We have a tradition that started the first Christmas that Mike and I were together. Our tradition is that we got suckered into the personalized ornament club by some kiosk at the mall. Once you start you really can't stop, not sure why...but you can't. Don't believe me? Try it...I'll see you there next year.
We've been all sorts of things...snowmen, angels, santas, wreaths...you name it. When we got Riley, we added an icon. We were no longer two snowman, we were three. When we had Tyler, we became four. We haven't gotten our ornament this year yet, so not sure what four we will be, but I'm sure we will be something cool...you know, like snowmen.
As I was decorating the tree on Sunday, I was putting on our personal ornaments. I am admittedly anal about tree decorating. I like to have like kinds and colors of ornaments on my tree. There has to be a theme...There is also an order that I go in. I start with the personal ornaments, that way they are all spread out and not clustered together looking like the mall kiosk they came from. As I was putting on the ornament from 1999, our first one, it dawned on me that it was old! I did some quick (or not so quick) math and realized this was our 10th Christmas together. We started dating the summer before my senior year of high school.
You know how much has changed in 10 years?
I graduated high school, got married, learned how to fight fair, bought a house, graduated college, got a dog, had a baby, bought two cars, lost two cars, had lots of jobs, gained weight, lost weight, gained weight again, bought 8 more ornaments, gained some wisdom, grew closer to family, replaced basement carpet twice, learned to be less anal (except with my tree), gained friends, lost friends, still love chocolate...and somehow in the middle of all that I became content and stopped caring what others think...You can mock me and I don't care, but my favorite song right now is the chicken fried song, solely because of this part, which sums up what I've learned over the last decade:
Well its funny how it`s the little things in life that mean the most
Not where you live or the car you drive or the price tag on your clothes
There`s no dollar sign on a piece of mind this I`ve come to know
Mike and I definitely have a routine and we have roles. We have spent the last 10 years learning how to be comfortable together and I love it. We've learned how to adapt our routine and roles based on what our life is like at the moment too. And to spice things up once and awhile...we have date night once or twice a month. We also get to add two other ornaments to our tree each year, a tradition coming from my mom and dad...adding an ornament for the kids. One for Riley (I know she isn't a person, but dogs are like kids too) and one for Tyler. In 10 more years, by the time I get done putting on the personal ornaments, there won't be anymore room for the theme of the year. Maybe by then I will have learned to be less anal about my tree...or we get another tree and that one can be mine alone.
Merry Decade Christmas Baby....here's to 50 more...
