Christmas Tree- Epic fail

Last year (and every year since 2001) I have put up the same small artificial tree. I bought it when I was in college and we never thought to upgrade until last year when all our ornaments would not fit on it. You can see our old tree here.
So, about 3 weeks ago I set out to find a new artificial tree that was not too expensive. I heard Menards had great ones so I went there. I heard right. They had tons to choose from and the price range was from $59-$269 for 6 and 7 foot trees. They all came in boxes so you really didn't know what you were getting yourself into, but I went for the $80, 7 foot one.
Then I needed to shop for lights. The green cord box of 250 lights was $30 and the white cord box of 200 was $9.99. I grabbed the white cord ones to do it on the cheap, not realizing that I would now have white cords all around my tree!
When I got home and opened the box, my new tree came in 100 plus pieces! Okay, I can do this, I'm a carpenter's daughter. After the first hour went by and my hands were bruised and only half the tree was done I came to this realization: A Christmas tree is not something you should cut $$ corners on. I then grabbed me a hammer and got the rest of the tree together in less then an hour.
Sadly this tree will not ever break back down. I will be dragging this bad boy out to my corner at the end of the season (and probably buy a nice one on discount at that time).
Now time for the lights. To be honest, it looks nice when the lights are on. When the lights are off/pictures are taken of it, it looks awful!
At the end of the day I don't hate it enough to redo it for this year. It's a lesson learned and my tree will be the best next year! ;) Here's what I'm left with for this one:

Turkeyless Turkey

Ingredients

• 1 (1 pound) loaf day-old bread, torn into small pieces
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup wild rice, cooked (optional)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)
• 1/2 cup fresh mushrooms (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 1/4 cup cubed apples (optional)

Directions

1. Mix together the bread, cream of mushroom soup, vegetable broth, water, poultry seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. Add any or all of the optional ingredients as desired. It will be sticky. Shape into a loaf and wrap in (nonstick, sprayed) foil to bake.
2. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). You can slice it like a meatloaf and serve.

Vegetarian Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 (1 pound) loaf day-old bread, torn into small pieces
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup wild rice, cooked (optional)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)
• 1/2 cup fresh mushrooms (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 1/4 cup cubed apples (optional)

Directions

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

1. Mix together the bread, cream of mushroom soup, vegetable broth, water, poultry seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. Add any or all of the optional ingredients as desired. It will be sticky. Shape into a loaf and wrap in (nonstick, sprayed) foil to bake.
2. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). You can slice it like a meatloaf and serve.

seaside fairytale

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Here are some pictures from my holiday... this is a magical place St Michael's Mount - Marazion, Cornwall

You can feel the energy of the place, the history... it's the perfect setting for fairytales with maidens looking out the tower's window, waiting for their prince to appear on the horizon, midnight plots and defenestrations (I always liked this word :P)