McCulloch Nuptials//Jolly Rogers

This past weekend was filled with so many things that made my heart so full. First of all, Lauren and Garrett tied the knot! It was such a blessing to watch them commit their lives to one another. Second, because of said nuptials, all the Gonzaga Girls were reunited. It was such a fun weekend! It's fun to see how we have all grown and changed and now how our boys fit into the mix and have taken one another on as "bros," their word, not mine. I am so thankful for each and every time that I get to be with these ladies and dearly cherish my friendship with each one of them! Also, I cannot stop calling Lauren "Mrs. McCulloch"! It's just so fun!

Naomi, Lauren, Me and Danielle. Lauren was ABSOLUTELY stunning. 

Nomes and I pre-wedding at a bar called Calamity Jane. Their slogan is as follows, "Where all the girls can kick your ass." Challenge accepted.

Mr and Mrs Campbell

My boys: Campbell and B Martin.

The coolest venue ever.

Dione! (She's hard to trick into a photo) Campbell! Nomes!

Mrs. Reedy admiring the ring that will soon make Danielle Mrs. Martin. So fun!

A better friend none can find.

Hugs for the bride.

Real men carry clutches. Campbell showing his support.

Josh and I have a pretty fabulous series of ridiculous pictures from the evening. 

Andrew was so happy they had Coors Light! We found out later that this beer option was made available just for him at the request of the bride and groom. You know you have found good friends when they allow Coors Light to be served at their wedding just because they know it's your favorite!

Mr and Mrs McCulloch

Cheers to many happy years ahead!

Spooky, huh?

any idea how hard it is to get a good picture of a huge dog in costume???

Go Cougs!!

We have started this little tradition of Avery helping Dad hand out the Halloween candy at my parent's house. Each kid has to pet the dog and then they receive their candy. Kids get the biggest kick out of it! We even heard one kid yelling down the street to another kid about the "cute dog" that you have to pet to get your treat. Mom's outfit was on point this year as well!

Mom Jeans: Things I Swore I'd Never Do

 1. I will never wear leggings as pants, I said.

2. I will never do outfit photos, I said.

...

Everett admiring the zippers. 

I know, I know. But man, look at these babies. 

Not only are they leggings,

not only am I wearing them as pants,

but these babies belong to my MOTHER.

She had these leggings that looked ah-mazing on her, so of course I snatched them up. Thanks be to the heavens she is an excellent share-er!
I loved how thick these leggings were. While they are def still leggings these babies keep all the jiz locked and loaded. Not wibble wobble here ladies. These things are the real deal.
I will have to give these back to Mom at some point, so I've set my sights on these beauties: mmmhmmm

Photo credit for all of these photos goes to my awesome husband Campbell. He couldn't help but get in on the action: haha.

Daily Life: Beautiful Thursday Evening

I think that one of my greatest joys in life is the process of the everyday. When nothing in particular is happening and we can just live. Last week Abby and I had planned to do some scouting of locations for some pictures she's going to snap of Campbell and I; the night ended up being magic. It was so much fun just to run around taking pictures: discussing angles, lighting, background. Abby has so much vision! I feel ridiculous saying that, but this girl can see photos in her head that I would never dream of! It's awesome.

I also tricked her into letting me "test the light" on her a couple times...so I got to take some shots of her! I think she was on to me...

This is Abby. 

Hair envy. 

It was a gorgeous evening. Three cheers for fall!!!

>>On Our Walk Today>>

Proof that she can be trusted off her leash. It's been a long time coming folks.

Fall brush.

First fallen.

Bursting with color, look at these beauties!

I toted my camera along for our walk today and it was so fun to seek out the beauty of this season! I love living in a place that has seasons, but I rarely take the time to capture the beauty that comes with the change. It was fun to see what I could find just on our little walking loop. 

And because I cannot stop giggling when I look at this photo...

Wanted.
2'6'', 45 lbs.

Why I Didn't Love the Ocean

This is the story of why I don't love the beach, and why it's ok.

This fall Andrew and I found that I had a random, unplanned chunk of days off so we booked a trip to the ocean. I had been eyeing this golf resort that had popped up on Groupon several times and lo and behold as we decided to go, a deal popped up! I was hoping that the resort would be like our beloved Sunriver Resort but at the beach. The place we stayed was nice, but it was at the beach, and therein lies the problem.
Apparently, I am not a beach person.
We got there and I realized that there was not a whole lot of shopping to be had. Blast. Our room was tucked up in the trees of an OLD resort. The resort (I use the term resort loosely) was old, but nice enough. We could easily walk to a private beach. The golf course ran right through the resort grounds. This all sounds like a recipe for success. But we had planned to stay for 4 nights. After the first night I was literally going stir-crazy. Apparently the beach involves a lot of sitting and relaxing. Generally when Campbell and I find ourselves in said "sitting and relaxing" situations, we get bonky. He played golf, which was great, in that time I: checked out every book store in town (epic failure), went to the beach, attended the farmer's market (which was in fact pirate themed that week and made for some decent people watching) and worked out. At night we watched a fair amount of football. Now I enjoy watching football with Campbell, but I enjoy watching it while I am doing something else around the house: baking, making dinner, etc. Sitting and watching the game is hard. Until the man Campbell picked for his Fantasy Football team scores a touchdown and does this fantastic little salsa number, that is NOT hard.
Here's the thing. I wanted to go home. We have literally been on the run all summer and into the fall and I felt like we had had very little time together at home. I felt like a huge jerk for wanting to be home when I could be on vacation. Who am I? Oh yes, that's right, a giant homebody who likes nothing better than downtime at home with my husband. But for some reason, I really beat myself up over this. For days. In the end we only ended up leaving one day early and had a good time in the meantime but this trip made me crazy. Being a homebody is something that I always try and talk myself out of, but deep, deep down, in the longings of my soul, I am happiest, at home. Part of this trip was learning to accept every part of who I am. Sometimes, it's hard.
We laughed a lot and thankfully, (God bless this man!), Andrew had similar feelings about the beach as I did. Not our thing. Also, I have an incredibly laid back husband who just kept laughing and saying, "Well, we learned something about ourselves." I am so thankful that he always sees the good! I'm pretty sure people thought we were nuts for not liking the beach. Oh well. ;)

Welcoming Fall

Fall has come to the Pacific Northwest. Just the very beginning, first twinges of fall. The first crisp mornings, the first sweatshirt evenings, the first changes of color. Fall is by far my favorite season. This season is where my soul feels the most comfortable, and renewed. 

A few signs of fall around our home:

Everett napping on the couch which has nothing to do with fall. 

Hark! The return of the Ugg slippers. 

The neighbors tree starting to put on the beauty of the season.

The air conditioning is officially OFF.

Oxblood nails. Swoon!

Warm drinks.

Cheers to Fall!

This is also unrelated to fall but this quote resonated with me today.

"Our Christian hope is that we're going to live with Christ in a new earth, where there is not only no more death, but where life is what it was always meant to be."

Timothy Keller

//40 Years//

Today marks Mom and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary! I can honestly say that I have had front row seats to see what a great marriage really looks like. I don't think that any marriage is easy, but Mom and Dad sure have done a great job of making it work and enjoying the ride! I feel so blessed to say that I have two parents that genuinely love and respect one another and that honestly enjoy spending time together (still!!!! haha). They have done so much of life together and make a pretty rad team. Mom and Dad, here's to you! And to many more years! 

This is kind of a random picture, I think they were all really exhausted at this point, but I love this moment. This is Josh and them in the waiting room right before they met Lexi, their second granddaughter.

Magic Kingdom, happy kids. 

Ready to go play at the parks!

I crack up every time at the look on Kira's face in this one! But I think this picture shows how fruitful a marriage can be!

Party animals.

Both of them giving me away. The marriage that I have and celebrate with Campbell could not have been possible without the excellent examples we both have been given. What a gift!

Keep rocking Mom and Dad!

Love,

Caitlin and Campbell