Introducing Emma Irene

Emma Irene, newborn, birth story, newborn photos, baby girl

Hey guys! New Mom here. That still feels weird to write but it provides me with a new excuse for my delay in posting to the blog so I’m going to run with it. Cool? If you’ve been following along on social media, you’d be crazy not to know that Matt and I were greeted […]

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Christmas Cookies: New Additions to the Family

Christmas sugar cookies, royal icing, santa christmas cookie, christmas sugar cookies, snowman cookies, ornament cookies, christmas tree cookies, holly cookies, stocking cookies, present cookies, decorating, wilton,

If you follow me on social media and/or are a co-worker or family member (which let’s face it is about 99.9% of my readers), then you know I recently finished up a batch of sugar cookies. I know what you’re thinking. We get it Sarah. You bake. Blah. Blah. Blah.  If that’s what you’re saying […]

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On Christmas cards 

christmas card photos, christmas tree farm, holiday photos, christmas, family, photography

Oh hey guys. I’ve got good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that I have not prioritized spending quality time with my blog as much as I should have lately. Turns out when you move closer to friends and family you actually end up spending more time with friends and family. […]

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Let’s Talk About Christmas Lists

let's talk about christmas lists, christmas ideas,

I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas Lists. You see, I’ve always enjoyed the tradition of paging through catalogs around the table after Thanksgiving, each family member attempting to jog memories of all the things they desperately needed throughout the year but can’t seem to remember when the blank yellow pad of paper is in front of them. […]

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Doing more with less

This year I’ve decided to keep my resolutions simple. Less of an attempt to reach specific goals and more of an attempt to give more of myself to those around me. More eye contact Less technology More recipes Fewer restaurants More risks Less fear More sweat Fewer excuses More focus Less multitasking More dog walks […]

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Love Languages and Christmas Cookies

holiday cookies, christmas, sugar cookies, royal icing, christmas cookies, baking, iced cookies

It’s hard to believe another Christmas is already upon us. A chance to look back on the past year and celebrate your accomplishments. A chance to look forward and make resolutions for the coming year. And a chance to visit that familiar self-induced hell of cookie decorating. Just kidding. Kind of. They say people fit into […]

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Holiday Greetings

greater swiss mountain dog, swissy, finn, christmas card, christmas, holiday, dog,

Happy Holidays! I’ll begin this holiday greeting by apologizing for cheating you all out of a printed Christmas card this year. Especially because opening holiday cards and hanging them up is one of my favorite traditions and I may or may not still have all of yours from the past four years in a storage box because recycling them would […]

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A Christmas wish

greater swiss mountain dog, puppy, finn, swissy, gsmd, dog,

Dear Santa, This is Finnegan Murphy here. You may not have our new address because my family moved to a place where there is no snow in the wintertime. If anyone will understand my situation it’s you. I’m a Swiss MOUNTAIN dog for goodness sake. I live for snow. I like to pounce in the […]

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Awkward Family Photos

family photographs, children, photography, springfield, illinois, old state capital, christmas cards, holiday, boys

Every year around this time, my sister off-handily asks me to bring my camera home to “take a couple of pictures of the boys for a Christmas card.” Seems easy enough, right? Well it used to be. Back before said boys knew what capturing a decent photograph entailed. Things like real clothes, real smiles and real […]

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