The Great Tree Hunt

As we discussed our options for Christmas trees this year, we decided that getting a license and driving to the mountains to cut down our own sounded like way too much work, and going to the big box store and buying a tree in a box would be disloyal to our Northwest roots, and Aaron complained that the Blue Spruce that we cut down from the tree farm last year was "too pokey." So, we decided to compromise and buy a pre-cut tree from a tree lot this year...it seemed to fulfill all of the criteria we were looking for: easy, authentic, and since the trees were imported they weren't the pokey indigenous Utah variety, they were the pretty, lacey Noble variety. Well, we may not be rugged outdoorsmen, but we're not dummies either! When the tree lot attendant sized us up and quoted us $75 for his scrawny hag of a tree, we hopped back in the car, drove across the street to Costco, and picked up a pre-cut and pre-bagged tree for $40! Initially, I was concerned about buying a pre-bagged tree...it seems like a bit of a grab-bag, not knowing whether or not there is a giant whole in the branches. Aaron convinced me that this "get what you get" method was actually preferable as it helped us avoid our fight wherein I insist that we tromp around the entire tree farm in a hunt for the "perfect tree," while Aaron trudges behind arguing that the trees all look the same. And so, we eeny-meeny-miny-moe-ed it, strapped the pre-cut, pre-bagged tree to the top of the minivan, and away we went!