Tag Archives: ohio

A Note On Christmas Trees

Posted in Life As I Know It by

This Christmas marks me and Jonathan’s third married Christmas. THIRD. That’s crazy. As you probably know, we spent our first two years of married life living in Ohio, where we knew no one (at first) and had no family. It was extremely important to me that our house there felt like home for both of us. And for me, that meant some serious and intentional Christmas decorating.

Our first year, we decided to cut down our own Christmas tree, so the day after Thanksgiving, with my visiting in-laws in tow, we drove 45 minutes away to do just that. We even named it Tenny, a nod to the state we planned to end up in.

The next year, my mom visited as well, and again we made the trip to cut down our tree. Tenny 2.

These trees were special to us because they were OURS. Jonathan sawed them down himself, and then I decorated them. These trees made that house feel like home at Christmas, especially with all of the ornaments that represent so many memories from both of our lives.

This year, we have been so busy with remodeling parts of our new house in Nashville that Christmas decorations became an after thought. But last weekend, we knew we HAD to go get Tenny 3. So we went to a tree farm, and no offense to Tennessee, but it DID NOT live up to the Ohio farm we had visited the two years before. So after stopping a few places, we ended up buying a pre-cut tree (hey, we still went to a farm. we TRIED), and put it in our practically empty living room and decorated it.

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Tenny 3 is pretty much just for us. We aren’t having any parties this season, like we usually do. We haven’t invited friends over yet, because our house is still in pieces (but getting very close!). So it’s pretty much just us, enjoying it in the evenings, and watering it every day. It’s not technically as nice of a tree as Tenny and Tenny 2 were, but it’s just right for where we are in life: it’s just what we need.

So cheers to all the Christmas trees that have sat in this window since 1949, and cheers to the many trees our little family will bring in. Merry Christmas!

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Tech Week

Posted in Columbus Adventures by

Ahhhh, tech week. Ask anyone who has ever been in theater, and they will cringe at those two words. It’s the week before you open. There are lights and costumes and props and microphones and people all in places there never were before. And you weren’t totally confident in your memorization of lines as it was, and now adding on all these pieces?? Yeah. It’s a little rough.

Tech week is stressful, and in community theater, it’s even more fickle. Our lines and our harmonies vanished into thin air. Half of the microphones don’t work…

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We have new props, like this twisted-pinterested Bat Baby…

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There is general confusion, hubbub, and mess…

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Yes you may notice this does not look like a theater. That’s because it’s not – it’s a local office building. But we are in the beginning phase of transforming it…All this and we open on Saturday. So much fun and so little sleep!!

And if you’re in Columbus, PLEASE come see Bat Boy: The Musical so all of this is not in vain!!! 🙂

State Cookies + Archie Griffin

Posted in Mmm...Food... by

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Sometimes, you just feel like making cookies from scratch. And you have cookie cutters to represent the states you live in. And so you make state-shaped cookies from scratch.

What?

I tried a new recipe – the hubs didn’t love it, but I did! Whenever you are rolling out dough and using cookie cutters, you need to make sure you are using a recipe that won’t rise or puff up at all, because that would jeopardize your shapes. They are already going to look a little wonky – don’t make it worse!

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I used this VERY simple recipe from Nestle. I ended up drizzling chocolate on them to make them a little extra sweet, but you could also ice them as they show on their website.

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OKAY BUT THEN our department of about 50 people were planning our “Celebrate Archie” day, as Archie prepares for a job transition, which included an Archie “trivia” game with our staff…

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And then an ice cream social, with these adorable balloons…IMG_7834 IMG_7838

And I thought, I SHOULD MAKE OHIO COOKIES! So I made these…some Vanilla Almond cookies with a football cookie cutter, and some of the afore mentioned chocolate chip cookies shaped like Ohio, and with a little extra chocolate love. Also I made a LOT more than six, but I forgot to take a photo, and this is what was left near the end…

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I think he liked them! I’ll miss seeing this face around the building everyday…IMG_7841

Yellow Springs, OH

Posted in Columbus Adventures by

Over the weekend, the hubs and I went on an Ohio adventure with a couple of our friends. A small town called Yellow Springs was hosting their annual Street Festival. Yellow Springs only has about 3,500 residents, but this festival had over 250 vendors, with plenty of food options spread throughout. We had a great time exploring the many MANY tents of unique items.

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It was a SERIOUSLY HOT day though, so on the way home we made a stop at Young’s Jersey Dairy Farm to get some AMAZING ice cream.  IMG_7771

And also to feed these guys…IMG_7773

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Commencement at THE Ohio State University

Posted in Columbus Adventures by

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Guys, you have never ever seen a commencement so large! Over 11,000 students graduated on Sunday…it took a half an hour just for all of the graduates to file into the stadium and to their seats. Archie gave a great commencement speech, and another wife and I sat up in the boonies getting sufficiently sunburned for about five hours. But I definitely was able to spot my hubby from afar!

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About an hour and a half before commencement…everyone still filing into the shoe.

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He is somewhere in there…

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So many!

There he is, two seconds from getting his diploma... you might not see him but I do!

There he is, two seconds from getting his diploma… you might not see him but I do!

It was amazing to see him go through this process, beginning to end. I feel lucky to have been a part of the journey!

Arcade Engagement Photos {Katie & Brandon}

Posted in Picture Taking Time by

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It has truly been a while since I’ve taken photos. In fact, since my move to Columbus over a year and a half ago, I don’t think I’ve done a single photo shoot. LIFE, am I right?

*Shameless Plug: Check out my portfolio site sometime! http://meghanelizabeth.zenfolio.com/*

OKAY but recently a work friend asked me to take a few low key engagement photos for her. She and her fiance are super fun, and love video games. She’s planning on working a few little video game themes into her wedding, and it sounds so fun!! We have this really cool bar in Columbus called 16-Bit, where you can play all the old school arcade games your heart can handle, as long as you’re drinking their drinks (and honestly, even if you’re not). It’s a really cool place and seemed like a great spot for these two.

I confess, I don’t have the lighting equipment to do much indoor shooting. But between the natural light at the front of the bar, and the wonders of photoshop, I think we got a few fun shots! I think her save the date may include something along these lines…

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A cool, comic-booky, arcade-y type image, don’t you think? A little bit of editing on the game between them, and it will say “Save the Date” along with the date and city of their upcoming nuptials. Clever move, Katie. Clever. Move.

And so here are a few more of my favorites from the shoot. Enjoy!

Snow time!

Posted in Columbus Adventures, Life As I Know It by

I have to admit, it’s really pretty. Come February, it will be black and gross and miserable. And this week has been pretty miserably cold, but of course that comes and goes. So for now, look at the pretty snow on my house and street! 

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Also, I am a strict “no Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving” person, so I refuse to take down my fall decorations until we get our tree the day after Christmas. This scarecrow is just going to have to deal with the cold like the rest of us!

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