December 20th, 2020

at 9am paula called twice and I missed both of them. then she texted — can we have the appointment at your apartment? heck yes, of course! I apologized for missing her calls, got eliot up, and picked up our home while he followed me around undoing everything I was doing. emerson sounds great. we’re 31 weeks (as of yesterday) and he’s measuring 30. makes me nervous that he is measuring small, but paula says that’s normal and if I’m lucky he’ll do lots of growing on the outside. he feels huge to me and it’s hard to swallow that we have 9 weeks left. it feels like a lifetime away, really. this part of our life feels like it’ll always be this way, but I know we’re in such a short, special season and I need to soak it all up as much as I possibly can.

so many special, sweet changes have happened in the last year, two years even. I’m so grateful we started the daily photo project in the middle of our season of hardship and change. it’s so beautiful having so much documented and it makes my heart full. I was driving down 1375 today headed to stubblefield lake recreation area to meet the frosts for dinner (to celebrate tricia being on the last 20 miles of her journey) and I was smiling to myself just driving... driving (almost) alone, looking so absolutely normal on the outside, feeling so explosive on the inside. I feel full, inspired, content, just so glad to be right here, where I am in this season. I am happy and I know happiness is fleeting. so I’m soaking this up. basking in it like it’s the sunshine on my skin warming me a cool march day. 

our life is good. I have so much to be grateful for. and this december, this time off... it’s been miraculous for my spirit. I’m enjoying more reading, cooking, and playing with eliot.

oh, and it’s christmas week!

The Christmas Festival

The Christmas festival at The Grounds was a success. I’m so glad I had nothing to do with putting it on. When I said I was done after that Fall Festival, I really meant it. I felt absolutely nothing but joy in being able to attend without having any of the work. Shona though... she was was thriving, shining. Putting together these community events seems to truly bring her to life. We got to see my family, Denét and the girls, the Craigs, and so many others while we were there. I’m so glad we attended. I got to have another incredible bowl of gumbo from Chef Seddy’s truck. YUM. And saw a lot of the vendors from the Fall Festival. Everyone was surprised to see I was still pregnant. It felt weird having to tell them I literally have months left. Am I that huge??  Matthias said it’s just hard to tell the difference between 7 months and 9 months.

Book club & dinner

first ever bonin sister book club at my moms house. SO HAPPY WE’RE DOING THIS!!!! we kind of majorly failed in making it official or following a plan. annalise hadn’t even started the book we were discussing. and we spent a whole lot of time just chit chatting, talking about christmas, and oohing over Caspian. we’re going to be talking about the same book again at our next meeting next month so we can all finish it. it’s on gratitude. and holy moly... I am feeling convicted. about so many things. I really thought I was a grateful person, but I’m realizing that I’m grateful in my home, as a wife, and as a mother. in other areas, with other people and situations, I let a lot of ingratitude, expectation, and entitlement in. Lord, forgive me. I’m glad this is the book we’re covering, because I didn’t realize how badly I needed it. 

we hosted ronnie and lizzie and charlotte for dinner. our first time ever hosting them! what! in our beautiful apartment, gosh, we love it here. we shared an incredible meal of chicken marsala with rice and broccoli, but goodness... it was a mess getting to the final product. I turned brown rice to mush, almost ruined (by burning) the white rice, and burnt the hell out of my fingers when I had a mishap with the cast iron in the oven. Hot mess express.

December 3rd, 2020

amber peterson came over for lunch. her first outing since having canaan! what an honor & pleasure for me.
and then I had the joy of hearing emerson’s heartbeat... and matthias got to come! his first midwife appointment this pregnancy. ended the thursday evening celebrating sydnie with a surprise party for her 24th birthday. 

December break!

“Two sleeps away” (😆) from a month off— like all the way, actually off. Off work, off social media. Present in a different way I need as we approach having Emerson join our family in February. And this is our first Christmas with Eliot; I’m excited to be totally *here* to experience the magic of the holidays alongside my firstborn.

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Happy Minis

A Saturday of mini sessions today... and it actually made me happy. 🥺 I didn’t know if I’d ever feel happy again behind the camera for work.
I stopped shooting professionally because of major burnout. Tired of traveling, weekends away from Matthias, and the stress of the wedding industry just constantly buzzing in my head. I honestly don’t ever see myself shooting weddings again, and I don’t plan on shooting full time - but maybe I’ll open up a couple days a year for mini sessions because this brought me joy 💘

Entering the third trimester tomorrow! This is where it starts to feel real.

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an easy day

Kristin & her little gals came over for an easy day of conversation, snacking, and playing in the grass. Didn’t feel like a Thursday at all. 🙂 I’m grateful to do life with likeminded friends & bonus: being in the same business means we never run out of things to do & dream about together 😂

our grand

We own a grand piano. Is this a dream?? It was delivered today! It survived! I would be lying if I said I wasn’t stressed about that move.... We hired professionals, but it was a tighttt squeeze down a winding staircase. It has lived on the second floor in a room the shape of Texas its whole life (since 1982)! But now it’s here. A grand piano in our apartment. And it sounds as beautiful as it looks. 

Saturdaze✨

Matthias moved to these twenty-three acres when he was just a toddler. Now we own two of them and spend a lot of weekends here prepping our land for the house we’re going to build.
I hope I never forget the magic of Saturday mornings. The magic for Eliot: so much of the world to explore. The magic for me: rediscovering the wonder of little things alongside my boy.

55 days til 2021

I wish by saying that I’m re-visiting Man’s Search for Meaning and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that I could just hand over to you all of the emotions, truths, the beauty to be found in both books. But there aren’t shortcuts to doing your own reading...Well, audible exists. That’s a sort of shortcut.
I hope if you are trying to fill the last 55 days of 2020 with good things, that you reach for either of these books.

the seasons

“Stuff” doesn’t make happiness. Lots of people live very unhappy lives full of stuff. But you know something I’ve noticed? People who plan for and decorate around the seasons tend to be happy people. I haven’t met very many grumps who are intentional with making their homes beautiful, inviting spaces that celebrate life and it’s seasons. (I know there are exceptions, it’s a big world.)

I want to be a mom who pulls out special baskets full of books ushering in the springtime, summer...

A wife that makes her husbands favorite fall and winter dishes that remind him of his childhood home.

A neighbor that makes the world a little brighter with Christmas lights on the porch and a wreath on the door.

There will always be people who scoff at those pulling out Christmas trees and nativity scenes in November, but I guarantee... the early holiday celebrators are too busy feeling happy & nostalgic to care. 😉

And on that note, our bedroom got a little Christmas makeover today and we’re all pretty happy about it :)