I realized I never posted my blow-by-blow account of our getting our Christmas tree, which was such a fun experience that I had to share. If you have never gone to a tree farm to pick out and cut down your own tree, I recommend you do it at least once or else go with someone who is doing it (this is our second year). And in case you think it is bad for the environment (what, killing an innocent tree and all), know that these trees are grown specifically to be cut down for Christmas, and many trees are planted each year to take their places. Plus, you are supporting a local tree farm!
So here goes our little story. And by little, of course, I mean long-winded.
We went to Flemings in New Alec, which I would guess is about 45 minutes east of downtown (yes, Pittsburghers really do measure distances in time, rather than miles). They also have a bigger location in Indiana, the Christmas tree capital of the world (or so Indiana likes to say).
First, we walk through the field (forest?) and pick out a few trees that seem to be the right size (around 6 feet) and to have a nice "Christmas tree" shape.
Then, we decide which tree is going to be our tree. And by we, I mean Jordan. Here she is marking her tree with a bit of flourish.
Next, Brian gets out his saw while we wait for a worker to show up for supervision, I guess. These workers are pretty on top of things, so the guy was at our tree within a minute or two of when we (i.e., Jordan) made the decision. He offered to take a picture of us in the front of the still-alive tree. Notice how thrilled Brian is to be in this picture! :-)
After that, Brian started sawing, fun for most men and some women, I suspect. My taking all these pics? Fun for me!
After the tree is down for the count, the worker puts it in a trailer/flat bed (whatever you call that thing in the below pic), and we walk down to the baling area.
Next, the worker puts our tree on some shaking machine to remove any loose needles or debris. Imagine the tree shaking in the below picture, will ya?
After that, we temporarily say good bye to our tree as it is baled.
Nice packaging, eh?
Finally, the worker puts our tree in the truck, and we are ready for the long drive back home. Notice the extra branches to the right of the tree. The worker cut some odd shaped ones, which Jordan wanted to keep for her "Charlie Brown" tree.
But first, we have to snap a few pics of Jordan and me standing behind various Christmas-themed cutouts!
Here are some pictures of the tree when we got it into the living room. Try to ignore the ugly blinds.
Next, we put on lights, using pretty much every color in the rainbow (personally, I am all about the white lights).
Finally, here is a picture of Jordan decorating the tree. The first time through. Followed by a picture of the tree completely decorated. For the second time!
And there you have our magical Christmas tree experience. Did you feel as if you were there?! You are welcome for that. :-)
So here goes our little story. And by little, of course, I mean long-winded.
We went to Flemings in New Alec, which I would guess is about 45 minutes east of downtown (yes, Pittsburghers really do measure distances in time, rather than miles). They also have a bigger location in Indiana, the Christmas tree capital of the world (or so Indiana likes to say).
First, we walk through the field (forest?) and pick out a few trees that seem to be the right size (around 6 feet) and to have a nice "Christmas tree" shape.
Then, we decide which tree is going to be our tree. And by we, I mean Jordan. Here she is marking her tree with a bit of flourish.
Next, Brian gets out his saw while we wait for a worker to show up for supervision, I guess. These workers are pretty on top of things, so the guy was at our tree within a minute or two of when we (i.e., Jordan) made the decision. He offered to take a picture of us in the front of the still-alive tree. Notice how thrilled Brian is to be in this picture! :-)
After that, Brian started sawing, fun for most men and some women, I suspect. My taking all these pics? Fun for me!
After the tree is down for the count, the worker puts it in a trailer/flat bed (whatever you call that thing in the below pic), and we walk down to the baling area.
Next, the worker puts our tree on some shaking machine to remove any loose needles or debris. Imagine the tree shaking in the below picture, will ya?
After that, we temporarily say good bye to our tree as it is baled.
Nice packaging, eh?
Finally, the worker puts our tree in the truck, and we are ready for the long drive back home. Notice the extra branches to the right of the tree. The worker cut some odd shaped ones, which Jordan wanted to keep for her "Charlie Brown" tree.
But first, we have to snap a few pics of Jordan and me standing behind various Christmas-themed cutouts!
Here are some pictures of the tree when we got it into the living room. Try to ignore the ugly blinds.
Next, we put on lights, using pretty much every color in the rainbow (personally, I am all about the white lights).
Finally, here is a picture of Jordan decorating the tree. The first time through. Followed by a picture of the tree completely decorated. For the second time!
And there you have our magical Christmas tree experience. Did you feel as if you were there?! You are welcome for that. :-)
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