As a kid I mostly had a fake tree, while Doug always had a real one. He remembers going and cutting it down at a tree farm with his entire family. The only real tree we ever had together was when we lived in Bellefonte, PA. It was our first Christmas after purchasing the house. We ended up buying it from one of those road side stands that already has real trees cut down for you. (and of course most all of the trees at those stands are pre-cut down because they are the nicest looking ones from the tree farm). That tree was perfect!
Prior to that when we lived in an apartment we had a mini fake one I used in my classroom. It was cute....
When we lived in Holland we found places you could buy a real tree but they were nothing like what we were use to and man o' man were they pricey....close to 100 euro (150 US dollars at that time) for an "ok" one that reminded us of a tree we would have at home. So in the end we ended up using the same small one as above.
This year, being back in the U.S Doug was determined that we were going to go to the actually tree farm and hunt down a Christmas tree. We found a very nice tree farm about 40 minutes from where we live. Doug decided to take the morning off from work so we wouldn't have to wait into the weekend to finally get our tree (we were already a bit later than we wanted to be in getting it up).
When we left our apartment it was sunny and we were in need of only a sweatshirt and fall fleece vest. By the time we arrived it was raining and bitter cold.
We spent close to an hour walking all over a few of the fields trying to find "the tree". Of course I am the one who made it more difficult. Like I said earlier, I'm use to the shape of a fake tree and the one real one we had in Bellefonte was gorgeous.......so I wasn't settling for just any old tree!!
Poor Ella lost any excitement she had about finding a tree. She went back to the car periodically to warm up and have a snack. Since one of us had to stay with her, I "the picky one" continued the search on my own. I would call Doug out into the field when I thought maybe I found one, Ella would have some fun running around, and then we'd decide against yet another tree.
Three hours after arriving at the tree farm we found the perfect tree, chopped it down, strapped it to the jeep roof and headed home.
Doug has a smile on his face but really he's thinking "thank goodness my crazy wife finally found a tree!"
Ella had a lot more fun helping to get the tree up and decorated.
Doug and I LOVE decorating for Christmas and our Christmas tree is one of the most important parts. To us it is not just a tree you "decorate". Every year when we get out our ornaments we re-live the memories that have gotten us to yet another year together. Every place we have been together we have collected an ornament. Some have been very exciting trips, others just a small trip for fum. No matter the place, it reminds of us of how far we've come and everything we've been through together. We also started a tradition after getting engaged of buying each other an ornament. Each year we really try to capture each other's personality. Here's just a a few of them:
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| London |
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| I gave this to Doug before we were married b/c he loves Scooby Doo |
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| 2010: flying back and forth from Holland to U.S several times. |
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| Ella's First Christmas Ornament (one of many, but daddy picked this one out). |
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| Christmas Markets in Germany |
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| Road trip to Maine |
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| Honeymoon |
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| Summer Concert for Coldplay in Hershey with a quick stop at the park. |
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| Where Doug proposed |
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| Collection of primitive ornaments since I love that type of decor in our house |
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| Denmark |
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| Can't forget our furry loves |
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| Doug's handblown glass ornament made during a class at Penn State |
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| This years ornament to me from Doug to go with my willow tree collection |
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| Living in Holland |
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| Another trip to Germany |
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| Bellefonte: our first "home" together |
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| Penn State Football Games |
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| Doug finished he masters degree....on his way to being a real scientist |
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Trip to Rome: This ornament we bought at the Vatican and it is hand-carved from wood.
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So in the end my obsession with finding just the right tree worked out. We had the most beautiful tree holding all our precious memories. (and we've still got it up!)
(Now I wonder if next year Doug will just want me to pick from one of the pre-cut ones instead of hiking all over the tree farm?!?)
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