The Christmas Tree 2019

It would be funny if people didn’t know my favorite holiday was Christmas. Especially if you watch my Facebook page all year long. Now here is where I say that sometimes I post how many days/weeks/months until Christmas year-round just to be ornery for all the people who give me CRAP about it :). But somewhere along the way, this year hasn’t felt quite right. I haven’t been nearly as excited as I normally am.

A friend took it upon himself to try and help me get into the spirit. When it didn’t work, he eventually backed off. I told him not to but he did anyway. He said he shouldn’t cram it down my throat, but I told him that maybe he should. and while right now I’m still not 100% feeling it yet, I feel better about it. That might have come because I’ve been listening to Christmas songs since they came on Sirus XM radio. Or the fact that Hallmark has been playing Christmas movies around the clock since the weekend before Halloween. Quite possibly it could also be because our Christmas trees are up and decorated. Yes, I said trees, plural.

Whatever it is, I hope that it keeps coming! Last year at this time we were hanging in Limbo on if we were going to get our house bought or not. And I hung Christmas lights up the day we bought it. I got made fun of but I didn’t care. I threatened to put my Christmas tree up in our house but I didn’t. Instead, hubby and I got into a huge argument about actually putting the tree up and we almost didn’t. Then when it was up, the fight was still going on to the point I almost tore it all back down that day. And the fight… want to know what it was about? It was about putting up the tree.

This year’s Tree

Let’s not linger in the past. My goal every year putting up the family tree is that Tbug has to be with us. Hello, she’s part of the family, she has to be present. And with that sentiment, in 2 years when she goes off to college, I might just have to put my tree up in August. LOL… I may or may not be kidding. Either that or she MUST plan to come home.

Anyway, around September/October I start looking at the calendar. This year she wasn’t going to be here after last weekend until Christmas. In an oversight (as in no one told me) she’ll be here this weekend, but our trees are already up. Anyway, last weekend we put up the Christmas trees. Yes, plural.

Our Family tree is always comprised of ornaments that represent us. Trips we’ve taken, things we’ve done, things that speak to us, or represent us. It is always fun to open up the ornaments and relive our trips and memories. Every so often we question what year we did something, but between all of us we remember. But that is fun… We LOVE decorating our tree with our ornaments. I brought a few ornaments from my childhood or days before dating hubby, but they are all horse-related. That’s kind of funny, right?

This Year’s Ornaments

This year Abug and I have been to the Kansas City Zoo a few times. She loves the zoo so we’ve been trying to hit up different zoos. Want to hear something funny? We haven’t been to the one close to us…

We made a trip to Kansas City one weekend this summer looking for furniture for our new house. I think it was Memorial Day Weekend. Anyway, while we were there since Abug was so good during all the shopping, we took her on a few fun adventures. One wound us up at SeaLife Aquarium. It was a lot of fun. Kind of a zoo for marine life.

Abug played Tball this summer. Of course, we had to represent. And truthfully Tbug played softball a few years ago. Funny story there… during one of her first practices, instead of sliding into home, she did a summersault. 

I had been wanting to do this for a while. I have my Master’s tassel and my high school graduation tassel, but my bachelor’s degree tassel is in a photo frame.

This one hung in my bedroom at my parent’s house since graduation until last year.

This summer we were able to take Abug to the Showboat Branson Belle. Now honestly, I was disappointed with their show this time. I like the show from a few years ago. But I know they have to change it up so that people will keep coming back.

We went on vacation to Orange Beach, Alabama, this summer. Oh. My. Goodness was that a fun trip!

While we were in Orange Beach, we visited the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. Haha. Their zoo was awesome. Now they didn’t have any ornaments so I was on the hunt for something to make an ornament. How fun are these kiddo binoculars?

And the little loves dolphins so we took her on a dolphin cruise. If you ever find yourself in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area, do the dolphin cruise with Cold Mil Fleet! Totally awesome and worth it!

Then just outside that area is the alligator farm Alligator Alley in Summerdale Alabama. Again, they didn’t have an ornament so I made my own out of this cute little souvenir toy.

Back in 2015, we went to Pensacola Beach, Florida. So the thing about the Orange Beach area is you are on the Flora-Bama line. Seriously, 2 miles from my hotel and we were in Florida. Pensacola Beach was about an hour away. Hubby remembered a restaurant we ate at back then and wanted to go so our last day there we ventured over to Florida. On the way back I saw the Blue Angels Museum, which you drive onto the airforce base. It was a little scary. haha. Hubby had me believing I was in the wrong spot. There was also a lighthouse you could climb but we ran out of time. They also didn’t have an ornament I liked, but… I bought this pencil sharpener and turned it into an ornament as well.

On our way into Orange Beach, we stopped in Mobile (which is on the way) at the U.S.S. Alabama. Hubby had been there a few weeks before our trip and said it was worth checking out. They didn’t have a U.S.S. Alabama ornament, but the U.S.S. Drum was there and we toured that as well. I decided that would have to do.

I really need to get a Cricut. Then I can make this ornament better. I need it to say Exeter Corn Maze. I might have brought home some of this in my pocket to make an ornament since hello, they don’t have ornaments either. Grrr…

Our friend Grady passed this year. In fact, a month ago Sunday. My parents helped us out so much watching the little. She and my mom went out shopping (trying to keep her routine normal). She bought this and one other. We gave the other to Deb and kept this one for our tree.

And hello, we got a puppy!

This one has no significant meaning other than mommy (that’s me) loves photography. I tend to buy camera ornaments when I find them. This is my second one. The first was bought in 2013 if I remember right. I remember the day I bought it I was wearing a bright pink shirt from Hawaii. Yup, I remember weird details like that.

Finally, our family ornament. Very appropriate, don’t you think?

Abug bought these ornaments for us. Isn’t she a sweetheart?

Decorating the tree

The traditional put the first ornaments on the tree photo ops.

Then I spend my time handing out ornaments for everyone else to put on. Don’t worry, I hold back the ones I’m going to hang too :). This year we had a slight set back. One of our boxes of ornaments got moisture in it. I was quite sad but kept reminding myself it’s just stuff. The ornaments that were ruined though can’t be replaced. They were the little’s hand and footprints. But they are just things…

And of course, the infamous Goat ornament…

2019 Tree

We had a little discussion on where the tree should/would go. But finally we agreed on a spot and I love it! Maybe that’s the bonus of an open floor concept.