O Tannenbaum

I already shared pictures of our Christmas tree, but I realized a couple days ago that I didn't tell you anything about the details.  And it's all in the details.  Today is the fourth and final link party in the Holiday Home series, and the theme is "Christmas Trees."  I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show you some of the things that make our tree extra special.

We decided to go with a real tree this year for two reasons.

1.  Our artificial tree didn't fit on the moving truck.
2.  There is nothing that competes with the beauty and fragrance of a real one.

I made the popcorn garland by hand for my first Christmas in my first apartment.  I couldn't afford to buy much for the tree, so I popped a bag of popcorn and spent a month putting the garland together.  It was a major pain to string all that popcorn with a needle and thread, but I'm so glad I have it.

It just occurred to me that I have a pattern of moving right before Christmas.  Interesting...

I also made a tree skirt that year, although I didn't finish it until after Christmas.  I just couldn't find one I liked, so I bought a bunch of fabric and sewed one by hand.

Marshall and I both prefer to have a random assortment of ornaments rather than having a lot that match.  Here are some of our favorites.

Of all the ornaments we have, this one carries the most meaning.

We celebrated our first married Christmas last year.  It came at a very hard time in our lives.  We had endured so much heartbreak in the month leading up to Christmas and just didn't feel like celebrating.  We took a spur of the moment trip to Galena, IL the weekend before Christmas to give ourselves a little pick-me-up.  It was so wonderful; it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.  We just meandered around in the beautiful little shops that were all decked out for Christmas and enjoyed being together.

We bought the "First Christmas Together" ornament in one of those shops, and then we ate out at a nice Mexican restaurant (a rare treat for us!).  We drove back home and watched It's a Wonderful Life.  I wrote the date and place on the bottom of the ornament, and then we hung it on our tree.

I will never forget that day.

We are planning to go on a special Christmas date again this year.  We'll be on the lookout for an ornament, and I'm going to write the date and place on that one, too.

We didn't have much money last year, so we decided not to give each other any gifts.  Even though it's not about the presents, I'm thankful that we have a little more this year and that there are presents under the tree.

It may just look like everyone else's tree, but to us, it's so very special.