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Scrooge be gone

I really drug my feet with decorating for Christmas this year. I just didn't feel like dealing with the clutter....there, I said it. I know that is SUCH a Scrooge thing to say and Nate called me the Grinch for a week or so when I whined about the whole process. It's just that when you live in a small-ish place, digging out Christmas decor from different storage places in the house (ie in the very back of our one storage closet, behind a giant spare bed...other boxes...random crap, you get the point) is less than appealing. Not to mention that to display our Christmas tree we have to completely rearrange our small family room and get rid of a side table. I know, I know, it's not that bad but I was just feeling Scrooge-like the whole first week of December.

This past weekend, I bit the bullet and told Nate we should decorate the house. His face lit up like a little boy and I knew I was being a big baby about the whole thing because it really ISN'T that bad of a process. No, this year I did not get to top off my cup of coffee with some nice Starbucks liqueur....nor did I get to partake in a satisfying glass of vino. But it was still fun and I'm glad we did it.

The best part about Christmas is getting to spend time with family, wouldn't you agree? This year we will make the 8 hour drive down to Mid-Missouri to spend time with my family and I cannot freaking wait. We'll do Christmas with my in-laws when we come back, over New Years and it really works out nicely this way because we get TWO big celebrations. But family: it's what the best Christmas memories are made of, in my opinion. Nate had a great quote when we were decorating the tree when he said, 'I guess this is the last year Christmas will be about us. From now on it will be about our little man.' So true! Cannot wait!

Onto a few pictures! We have approximately 1,221,542,090 ornaments to hang on our tree so I'll refrain from showing you pictures of each one. But remember how my mom is awesome and sent me my yearly ornaments she's collected from each year of my life? Well, Nate's mom gave him most of his, too, so just our childhood ornaments could fill up a whole tree. Then come our 'newer' ornaments we've purchased together over the years, gifted ornaments, and the standard pretty bulbs. Someday we will own a large house and I promised Nate we'd have two trees: one for all of our 'vintage' childhood ornaments, and one for newer ones. Until then, the blend between new memories and old ones make for a pretty pimped out tree.

Sock Monkey is new, and adorable:
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Starbucks red cup is new and makes me salivate. Isn't it cute? We have four of them:)
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And I made this one to fill an empty frame ornament. Don't worry, I totally messed up and forgot that our first US was in August, not July. And it was at 9 weeks. But whatev, right? Still adorable.
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Our DIY stockings:
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Hurricane vase without wine corks and instead, with my 'girlie' ornaments I had before marriage (before my hot pink, aqua and purple theme went out the window)
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And my DIY banner....which, by the way, we are supposed to get 8-14" in the next day or so. Yippee!
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I tried to forgo the outside decor but dear Nate took it upon himself this year to brave the cold and slap some garland with a giant wreath up there. And let's not forget about my beloved DIY wreath on the door. Nor the adorable white puppy staring out at you from behind the glass:
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Ah, Christmas. Good to have you here again:
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Then come the Henry-in-front-of-the-tree pictures. Since I didn't have my 50mm f/1.8 lens last year, I figured I should go a little crazy with the bokeh from the lights this year. Sigh. I just love these shots. Henry is not thrilled, but he's still stinking adorable:
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Don't you love how his little chest is about to bust through this suit? He HATES it with a passion. I actually took a video of him hating life with the Santa suit. Someday I'll figure out how to upload a video clip here.

So it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. Can you believe it's that time again? Where does the time go?

27 comments:

  1. Aw I just love those pics of Henry- reminds me of my little guy who I stuff into a Santa suit every year... he doesn't make for a very jolly Santa although he sure is nice and plump :)

    Lovely tree too!

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  2. Your tree is gorgeous!!! :)

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  3. Beautiful pictures, beautiful home!

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  4. Everything looks great!!

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  5. You have some awesome Christmas Decorations! I love the banner!! Your house looks beautiful!

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  6. Gorgeous! I love the built in cabinet of yours.

    And the pictures of Henry are fantastic, especially the first one!!

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  7. How is the training going with Henry? What about staying calm with him when you get home? He, as is my dog, is just too adorable to pass up excitement over, so I was wondering how that is going?

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  8. I love the pics of Henry in front of the tree. I've tried to take pics of our tree, and nothing turns out good. I need more practice, for sure. =)

    Love your Living Room tree, it looks perfect.

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  9. ooo - the family room looks so cozy!

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  10. I have been the same way in terms of not wanting to deal with the clutter.. our condo is small and there's not a lot of room for decor. But your place looks great! inspires me to finally decorate this weekend :)

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  11. Oh, Julia, it all looks great! Now aren't you glad you did it? I won't lie, though--we had three Rubbermaid bins, two cardboard moving boxes, and a crate full of Christmas stuff. I put out maybe, MAYBE 1/3 of it. I think we're still fully decorated, and the clutter isn't driving me up the wall. :)

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  12. Love it! I cannot TAKE how cute Henry is.

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  13. Love the photos. Love the blog in general. I found it through Kristal's blog. Like I needed another blog to read . . . hahaha. Looking forward to reading about your life and your pregnancy.

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  14. I love the shot of your living room! So lovely :) (and I am jealous of your 50mm lens and the awesome shots you've captured with it! lol)

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  15. I am LOVING your super cute living room!! I love the collage on the wall!

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  16. Love your decor! I must get that 50mm f/1.8 lens!!!!

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  17. That is the second time I have seen that sock monkey this year and I am totally going to have to score one! Love the first pic of Henry in front of the tree. The cooler colors of that photo are beautiful.

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  18. Allison~The training is going really weel! The trainer comes back on Monday, actually, for another 'outdoor' session. He does fab inside and listens really well but on walks or out in front of our house he still goes a little wild with other doggies.

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  19. Julia, the house looks beautiful! We also got the Starbucks red ornament AND the clear one. It super cute, however they are sitting on our kitchen table along with about 50 new bulb ornaments in pretty colors. I have ZERO motivation to got get a tree and put it up, despite the cute ornaments that stare at me, giving me the constant reminder that Im being a scrooge as well. OH WELL, right? It must be a Hornung thing... Im glad you put your goodies up though, it gives me the umf to do ours :) The nursery is coming along, I think you are going to LOVE those lantern lights! They look like they will be nice and dim enough for those late night crying spells and rocking him back to sleep. I dont know if you knew this, but I work in the NICU, and I take care of babies that are the size of your little peanut... so adorable!!!!

    I was hoping to see you over Christmas, but i just read that you guys are going to Miss, so you will be missed! But we are going to have to get together one of these weekends!!!! Thanks for the msg on FB, I had fun making our cards this year. I cant wait to see yours as well, the fam pics turned out great and cant wait to see which one you picked! Anyways, now that I wrote you a book, ha ha, take care.
    Michelle

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  20. Julia, the house looks beautiful! We also got the Starbucks red ornament AND the clear one. It super cute, however they are sitting on our kitchen table along with about 50 new bulb ornaments in pretty colors. I have ZERO motivation to got get a tree and put it up, despite the cute ornaments that stare at me, giving me the constant reminder that Im being a scrooge as well. OH WELL, right? It must be a Hornung thing... Im glad you put your goodies up though, it gives me the umf to do ours :) The nursery is coming along, I think you are going to LOVE those lantern lights! They look like they will be nice and dim enough for those late night crying spells and rocking him back to sleep. I dont know if you knew this, but I work in the NICU, and I take care of babies that are the size of your little peanut... so adorable!!!!

    I was hoping to see you over Christmas, but i just read that you guys are going to Miss, so you will be missed! But we are going to have to get together one of these weekends!!!! Thanks for the msg on FB, I had fun making our cards this year. I cant wait to see yours as well, the fam pics turned out great and cant wait to see which one you picked! Anyways, now that I wrote you a book, ha ha, take care.
    Michelle

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  21. forgive my ignorance but what kind of dog is henry? i need to add him to my christmas list :)

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  22. Seriously I want Henry to come live with me...he is so freaking cute! He and Shepley could be boyfriend/girlfriend :)

    The xmas decorations look great and I totally know what you mean about not wanting to dig them all out. It is such an ordeal.

    PS: Henry needs a much bigger stocking. It looks like Santa would be lucky to squeeze one dog treat in there and I am sure Henry has been such a good boy this year that he will surely get more than one treat :)

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  23. Very cute...Henry is a doll. Where did you get the santa suit...Ozzy definitely needs one!

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  24. I love your Christmas decor! Very cute. I know what you mean by the clutter though. I always feel so refreshed when it's gone.

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  25. It does seem like such a PITA to do all the decorating, but when you get the finished product, it all seems worth it. Your place looks beautiful. It's so cute that Nate was excited to decorate...I can't relate.

    We can't really decorate this year with our condo on the market-you never know who will be offended by decorations! Besides, our decorations have been in our off-site storage unit since last year. When I put them there, I thought, "I can't wait to decorate our new house next year." Ha.

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  26. these photos are beautiful! you have inspired me to do the same.

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