O Christmas Tree

Unfortunately, this picture does not do justice to the perfection of this tree. Trust me, it's lovely.

Livi found a Santa Claus hat

We put up our first Christmas tree ever! We have been married for three years but we have never had a tree before, mostly because we always go somewhere else for Christmas. But this year I decided that come hell or high water I was having a tree. A two foot fake LED tree wasn't going to cut it anymore. Staying true to the lessons I learned from my mother, I also knew that it had to be real. It will always be real. We were going to go to this farm and go on a hay ride out to the trees where they let you cut down your own tree. But Phil was way too busy studying for finals, and I was way too impatient to wait for him to finish, so we just went down the street and picked one out from Home Depot. It is everything I hoped it would be. As I was stringing the lights and putting on ornaments my heart was literally racing I was so excited. Another attribute I inherited from my mother is my love for all things not matching (when it comes to Christmas trees). I love brightly colored, randomly ornamented trees. It is still missing a topper because I am trying to find the perfect angel. I remember the angel we had growing up so I have always had an affinity for angels rather than stars. But so far, all of the angels I have seen have been a little too crafty and not enough antique-y. I can't wait to put on a movie and string popcorn. I used to LOVE doing that growing up. Every few years we would string what seemed like miles of popcorn for family home evening and then wrap it around the tree. Each strand usually lasted for a few Christmas' before the popcorn fell apart and we would do another one. Isn't it funny what you remember about growing up?

In other wonderful news... Phil is finished with school! (for a few weeks anyway). One down three to go! It actually wasn't that bad and it went by really fast. The week of finals was pretty intense though. Phil hadn't studied for the week we were in Florida so he had some major cramming when we got back. Our nightly ritual became: put Livi to bed, sit on the couch wrapped up in blankets, and me quizzing him on his note cards. I must say I am pretty proficient in Observational Behavior now. I actually had a blast helping him study and he felt like he did really well on the test. He had two other tests that I couldn't help him with, but he still did wonderfully. I can't believe I get him to myself for almost a whole month! It truly is a wonderful life.