The only souvenirs we bring home from vacation are Christmas ornaments, so I get to reminisce about our trips each year as I put up the tree. I also have several sentimental ornaments.
Our official wedding ornament from 2005:
Wedding gift from my cousin Olivia:
Wedding gift from my mom’s cousin Laura:
To celebrate buying our first home in 2007:
After the loss of our crippled cat to cancer in 2013:
To celebrate adopting our dog Buddy in 2013:
To celebrate buying our Forever Home in 2014:
To celebrate Bradley starting his dream job in May 2014:
To celebrate adding our cat Shelley to the family in 2014:
To celebrate adopting our second dog, Jovie in April 2015.
My aunt Dianne passed away in May 2015 from cancer. All of the nieces and nephews received these ornaments she had cross-stitched for us back in 1990.
Georgia Aquarium 2016:
Ornaments from our travels
Argentina 2001:
In May of 2005, while visiting my best friend in NYC, Bradley surprised me at Tavern on the Green with a proposal of marriage. I of course said yes, but the restaurant closed its doors in 2010, so we will never have a chance to go back. I found this ornament on ebay to commemorate our experience there.
Honeymoon in the Bahamas 2005:
Washington D.C. 2006 (for our 1st anniversary):
Grand Canyon 2007:
San Francisco 2007 (Muir Woods and Sonoma):
Navarre Beach 2008:
Cruise to the Bahamas in 2008 for our third anniversary:
Panama City 2009:
Bradley’s trip to Africa in 2009:
Las Vegas 2010:
Boston 2010:
Cancun 2010:
Yosemite 2011:
Savannah 2011:
San Francisco 2012:
Asheville, NC 2012:
Denver 2013:
Road trip from Seattle to San Francisco 2015:
National Redwood Forest Park 2015:
Nashville 2017:
Portland 2017:
Charleston 2018:
Tree Changes over the Years:
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
In our new home, we put the tree in our foyer. It fits perfectly in the nook created by the stairs.
It was also the first year I put up a small tree for UGA-themed ornaments.
2012
I decided to go back to my traditional bow topper this year. I kept the red blanket as the tree skirt, though we have so many gifts under the tree this year that I don’t think the cat can even get under there for the time being.
2011
After almost forgoing the big tree in favor of a small, flocked table-top tree, I caved and pulled it down from the attic. Two changes I made this year include switching out the bow tree topper for the pheasant feathers I had used during fall decorating and curly gold picks and using a fluffy red blanket under the tree instead of my tree skirt. After an unfortunate incident last year involving the crippled cat and the ties on my tree skirt, it has been retired until he is no longer with us.
2010
Because I put away the fish tank that previously resided here, we had room for the tree in the living room in 2010. That is wonderful for two reasons: 1. we don’t have to cram the tree into the corner of the dining room, making it difficult to have people over for dinner and 2. we get to enjoy the tree as we spend more time in the living room than in the dining room.
2009
and the picture from our Christmas card that year:
2008
2007
2006
In 2006, we were still in our one-bedroom apartment, but with more furniture than the previous year. We could only squeeze in a mini tree that year:
2005
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