we have a christmas tree!

The branches are few, it doesn't have that heavenly pine tree scent, and the lights aren't as bright as I'd like, but it's a Christmas tree!

Sunday afternoon, after spending time at a Christmas bazaar, and shopping for decorations and wrapping paper at a makeshift Christmas market (behind? on top of? at? a place called Dirty Nellie's—as you can see, there's some confusion here, which explains why we spent a small amount of time wandering around outside while a freezing cold wind blew), we set up the tree that a fellow teacher sold me last year for 100RMB.

Tony wanted to nap after we put together the tree (my first fake, not including the paper tree we used last year), but once it was up and I said he could sleep for awhile before we decorated it, he practically shouted, "No! I'm into it now! I'm excited!"

And it was while he was stringing the lights that I realized, "Tony! Is this your first time decorating a Christmas tree?!"

His reponse, a look that pretty much said, "Duh! What do you think?" made me even more excited. Not only our first Christmas tree together, but his first Christmas tree, ever (again, not including the paper tree we had last year).

So, with Christmas songs playing on Songza, and while I drank hot chocolate with a candy cane (shout out to my Nan!), we decorated our Christmas tree.

We bought ribbon to put on the tree, but Tony wanted to use the garland a teacher gave us last year. Childhood me was happy.

It's really hard to take a good selfie with a Christmas tree!

We got this ornament made on our vacation in Dalian last year. 

I bought a set of handmade, Chinese character ornaments at the Christmas bazaar my first year here. So happy to finally be hanging them on a tree (and now that I'm marrying a Chinese man, I won't need the paper that tells me what they mean! :) This one means "blessing."

We bought this at the Christmas bazaar on Sunday.

Presents under the tree, mostly courtesy of my momma. (Tony, if you're reading this, you better start shopping!)

P.S. I wrote this while drinking eggnog tea. It almost, almost, feels like home.

P.P.S. The paper Christmas tree we used last year was a digital download from Caravan Shoppe. I used it at home and in my preschool class; it was so much fun! (And it's on sale right now for only $3!)