Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!

Decorating the tree has always been one of my absolute favorite things to do during Christmas time. It all starts with the excitement of picking out the perfect tree on the lot and then continues as you ride home singing along to holiday tunes and glancing out the car window to make sure the cargo is still fixed to the roof. It really is quite a process to get the tree trimmed and ready for decorating.

Tonight we were finally ready to pull it all together. (That is after Jared strung it with some 900 bright white lights!) With Amy Grant's Christmas album playing on high we literally did rock around the Christmas tree while hanging some new, old and very old ornaments. Oddly enough, we ended up with a great start to a glimmering silver and gold collection. Introducing... our first Christmas tree!!!


Since this is our first Christmas as newlyweds, we've started some new tree decorating traditions including a small piece of our wedding invitation framed and made to be an ornament (given as a fun gift by Jared's mom last year).


And since we met at Virginia Tech we just had to show some love for our ACC Championship Hokies, with this little guy!

And lastly, a trio of home-made gold bells from a few generations. The oldest of which was made by my grandmother, and then my mother, and finally one crafted by yours truly. I strung them all on the same ornament hook so they can be seen together.
So there it is... the start of our very own Christmas tree traditions. Hopefully I'll have a few more decorating posts in the next few days, so stay tuned!