Well, hello friends of 2011! It's so good to see you again. We have grand ambitions, schemes, and travels plotted for the upcoming year and it's about time we got back into spilling those beans to our little corner of the internet.
Below is a highlight reel featuring high-tech freeze frames of life since we last saw you:
A photo super sleuth might detect that we've been to a couple Oregon beaches, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., Los Angeles (thrice, if you're keeping score), Seattle, Yosemite, Palm Springs, and other locales, including but not limited to our own house and the city we live in.
While I'd like to say we have just been busy for the last six months, the main reason this blog went on hiatus for so long was because my dad passed away rather unexpectedly last August, at age 58, due to complications from T-Cell Lymphoma. I've been trying and trying to write all the things I want to share about him and I haven't been allowing myself to blog about anything else until I said everything I had to say on that subject. Of course, putting that amount of pressure on myself has only made the words harder to come by. My dad was a man dedicated to the written word and as such,I feel compelled to use the right ones in memory of him.
I miss him all the time.
He was a big reason we have an Etsy shop at all, in all kinds of ways. It's incredibly hard starting a new year without him. On top of every other Dad chore he excelled in, he was also my typo-catcher on this blog. So, for now, this one's for yuo dad;
~Lucy
So sorry to hear about your loss. Take all the time you need to reflect, we'll all be here when you're ready to blog some more :) Wishing you guys all the best this year!
Posted by: Erin | January 13, 2011 at 11:49 AM
oh lucy - i just happened upon your blog for the first time today & am so sorry for your loss.
it looks like you're spending your time beautifully esp. in reflecting on your memories with him. - i admire your adventures. xoxo
Posted by: susie g | January 13, 2011 at 08:23 PM
Sending many x's and o's. Absolutely love the Christmas stockings and all your beautiful photos, especially the sweet one of you and your dad.
Posted by: Susan b | January 13, 2011 at 10:26 PM
i'm so sorry to hear about your loss. i hope you had wonderful travels and you find the words your looking for.
Posted by: Abeautifulparty | January 14, 2011 at 05:49 AM
Aw Lucy I am so very sorry for the loss of your Dad, you can tell just from the way you write about him that he was an amazing Dad. I love the swing set photo, so sweet :)
Posted by: Heidi | January 14, 2011 at 04:49 PM
This blog post made me smile so much, I love all your photos (you have the most incredible eye for photography and capture such perfect moments), and then it made me cry at the end - so sorry to hear about the loss of your wonderful Dad. You are in a special group now (of people who've lost a parent) and you'll be extra sensitive (and empathetic) now when you hear of someone else losing someone (because my Dad has also passed away, as soon as I hear of someone else losing their Dad, I always cry now). It's just awful. How lovely that you've been writing about your memories of him and you can tell from this post that you just loved him to the moon and back. He'd be so proud of you Lucy. Wishing you all the best always and looking forward to all the amazing things you and your gorgeous hubby create in the future xoxo
Posted by: Lea | January 15, 2011 at 03:11 PM
I just found your blog for the first time. My dad passed away a year and a half ago at 55, and I totally understand the feeling of wanting to write everything you remember about him, to capture it all. But it will also come out unexpectedly as time passes. You'll be sitting down to write about snow, and suddenly you're ten years old in a snowsuit, building a fort in the backyard with your dad. It's pretty amazing the way that happens. Thanks for your great blog, take care of yourself, and I'll definitely be back! p.s (looove the photo of the dog with the turkey).
Posted by: Brittany | January 18, 2011 at 05:29 AM
<3 He sounds like an amazing and wonderfully supportive person. I know what you mean - dad's being missed is hard.
Posted by: Amy J Kapuanani Antonio | January 25, 2011 at 06:59 PM
the shark head is the bomb
Posted by: Simonandrews | January 28, 2011 at 12:26 AM
I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. It must be incredibly hard.
This in no way compares, I realize, but I lost my dog at the end of last year & it hit me harder than I expected. I had her for 8 years & was probably only away from her for a handful of days during that period. I didn't tell anyone she'd passed away for over a month because I wasn't ready to talk about it. Or get condolences or hear about pets other people had lost. I felt like I needed to say something on my blog at some point, but every time I sat down to try to write the post, my words felt trite & cliché. I can only imagine how exponentially more difficult this would be talking about my dad.
Again, my experience in NO way comes close to losing a parent. Just wanted to say...I hear you.
Sending you big hugs & cupcakes with sprinkles. :)
Kris
Posted by: a Cagey Bee | February 02, 2011 at 11:50 AM