Oh Chistmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree?!?!

So, Chris and I usually buy our Christmas tree the Saturday following Thanksgiving and absolutely LOVE having it up all December long.  I usually don't feel like it is worth all the work if you don't have it up that long.  This year, we both felt terrible for two weekends after Thanksgiving and with me rotating with a later schedule shopping for a tree on the weeknight wasn't an option.  Needless to say, we haven't gotten one yet... and here it is almost half way through the month! 

So, I had confidently decided that this year we would do without... of course Chris has no objection as that means less money to spend this season!  However... the more and more I think about it... the more I feel like Christmas just doesn't feel right without a tall, full, wonderful smelling Frasier Fur all dressed up with lights and ornaments new and old!  I just thought about how sad it would be to wake up on Christmas morning and come down for coffee and exchange gifts with Chris... by the light of the flat screen?  I need to see it, smell it, and be reminded of all the wonderful Christmases past purely from it's presence, to feel like it's actually Christmas! 

My solution is to promptly schedule a date with the love of my life for tree shopping on this frigid winter Friday night :)  Even though I had previously resigned myself to no Christmas tree... I can't even tell you how excited this makes me!  I think I knew all along in the back of my head we would have to get one eventually.  I remember one year I was so upset that my family had waited SO long to buy our Christmas tree... I was convinced we just weren't getting one at all.   Then, sure enough, we got one... on Christmas Eve!  Even that late... it was still worth it!  What is it about a pine tree in the corner of our living room?!  Such a strange custom when you really think about it... but I clearly can't do without! 

What are your family's Christmas tree purchasing/decorating traditions?

 

It's the Holiday Season!

I absolutely LOVE this time of year!  I feel like even the small everyday things are a little more cheerful around Christmas! 

We have been super busy lately.  It seems like every time we try to slow down, things just start speeding up!  I do try to at least slow my mind down this time of year and reminisce.  Time flies... I believe that more the older I get.  It really does feel like it was just a few years ago I was piled in bed with my sisters on Christmas Eve trying to fall asleep, but squealing with delight every time we heard a noise that we thought was Santa on the roof!  What a sweet and carefree time!  I thank God for memories like those.  We had many hard seasons growing up, but we definitely have just as many fun memories! 

My favorite Christmas memory is the morning we sprinted into the living room... after waiting for what seemed like an eternity for my Dad to set up the camera just right... to find just what we had been dreaming of the entire year... American Girl Dolls!  All we needed to see were those 3 boxes to set us screaming with excitement!  We tore into them!  I remember it felt like hours before we got them open and each doll into the right owners hands.  Kirsten for Lauren, Molly for Annie, and Samantha for me.  Of course, back then those were the only 3... the original 3.  Which seemed just perfect considering there were only 3 of us, and they seemed to match us just perfect!  We spent the rest of the day... and I am sure days and weeks after... playing and dressing and loving those dolls. 

What is your favorite Christmas memory?