Saying Goodbye to 2017
We are on vacation as I type this, and it's a great way to reflect on the year we've had. 2017 has been a great one with great highs, and it's been a hard one with some low lows. What better way to show you a recap of our year than with photos, right!?
January:
It snowed a really good snow for the first time in our new house!
Adam turned 5, and we enjoyed watching his basketball games every Saturday during the winter.
February:
I went to NYC with my lovely boss, Lucy, and we had a great time! It's so crazy being in a city that large on such a small island. #countrymousegoestothecity
We bought another fiddle leaf fig for our house and named him James K. Polk. He's doing okay, but we are in need of some plant for him today.
I taught my first sewing class at the CAB, and it felt so good to be back in the saddle of teaching.
March:
We became Young Life leaders last fall, and it has been the best thing for us since moving back to Columbia. YL was the benefactor of the Benefit Ball in Columbia, so we all got to dress all fancy and watch older people dance!
Andy turned 11, and I finally made him a quilt. He loved it, and that's all an aunt can hope for!
Our sweet friend, Shell at SweetBakes Donuts and Cakes, started selling her donuts, and it might be the best thing that happened to our little town!
My dad went for routine procedure, and they realized he had a large tumor in his colon. He was scheduled for emergency surgery, and we found out he had stage 3 colon cancer. My family rallied together, and it was one of the most challenging moments of my life. His surgery was successful, and he would begin chemo treatments soon.
April:
We officially celebrated our first Mule Day as adult residents of Columbia. We had a blast, and Bryson got to wear his overalls (his dream came true)!
We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in our favorite city, Chattanooga. We ate good food, went hiking in the rain (it always rains on our vacations), and enjoyed looking back on 5 years!
Bryson painted the Columbia Arts Building sign on the building's facade and rode a lift for the first time while having to wear a harness.
We got to play with adorable baby animals at YL club because Freeman Farm is amazing.
We started our weekly tradition of charcuterie on Sunday nights after eating it for the first time in Chattanooga.
May:
Bryson painted his first mule mural close to the Columbia Arts Building. He added blue to the background, but of course I had to get a proud wife pose before it was finished.
Brad and Kristi (and their adorable children) came to visit us for a day! It was so much fun catching up with them and getting to show them a little of our hometown.
We announced to everyone that we had a surprise coming your way later this year! We didn't give specifics yet because who wants to ruin a good surprise?
We went to St. Louis to see Chance the Rapper for my late birthday present, and while we were there, we discovered there was an IKEA just down the street. So, naturally we went 3 times and bought stuff for our surprise.
June:
We spent the first part of June at Carolina Point (a Young Life camp), and it was probably the most emotional and uplifting week I've had in a really long time. We grew closer to God and closer to our kids.
I taught my first sewing camp to an amazing group of girls at Columbia Academy. It was so much fun and so exhausting! They were all so great!
July:
We spent 4th of July with Bryson's grandparents and family. They are so much fun and love their family well. Also, Otis had a photo shoot because he's so much more photogenic than Bailey.
We travelled to Louisville for one of our favorite markets, Made Market. While there, we ate the best tacos, slept in the best AirBnB, forgot all of my pants, and toured Willet Distillery.
Our space got a little brighter thanks to this amazing glass garage door, and renovations really got underway on our shop.
Bailey remained the king of our castle even with an annoying little brother.
I said goodbye to my job of 2 years at Lily Jane. It was bittersweet to leave, but Lucy taught me so many things in my 2 years being there. I learned a lot about myself and retail, and she is still one of my favorite people of all time. She's kind and sweet, and I hope to be half the shop owner that she is!
August:
We went kayaking to take a Sunday off and celebrate this cutie. He turned 29, and we love celebrating birthdays over here.
We began installation of our fixtures in the shop. Bryson did all the work himself with the help of some family and friends. He made this space a living dream of mine, and we couldn't have done it without his knowledge and hard work.
We got to finally hang with our newest friend, Henry. The last time we hung out, I was getting over being sick, so I didn't want to spread any germs. But he and his parents are our favorites, and we can't wait to see this little dude grow up!
We got the shop ready to open. It was such an undertaking, but we knew it would be so worth it in the end. We spent long nights and constant adjusting before the big day.
September:
I had been dreaming of this quilt for a long time, so I finally took the time to make it real quick before opening day. The doggies also just love a good quilt for their butt, so they were pumped when I put it on the bed.
Andy and Barney were by our side ready to show everyone what we had dreamed about for years. We were so excited and nervous to open the doors, but the big day had arrived. Grand opening weekend was a huge success, and we were and are so thankful for everyone who came to see us! We could have never done it without our families and followers like you!
We had our annual Young Life fundraiser, and my girls are just so sweet! Lilli said the sweetest things about me that I would have never guessed she felt about me, and Bryson was the emcee for the night. We love Young Life if you couldn't tell.
Bryson and I both had our 10-year reunions (we didn't go to B's), and it made me feel incredibly old. BUT...I have the sweetest friends that are still close to me 10 years later, and that's super great. (Bryson was the official photographer and had a little fun while us girls were getting ready for the shot.)
I got to attend Grandparents' Day with my mama for the second year in a row, and it's becoming one of my favorite things to do. The boys did a great job!
October:
Our friends at Farm and Fiddle had their CSA members to a farm-to-table dinner, and it was so beautiful! We ate delicious food and were surrounded by the sweetest animals. I wanted to take a kitten home, but B said, "Heck, no!"
We attended weekend Young Life camp at Sharptop Cove. I drove the late bus and got there at 2:30am. Getting older sucks when you have to stay up late...ha! However, camp always has a great way of bringing you closer to your friends and making lots of memories.
Bryson's mom started working for us one day a week (or there abouts), so we could spend time together not working. So, we chose to go hiking one day, and it was so nice not having to work and spending time in nature.
November:
We stayed up WAY too late before our Christmas open house, but we had a great time decorating and our friend, Sweet Bakes, opened the same weekend!
Our hometown sure is cute in the fall!
Went to our 6th Made South Market in Franklin, TN. I made a bunch of quilt for it, and we were actually open at the shop and at another market all at the same time. We cray.
Young Life leaders and committee members had our first murder mystery dinner, and I ended up being the one who was hated by everyone. I also got murdered. It was something totally out of our comfort zones, but it was a lot of fun!
We celebrated our 6th Thanksgiving together as a married couple, and it was a great weekend. Bryson's grandparents from Indiana came down for the first time that I've known Bryson. We had our first Black Friday and Small Business Saturday sales, and we were blown away by the support people gave us! Our families are so supportive of us, and we definitely felt the love from them and our customers this weekend.
We got our 2nd Christmas tree from the Satterwhite's Christmas Tree Farm. They are some of the sweetest human beings and weren't even mad when we showed up 5 minutes before closing time.
December:
My dad has his final chemo treatment and got his port out! He kicked cancer's butt, and we were so thankful it was ALL over before the holidays.
We set up at Porter Flea for our 3rd holiday market with them. We love this market because of the atmosphere and the people we get to meet! It was a great last market of the year!
We got an Instant Pot, and it has been a life saver for us during the holiday season. Cook frozen chicken in 12 minutes?! Okay!
The things we do for Young Life. We had our last club of the semester, and it was themed "Ye Ol' Christmas," and I had always wanted to wear a dress like this, so I did! Thanks, Emily!
We had some of maker friends come to our shop on a Friday night and set up a little booth to sell some of their things. One of our friends isn't in this photo (Kate from Little Things Studio), but we were so thankful they would come and sell their pretty things to our customers.
Bryson had to help me finish some quilts and blankets for the year, so I could ship them in time for the shipping deadline. It felt so good to have all of the orders completed before Christmas!
We celebrated Christmas with both sides of our family, and it was a great time to be had by all! We love living in our hometown and being so close to each of our families. We are truly blessed by having them near!
We are capped off the year with a much needed vacation to Rosemary Beach. We ate good food, slept in late, and did pretty much nothing as much as possible. It's nice to recoup and take a break at the end of an amazing year.
BUT while on vacation, you see how close Laurel, MS is and take a road trip especially when it's raining at the beach. UGH. We hopped in our rental car and drove 5 hours one way, and we got to visit Ben and Erin Napier's hometown (they have a show called Home Town on HGTV, but we have been following their story for a while even before the show). We loved their shop (Laurel Mercantile) and their downtown is so adorable. Definitely worth the drive.
2017 was a wonderful year, and we can't wait to see where 2018 takes us. We know the Lord has big plans for us, and we are thankful we get to do it all together. Happy New Year, everybody!
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