Cheers to 2016!

This Year:

1 new tattoo after years and years of wanting and praying about one! 

2 trips to Joshua Tree 

3 dear friends we grew up with got married!

4 trips to Chula Vista (Nathan Nathan...) in December

5 years of marriage <3
6 girls driving my crazy at work...but I love them!
7 ways we rearranged the apartment..or maybe more haha
8 times reloading my Starbucks app (estimated)
9 hours in NYC
10 x 10 sunsets that blew us away
11 months of advance concert tickets purchased for COLDPLAY!!!
12 months of smh at the elections
13 new budgets created using Mint!
14 thousand miles on our brand new miracle car
15 trips to the beach
16 ohhs and ahhs at Michelle & Joe's wedding venue!

I feel that many miracles happened this year through many hard situations and circumstances. And God has been faithful. I had moments where I seriously questioned God and what the heck He was doing and why He was doing it. I felt confused and lost, worried and hopeless! The grand miracle is that through all that mess, I realized there were so many areas I trusted myself or security over the God that holds all things together. I trusted my plan, my work ethic, and my good intentions for things to go well. 

But in His grace, my mind has been continually renewed and reminded of the truth - that I am beloved, a child of the living God, who knows all things and leads me besides still waters and walks with me in my darkest valleys. His love for me is perfect, so when I have trouble in this life and feel that no one understands me or when I cant even understand myself, He is with me and knows me. And He, Jesus, is all that I need.

He is my Light

Thank You Lord for the trails and triumphs of 2016. I am eager and full of hope for what's to come.

P E A C E

This year, I had doubts.

Doubts that we'd have a Christmas card I'd actually like because the weeks went by and our plan A and plan B totally failed for getting them ready by the first week of December. From rainy weather to bad lighting ideas...we were struggling to get a decent photo. I'm not sure how it happened but 10 days before Christmas a peace came over me about the whole thing. I asked if our good friend Fabz could edit some options we took on our Canon self timer trials (sounds like a movie, doesn't it!?) and of course we loved how they came out!

Our little tree is a favorite part of our card, and has been quite the eye opener for me this year for several reasons. One, I realized I really don't love trees THAT small. Two, not having a big tree does not equal a terrible Christmas. Three, it's all gonna be ok because Jesus = Christmas! Duh! And four, G really likes having a little tree, of course. lol I'll be honest, I was in tears the night we got and decorated our tree because I felt so underwhelmed by it. I mean, I literally told G we needed to get a huge sign that read JESUS in bold letters so I could look at it and not feel sad when I cam home. 

LOLOL

Yes, I was really in my feelings that night! But G..my best love who knows how to calm me down when I'm being dramatic and pure crazy. I was so upset about the tree and let it take away the joy and meaning of Christmas just like that. So after a long talk and cuddles, I snapped out of it...eventually. But the best part is when I look at our tree now I don't only see a pretty tree, I see Jesus because it reminds me the reason we got the tree int he first place - to remind us of love coming down on Christmas and SAVING US. And that, that is the reason for our hope, joy and peace in season and out of season. 

And this is the reason we had to feature our little tree in our Christmas card this year. We love it! And we could not have done it in time without Artifact Uprising + 2 day shipping! :) Also, thanks again to our sweetest friend Fabz for editing these for us! She's the best. Check out her work HERE!

Outtakes that didn't make the card, but we love all the same --

*see our previous Christmas cards here: Years 2011, 2012 and 2013 / 2014 / 2015

life lately, in photos

We've had beach strolls

Thanksgiving Selfies after eating all the food

the most glorious sunsets at home

Bruchin' at Mama Kats (a local fav!)

CHRISTMAS

This Is Us

and all the tears...

and counting down till Jersey! 11 more days to go!

a merry olive christmas 2016

MERRY JOLLY HAPPY

Our annual Christmas playlist has arrived and it's just as Classic with some Folk sounding artists in between, as ever! Listening to Christmas music is an every day thing in our household the month of Christmas, so I hope this mix of tunes will bring some joy to you and your loved ones this year. Maybe over baking Christmas cookies or having dinner, we hope you’re blessed by The Brilliance, Gungor, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and The Carpenters to name a few.

And may we remember daily that Jesus coming to us (THANK YOU LORD) is why we celebrate Christmas.

Listen to our previous Christmas playlists here!

2014

2015