Sunday, December 20, 2009

Our First Christmas Together

Last night right before I went to bed I had an email from Rett saying she blogged and I was in it. When I read the post I about wet my pants because she ask me to tell about the first Christmas Chris and I spent together.

PLEASE take this as a warning that I don't want to offend anyone here! I have my personal taste and well if your like Chris well then you like things different than me.

When I was single I went through a spell of being a tad bit crafty. I LOVED Christmas and I would even make my own wrapping paper. I would take that brown paper you mail stuff in and use shaped sponges to paint things on it. Then after wrapping the present I would make beautiful raffia bows and glue them on the package with babies breathe and country flowers.

Our first Christmas when we got ready to decorate I found out that marriage isn't always easy. I wanted my real tree that smelled wonderful. Chris wanted a FAKE tree. I wanted white lights and well Chris wanted colored. I was used to decorating the most beautiful country tree with flowers, raffia bows, rustic birdhouses and snowmen and just so ME.

As the woman in the house I figured I should get to choose how to decorate "our" tree. I had a HUGE problem though and that was my MOM. Oh how my mom loves my dear husband. When we first got together sometimes I thought she even loved him more than me. My mom would do anything or make anything for Chris. My dear mom also couldn't handle Chris not having his style of tree.

So let me tell you about my dear husbands style. Chris wanted a FAKE tree with colored lights. Chris wanted that shiny garland and tinsel and those round shiny ormaments that come in a box and they all look the same but different colors.

I thought I was going to cry.

At the time we lived in a 600 square foot home. Did you see that 600 was all the space we had so our living room was not big in any way? MY MOM told Chris that if I had to have my tree my way then he needed one his way too. I couldn't believe it!!! So we had 2 Christmas trees in our little tiny living room that year. One beautiful rustic one and one well you get the idea of how I felt about the other one.

After that year we came to an agreement on how to do one tree. We now have a real tree, colored lights for him, wooden beads for me and then just plain old regular ornaments that mean something (most of them anyway). I really, really do miss my beautiful country tree.

I would show you a picture of our ordinary tree right now but I'm about to throw my camera out the window so you will have to use your imagination.

4 comments:

JJ said...

Oh my goodness Sarah, I CAN TOTALLY relate to you. Almost every day I say how much my mom loves my husband more than me. It's ridiculous. When we go to her house, she will ask me "what does Brad want for dinner?" Is it always his choice what we eat when we come to your house? We also have the same issue with our Christmas tree. He likes colored lights, I like white lights.Our ornaments all have meaning and we've had a good collection of those since the beginning. This year he won though, he said that we must have thrown out the white lights last year because he couldn't find them and I did glance through all of the bins and didn't see them either. Of course after the tree was up and decorated with green and red lights, we conveniently found the white lights. I just didn't have time with all the adoption stuff going on to search for white lights and I am not spending money on more right now. In the past, with him being in the military and usually gone up until a few days before Christmas, I have always been the one to decorate the tree and so it's been how I like it. I guess 1 time in 9 years his way isn't too bad right? hahah!!!! I LOVED this post. I just laughed the whole time reading it.

thewindowwasher said...

This is soooooo funny! I really think they should cover this topic in premarital counseling!! My tree, doug fir, real. Colored big lights, all the ornaments I'd been receiving each year from my mom since I was little. Maybe, just may be a few colored metallic balls. The angel my mom made "us" with wax German head and hands and dressed in fabic from my wedding dress. MY HUSBANDS tree. Noble fir or doug fir, real. Gaudy gold garland. Only metallic balls. Colored small lights, lots of them.

Now 18 years later we have a nice blend of both of ours. I love a nice noble fir with lots of little tiny lights (no blinking though!) We have lots of balls hung deep in the bows for color and ornaments that all have a story. The angel retired for this year as all my kids and hubby wanted a star.

Maturity comes I guess, cuz I love it. 18 years ago and would have screamed!

Cathy

Tony and Rett said...

HAHAH, SO glad you posted this! It flat makes me laugh. I remember your frustration and how I didn't know whose side to take! I saw the point of both!

SO glad you worked through that issue to be the wonderful, loving, and comprimising couple I love today!

Merry Country/Tinsel Christmas!

Adeye said...

hahahahahahah...too funny :)

Aaahhh---don't you love being married ????