A (Little) Christmas Tree Shopping

Soon after saying ‘I do’, my husband made it clear to me that we would have a real Christmas tree. Growing up with an easy, 3-part assembly tree stored in a box on the top shelf of the garage my entire life, I was a bit apprehensive about getting the real thing.  I mean, I can’t keep a plant alive to save my life!

This past Saturday after filling our bellies at a Miller Thanksgiving feast, and my first Black Friday experience (another story), we loaded up on twine, a tarp, a saw, bungee cords, and gloves at Menards and headed towards the tree farm just outside of Cedar Falls on the search for the perfect tree.

I found probably 10 good options in the first 10 minutes, but Rob insisted that the experience should take much longer and lead me through the maze of pine trees. Finally, we found one we both agreed was perfect.  I imagined the process of cutting down the tree to take some time, but was surprised when it literally took Rob about 15 seconds. 

 

 

We soon realized that our tree was……small…really small….and we’re not sure how we looked past this when we picked it.  It stands about 5 feet tall and embarrassingly fit in the back seat of our car for the ride home…so much for that Menards trip.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of carrying our little tree up the stairs with one arm, securing it in its stand, stringing lights, hanging ornaments, and finishing it off with a new Pottery Barn custom tree skirt – gotta love those wedding gift cards!

Turns out, Rob was right to search a little longer. We could not be happier with our little tree.

Shout out to my thoughtful mother-in-law for our first married Christmas ornament.  I can’t wait to see our collection grow over the years.