Decorating the Christmas Tree

I love the Christmas season.  Getting presents is definitely a plus.  And it helps that my birthday comes with the holidays but mostly, I think that it is just the fun of getting to put up lights and decorate the tree and hang stockings that makes me enjoy it so much.  I love that the weather in Oregon actually starts to get cold and I can bring out the scarves and warm gloves.  I love that it is actually somewhat okay for me to randomly start singing songs.  And I love that I get to go out and try find that perfect gift for friends.  You know, the one where they open it and say, "Wow!  I can't believe you remembered that I wanted this," or, in some cases, the one that makes them go into a fit of silent laughs.  

This year I started the Christmas decorating early...like I do almost every year.  I put up the Christmas lights before my Thanksgiving Break and made Stu suffer through decorating the Christmas Tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  I think after four years of Christmases he still groans when I drag out the Christmas box but he knows me and obliges because he knows that it makes me happy.  Every year we try to find new, fun ornaments and this year our tree has taken on a Europe theme but my favorite one is still the one that I made before Stu and I were dating.  

Mike, Loni, Me, Stu, and Clair

Being Sophomores in college, my roommate and I were a little short on money so instead of buying all our decorations, we decided to make some.  This is one of my favorite pictures of my college years.  We were freshmen in the dorms and this ragtag group of people were always together.  Stu was one of my best friends and you rarely saw him on the girls floor without me hanging around nearby.  We were all hanging out in the hall when one of the girls on the floor asked to take our picture.  I just love it!  You can tell that we were all so goofy and happy.  I suppose that it helps that I ended up dating my best friend in the picture.