O Tannenbaum

Well, yesterday during the Texas game (when I wanted to kill myself repeatedly...), I decided to start putting up the Christmas tree. We bought a new one this year, as our old 4-footer would no longer fit all of our ornaments. Plus, with the size of our living room, a 4-footer would look pretty comical. I didn't have much money to buy one (under $100 was my goal), so, I went shopping online. Luckily, since I'm adequately versed in stats for artificial Christmas trees, I didn't really need to see the tree in person to know what to look for.

If you plan to buy a tree, Home Depot actually has a really good buyer's guide that I suggest you read.

Now, for my Christmas ornament photo story. Growing up, as you saw previously, I didn't exactly have the type of family that allowed me to put my crappy ornaments that I made in elementary school on the family tree. This was an odd thing for me to encounter when I started dating people and joining their Christmas traditions. I was like, "You still have this ornament? That's amazing!" Then, the more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of a Christmas tree not only looking stunning, but also telling the story of a family. Something I plan to rectify.

Here's our tree (mind you, I haven't properly shaped it yet, but it's up at least. It's also missing a tree topper because we have to go buy a new one this weekend. My tree topper is no longer big enough for this tree.)


So, now for the ornaments that remind me of things.

When my mom was pregnant, I was due Christmas Eve. This seemed just perfect since Christmas is her favorite holiday. So, she had an adorable baby shower of Christmas gifts. Too bad I was two weeks late. That's right. I was born on January 7, 1985. That means that I was not only NOT a Christmas baby. I also wasn't born in 1984. Which made this ornament pretty comical to own. She kept it though and now it hangs on my tree with a sense of irony. The lady handmade it, which is pretty impressive if you ask me.

Speaking of those ornaments that everyone else got to have on their family tree, but was not allowed on mine? How about this glorious, handmade ornament apple (complete with worm) with my photo in it. How old was I in this photo? That would be 5th grade, thankyouverymuch. And, in case you can't tell in this photo, my hair is straight. My mom didn't know what to do with curly hair, so she would put hot rollers in it everyday so it would be straight. Yeah, I looked awesome.

One of my favorite Disney movies (until The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and the "modern" era of Disney movies) was Snow White and the seven Dwarfs. Probably a combination between I've always befriended guys easier and I'm short. Nonetheless, my dad remembered that well, so he made sure to get me some ornaments in his showroom that reflected my love. The best part of these ornaments is I love arranging them on the Christmas tree. I always make sure to put Snow White in the middle and then carefully place the seven dwarfs around her in a circle, as if they are having a party and my Christmas tree was invited.

When I was in high school, my dear friend Cassie hosted an ornament exchange. It's like a White Elephant exchange. Everyone brings an ornament. Everyone draws a number. Everyone either picks an ornament or chooses to steal an ornament. One ornament can only be stolen three times. Well, I really love penguins. So, my mom and I would always team up to get a penguin ornament for me. I would always try to get my mom a pink ornament. She loves pink. This is my favorite penguin ornament that we procured over the years of ornament exchanges. On our tree, I have six penguins. :)

Once David and I started living together, I joined my Christmas traditions with his. One of my favorite Christmas traditions in his family is his grandmother always buys the grandkids the White House ornaments. Every year, the President puts out an ornament. This is actually my favorite one. All of them are gorgeous, but I had to choose one. This one I think is really awesomely over-the-top with the American flags at the top. Tee. Hee. But, it's a really lovely ornament. The others kind of look like the White House in snow, etc.

Everyone knows that my child, Milo the dog, is very dear to me. I found this ornament a while ago, where I could put his photo in it. Some idea David and I had this morning was to buy photo frame ornament every year and put a photo in it every year. That way, in 10 years, it'll kind of be a cool way to look back on our marriage. If you look in the background of the cruise ornament photo below, you'll see this year's photo ornament. We haven't filled it with our wedding photo yet, because we don't have our photos yet. I think it's a neat idea too.

Another Christmas tradition David and I came up with was to buy an ornament everywhere we travel. We aren't really knick-knack people and not really souvenir people, so this is one way to remember the trip and make our Christmas tree our own. So, on our honeymoon, we bought this ornament on the cruise ship. It's actually of our ship, the Mariner of the Seas. I really like this tradition and look forward to continuing it as we travel all over the world together. :)

What are some of your favorite ornaments and Christmas traditions with your Christmas tree? Do you have other holiday traditions that you love?