O' Christmas Tree

When I was a little girl, the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree was one that went in many phases. It began by trudging out to the tree farm, finding the biggest and fattest tree that would fit into our living room, my dad struggling to make the tree stand up straight, which often involved fish line and a few short prayers, and then proceeding to drench the green branches in multi-colored lights and a ridiculous amount of homemade ornaments.

As my sister and I got older, the tradition steered in a more less extravagant direction. The trees got smaller, the decorations became more sophisticated, and eventually, we converted to the family of artificial.

Even though the tree itself may have changed, one thing that always remained was the feeling of Christmas the moment the tree went up. I really felt that the essence of the season as soon as that big shrub stood in front of our window.

This will be Toly and my 2nd Christmas together in our home. As the years pass, we have been creating some traditions of our own, and obtaining the Christmas tree is one that is developing quite nicely.

We started off our morning with a hearty breakfast.

Scrambled eggs with Rosemary, Dijon and avocado. English Muffin with Pumpkin Butter/ Cranberry Apple Butter and fruit.

It couldn't have been more appropriate that snowflakes started to fall as soon as we left the house.

We met our friends' Jen and Brian at their house and rode over to the Fire Station to pick out our trees.

Emily all bundled up in the snow.
Me, Jen, Emily and Connor, ready to pick out our trees.
The boys were having fun trying to find the perfect tree. Toly wanted the biggest
but Brian found that a more realistic size would be better.
Sawing away!
After we made our selections, we headed to the coffee shop for some cookies and hot coco.
We didn't really realize how big the tree was until we got home. Looks can be deceiving because this barely 7 footer just barley fit in our living room.
After about an hour of fighting with the thing, Toly managed to get it standing and mildly straight. Hey, so long as it wasn't falling over, it worked for us!

I pulled out the ornaments and we got to work.

Here is my very first ornament. This one always holds a special place in my heart.....

With the Christmas music playing and the snow falling, we spent the afternoon decorating.Toly did his final duty of placing the star on top. Here she is! The Podolsky Christmas tree number 2! It's a big one but beautiful indeed! We worked up a bit of an appetite, so I threw together a little lunch. Leftover tofu, veggies and the last of the Pumpkin Kasha. Oh how I will miss you Kasha! ;)

After lunch, I did a little more decorating,


And took some more pictures by the tree.


I have to admit, this took a lot out of me today. By the time we were done, I was EXHAUSTED! I crashed on the couch for a few hours and hit the pain meds pretty hard.

After I woke up, it was dinner time.

Tonight, I made a big batch of Snobby Joes! Only instead of Lentils, I used Chic Peas.

Served open face on spinach with honey mustard and a side of pickles. I also made sweet potato fries and apple sauce.
Toly had the traditional version and with cheese.

Dinner was wonderful. I am getting really creative at coming up with good/soft meals that I am able to eat without much discomfort, but I do have to try to work my jaw as much as possible. So even though it does hurt a little, I know that I need to keep moving it if I want it to heal correctly. Slowly, I'm making progress.

We ended the night by watching Slum Dog Millionaire (which I really didn't like) and enjoying some Chocolate PB fro-yo that my sister-in law and her husband brought over for me. I will never get tired of people bringing me ice cream! ;)

Such a great day, and now it really feels like Christmas. Just need to get those presents wrapped and under the tree and then the full picture will be painted.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!