O Christmas Tree

 Our Christmas tree has been up since the Sunday after Thanksgiving. However, it apparently has taken me until now to get the pictures up here, who knows why, I am going to blame the infant and my lack of sleep.  While in my dreams I had hoped that we would go to a Christmas tree farm and cut down our own tree, however, that didn't happen. Mostly due to the fact that we couldn't find a Christmas tree farm within a couple hours of us. Naturally AFTER we had our Christmas tree someone told us about one, so next year perhaps we will get to cut down our own Christmas tree. 

We got our tree at Costco, we looked at several places and due to our ridiculously wonderful and high ceilings, we didn't want a small or short tree.  We wanted something big, something huge, and something that would fill our space a little bit. We also didn't want it to cost us our kidneys and a limb or two. I was a little impatient for the first couple days. I desperately wanted to put lights and ornaments on the tree. However, Marc talked some sense into me and we waited a couple days while the branches settled down and the tree drank at least 1.2 million gallons of water (it felt like every little while we were filling the base with water). 

Our tree is nothing crazy in terms of decorations, however, it is filled with much love and most of the ornaments tell a story (okay not all of them and we do have some filler ornaments but I would bet 75% are story tellers). For example here is the bell ornament my Godparents gave me the year I was born, it is engraved with "1984" and "Baby's first Christmas"

This is one of Marc's ornaments he really does "Live to bike" and he got this ornament from his grandparents one Christmas (or so he told me).

 You had to anticipate seeing at least one of these, I seriously LOVE these HUGE Mickey head ornaments. I got this one a couple years ago when I was down in WDW for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.

This ornament is also from my Godparents (I actually have gotten a Christmas ornament from them every year since I was born), they gave this to us the year we were married. They have given me the entire Lenox collection of the 12 days of Christmas as well as several other Lenox ornaments. I think these ornaments are GORGEOUS and LOVE putting them on our tree every year. 

I think Marc found this ornament last year just after Christmas for a quarter or something goofy, it was PERFECT, we had just moved into our current house days before Christmas and we were still unpacking on Christmas. 

This ornament my mom brought up for Lucy. It is in the Lenox collection again and is a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament with "2014" and "Lucy" written on it. Perfectly sweet.

Here is my favorite thing about our Christmas tree, I can sit in our chair or on the couch, stare at the Christmas tree, snuggle my sweet babe, and crochet. I will miss this tree when it is gone.

Do you like having a Christmas tree?
What kind of ornaments do you have on your tree?
Do you have any favorite ornaments?

Christmas Decorations

Confession: I would LOVE to have my house all decorated for Christmas.

Reality: With moving last week, I am happy to have a bed to sleep on, so long fair well beloved thermarest may we not meet again until we are camping for real, not in my mostly empty house. I am elated to have my pots and pans back, I am beyond excited to have a couch to sit on. Boxes are all over my house, particularly in the basement (Mom and Dad when you visit - it will be like sleeping in a box fort, perhaps we'll make some progress before you arrive).

Really, I am more worried about unpacking my things, finding the extra toilet paper, finding my pants for work, and getting things put away. This year's Christmas decorations are going to be pitiful - I think I know where the Christmas stockings are. Goal: Find the Christmas Stockings before Santa comes on Christmas Eve (I believe they are in one of three boxes I have set aside in hopes the stockings are in there).

Next year, I shall really decorate my house for Christmas. I am doubtful that this year we will even get a Christmas tree up. We are now mid-month and it is sort of beginning to seem like a waste to go get one and put it up. Rather, I will find bedding and towels for our guests who are coming, I will find drinking glasses and plates.


Are you big into decorating for Christmas?
Real or fake tree?

Creepy and why

This post is weird and the photo quality is horrible but I had to post this. Here: Is a house that we drove by in Sioux Falls. It was creepy and weird. Their yard is filled will all sorts of  holiday bears (note the Valentine's day bear) and it fills their front yard. We drove by several times because we were in fact creeped out by it. We did drive by in order to confirm their commitment to these bears, they have lights on them at night.




While I appreciate their spirit we had several questions including:

• Do you think the bears are shellacked or how do they keep them from molding?
• What do the neighbors think?
• Why?!
• What do they do with these bears in the off season?
• Seriously?
• How long have they been decorating this way?
• Do they mold? (we asked this question about 12,001 times - reminder it snows here and the bears would get wet)
• Do they have them anchored down somehow? 
• Did they empty out the stuffing and fill them with sand?
• WHY?!

View from afar

Do you have any weird holiday decorating in your neighborhood? What do you think of "nontraditional decorating? Do you decorate your house for the holidays?

Christmas Tree

I love this time of year, setting up the Christmas tree, decorating the house, playing copious amounts of Christmas music, and baking. Last night Marc and I set up a Christmas tree in my house. Marc lives a block down the street (literally, I can see his lower level apartment from my house) and spends a lot of time at my house, I have his tv in fact because he hated how tiny my tv is. We watch tv/movies/play wii at my house most of the time because I have cable, a fenced in yard, and a couch.

This year we decided to only set up a Christmas tree at my place (partially because we only wanted to buy one and partially because really other than sleeping Marc is usually at my place if not at work) and it was an interesting process. I forget that every family has its own personalities and everyone has their own way of doing things. Marc grew up with a packed Christmas tree, he would fill the tree from top to bottom with ornaments if it was up to him. I grew up with fewer ornaments on the tree, we each picked out some of our favorites and put them on the tree. It was one of those moments last night as we both had to figure out what we would do together, it was a moment of compromise where we realized we need to think about both of us. It was a moment that neither of us anticipated, it was a moment that challenged us (while it seems like a small thing we both had ideas about what a Christmas tree should look like).

These are the things that no one tells you about when you are getting married, about the strange compromises that we make, about the things that matter to you both that don't jive together, the things that cause us to sit and pause and tell stories of why what we believe is important. It is in these moments we pause, we listen, we pray, and move forward in compromise.  Being engaged is definitely a learning process for me, and I am really learning to appreciate the importance of the engagement period. We are learning about each other, about us as a couple, and about ourselves. I am thankful for this time where we still live separately and are learning how to come together. I am thankful for family and friends who support us in this journey and the God who continues to breathe life into us and call us into community with others.