Another View from My Tree

This year's holiday village (courtesy of my husband and daughter)
is a two-story affair...and this is only half of it!

On Monday, I started sharing some ornaments from the annually updated Hess collection. Here's the second (and final) part of "If my Christmas tree (or the ornaments, at least) could talk."

2001: I was thrilled when an article I'd written scored me a chance to speak in Orlando, Florida and I got to take my family with me. It was the first trip to Disney World for all of us (my daughter was almost four). We had a great trip and flew back on September 10, 2001. It took me over a decade to get on another airplane, but then....

...I did big time! This ornament, with an Irish prayer on the back first graced our tree in December 2018, a month before my daughter left for a semester in Ireland. My husband and I flew over to see her the following April. It's amazing what you'll do when your kid is an ocean away.

(Undated): This is from one of the years in college when all she wanted for Christmas was money. It was fun coming up with creative ways to wrap cash. (Thank you, Pinterest!)

2006: When she was little, my daughter was a big fan of Hoops and YoYo. 

She remains a big fan of this ornament.

(Undated): Most years, we manage a trip to New York around the holidays and the vendors at Bryant Park are always on our itinerary. We won't make it there this year, 

but hope to be resume our tradition next year.

2012: This is one of many beach-themed ornaments on our tree. It's from what used to be the Penguin Diner in Bethany Beach, but is now just The Penguin. Glad we got this ornament while they were still making their incredible milkshakes. 

Undated -- and I'm unsure of whether I bought it or inherited it from my parents. :-)

Either way, it's where I think of when I think of home. 

And sometimes, you just need to stake your claim. 

I hope you're finding warmth and cheer as you prepare for (or avoid preparing for) the holidays.