One of the many perks of living in South Dakota (cough::sarcasm::cough) is that for a $10 permit, you can drive into the Black Hills National Forest and chop down your own Christmas tree! The majority of the trees are Ponderosa Pines with really long needles, but Adam and I were determined to find a Spruce tree (with short needles). The only Spruce trees we could find weren't very dense, but I guess it's all part of the experience. Adam made a psycho killer face while he was walking with the saw, so I had to capture the moment. 
We also found Heidi a little tree just her size.
She was a champ in her new, warm winter coat. You may think I'm silly for buying my dog a coat, but she was shivering - even with the coat! 
We finally decided on our tree when we realized we weren't going to find anything full and more traditional looking. I really like our forest tree though, and it's really tall! It was nice to throw it in the back of Adam's truck and not worry about it too, considering we passed quite a few people who had to tie their trees to their cars. 
I was excited to decorate the tree and put up all of my other Christmas decorations today. The picture doesn't quite do my little tree justice though. It actually looks pretty nice. It smells so good too. Our Christmas tree in Florida ended up being a hybrid tree with strange needles that didn't fall off. It didn't smell good. It didn't smell at all, actually. But it's been fun to have different kinds of Christmas trees in the different places we've lived.
Later this evening, we went to the Festival of Lights parade downtown. It was okay, but I was disappointed in the lack of candy thrown from the floats. No candy whatsoever. What kind of parade doesn't involve candy-throwing? I know I'm almost 24, but I still enjoy a good piece of hard-earned parade candy. Florida parades were strange because no matter what the season or parade, you could always count on catching some Mardi Gras beads. Not just a few beads either - we're talking handfuls and handfuls of beads. I always thought it was weird, but I guess you appreciate things like that more when you leave a parade empty handed... Other than that, the parade was okay. Some of the floats were pretty nice, and we were sure to bundle up! All in all, a very Christmas-y, fun day! 
7 comments:
HAHA love the psycho Adam killer picture. Cute tree! Can you email me your guys' address? springs327@yahoo.com Thanks!
That looks like fun! We wanted to go chop down our own tree this year but we missed the tickets. The tickets are free so people waited in line at like 3 in the morning. Needless to say they were sold out. I love your tree and your decorations! We don't get to decorate until around the 15th or probably the 20th. We just bought a house and that's about when we are moving in. I am ready for the Christmas spirit though! And thanks for the congratulations! I'm way excited. : )
Awe...Mary! I miss you!! I re-found your blog! Hooray!!
I love your tree. I love your dog (especially in it's sweater). I love how you were sad that you didn't get candy at the parade and I love reading your blog haha. Are you guys going to come to Utah anytime in the next 6 months? Because besides the week of Christmas we will be here.
How cool you got to cut down your own tree! It's cute! Adam does look pretty scary with that saw..
I did the "tree picking in the forest" deal one year when we lived in Wa state. It looked better in the forest than in our house, but like u say it's the experience...
We've never cut down our own tree. I know what you mean about having to dress your dog for the cold. I never thought I would be that kind of dog lady, but they really need them. Your dog's coat is really cute!
Post a Comment