On the 3rd day of Christmas this is what the Cramers did: trim their new Christmas tree.

After almost two years of marriage, this was our FIRST Christmas tree. We forewent the tree last year because of the cruise we went on the week before Christmas with my family and then returned to the Cramer homestead to celebrate the festivities.

We had a major dilemma this year: to buy fresh or to buy fake.

Steven and I both grew up with fresh cut trees. We both have wonderful memories from this tradition; however, we found it silly to throw $100 or so down the drain every year for a tree when eventually we want two Christmas trees in our home: one “put together” tree with the fancy ornaments and then another “family” tree with our travel ornaments and the sometimes unsightly homemade ornaments our parents have all felt obligated to put on the tree. Our conclusion: buy the fake tree now, which will become our “fancy” tree and then when our children are toddlers start going to the tree farm and choosing a fresh tree for the “family” tree.

Another special tradition that we’ve started, and if I can just toot my horn for a second, that I absolutely ADORE: buy a Christmas ornament to places we travel together as our souvenirs. We’re not big on magnets, postcards or shot glasses, so on our honeymoon we got this idea to buy an ornament for each place we travel to and then once a year we’ll “re-live” those memories as we hang the ornaments on the tree. We had such a fun and special time going through each ornament and recalling the fun adventures shared.