Decorating our Place for Christmas

Decorating our apartment this year was a little bittersweet, knowing that Dustin would be deploying before the actual Christmas holiday. We pulled out our giant tubs of Christmas decorations and I started decking the halls anyway! A strand of my Christmas lights decided to burn out just after I had hung all four strands, so I had to pull them all off and reconfigure the lighting. Thank goodness I was in a good mood that day, or I might have turned into the Grinch after all that unwinding and tree wrangling.

This year the cats have become a little more bold around the tree, and Colby will decide to crawl up and perch inside the middle of the tree like a nesting bird. Luckily, he hasn't knocked the tree over yet, so I will count my blessings on that!

We went to Cracker Barrel about a week ago and bought some red glittery flourishes to add to the tree. I think it adds a nice touch of whimsy. I first started using this Christmas tree back in 2006, when I was still in college in Florida. The tree has evolved from powder blue and lavender snowman decor, into a mix of blue, white, and red to better fit into our red and black color scheme in our family room! Dustin also bought me a beautiful red globe snowman ornament to add to our little collection I keep in the guest room at my parents' house. I was looking at the little tree last night, and realized that I have an ornament from him  for 7 of the 8 Christmases we have known each other. It is turning into such a great little collection!

It is also a new tradition for Dustin and I to take a picture of ourselves next to our Christmas tree each year. Since this is our second married Christmas, we have our second Christmas tree picture!

I am one of those people that likes to keep the Christmas tree up for a bit after Christmas, since my parents always leave theirs up until 3 Kings Day. So, I will get to enjoy my twinkling lights and climbing cat Christmas tree for a few more days once I get back to North Carolina.