SCENES FROM FATHERS DAY

We loved celebrating Father's Day with all of the special fathers in our lives. We had a delicious meal with my family and Jon's family. I have always loved that our families get along so well and feel like one big happy family when we are all together. It's such a special time when we can all get together! -- Jon is such a natural father and it's amazing watching him father Soren. Soren is crazy about Jon and so am I. ;)

OUR TRIP TO THE MOUNTAINS

On Saturday we got back from a week in the mountains. Jon and I were celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary with Zach and Leah who were also celebrating their 4 year anniversary! We are definitely the "stay-cation" type, so the idea of staying in a cabin for a week, cooking our own food, relaxing, and taking it easy was right up our alley!

We drove up to North Georgia and rented one of those amazing vacation rentals (which is the best!) We also brought Soren along, which was a new adventure. This was our first big trip with him and he did really well! We had one little melt-down on the way to Zach and Leah's but he mostly napped during the rest of the drive and was great at the cabin. Going out and about with him more makes me so much more confident in taking him places!

I've been trying to really unplug a lot lately and that's just what I did on our vacation. I left my phone and computer in our room for the most part and just checked a few things here and there or used my phone to read books from my kindle app. It was just what I needed and so wonderful. I get into such a bad habit of checking my phone for the sake of checking it and wasting precious time. I'm trying to learn to just look at it during certain times of the work day and essentially putting it away after work and on the weekends. My heart is to be "all there" for my family and enjoy all of these moments. :)

To sum it up, it was such a laid back getaway and just what we needed!!

PS - Also, thank you all SO much for your incredible words of encouragement and support about our announcement yesterday. We have been so excited about this new journey and we can hardly wait to launch the site in July! 

MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND

It was so special being able to celebrate my very first Mother's Day. We didn't plan much but we spent a lot of time as a family and it was my very favorite. We went to a baseball game to see my sister perform the National Anthem. I got to see my best friend, Jenny, be a mommy for the first time and see little Rowan in the hospital. Visited Stone Mountain park and had a picnic (we have a season pass and have been loving our walks and time there this year)! ON Mother's Day we went to church, afterward we met up with my parents, siblings, significant others, and Jon's parents to celebrate over brunch at a quaint little restaurant in Grayson.

Jon and I spent the rest of the day together with Soren, going out, watching shows...it turned out to be such a relaxing day. Leading up to Mother's Day I wasn't quite sure what type of traditions we would consider or what we should do to celebrate both Mother's Day and Father's Day. It's kind of crazy getting to the point where it's time to make your own traditions around your family. -- Jon and I decided after a successful first Mother's Day that we would make it a tradition of keeping it simple and make it a family day. I can hardly wait to celebrate Jon in June. :)

On a side note, I saw some beautiful posts honoring mothers on Instagram yesterday. Many of them recognizing and sending love to mommies who had their little ones taken away too soon, women who ache to be mommies, women who have lost their mommies. All of the beautiful moms. I wanted to second those sentiments and send celebration and love to all of you. What a beautiful time to recognize all of the women in our lives. Happy (belated) Mother's Day.

CAPTURED: FAMILY MOMENTS

I so treasure family photos. Before my mom started her chemo treatment she wanted to make sure we got some good family photos taken. We set up a tripod in my parents' backyard last Sunday and snapped a few photos. These are so special and I'm so thankful to have them. :) I love these people!

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend, friends! I'm planning some home projects and date time with Jon this weekend. Also, I haven't been able to reply to all of the comments yet, but thank you all SO much for all of your sweet and supportive comments on my post about my mom the other day. It meant so much to me and was such a blessing. Thank you for being so encouraging and sharing some of your stories with me as well. Love all of you bunches. :)

MY MAMA

It's taken me some time to sit down and write this post. I wasn't sure how I wanted to share and I needed some time with my family to process through the emotions. With us expecting our first child in February and moving into our first home, there has been something else that has been extremely heavy on my heart.

On July 31st, my mom turned 51. We decided to meet up as a family for dinner that evening to celebrate her birthday. My dad, brother, sister, Jon, and I were all there and it was so nice to be with family. Halfway through dinner, my mom got a call that she needed to take and walked away for awhile. Shortly after, my dad joined her. While waiting and waiting, a sinking feeling started forming in the pits on our stomachs. It can't be good news, it's taking too long. My parents came back to the table and sat down. I immediately asked what the news was, "What did the doctor say?" My dad hesitated a little which was just enough time for me to briefly believe everything was clear and OK. Only seconds later he said something that meant a huge change for my entire family, especially my mom. "You're mom has cancer. Stage 3 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma." The rest of what was said turned to a blur as I tried to process what my dad had just told us. I looked at my siblings, at my dad, and at my sweet mom and started weeping in the middle of the restaurant. I hugged my mom and didn't want to let go, I just wanted it to be alright, I didn't want to see her suffer and I wanted all of this to be a sick joke. Our fear had become our reality and our journey at that moment. 

The weeks following included many tests for my mom. It was discovered that the cancer had spread throughout all of her Lymph-nodes. Some were in a worse state than hoped for, which bumped her cancer from stage 3 to stage 4. We had hoped that the doctors might give her a choice of starting chemo or trying a "wait and see" method to watch the cancer and its progress over time. The doctor was very firm that the chemo needed to be started immediately. Her heart was tested to see how strong it was to withstand treatment. A bit of joy and comfort came over us to know her heart was strong, she was strong. Throughout these tests before treatment, something came back unexpected. The doctor found an "anomaly" on the base of her brain stem and needed to do further scans to figure out what it was. This news was devastating and meant a possible game-changer for everything. Waiting a week for the news about her brain lasted forever. In the midst of working on our paperwork to move and going through a lot of "life" I felt completely drained emotionally. I didn't want to think about life without my mom. I tried my best to stay away from those thoughts. My dad gave me a call during the week. I knew this call was important because it was around the time we would find out about the "anomaly". I held my breath as my dad told me, "It's nothing. It came back clear." This news brought me to tears, it was such good news, and I was so grateful. My mom's brain was OK and we just needed to focus on fighting this cancer. 

During this time I really started experiencing a lot of heavy emotions. I knew the hormones of being pregnant were there to factor in, I knew moving was naturally going to cause stress. Adding this news to everything made me feel so helpless. I've always been very good at dealing with my emotions. I could always talk it out, cry, and express myself in a way that made me feel better and clear minded. During the first few weeks of getting the news about my mom, I found myself dealing with overwhelming emotions. There were many times Jon held me and let me cry and cry as he prayed. I started feeling the load of anxiety and stress and worry about the health of my growing baby. I was struggling with how to cope and how to keep my eyes above the waves. I felt fragile and weak and completely human. Through the remaining weeks God began teaching me a lot. He reminded me of the importance of grief. When something changes in our lives we experience grief. Our lives were changing and I needed to be OK with going through my grief. I prayed for strength and He reminded me how big His grace is and how deep His mercy is. I began to find peace in knowing that no matter what happens, God is good. 

I've started thinking back on the ways God has provided through all of this. This pregnancy has brought my mom so much joy. It has brought all of us joy! Jon and I felt very called to move at the beginning of July. It happen to work out that we found a perfect home for us only 15-20 minutes away from our family. Thinking about being able to sit with my mom during her treatments and keep her company at home while I work is so wonderful. Jenny and I weren't supposed to go full-time with Maiedae until next year. Maiedae has found so much favor and grown so well that we were both able to quit our full-time jobs and, as a result, I have some flexibility to work remotely most of the week. My dad is in a great position at his job to be able to take the time he needs to care for her. And the fact that a mammogram caught this cancer (which is unusual), is so amazing. Left untreated and unknown this cancer could have taken her away from us within the year. I am SO thankful for these blessings and His goodness through this journey. 

My mom is so full of grace. She has done better than all of us throughout this time. Yesterday she got her port put in, in order to help her receive chemo. Today she starts her first round of chemo treatment. She has been showered with so much love and prayer during this time. I am so thankful to everyone who has gone out of their way to show her how much they care. I love my mama like crazy. She is so special to me and I look forward to this time of helping to care for her and spend time with her. My sister and I are planning to have some pamper nights with her to help her feel as beautiful as she is and cared for. :)

Thank you so much for listening to my heart and for making this an encouraging and uplifting community. Also, a huge thank you to my friends who have been praying hard for my family during this time and have been such a support system for us. Lastly, I am so thankful for Jon. Through all of this he has been such a rock and such a support. He has challenged me, let me cry, held me, and spoken words of truth in my life on a daily basis. I admire him so much and am so blessed to be his wife. 

"Keep the earth below my feet. From my sweat, my blood runs weak. Let me learn from where I have been. Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn." 

CAPTURED: A MUCH NEEDED WEEKEND

This weekend was very relaxing. On Friday, I spent some time with my sister. We worked on a new video for the blog that should be up sometime this week! Friday evening, Leah came to stay with us for the weekend and Jenny decided to come by as well and we had a girls' night with delicious snacks and lots of movies. :) On Saturday, we made pancakes and had a lazy morning before Jenny had to head out. Since Leah is from the northern part of Georgia, I decided to give her a good taste of Atlanta so we went to Whole Foods, went out to eat at Alon's Bakery, and walked around Perimeter Mall and window-shopped for a while.

Sunday was such a beautiful day, so a big group of us went out to eat at the Food Truck park in Atlanta and then walked around Atlantic Station to enjoy the weather. I'm so thankful for all of the perfect weather we've had lately, it makes me want to go out in our yard and do some gardening!

I'm so thankful for our amazing community of friends. It's always so nice to have people over and enjoy a beautiful weekend together. :) I'm looking forward to spending next weekend in Savannah, Georgia!

CHEER: PHOTOS FOR CHRISTMASTIME

One thing that I've always wanted to do, and just started doing this year, is taking family photos for Christmas. Jon and I talked about it when we first got married, but always ended up waiting until the last minute. This year we had our friend Danielle from Valimont Photography snap some holiday pictures for us a couple weeks ago. I love how they turned out and I'm so thankful that we took the time to get our pictures taken. While I love photographing my life and can usually be found with my camera by my side, photos of Jon and I together don't happen very often. Sometimes paying a friend and//or professional photographer for 30 minutes of their time is totally worth it. :)

For today's 12 Days of Christmas Cheer, I'm sharing some family photo inspiration for Christmastime! It's not too late to get your family together to snap a couple shots to put in your Christmas cards. ;)

Photos Found Here: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

Tips on getting a good family photo:
1. If it's just you and your significant other, try setting up your camera on a tripod and using a self timer. I might even suggest buying an inexpensive wireless shutter release for your camera so you can easily snap pictures. For bigger families or if you don't have a good camera to shoot with, consider asking a friend with a DSLR to take some photos of you. :)
2. It's always best to take photos in natural lighting. Outside is even better, especially if it's a little overcast. Using a flash can appear harsh, but capturing the soft glow of lights inside or sharing your Christmas tree buying experience outside is the best for beautiful photos.
3. Get in your element. If you and your family are adventurers or bookworms, show that in your picture! Have fun and don't feel like you have to be too posed.
4. Use props! Sometimes it's easier to get into the photo taking spirit when you have a couple props. Try making your own Christmas sign, wrapping each other up in lights or wearing fun hats. Don't you just love the one of the kids on the chalkboard floor above? So clever!
5. Leave room for text. If you would like your photo to have text designed over it or plan to use something like TinyPrints to create your Christmas cards, make sure some of your photo options have a lot of space on one side, just have your photographer zoom out a little more so you can edit it how you like. :)

This year, I decided to design my own cards and took one of the pictures from our shoot and did a simple text treatment over it. We got our photos printed via Shutterfly and will be handwriting cards and putting the photos in each envelope. This turned out to be very affordable! Do you take family photos each year for Christmas? If so, what were some of your favorite photo taking memories and tips?? Be sure to check out Jenny's blog later today to get some great Christmas card inspiration. :)

Just in case you missed it, check out some of our other Christmas Cheer posts and be sure to follow along on our Facebook page!
Day 1: Advent Calendar DIY - Here + Jenny's
Day 2: Our Favorite Christmas Movies & Music - Here + Jenny's
Day 3: Snow Globe DIY + Homemade Marshmallow's 

Thanksgiving

Jonathon and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! I loved being able to visit with his family and enjoy Uncle Harby's delicious cooking for the first time! Jon and I decided to forego breakfast on Thursday morning so there would be plenty of room for the thanksfeast and dessert! After practically putting ourselves under a food coma, we took a walk around the beautiful downtown Georgetown area. It was seriously so stunning and peaceful...everything in me wanted to pack up and move to the quaint little town. I admittedly tugged Jon's arm a couple times telling him how much I wish we could move to South Carolina. :)

To wrap the wonderful evening up, we all gathered in the family room and played a couple of intense (and hilarious) rounds of Jenga.

Here are a couple peeks into our Thanksgiving weekend...

1. Beautiful display in Jon's Aunt and Uncle's home...I was drooling everywhere over their historic place.

2. Frances setting the "kids" table on the sun deck.

3. Our table. :) 

4. My cheesecake! Vanilla salted caramel, so yummy!

5. Delicious food. 

6. Family!

7. Pictures from our walk in downtown Georgetown. 

8. Wrapping up our trip with the traditional stop by Melvin's BBQ. So good!

Tomorrow, Jon and I are taking our Oreo cheesecake over to my parents' house for Thanksgiving part 2! AND to make things even better...we decorated for Christmas this evening! It's so festive in the Wallace household right now. :) Have I mentioned how much I love the holidays?!? 

I hope the rest of your weekend is wonderful!

Listography: 25 Things I'm Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving!! Jon and I are in Mount Pleasant, SC, celebrating Thanksgiving with his extended family. This is my first year celebrating with Jon's side of the family, so I'm very excited. I tried my hand at baking a vanilla salted caramel cheesecake (found here), but I'm nervous to see if it will be a success or complete failure...I don't have a ton of confidence in the final product, but I'm dying to try it! We're heading back to Atlanta on Friday night or Saturday morning and having a Sunday Thanksgiving with my side of the family (which I am way excited about too!). Two Thanksgivings?? Yes please!

25 Things I'm Thankful For:
* How Jon and I value family and special time with each other.
* Our two fluffy kitties.
* Good health.
* A good job and the ability to pursue MaieDae on the side.
* Giving gifts.
* Delicious french fries.
* My supportive and adorable husband.
* Family and new family.
* Marriage.
* Technolo-gies!
* Self motivation.
* Faith.
* Hot bread and olive oil.
* Nesting...and re-nesting...and nesting again.
* MaieDae, my creative outlet and passion.
* Dr. Pepper.
* Fellowship with family and friends.
* The most magical place on earth....Disney!
* My girls: Kelsie (sister), Jenny, and Anica.
* Starbucks.
* Online shopping.
* Date Day!
* Christmas, seriously my most, mostest..favoritest holiday. ;)
* TV Show marathons with Jon.
* Never-ending inspiration.

A Very Wallace Christmas

As promised, here are some photographs from my first trip to the Biltmore house and my Christmastime with Jon's side of the family. Enjoy!

Spent early Christmas morning with my family, then headed over to the Wallace's to spend the second half with Jon's side. 

My sweet little green-eyed Kaito (Kai-toe) has been obsessed with our tree. It started with intent staring, adoring, and playing with ornaments and quickly became his new favorite home.

I love Christmas and I am so thankful for my beautiful family. Thanks for taking a peek! Now it is time to start putting away the decorations and suiting up for the wonderful New Year! 2011, here I come!