This Christmas marks several firsts. Some I’m excited about, some not so much. Tomorrow will mark the FIRST time in my 25 years of life I chopped down my own Christmas tree. THIS I am very excited about. I researched a lot of tree farms (and there were a lot to choose from). But, I have made my selection. We’re headed to Helvetia Christmas Tree Farms in Beaverton, OR. I grabbed these from their website.

: Getting them all ready to go to their Christmas home!

: Check out all of those trees in the background! And if someone has to be carryin’ a tree…it isn’t going to be me! Sorry Mr. Fancy Pants.

I’ve picked out exactly where I want to have the tree. I think we need a tall, skinny one. We have pretty high ceilings so I’m looking for an 8 footer. We’ve got sunshine in the forecast for Portland tomorrow (shocking for this time of year) and we’re headed out early! We’re going to have breakfast at our favorite spot and then head out! Cannot. Wait.

On another note, I start decorating our home tomorrow for the first time alone. My mom has been with me every year to make our apartment Christmasy and wonderful. This year I’m on my own and there is SUCH pressure! Mr. Fancy Pants is helpful for the tree but decorating isn’t his cup of tea. I’m not sure if I have mentioned it before but Mr. Fancy Pants has a serious glitter aversion. I have to limit the amount of glittery decor that enters our house in December or he’s not a happy camper! Not sure if you’ve ever noticed, but the words Christmas and glitter are almost interchangeable (not in the meaning or what they stand for–that’s not what I mean, it’s just EVERYTHING has glitter).

This is also the first year for me to do a count down of Christmas presents for Mr. Fancy Pants. I’ll dedicate a couple of posts to this but for your previewing pleasure, I’ve included days 1 and 2 captured below. One the first day of Christmas his true love gave to him…a Pendleton scarf! And on the second day of Christmas his true love gave to him…an Alabama tshirt!

: Days 1 and 2 down…23 to go!

I started him out with good ones. All of them aren’t so fancy. I bought 25 gifts and stayed (almost) at my budget. So expect to see some funny stuff over the next 23 days. I thought this would be a fun change to the norm, and we have to travel to Texas with every gift we’re giving this year, so I was thinking ahead! We’ll only have to travel with the last 3 of his gifts!

T-minus 1 week until our annual Christmas party! We will miss all of our Austin friends this year but are excited about the plans for the celebration! AND Mr. Fancy Pants finished our Christmas card today and it’s off to be letter pressed. He never ceases to amaze me. I hope everyone has survived the Thanksgiving turkey coma and have pulled on their Christmastime britches! We sure have!