Christmas bells are ringing

Well, I guess since it's been forever....

Not much has happened in the last couple of weeks. Ryan and I told my sister she has until January 14th to move out. We thought her stay was more temporary than it has been and both of our personalities are too strong to be contained in 1000sq ft. Unfortunately, she got laid off a couple days after we told her that. Things don't seem to be looking good for her right now. Sad, but it's a fact of life.

A week ago I set up our Christmas tree, only to find out that the tree I've used since I lived in Centennial (4 yrs ago, now?) doesn't light up. Ryan was swaying toward a real tree, me toward another fake tree.

Ryan: Are you sure you don't want a live tree? They smell so good and they're just as much work as a fake tree.
Chelsea: Nope, don't want it. Our dog would probably chew the branches and get needles everywhere, plus there's the issue of sap and watering it.
Ryan: Watering it doesn't take much.
Chelsea: True, however, we'd spend $80 on this pre-lit artificial tree this year and $50 on a real tree. If the $80 tree lasts 4 years, we're saving $120 over the course of those years, AND it already has the lights on it and we don't have to worry about buying a Christmas tree stand.

I won.

So we got it the next day and that night I set it up and used our wedding beaded garlands and glass ornaments to decorate it. I'm trying to downsize my Christmas decor (much to my DHs delight) and used only the ornaments that coordinated with this year's tree. The others are either being sold on Craigslist or being given away or taken to DI. If you want anything, let me know before I donate it.

I also downsized my decorating overall. Normally I have 3 or 4 garlands placed throughout the house, but because our condo is actually OURS, I don't want to put holes in the wall. I bought some of those command hooks to hang a few things, but really, I'm ready for new decor.

I also attempted to sew our own stockings using a pattern found on familyfun.com, but it didn't turn out quite so well. And I broke the little needle on the sewing machine in the process.

I'm excited for Christmas. Even though Ryan and I decided not to get each other gifts this year because we got a gigantic tv already, Santa is going to bring us gifts in our stockings. Ryan doesn't know it yet, but I found a movie he's wanted forever on Amazon on VHS (who uses those anymore) and I hope he's as excited to get it as I am to give it to him...ahem, I mean Santa to give it to him.

I'll post pictures of our pretty tree later. It reminds me of a pretty glittery frosted cake...but better.

Less than 2 weeks!