Showing posts with label decorating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label decorating. Show all posts

Monday, December 22, 2014

...o, Christmas tree...

December 9, 2014

After halting all progress due to a frustrating lights experience, our tree is finally finished!

I come from a clan that appreciates a brightly lit tree. That "rule" stating you should have 100 lights per foot of tree, is completely dismissed in my family. The more blazing, the better!

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to add the lights, though. It is a nauseating process (literally, it makes me a bit sick) as I twist and turn the strands of lights around each individual branch. This year, I decided to take my uncle's suggestion, and I strung the top of the tree separate from the rest of the tree, so that I can put it away with the lights still on it. Make it will make the rest of the process less harrowing next year.

Putting on the ornaments was easy, since I only have ones from my childhood and others that students have given me through the years. My favorite ornament is still the golden cello, that my family bought for me my senior year of college.

As we spoke on the phone before my Christmas break that year, my parents asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Exasperated at all the work I had to do before I could begin to think of break, I sarcastically commented, "Oh, I don't know: I'd like a job when I get out of college. I'd like to know what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I'd like a car. I'd like a husband. I'd like a cello."

I guess they figured the only thing they could actually get me was a cello, so my whole family pitched in and got me one that year. The ornament on Christmas morning was to let me know that it would be shipped to the school. I did end up taking lessons many years later, though life has since halted that process. Though it currently sits in storage, it is always a reminder of how much my family loves me.

Do you have any favorite ornaments with special memories?

...deck the halls...

December 8, 2014

I have been slowly setting up our Christmas decorations since the weekend before Thanksgiving. It takes me quite a while to decorate anything, as I have no vision for decorations, I only know when I hate how it looks. So here are a few of the decorations that I settled on.

Above the bookshelf. Andy added the Cardinals plush baseball.
My sister-in-law, Tammy, makes these snowman families. It's me and Andy!
Next year, we'll add a baby and a Buddy!
The mantle. A bit sparse, but I'm still working on it. Notice Buddy's stocking!
My mom made this for me. It's all hand stitched and oh, so beautiful!
A gift from a student. Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
As each year goes by, I keep adding and subtracting, changing and rearranging. Not unlike how my life moves.

Are you all decorated for the holidays? Any suggestions for my house?