Making way for our first married Christmas together

I'm all about tradition ... probably always have been.  I appreciate routine and sentimentality (is that a word?).  So, of course our first married Christmas together is a big deal to me!  I feel like we're setting the stage for how it is we'll celebrate Christmas as a family, so I'm trying to do it right.  I know our routine will change over the years, especially if we're blessed with children, but I don't think that's any reason to not place importance on how we celebrate now. 

I was pretty excited to finally finish decorating our tree -- it only took me three evenings. :)

It's right in front of our front window and looks just beautiful at night when you drive by the house and see it lighting up the darkness.  Mark and I went ahead with the red and gold theme. :)  We used the other ornaments in decorations throughout the house (you'll see in a minute when I post pictures of our fireplace how I used other ornaments in a glass bowl on our coffee table).

We also finally got our new LCD TV mounted above the fireplace and got our fireplace all set up with the fireglass.  We've loved the idea from our California family and were excited to incorporate it our own home.  It's lovely!

We'll eventually get a colored topper (colored glass) for the fireglass, but we still aren't sure what colors we want our living room to be.  We plan to buy new furniture so we'll wait to see what colors are dominant before we choose the topper.  In the meantime, the clear glass itself is fabulous!

So what will our Christmas traditions be?  Well, we're not quite there yet.  Mark and I are actually hosting the Crowley Christmas this Sunday, and I want to make it more than just a shared meal and present opening.  It doesn't need to be any extravagant activity, but I do want to do something a little special or extra.  Still running some ideas in my head.  I do plan to make a ham, so I need to start looking for a yummy recipe and sides.

Other than that, we'll be headed to Houston to spend the Christmas days with my family.  I love the three hours it takes us to open presents Christmas morning, going to Christmas Eve Mass and coming home to shrimp etoufee and watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for the millionth time but still laughing our heads off.

Mark's family gives presents by being assigned names ... this year we're doing couples, in order from oldest to youngest (i.e. parents have Peter and Christine, Peter and Christine have David and Veronica, etc.).  This year, Mark and I have his parents (Mark's the youngest twin by 45 seconds).  I enjoy this idea!

I know I can't put too much pressure on us to establish ourselves so quickly as far as traditions go.  I realize that some things will just become traditions because it's what we do every year;  we've only been married six months!  I am really looking forward to seeing what our traditions become as we continue to grow together.  It's a very exciting time!

If you haven't yet bought your Christmas tree

and plan to, don't buy one from the side of the road at a Christmas tree stand!  Mark and I went to two different places last night and were appalled at how expensive the trees were.  The least expensive tree was $50, and that was for a sad-looking, little tree.  Fortunately for us, I remember having bought a tree from Wal-Mart a couple years ago and knew it hadn't been that expensive, so we trucked over to the nearest Wal-Mart and found a beautiful, seven-foot tree for $30!  That's right -- 30 bucks, folks.  We (aka I) started decorating the tree last night and will post pictures upon completion.  Red and gold, it is! :)

Creative, Clutter-Free Ideas For Displaying Christmas Cards

This is one that interests me as I can't stand the appearance of clutter! I like the first two ideas ...

Creative, Clutter-Free Ideas For Displaying Christmas Cards: "

It's begun! Our first Christmas card arrived in the mail yesterday and hence commenced the welcomed onslaught of mail-carried holiday cheer. We vowed last year— after seeing our entry table fall prey to an unruly array of cards— to preempt the happy attack by having an easy and orderly card display system in place. Here are a few favorite ideas.




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Christmas tree decorations

So Mark and I are trying to decide how we want to decorate our first Christmas tree together:

• I would rather have one main elegant color-themed tree, featuring two colors (was thinking red and gold) and then a smaller fake tree somewhere, featuring ornaments from our childhood.
  
• Mark would rather have one tree, featuring all of our childhood ornaments and any new ornaments we collect over the years.

I just know that once we have children, we'll start to collect all of the ornaments they make and bring into the family, so I'd like to have an elegant tree now while we can.  However, I understand Mark's point of view that he likes how our ornaments from our childhood tell stories about who we are and from where we've come.  I want him to like our tree, so maybe I can bring back all of the red and gold decorations I bought last night.  Or maybe I can keep a few and we can still try to have a main theme of red and gold to include our childhood ornaments?

Hmmm....

Quick and Easy Christmas Decor

I definitely think I'll be doing this! Great and simple idea, with the abundance of decorations I have.

Quick and Easy Christmas Decor: "

Thanksgiving is barely behind us, but we're already busy planning and decorating for Christmas. One of the quickest and easiest ways to get your home in the holiday spirit is by gathering ornaments in a vessel such as a vase, bowl, or tray. Use one as a centerpiece or several of them spread out throughout your home.

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