“That One!”

UPDATE: Pictures added! ***CLICK HERE***

Katie and I picked out our first Christmas Tree!! First we tried and tried to find a live tree farm so we could go and cut down our own tree. We don’t have any of those in NWA! And we looked EVERYWHERE! Then we decided just to shop the main stores. We went to Home Depot because we heard they had good trees for good deals. We had no idea about the number of choices! There were so many options and types, but we decided on a Douglas Fir when I rounded a corner and Katie said “That One!” I knew when I heard that, the shopping had ended and we had a tree. But this just isn’t any tree: this is over 6 feet of giant green Holiday Spirit! A few days before Katie wrote an amazing kids story about what some of these Christmas symbols mean! She is a GREAT children’s book author! This got me thinking and I looked up a few things and found some information on the origins and meanings of the Christmas tree, but surprising none of them suited me! It is widely held that Martin Luther was inspired by seeing stars through an evergreen so he brought in a small fir and put candles on it to replicate what he saw in nature. Less likely it is stated that later round balls were added to represent planets. Germans had been decorating fir trees in side and out for a very long time with apples, roses, & colored paper. More likely is that the glass round balls were added when Queen Victoria received a Christmas tree from Prince Albert (her husband) which had been decorated with fine hand blown glass in 1848. Some also say that is is the reinvention of a secular celebration in which they worship an ever green tree or honor the tree as a symbol of the renewal of life. If this all true, then why do we put up a tree? After all that I have read, I’ve come to the conclusion that it depends!

It is pretty much up to you! There isn’t that much symbolism attached with the “original” tree. The best info I found was that early Christians believed that the unseasonable flowering of certain trees usually on Christmas Eve was an homage to Jesus’ birth. I guess we are left to assume that since Rome had been already decorating their homes for the New Year with greenery already, the early Christians began to replicate this “unseasonable flowering” by decorating the trees. Which leads to the German’s decorating firs and then to Martin Luther lighting it to look like stars through the tree and then to the German glass orniments.

In any case, we will have our own symbolisms this year for our very first Chistmas as a new family! We are excited to began our own family tradtions and to continue other traditions that will pass on to the next generations!

I’ll post some pictures of our tree soon as well as our decorating! (see top for link)

UPDATE:
Here is more information about where we get the Christmas tree from my good friend Hunter Goff. I’m looking more into this story, but I have just recently found this info too.
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I just read your post and I wanted to throw this story out at you. Because
during my elustrious studies at the U of A we read a saint story that is often considered the origin of the Christmas tree. I do not remember the saints name but he was a missionary to a Germanic tribe in about the 8th century, I think. Anyways he had been ministering to a group of people in the area but the common pagan religion involved an old Oak tree that was in the woods. The people would come and decorate it and leave things as offerings to the god they thought was represented by this old tree. Well eventually the missionary frustrated by their pagan ways and not seeing anyone turn to Christianity proceeded to chop down this old oak tree defying the god that it represented all the way. This leaving all of the people in awe seeing to the fact that he was killed by said god as he chopped down this tree. Anyways once he had finished this he gave a sermon on the stump of the oak tree and saying that this god was impotent and could not help them and that the god could not even resist the changing of the seasons. But his god, meaning the Lord, was like the evergreen that is living all year round and is always alive and active not like the oak tree. Needless to say the legend, maybe its not a legend, goes that the people saw the power of this man’s god and turned to Christ and began decorating the evergreens as representative of God’s power and never-changing character. – The Ever Estudious Hunter Goff

Still Waiting…

Hey everyone! I hope your remember to vote today! (Unless you are with the oposing party, then please stay home because it is really nasty out and I wouldn’t want you to get sick.)

I just wanted to take a few minutes and give you a quick update so you know what is going on in our lives.

I’m still waiting! Still waiting on the FBI to return my background check so that I can take the License Test for my Real Estate License!!! It is taking forever!  I’m staying busy working at Lindsey. For the market being such a “down” market, I have many agents still using me to work with them to sell their listings and gain more and more buyers! I don’t really know why so many people are concerned when I tell them that I’m going into real estate up here. Many look at me like I’m crazy and ask a question about our slow market. Here’s the deal: Being a doctor when it isn’t flu season is still a great profession because there is always someone who gets sick. Being in real estate is very similar. There is always someone who needs to move here or move away from here. I just have to make sure that they know who I am! We are still having around 1,500 people move here every month!

So why the “slow market”? The builders overbuilt on homes from $250,000 to $400,000. The supply there is high so the market is a little slower there. Many are sitting. As a buyer, this is a perfect time to grab an “agent with teeth” because they can probably get incredible deals on a home of your dreams!! It is a buyers market there.  However, on homes under $200,000, they are selling like hotcakes! You can’t keep one of these little jobs on the market. Especially if it is “cute” and priced just right! Anyway, that is that. I didn’t intend on a “market rant” but I did!

This week is a big week in College Football! I’m going to COLLEGE GAME DAY Saturday to have a blast and represent the Razorbacks on ESPN! We are ranked 11th by the BCS!  WE MUST WIN SATURDAY!!!!!! WE MUST!!!!! I’m nervous! Tennessee gives me heartburn ever since “the fumble”.  Anyone got extra tickets??

I’ll post more soon! Thanks for checking up on us!