A Magical Sleepless Night

One of my very favorite threads that has woven itself through our marriage story so far has been the Josh Garrels thread. Our family has been HUGE fans of his music for a few years now and we had the joy of working on a music video for him, organizing a house concert, and getting to hang out with the whole Garrels family two years ago. Read Daniel's interview about the video here.


Then a couple weeks ago we got to see Josh Garrels and Mason Jar Music in concert! They opened the show with our music video (such a sweet surprise!), then showed their new film "The Sea In Between", then played a full show and it was beautiful.


It was the last show of their year of touring together. So I wanted to put together something special for them.  Our sweet friends who have the GIANT home where we hosted the house concert two years ago agreed to open up their home again----this time for an epic sleepover! Although very little sleeping took place : )


The night was filled with good food, good drinks, great conversations, and some pretty ridiculous games!


And when the sun came up, super talented and exhausted musicians could be found scattered all around the house....a sign of a really great night.





I went to bed at 4:30 then woke up at 6:30 and started getting breakfast and coffee ready for the whole gang with the help of family and several great friends.















It was pretty amazing and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it!

"White Owl" is not the last video you'll see from Daniel and me. We're moving toward working together much more often. It's a big dream of ours. We love telling beautiful stories together through art, music, and animation. Hopefully this is just the beginning!


Arian : )

Be Strong Take Courage

This weekend we headed to the country where the boys spent some much needed time outside and I enjoyed the quiet inside.


I journaled and sketched and watched this Josh Garrels/Mason Jar Music video probably a dozen times.


This guy. I don't know who he is but this look on his face gets me every time. Maybe it's the point in the song when he stops worrying about hitting the right notes and just realizes how beautiful the music is. I don't know, but I like it. And there's probably something I should learn from it.


And I added this new print to the shop. I've had this in mind for a long time and it was good to finally get it on paper.



There's probably something I should learn from this one too.

Arian : )

Homebody

I'm realizing just how much of a homebody I am. Maybe it's because going out seems like a lot of work these days. More likely it's that I just love the little home that our little house is shaping up to be and the little people (plus Daniel) that I share it with.








I mean, I can spend a day at the zoo (like we did this past weekend), seeing rare and exotic animals from all corners of the globe, and come home with maybe 3 or 4 pics.


But a day at home, man, and my Instagram photo feed is blowin up! (I think that's how the kids are sayin it these days).





There's so much beauty in all the little everyday things. Like milkshake mustaches, little hands making homemade desserts,


muddy feet and faces in the backyard,


and long bed time stories.


Finish the day off with a glass of wine and a streaming live Josh Garrels house show and what more could the outside world have offer me?


I'm working on that flower painting as part of my spring/summer decor for our living room. I'll show you the finished painting soon!

I'll be at home if you need me!

Arian

2011.

2011. Quite a year.  I started the year newly pregnant. My sister and her husband flew off to live in South Africa for awhile so we started our "Pic-A-Day" project, each posting a picture from our day on opposite sides of the globe (hers involved a lot more sunshine and giant wild animals than mine)

I fell in love with crocheting and finally conquered the granny square.

Which was helpful because when my pregnancy ended early, spending quiet days with Jude in a coffee shop with new crochet projects helped me cope.

We also had to move suddenly. But that turned out to be a good thing...

...because for the first time in our married lives we got to live in a (rented) house of our own with a yard to play and grow in and no neighbors above or below to worry about.

So we got dirty, and grew vegetables, had picnics,

planted flowers,

had lots of parties,

and finally felt peace in our own place.

Another BIG highlight of 2011--getting to create a music video for Josh Garrels, one of our very favorite musicians. (If you haven't downloaded his new FREE album yet, do so! It just won Christianity Today's award for best album of the year)

Creating that video with Daniel was such an amazing experience--lots of late, late nights and long, long days but the whole process so life-giving. Plus Daniel is a pretty attractive co-worker.

And then we got to MEET Josh and his lovely family. He sang for our friends and they stayed at our house and it was awesome!

Also awesome--getting pregnant again : )  Boy #3. So proud!

Pregnant and due at the same time as my sister (and Daniel's sister!) Three new little boys in our family (2 are here, Andrea's is taking his good ole time : )

So, yeah, 2011 was quite a year. Plus a wedding, birthdays, a trip to NYC, celebrations with family and friends... a lot happened. First goal of 2012...take a nap.


Arian : )

Beautiful.

 What an amaaaazing weekend. A.MA.ZING.

 (Hudson and Heron listening to the sound check)

(My sound genius brother-in-law getting things set up)

As we were cooking dinner in the GIANT, GORGEOUS home of my childhood friends who graciously agreed to host the house concert, Josh Garrels, one of our very favorite musicians, was warming up in the background. Daniel and I just kept exchanging joyful "I can't believe this is actually happening!" glances.

 We set up for the show, got to know the Garrels a bit over dinner, then the guests started pouring in.

 It was a full house! And it's a giant, giant house! At least 1/2 of the people I had never met before which is awesome. The word spread! Everybody was totally captivated by Josh's music. It was beautiful.

 Then the Garrels family stayed the night at our house (sweet!) We were up til 2am talking and learning more about each other's lives. Josh and Michelle are such good people.

 The next morning we woke up and enjoyed a long, leisurely brunch with my sister and the friends who first introduced us to Josh's music. Lots of conversations about music and collaboration, art, family, hopes for the future, etc.

 (the youngest Garrels....how cute is he?!)

It was perfect. I'm sooo grateful for this weekend and hope that our friendship and creative partnership with the Garrels family has only just begun : )

If you haven't downloaded Josh's new, free album please do yourself a favor and do so. Then tell a friend : )

Arian