This month's gratitude post is a biggie.

This past month, I've learned that things can change very quickly. The parts of your life that you've come to rely on as always being constant are no different than anything else. 

My parents found out that my father's plant is being closed down. We are so blessed that he was one of the few there to be offered a relocation package and they will only be moving a little farther north in Wisconsin. 

The home they built together when us kids were teenagers will be sold. Many of their possessions will be passed on. Family gatherings will be different. There are so many aspects of this situation that are sad and frightening, but we have all chosen to see the positives of this journey my parents are on and have grown closer because of it. 

I know Oliver & I have always appreciated our time with our family, but this change has given us new perspective on being with the ones that mean the most to us and choosing our priorities wisely. In this day and age, we are lucky to have most of our family here in the Midwest when so many other families are spread all over the country. 


What is something you've always taken for granted? 

Change is good. Always looking forward, taking on new challenges, and building a life with the people you love. This time of year always has me looking back on past holiday photos and videos and I can't believe how much I've grown since I met Oliver. How much both of us have grown. It must be one of the most satisfying things I can think of. Self-improvement.

And some things never change. 

This is a toast to the times in life you never want to see pass. Those times being home and opening your parents' refrigerator without thinking twice. The way your old dog plays with you like you never left. Sharing drinks and watching your friends' band play just like the past weekend...or was that 5 years ago already? 


This post is to our loved ones. You mean more to us than you know. Cheers.

I'm sitting at my desk, editing these photos while bundled up in layers of clothing and blankets. 

It's that infamous Wisconsin winter that's set in and more fierce than many winters past. I often kid myself and tell Oliver that some winter, someday, we will live in a more temperate state. This, of course, is a fleeting complaint and one that Wisconsinites casually throw around, but we know this is home. 

This Christmas was different than the others. It was the first time coming home for a string of days and staying in a house full of guests and dogs and happiness. Cooking alongside Mom. Running all over town catching up with friends from college, high school, kindergarten. Starting new traditions. Card games. Losers at cards on dish duty. Running around the woods like maniacs because we were bored. 

And carrying on old traditions. Like that Dickens Village display below that belonged to Grandpa Jim.


It was a good reunion. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your loved ones as well.  

While I was home for the holidays, our whole family went down to the woods and explored the trails with our dogs. It was a perfect winter morning, 35 degrees and sunny, and I took some photos of my little sister Liz and her boyfriend Ryan. After a couple years of long-distance relationship traveling between Wisconsin and Michigan, Liz now lives in Michigan and is a teacher. I'm so happy they live in the same area now and can't wait to see what the future holds for these two lovebirds.