I was eventelling Spencer.
(17:50):
I was like it was really weirdnot to have Charlie around, like
it hurt all of us.
It definitely hurt me I can'tspeak for everybody else, but it
definitely it hurt all of usnot to see him.
But you know, one of the thingsI think is is always really fun
but also memorable andchallenging is like when we
think about the people that havea tradition that's just changed
so drastically, where theydon't have a loved one anymore
(18:12):
around, like you, like you hadmentioned.
You know you, we talk about.
We always prepare for theepisode and talk about some of
the things that we want to share, and one of the things you said
is just giving a time toreflect.
Right, what is, what is thistime?
What is this time for tradition, for you, in terms of
reflection?
Jace (18:31):
I think it comes up naturally for so many of us.
It certainly does for me atdifferent times of year my
birthday, the end of the year,christmas, where I look back at
milestones in life and where I'mat and am I at where I thought
I was going to be this time ofyear where you know what was
going on last year and thingslike that, and there's there's
more space in our schedules.
Usually we are off of work fora little bit of time and whatnot
, and there's this naturalperiod of reflection for me when
(18:54):
I start looking at my life.
I have traditions around thatfor new years which I think
we're going to chat about in ourbeginnings and endings episode
next week, yeah, but evenChristmas I it's more heartfelt
maybe around Christmas time,where I think of the loved ones,
childhood a lot of.
I have a lot of gratitude formy happy memories and childhood
and things like that, and soyeah.
(19:15):
I know we're supposed to dogratitude around Thanksgiving,
but a lot of that comes up forme around Christmas and I love
getting to express that to thepeople that have made my life
magical.
Kristelle (19:23):
And it's I appreciate the reflection that you have
during Christmas, because I'mone of those ones, those moms
that's like, really stressed outduring Christmas time.
And I get really stressed outaround Christmas time because of
the money aspect.
Right, paying for all the giftsand making sure that every
family member, like introducingthe in-laws into the Christmas
gift list, I was like, oh God,like it's always been my mom, my
(19:44):
dad and I, yeah, and then thekid, and then now we have the
in-laws.
I'm like, oh my God, this is somany, so many gifts and so many
, like all of our friends.
And you know, this year therecame a point this year to me
where I stopped stressing outabout it.
It's like what you said, likeyou really don't want to make
this, you really want to makeyour happiness your own or you
(20:04):
want to be in control of yourhappiness.
So I stopped stressing out.
Or I tell myself every year,like, don't stress out about a
happy moment, because everysingle time Christmas happens, I
always feel like I'm not readyto end the party yet which side
note, I love a good party, nodoubt, and I don't like being
the last person there, but Isomehow am like one of the only
(20:24):
few that's left.
But you always want to like, asthe great Carrie from Sex on the
City once said, you always wantto leave the party when the
party still pop in, and so, butevery single time Christmas
happens, I was like the party'sstill popping, like why are we
done with this?
Like I don't want to be donewith it.
So I I don't get the time tolike savor Christmas, I don't
get the time and the opportunityto just sit and be merry, but I
(20:49):
enjoy the parties.
Part of it because, you know,we I get to spend time with
people I don't get to spend timewith, like, for example, the we
call this the Rosary Group, butdid you see, on our wedding,
like the bottom floor was likehalf Filipino.
Some of it was actually bloodrelated, some of it wasn't.
The non blood related familywas there and that's who.
We spent almost 10 years of ourChristmas, like 10 Christmases
(21:11):
together, through the good timesand the bad, and so this like
it was like 24 hours ago theysent us a message like hey,
we're getting together again andif you're sick, stay home.
And all of us are like, yes,like we're so excited because
it's a tradition we haven't seenin a long time.
Jace (21:30):
Yeah.
Kristelle (21:30):
And it's usually for me.
That is when I start stopgetting depressed and stop
thinking about how, how much Imiss my family, and it's
definitely one of those momentswhere I say the tradition's back
again.
Jace (21:45):
And we have actually changed our traditions as a
family, and some of that I'mreally grateful for because it's
reduced a lot of stress.
For a while, we kept doingthings just because that's how
they've always been done, whichcan happen with traditions.
And I see a lot of people doingand they're like, oh, we're
doing this, and then we have todo this.
And then there's like, havey'all paused down and asked like
(22:07):
, does this still make sense forthe family?
Do we still wanna do this?
And so we did that a few yearsago and we decided all the
obligatory stuff wasn't fun, thestress, no thanks.
Going into debt, bonkers.
Why are we doing that?
Because society says now wehave to give gifts to one
another and whatnot.
And so we really question, like, what do we wanna continue as a
family?
We do no gifts.
We do gifts for the girls, forthe kids, and then we might do
(22:31):
cards or little things for oneanother, but you don't have to
at all.
We all contribute to the meal.
That's good.
Yeah, we'll all make the mealtogether.
Gluten-free.
Kristelle (22:41):
I hope.
Jace (22:42):
Yeah, there will be things for me to eat, certainly, I
will all make sure of it.
I do our dessert now.
We do a black forest cakehonoring our German heritage,
and so I'll do that gluten-free.
And yeah, we've stopped a lotof the things that were bringing
joy and happiness and we'vestarted new traditions, and I'm
wearing one of them.
So my big sister has taken oversome things to ensure that
(23:06):
Christmas is really fun, becauseshe, a few years ago, caught
the Christmas bug like Mad, Ikid you not.
She has a Christmas tree inevery room of her house.
That's pretty good.
It's incredible.
Yeah, it's a lot and she wearsa Christmas outfit every single
day for the entire month ofDecember.
Oh, she's hardcore.
Oh yeah, we deepen itAbsolutely.
(23:27):
We send each other so manyChristmas memes about, like
right after Halloween, Christmasseason has begun for her?
Kristelle (23:32):
Did you send her the Hallmark one that Justin came up
with?
Oh, I'll have to do that.
Jace (23:35):
That's a good one, yeah, but yeah.
So we do like new Christmasthings, and three years ago she
took over making cookies.
Like, we used to do hours andhours and hours of baking
cookies, candy, all kinds ofthings as a family.
Then we paused down and thenshe brought it back and as part
of that she got matchingt-shirts.
But you're on teams.
(23:57):
So me and my youngest niecewere on team Slay All Day and we
have these t-shirts and thenother people have different
t-shirts and we do contestsGingerbread decorating contests,
very on bread for your family.
Yeah, I take it to a weird date,like last year at the
Gingerbread making.
They're like can you just bedone, jace?
And I'm like, nope, I actuallyhave a stable that I'm making
(24:19):
for my unicorns, which I havegotten to make as part of my
Gingerbread ranch, that I'mdoing with magical creatures and
detail, decorating things, andother people just slap and shit
on there and I'm there for along time Because it's fun.
I like crafting, as you learnedwith ornaments.
So, yeah, now we do things thatare just silly and fun and I
(24:43):
will brag brag moment.
My other niece joined team SlayAll.
Kristelle (24:47):
Day this year when I was over for cookie making.
Jace (24:49):
She had on a new shirt and she was on Auntie Jace's team,
so that was super fun, and wealso now go look at Christmas
lights together.
We all pile into the minivanand we do it as a scavenger hunt
.
Kristelle (25:02):
I remember you telling me about this and I was
like that's something we used todo in the Bay Area.
Jace (25:06):
So cool, it gets rowdy.
Last year we could not find aSnoopy, and when we finally did,
the kids were terrified Becausethe adults were like, yeah, I
saw it for our Snoopy, it'sright there.
Kristelle (25:19):
We were screaming yeah, we've done a company
scavenger hunt once with Jace.
Yeah, we know what to expect.
Jace (25:24):
Yeah, I really get it Scavenger hunts, escape rooms,
puzzles, riddles.
Like you, let me in it, I wantto be a part of it.
I am not doing this ironically.
So my big sister's really takenon a new generation of
traditions for our family andthey're all really fun and so
that I really appreciate.
So we've shifted away from someold ones that we decided as a
(25:45):
family and we brought on somenew ones that are really cool,
and so I appreciate that I thinkI will be doing cinnamon rolls
and movies on Christmas Day,because we're just doing
Christmas Eve as a family.
Kristelle (25:57):
I will tell you the tradition that I have, that it I
did it like once or twicealready and it's a good
tradition to have.
So work becomes very hectic formyself usually myself and maybe
Ed because finances have to getwrapped up, the company bonuses
, et cetera, and so this isactually a very busy time for us
(26:17):
, on top of everything holidayrelated right, and short weeks
and short weeks and things likethat.
So the one thing I actually do,which my fellow nerd general
over here will appreciatewhere's one year, when I first
started dating Spencer, Iactually watched the whole
trilogy of Star Wars originaltrilogy because he goes if we're
(26:37):
going to watch this in themovie theater, you are not going
to stop and ask me questions inthe middle of it, and I said
absolutely not.
So I marathoned movies.
And one other year I actuallygot through the entire Marvel
series leading up to Endgame.
It was worth the time and theinvestment.
Jace (26:53):
But the holidays give me a time to stop stop, which is
really important 2020, when weweren't getting together as a
family, I did a nonstopdirector's cut Lord of the Rings
Christmas movie marathon.
Oh my god, it was incredible.
Kristelle (27:13):
Yeah, that seems really tiring.
No, it was super fun.
No, no, no.
Good on you.
I'm not shitting on your Lordof the Rings moment, but I'm
like, dude, that's a long time.
Girl you got the whole day.
That's like 24 hours.
Jace (27:30):
No, no, no, no, but it was there for quite a while, I'm
not going to lie.
I was like, oh, it is very darkoutside now.
I was thinking of you.
The other day I went on a datewith someone whose birthday is
May 4.
May 4 to be with you.
I know I kept my nerddom inside, but I was like I'm going to
tell Crystal about this, yes,side note we have to tell Ed to
(27:52):
make.
Kristelle (27:52):
May the Fourth be with you at Company Holiday.
Jace (27:54):
Obviously, I don't know why it's not yeah, yeah.
Kristelle (27:56):
I'm flacking.
Anyways.
Great episode on tradition.
Really loved the fact that wewere just kind of reflecting
back on the things that bring usjoy, bring us back to society,
back to life, and I appreciatethat vulnerability on both of us
who feel comfortable to talkabout it.
Next episode we're talkingabout the end of year Right
(28:20):
Endings and beginnings, endingsand beginnings, beginnings and
endings.
They are one and the same Reallysolid episode.
On that, looking forward tohaving a good, solid
conversation.
For those of you that are justtuning in on episode 25, 26.
26.
26.
Who's tuning in for the firsttime?
Thanks for joining us.
I hope that you get theopportunity to listen to the
rest of our great podcast, or,for the future podcast, don't
(28:42):
forget to hit that Subscribebutton or go on to CRZOcom to
watch the rest.
And, most importantly, thankyou Jace, thank you Justin and
thanks to you all for listeningto today's episode of Stories,
success and Stuff.
As a matter of fact, I'm atthe출 pleased demandowncom.
We have actually changed our traditions as a family and
some of that I'm really gratefulfor because it's reduced a lot
of stress.
For a while, we kept doingthings just because that's how
they've always been done, whichcan happen with traditions.
And I see a lot of people doingand they're like, oh, we're
doing this, and then we have todo this, and there's like, have
y'all paused down and asked like, does this still make sense for
(00:20):
the family?
Kristelle (00:25):
Hold it together.
Clearly, we cannot hold ittogether.
Jace (00:30):
This is Mr Zero Fun Zone over here.
Don't laugh at any point.
Geez, so you want clean audio.
What is that Come?
Kristelle (00:38):
on.
Jace (00:39):
Editing.
Are you doing your job well,precisely?
Kristelle (00:42):
What?
Why?
So we've had a fun start tothis show already, and it hasn't
even started yet, why not?
So welcome back to Story ofSuccess and Stuff.
We're on our second to lastepisode before the season ends.
That is true.
This is crazy to think.
How many episodes, Justin?
Jace (01:01):
have we filmed?
This will be 26,.
I think yeah.
Kristelle (01:05):
No way.
Yeah, are you pulling my?
I'm very goal-able.
Jace (01:08):
No, I'm telling you, we just did 25.
Kristelle (01:12):
Oh my god, I know I can't believe.
We've had 25 opportunities tosit in front of each other and
talk about everything andnothing at the same time,
including to the point where Italk very loudly at the same
time, sorry.
Jace (01:27):
So second to last episode, talking about traditions which
I can't hear the word and not go.
Tradition from Fiddler on theRoof.
Ok, thank you.
Also sorry for the sound onthat.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I blew it.
Kristelle (01:41):
But now I want to talk Broadway, because you said
Fiddler on the Roof.
Yes, so traditions is our topic, of course, and now I need a
soundboard.
I'm going to write that in thelist of things that we need.
Do you know the soundboardwhere you press a button and it
just says oh, like for likeeffects, uh-huh.
Oh season two, OK Season two.
Jace (02:00):
I mean, you're the wallet, so give us the cue EP and we'll
get it rockin'.
Kristelle (02:08):
So, talking about traditions, of course it's
Christmas time, happy holidays.
Of course, if you celebrateHanukkah, if you celebrate any
type of holiday tradition, tisthe season to be, jolly.
Jace (02:21):
Or not, we are big fans of Festivus in my family, which is
not a jolly holiday necessarily.
Kristelle (02:29):
I can see you as a Seinfeld family.
Jace (02:30):
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah, come to 23rd, therewill be grievances aired.
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
Kristelle (02:36):
So how do you celebrate Festivus every year?
Jace (02:40):
Usually just a slew of jokes and sometimes actual
things that are annoying aboutone another, shared in joke
format via text message and thennever talked about again.
Kristelle (02:50):
Oh, Airing grievances .
That totally makes sense.
Jace (02:54):
There's usually feats of strength, but we're not always
in the same room so can't alwaysdo those.
Yeah, yeah, there'd be theFestivus poll if you were doing
it traditionally, of course.
Kristelle (03:05):
Yeah, kick Wall already had their big tradition
this Saturday.
Jace (03:09):
I saw that on.
Kristelle (03:09):
Instagram.
Yes, it was Lamaka.
Yes, story is that is at ourkickball team.
People have wondered whythere's llamas in my life.
No, you've never wondered.
Jace (03:19):
I would never wonder that To me.
I just go yep, that makes sense.
Kristelle (03:22):
Yeah, yeah, it's become a character in my life,
the llama itself.
Before it was cool, beforeeverybody and their mom started
to have llamas everywhere.
So I think Spence and I startedplaying kickball together when
we first started dating 2014.
And I would say that literallythis kickball team has been a
part of our love story as acouple.
(03:45):
So we were on a team togethercalled Sister Mary Catherine
School for the Girls, and, ofcourse, every school needs to
have a mascot, obviously, and itwas a llama.
Jace (03:54):
And was it a holy llama?
Kristelle (03:56):
It was a very inappropriate llama.
Oh OK, it's a dull kickball.
Jace (04:00):
Yeah sure, Just seeing it with the name of the school.
Yeah, making a llama, holywould be, you know, correct,
seems inappropriate.
Kristelle (04:07):
So the tagline for the cheer, the chant, is do it
in the pew Sure.
So that's very inappropriate,of course.
And so the llama, so thekickball team.
Over the last 10 years we'veall gotten together for
Christmas, Done a white elephant, exchange drink and be merry.
But we did different this year,since we're a lot older we're
not in our 20s anymore, becausewe literally all met in our 20s
(04:29):
and early 30s.
We had it early, we had it atlike 4 o'clock in the afternoon,
all the way up to 8.
And everybody was like this isgreat, I can go to bed.
Jace (04:40):
That all things should start around that time yeah.
Kristelle (04:43):
So, llama, because a really great tradition and
really it was really nicebecause some of us have all kind
of changed Like.
Some of us are so brought up,some of us have had children,
some of us have grown up and weactually got.
We were the last couple to getmarried and so we all came
together and it was like wow,it's like the gang's back
together again.
It was really nice to actuallysee all your friends and see
(05:04):
where they've evolved and howthey've changed and how they've
grown up how much grumpier.
They are Best white elephantexchange gift and I'll talk
about some of the things thatare traditions to you.
I think it was really funny.
So we love to have a good time.
Somebody made a bag thatliterally was rated by Walgreens
.
We had a knee, brace tums yeah,what else did we have?
Jace (05:30):
We had other ant acids Two different ant acids OK.
Kristelle (05:34):
Two types of ibuprofen, yeah, and a bottle of
whiskey, oh, ok, yeah, theperfect, any.
Jace (05:40):
Band-Aids.
I always need Band-Aids.
No, it was not.
Yeah, you do.
I'm going to say stocking stufffor idea.
I just never like and I haveall these first aid kits.
I have one in my car, I haveone in my hiking backpack, I
have one in Lunar Ray, all theseplaces.
But then when I just need afreaking Band-Aid in my house, I
have no Band-Aids and I'm likejust get a first aid kit for
your house, Jayce.
Kristelle (06:00):
Come on.
Jace (06:00):
That's great, but I love what you're talking about on.
Maybe throughout the rest ofthe year you all get busy.
Like you said, they havefamilies People have changed all
of this and then you have thetradition of coming together for
this holiday party andreuniting consistently at the
same time of year.
That's actually one of myfavorite parts of traditions is
that they do bring us backtogether with the people that
(06:23):
are important to us in our livesor those we have history with.
Kristelle (06:25):
Yeah, Well, and I think about the definition of
culture, right.
So definitions of cultures islanguages, arts and language,
and arts and traditions.
Yeah, shared agreements, Sharedagreements that actually help
everybody come back together orbring people together.
It's the commonality, right?
So here's a question that Ilike to ask, especially as so
(06:50):
I'm turning 37 here pretty soon,which is nuts On the 28th of.
December.
Anyone wants to send?
Jace (06:56):
birthday wishes.
Kristelle (06:57):
Oh, my god, I can't so.
I always say that because for37, 38 years, how old am.
I turning 37.
Oh shit, I always screw this up.
For 30 some odd years yeah, for30 some odd years I had the
same traditions OK, but itwasn't until 2017 that
everything started to reallydisrupt for me in terms of
(07:18):
holiday traditions.
So, what's changed for you inthe last?
I'll share with you whatchanged for me in the last 10
years and how it, kind of like,made me grow up.
Oh yeah, how is it?
Yeah, how has it changed foryou, or has it changed for you
at all?
Jace (07:34):
It has, yeah, and I'll speak to the growing up piece,
but I'd love to hear what andwhat happened in 2017.
You left this with acliffhanger there.
Kristelle (07:42):
My mom started to get sick.
That's right.
She has a history of pancreaticissues and that's actually very
common in the Cuberoside, mymom's side of the family.
We lost my grandmother and myaunt the oldest aunt and it
passed seven or eight siblingsand then all of a sudden it was
(08:02):
my mom that she's like, oh, youhave a bad pancreas.
And we're like, oh shit, it'squite possible that I might.
It's quite possible that anyoneelse might.
We all have a lot of life tolive right.
But it was that 2017.
So it was like December 1.
I turned 30.
It was like seven years ago Iturned 30.
And she was in the hospital onmy 30th birthday 30th birthday
(08:25):
party and I felt really bad.
But she was so the morningafter she's like or she's in the
hospital that night and she'slike oh, it's probably
Galstone's Chris, it's fine,just bring Jonathan, your dad
will be here, he'll be all right.
The morning after she's likeit's a little bit more serious,
you might want to grab Jonathan.
And then everything elsestarted to dovetail.
So it was the first Christmasshe spent at home.
We didn't go anywhere.
(08:47):
We were supposed to go out oftown and we couldn't.
Another part was I'm trying tothink she was in the hospital
during New Year's Eve, becauseit's usually Christmas Eve party
, party, party.
My birthday one little party,and then New Year's Eve, one big
party.
And so it was just always boom,boom, boom.
And then all of a sudden, itwas just everything was to a
(09:09):
halt.
And ever since then it hasn'tbeen the same right.
My mom and dad decided toretire in the Philippines, so
they're there often, so I don'tget to see them.
And then not a lot of peopleknow I actually have this really
shitty custody situation that Idon't actually see my son on
Christmas, sometimes Totallydon't.
And it built I say, oh, itbuilds character.
But once you throw that intothe mix, or it's like you don't
(09:31):
really know what year you'regoing to have him or not, or his
parents try to take his dad,his parents, on his mom.
His dad's like, oh, can I havehim this year again?
And we're like, why?
And then it started.
And then COVID started to addto it.
It's like we really haven't hada stable tradition in Christmas
that it's just not the sameanymore since my 20s or younger.
(09:51):
So it is what it is, but thatkind of defines you in terms of
how you make the best out of ashitty situation.
That's the truth.
Yeah, so curious to see whattraditions you had or have had
to change.
Jace (10:03):
We've switched them up quite a bit as well.
I am pretty nostalgic and Iwanted to keep Christmas the way
it was when we were kids.
My mom went way out of her way,especially as a single mom, to
make sure Christmas was anincredibly magical time for us.
We would decorate the house andwe did Santa stuff, and she
(10:28):
would get like buy giftsthroughout the whole year and
hide them, and then we wouldwake up on Christmas morning and
my sister my middle sister andI, who shared a room, would go
wake up my big sister, and thenall three of us would go and we
were supposed to go into mymom's room so that she could go
check to make sure Santa hadfinished and was gone.
But what she was really doingwas turning on all of the
Christmas lights, getting theoven going for cinnamon rolls,
(10:52):
getting like she used to make amold cider, so the house would
smell like cinnamon and all, andso she would go like prep
everything.
Oh my god, she's like MarthaStewart.
My mom's incredible, like she'sawesome, yeah, and then we
would walk out and it'd be likemagical Christmas.
Kristelle (11:07):
Like home alone.
Christmas style, Except withoutbeing neglected by parents.
Jace (11:11):
Yes, very similar, except being left alone in New York.
And so I wanted to hold on tothat.
And as we got older, everybodystarted prioritizing convenience
, where we used to get togetherChristmas Eve we would do a New
Mexico Christmas tamales,enchiladas, things like that and
then Christmas Day we would doa ham and pie and all of the
(11:33):
things.
And then it became well, let'sjust open gifts on Christmas Eve
instead of Christmas morning,that way everyone can do their
own thing and wake up atwhatever time on Christmas.
And I'm like, no, I want us allto be in our jammies and to
come to mom's house and to doChristmas like we would and do
cinnamon rolls and all of thethings.
And it was like, well, that'sjust inconvenient.
(11:54):
And then my oldest niece camewhen we were all kind of young,
and so then things started beinggeared more towards her, and so
I thought, ok, here we go, wegot the kids back and we're
going to do kid Christmas again.
But then, as we grew, my sisterdoes her own thing with her
kids.
She's got three girls, like mymom did, so they do their own
thing.
And now it's all become like,well, what's just convenient,
(12:15):
and they have a custody thingtoo, and so that started to
really hurt my heart and Istarted getting really depressed
around Christmas time, which iscommon for a lot of people and
I think for me that's because Iwant to hang on to the magic of
childhood and nobody would letme.
I'm like, why do we have to begrown up?
I want to have that and I wouldcome home for Christmas because
(12:36):
I was living out of town for along time.
Kristelle (12:38):
Oh yeah.
Jace (12:39):
And then it would be like just all of this trying to plan
and coordinate and it wasn't funanymore.
And so finally I decided Idon't have to live by everyone
else's Christmas and I don'thave to get depressed around
this time of year because otherpeople won't play with me the
way that I want to playChristmas.
Yeah, and it's just like then.
I'm going to do it my own way.
And part of my growing up wasrecognizing that my happiness is
(13:03):
my responsibility, not for mymom to continue on, not for my
sister to be on board with, butto just create my own traditions
that make me really happy.
And I remember the first yearof that.
I was living in Austin and myroommates were gone to their
families for the holidays and Iwas home alone and eight Not
left accidentally.
(13:23):
I was purposefully strategicallyhome alone with the pups and
just ate cinnamon rolls andwatched Christmas movies all day
by myself.
That's great, I know.
And when I told people thatthey're like oh honey, I'm so
sorry you were by yourself onChristmas and I was like hell.
No, it was one of my favoriteChristmases.
It was super fun, and so nowI've started to develop my own
traditions and to keep whatevermagic I can for myself, and if
(13:46):
other people don't want toparticipate, that's fine.
Kristelle (13:49):
I do it on my own.
I feel like I celebrateChristmas throughout the entire
month, and I do that because ofthere's always Lamika, sure,
there's always my birthday.
Now there's a new traditionthat's starting, which is the
crew Christmas.
Jace (14:06):
Oh for your balloon fiesta .
Your balloon crew, yeah, theballoon crew.
Kristelle (14:09):
So I'm hosting it and I love hosting parties.
I just love hosting parties.
Jace (14:13):
Me too.
Kristelle (14:14):
And I need to make sure that the team has a good
party.
We had our Christmas party here.
I'm sorry, that was a reallyfun time.
Jace (14:20):
It was so fun.
Also, where are our ornaments?
Because?
Kristelle (14:23):
I have them at home.
I have them at home, they dry.
Jace (14:25):
I really liked our joint ones.
Kristelle (14:28):
Yes, it made me so happy, yeah.
So, side note, there was justthis little ornament and Jace
was playing beer pong with water, with water, with water,
because we're at that age, yeah,we're at that age.
And you were just like hey,chris, can you put some glitter
on it?
I was like I got you and Istarted to paint the glitter and
the damn thing just fell offthe top.
And your reaction was the bestpart.
(14:50):
You're like it's OK, I'll justsay that my four-year-old niece
did it.
Jace (14:53):
I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I love it even more
Now.
It's a story and they all gotmessed up and it's fantastic.
Kristelle (15:01):
I'm going to come and tell the boys bring the staff
ornaments, Bring the staff.
Jace (15:06):
I got a space on my tree all right here, yeah, I put up a
tree this year For the firsttime, I realized, since 2018, I
have not put up a Christmas treesince 2018.
Kristelle (15:15):
How do you decorate it?
That's like it.
There's a tradition indecorating Christmas tree too.
Jace (15:19):
So because I'm the only one in my family who's
sentimental, nobody else haswanted our ornaments from
childhood or anything like that.
So since my mom doesn't hostChristmas anymore, I was
supposed to.
I'll tell you a resentmentstory later, but not on the air,
maybe.
So I was like, well, if I'mgoing to host Christmas, can I
put up our tree?
And so I went and got the treethat we've used at my mom's
(15:43):
house for years and theornaments from childhood as well
as a couple others, I'vecollected myself throughout the
years.
And so I put up a tree and Iactually did it on purpose on
Wednesday night before Charlie'spassing, so that he would be
there with us and that the housewould be special and that I
(16:03):
would have that memory with himand not do it afterwards.
Side note it was actuallyreally interesting.
Our last episode started withus talking to and about Charlie.
Kristelle (16:14):
Oh.
Jace (16:14):
Yeah, and for those who don't know, my dog.
He was 16, super long, happylife, but he passed a couple of
weeks ago, so there won't be a.
He won't be with us forChristmas this year, which makes
me sad, but I'm glad he wasthere to kind of make the house
special.
Kristelle (16:32):
Yeah, and how are you going to incorporate?
It sounded like you alreadystarted to incorporate him into
this year and you'll alwaysremember him as a part, because
he's he's a, he's a lastinglegacy on on your life, right,
yeah?
So, yeah, how have you startedto think about like, or have you
thought about incorporating himinto your Christmas plans?
(16:53):
Even the spirit of him, he?
Jace (16:55):
kind of just come on with me everywhere.
At this point One of the thingsthat was really comforting to
me was a friend who led me inkind of a meditation and invited
him into my heart and thingslike that.
And now it just feels like he'sthere hanging out, playing,
having fun all the time.
So I talk to him kind of bringhim everywhere with us.
(17:17):
So it's, it's weird.
The house feels really weird,my life feels weird, yeah, but
that that is a cool part.
I always used to say like Iwish I could just take you
everywhere in my pocket, and nowI kind of can.
Kristelle (17:28):
Yeah, he's the spirit of him.
It's always the he, the body isa vessel right In terms of grief
, and so the memory of him willalways last for a very long time
, and the tradition of havinghim in the office, I think is is
difficult.
It was, it was for us not tosee him around.
It was always really I was eventelling somebody sorry, really
side note like I was eventelling Spencer.
(17:50):
I was like it was really weirdnot to have Charlie around, like
it hurt all of us.
It definitely hurt me I can'tspeak for everybody else, but it
definitely it hurt all of usnot to see him.
But you know, one of the thingsI think is is always really fun
but also memorable andchallenging is like when we
think about the people that havea tradition that's just changed
so drastically, where theydon't have a loved one anymore
(18:12):
around, like you, like you hadmentioned.
You know you, we talk about.
We always prepare for theepisode and talk about some of
the things that we want to share, and one of the things you said
is just giving a time toreflect.
Right, what is, what is thistime?
What is this time for tradition, for you, in terms of
reflection?
Jace (18:31):
I think it comes up naturally for so many of us.
It certainly does for me atdifferent times of year my
birthday, the end of the year,christmas, where I look back at
milestones in life and where I'mat and am I at where I thought
I was going to be this time ofyear where you know what was
going on last year and thingslike that, and there's there's
more space in our schedules.
Usually we are off of work fora little bit of time and whatnot
, and there's this naturalperiod of reflection for me when
(18:54):
I start looking at my life.
I have traditions around thatfor new years which I think
we're going to chat about in ourbeginnings and endings episode
next week, yeah, but evenChristmas I it's more heartfelt
maybe around Christmas time,where I think of the loved ones,
childhood a lot of.
I have a lot of gratitude formy happy memories and childhood
and things like that, and soyeah.
(19:15):
I know we're supposed to dogratitude around Thanksgiving,
but a lot of that comes up forme around Christmas and I love
getting to express that to thepeople that have made my life
magical.
Kristelle (19:23):
And it's I appreciate the reflection that you have
during Christmas, because I'mone of those ones, those moms
that's like, really stressed outduring Christmas time.
And I get really stressed outaround Christmas time because of
the money aspect.
Right, paying for all the giftsand making sure that every
family member, like introducingthe in-laws into the Christmas
gift list, I was like, oh God,like it's always been my mom, my
(19:44):
dad and I, yeah, and then thekid, and then now we have the
in-laws.
I'm like, oh my God, this is somany, so many gifts and so many
, like all of our friends.
And you know, this year therecame a point this year to me
where I stopped stressing outabout it.
It's like what you said, likeyou really don't want to make
this, you really want to makeyour happiness your own or you
(20:04):
want to be in control of yourhappiness.
So I stopped stressing out.
Or I tell myself every year,like, don't stress out about a
happy moment, because everysingle time Christmas happens, I
always feel like I'm not readyto end the party yet which side
note, I love a good party, nodoubt, and I don't like being
the last person there, but Isomehow am like one of the only
(20:24):
few that's left.
But you always want to like, asthe great Carrie from Sex on the
City once said, you always wantto leave the party when the
party still pop in, and so, butevery single time Christmas
happens, I was like the party'sstill popping, like why are we
done with this?
Like I don't want to be donewith it.
So I I don't get the time tolike savor Christmas, I don't
get the time and the opportunityto just sit and be merry, but I
(20:49):
enjoy the parties.
Part of it because, you know,we I get to spend time with
people I don't get to spend timewith, like, for example, the we
call this the Rosary Group, butdid you see, on our wedding,
like the bottom floor was likehalf Filipino.
Some of it was actually bloodrelated, some of it wasn't.
The non blood related familywas there and that's who.
We spent almost 10 years of ourChristmas, like 10 Christmases
(21:11):
together, through the good timesand the bad, and so this like
it was like 24 hours ago theysent us a message like hey,
we're getting together again andif you're sick, stay home.
And all of us are like, yes,like we're so excited because
it's a tradition we haven't seenin a long time.
Jace (21:30):
Yeah.
Kristelle (21:30):
And it's usually for me.
That is when I start stopgetting depressed and stop
thinking about how, how much Imiss my family, and it's
definitely one of those momentswhere I say the tradition's back
again.
Jace (21:45):
And we have actually changed our traditions as a
family, and some of that I'mreally grateful for because it's
reduced a lot of stress.
For a while, we kept doingthings just because that's how
they've always been done, whichcan happen with traditions.
And I see a lot of people doingand they're like, oh, we're
doing this, and then we have todo this.
And then there's like, havey'all paused down and asked like
(22:07):
, does this still make sense forthe family?
Do we still wanna do this?
And so we did that a few yearsago and we decided all the
obligatory stuff wasn't fun, thestress, no thanks.
Going into debt, bonkers.
Why are we doing that?
Because society says now wehave to give gifts to one
another and whatnot.
And so we really question, like, what do we wanna continue as a
family?
We do no gifts.
We do gifts for the girls, forthe kids, and then we might do
(22:31):
cards or little things for oneanother, but you don't have to
at all.
We all contribute to the meal.
That's good.
Yeah, we'll all make the mealtogether.
Gluten-free.
Kristelle (22:41):
I hope.
Jace (22:42):
Yeah, there will be things for me to eat, certainly, I
will all make sure of it.
I do our dessert now.
We do a black forest cakehonoring our German heritage,
and so I'll do that gluten-free.
And yeah, we've stopped a lotof the things that were bringing
joy and happiness and we'vestarted new traditions, and I'm
wearing one of them.
So my big sister has taken oversome things to ensure that
(23:06):
Christmas is really fun, becauseshe, a few years ago, caught
the Christmas bug like Mad, Ikid you not.
She has a Christmas tree inevery room of her house.
That's pretty good.
It's incredible.
Yeah, it's a lot and she wearsa Christmas outfit every single
day for the entire month ofDecember.
Oh, she's hardcore.
Oh yeah, we deepen itAbsolutely.
(23:27):
We send each other so manyChristmas memes about, like
right after Halloween, Christmasseason has begun for her?
Kristelle (23:32):
Did you send her the Hallmark one that Justin came up
with?
Oh, I'll have to do that.
Jace (23:35):
That's a good one, yeah, but yeah.
So we do like new Christmasthings, and three years ago she
took over making cookies.
Like, we used to do hours andhours and hours of baking
cookies, candy, all kinds ofthings as a family.
Then we paused down and thenshe brought it back and as part
of that she got matchingt-shirts.
But you're on teams.
(23:57):
So me and my youngest niecewere on team Slay All Day and we
have these t-shirts and thenother people have different
t-shirts and we do contestsGingerbread decorating contests,
very on bread for your family.
Yeah, I take it to a weird date,like last year at the
Gingerbread making.
They're like can you just bedone, jace?
And I'm like, nope, I actuallyhave a stable that I'm making
(24:19):
for my unicorns, which I havegotten to make as part of my
Gingerbread ranch, that I'mdoing with magical creatures and
detail, decorating things, andother people just slap and shit
on there and I'm there for along time Because it's fun.
I like crafting, as you learnedwith ornaments.
So, yeah, now we do things thatare just silly and fun and I
(24:43):
will brag brag moment.
My other niece joined team SlayAll.
Kristelle (24:47):
Day this year when I was over for cookie making.
Jace (24:49):
She had on a new shirt and she was on Auntie Jace's team,
so that was super fun, and wealso now go look at Christmas
lights together.
We all pile into the minivanand we do it as a scavenger hunt
.
Kristelle (25:02):
I remember you telling me about this and I was
like that's something we used todo in the Bay Area.
Jace (25:06):
So cool, it gets rowdy.
Last year we could not find aSnoopy, and when we finally did,
the kids were terrified Becausethe adults were like, yeah, I
saw it for our Snoopy, it'sright there.
Kristelle (25:19):
We were screaming yeah, we've done a company
scavenger hunt once with Jace.
Yeah, we know what to expect.
Jace (25:24):
Yeah, I really get it Scavenger hunts, escape rooms,
puzzles, riddles.
Like you, let me in it, I wantto be a part of it.
I am not doing this ironically.
So my big sister's really takenon a new generation of
traditions for our family andthey're all really fun and so
that I really appreciate.
So we've shifted away from someold ones that we decided as a
(25:45):
family and we brought on somenew ones that are really cool,
and so I appreciate that I thinkI will be doing cinnamon rolls
and movies on Christmas Day,because we're just doing
Christmas Eve as a family.
Kristelle (25:57):
I will tell you the tradition that I have, that it I
did it like once or twicealready and it's a good
tradition to have.
So work becomes very hectic formyself usually myself and maybe
Ed because finances have to getwrapped up, the company bonuses
, et cetera, and so this isactually a very busy time for us
(26:17):
, on top of everything holidayrelated right, and short weeks
and short weeks and things likethat.
So the one thing I actually do,which my fellow nerd general
over here will appreciatewhere's one year, when I first
started dating Spencer, Iactually watched the whole
trilogy of Star Wars originaltrilogy because he goes if we're
(26:37):
going to watch this in themovie theater, you are not going
to stop and ask me questions inthe middle of it, and I said
absolutely not.
So I marathoned movies.
And one other year I actuallygot through the entire Marvel
series leading up to Endgame.
It was worth the time and theinvestment.
Jace (26:53):
But the holidays give me a time to stop stop, which is
really important 2020, when weweren't getting together as a
family, I did a nonstopdirector's cut Lord of the Rings
Christmas movie marathon.
Oh my god, it was incredible.
Kristelle (27:13):
Yeah, that seems really tiring.
No, it was super fun.
No, no, no.
Good on you.
I'm not shitting on your Lordof the Rings moment, but I'm
like, dude, that's a long time.
Girl you got the whole day.
That's like 24 hours.
Jace (27:30):
No, no, no, no, but it was there for quite a while, I'm
not going to lie.
I was like, oh, it is very darkoutside now.
I was thinking of you.
The other day I went on a datewith someone whose birthday is
May 4.
May 4 to be with you.
I know I kept my nerddom inside, but I was like I'm going to
tell Crystal about this, yes,side note we have to tell Ed to
(27:52):
make.
Kristelle (27:52):
May the Fourth be with you at Company Holiday.
Jace (27:54):
Obviously, I don't know why it's not yeah, yeah.
Kristelle (27:56):
I'm flacking.
Anyways.
Great episode on tradition.
Really loved the fact that wewere just kind of reflecting
back on the things that bring usjoy, bring us back to society,
back to life, and I appreciatethat vulnerability on both of us
who feel comfortable to talkabout it.
Next episode we're talkingabout the end of year Right
(28:20):
Endings and beginnings, endingsand beginnings, beginnings and
endings.
They are one and the same Reallysolid episode.
On that, looking forward tohaving a good, solid
conversation.
For those of you that are justtuning in on episode 25, 26.
26.
26.
Who's tuning in for the firsttime?
Thanks for joining us.
I hope that you get theopportunity to listen to the
rest of our great podcast, or,for the future podcast, don't
(28:42):
forget to hit that Subscribebutton or go on to CRZOcom to
watch the rest.
And, most importantly, thankyou Jace, thank you Justin and
thanks to you all for listeningto today's episode of Stories,
success and Stuff.
As a matter of fact, I'm atthe출 pleased demandowncom.
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