This Year's New Ornaments...

We did indeed begin decking our halls yesterday, and I am so happy as I sit here writing to you, because I'm bathed in the glow of Christmas lights! It's not tour-worthy yet, although that is coming, I promise!

Just as I brainstormed in yesterday's post, I did mix things up with our decor this year! Instead of using our really tall pencil tree in the living room this year, I used two slightly smaller flocked trees, flanking either side of the TV. I really like the way it looks! 

We used both of those trees to house the ornaments we have collected over the nearly nine years of our marriage. Ryan's eyes were wide as he helped me put those ornaments on the trees, because he didn't think they would all fit on both trees. But they did! As usual, we followed our tradition of reading the stories of the ornaments and the memories they represent as we put them up on the tree. We've had a crazy good nine years, y'all. I am so grateful. (And we're not done! Counting on lots more of the crazy good!)

But I thought I'd show you the new ornaments we added to the tree this year!

Some of you might remember that early this year, we took our tenants to a place in Fort Wayne called Bisque It, where we painted pottery in celebration of a tenant's birthday. Ryan and I chose to save money by working together on our piece, and we made an ornament for our tree! Please note that we are not artists. I probably don't need to explain that. The dot is SUPPOSED to be the area where we live. It's not to scale. I probably just relocated us entirely! But all that aside, I will always have fond memories of this WillowBridge outing!

After Allen passed away in February, his mom's sister and brother-in-law sent us this ornament in his memory. It was such a thoughtful gift! (Great idea if you are ever looking for something to gift besides a flower arrangement.) Someone had also gifted us an ornament in Nita's memory, and we hung them on the same tree, which I know they would have loved.

This ornament came from the state park where we stayed during our very first outing in Abby back in April! They had a gift shop in the lodge, and we were able to get this to commemorate our first adventure in Abby the RV! (Not all parks and campgrounds we visited this year had ornaments, but if they did, we purchased one.)

And then, of course, we picked up several additions to the tree during our vacation this summer! Our first one was in Oakley, Kansas, when we visited the Buffalo Bill museum and statue. This little ornament is metal, which fit in with the bronze statue, and it is in the shape of a flower, which reminds me of Kansas, so it seemed like the best choice!

I liked this wooden ornament that nods to the old west storefront row at Boot Hill in Dodge City, Kansas. Seemed fitting.

We didn't get an ornament in Greensburg this time, while we were visiting my family, since we got one the last time we were there. But we did get one at our next stop, which was the Laura Ingalls Wilder site in Independence, Kansas. I loved this one because it shows the inside of the cabin, which they replicated according to the description in her books:

This next one is actually a magnet (cost effective) that we will add a ribbon to so it will hang on the tree. This was from the Laura Ingalls Wilder site in Mansfield, Missouri. I liked this one because it showed both houses we were able to tour that day. 

And our last one from the trip was this one from Casey, Illinois - the little town of big things. This is the windchime we were able to ring that day! 

Another campground ornament: this time from Chain o Lakes State Park, which was the only one we also visited twice this year! 

And wrapping up what we have so far (always potential to add between now and Christmas, of course) is our ornament that we felt best symbolized the year. It made me snort to learn you could actually purchase this type of ornament. I searched for it as a joke, and found that they exist! Ryan and I were talking about what ornament to get to encompass the craziness that has been this year, and this was what we felt said it best:

Yes, that's a dumpster fire!! Between some of the challenges we've faced work-wise this year, all the intricacies of settling Ryan's parents' things, Ryan's injury this summer, and general overall world-level obstacles, this felt like the year in a nutshell!