Top 18 in 2018

It’s a shiny new year, but before we shut the door on 2018, we have one more recap post. Each year we share favorite moments: our top 15 in 2015, top 16 in 2016, top 17 in 2017, and now our top 18 in 2018. Here they are in roughly chronological order:

1. Booking our Disney trip - just a couple more weeks now!

2. Darcy's dedication at church

3. Reading all the Harry Potter books back to back

4. Ryan started working in business intelligence

5. Girls' weekend in Asheville

6. Saying goodbye to our little yellow house - we loved it but we were excited to move on!

7. Walking through our short sale for the first time

8. Living with my parents for 125 days - Darcy got to spend so much time with them!

9. Showing Darcy that playing in sand is fun - this one took some work!

10. SUP yoga - and holding crow pose on the paddleboard JUST long enough for a photo

11. Lots of fun new things for CGP: new venues, shooting a 2nd wedding for the same family, and two print features!

12. Finally getting the keys to our new home

13. Watching Darcy play with his dinosaur tail

14. Darcy's birthday

15. Uncle Jon's visit

16. Lucas Family visit

17. Meeting Darcy's cousin - I'm an aunt!

18. Celebrating Christmas with Darcy - he actually understands it this year!

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
2018 Best of Weddings
2018 Best of Engagements
2018 Best of Ring Shots
Behind the Scenes 2018

Merry Christmas!

It’s Christmas Eve! I hope you’re as full of Christmas cookies and hot chocolate as we are! We’ll be rocking our pajamas for most of today, reading all of our Christmas books a dozen more times, and baking Jesus a birthday cake!

Merry Christmas to you and yours! We’ll be back in the CGP office after the New Year, but check back next Monday for our favorite ring shots of 2018!

Giving Thanks

I really love this time of year. Wrapping up in a cardigan. Drinking in the afternoon sunlight and enjoying it more because I know it’s ending. Ending the CGP wedding season with our fall weddings. Celebrating our son’s birthday. Eating so many (too many) delicious treats. Crunching the colorful leaves under my feet. Looking forward to Christmas and all the twinkle and magic that it brings. Planning and dreaming about a fresh new year ahead.

This season is filled with so many good things. And it is FULL. I’ve noticed the struggle of that this year more than ever and I’ve tried to face it head on with intentionality, choosing the things that bring us the most joy and settling other things aside for this year.

And for me, there’s something really special about Thanksgiving week. I take a few extra days off work and find a little quiet and stillness in between all the baking and cooking.

Because in those moments of stillness, I want to find a heart full of gratitude.

Merry Christmas!

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Matthew 2: 1-2, 9b-11

Merry Christmas! Ryan, Darcy, and I are spending the day wearing Christmas pajamas, opening two sets of stockings (Nana gives us all stockings too!), and playing with Darcy's toy nativity. We're so excited to see the joy on his face and celebrate the birth of our Savior together!

Wishing you peace and joy, today and every day!

A Christmas Greeting

There are so many things I love about this time of year. One is definitely getting Christmas cards from all our friends and family in the mail. It's always exciting to get something other than bills and advertisements in the mail, and seeing updated photos of everyone is so special! Everything is so digital these days, but seeing all of the cards strung up in our house makes me so happy! I hope it's a tradition that continues for years to come.

And because I can't send a Christmas card to everyone I know and love... here's a digital card from our family to yours! Merry Christmas!

This year as we snuggle up with our newborn (who is getting bigger by the minute!), we look back to that first Christmas 2000 years ago, when Mary & Joseph held the Christ-child and the angels sang of his coming redemption. If there was ever a year when our hearts yearned for the final fulfillment of the promise, "Peace on earth", it is surely this one.

Cause Olive Me Loves Olive You

One of our goals for 2016 is to create more community with the CGP brides and grooms, so Saturday night we had some past and future couples over for a little party. Planning parties is not really my thing, but Valentine's Day is one of the easiest times of year to pull something cute together. And I couldn't get enough of all the cute little food puns I found on Pinterest! I actually planned my menu around my favorite ones. (The olive pun is my absolute favorite, but I didn't end up getting to use 'let's avocuddle!')

So just like those cheeky little sauce packets at Taco Bell, the entire menu was trying to flirt with you.

I set up the food early so I could get a few pictures of them, but like usual, I forgot to take a single photo once people started arriving. (I always present this as a problem, but it's really not a bad thing that I was present and enjoying my guests. Photographers need to unplug too.)

Anyway, I hope this inspires you to make a cheeky little card for your Valentine! No need to get swept away with the Hallmark industry hype, but any day is a good day to show your sweetheart a little extra love!