Merry Christmas!

My dear bloggy friends,

As the end of the year draws near, I’d like to extend my gratitude for your business and support in 2012. I feel so, so blessed to work with such wonderful people doing what I love. I will continue to strive to provide nothing less than the best photography and customer service to help you cherish your memories for years to come. Plans are already unraveling for 2013 and I am beyond excited to have another year to capture wedding and family memories and share them with you right here on my blog.

We also have grand plans to connect with you more in your email inbox, too. If you'd like to stay connected and receive emails from us, subscribe to our mailing list.

From our little team here at Sincerely, Liz, Inc. to you and yours: We hope your holidays are full of love and laughter and wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

Sincerely, The Cook Family & The Sincerely, Liz, Inc. team

Our Holiday Traditions

Tommy and I have been married almost 6 years, enough time to get some solid holiday traditions going on consistently. But now... here's Sunday! And it's a whole new ballgame! Here are a few of the traditions we've kept around and some new ones we started now that we have some offspring of our own. :)

1. New PJs every year at Christmas. For the first three years of this tradition, everything went pretty smoothly. But then Tommy said "Liz, I really don't need anymore pajama pants." But, I insisted! "No, this is going to be A TRADITION!" So he went with it for a while and by this year (year 5), I started to understand what he was saying. While the tradition itself is a simple, fun idea... we weren't growing. We were just collecting more pajama pants every year. Our drawers were full!

But... now there's Sunday. And I get it. The PJs we buy her this year will most definitely not fit her next year. And so, we have decided to move the tradition to buying PJs for our children and no longer for one another. I love it, though. The PJs will be something the kids can open on Christmas Eve and wear Christmas morning.

2. A new ornament for each person every year. I love, love this tradition!

Tommy has also tried to veto this tradition and it wasn't until this year that I recognized why. He is not the biggest fan of Christmas so you will probably never catch him decorating the Christmas tree. Of course, as I am hanging each and every ornament on the tree, I reminisce about the memories of years past. But he's missing this!

The VT ball ornament was the first one I ever bought for him and the Oak Island ornament represents the Christmas Day we spent at the beach (one of the best Christmas' ever!). There are so many memories wrapped up in each ornament and it's awesome to have that time of reminiscing, even if I'm doing it alone right now.

At this point, all Tommy sees is that we have started a collection of ornaments and perhaps we don't need anymore. I can understand that. Especially being someone who likes to simplify. But, I like traditions more than a minimalist lifestyle. Plus I'm a mom and I feel like it's my job to create these traditions and happy memories for my children. So this tradition is here to stay. :)

3. No Jesus in the nativity scenes. Alright, this is a new one.

Realistically Jesus does not appear in the nativity scene until Christmas Day, right? So we have him put away right now and when Christmas morning comes, Sunday will help us put baby Jesus where He belongs.

I am looking forward to this becoming the very first thing that we do together Christmas morning: setting baby Jesus out in the nativity scenes. It's one small reminder (of many I hope to incorporate) to help us remember what this holiday is all about.

4. Envelope Advent Calendar. I started this tradition a few years ago, and if I'm honest with you, it's definitely turned more into decor than an activity.

I used to hang these little envelopes along twine with mini clothespins (look at me all ahead of the trends so long ago!). They were super cute with the fun patterns on the envelopes. (I made the envelopes with Christmas scrapbook paper.)

Inside of the envelopes are little slips of papers with activities on them. They are mostly designed around date nights since I created the calendar when it was just the two of us. I kind of like that it's centered around marriage and dates... but since we barely even participate anymore, I will be changing the activities to reflect a family with a toddler. I've been looking through this pinterest board for some fun ideas.

5. Words. I don't know how much this is tradition or just personal preference. I decorate for the holidays with words. The only non-gifted ornaments on our tree are words. I love to remember the season for what it is... peace, joy, celebration. Here are a few pictures of the words around our house during this season:

So, those are our family traditions as of now. I look forward to creating more memories and traditions in the future. Especially doing things like driving around and looking at Christmas lights, hot chocolate on Christmas morning, and bringing in a Jesse Tree.

Okay - I'm off! It's Christmas Eve! I hope you have a wonderful holiday!!

Gratituesday: Normalcy

As the events of last Friday swirl around each of us, we are all getting a new perspective and reaching a different level of gratitude for the regular things in life. The worst nightmare of those families has come true and if I'm honest, I have a load of guilt hanging over me because my life is still normal. Sunday still cries out for me too early in the morning and she still nurses herself to sleep. What can I do at this time except stop to appreciate every waking moment I have with my baby girl and pray for those who can no longer experience these moments with their kids?

Today I am grateful for the toys on the living room floor, because they mean I have a happy baby who enjoys playing with them. I am grateful for the dirty dishes in the sink because it means I have a family to eat dinner with. I am grateful for the diaper pail of dirty diapers because it means my girl is healthy. I am grateful for loads of laundry with mixed colors because it means I have a husband who is here to help do laundry. I am grateful for the sound of Christmas carols and sparkly lights because they still carry a happy memory for me, unlike many people.

I am very blessed. I am very, very grateful. And I am praying every day for those families living their worst nightmare right now. I am praying that they know God and will lean on Him in this time. He is bigger and stronger than anything in this world and His comfort can bring peace. <3

Join us for Gratituesday at heavenly homemakers!

Hellgate 100K++

I have shared bits and pieces of Tommy's running adventures on instagram over the past year, and I've mentioned a few times in Facebook status messages, but I usually stay quiet about it. It's his thing. I've been guilty of taking his limelight before... posting his news to Facebook before he has a chance. So his running journey is something I have left to him to share.

But it's about time I share how stinking PROUD I am of him. He is truly a "beast." When he ran his first half marathon up and down a mountain (Terrapin Half), I just thought... good job! He set a goal and reached it. I had no idea that he did it in a really great time which surprised some of the other runners. So when he decided at the end of that race to run a 50k (34ish miles) one month later... I thought... "well, okay then!"

When he finished his first 50k middle-of-the-pack, my pride for him and understanding of the sport grew a bit. And watching him move to the next race: a full 50 miler just months later, that was unreal. I realized... this guy truly is a beast. He is STRONG to the core: mentally and physically. And I am so, so stinking proud of him.

He has now run 8 ultramarathons, his longest last weekend at 66.6 miles! The will and determination it takes to train for and complete these races is huge. Sometimes I think "I could do that." And then I get this giant dose of reality and realize "I would NOT make it look easy the way he does." He is just incredible...

Here is this past weekend through my eyes. I crewed Tommy during this race (as I do all races) so I had quite a bit of time to sit and wait for him at a few of the aid stations (the experienced crew teams slept during those times!). He was pretty beat up by the time he fnished (well actually, by Aid Station 4... but he plowed through) so that may explain his lack of energy in the photos at the end. :)

Sunday these days...

Oh! I just love playing the piano with Daddy! It is so fun!

Oh... but what do I see...? A mommy?!

Yes! It's a mommy! I MUST have her RIGHT NOW!

Oh gosh, mommy. You aren't picking me up fast enough! MY LIFE IS ENDING!!!

Hold up. Is that a dog?

Gosh I just love playing the piano with Daddy.

Oh, wait! MOMMY!!! I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW!!!

Ah yes. Our little drama queen... getting lots and lots of practice these days.