Christmas tree time!

Even though I don't post as regularly on the mundane things in my life, I'm still thinking about entries for my blog. It's just that often I don't bother writing them up! In any case, today Garrett and I assembled and decorated my Christmas tree. There is a long story as to how my Christmas tree arrived in Edmonton. Last year, after Christmas, I bought a Christmas tree from London Drugs for half price - I think it was around $120. However, when my mom and dad were in Port Alberni for New Year's, they found an even better deal on a nice tree for $80. So, they picked it up for me and I returned the other one to London Drugs. Once I had bought the tree, I couldn't fit it in our car on the way home to Edmonton, since we drove back with Garrett, Bonnie and I - and a ton of our Christmas presents! This past summer, my parents and grandparents brought the tree out to me when they came out to visit. Finally, after all this time and tree travel, I got to put the tree up!

Here is the box with the picture of what the tree should look like. The great thing about this tree is that it has lights wired in already, so you just basically plug it in and there you go.Here's me opening the box, feeling very excited to put the tree together:The tree wasn't that hard to assemble, although we were a bit confused about the wiring of the lights (also, because the instructions were stupid - and yes, we actually tried to read them). Here's the assembled tree with the lights on:Next, we decorated the tree. Since the tree my parents got me was actually a lot bigger than the original I picked out, we had some trouble getting the angel on top of my 7.5' tree in my little basement suit. We ended up hanging her from the top branch, so she's near the top but not right on top. I was surprised at how many ornaments I actually ended up having for the tree, and it turned out really nice. I was really happy with it, and now everytime I turn it on it makes me smile and feel cozy inside. Here it is from two different angles:
We had to move some of my furniture out of the way, too, since its girth was too big for the spot I'd originally planned to fit it. You can see there are a few presents under the tree already - those will be going to Gibsons with me at Christmas.

Normally, I'm not a fan of fake Christmas trees (real ones, all the way!) but it's not practical for me to have a real tree when I leave for a week every Christmas! Plus, I feel like it's too big of a fire hazard in my rental unit, so a fake tree seemed like a good choice. Besides, I was actually impressed at how good this tree looked once we had decorated it.

And last of all, a sample of an ornament - one of Garrett's favorites: a Starbuck's cup: