Things About Christmas That Are Great Vol. 2

So, Hubby thinks I'm a bit strange with all of my Christmas decorations. When we first met, he was quite the grinch, but he's warmed up a lot since then. He still thinks my level of Christmas decorating is a bit absurd though. What can I say? They give me the warm fuzzies. Thing is, I never full understood my own fervor for Christmas decorations until very recently.

You see, just about every decoration and ornament either has a memory attached to it, or suits my (now our) personality in some way. Let's take a walk down Christmas memory lane, shall we?

These two ornaments I just bought 3 days ago. I like the piggies on the motorcycle ornament because the motorcycle looks exactly like Hubby's. I don't like it, though, because I do not ride on the back of Hubby's bike. I ride my own. More on that in another post. Anyway, I like the beer one too even though I do not like beer myself. It's the thought of it that counts. It's also punny.

These two ornaments I got last year. I got the polar bear because Hubby is a polar bear. Seriously, the amount of body heat he emits is astounding. I get home from work and I'm freezing cold. All I have to do is crawl into bed and cuddle with him, and I'm toasty within about a minute. The heart one I got because it was our first Christmas together as a married couple. So now, when I pull this out every year, I get to think about that Christmas. :)

This one my mom got me 2 Christmases ago. Love it. To say that I'm a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean universe is an understatement. It even talks although it says generic pirate things instead of actual Captain Jack Sparrow quotes.

I've already told you about how much my Grandma loved Christmas. One of my aunts gave these to everyone in our family two Christmases ago. I couldn't make it to the family Christmas dinner that year, so my mom gave me mine on Christmas Eve, about 2 hours after Hubby had proposed to me. I lost it. It was kind of a little reminder that she was there for that moment even though we couldn't see her.

Since I'm going in reverse chronological order, next would be the tree as a whole. I already told you I got it on the cheap because I worked at Target, but the reason I had to get a tree that year is because I left the pole to my previous tree in the shed at the house I lived in before. We even snuck over to that house to try and retrieve the pole, but the shed was locked. Woops. So anyway, it's not the highest quality tree ever, but it's the first one I ever bought. All previous trees were inherited from my mother.

The fireplace is brand spankin new for us, so that's not where the memory is. It's the green garland with the white lights intertwined in it. My mom came up to visit my junior year of college which was the first year I lived off campus and therefore the first year I could really decorate for Christmas. We bought all the makings of this garland for like 10 bucks total from The Dollar Tree and I've found some way to use it every year since.

Yep. This is a University of Tennessee ornament. Back in my days of junior high and early high school, I was fairly determined to go to UT for college. Unfortunately, as that day got closer, reality set in and there was no way I could afford the out of state tuition. Anyway, this ornament was a gift from my mom because she was always supportive of my goals.

As previously stated, my mom and I would occasionally make our own ornaments. I remember doing this a couple of times, but these are the only ones that are still surviving. So every time I pull these out, it reminds me of all the Christmas fun I had with my mom. Good times.

I actually made this particular ornament myself. It's a little doggy sticking his head of a stocking. Isn't that adorable? I made it in 5th grade which makes it 16 years old. I'm amazed every single year when I pull it out and it's still completely intact.

No, not the kitty. I have year-round memories with him. The focus here is the tree skirt he's laying on. I LOVE that tree skirt. I always have. My mom got it Christmas of 1992 which now makes it 18 years old. This old tree skirt has a lot of memories attached to it. Some good some bad. There was even the year my dad had claimed he threw it out with all the other Christmas stuff, but he was lying. I retrieved it ASAP, and I haven't let go of it since. It's my goal to have this under my tree every Christmas until the day I die.

Finally, we have reached the oldest Christmas decoration I own. This little bear ornament is from Christmas of 1991 which makes it 19 years old. Someone in my family had these made for each of us with our name and the year written on it. I remember that Christmas rather distinctly. My aunt, uncle, and cousin were in from Las Vegas. A long lost cousin came with us, and my mom's car blew up or something like that so we had to stop at a weigh station which at the time I thought was spelled way station and my uncle from Vegas came to pick us up and asked "who wants to ride with me in the car that might blow up?" or something like that. See? Memories.

So there's my second post on things about Christmas that are great - the memories attached to the decorations. And now, a couple gratuitous shots of our kitties.

Emo Christmas Kitty.

These are all for me, right?