Finding "the right one"

When I was growing up, I don't remember ever having a real Christmas tree. We always seemed to have a fake one, which was fine by me. I remember Mom always saying they started out getting real trees, but did not like cleaning up the pine needles. I never paid it any mind, as my Dad would say. We always had tons of Christmas decorations, both inside and out. 

Then I met Ryan. He had never had a fake tree, but always a real Christmas tree!! He got very upset with his parents in college when they broke down and bought a fake Christmas tree.  So when we got married, it went without saying that we would get a real tree.  I wanted that experience.  With Ryan, you don't just go to Lowes and pick out a pre-cut tree.. He likes going to a tree farm and picking "the right one" and cutting it down.  Fine by me, since I had never done that before!!

Finding just the right tree in Salisbury is quite different for Ryan, as he is used to the tree farm where he grew up, in PA. The "tree farms" around here in Salisbury are not like the one he would go to as a child and growin up.  For our 1st Christmas 2008, we were able to find a tree farm in Delmar, MD and found a tree there, but it ended up looking rather short and fat that year. We lived with it- it was our "first tree" together.  We ended up liking that tree - even if Ryan was taller than the tree itself!!

The next year, 2009, I found a different tree farm, in Hebron Md.   We definitely had to trek through lots of brush, weeds, and trees that were grown very close together, (not the ideal situation for Ryan) but we ended up with a decent tree that year.

This year, it took us a LOT longer to get a tree for some reason.  We were both having a difficult time getting into the "Christmas spirit".  We had some discussions about whether to even get a tree this year, but eventually we both broke down and Saturday we finally went to pick that "perfect" tree out.  We headed back to Delmar this year, as were not impressed with the tree farm last year.  It wasn't too cold outside.  Our entire little family went- Camden stayed in the pickup truck while we picked out the tree. After walking what seemed like FOREVER, as I was carrying a sleeping Abigail, Ryan picked out "the right tree".  It needs some trimming, but it will do.

We have not even got it in the house yet, and Christmas is less than 2 weeks away!! Our top priority these days is making sure Abigail is taken care of, and everything else has gone by the wayside. However, our goal this week since Ryan is off, is to get the tree inside and decorations up! I will definitely post a picture of our 2010 Christmas tree once it is complete :)