Grable Getaway: Oregon Coast

Back in January, Sam proposed heading to the coast for a few days to relax & discuss our plans for the upcoming year. As someone who loves to travel (near or far), I was immediately on board! The thought of getting away with my boys without the distraction of regular life was very appealing.

Fast forward to last week.

Prior to our trip, I prepared my heart and body for cold winter weather by packing rain jackets & scarves, but those items remained in our bags as we soaked up some (rare) February sun. With a rental just steps from the sand & some of the mildest weather I've ever experienced on the Oregon coast, we entered this trip with hopeful hearts.

As you can gather, we played AND rested hard!

In a matter of just a few days, we explored several different areas along the beautiful coastline, spent hours dreaming + discussing what the next year(s) might hold for us, and experienced a handful of firsts with our little guy. It wasn't elaborate, but it was memorable, and that was exactly what we needed!

And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14

Farewell 2014

2014 was a quiet year for Grable Tales.  I could blame it on having a baby, but shouldn't that have given me more content?  I have a feeling that Instagram has something to do with the lack of posts --- honestly, it's a lot easier to post a photo with a small comment then think of an entire post.  Regardless, this year still deserves some recognition:

January - *crickets*

February - my first post of the year was a Stitch Fix review: pregnant edition; I also shared how I was spending my time lately (hint: Sam Grable Photo, The Influence Network, and being pregnant for the second time); I announced my hopes of attending my second Influence Conference; and blogged about my love for 4moms.

March - I started the month off by writing out my monthly goals (and linking up with The Tiny Twig's Goals with Grace); I updated my about me page & began leading an Influence Network community group; and I talked about being a month out from meeting our baby boy (& shared his name)

April - I revisited my March goals + shared my April goals; and blogged about my thoughts of Brené Brown’s book - Daring Greatly

May - I looked back on my April goals + made a few May goals; introduced our baby boy, Calvin!; shared how different Mother's Day felt this year; started writing monthly letters to Calvin; and shared my first postpartum Stitch Fix review.

June - continued with goals for June; after flying across the country with a six week old, I blogged about some of the 'flying with a baby' tips/advice that worked for us; Calvin turned two months old; and Sam & I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary.

July - this month, I really started to give myself grace when it came to my goals for July; parenting definitely isn't easy, but on occasion it does make you feel like you have some super powers; another Stitch Fix review (I love this service!); my baby turned three months old; and I blogged about the community I found online.

August - still going strong + trying to be transparent with my monthly goals; I reviewed my birthday Stitch Fix; and Calvin kept getting bigger (four months old).

September - I finally realized that some goals will be repeats each month and that's ok; I (re)introduced myself in preparation of the Influence Conference; Calvin turned five months old; thanks to credits, I received a Stitch Fix before attending the Influence Conference; and then I recapped the conference for the second year in a row.

October - two posts remain consistent each month: goals + Calvin's letter (six months old this month!)

November - goals, goals, goals (sorry for the repeating); a photo recap of October; I shared my experience with essential oils; I turned to social media for help with this month's Stitch Fix review; Calvin turned seven months old; and I took some time to be thankful.

December - after nine months of goals, I shared my last goals (with grace) for 2014; blogged about Christmas traditions; honored Charlotte's second birthday and shared the way we chose to celebrate her; reflected on our second year without our baby girl; Calvin celebrated his eighth month of being on the outside; I blogged about the significance of a little giraffe; and reviewed my final Stitch Fix for the year.

This year brought a lot of joy + hope, as well as sleepless nights + tears. And while this space has been primarily used to review Stitch Fixes, write out my goals, and share my monthly letter to Calvin, but I appreciate the comments & community I've found through this space + social media outlets.  Maybe next year things will be different...

Until then... Happy New Year!

Traditions

Traditions have been on my mind a lot lately --- What traditions will we carry on from my childhood? From my husband's childhood? What new traditions will we start as a family?

Over the years, Sam & I have celebrated the holidays with our immediate families, which has been wonderful & easy when it comes to traditions. But as we continue to grow our little family, the desire to make our own traditions & memories has become stronger and more important.

With this being the first holiday season we'd have a child at home with us, I found myself searching for our the memorable moments that could be carried on through the years, while reminding myself that we didn't have to go overboard by doing all.the.things.  So I did a little research...

I searched through some of my favorite blogger's past holiday posts.
I asked close friends for their ideas.
I even attended an online class titled "Holidays & Families Without Losing Your Mind", taught by Rachael Kincaid ((great class!))

And after exhausting my resources & talking them through with Sam, these are the Christmas traditions that I hope will become a part of our holidays each year:

• Participating in an Advent plan // This may look different each year, but as long as we participate in one as a family, I'll be happy.

• Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve // Growing up, my mom always allowed us to open one gift on Christmas Eve and it was always a pair of new pajamas, so this is a special one from my childhood.

• Three gifts (like Jesus received) // I recently heard this one from the above-mentioned class and I loved it. Simply put: each person receives three gifts from their list and the special part is that you can incorporate the story of the gifts Jesus received as well.

Every year is not going to look the same, I know that. But finding a a few of holiday traditions that my family can look back on with appreciation & nostalgia is important to me and something I hope we can continue to carry on.


Any traditions that have become a part of your holidays?

Thankful

It would be easy to find reasons not to be thankful, especially after losing our baby girl, but today I'm choosing to be thankful for the time he has given Sam, Charlotte, Calvin, & I, with each other and our family & friends.

Life isn't always simple, but thanking God for the little things is. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

#6

Honestly, the last six years have been some of the best and worst of our lives. We've laughed together, cried together, celebrated together, & mourned together. We've faced situations neither of us ever imagined and yet our love & faith still remains strong.

Even six years later, I still can't believe God chose Sam as my other half because I don't feel deserving of such an amazing man to lead our family day in & day out. And for that, I'm eternally thankful!

Happy 6th Anniversary, my love!

Peace

Last weekend, Sam & I got away.

We didn't go far (just an hour west of us), but we went with one thing in mind: we just wanted to get away, to take a break from our normal routine, even if only for a couple of days.

With no agenda, the whole weekend felt pretty low key.  We ate at some of favorite places and spent a little time talking about our goals & dreams, but ultimately we were just quiet with our thoughts as we walked along the beautiful coastline.

As much as I didn't want to return to reality, I knew we had no choice.  Thankfully, I not only came home feeling refreshed and relaxed, but I also returned with a sense of peace that I haven't felt in almost a year now.

And that makes the whole trip worth it in my opinion!



"Please I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."  John 14:27

#5

It's that time of the year again... time to be mushy about my marriage and thankful that Sam has stuck it out with me for yet another year :)

But in all seriousness, I'm feeling incredibly blessed that we made it to this anniversary.  For some reason, #5 has always felt like a big one and after the year we've had, the significance of this milestone seems just a little greater.

Last year, I said "...this year will be one to remember!" which seems ironic now after all we've been through.  My first instinct is to say this year will be different, but I am trying my best to be patient and remember to pray for whatever God has in store for us & our marriage this next year. (Romans 12:12 is a good reminder for me - "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.")

Happy Anniversary Sam! 

 (Related posts: #1, #2, #3, & #4)

Questions

From the day I announced I was pregnant, it felt like everyone had questions: 

How are you feeling?
Is this your first?
Do you know what you’re having? 

All of which usually resulted in an “aw”, a smile, and/or some sort of unsolicited advice.

However when we found out about Charlotte’s diagnosis, my whole world flipped upside down and I was no longer sure what our future held so I chose to keep everything fairly private.  Besides close friends & family, most of the people I met/saw on a daily basis probably thought my pregnancy was pretty normal and uneventful, while inside our minds raced because we didn't even know what the days after Charlotte's birth would look like, if we got any at all...  

After Charlotte passed, accepting what had happened was still really hard.  I avoided unwanted conversations where questions could arise by either hidding out at home or ignoring my phone, but the more time that passed, the more I knew that I'd have to face the outside world again, but how? 

How would their questions make me feel?
How would I answer their questions?
How would they feel after I answered their questions? 

The more I thought about it (and sometimes I thought about it enough that I’d made myself sick with worry), the more I realized I had two options: 1. I could either be brief with a one-word answer & hope that that was enough for them or 2. I could be vulnerable & open myself up for the world to see.

And to be honest, neither option is very comfortable.

While I have spent time working on my answers (both for me and the unsuspecting person asking the question), I continue to come away without the right words to say.

Yet regardless of what I say, I am slowly realizing the importance of sharing our past with others.  It isn’t always pretty, but in the end all of those events have led me to where I am today.  My childhood. My parent’s divorce.  My college experiences.  My marriage.  And now my daughter’s short life.

As for the future, we’re taking it one day at a time.  We both long to be parents more than we ever thought we would and hope to grow our family sometime soon.  It’s hard not to live in the past or the future all the time, so I keep trying to remind myself to live in the moment as much as I can. 

Thank you to those who have followed this little three-part series this month.  Not only has it been therapeutic for me to share my thoughts, but I pray for those who find this blog after eexperiencing a loss might find comfort or understanding through my sharing.

Life After

This might be an obvious statement, but I'm going to say it anyways: adjusting to life after Charlotte has been hard.

For most of my pregnancy, all my thoughts and prayers went into hoping Charlotte would be miraculously cured and we'd get the chance to watch her grow up. 

When the day finally came that we met out baby girl, the only thing I could pray for is that Charlotte knew how much we loved her, always & forever.  

And then when she left us, my prayers quickly turned towards surviving another minute/hour/day without her. 

While we’re still experiencing a heart ache that neither of us ever knew possible, we continue to encourage each other to get out of bed every morning (even if only to sit on the couch all day) and navigate this new path we’ve been directed to walk down.

As someone who enjoys reading about others experiences, Google has become my go-to especially when I find myself wondering how others have survived a particularly difficult situation.  Thankfully, I have found quite a few resources that have helped with some of my unanswered questions, but there have also been times where I come up empty when looking for other people's accounts regarding certain topics we've come across.  Which brings me to this post.

As a result of attending my first Influence Network class earlier this month, I left feeling encouraged to share about our loss and, more specifically, what life has looked like for us since December.  So over the next month, my plan is to spend some time each week addressing my thoughts around the following experiences:

• How we have got through happy occasions like holidays & family gatherings;
• How we've navigated through new mom “things” like pumping & putting away all the gifts we received without a baby around to show for it;
• How we have dealt with questions about Charlotte & the future that have inevitably been asked.

Not only do I hope this will be therapeutic for myself after what we've been through, but I pray that this will also benefit others who, unfortunately, might be going through a similar experience and wondering the same thing.

Friday Bullets

A friend of mine (hi Rhi!) frequently posts 'Friday Bullets' on her blog and since I have (sometimes random) things I'd like to post about, I thought I'd follow her lead.

• While time feels like it's been standing still lately, I'm a little surprised it is Friday already.
• Maybe it flew by because of the shorter work week.
• Or maybe there was more going on than usual.
• I went to my last appointment up at Legacy this week, which was hard on a number of levels.
• For one, returning to the place where I met and said good bye to my daughter will probably never be easy.
• Either is reliving what happened to her (even though I long to talk about her as a person all the time...)
• Our reminders of Charlotte come in many forms and I felt comfort & hope in reading this post from someone who has walked a similar path as the one we are currently on.
• While I couldn't help but wonder where we'll be five years from now, I was reassured once again that Charlotte will forever be a part of our lives.
• I was also reminded how important it is to treasure my marriage this week via this post.
• To be honest, I haven't done a lot to take care of it over the last couple months which makes me sad.
• I want to change that!
• Lately, most of my focus has been on my spiritual & emotional self, so I gave Pilates a try for the first time this week (thanks to a recommendation from my SIL) to help take care of my physical self.
• Let's just say my strength isn't what it used to be... ouch! 
• Tonight I am getting together with some of my girlfriends for dinner.
• These girls have been there for me through out this current stage of life and seen me at my worst.
• I hope to keep my tears to a minimum and try to laugh & enjoy myself again.

What are your plans this weekend?

Farewell 2012...

Well, another year has come & gone again, but for some reason this one feels much different from the past.  Maybe it's because we experienced both the most exciting joy & deepest sorrow we have ever felt before.  Or maybe it's because the future we thought we were planning for in the early months, has been flipped upside down now and we are no longer sure what's ahead for us.  Regardless, I wanted to be sure to recap this year for my own benefit - to remember the good, the bad, and the ugly and more importantly, to hopefully one day see God's plan & reason behind what happened to us this year:

January - I started the year off with some hope & goals for the new, as well as a photo-a-day project that {I didn't know at the time} would continue throughout the rest of the year.  As with previous years, I also continued posting about some book reviews and shared more of my outfits through "What I Wore Wednesday".  I also shared my Leap List on the blog and completed my first item.

February - WIWW continued and I even started creating outfits from my Pinterest board.  I shared Sam + I's love story and a rare moment where we got to babysit my adorable niece for the day.  My photo-a-day's also continued with weekly posts.

March - More reviews, outfit posts, and photo-a-day posts this month, but I also completed another Leap List item {my first massage!} and we started on a big house project - installing laminate flooring throughout our house.  We also found out we were pregnant this month, although no one knew yet :)

April - This month didn't have a lot going on except trying to keep our baby news a secret, so I kept myself busy by seeing Wicked for the first time and hosting a Stella & Dot giveaway {which was a lot of fun & I'd love to host more in the future}.  I also continued my photo-a-day project.

May - Another relatively quiet month {mainly due to the unknown pregnancy - sensing a theme?} with the exception of my weekly photo-a-day recap posts, but we also had some fun this month.  Our niece turned one!  And we got away to Bend, OR for a little vacation between working on our floors some more.  Our families learned of our upcoming bundle of joy, although we continued to keep the blog world in the dark for another month.

June - The big baby news month!  Our niece helped share the news and in addition to sharing some pregnancy details, I also began my weekly posts about the pregnancy at 14 weeks.  I also posted a special shout-out to the fathers in our life because a new one {my husband!} would be becoming on in December.  Other notable posts from June - I updated my Leap List, continued photo-a-day recaps, and Sam & I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary!

July - We started out this month with a trip to Nova Scotia {at 16 weeks pregnant} to see my dad and ended it with multiple doctor visits when they discovered a problem at our gender ultrasound.  I filled the month with photo-a-day recaps, reviews, and a Pinterest project, but this month sort of seems like a blur when I think back on it.

August - I took a break posting about the pregnancy for weeks 19 & 20 of the pregnancy due to the news we received in July, but shared some medical details around 21 weeks when we decided to put our trust and baby girl in God's hands and her name around 22 weeks {Charlotte}.  Due to the state of our pregnancy, we became labeled as "high risk" and began seeing a specialist every couple weeks for monitoring, measurements, and tests.  Through all of this, I clung to whatever normalcy I could find and continued my photo-a-day project to find some appreciation of the little things in life.

September - If I was to describe my feelings this month in one word, I would probably say it was "hopeful".  We had met with a few different doctors concerning our little girl's condition and while we knew it was serious, we also hoped that God would fix her little body if that was His plan.  Notable happenings for this month include: sharing a little bit about what was going through my head at the moment; participating in a scarf swap; posting my photo-a-day recaps; and attending two baby showers out of town for Charlotte + I {posted about in December}.

October - Another somewhat quiet month on the blog, with the exception of photo-a-day posts, pregancy updates, and reviews.  One exception was where I felt more hopeful in September, the feeling of hopelessness surrounding the pregnancy overcame my thoughts in October, which I shared about around 32 weeks.  To take my mind off worrying, I started a weekly post called Friday Favorites {I featured Lisa Leonard & HelloBee this month}, which share some blogs & sites that have become must-reads for me throughout the years.

November - More pregnancy updates, reviews, Friday Favorites {iHeart Organizing, Influenster, I Love You More Than Carrots, Jonathan David Photography, and The Four Gift Rule}, and photo-a-day recaps this month.  We also shared Charlotte's scheduled birthday - 12.12.12 - around 36 weeks, after we were transferred up to Legacy Emanuel in Portland, OR for the remainder of our pregnancy.  And due to the nature of the month, I also shared why I was most thankful this year...

December - Also known as the month we've been waiting for!  I started out the month posting about the amazing baby showers that were thrown for us over the last couple months, as well as a Friday Favorite {The Dough Will Rise Again} and finishing out my year-long photo-a-day project.  Then before we knew it, we had made it to 39 weeks & the day finally came that we would finally be meeting our precious baby girl.  Charlotte René Grable was born on 12.12.12 at 2:35pm, but sadly, we had to say goodbye to her far too soon on 12.21.12 at around 11:30am, only 9 short days after we met her.  I tried to put our feelings into words and find meaning for why this all happened, but a lot of if is still in my heart, which is, honestly, where it might stay for the unforeseeable future...  However, I did want to document Charlotte's short, but love-filled life, so you can read about her here & here.

This year was tough.  As I mentioned above, we experienced such a range of emotions this year that I'm not sure how many I have left {except for indescribable sadness and desire to hold Charlotte in my arms again}.  As 2012 comes to an end, I pray that I never forget this year and what it brought us, but that I am also able to move forward and see Charlotte in everything beautiful ahead of us.

#4

While Sam & I have been walking side-by-side for the only 4 years now, it is still hard to remember what life before him felt like.  Last year I said that it felt like we had just said "I do!", but this year it feels like our wedding day was a lifetime ago.  I trust that we have many of years ahead of us, but I think this year will be one to remember!

Happy Anniversary Sam!

{Related posts: wedding day details, #1, #2, & #3}

Our Story {Link Up}

One of the {many} blogs I follow, I Love You More Than Carrots, shared a link up yesterday that I couldn't resist - What's Your Love Story.  And since I don't recall sharing a lot of these details on the blog, this hopefully will be new information to most of you!  Enjoy!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Sam & I officially met back in the Fall of 2004, but didn't start really dating until March of 2005, so that would make it almost 7 years!

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Sam & I met in college, through mutual friends.  He was a senior and I was a sophomore.  He lived in a house on-campus with a few of my guy friends and since my roommate and I found ourselves over there often, Sam & I eventually met.  At first, I didn't really notice him, but thanks to the power of IM {instant messenger}, we slowly got to know each other better.  And before I knew it, I was going over to see him more than my other friends.

3. If married, how long have you been married?

This June, we'll have been married 4 years!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We were married in Bend, Oregon at Aspen Hall {a place I had wanted to get married at years before meeting Sam}.  We had about 250 people at our wedding and it seemed just right for us because we had everyone we loved their in attendance with us!

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

I think Sam has more nicknames for me than I do for him, but one that he calls me often is 'Meag-train' and I  usually reply back with 'Sam-face'.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

*His devotion to his family + faith.
*His sense of humor.
*His ability to fix almost anything.

7. Tell us how he proposed?

Two years {to the date} after Sam officially told me how he felt about me, he got down on one knee to ask me to be his wife.  We had decided to spend Christmas together early, since we'd be apart for the actual holiday, and we went up to Portland to spend the day together.

I knew he had picked out the ring a couple months back, but had no idea when he was planning on proposing.  Before the date, I had mentioned to my roommate that she should take her phone with her "just in case something happened".  Little did I know that my roommate was already aware of Sam's plan the whole time.

After a drizzly day in the city, my apartment was our final destination for the night.  This completely threw me off because I was sure if Sam was going to propose, he would have done it somewhere during the day.  But once we were on our way back to my apartment, I was sure it wasn't going to happen that night. {But I was wrong!}

When we got to my apartment, Sam asked if we wanted to exchange gifts.  I gave him his present first, which included Seinfeld season 7.  Then Sam gave me mine - a new Bible engraved with 'Meaghan Grable' {my name-to-be}, which oddly didn't give me any clue whatsoever.  At least not until Sam turned to me and said "there's more..." and got down on one knee and pulled out the ring!  I was shocked and before he had completed "Will you marry me?", I had already said yes!

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

I'd say he's definitely a 'flowers' guy.  Even when it's not Valentine's Day, he'll still surprise me with a pretty bouquet of my favorite flowers!

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Hands down, I'm a 'pop a move in and relax on the couch' kind of girl.  Nothing makes me happier than being cuddled up with Sam!

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

Sam & I didn't get the chance to go on a real honeymoon after our wedding, so one thing I'd love to do with him is go on a trip, just the two of us.  All of our other travels have been to visit family and friends {which is great!}, but I dream of a vacation where we can just just relax and enjoy each other's company no matter where we decide to go.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

I don't know of any plans for Valentine's Day, so my guess is we'll probably just treat it like any other night.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

I did drop the hint that I'd like 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 1', but I may just end up having to get that for myself.

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Remember to be open & honest and not let the little things get you mad.  Also, laugh a lot!

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Farewell 2011!

Well, it's that time again! Time to bid another year adieu and look forward to what the new year has in store for us. But before we do that, let's look back at how 2011 treated us:

January - What I Wore Wednesday, a.k.a. WIWW, continued into 2011 {a fun way to look back and see how my style has evolved}; all of the kids in Sam's family treated his parents to a Portland Trailblazer game for Christmas, which we attended in January; and we spent quality time with family & friends.

February - I bragged about my brother's accomplishments; some Valentine's baking occurred; and more WIWW posts.

March - You got to know me a little better; we celebrated our SIL & MIL's birthday and a baby shower for our niece; I fell in love with the cute town of Seaside, OR; neither of us get Spring Break off, but we still enjoyed the weather with friends + family; and, of course, Kristi kept us well fed.

April - Sam built us {+ the Weathers} raised beds for our garden, which turned into a complete backyard makeover; Lily got a new Molly Mutt bed; my SIL's church through her a beautiful baby shower; and we spent Easter down in Eugene so we could listen to our SIL sing one last time at her church down there.

May - Kristi & I went to see Something Borrowed after reading the book a couple years back; Sam turned 29 & we celebrated both his birthday + Mothers Day in Sandy; and Linnea Elizabeth finally made her appearance {a little over a week late} & we all fell in love instantly!

June - I hoped on a plane to see one of my best friends in TX; there was some quality time spent with my college roommate; my brother graduated from college; I continued to read more books thanks to the BlogHer Book Club; we moved my BIL & SIL up to Portland; and Sam & I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary!

July - 4th of July was spent with friends + sparklers; I saw Sara Bareilles in concert with friends; and Sam & I went to the east coast {his first time + I haven't been back in 5+ years} to visit my dad, attend my cousin's wedding, + celebrate my 26th birthday.

August - thanks to Kristi & Sherlai, I attended my second concert this year - Gabe Dixon {+ we got to meet him!}; Sam's family came down for a 'staycation' at our house; and Sam built himself a backdrop for my WIWW photos.

September - I shared how I was feeling lately; we remembered 9/11 - 10th anniversary; and I participated in a scarf swap.

October - Sam & I visited the Oregon Garden for the first time {and are already looking forward to using the membership we purchased}; I played catch up - hair color change, breakfast date with Sam, exploring Portland with Kelly, family photos, and a trip to Redmond to see Michelle + the kids; and we all got together for the 4th annual pumpkin carving party.

November - Sam created a moving picture of our adorable niece that I had to share; I bragged about my talented friends - Jon & Rachel; another 'about me' post; we took Lily to her first dog park; Thanksgiving was spent with Sam's family this year + I shared what I was most thankful for!

December - lots of highlights - more dog park visits, fun with friends, watching my BIL do what he loves, seeing family, & selling my car; I participated in another swap - this time gloves; went to the theatre for a holiday performance; Christmas cards were sent out + the house was decorated; and we managed to see both families this Christmas season.

Overall, I would say this year was a good one for us. We traveled, spent some good time with family + friends, and welcomed our first niece. Even with 2011 being so good, I'm still excited to welcome 2012 and see what it has in store for us. So until next year... :)

OOTD: Holiday Cheer

Outfit breakdown:

headband + necklace + wedges: Target, {headband borrowed from Kristi};

glasses: Coach; sweater: Loft; jeans: Gap

Our house has been decorated since right after Thanksgiving, but last weekend, Sam brought out his camera to document this year's decorations. I'm not really one to change things up each year, but I still find it fun to have it documented. I also enjoy seeing Sam's creative eye expand each year.

Tree: a fake tree we picked up 3 years ago during our first Christmas together.

Ornaments: a combination of our childhood ornaments and ones we've picked up since getting married {a lot of G's, which has become a tradition for me}.

Nativity set: Willow Tree; both my MIL & SILs had this nativity and for each Christmas since getting married, I have received a piece to add, which is almost complete!

Happy Holidays, from our home to yours!

2011 Christmas Card

This year's Christmas card is one of my favorites ever! The picture was an easy choice thanks to Jonathan David Photography & our family photo session in October. And for the card, I turned to one of my favorite photo printing sites - Shutterfly.

And for a little surprise, we were sure to include our our favorite pup, Lily, on the back of each card!

My only regret is not ordering enough cards in time to mail them out. There were quite a few people who I wasn't able to send cards to this year and to those people I am really sorry, but hope to do better next year!

Do you send Christmas cards out? Do you enjoy receiving them?