The very sad Tree

So I would just like to announce to everyone the inevitable has happened. Our poor, poor Christmas tree has seen its last drink of water. I told you have were having issues with our tree, but it has continued to go down hill. We have learned that no matter what you MUST cut off the bottom of the tree. Also check your water level after that about every hour. For some reason when we cut the bottom of the tree the first time (after we realized it was dying), the we filled up the water, but it was gone within like an hour or 2. So after we realized the water was gone it was too late. The tree continued to die because it was not drinking. Then we decided to try this trick one more time. When Alison was at our house, we tried to cut the tree one more time. Well, it hasn't changed anything. OUR TREE IS DEAD!!! Maybe we just weren't meant to have a real tree? But they look so pretty and smell so good. We may have to try again next year, I guess it just depends on how high our ceiling are since we will still be in PROVO!

PS I get out of school today. HALLELUJAH for Christmas Break!!!!!!

We are heading out to NJ very soon and we can't wait!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

After the Christmas tree fiasco, we were certain nothing else would go wrong. We began decorating the outside of our house with lights. We had already put the garland and bows up and around our columns and railings, but it was now time to brighten it up. We knew we would have to put up two strands of lights cause we only had 150 and 200 light strands. So we began with the 200 whirling and twirling it through the garland just having a wonderful time. This strand soon ran out and we went on to the next section. It was perfect we would have just enough lights to make the house beautiful.

This is when disaster struck again. Maybe we aren't supposed to decorate for Christmas. The lights wouldn't plug into the other strand we had just used. Even though we bought them together at the same store, same time, same brand...it wouldn't fit. With the strands we were using...one had the prongs the same size, and the other had prongs that were two different sizes. You know what I am talking about...when there is one prong on the plug that is bigger than the other, so they only fit one certain way in the outlet. So there was no way we could work this out!

Can I just say my husband is brilliant/crazy. He decides all we have to do it make the bigger plug smaller. So he takes a hammer and some pliers and shows the thing who is boss. IT ACTUALLY WORKED!! After about 5 or 10 minutes of getting the prong straightened out and small enough Adam plugged it into the first strand of lights. The lights actually cut on (yes Cassie, I didn't say turned on I am proud to say CUT ON)!!! HE IS MY HERO!!! The only thing I was worried about was him getting electrocuted, but he is perfectly fine.

Well we went on decorating and our whole house is so pretty. Jonny and Cassie live above us and well...they did a great job also. Here are some pictures because it is finally done! I just hope nothing else goes wrong!

If you haven't decorated yet (you are a little late), but be sure to check all your lights and see where they plug in, so you can figure out an easy way to decorate everything! (our decorations on on the right side and Cassie and Jonny's are on the rest of the house!)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

It is such a wonderful time of year! I love decorating for Christmas. We have just moved into a new apartment (a blog and pics will come soon) and have decorated for Christmas! I just absolutely love it. Last year we decorated, but we had a fake tree. It just wasn't the same. The only reason we did it was to save us money in the long run and also because we wouldn't be home for the whole Christmas holiday. We travelled back to North Carolina and New Jersey to see both our families. That was such a fun time! But this year, moving into our new apartment, which just happens to be a basement apartment, there isn't room for our old fake tree. It is 7 1/2 feet tall, and well our ceilings are only 7 feet tall. You can see how this would put us in a little bit of a predicament. Boy was I excited that we could go get a real tree to fit in our little apartment. Adam and I went to a place that my brother and sister...in law (I don't like those words) told us about. They had some really pretty trees for a reasonable price. So we got our tree home and it was perfect. We put it up immediately. We decorated it with all the lights. I was the one who did the lights because I know how I like them done. In my family it was always my dad who did them to make them just perfect, and my brother does it now with his wife. They both claim it is the curse of man! I love it though and if I want them done right I do them myself. We put ribbon around the tree and then put LOTS of ornaments up. This was great. We loved the smell and the cheer it brought into our home.

Then something awful happened. I guess it was our stupidity, but Adam and I thought the tree fit perfectly so we didn't need to cut the bottom off. We also figured because our Christmas tree stand had little spikes in it that all would be ok with the watering of the tree. Man were we stupid! After a day or two Adam checked in the water level and it hadn't moved. He also noticed that the needles were getting very spikey. So we did the unimaginable. You all should have been there. It was really funny to watch. We called our friend Jonny to help us. He and Adam lifted up the tree, because it was decorated and oh so pretty, while I climbed under the tree with a saw to try and cut off the bottom. Well I found out in the middle of all this that maybe I am not a very good sawer. So Adam and I traded positions and with all my muscular power...(or maybe Jonny just held up the tree on his own...but that is beside the point) we held up the tree. In just a few short stokes, the saw cut through the wood and everything was ok. Now our Christmas tree is pretty and healthy. I think we learned our lesson! ALWAYS CUT OFF THE BOTTOM OF YOUR TREE EVEN IF IT IS THE RIGHT SIZE!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving Adventures

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. We have just been so busy. We had a great time at Thanksgiving in Phoenix with all of the family! It just didn't last long enough. It was so fun to be able to sleep in if I wanted to (although I woke up early every morning for no apparent reason). We had an amazing meal with like 30 people there. The weather was perfect. We were able to eat outside on the patio and just enjoy ourselves instead of being locked up inside a house with that many people because the weather was amazing. I wouldn't mind living there for just these few months. I could never make it in the summer though. Anyways, I think the best part about the whole long weekend was the shopping. Aunt Pam, Mom, Katie (my sister-in-law, but more like a sister) and I all jumped in the car at about 11:30 on Thanksgiving night cause for some strange reason we thought it would be fun to hit the deals at the outlet mall at midnight. That was the biggest waste of time. I came back exhausted and completely empty handed. We then went on Friday (at a decent time...around 9 AM) to shop at the "real" stores. We did get a few good deals. I got some fun cute clothes and so did everyone else. I don't normally do the whole Black Friday shopping thing and I don't know if I ever will again unless Katie wants me to go again. She better know I love her to get in all that mess. But we had a great time until I got a terrible headache and made everyone go home. WHAT A BLAST!

Then on Saturday we met up with a friend of Adam's to go 4-wheeling. That was so much fun. We went in a dried up river bed. There were tons of people out there, but we had a great time on our own.

We had a wonderful trip, but when we left we were all exhausted. Everyone slept on the car ride home, except Adam of course. He was the one who had to get us home. I love vacations, but I always feel that I need a full day to recover. It never seems to happen that way though.

I will really miss Thanksgivings in Phoenix!

If you want to see a great list of why Thanksgiving was such a blast (Top Ten of Turkey Time), check out Katie's blog there is a link from my blog!