Our tree seems to change each year depending on what kind of mood I'm in at the time. We had an artifical one (yuck) that we used for a number of years when our daughter's allergies were worse. Now we've gone back to real.

Many years ago, before I was married and still living at home with my mom, we waited longer than usual to get a tree and ended up with the last one on the lot. It was a total "Charlie Brown" tree....not at all full, with many bare spots. After we got it decorated we both decided it was the best tree we ever had. All the lights and ornaments really looked lovely without being blocked by so much greenery. This is my first Christmas since my mother passed away last spring. Perhaps I'll have to take my daughter out with me to look for another tree just like that one.