our tree.

this year we decided it was time to get a bigger tree. since we have been married we have had a small 4.5 foot tree that sean's sister gave us! we have loved it but felt like it was time to get a bigger one. on black friday we decided to check out target to see if we could find anything because we had to get a rice cooker there anyway. we found a $60 6.5 foot pre-lit tree on sale for $30! sweet! and there was no line at the check-out. not too shabby for black friday! i love target. later that day i went to tai pan and got 20% off a bunch of ornaments and stuff for the tree. it's still not a very big tree, but our house isn't very big so it will work just fine for now! i don't feel like the red tree skirt we had for our old tree goes with this one so i am planning to make one! also my friend lee suggested putting an "A" for ashby as a tree topper instead of a star. so i went with it! anyway, here is our tree! oh and p.s. that clock doesn't work. well it does but i took the batteries out because it was loud. so the first picture was taken at night and the rest around noon. not that that really matters. but whatev... oh and this post will probably be really long and boring.. so feel free to just look at the pictures if you want!







growing up? we never had a tree that had matching ornaments. everything was home-made and mismatched and i loved it that way! every ornament has it's own story. as kids we always got a new ornament every year. my parents tree is full of random stuff now and i think it's pretty neat. it's a little hard to start out a tree like that though so for now this one is a little more themed. but we have been starting our mismatched collection since we got married! thanks to sean and my parents.



sean is a little more sentimental then he lets on. while we were engaged he always told me how much he loved my parents tree. he promised me then that he would find a new ornament every year that would represent something that happened that past year. this will be our third married christmas. so far we have one for 2009 and one for 2010. he will give me 2011 as a gift on christmas eve. in 2009 he gave me a lady and the tramp ornament to represent our first year of marriage. in 2010 he found this snoopy ornament with snoopy's dog house because last year we got our first dog and bought our first home. i love it. i don't really know what he will come up with this year since nothing really major happened.. but i am sure he will come up with something sweet.



the christmas we were engaged, my parents gave us some ornaments to put on their tree. since we have been married they have given us one every year to put on our tree. in 2009 they gave sean that grill ornament because sean got a new grill and he was a little obsessed with it. this one lights up and the hamburger patties spell ho ho ho! i love it. one of my favorite christmas movies since i was a very little girl is mickey's christmas carol. i own it on dvd now and watch it all the time. growing up though we recorded it on VHS on tv and tried to watch it every year. it even has all the old school commercials on it. i actually love that version more than the dvd. anyway, hallmark comes out with a new or different ornament for mickey's christmas carol every year. i think they might do it in phases or something but that is why we have one of bob cratchit (mickey) and then ebenezer scrooge. i love them. can't wait to see what we get this year!

anyway. if it is not obvious yet.. christmas is definitely my favorite holiday. i'll admit i listen to christmas music on the radio way before thanksgiving. they won't admit it, but i think it drives sean and the rest of my friends and family nuts so now i just do it when i am alone. it puts me in such a good mood. i just love christmas and want to spread it out for as long as possible. besides.. there is no thanksgiving music that i am aware of and if there were it would probably be weird. also i love baking and feel like the holiday season gives me more chances to make cookies and yummy treats. but let's be real here. i pretty much do that all year round anyway. and who could complain about that anyway? but hey! i didn't decorate until after thanksgiving so people can't be too mad at me! :) right now i am watching home alone 2 lost in new york. i actually watched it last night while babysitting and recorded it. so i am watching it again. elf has been on the past three nights on TBS and i have it on almost every night. last night i switched back and forth from home alone and elf. oh and don't worry.. i own all these movies. but i can't not watch them when they are on tv. in fact the first dvd i ever purchased with my first media play gift card was home alone.

i used to make myself sick every year at christmas because i would get too overly excited on christmas eve. i would get so anxious that i would throw up and have to go lay down while everyone partied. i have gotten a little better about that... but yes. i just love christmas. and i can't keep secrets from sean so i have to wait until the last minute to get him anything or else i'll end up trying to give it to him early. or the surprise will get ruined by golds gym! anyway. i don't have all our decorations up yet.. but here are a few! every year i mean to add our names to those stockings but i just haven't gotten around to it. yeah. i am lazy. sean's is the reindeer one and mine is the one with the tree. we even have one for moses but it's not pictured.