Category Archives: Personal Stories

At the beginning of this Christmas season we had a talk about how to make this year more meaningful for our five year old, Kevin. He is young & very enthusiastic about gifts {which is perfectly ok}, but we wanted to help him notice all the other marvelous things about Christmastime. I’ve been seeing a lot of DIY Advent Calendars on Pinterest and was really intrigued by the idea of making one.

I have never counted down the days to Christmas in this manner or had one of my own, so I had to do some research. I noticed that some of the Advent Calendars had candy or gifts for each day, and others had a daily activity written on them. I really liked this type of calendar. Kevin is a “quality time” child and it was a good way to do that. He was always excited to find out our activity for the day & it was a bonus that it was also a good exercise for him to practice reading aloud. It was also a way to add more structure & discipline to our evenings. He knew that he needed to eat his dinner & be respectful so that we could do our daily activity. Rocky has been traveling a little more often lately, so it was a good way to keep busy with the kids while he was TDY. Some of the activity cards were geared toward helping others or giving, others told him to open a little gift {Swedish Fish or a small pack of Jelly Beans}. I used the birdseed favor from a wedding I photographed and we made a mini DIY bird feeder {one of our favorites}.

I wanted to design something that could be in plain sight of our home {match our existing Christmas decor} & that was large enough for my eclectic supplies. I ended up stealing the embroidery hoop filled with corkboard {my version of a memo board} from my home office & haven’t returned it yet! I used little odds & ends that I already had, sometimes borrowing from other pieces in the house. It was fun to make some of the ornaments & assemble this surprise for Kevin. Designing & creating this non-traditional Advent Calendar was a good pick-me-up for December & it was a fun way to help us celebrate Christmas a little bit every day. *

*We didn’t do it everyday & sometimes I copped out with a “let’s read a dollar store Christmas book tonight” card. 🙂

Kevin wasn’t particularly excited about writing Christmas cards to deployed soldiers, but I was proud of him for doing it. This is a picture of his daddy {Rocky} from basic training. He has been deployed over Christmas in the past, so it was important to me to do this one.
He drew one of them receiving a present & getting “cheered up from it.”
The DIY Birdseed Feeder was easier than I expected & pretty cute! Kevin liked making it & playing with the leftover gel {from the gelatin packet}.
I made this reindeer ornament with a cookie cutter + sprinkles. Kevin is 5 and Damian {Ocean} is 18 months. Moments like these make my heart swell.

The icing on the cake, was that on Christmas day {after we drove up to see my family in Findlay, Ohio}, we took the boys to ride the Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation’s Polar Express {NWOR}. It’s a small “magical little train ride around our track decorated with sparkling lights and holiday decorations.” There is a little museum inside & lots of decorated Christmas trees + warm drinks. The staff was so cheerful & even had blankets waiting for us at the train since it was a cold evening. It was probably the best $6 {for all four of us} that we spent on Christmas! The boys had a lot of fun & it was the perfect surprise for them. You can find NWOR on Facebook, follow them for more information about train rides all year long!

Thanks for reading my Christmas flashbacks this weekend! I am really excited to post more weddings & engagements
in February {plus a special little DIY for Valentine’s Day}. Have a good week! ♥

 

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I can not believe that January is almost over. Before the calendar turns, I wanted to squeeze in a few holiday posts {I hope you don’t mind}. Ever since I wrote this post, I’ve been really trying to make time everyday to “carve” {photograph} my “blessings…” so that I don’t forget how much they mean to me. Even seeing these pictures together here reminds me why I find photography so incredible. I never want to forget the slightest piece of any of this.

You can read the story from these first pictures on my personal blog, “Sweet Threads.”

Kevin looking up activities on my iPad on Pinterest.
Made this ornament from leftover pieces from last year’s winter inspiration shoot.
On Christmas Eve I woke up to the boys using my shoes & pillows for Angry Bird scenes. Birds were flying. It was awesome.
The first picture on the left is from Christmas Eve 2011, the one on the right is from 2010. Damian has grown so much… too much.
Rocky & I started a little tradition where Rock dresses up as Santa & rings bells outside of Kevin’s window on Christmas Eve. We go outside & check it out, just missing “Santa.” Kevin paused just long enough to give me an obligatory smile before dashing outside. The next picture was his reaction to the cookies & milk being gone Christmas morning.

Hiding behind the kids who are ready to drive up to Grandma’s in Findlay. This year I have a lot of work to do to finally loose the “baby weight” {I pretend it’s still from Damian}. I would love to fit into my jeans again. {Inspiration & advice welcome!}

I took these pictures for Christmas cards {that I never mailed}. Some of you might get a hello & Christmas greeting from us in February.
The sky on Christmas day from the passenger seat… so clear & pretty. A little peek of my office. The rest was a mess during at this time.
In my next post I want to share about a brand new tradition we started & what it looked like 🙂

Thank you for letting me show you my little family album! I promise February will be filled with a special Valentine DIY & romantic weddings! ♥

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  • Jaclyn - January 29, 2012 - 7:36 pm

    Looovveee your red shoes…and i can’t believe how big your little men are getting! makes me sad…:(

I imagined I lived in London today. The weather was all heavy fog and rain. Besides scaring myself {a little} by spinning my tires in some mud, it was a lovely day.

Part is me is chuckling that I can find this winter to be so pleasant.
I hate winter.

For many years I have believed that since my ancestors lived under a warm sun all year round, I just do not fit in here. The cold & grey tend to depress me after a while. My white skin makes me feel like a stranger in my own body. I anticipate the longer days & constantly yearn for July. I thought that the perfect answer was to pack up & leave this state for a warmer climate.
And maybe it would be awfully nice, but I’ve been reconsidering this magic bullet concept.

Becoming content, {and more importantly}, relishing in thankfulness, has changed me.

Can the fog become beautiful?
Can the cold inspire me to make this little cottage a cozy place?
Can the grey skies cocoon me in a thick layer of serenity?
Can the rain on pavement give even the smallest light a stage to illuminate & shimmer?
Can this season of winter bring forth just as much growth as the spring?

I used to acknowledge the grey as a one note tune.
Just an ugly mass of monotony.
I’m starting to see the nuances of pigment & light in this grey.
As my eyes adjust, it’s like detecting another spectrum of color.
I’m finding there are notes so subtle you have to stop & press your ear to the Maker in order to hear them.
The depth of its potential is what I make of it. What I have the patience to notice.

I’m starting to carefully navigate my way through the obscurity of this fog.
Sometimes it is so thick that I stand on my tiptoes & try to catch a glimpse of the elusive horizon.
It still hides.
Soon it is quietly swallowed up in the darkness of the early night.
There is a mystery in the destination & I accept that I don’t know what the future looks like.
I have simply concluded that if I can find my way in this place,
it is possible to be fond of it. ♥

Kevin & Damian walking to Grandma’s in the fog
{instagram andreadozier}
♥
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Today was the kind of day we needed:

A {planned} two hour delay for Kevin.
Tim Horton’s for breakfast.
Gas that was cheaper than the advertised price.
A cheerful Damian.
A tidy little house & clean sheets…
and freshly sharpened pencils.

♥

If that wasn’t enough, I received the pictures from Erin & Pete’s vintage wedding featured in The Knot Ohio’s Spring/Summer 2012 issue! I’m really honored to have their wedding included as a real wedding, but they put together a beautiful & very special event!


Now if only dinner were already finished ♥

 

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  • Michelle March - January 25, 2012 - 7:51 pm

    Congrats!! This is wonderful! 🙂

  • Emily A. - January 25, 2012 - 9:39 pm

    Wow! That’s so exciting! 🙂

  • Mary - January 26, 2012 - 6:15 am

    Congratulations!!
    Very Proud of you..and for you!

  • Andrea - February 1, 2012 - 10:10 am

    Thank you all! My bride had worked so hard on this wedding but was so very very sweet… I’m glad they picked her!

I’m sure that if you’ve followed this little blog you might have wandered why I stopped posting for a while, and I wanted to share a little bit about that.

There was a large chunk of goodness given to me in 2011.
I met some amazing people, captured beautiful moments, & was very honored to be published in some of the blogs & magazines I have respected & followed for years. I have always believed in our ability as humans to achieve whatever we want when we work hard enough, and I did that.

They aren’t kidding when they say “success comes with a price.” Especially when you have so much to lose if you aren’t careful.

During the second half of last year, I had to come to terms with “that very high price,” and whether I was prepared to keep paying it. I felt the only choice was to slow down & make a turn. Find a better path to the same destination. They say that in order to move forward you shouldn’t look back. I disagree. I think if you going to change direction, you should be encouraged to look both ways before proceeding. Weigh all sides very carefully. At some point I’ll be ready to reflect & share about where I’ve been & how I’ve come to where I am now, but I’m still getting my sea legs & adapting to the new {healthier} habits. The bottom line is that I’m working on staggering my schedule more efficiently and taking much better care of myself & my family.

It’s not very easy to admit that I’ve been going through a difficult time, but this blog has always been so personal {here & here} & if it’s my legacy to the world… I may as well be honest. Even though you’d have been hard pressed to convince me otherwise a few months ago, I’m realizing it wasn’t all bad. I just copied 2,200 pictures & videos {six months’ worth} from my iPhone to my computer and I viewed each one to see so much evidence of my “blessings.” I’m so glad I have all those random, blurry, giggle filled, relaxed moments to cherish. For some reason I’m always afraid of being too optimistic, too upbeat, or God forbid, pretending that anything is better than it really is. I’m slowly learning that I can have an emotionally heart wrenching day, but still find amazing delight in the smallest luxuries…

Fluffy new bath towels.
Husky morning laughs from Damian.
Robin’s egg blue winter skies.
Surprise {homemade} chocolate gelato from my sister.
A little text from someone who cares in a big way.
Listening to Kevin read…

It’s completely possible to have a thankful heart while dealing with the mess of a broken heart.

It’s ok to acknowledge that the struggles & the pain are here… even the Stress that seems to have set up indefinite camp beside my desk. {He even uses my bathroom & I don’t think he washes his hands. He’s got some nerve}. Understanding how thankfulness trumps depression has been the beginning of the difference in me. Instead of putting my painful thoughts on a pedestal, I privately journal them {as recommended by a good friend}. I release them onto paper so that I can clear space in my mind for better thoughts. Although I like to think I’m an artist, I’m not much of a sculptor. Never really got the feel for a chisel & the movements it takes to cut stone into something beautiful, or even legible. {Ok, so I’ve never even tried}. I am fluent in the language of photography. It’s my way of giving myself {and hundreds of others} glimpses into something we’ve experienced that we will never get back. Lately I’ve been ordering more prints for my family & I have realized that I am probably the person who needs the photographs I take the most. They are such good reminders of why my life is bursting to the seams with incredible moments.
My pictures can be remembered for generations, while I let the heartache of the moment be washed away in the evening tide. ♥

I designed this poster with the help of a {free Photoshop} brush set I found on Pinterest by Besotted Brand.
You can read someone’s take of the story behind this quote here {not sure if it’s the original source}.

What I want to remember in stone {from my iPhone}:

Thank you, always, for being supportive & encouraging. In my imperfections, I hope I can encourage someone else.
I think life is so much more splendid when we feel like we aren’t traveling alone. ♥

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  • Mary - January 19, 2012 - 6:04 am

    Very nice……

  • Jaclyn - January 19, 2012 - 9:28 am

    I’ve been sitting here forever trying to figure out what exactly to write. These past few months have been the hardest time of my life (to an extent), and yet, they’ve also been some of the best moments up until now. Sometimes our dreams and plans burn so deep in us and when we finally start tasting of them and eventually checking them off our “list”, we realize that they definitely weren’t all we thought they would be, or like you said, “came with a price.” Burn out and misalignment of priorities happens…you’ve seen it in me and after 6 jobs in 5.5 years, I finally said, “enough is enough!” So in this season, if it means I don’t work for a few more months, or I work a little here and there on random jobs, that’s what I’m going to do. I can’t, and more importantly, I WON’T keep going from job to job in hopes that it will come together. So, to be honest, I stepped off the rollercoaster of what others wanted me to be (and even what I wanted to be) and I’m learning daily to let God be God – something I remember you telling me in the myspace days…;) He has big plans for us, and he has definitely given you beautiful gifts! Anyways, sorry to write a novel on here…LOL You know how to reach me – schedule is still pretty mellow at times – when you need an afternoon out or some coffee, just text/e-mail/call or whatever. I really want to go to Ikea someday, so maybe we could be super adventurous? 😉 Have a wonderful week! I’ve been praying for you these past few months and now I know why…I know God has me right where He wants me and His plans are always meant to prosper us! ♥

  • Sheila - January 19, 2012 - 2:07 pm

    It sounds like you are in a good place right now. We are all a work in progress and on this journey, you can’t go wrong with a thankful heart in any situation. Life is full of both positive and negative. It’s up to us to control the perspective of how we are going to let it shape us and our outlook on our lives. Holding onto the negative eventually makes us into toxic people if we can’t let go, but hard as it can be to let go, in letting go we find freedom. In that freedom we find beauty that otherwise would have been overlooked. I look forward to seeing more of the beauty that you share with us from behind the lens of your camera as well as the thoughtful words and deeds you share. Love ya sis!

  • Abby - January 22, 2012 - 1:27 pm

    i love you …..

  • Andrea - February 1, 2012 - 10:12 am

    Thanks Abby, right back at you!!!

    Thanks for your support & love, I really had a hard time sharing this one but it’s all part of life I guess. No path is ever “perfect,” but definitely worth traveling 😀

    Love you!!

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