Christmas Decorating

Christmas Tree Hunting:

My cousin A and I headed out in the truck a little after 1pm on Friday with to-go cups of hot cocoa, and I'm pretty sure we laughed our way through every possible fiasco. A burnt her mouth on the hot cocoa, I almost got the truck stuck on the driveway letting another car pass, we had to wait 35 mins for the owner to return from town, and while in pursuit of the perfect tree we got completely and utterly soaked...BUT I think I speak for the both of us when I say that each little hiccup only made the trip more memorable and more enjoyable in fact. (Although I hope A got her taste buds back!) 

Jeans completely soaked, but here she is: my perfect tree...that I hacked through and A and I hauled from the back 40 up to the store. Way to go A! (And I don't think I'll ever forget the ol' guy telling us after he watched us huffing and puffing with said tree all the way up "well, if I would of known you gals were gonna go so far out, I would have come out with the tractor to get ya..." Ha...thanks mister!) :)

Driving the truck after all this time was SO much fun! A and I enjoyed the back roads and the bed of the truck happily transported both my trees.

Once the trees got back to the house, A and I unloaded them. While our jeans made their rounds in the dryer, we set the big tree in the stand and got her stabilized and watered.

I brought the trees in yesterday & vacuumed them out today. (The on-site shaker was broken, so I vacuumed a container and a half of old needles out of just the big one!)

And this afternoon/evening I finished hanging the ornaments on the trees.

The big one is the perfect height for the tall ceilings in the front room.

And the lil guy in the back of the house, decorated with all of Tall D and my random and gifted ornaments. 

Centerpiece on the table: scented pine cones in a random bowl with tree cuttings underneath.

At church this morning, advent wreaths were available for $2!! Perfect for the back corner by the stove and what a deal for a much needed advent display!

Cuttings, candles, & santa/ms clause ornaments by the TV

And the final product in the front room this evening: I definitely could be spending most my evenings out here sipping on vino and just relishing life & the holiday spirit.

Both my aunt/uncle and mom/dad have contributed lights for me to use on the trees and on the house, so I hope to get the outside lights up later this week/end. For now I feel like the house itself is decorated (I keep it basic) and I'm enjoying it. I even hunted out my old Bing Crosby CDs...and realized that Tall D left the copy of the new Christmas Carol that I bought last Xmas. So both of those goodies will be indulged in the coming weeks!

A few tears today, mainly because Xmas is Tall D's favorite holiday and it's sad to me to not have him appreciating and enjoying the holiday as he would in years past, but maybe he'll still get the opportunity....

Definitely starting to feel the sparkle and enjoyment possible of the holiday season however! 

HoHoHolly!