Let me preface this post by saying that, yes, we indeed are the owners of a fake tree. I realize that there are very strong opinions on either side. For Emily and I, it came down to a few things.
1) Neither of us are fans of the maintenance involved in having a live tree. The choosing, the hauling, the watering, the subsequent shedding of pine needles... and later, the disposal. Those who know us recognize that we're not the best when it comes to lots of responsibility of that sort. It's not that we don't care... we just get too busy to manage. If our cats didn't audibly beg for food, we'd probably forget to feed them.
2) I can't speak for dogs, but anyone who owns a cat knows that they love to hide themselves underneath anything. When we moved into our house last June, our cat Mercury -- who absolutely hates me -- quickly found that she could shove herself underneath the cabinet in our bonus room. She's stopped doing that now (mostly because, I believe, she discovered it's too unpleasant to press her squatty body into that small crevice), but she does manage to open the doors to the living room all the time. I'm convinced that she'd be hanging out under the tree any time we weren't watching her. Even though she's not allowed in that part of the house, she'll have nowhere to hide when she sneaks in there, as artificial trees tend to have much less space underneath. Problem (mostly) solved.
3. Since most newer artificial trees (including the one we bought) come pre-lit, there's no hassling with lights... you just put the tree up, arrange the branches... plug it in, flip a switch and BAM!! How cool is that? Simple. Just look at this mathematical equation I've constructed below:
No tangled lights + simple assembly - extraneous boxes for storing said lights = COMPLETELY AWESOME!
So, yeah... we're a fake tree family now and forever. It's the ShepAlder way.
We had a fun time putting up the tree, as this was our very first time decorating a tree in our home (we didn't get one last year for our first Christmas as a married couple as we lived in a townhouse with a much smaller living room).
Emily said I looked like a "raccoon who was up to no good and caught on camera" when she took this picture. I say I was just focused on hanging up my awesome Captain Kirk ornament.
Even though this is our second Christmas together as a married couple, this is the first time we've used this ornament.
We got this ornament on our honeymoon in Jamaica.
It Jamaica's me crazy!
We inherited a ton of ornaments from Emily's sister because her kids would likely break them... or something like that. Since we have no children, we get all the good stuff! The coolest thing about this ornament? It's little legs wobble to and fro!
Everyone who knows me recognizes I'm a total, unapologetic geek (I mean, c'mon... Em and I are about to attend an exclusive, 24-hour film festival in Austin, Texas, next week for the second year in a row). My love of Star Trek, Star Wars, sci-fi, comic books, etc., has lasted since childhood, and when I found an awesome eBay auction offering a load of Star Trek ornaments, I had to get them.
Mr. Spock was in the bundle as well. It's only logical to have him on the tree.
And the Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation (I also have the Enterprise-E, but when I tried to explain to Emily why the two ships share a name, but are quite different, she just kind of rolled her eyes).
This OREGON DUCK is a constant reminder of our alma mater...
and the DUCKS decisive 65-38 victory over the silly Oregon State Beavers last week! GO DUCKS!!
With the tree up, it was time for a quick snap of the awesome ShepAlder family (minus the cats, who as I mentioned previously, are not allowed in this room. Lo siento, gatitos!). Emily had just woken up from a little nap, so she was a bit groggy.
We'll be spending Christmas with my family in Hermiston (wooh!), and then New Year's Eve at Hoodoo, so this tree won't get much official use this year. But, it's a welcome reminder of the festive spirit of Christmas!
5 comments:
Great tree, it looks beautiful. I like the fake tree myself but John refuses to give up on the tradition of a real one. (He says it's the smell he can't live without...or something like that.)
I am also pretty sure that John is pretty jealous of your Star Trek ornaments.
Yeah, one of my old roommates refused to give up on that same tradition. So, he got us a live tree for our house on Ferry Street.
And then he never watered it. Ever.
Finally, when Christmas was over, and it had become a dry, dead mass of needles and cobwebs, he put it out to the side of our house (literally like 3 feet from the outside wall). He said he'd make sure it was disposed of properly.
The day before Emily and I got married, when I moved out of that house -- after him -- that tree was STILL there!
Hopefully John is a lot more responsible with your tree!! :)
That's cheating, you know :)
As a kid, I got to listen to my dad (the fire fighter) tell about the people who dispose of their tree every year by putting the tree top in the fireplace and thinking they'll just "feed" the trunk in as the top burns away. (Along, of course, with a dramatic description of just how incredibly fast the fire spreads down the dry tree when you do that.)
And I, of course, ruined our cut-down-a-live-tree tradition when I turned tree-hugging environmentalist liberal hippie as a six-year-old and insisted we stop cutting down all the trees.
But the Star Trek ornaments are great!
A pre lit tree could maybe do much to convert me to a FAKE tree for Christmas, but Matt will have none of that. Thanks for the ornament preview. You are so crazy!!!
I was also a staunch believer in the tradition of the real tree for a long time. We even made it a tradition to get a permit from the forest service and go cut our own in the wild every year.
Until one year... I had one of those "epiphany moments" when I realized that every other ornament, decoration, or thing hung all around the house is made from some form of oil based plastic. Why not the tree? It's jus an ornament also, right?
We bought a fake tree that year and have used it ever since.
However, I am somewhat jealous of your wife's leniency in ornament types and styles. Everything I want to put on the tree has to be "approved", and most (all) of my ideas are not.
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