o Christmas tree

merry christmas!

We are headed to Tahoe today for some skiing & snowshoeing. 

for the first time in my whole life i'll get to celebrate a white Christmas!

Soooo excited...

catching up: thanksgiving

Okay, blog, I'm sorry for peaceing out on you for so long. I sort of broke up with blogger for a while I guess.  We got into a fight, you see.  I had this incredibly eloquent and interesting post (just kidding, but seriously...) in which I poured out my heart & shared what the Lord was showing me through Jack Kerouac and apple pie and pursuing a new career adventure. The post took at least a week to write, and when it came time to publish and share it with the blogging world... blogger failed to save the post...and failed to post it... so we ended our relationship on pretty bad terms. 

BUT, I love the holiday season waaaay too much to not take some time and document our adventures.

I forgive you, Blogger.  Maybe another day when I have more time to rewrite the aforementioned incredibly eloquent and interesting post I can share that story, but for now we will just have a simple and slightly cheesy recap of Thanksgiving.

Here are a few pics from our time with my family in beautiful San Jose, California. 

I'm saving my favorites for another post, but this is a start.  

{p.s. please excuse my extreme editing on some on these photos.

i like to get a little carried away sometimes}

Ross & my dad enjoying some cigars and manhattans while frying turkey # 1.

best.turkey.ever.

Our beautiful table!

JB being cool.

Fancy cheeses at the girl & the fig in Sonoma. 

 Wine cave in Sonoma.

Decorating for Christmas!

Some years we have over 30 people to celebrate Thanksgiving with.  This year it was just the 6 of us and was so much fun.  My dad planned out the whole well balanced week of staying home and cooking, exploring new parts of California, going out to eat, having an extreme bocci ball tournament, visiting my brothers new school, playing games, watching movies, and going on family walks.  It was perfect.  Ross and I were so grateful to just spend time together and take a much needed break from work. 

Can't wait to fly back on Friday! How is Christmas sneaking up on us so fast?!

the few, the proud, the puppy class grads.

We are such proud parents!

Our baby puppy, Roux Pinson, graduated from Puppy Training Class today!

(note: yes, I do realize how obnoxious we are becoming... 

Lord help us when we have human children.)

On our way to the final exam & graduation.

 Receiving his diploma bone

 Proud dad.

Roux finished his diploma bone before the rest of the class even graduated. 

"I did it!" 

 "Life rules."

 Heck yeah we're framing this.

 Top three students :)

Roux, Rebel & Major.

Can't wait for the Intermediate Class!

simply bloom

SimplyBloom Stop Motion Film from christine berry on Vimeo.

soooo cute.
stancy should this to me & i kind of want to be them :)

reminder

{via}

Missouri

this weekend, i had the blessing of 

photographing a wedding 

{with mrs. stancy higley} of two beautiful believers
in missouri

as they exchanged vows and began

a new life together.

it was so much fun, 

{albeit incredibly hot & sweaty}

and I can't wait to share some pictures!

seriously- look at them. 

don't they look like they're straight out of a magazine?

fall wreath 2010

like any good DIY-er,

i can't just simply buy holiday decor.

it has to be original! it has to be crafty!

let's be real: it has to be cheap :)

i was happy with last year's 

but wanted to go in a different direction this year.

anyway, here is this year's wreath:

to make it, i simply wrapped different colors 

of burlap & fabric around a wreath form.

next, i cut strips of fabric and bunched them 

into the form of flowers

and topped them off with shiny tacks.

the final touches were acorn bells 

which wrapped around the wreath with twine.

of course, all fall crafts must be done

with a pumpkin spice candle 

warming the apartment with it's familiar

autumn smell wafting through the air. 

where are the kolaches?

the start of this year has been so much different
 from the beginning of last's. 

we're a little more established
and are incredibly blessed with good friends.

we're parents to a great little puppy,
and i absolutely love my new job.

all that to say, this year we are truly happy
living here in college station.

(though, to be honest, i am still struggling with my road rage issues
 due to the freakishly slow drivers in this city,
but that's neither here nor there.)

yesterday we ventured to a nearby city, caldwell,
 for the annual kolache festival.

apparently, caldwell is the czech capital of texas.

and of course we brought the baby puppies :)

poor roux slept all day yesterday after we got home.
thankfully roux's best friend clive has a super cool traveling water bowl
(from REI, of course) which he shared with roux.

the only downside to the kolache fest. was the extreme heat...
we are so ready for fall to get here!