Snippets of not quite our first Christmas

T.J. and I will not be together for Christmas this year and it kind of makes my heart hurt. I feel like I'm the worst fiance ever to leave him alone out on the West coast. Yes, he'll most likely have to work some at the hospital but probably not all day, and then what will he do? Thankfully I will be seeing him just a few days later or I don't think I could handle it. But oh how I wish we could spend it together. I wish we were going to be sitting around the tree with family and cups of hot chocolate, his stocking hanging next to mine.

When I was out in Washington the last two weeks we got a tree and decorated our house a little bit. No way was he not going to have a Christmas tree this year and it only took three trips to the PX to pick up the tree,  a tree stand, lights, and a then back again for a saw. We also started thinking about what some of our new/newlywed Christmas traditions would be in our new home. I made cinnamon rolls (yes, I count popping Pillsbury rolls in the oven as baking), we listened to the Alabama Christmas album, T.J. studied some while I ate candy canes, and in the end we had a sweet little Christmasy home.

(I had to explain the story behind the hedgehog to T.J. - an inside joke with my mom and sister about the time my mom picked up a dead hedgehog from our pond thinking it was a leaf. Shrieks ensued and sister and I were left to scoop it from the water while our traumatized mom watched from a safe distance.)

(How cute is this ceramic pot? It was a shower gift and that blurred out spot has our soon to be shared last name. Only 22 more days until it's official!)

It was so fun having a house to decorate (and to link up over at Kelly's Korner)! Not shown (because I'm a bad blogger) is the garland around our front door, the cute new plaid tree skirt, my Naptime Diaries advent calendar, and the wedding presents under our tree that T.J. so sweetly waits for me to open. On my Christmas list this year I asked for my very own nativity scene and I would also love to start collecting Snow Village pieces like my mom and Mema. That probably makes me sound like such a married lady (which my sister quickly pointed out) but they are quintessentially Christmas to me.

I couldn't help but think about how our holiday will grow and change in the years to come. We'll accumulate ornaments, and maybe a dog and one day littles. Maybe next year, what will actually count as our first Christmas, we'll have family visiting our house for the holiday, or it might be just the two of us, or maybe some friends from our community who are also far from "home. Maybe next year we'll adopt a single guy who has to spend the holiday working like my T.J. does this year. 

I just love that warm glow from the tree and snuggling up on our futon when T.J. got home from work with just the tree lights on. And even though I only got to enjoy the tree for the short time I was out there, and I'll probably be returning to a dead tree after the wedding, I love that we got to have a little taste of Christmases to come.