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Bits of Love

Here are a few bits and pieces of our Thanksgiving weekend with some of our family.  Seeing family is not something that we can do very often, so getting together is so special and important to us.  I miss them all so much and would give anything to have us all living near each other.

Old family photos on the mantle.

 Relaxing together, watching a morning movie.

 Uncle Buck!  One of the best movies of all time.

Visiting at Grandma's apartment.
 

Learning about the history of the art and photos on Grandma's walls.

This is a photo of Grandma and her parents!  Look at how fabulous they are!

Still life.
Everything in it's place.
 

My beautiful little sister, Lauren.
 

Shaking our heads!

Looking at old photos with Grandma and hearing about the history of our family.
 



The table is set for an amazing dinner.  There is not a lack of good food to eat when we all get together!
  
 

Seeing our parents as babies!
 



Telling stories, talking of memories and making new ones.
  

The hardest part is saying goodbye.
  



           

Until we meet again.

Sometimes You've Got to Improvise

Today I woke up and decided that I really wanted to have a picnic.  It looked like a really nice day and I wanted to take advantage of it!

Evan and I went to the grocery store and we came back and were going to set a blanket out in the grass outside of our little porch area by our apartment and have a picnic, relax and enjoy the sun.

When I went to set the blanket outside... I saw a terrible massacre.  There was a birds nest that we had been watching grow for the past few weeks - that had fallen down from the post it was on (the fall was at least 11 or 12 feet!).  There was one egg - cracked open - on our porch.  The nest was down in the grass sideways and the other eggs were cracked and spilled on the edge of the porch and grass area.  Blood.  And need I say it - baby birdies.  They did not look like birds yet, though.  I won't describe anymore except to say it was absolutely gross.  

I was sooo sad and disturbed.  Who could have a picnic now - right next to the site of a tragedy?!?!

I ran back inside.  Upset and a little nauseous.

Evan ran and grabbed the blanket, the food, drink, plates - and started causing a scene in the hallway.  He improvised.  He made me feel better.

We had a romantic indoor picnic in the hallway.  We had some 1950's classics playing softly in the background.  We had Kung-Pao noodles and Sushi.  There was no sunshine but we enjoyed each other's company and that was the best part.  I am pretty sure I have the greatest husband ever.

Ode To Mother

I feel so lucky to have a great mother.  She really.. really... realllllyyy is THE best.  

She has become my very best friend.  The older I get, the closer we get and I love that.

I look up to her for so many different reasons.

She sacrificed so that I could have the things I needed.  And sometimes even the things I wanted!

She did not marry this guy!  Phew!

She taught me to think for myself and to learn how to find my own path in life.  She allowed me to have my own beliefs and never told me WHAT to think... she instead taught me HOW to think.

She always knew how to be goofy and silly and make people smile.  She once did a cartwheel and splits in the living room during a sleepover I was having.  A strange mix of totally awesome and super embarrassing.  For her - lots of pain after realizing it has been too long since she's tried those tricks.

She was always nurturing but never overprotective.

She supported me always.  It did not ever matter to her what I wanted to do.  She never made me feel like I needed to be something I wasn't.  I never had to prove to her that I was great.  She accepted me and loved me unconditionally.  She of course, still does.

She never made me have those poofy curled bangs that curled downward AND upward.  She mostly let me do my hair however I wanted.

She always told me that even though she has two kids, I will always be the favorite and she vowed to always give me more attention than my brother.

Just kidding, Bri.  ;)

Seriously - LOOK at my brother's face in that photo.  The Devil with the broken arm, that's him.  

Luckily for her, I was always an angel - not just on Halloween.

My mom was always doing silly things - like trying to... wait... what IS going on in that photo?  Ohh she's trying to rollerblade!  In a unique and creative way!  She is unique and creative :).

And she always made sure we spent lots of quality time with my Grandma... HER beautiful and inspiring mother.

I have been told I am a lot like her.  That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.  My Grandma is my hero.  She was artistic, witty, honest, energetic, motivated, organized, responsible, open-minded and open-hearted.  She, like my mother, did not judge or hold expectations.  She did not complain or demand.  Her essence will always be with me as I live my life.

Thank you Mom.

I'm sending you all my love today and always!

Was I an Offbeat Bride?

A couple days after I got engaged, my friend Heidi (the one that made my wedding dress!) told me about this really awesome website called Offbeat Bride.  So we went on there and looked around together.   I WAS SO EXCITED to have discovered this!!!  It was so... perfect.  So amazing!  So inspirational!  And so NOT... The Knot.  There are some okay tools on The Knot (oh like the super detailed budgeter and guest list organizer) but it's overall a website created for weddings that are done in a traditional wedding format.  A traditional wedding format was not at all what I wanted for my wedding day.  Things that are important to some people felt totally unnecessary and weird to me.  My heart was pulled in the direction of the Offbeat Brides.

The post on Offbeat Bride today is as follows... which will explain some things to you:

You know you're an offbeat bride when…

By Cassie…

…you ask your engaged friend, "What are your centerpieces going to be, and how are you making them?" and she looks at you funny and says the florist is bringing them. Then you remember, oh yeah, centerpieces are traditionally beautiful flower arrangements brought in by florists, not the homemade concoctions made from a combination of dried gourds, vintage buttons, wind-up toys, and mini cast-iron bicycles that you were planning on.

…your relatives think your engagement must be off just because they can't find a wedding website/registry for you on The Knot.

…you ask a bride-to-be what color her dress is and she says, "Like, do you mean ivory vs. white?" and you remember not everyone considers red/purple/rainbow/polka-dotted dresses for their wedding day.

…when you mention you're getting married, strangers, store clerks, and vendors give your bare ring finger a long look mixed with pity and suspicion.

…your engaged friend plans a 5-hour-long mimosa/hair appointment the day of the wedding and you remember not all brides plan to spend their pre-wedding time carting in the alcohol, dishes, glasses, decorations, etc. to the DIY reception site.

…your friend asks, "What are your colors?" and you stare at her blankly for 10 minutes because you have no idea what the heck she's talking about.

…friends are not amused when they ask what your theme is and you say, "Um…getting married?"

…friends and family announce "Yourname Hislastname!" and then say how good it sounds before you can stop them and explain you're keeping your own name.

…friends are not amused when they ask what your theme is and you say, "Um…getting married?"

…a coworker asks, "Have you found a church yet?" and you respond, "For what?"

…your toilet tank conspicuously lacks a stack of thick bridal magazines, and instead features a funny little blue book by some chick who has "Meadow" in her name.

And finally, you know you're an offbeat bride when you accept and celebrate your best friend's uber-traditional wedding, because that is what she wants and that is just awesome for her. And then you go out searching for the perfect set of hot pink and purple polka-dotted frogs for your cake topper and all is well in the world.

..........

I just love that it's a community of independent thinkers.  I like encouraging people to be unique because it makes the world more interesting... ya know??  I don't think anything at all is wrong with a traditional wedding.  Wear white!  Get married in a church!  Have a first dance!  Feed each other cake while we all take pictures!  Have monogramed napkins and a buffet dinner and throw your flowers!

BUT ONLY DO IT BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT!

Don't do it because you think it's supposed to be in a wedding!  Do it if it has meaning to you!

I feel very strongly about this!  The focus can get totally diffused onto other things (and other stressors) if you aren't careful.  The focus of the day has to be TOTALLY on the ONE reason that you are having the day in the first place.  What is your wedding day?  It is the day that you make a promise to the one person that you love most that you will always love them most and be a team throughout life.

Do you need monogramed napkins in order to make this promise possible?  HECK NO!

So follow your heart on your wedding day and only do what has special meaning to you and your honey.  Throw everything else out the window.  No one will notice what is missing.

They'll only notice how happy you look as you look into each other's eyes.

We Got Married!

January 17th, 2009 - Evan and I got married!!

We had a small intimate wedding and it was perfect.

Anyone who could not be there - we assure you we will celebrate with you the next time we see you!

There were lots of delicious snacks.  We also had pizza!

My iPhone was our DJ.  People played pool.  We danced.

I designed my dress... and my friend Heidi made it for me!!

My friend Ashley made the Rice Krispy Cake!  The back-story is that she is the one that set Evan and I up together back in High School.  She was asking him to go to a dance with me and she had some rice krispy treats in her possession, leftover from a class - so she said he could have them if he went with me to the dance.  He accepted them gladly.  Of course - we had to have them at our wedding.

My friend Megan made my beautiful jewelry!

I'll need to wear it again to get some detail shots of it.

We didn't get any good close ups of it that night.

Oh and my shoes!

I ordered them from cloudsparrow on Etsy.

The designers name is Lauren and she lives in Australia.  

She custom painted these shoes for me!

Lauren was absolutely amazing to work with from beginning to end and beyond.  If you ever want something painted - want something unique - you must talk to Lauren!!!  

She will make you very happy and she is THE nicest person ever ever ever ever!

We had people travel so far to see us.  They came from Iowa, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio.  The total driving time that everyone put in to get here and back home was... over 156 hours!  And if you like math, that is 6.5 days of straight driving.  

Our family and some of our closest friends all were together in one space and it was just so amazing to see them all together - all here - for US.

It filled my heart to see them all together and all happy and all celebrating love.

We also had a fun photo area!  That was the best part, I think.

Overall - it was easily the happiest moment yet of my life.  I cannot express how I felt when I was looking into Evan's eyes at the moment it was official and we were married.

I didn't expect to feel different - but I do.

We always knew we'd be together forever, but getting married lets everyone else know it, too.

Now people can finally stop asking us...

"So are you guys married yet??"

YES - WE ARE!!!

Are you happy now?!

Good - because so are we :).

Happily ever after.

Mr. and Mrs. Van Sipe

Evan and I got married on Saturday, January 17th!

It was an amazing day filled with love.

I'll give the full story in a later post!!

2008 Rewind!

On the last day of the year, in my personal journal, I always write out a list of all the things that happened in the past year.  The main things that stand out as being fun or unique or challenging or rewarding in that year.  It's a really good way to easily look on one page and see how far I've come in a year... which then helps me to see where I'd like to go with the next year!

What happened to me in 2008?

We rang in the New Year with an awesome visit from Astrid!  We went into downtown Columbus to do some celebrating!

This one might sound weird to you. 
Evan got that giant bag of grosgrain ribbons from work for free.  They were going to throw them away at work... and we can NOT sit back and watch that happen.  We are totally against wasting perfectly good materials!!!
We find all sorts of creative uses for them (they keep our curtains tied open, they're cat toys, they hold wires from video game systems in place, and they look beautiful wrapped around all of our Christmas presents this year!)

 

In February, we drove up to Saginaw, Michigan to celebrate Evan's 23rd Birthday with our friend Megan!  And we surprised him with a visit from Sarah & Charlie!

 

We moved into our new apartment that is closer to work and has 2 bedrooms instead of 1 and 2 bathrooms instead of 1!

 

I got a promotion!  Associate Textile Designer here I come!

 

That was the same day that Peter came into our lives!  He was here for an interview!  *he got the job*

 

We took a 7 hour trip up to Alpena, Michigan for my friend Ashley's bridal shower and bachelorette party.

In March we headed back up to Michigan for another visit.  This time, to Grand Rapids to see Melanie and Corey!

 

We came home to what was known as "The Blizzard of 2008".
There was so much snow on, around and behind Evan's car that he had to call in sick to work in the  morning because he couldn't get it out!
And we don't own a shovel... and all the stores were sold out!

 

In April, it was Peter's 23rd birthday!  We had a night of adventures which involved eating dinner, getting drinks, going to another bar, trying not to get dragged on stage by a drag queen, finding a random party and then waking up with flat tummies from drinking too much vodka!

 

We also went to Michigan to see Sarah & Charlie in their new apartment!

 

AND we got a new cat!  We named him Tiny Tim because of his sickly demeanor.  Turns out... he WAS VERY SICK and we had to take him back a week later.
Dahlia didn't like him anyway...

In May, Ashley & Fred got married! 
It was also my first experience being in a wedding!

My boss, Amanda, had a birthday party and got a bouncy castle for her backyard!!  Those things were so fun as a kid... but jumping in them at twentysomething years old with a belly full of snacks and wine... ughhhhh.....

 

Earlier that day, we made out like bandits at the Sample Sale!!  Our second one and we felt like seasoned professionals... attacking it with a strategy.

 

At the end of the month, we went back to Michigan yet again!  We wanted to make a trip to see some family in Grand Rapids.
We went to the mall and did some shopping and rock wall climbing! 

 

I learned a bit about planting from Aunt Molly while visiting - and went home and planted some flowers of my own for the first time! 

*can I just say that it is now late December and the spikey plant is still alive!!*

   

In June, Sarah & Charlie came down to visit us and see our new apartment!  We did a lot of karaoke singing and wandered downtown Columbus for a bit as well.

 

Summer is official by June and we make it a goal to have as many perfect weekends as we can.  The first one I like to call
"Perfect Day at the Pool with Peter".  He will remember it too.

What happened next in June?  OH YES.  Evan's Mom and sister came down to visit us for a few days.  We went to the zoo.
AND Evan proposed!!

 

A few days later, on the 20th, I turned 24!
Turns out, 24 isn't so bad and I happen to like it a lot.
My mom is an amazing and beautiful soul and she totally spoiled me on this day even though she is so far away.

And then I got spoiled at work, too!!

 

The next weekend we went on a vacation!  We drove up to Michigan and stayed in a little cabin for a week with Mom & family!  We sat by the lake, boated, feasted and played for days and days.

The weekend after our vacation, my boss got married!

  

Heidi and Peter took me to try on some wedding dresses so we could get an idea of what looks good or not so good on me.
We're designing it and making it ourselves so we definitely didn't go to buy and I think the lady "helping" us got the hint real fast.  She didn't help at all!!

  
*David's Bridal has the ugliest dresses I've ever seen.*
  

On July 2nd... this blog - Running Stitch -  was born!!
I had just really discovered what blogging actually WAS and decided that it was something I should've been doing a long time ago.

Running Stitch is named after the most simple and primitive of stitches.  It is so simple yet so beautiful and attractive and perfect.  It can look crafty  but is versatile enough to be used in a very high-end way.
The blog is meant to be a vault of all things I want to capture, talk about, revisit and share that have to do with living, loving and of course... stitching.

   

Thanks for joining me on my journey!!!

We spent Independence Day with Heidi and Peter and his friend Gabby.
Oh yes I never mentioned the day that Heidi got a job here and joined us in Columbus!!  I believe that was in June.  That was VERY exciting!

   

We took a trip up to Cleveland to see Ashley & Fred and their new place.  We did fun things like sweat a lot in their house without any AC, made yummy dinner on the grill, played around in the Great Lakes Science Center, learned about Egypt in the Omni Theater, and Evan got a tattoo!

 

I got a new camera.  It takes BEAUTIFUL pictures!
It literally makes me have hate for my old crappy 4.1 megapixel piece of junk.  I had no idea how deprived of nice photos I was until this new 12.1 megapixel borderline affordable camera came along.
Someday, I will get a professional camera and have the ultimate in deliciously beautiful photographs.

 

In August, Heidi and I begin designing my wedding dress.

 

Astrid & Jane came to Columbus for our annual reunion!!
We had 5 days of AMJ madness!!

I started to push myself into the "handmade" lifestyle as much as possible.  Gifts, cards, grocery bags, etc.  I want it to become a habit.  Why go buy it when I can make it?  Why throw it away when I can re-use it?

  

My cousin Eric got married!!  Congrats Eric & Megan :)

While in Alpena, Evan and I decided to drive around and take pictures of some memorable places.  This is the house where I spent some of my childhood.
I practiced cartwheels in that little front lawn.

  

In September, I went on a work trip to Brimfield.  This is my second time going there for work.  I LOVE it and would go there every year if I could!  (even though I did get sick both times I went... allergies??).

  

I discovered... Artful Blogging.  Another one of those things that I said "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!" as soon as I saw it (and then realized that I said it out loud and looked around to see who heard me).

  

We did an Engagement Photo Shoot in September with Peter as our photographer, my new camera as the workhorse, Heidi as the moral support and that 1950's dress from Brimfield as the shining star.

  

Sarah & Charlie got engaged and asked us both to be in their wedding!

  

We went up to Michigan to visit Sarah & Charlie to celebrate their engagement and Charlie's 25th Birthday!!  We had a fun day at the apple orchard and a fun night at Buffalo Wild Wings!

    

We got our rings custom made.

  

I had my first give-away on my blog!

 

I had a successful Halloween as an Aberzombie. 
I scared people.  It was good.

  

In November, I played with new ideas.

I also had my first sale!!

Our old TV broke so we got a new one!

  

We got our wedding rings!

 

Evan and I decided to get married in our apartment complex Clubhouse.  We decided to have a small intimate wedding on January 17th, 2009.

  

We met Kelli Martin and saw her fashion show at her boutique, Black Market.

  

Thanksgiving on the floor with friends is quite possibly the best idea, ever.

  

In December we rocked out with Girl Talk at the company Christmas Party!

  

And then celebrated Christmas together.

The only thing left to do is ring in the new year!....
 

We have set THE DATE

It's totally official now - we're getting married on January 17th, 2009. 

Yes, I know.  It IS in less than 2 months!
We aren't crazy.  We're in fact doing it in order to stay sane!  Funny, right?!

We just want to get married!  We don't want to deal with the complications and expenses and drama of a big orchestrated affair.  We just wanna marry each other and have a little celebration :).  So, that is what we are doing!

I have been tirelessly editing the long awaited engagement pictures.  This is where I show them to you - at last :)....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

  

 

Pile of Paws

As we were laying around lazily in the living room on Saturday evening - I couldn't help but notice how amazingly darling our little Dahlia was looking!

She is usually a wild terror but this time she was sleepy and cuddley and sweeet!  So I did a little photo shoot of her and let me tell you... she's a top model.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this little girl.

Isn't it amazing how an animal can become such a good friend?

Bands of Gold

This morning... we got our rings!

*insert loud choir singing aaaaalelujia!!*



We have been in the design process for months.  We've seen sketches, CAD's, wax molds of the rings twice... 
 
    
 
 and today... we got THE rings!

 



They look so amazingly beautiful in real life and I'm happy to say that we designed them together and will wear them forever.

 

 And we even got a picture with Duncan - the wonderful jeweler who turned our vision into reality.

Announcement!

Evan and I have yet to formally announce our engagement.  My mom is asking me to choose a photo and write up the announcement so she can put it in our local
home-town newspaper. 

So... what do we think of this picture?

 

 

 

Love Wins

There is NOTHING that makes you feel better than love.

True, honest, humble, faithful love.

I never believed in it.  My parents divorced when I was 6 years old and as soon as I was old enough to understand it, I kind of lost my respect for marriage.  It was just not a fairytale to me like it was to other girls.

Why would two people believe in their hearts - and make vows in front of all of their family and their friends in their church - that they are in love with each other and will be partners through life together - suddenly take it back?  What is the point of marriage to someone if it is not a real promise, only a temporary one?  As an adolescent, those were my thoughts.  I was taught by my mother to be very responsible and independent and with that I still held my skepticism for true love.  Both parents re-married - and... divorced again.  I saw them both go through tremendous pain and suffering and loss.  My last grain of hope for having faith in love went flying out the window.  Marriage started to scare me. 

My senior year of high school was when I met Evan.  He was sooo cuuuuteee and we both reeealllyy liked each other.  We started dating, but in my head I was thinking, we'll break up when I leave for college.  But when it came time, we had grown so close, so we tried to make it work long distance (without cell phones or cars!!).  It worked.  Four years through college, three months of me living in Pennsylvania, three months of me living in New York City, and a month of me living in Milan.  I got a job and we moved to Columbus together.  People always asked us (at least once a week) "when are you guys gonna get engaged?"  and "are you guys married yet?!".  I'd answer, annoyed, "I donno" and "No".  It's not about the wedding, the dress (well maybe a little about the dress!), the flowers, or the DJ - it's about the LOVE and our PROMISE TO EACH OTHER.

We are engaged now.  We haven't yet started planning one thing - except getting our rings made.  I'm not hurrying.  Why?  I did still have that old skeptic in me about love - even though I love Evan with all of my hear and soul.  I don't want marriage to ruin us.  I know it won't - because - it's US.  I know that love will win and we'll fight against those odds and we will not let petty things take us down.

I DO believe in real, true, honest, long lasting love.  I'm taking that skeptic within me and turning that attitude into something more of a warrior attitude.  Fight FOR love and not against it.

Evan and I are really close friends with a couple that I met in college.  Sarah and Charlie.  They've been together as long as Evan and I have, and they've also been though lots of long distance turbulence.  Last weekend - they got engaged!!  Then, this week, I got something special in the mail.

 

Sarah & Charlie - I'm so happy that you two are going to spend the rest of your lives together and I cannot wait to be a part of that commitment! 
I also promise to love you both forever :D.

Engagement Photo Shoot

This weekend was another good one.

 

Friday night we went out for a friend - Beth's - birthday.  We went to B-Dubs and had a celebration which included belting out "I saw the sign" at the top of our lungs and orders for 15 people "on separate checks please"!  Haha.

Saturday, Evan and I went to a huge Antique Mall with two friends of his from work.  We spent hours browsing every aisle and trying on hats and discovering ridiculous treasures.  I even found a statue to add to my collection of 1989 fashion statues!  Amazing!  I'll need to post pictures of them for sure.

Today, Peter and Heidi played photographer and creative input director and we did an engagement photo shoot downtown!  I'm wearing my 1950's dress (the one that I found in Brimfield, and showed you a sneak peek in another post).

It was so much fun and I'll definitely be doing a gigantic post with many more of the photos as soon as I can look through them all and pick my favorites!!