Christmas Extravaganza

I love Christmas, but I admit this year I was more excited about what was to come after. . . . buying our very own Christmas decorations!

Like Amore, B and I headed out the day after Christmas to outfit our future home for future Christmases. . . . half off! We already know where we'll be living post-wedding (more on that later) so we purchased all our outside lights and tree lights (we plan to be "real" tree people). We also got our Christmas cards for next year (photo cards waiting for wedding pictures to be added to), Advent calendar, and almost everything we need to make our home ready for the season.

We also started our first Christmas tradition: we bought a Hallmark keepsake ornament each and a "joint" one. We won't start out with a lot of personal ornaments, but in a few years we'll have a "tree full" of ornaments that mean something to us.

B actually said that for the first time over the holidays it felt like we were really getting married. Sure we've talked about it for a long time and are now engaged, but for both of us it hasn't really felt completely real yet. He said spending the holiday with my family, where my cousins called him an "insider" and buying our own decorations for what will soon be our own home made it seem truly real for the first time.

I've shared this "not real" feeling. We haven't had an engagement party and probably won't and we both wondered if that would make it feel more "real." We plan to open our first joint checking account next month and we'll soon begin our registry so maybe those things will make it sink in a little. There are 193 days til our wedding (thank you wedding website countdown), but some days it feels so far away. . . .

When did getting married first feel "real" to you? Has it sunk in yet?

--Love

Our First Joint Purchase!

Love & B got a TV together as their first joint purchase. Carter & I got a Christmas tree!

I won a contest at work (best Christmas decorations in my cube!) and the prize was a $50 Visa gift card. When I won, I decided that I wanted to put the gift card toward the purchase of our first Christmas tree.

We've always been "real tree" people at my house, at least until a few years ago. I love the smell of a real tree, and the process of choosing the perfect one. However, a few years ago we decided to try an artificial tree, as my grandparents were downsizing. Today, we put up the artificial tree and get a small real tree for another room in the house.

Carter's family has been an "artificial tree" family for the past several years. Carter's mom and brother both have allergies to real trees, so an artificial one is a necessity. When it came time to decide what we would do for our joint household, there was pretty much no need for discussion. We would get an artificial tree.

We spent all day on Dec. 26th running around West Knoxville looking for our perfect tree. Carter actually loves to put the lights on the tree, so we wanted to find an unlit tree. That's much harder than it sounds! We're also both big fans of big trees, and especially of fat trees. So, we wanted 7.5 feet and fat.

We actually found our tree at the first place we went--Carolina Pottery. However, the price was a little more than we wanted to spend. Five stores and several hours later, we were empty-handed. Knowing that artificial trees disappear rather quickly once they're on sale after Christmas, we (ok, I) really wanted to get one that day. So, we went back to Carolina Pottery and bought the very last 7.5-foot, unlit, fat, artificial tree.

We got white lights to go on it (on sale for $1.24 at Home Depot!) and lots and lots of ornaments on sale, too! It's been so much fun to plan our first Christmas together, even if it is 260 days in advance!

-Amoré