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30.12.11

The Year In Review

Well here it is ladies and gents, the obligatory end of the year post. But, not only is this post special for that reason, it is also my 100th blog post ever!! Which I think is kind of monumental. I never stick with anything this long! So in honor of all that, I wanted to review some big events and special moments from this year. Not only is it important to study our past so we don't make the same mistakes, but also so we remember what things to do this year, the times we really got it right.

To begin with, this blog originally got it's start in April of this year from what we thought was going to be a huge monumental event in our lives that we wanted to capture: pregnancy. It ended up being a huge monumental event, but not in the way we expected. Just a few short weeks later, we were told be the doctors that it wasn't a regular pregnancy but rather a mass that my body had made and reacted to as it if were a baby. It was a terrible roller coaster experience- the excitement and fear, joy and worry of thinking we were pregnant, to the total terror of surgery and emotional ache afterwards. But what I thought was an unthinkable pain was slowly but ever surely healed up by the greatest medicine: love. The love of my husband, family and God got us through those rough times and on the other side. Thinking back on it now, I still feel that same aching twinge, like an old scar, but I know it was written in my story for a reason, and that gives me peace. Full story here.


The next month, May, I posted my first ever creative writing piece and one of my favorites to this day that I've written about Calvin:


And the curve of your collar bone makes me ache for things I've forgotten, like my Grandma's willow tree and all of the flowers that have died in vases right in front of me and windy home videos with no sound. It makes me remember why I ever held your hand or wrote your story into mine, thoughtfully and completely, like a bright stained tapestry made with tired hands and sold out of a trunk at the Grand Canyon. After my Grandpa died, fuzzy and dry and repenting, my Grandma had a man come cut that weeping willow down to just the stump, because she was tired of mourning.


Full post here.


After that was my 20th birthday which we celebrated as a family by going up into the mountains to one of my favorite antiquing towns and trying on ridiculous headwear:


Then a crazy scrumptious picnic with my Yeti:

What can I say, I'm spoiled :P

In June, we did a huge home tour post


Then in honor of our 6 month-aversary, I did a huge wedding post detailing literally every single aspect of our little winter wedding:


And later that month, I posted the writing that inspired the title of this here blog:

I store your facial expressions up in mason jar memories and organize them on my shelf. Your finger creases and forest brown eyeflecks and soft rosy red ear curves. I have it all. Alphabetized and organized, folded, stacked, and preserved like spring peaches and zuccini and yellow white corn cob kernels. I'll never miss a thing, I'll never go hungry.

Then there was a Father's Day post:


And in July, Calvin's sister Vikki and I had a neat train track photoshoot:


Then, after tons of procrastination, we finally took our Honeymoon to the dang amazing Universal Studios and saw Hogwarts! :D


August was a little less exciting, but we did have our first ever blog giveaway!
I made up this super neat Treasure Jar full of all sorts of teeny vintage things and the lovely Vintch won it :D


In September, Calvin had his birthday and I surprised him with something he'd always wanted- ferrets! :D


In October, we had some sweet dates 




and were Princess Bubblegum and Finn for Halloween




Then in November, we completely redecorated the downstairs spare bedroom into a wicked cute little craft and clothes storage room for me :D



In December, I chopped off all my hair: 


And then we Celebrated our One Year Anniversary! :D


And had a crafty handmade Christmas:


All told, I think that's one stellar year we've had and I can't wait to see what this next one has in store for us. I just wanted to thank you all so much for reading and I hope so much that you stick around for the next 100 posts! You're all the best :)) I hope you have a lovely New Years, to kick off this lovely new year.

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

28.12.11

So, Hey

I'm officially back from the longest blog absence ever. If you're a blogger, you know that getting busy and not being able to blog for a while is one of those things that the longer you wait the more horrible it feels and the harder it is to do it again haha. Like an awkward silence. So, whoa. Let me catch you up:

On December 14th, the Yeti and I celebrated our ONE YEAR anniversary!!




We got our same room at the historic Cliffhouse at Pikes Peak that we had one year ago after our wedding which was beautiful as always :) Then, that evening we got a sweet little dinner and went to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra which was a little strange but very pretty (but of course my iPhone camera wouldn't work for the entire show). Then, the next day we got delish breakfast and walked around downtown, did some sightseeing and my favorite- shopping :D We also played around in the penny arcade which is always amusing :)


Once we got back from fairy-tale romantic land, we had to go back to work and real life for a while, but then Christmas came around! :D Which is my absolute favorite time of anything ever. I spent the days leading up to it working my butt off on handmade gifts which was, in hindsight, not the greatest idea :P I thought it would save us some money and be tons more personal, but I swear, I spent like 30 hours total getting all of those gifts together! All in all I think they came out pretty neat :)


They each had hand painted teacups made into scented candles, handmade zenia cabochon earrings, little vials of 'Christmas wishes', lollipops from here and soaps from here all bundled in paper and tinsel in a little brown hatbox and baker's twine. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it was :P


Then it was finally Christmas! :D We celebrated at home, then Calvin's family, then my family- big day! :D

And we were wiped out by the end of it! :P I hope you all had beautiful Christmases full of your own happy moments and memories. I hope your hearts are filled and full of brightness to get us through this next year <3 And as always, have a beautiful day.

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

7.12.11

Photo Bomb Update

Hey everybody! Been wicked busy around here :)
I can't believe it's already the time of year for tree decorating and watching Elf together while it snows outside. Our first big tree too! Last year, with all of the wedding planning, Christmas decorating took a back seat but we did it big this year and it's been so dang nice. It's like being a kid all over again, with all of the Christmas magic around here hehe. 

How's in been in your corner of the world? 
Got your decorations up yet?

All the merriest,
Grace Elizabeth.

2.12.11

A Picture Story

:D What do you think?

Liebster Blog Award!


I've been meaning to post this for a few days, my humble little blog has received it's first award!! :D Thank you to the moon Ms. Amber from The Owl's Den who gave it to me! She has the loveliest layout I've ever seen, and is adorable and sweet to boot!
More about the award:
Liebster is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. The Liebster Blog Award is given out to up and coming blogs that have less than 200 followers.

How It Works:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award onto your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love too!


1. Rachele from The Nearsighted Owl

A beautiful blog full of Owl illustrations (my favorite), hair tips, adorable outfits posts, and tons of spunk!


2. 
Meredith from One Sheepish Girl
The cutest, sweetest blog around. Full of knitting nerdiness, awesome sweaters, and a beautiful shy gal- Meridith makes you want her to be your best friend!


3. 
Caitlin at To Make Love Stay
A sweet genuine, honest blog by a lady more like Liz Lemon than anyone you'll ever meet! A great place for inspiration and a good laugh :)


4. 
Vanessa at The Velvet Bird
This blog is so beautiful and crafty- you'll have to follow! Vanessa has the badest short hair around, and an amazing shop full of things you'll NEED to buy!


5. 
Meghan from Pocketful of Pretty
Last but not at all least, this blog is internet home to the nicest lady you'll ever meet! It's  full of glimpses of her life- her husband, sweet little pugs, and awesome DIY's. Plus she's moving to my beautiful state of Colorado soon! can't wait :D

Be sure to check them out readers! And have a beautiful day. 
I'll be back soon with some big news! :D

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

1.12.11

Thirty Day Drawing Challenge Revisited!

Well ladies and gents, I am finally picking up where I left off on the "Thirty Day Drawing Challenge" 
that I started forever ago. 


I'm officially onnnn day 8 haha. It took me a while to think of my favorite animated character (considering Odosketch doesn't have the color purple so I wouldn't be able to do Princess Bubblegum) when it came to me- Marcel the Shell! After all, stop motion counts as animation :) Plus me, my mom and Calvin have been quoting this freaking adorable short for like a week straight now. If you haven't seen the short I'm talking about, watch it now! 


Seriously WATCH. IT. :D
It's kind of heartbreaking and hilarious and wicked adorable. Soooo, without further adieu, here is my rendition of the ever confident Mr. Marcel:


AH! I love that little guy :))

Who is your favorite animated character?

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.




What I Honestly Wore Wednesday/ Goodbye November!

So in case you were wondering where the heck I've been, 
this should clear it up for you:
So sick :( But orange double popsicles ftw!

Our bodies just thought they'd welcome the new month with debilitating illness, haha. So my "What I Honestly Wore Wednesday" was...dirty weird hair and comfy sick clothes :P We're on the mend now though!

And to you portrait commissioning people- promise I'll have them done by Christmas at the very least haha! My sincere apologies! It has been extremely busy around here.


And despite being sick, me and the Yeti got to spend a whole lot of time together which is always so nice :) Even when I'm blah and cranky and probably smelly he's so sweet heh.


By E.E. Cummings. 

How did you welcome December?

(Also, how's this new font size working for you?)
All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.