I’ve noticed I used to share over-positively on Facebook (I’ve been on Facebook since 2005, my sophomore year of High School). So I thought it would be fun to grab a few pictures from my facebook and share what I was really thinking behind my silly faces and crazy outfits. Let’s start with Fifth Grade Stacie at Disney World.

At some point in the past ten years, you were sitting on your couch with a mug of hot chocolate or a bag of popcorn in your hands, watching New Girl, thinking, “Zooey Deschanel rocks those bangs— maybe I could pull them off too?”

And before you know, you’ve got ‘em. And you either love them, hate them, or can’t figure out what it is you don’t like about them. Am I right?

What you may or may not see of my marriage behind the Social Media curtain, is that Brett and I are very independent/individualistic spouses. It’s important we schedule time together (especially without work) and it’s important we schedule intentional and meaningful experiences together and with other people— or else our time together becomes sitting in front of the television or work-filled!

If you're a family with small children, this list is a great way to introduce your children to PUMPKIN PIE! Oh, and it’s a great way to introduce them to considering what they are grateful for. It's also a great way to talk with them about how sometimes life is hard and we struggle to know how to be grateful. Maybe sometime down the road, when they are at a Thanksgiving meal with strangers, they will be advocates for sharing gratitude and for sharing vulnerably when life isn’t peachy and sweet. Vulnerability tends to reflect vulnerability, and maybe that’s not such a bad thing for a group of strangers to share around a good meal.

We’ve had a lot of people ask us what our new normals are now that we live in New York City. Our friends outside the city are asking— Is it really as colorful and fun as your Instagram makes it look? How are you adjusting to the faster pace? Do you take taxi’s everywhere you go? 

Free Gratitude Template for the month of November! Fill it out on your own or use it at the dinner table with your family!

I’m in the wedding industry, I’m seven years into my marriage, and I’m five years into owning and growing The Vow Collective. I’m obsessed with weddings, relationships, and small businesses.

Similar to my Pop-Culture and Window Shopping Series, I’ll Have What She’s Having, I want to share with you information or resources you and I both might find valuable to our lives— specifically in the realm of relationships, weddings, and business resources.

We took a few minutes to write out some of our favorite moments from the day. Moments not everyone saw. Moments we felt made Patrick and Kaylin people of great character. Moments we think they might not even remember. Here’s what we loved most about their wedding day:

I heard (a non-verified fact) this week, you can easily get more emotional on planes because of the altitude. Even without the altitude this past month, I’ve found myself with eyes brimming unexpectedly every few days. This post, I’ve got tears in my eyes and a smile on my face.

The top ten best song choices for 2019 Wedding First Dances. Music moves me so deeply and connects me to moments. So I knew choosing a first dance song for us would be one of the biggest decisions I made for our wedding.

After so much waiting, praying, pro and con weighing, and decision-making… we’ve finally decided to move to New York City. Brett will be starting a Classics doctoral program at Columbia in August. While I haven’t fully landed on what I’ll pursue while we’re there, I’m pumped on the options I have (continuing my business will definitely be something I will keep doing… I love working with star-crossed lovers on their weddings and vows).

One of my favorite lines from Mean Girls (one of my all time favorite movies and musicals) is when Gretchen yells at Regina “YOU CAN’T SIT WITH US!”.

That line is so iconic. And hilarious. And Ridiculous. And you’ve probably had it yelled at you before by someone sarcastic like me.

But the “you can’t sit with us” mentality is totally something I see in my generation and the generation I mentor.

Words for my life. Based on my enneagram nine.

This is a prayer. And a self-affirmation.

That I wouldn’t fall into busy-ness, but that I would seek out sweeter and deeper quiet. That I would work really really hard to be quiet in my mind… not numb or asleep to my feelings or circumstances.

or two people who have walked the earth together for twenty-five years, I was afraid of being in two very different life stages for once. We’ve stumbled and struggled through middle school braces, high school drama (in the theatre and out of the theatre if you know what I mean), and similar college experiences. For the most part, we dated our husbands at the same time, got engaged in the same year, and got married within a year of each other. When you’ve lived such similar life paths, how do you relate when it feels like you started taking two very different paths?

What do you think of when you hear the word “hospitality”? Is hospitality the perfect host with a perfect house that mimics a perfectly put together Pinterest Board? Is hospitality a woman’s thing? Is it something the Bible tells us to do? Is it just for Christians hosting Christians? Who are we really called to be hospitable to?

I’ve fallen in love so much with the topic of hospitality I gave a workshop on it this spring at a Navigator conference (I work for the Navs on Tuesdays and Thursdays!).