Saturday, December 15, 2007

O Christmas Tree

For the last couple weeks, I have enjoyed my Christmas tree. When I moved to Boulder in June, I came with what I could stuff into my Subaru, and I went back to Cali for one more load in July. And I made sure to bring most of my Christmas stuff, because
I LOVE MY CHRISTMAS TREE.
Now, I'm no Martha Stewart, but I think my tree looks just fine.
Of course, since I moved out of my parents' house right after high school, I've been accumulating my own Christmas ornaments, and many have special meaning to me.
This angel topper is one of the first "ornaments" I bought when I had my own tree -- it's a replica of an antique china doll, and came from the Smithsonian catalog.
This is the first ornament I bought, and I believe I bought it while I was still in high school -- in anticipation of having my own tree someday. It's made of wax, and there used to be a wax ribbon border around it, but it's fallen off over the years.
I try to pick up ornaments on my travels. This is made out of aspen bark, and I bought it in Park City, Utah. Good friends Carla and Daniel lived in Salt Lake for years, and I used to stay with them when I drove back and forth to grad school in Tennessee. They took me to Park City.
From my 2006 Spring Break trip to London. Went by myself for a week, and it was the best.
A bit risque, but, hey, it's the Rockettes. While in New York for a professional conference, I went with grad school friend, Chris Anthony, to the Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Show.
In Tennessee, I used to ride my mountain bike around an 11-mile loop in Cades Cove up in the Smokey Mountain National Forest. One early morning, I stopped to wait for a big momma bear to cross the road. The next week, I stopped to admire her three cubs up in trees near the road.
Ahhhhh, cycling. This is my first cycling ornament (I have quite a few....), and is precious because it was given to me by Kristi Hill (now Eastin). Kristi is a former pro mountain and road racer, and was the head coach of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training cycling team -- she and our other coaches (including Curtis Eastin, her husband now, and my current cycling coach, Chad Fischer) opened up the world of cycling to me, and I'll be forever thankful. And Kristi coached Denise and me the two years we did Climb to Kaiser in Fresno --
she's a new prof at Fresno State now, and she's amazing.
We used to do El Tour de Tucson -- a 111-mile ride -- for our fall season with Team in Training. The first year we went, we went to a desert museum the day after the ride, and made an adventure out of looking for a javalina (pig!) there. Did you know you can smell them before you can see them?!!! They're really stinky, but thankfully, this ornament I got there isn't.
Go, Vols!
Go, Dawgs!
Eeewwwww....I went through a cow phase...my well-intentioned mom got me this during that phase, so I can't bear to get rid of it. I do, though, hang it at the back of the tree...
Over the years, I have received a few ornaments from students. I actually received two of these from Fresno State students. I kept one and -- shhhhhh! -- re-gifted the other!
It's the "angel of learning."
The Fresno Velo Bellas get together each Christmas for dinner. The original Fresno Bella, Denise, gave me this ornament at one of those dinners.
Mom and Dad give my brothers and me (and now the grandkids) an ornament each Thanksgiving. It's become a very special tradition that I look forward to. They've given me quite a few beautiful blown glass ornaments, and this is one.
Another blown glass ornament from Mom and Dad.
My maternal grandmother immigrated from Germany, loved Hummels, and passed that love to my mom. Last year, Mom went through her own ornaments, and put aside ones she had doubles of, offering them to us. There were a few Hummels, so I happily scooped them up.
She also put aside ornaments she'd had since we were little. There was a set of these blown glass teapots that didn't impress me much as a child. Now, though...sweet.
Merry Christmas!





3 comments:

Denise said...

Wow! You put alot of thought into your tree. Cool. My tree is a playtoy for the cats and dog, so no ornament of value hangs on my tree.

Anonymous said...

That is so sweet Kathie! What a wonderful collection. I hope you have a Merry Christmas this year in your new home.

Heidi

Momma S said...

You are so good (rediculously good) at posting pictures. Way to go! Happy New Year!