Christmas Tree

Wow, so I am kind of embarrassed that I haven't written anything on here in so long. Life gets a little complicated sometimes and you have to set your priorities. I'll just leave it at that.

We got our Christmas Tree over the weekend! This is our 4th Christmas together as a married couple and in all that time, we have never once had a real tree! Honestly, I'm not really sure when the last time I had a real tree was, but I know it was a while ago. I definitely understand and appreciate all the benefits of a fake tree, but there is just something magical about a real tree.

While we were shopping for our tree I recalled some fond memories that I had with my Dad when we used to go looking for Christmas Trees. It always seemed like such a big ordeal. We used to do it as the whole family, but not everyone enjoyed doing that, so it ended up to be just me and my Dad. It always felt like we were on a special mission to bring home the most perfect, beautiful tree to Mom and Jeff. When we first started out, we would go to the lots closest to home but nothing was ever "just right." Finally we discovered a particularly Target that was a little bit, but not much, further from home. This Target had the best selection with the most beautiful trees. We would always go in and find exactly what we were looking for. While Dad paid for the tree and got it up on the car, I would run in the store and buy a new Christmas Music CD for us to listen to on the way home. I know this isn't some crazy big event or anything, but sometimes there are just memories in your mind that stick out profoundly. This one just makes me smile.

Before Glenn and I went out looking for trees we were interested in buying a live tree that could be replanted after the holiday. That idea appealed to our "green" sensibilities but it required too much green to sound like a plan. $125 was not exactly the price range I was looking for. Cut that into thirds and now we're talking. We decided to forgo that idea. Then Glenn found out that a local charity/foundation/support center would be selling trees and that all the proceeds would go directly to them. The place is called the Dunshee House. They are also known as the Seattle AIDS Support Group. It was really nice to find a great tree and support a great cause at the same time. It definitely put me in the Christmas Spirit.

The lot was full of beautiful freshly cut trees at really reasonable prices. Neither of us knew what kind of tree we wanted so we were mostly just browsing until I found the most perfect tree. This lovely little Douglas Fir is close to 6 feet tall and is as bushy as can be. It is very fragrant and has sort of a citrus smell to it. I absolutely love it!

Glenn thought he would attempt to tie the tree to the roof, but considering he had never done it before, I advised him to wait for the "professionals" to do it. He did. The guy tied our tree snugly to our compact little hybrid and down the hill we went to bring it home.

Getting it inside the apartment was surprisingly easy, but we did almost take out someone while turning a blind corner. Now the tree is nestled snugly in a corner of the apartment. We had to move Rally's bed, but he doesn't seem to mind.

I started decorating the second I had finished straightening the tree. Of course we were about two boxes of lights short so we had to go to Target. When we came home for some more decorating, I took out the new lights and noticed they looked a little funny. They had some weird box attachment on the wire. Crap. They twinkled. I hate twinkle lights, they drive me nuts! We returned the lights and I got a new sparkly pink stocking while we were out.

Now our tree is all decorated and pretty as can be. We bought and built a lego train about a month ago and decided to have it go around the bottom of the tree. I think it looks really cute there.

I just love the way that LED lights just light up the room. They leave the coolest looking patterns on the ceiling at night. They're so bright we can turn off all the lights and still read just fine. That's all for now, but hopefully I can stay a little more on top of the blog than I have been.

Love to all!