Trimming the Tree!

 Usually in the past, I've tried to get a tree the day after Thanksgiving. It's been a fun tradition for me and it helps me to get excited and feel the spirit of Christmas. This year the fact that we were in Kentucky for Thanksgiving and didn't get home until Dec 1st put a small wrench in my usual plans of getting a tree the day after Thanksgiving. Although we weren't able to get our own tree, my itch to get one up as well as some other decorations, was satisfied as we were able to help Christy and Steve get some of Christmas garb up. Even though we left before it was all set up, their house looked amazing with lit wreaths in each window, a warm welcome to their house.

December 3rd, we set out in search of the perfect Christmas Tree. Danny had been working on some business stuff most of the afternoon in the Mission Valley Library, and I had been out running errands. When I returned to pick him up, we stumbled upon the Ikea Christmas Tree lot in the parking lot just next to the library. They were selling any type and size tree for $20! We ventured in and saw a cute family holding up a 10-12 ft tree they had just found for their house.
Within 5 steps of our arrival, we found a tree that had already been opened. We stood it up and saw the beautiful shape that it had. It looked like it would be perfect for our living room.  Danny wanted to get it right away without looking at any others but I felt like I'd be cheated of the whole tree picking experience if I didn't at least spend 10 min looking at trees. We cut a few more open, but came back to our original one. We tied that puppy up paid our $20 and carted our new tree home.
We set the tree up, gave it a well deserved drink and time for the branches to settle before we started decorating it on Dec 5th.
We got in some festive Christmas gear including our bobble Santa Headbands and started first with the lights. Luckily, both Danny and I agree that white lights are the only way to go. We chose to do more of a homemade theme for the tree this year with bright green being our main color. I made most of the ornaments out of felt and yarn, but we also managed to add a few elements from our wedding decor by adorning the tree in some of the ribbon we used on our wedding day. It worked perfectly since our theme for our tree included the same bright green as we used in our wedding.
We ended our tree decorating festivities by placing the star on top and having some hot cocoa. Danny got the pleasure of placing the star this year since I couldn't reach the top of the tree even when standing on a stool. Maybe I'll grow a little before next year.
It was a fun night decorating our first official tree as a married couple. We are excited for many more to come!