Decorating December

Ever since I started middle school I've disliked snow. Growing up in Utah, as a child, meant going to Grandma's house to take huge inter tubes down the hillside. It wasn't until those middle school years that I realized the horrible and ugly truth: snow is the white death. Now, it can be very pretty to look at, but standing in it while you're waiting for the school bus for almost 30 minutes is torture. I remember one year my friend woke up late, and came to the bus stop with wet hair. Right as we were getting onto the bus, she grabbed her hair to pull it out of her face, and a small chunk, about a 1/4 of an inch, broke off. You guys, it literally froze like and icicle, and broke off.

Since that day, I have detested December-April. And since I detest those months of the year, I generally don't like decorating for them either. 

Now that Branson and I live in out very own place, I felt like it was something I could maybe bring myself to try out. I started cutting out paper snowflakes--too 1st grade. I tried making pretty ribbon garlands--looked like a tacky vomit mass of ribbon. We don't have a tree because they are in the very back corner of an incredibly cramped storage unit. But I looked at my cute husband, and I couldn't let the little things that didn't work out continue to ruin this holiday for us. 

So, while browsing Pinterest, I found this awesome photo:

I saw this and my Grinch heart grew a few sizes. I still didn't like the lights, and I didn't want something super tall like this, but I thought Branson and I could make a go of our own version.

First we complied all of the books in our apartment, even the books we wanted to keep in the darkest corners of our puberty-stricken years (cough--Twilight--cough). 

Here is our small bundle of Christmas joy. It took us 15 minutes to build, and the best part about it is the light reflects off the corners at different times of the day, so who needs fancy lights? Plus, the range of colors is better than trying to be precious with glass ornaments. It also encompasses the best part of our family. We are simple people with a huge love of books. 

This is the perfect tree for my December. I might leave it up until April, just to remind myself that there is evil snow outside, and I need to stay in and read them all. I should have been born as a bear, people. Hibernation for people should become a new trend, am I right? 

Happy Holidays!