Andrew and I bought our first Christmas tree last weekend! He wouldn’t let me put it up until after Thanksgiving (“It’s not even December yet!”) so a few nights ago we were finally able to put it up! We bought some lights and my good friend made us some garland to wrap around the tree as a Christmas present. (She is always so crafty and thoughtful!) We borrowed some ornaments from my grandpa who doesn’t put his tree up anymore, and then bought a few special ones this year.

Andrew wants to start a tradition of annually buying a new ornament for the tree. I really like this idea, so he picked out a dinosaur ornament and I got a cute little picture frame that has “2015” written on it. I thought putting a picture in would be a cute reminder of the year we got married. My mother also has this cute little ornament custom made for us back in July and I love it! All of my friends and family are truly so thoughtful!

I forgot to buy a topper (oops), and I’m still searching for some stockings and other small decorations for the apartment, but those details can come later. We had some extra lights so we hung those around the door. When we turned the lamps off, we were surrounded by the colorful glow. It was absolutely perfect, listening to Christmas music while we fluffed and decorated. We munched on candy as we went and it just felt magical. Christmas has always felt that way for me and I think that’s because I have so many great memories growing up around Christmastime.

As a child, my family went to a Christmas tree farm every year to pick out our tree. I remember running through the rows of trees and shouting “this one!” while my family criticized it. My mom was very particular – it couldn’t be too skinny or too fat, and she always seemed to find the tree that was perfect. My brothers would start to saw it and then my dad would intervene as it was about to tip. Then they would have a big machine that would trim the base and shake all the loose needles out.

After my dad had strapped the tree to the top of our van, we would get hot chocolate. They served it for free at the farm and it was always the perfect ending to the day. By that time, we were shivering from being in the cold so long and the hot chocolate would warm us all. I always hold these memories close and hope that Andrew and I can get a real tree in the future. But for right now, our tree is perfect, too.