i have a real thing for christmas. i got to make a trip home to fort wayne from boulder to decorate the tree at my parents' house, and here's a tiny baby bit of what christmas time looks like at our place. we always put up a HUGE real tree, and tree-decorating is an allday process full of egg nog, classic christmas music, and my fabulous organizational skills at unpacking boxes and repacking them back into the closet!!!

i was doing a search for something in a closet upstairs... behold what i found there, one of the things that makes my dad a total badass (that's a master's national championship jersey, in case you're wondering):


christmas is a big deal, i told you. my parents instilled in me this weird love for all things antique when it comes to christmas. when my grandmother (who was a saint) passed away, we got all of her antique ornaments and they are some of the most cherished things in my family.


this is the aluminum foil star that was atop the tree every year since my dad was a little boy:


we have a thing for the pickle ornament in my family; the first one to find the pickle on christmas morning opens the first present. as i am bad at seek and finds (and bad at functioning in the morning), i usually lose this game. also, a nice side note... my grandfather planted a walnut tree when my dad was a kid, and it only ever bore ONE walnut, and then the walnut tree died. my grandpa painted that one walnut gold and hung it on the christmas tree. it still goes up every year on our tree.








my mom's choir boys, always a christmas staple!!






a great weekend.

so. we have these fabulous friends that are more like a family than friends. in fact, everyone calls it a family. we had a wonderful dinner with part of this family, erica and jason fowler, a couple days before we left bloomington, and hursh (aka erica) gave me this card. what was inside was one of the most fabulous gifts anyone has ever given me. i will share it with you all now, because i think it is a masterpiece:

Hursh's Top 10 Things to Consider when Moving to a New City/State

1. After you get all the boxes, bags, and laundry baskets into your new residence, set up and make your bed ASAP. You can do many things with your floor covered in newspaper, packing tape, and cardboard. Sleeping is not one of them.

2. When in doubt... drinking while unpacking is always a good idea. It will also help soothe the blow when you break your favorite trinket from growing up. Slippery bubble wrap!

3. Go up to the door, knock, and introduce yourself to your neighbors in the first few weeks. If they are great... then you can ask them to get your mail when you are gone; if they are really weird... you know who not to borrow a cup of sugar from.

4. Find out what the local magazine, newspaper, website is. I'm not talking about the Sunday times; I am talking about publications like NUVO and Indianapolis Monthly. Theytell you what are cool things to do, new restaurants, local events, etc.

5. Go to said things you find in magazine/newspaper. These places and events are

a. cool and mostly local.

b. cool and local people go to them = FRIENDS!

6. Don't change who you are because you are in a new place, instead find people who like to do what you do too. Sometimes it takes a few tries...but you will find it. Stay persistent!

7. The best way to figure out where you live is to run the streets. You can drive places, lace up, and go!

8. Get involved with something outside of work. Could it be the IU Alumni Association-Boulder edition? What about a local Photographer Meeting? Or the local running group? Find that group that is a Labor of Love. It will help keep you sane and busy!

9. You will cry at least once in the first few weeks and think.. "why did I do this to myself?" At this point, you have to suck it, make lemonade out of lemons, and remember that "happiness is a choice".

10. Above all else... remember that you can always go Home again. And Home is INDIANA! Those same people who loved you when you left, will still love you when you come back. Real friends pick up right where they left off.

Today has been a real #9 day. and i'm so thankful to have this wonderful gift and all of our wonderful friends. thank you hursh.

a great new year's celebration with great people. everyone was super-photogenic, but alycin was just EXTRA photogenic :)

























good year ahead.

better than christmas... is the day my parents put up their tree!!



(mom opened the good wine!)


(tinsel master)






warm and fuzzies!

happiest of happy?

i had the pleasure of helping caroline and kristen prepare clayton's surprise birthday party! i dont even know if i did anything at the party but run around with a camera and document. it really was a super happy event. more to come, complete with baby teddy freddy absolutely STEALING the show with his cuteness...



















srsly... so many more happy photos to come. i grinned ear to ear looking at all of them.
here's to a many more for clayton!

this is the good stuff.
traverse city, michigan.

this is the plan for iceman:


warmup at 21 degrees:




i ran into neff and it was so cold!:




start:




waiting around for results, chatting it up:




winner winner chicken dinner:




winery hopping!
peninsula:


Brys estate:




(CRAZY ABOUT THIS CEILING):






little ol lighthouse way out on the peninsula:


last winery:


great weekend.
plans in the works for another trip to the grand canyon in march. eeeeeexcellent!!!!!