Christmas decorating

First of all, I need help with my blog. I tried changing to a Christmas background and (obviously) it only changed half. I don't have the patience to continue trying to figure it out. Any ideas? And does anyone know why my pictures keep getting posted on the right side instead of to the left? I've been posting them the same as I always have. It's driving me CRAAAAZY.

Speaking of patience, this tree took a lot of it. I was really sad when we got out our 1 year old artificial tree this year to find that half of the branches no longer stay in very well. I didn't even attempt to put ornaments on it because I knew that would result in all of the branches on the floor, along with my eyeballs. I was telling my Aunt Linda about it one day, and she mentioned that her friends Dan and Heather happened to have a tree they wanted to give away. They had built a loft in their home and it no longer fit where they wanted it, so they bought a new one. A phone call later, we had a new tree! It was SO nice of them.

Well turns out, it didn't fit in our home either. But we were determined to make it work. We thought about just taking out part of the middle, which didn't look bad, but the lights on top weren't working. So I decided to just make a really big topper that would cover up what should have been there. Can you tell our tree is missing its top?

The whole process took way too long, and now we only get to enjoy it for about 9 days before we leave for MI. Oh and did I mention it took several days and 3 attempts to make a topper that wasn't too ugly or too big, but big enough to hide the missing top? When this tree breaks, we're definitely switching to real trees! I just decided.

And finally, here is my beloved village. My mom gets me new pieces every year for my birthday. And THAT is my new bench that Amber and Andy MADE ME. Like, actually built, added the design, painted, and everything. How talented are they? I love it. Thanks to Christmas and this bench, my once empty room is now decorated!