#2,200 Oh Fifteen.

I don’t know how it’s possible, but somehow 2015 has come and gone. It feels like it happened faster than years past, and altogether different from the way the chips fell in 2014. If last year was a season of extreme lows and highs, this year was a season of uncertainty and waiting. The big things: I turned 30, I gave myself permission to be more than just a wedding stationer, Ben launched Scotsman Co., and… Well, we took the Great Big Adventure that I’m going to be able to tell you about in January. It’s the hardest post I’ll write all year, when I compile the moments that were the big ones in my memory. It’s hard to cull the sunny walks and homecooked meals in favor of the events that stick out, but it’s necessary when doing a year-end-review, I suppose. So, if you’re new here, you can read this list and you’ll be mostly caught up on life at our little yellow house.

January

January

We did some renovation in our 1910 loft.
We had one of those glorious January Saturdays with nothing but time.
Folks told us why they love Laurel, and helped us send a care package to some very special people.
We had some huge opportunities requiring some huge faith, so we prayed.
Our friends Lisa and Lindsey planted the idea for ErinAndBen.co.

 

February

february

We had a beautiful false spring day and took Mammaw her Valentine chocolates.
Our friend Michael came to town to do tintype portraits.
I was a keynote speaker at a Mississippi Creative Economy event on the coast.
We went to Waco to spend the weekend with our new friends, Chip, Jo, Kelly, Clint and Jimmy Don.

 

March 

march
I remembered Mammaw’s house.
Because she couldn’t live alone anymore and moved to a nursing center, and it was amazing for her.
Big Ben helped take care of our hearts during her transition.
She loves living there, turned 93 there, and especially loves the salon.
It took 3 months, but I wrote a handbook for Lucky Luxe employees!
We took a convertible ride and I felt thankful for the gifts.
Shared a speaking engagement with Micah from Old Try at Ole Miss.
Jim hosted a wild birthday party for Steve Gleason in NOLA.
Stephen came to town on a top secret mission (I’ll explain in January!)
My family couldn’t be together on Easter Sunday, so we had a Palm Sunday dinner instead.

 

April
april

We saw Zac Brown Band from the front row in Tupelo.
Jimmy Don showed up at the LMF Crawfish Boil to surprise us!
We met Daniel and Katie in NOLA “on a school night.”
I kept John Walker and fell in love with him even more the day DJ got married.
We took a trip to Orange Beach with my parents.
Good Friday was gorgeous.

 

May
We set out on The Great Big Adventure for 2 months! May and June are hard to round up here, but here’s a vague swipe at it.
may
This is maybe my favorite post all year. Homegrown.
We had a porch hang that was a little different than usual.
We had the best party ever at Josh and Emily’s house.
We went to Day in the Park.
I designed a new mural on Oak Street.

June

june
We officially rang in the summer with the first Third Thursday.
I wrote my 2,000th post.
My parents hosted the other best party ever on their back deck.
I told you all about my daddy’s quirks for Father’s Day.
Our neighbors “passed the torch” to us whippersnappers.
We finished The Great Big Adventure.
We lost our dear friend, Neal.

July
july

We took a desperately needed vacation to Orange Beach then Appalachicola.
The LPD saved the day and helped Baker get home.
We made a splash page for ErinAndBen.co!
I came home from a long day to find Ben had made a romantic dinner.
Walker saw fireworks for the first time.

 

August
august

Ben cured my blues about turning 30 by celebrating my August 30th 30th birthday every day for 30 days.
Per the birthday book he made for me, we took EPIC trips to New Orleans…
And Texas (where we saw Damien Rice, the FNL locations and spent a day with Chip)…
And NYC and the Jersey Shore thanks to Lindsey’s generosity.
Lisa wrote me a letter about those dadgum “wait until” people.

September
sept

We got to see Ben’s daddy preach.
Ben turned 32 years old. Oh, what would I do without you?
Another romantic date on the porch.
We went to Tuscaloosa to see Ole Miss beat Bama!
We took a sunrise walk with Jim and saw The City Beautiful like never before.
We watched football on the back porch at my parents.
Daddy turned 62 years old.
Ben had his ticker checked, and it was all good news.

October
october2

We had some mapley fall days, and the coldest Loblolly Festival ever.
We had dinner in the magical courtyard at Josh and Em’s house and felt like we were in Europe.
We went to Cruisin’ the Coast.
Mama turned 60 so gracefully.
I spent a lazy Saturday in the fall sunshine the day after Rhen Lei was born.
Chef was officially my favorite movie of the year and made me hungry.
We had a date night with just Sam and Lyn.
Jim and Mallorie’s house was on the cover of Mississippi Magazine!
We spent a stormy Halloween night at home, snuggled on the couch in PJs.

November

nove

Our Southern Weddings interview was on newstands.
Ben was Santa Claus.
John Walker and Sam had birthdays.
We went to Memphis to see Chip and Jo with Tom and Allison.
Ben won the Duluth Trading Co. Paul Bunyan contest.
We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary in Oxford.
We kicked our parents out of the kitchen for Thanksgiving.
ErinAndBen.co launched on Cyber Monday!

December

december
We made it through our first Cyber Monday and shipped a ton of orders.
We spent Pancakes & Parade day and the gala with the Hickners and Blackledges.
Joanna was my biggest encourager and a dear mentor.
We had a ‘love week’ anniversary lunch and met W, kind of.
We went shopping for Christmas gifts in Ocean Springs.
We made our own Christmas cheer.
I wore my senior year prom dress to a wedding.
Ben gave the men in my family THE HAMMERS. It was the sweetest thing that happened all year.
We spent Christmas with our families.
Joanna told the world about Lucky Luxe on instagram.

And now, I will spend the rest of tonight celebrating this year and everything and everyone it gave to us. I’m so thankful for you, dear reader, for your friendship however far away you are. I feel dizzy with excitement about what’s coming in 2016.

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“Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country to face many a danger, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle.”
– Annie Besant