Vlogging a muse to find The Tree.
Christmas is that time of year for the young and young at heart. What better time to be a mommy or daddy?
This year, my husband was throwing some serious trash talk around about getting an artificial tree. Now that’s great for lots of folks. My mom has one. My sister has two.
Not I.
That’s why the day we go to pick out the tree is sacred to me.
HELP.
This video holds the jolly Collier family. Their smiling faces reflect all the joy that should go into this special day.
Are you real or artificial tree people?
The first Christmas we were in our house was the one and only year we had a real tree.
I was estatic. I finally had my own home and it had CATHEDRAL CEILINGS!! I wanted the biggest tree we could find. It was going to be glorious.
So we converged on the nearest tree farm… searched in the freezing cold for what seemed hours until I found it. My father insisted it was too big. I said no way, it was perfect. Besides, I was the one paying.
An hour later my husband was cutting it in half to get inside the house. I guess I misjudged a tad. Even in its shortened stature, it left scrap marks on my ceiling-still to be seen today and had to be ancored with fishing wire because it kept falling over. And lets not even discuss pine needles on and IN the carpet.
The next year we switched to an artificial, but years later, all my Xmas decorations befell a horrific fate and had to be discarded in their entirety. But everything happens for a reason. It happened on a year which my mother-in-law discarded her decades old tree for a newer version. Thankfully, I got hold of the older tree before it was sent to the sidewalk and it has been gracing my livingroom since.
I love my tree. I think because it’s so old, and everything was made better way back when. It has an authentic look and shape and is as sturdy as ever. And since I had to throw out every last ornament I had at the time, my mother-in-law also brought me all new decorations. They are simple bulbs, but brightly colored. The combination, just so pretty and cheerful. I cannot wait to put it up, maybe this weekend.
xoxo
That was a great story. I need to see a picture. I told John we need to keep getting the big tree while the kids are young. He’s just at a point in life he’s all about simplifying. Putting the tree up does take a while. That’s neat you have a history with your tree.
I have pics from past years. I will post it on twitter for you to see. 🙂 Ck there.
That IS a big tree! And what a wonderful vlog — I loved it! We are 100% real with our trees, and we have a family tradition of going and cutting one down, too. I think only once in our kids’ lives have we bought a pre-cut tree. It’s something we look forward to every year, sometimes in the midst of a blizzard, once at about 9 p.m. in the dark of night, sawing the tree down by flashlight! (the year our son had late finals in college and got home about Dec. 23rd.) I don’t think I could ever switch to an artificial tree, even if Target did allow us to cut it down.
We are an artificial family and it’s already up and decorated. I tossed around the idea of a real one this year, the big hunt for the perfect one but it just didn’t happen. I love the smell of them.
We are real all the way. We had an artificial tree growing up, so I love, love, love the process of taking the children to the tree farm, selecting one, and cutting it down. I don’t miss much about McDonough, but there was a wonderful tree farm there that was as much a part of the experience as leaving cookies for Santa.
Yesterday we found Jack’s Tree Farm, and although it wasn’t the same experience as our old one in McDonough, I loved seeing the baseball team work the tree farm to raise money. It was definitely the new place to begin what will become our Madison Christmas tradition!
Jack’s Creek is wonderful, Jeannie. Joe wanted to take the tractor ride — so I promised we’d head back out there sometime soon.
[…] it starts the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving, when they head out to Jack’s Creek to get the tree. “Out at Jack’s Creek, they know me. I’m the one who does the […]