8 Exciting Things in 2018 | Personal

8 Exciting Things in 2018 | Personal

Last year feels like an absolute whirlwind – one of blessing more than anything else. In one year we started attending a new church (which we love), photographed weddings from Virginia Beach to Charlottesville to Pennsylvania and everywhere in between, brought home a baby, took a trip to Slovenia, bought a car, bought a house...the list goes on! I knew some of what was coming up in 2017 last January, but I had NO idea that a year later I would be in a brand new (to us) house with a 7-month old baby sleeping upstairs. It’s been a good year.

So, with that in mind, I want to create a marker I can look back on next year. I want to write down all the things I know are coming so that when the unexpected happens I can laugh at what I thought 2018 would look like. Plus, I get excited sharing all that’s going to go on this year! Without further ado, here are some exciting highlights (in no particular order) that I can’t wait to experience...

The Life I Never Expected (Happy 7th Anniversary) | Personal

The Life I Never Expected (Happy 7th Anniversary) | Personal

As I sit on the edge of celebrating 7 years being married to Nathan, I can't help but think back to the moment I knew he was the one for me. Not everyone has a singular moment and I certainly didn't expect to, but it happened anyway and it's one I'll never forget. We had been dating for about 8 months when my birthday came, and he made the day incredibly special from the moment I woke up. The last thing he gave me, though, was a file on his computer.

The file was, in short, everything he knew and loved about me and all that had happened in our relationship thus far. It was a recording of my likes and dislikes, my favorite things, the memories we had shared, and pictures of us together. It was a time capsule of the last 8 months and while the fact that it existed was amazing, what really blew me away was...

We Bought a House! | Personal

We Bought a House! | Personal

Sometimes when big things are happening in my life I like to bring you all along for the journey...and sometimes it feels so big and scary and unreal that I forget to mention it until it's all said and done. This latest announcement feels like the latter, and I can't believe I am working on this from our new home! So how did we even get here? There's a story for that...

Nathan and I bought a condo when we were first married - in fact, the closing happened only a few days after my college graduation. I had not yet turned 20 and I was signing a 30-year mortgage, which was (and is!) absolutely terrifying. We lived in that house for 5 years before selling it and while I won't go into details on here (ask me in person!) we were very badly burned in the process. We loved our home and our neighborhood, but we ended our time there in a very miserable way...