The Chosen One

We did something this year that I have been dreaming about for a long time.
We cut down our own Christmas tree.
And not from a Christmas tree farm- oh no, from the WILDERNESS.
One thing you should know before going into the wilderness to cut a tree- you will never find a perfect tree farm tree.  If you want one of those you should probably go to a tree farm, or ikea, they have pretty good ones there too- for a great price I might add!
But if you want a one of a kind memory and experience, then you should go to elk water and cut a tree down.  It was awesome.
There may have been moments when I was wading through and falling into waist deep snow, when I couldn't feel anything from the bum down that I may have thought- I'm never doing this again.
There may have been a moment when it seemed nigh impossible to find a decent tree- that I thought- Oh no, we made a mistake.
There may have been a moment when the tree blew off the van (while Justin and Blake were tying the other tree on the other van) and I saw so many precious branches and needles fall off that I thought- lets just forget this ever happened and go buy one.
There may have been a time when Eldon puked all over the van that I thought- I'm never taking this kid anywhere again.  Memories or not.
There was definitely a moment when we were getting the tree home that I was hoping beyond hope that perhaps it was better than I remembered and finding out that it wasn't.  In fact, it was worse.
But the good moments out weighed the bad making the bad not seem so bad after all.
We are totally doing it again and I am owning and loving my humongous charlie brown christmas tree with pride.
It is so sparse I was able to wrap the whole trunk with lights.  I'm pretty sure the worlds definition of a beautiful tree is one whose trunk cannot be seen for all the branches filling out the insides.  But I learned to ignore the worlds definition of a lot of things a long time ago.
I can honestly say i look at my tree and I don't think I have ever seen anything quite so beautiful.  It makes my heart happy and i love it.
We made some wonderful memories with wonderful friends in the process which makes everything worth it.
So who is in for next year?

29 Plus 1

I hate to admit it,
But I turned 30.
THIRTY!

It seemed (at the time) like a huge unwelcome milestone.
But I have learned to accept it.  In fact, I'm determined to embrace it.
Life needs to be embraced and enjoyed.
Yes there are trials, yes there are things you don't want to have to deal with or do, yes there are ages you don't want to turn, there will always be adversity.
I have learned in my thirty years on this earth that things are always better if we choose to be happy.
In fact, its my new mantra.
CHOOSE to be happy.
Its a choice, and its one that I want to make.
So, though I may not like it, I'm going to choose to be happy to be 30.
Its really no different, plus there really isn't anything I can do about it anyway- so why not embrace it and enjoy it?
If I were to choose, I would choose happy.
So, here is to a happy year going forward.

(Also aren't Ruby's teeth in this picture the best?  She is always making me laugh!!)