Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Decorating for Christmas

Let me preface this post by saying that usually decorating for Christmas this early would be prohibited in my home :) However, this year Justin and I realized that the day after Thanksgiving for us will likely be quite busy and our best bet for getting decorating done would be to do it early... it was the best decision...

Justin and I immediately loaded up in the car, hit the Dollar General Store and bought our $20 tree and some $2 stockings...

Then, off to Walmart to purchase a couple of $2.50 dollar lights and a huge selection of multicolored ornaments for $15 thinking we wouldn't have enough of our own just yet to cover our tree. We then rushed home, drug our booty into the home, shut the door-locked it, turned on The Rat Pack Christmas cd... and put together our tree.

Baby Girl (our pocket parrott) was only too happy to be involved in any and every part of the process, insisting on trying to eat everything... even the lights.

Justin and I finished building the trees and then pulled out our ornaments from home. The amazing thing about both of our families is this: both kept the same tradition. Our parents would by us an ornament each year to remember what that year stood for- all with the intent to give to us when we got married and moved out. Justin and I sniffled a little as we opened the boxes and memories poured out of them....

The very first ornament that was pulled out was from Justin's box, it was the ornament with a picture of he and I in it from when we first begun to date... After soaking in the moment for that ornament the rest came on fast as we quickly rambled on story after story that each ornament stood for. We both found out a lot about each other, just doing a tree :)

After we emptied our boxes we realized that once I put my ribbon that I bought ($5 for 75feet) the tree would be more than full- we didn't even need to purchase that bunch of random ornaments. So, instead of returning them, or letting them go to waste, I moved to my mantle!

After the mantle was finished,... I couldn't stop... My mother, knowing my deep desire for Christmas table settings, gave me a part of my Christmas present early in order for me to enjoy them this season... Beautiful Christmas dishes, silver chargers, tapered candles and a stunning center piece made my table look like it came from a Southern Living Magazine :)

Thank you Mom, Dad, Beverly and Mark for investing in our lives in so many ways, filling our home and especially our tree for our first year together... full of memories and love.