End of the Year 2019

Here I am, again. Sitting down with my computer, about ready to remember the whole year. It's so crazy how fast these years fly by, but at the same time, this time last year feels like forever ago. So I guess you could say I have mixed feelings about these year end posts.

 This year was one for the books. If I had to sum it up in one word, I'd say it was a year full of change. Sometimes it felt overwhelming, but it comforted me to know that even during so many changes and life decisions I made this year, I have a God who promises He will never change and He will always be who He says He is. I'm so incredibly thankful for that.

 Alrighty. I guess we should dive right into the year.

JANUARY

We started out the year by saying we were gonna go shopping at the outlet malls, but on the way over, we all said, 'We need to be more spontaneous this year! Let's go to the space needle instead!!" And so we did. We decided that day that 2019 was going to be our year of being spontaneous. 

Birthday celebrations for Brenna! We went to Canada for dinner at the Cactus Club, did some Canadian bowling after that, and then got dessert at Timmy's.  

One of my favorite drawings this year!

We took a quick trip down to Oregon for Uncle Greg's birthday! It was so fun because we planned to surprise him and it worked! He kept saying, "I can't believe you're here!" 

FEBRUARY

This little stinker and I hung out all the time during the first two months of the year. I didn't have work until the end of February so I had to fill my time up somehow!

I also filled up my time by crocheting this blanket for William and Lena  

We got so much snow during the middle of February! It was beautiful!!

Wow, Caroline. :) Valentine's day this year was really fun though and it made me super happy like it does every year cuz I have a small obsession with Valentine's Day. Mom made a fancy dinner and it was all snowy and pretty outside.

Back to work! It was so good to be busy again after my break. Cat was excited to see me and invaded my personal bubble whenever I let her. Good ole Cat. (And yes, that is what I named her. It's creative, I know.) 

Spontaneous trip with Mom to Saskatchewan to visit my cousins and aunt and uncle! It was such a blast! And also ridiculously cold. We tried to do a photo shoot when we got this picture and it was so hard because we would get cold so fast. Every 3 pictures Mom would take, Nikki and I would go running back to Aunt Marlene's car so we could warm back up. It was kind of funny.

One of the highlights of the Canada trip was looking at the stars. Love is so far north that there aren't city lights anywhere and it's super flat there so the sky is amazingly full of stars. It was so beautiful. In this picture, I convinced Nikki to go out to their road with me just so I could look at them. She thought I was crazy, but at least she tagged along. haha

The night lights of Cal-Gary.

MARCH

Monday nights were for Frisbee in the gym. Those early spring memories of Frisbee are such fun ones! It was  such a fun group that we would play with and we always came home with so many fun stories to tell Mom and Dad.

Quick trip to visit Papa with William, Lena, and Janeal. This was the last time I visited Papa at his home when he still lived there. I'm so thankful I decided to go on that trip. 

Sarah asked me to go run errands and one of those errands was getting ice cream. Chloe Wren came along too. I always love spending time with her!

Wedding time with my sibs!

APRIL

Early spring blooms always make me so happy

Elise and I got to do an internship with Sarah where we got to learn all about the wedding side of the business. It was such a blast! We would have our classes on Tuesday mornings, then we would go out to the barn and create whatever was on the schedule to learn that day.  

Everything started to come back to life again. This year I was especially happy to see some of those old blooms since I knew so much more about flowers.

Daffodils. These flowers make me happy too. I'm telling you....any early spring bloom is going to make me ridiculously happy because it means the flower season has arrived again. 

I liked this picture because it's so bright and happy in the front and so dark where we just came from. I was gonna post it on my Instagram and be all inspirational and say something like, 'The future is bright' ....but then I didn't. Instead, here it is on my blog. haha.

One of the many bouquets I got to practice making this year

Easter Sunday!

Sending out our April shipments to customers all over the country! It was always so fun reading the cities and seeing the states. I even found two orders for Wyoming which made me happy.

14,000 dahlias planted this year

Earlier in the day that we took this picture, Elise and I learned how to make flower crowns so naturally, I just kept mine on the whole day, even when we started planting dahlias. I felt very 'extra' that day.  

First time visiting the tulip fields. They were gorgeous

Jensen's 1st birthday!! 

MAY

Started out May by doing an early birthday trip for Janeal to Seattle. We took the train down, walked around Pike Place, got coffee at the first Starbucks, went on the Ferris wheel, and ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a fun time and after that day, I confirmed that Seattle is sketchy....haha

Janeal and I went on an adventure to go pick lilacs at that big bush down the road from us. Janeal stuffed my arms so full of them...it was great.

Oh my lands, this funny child.

Robbie came to visit  so we had a good ole time together. Tommy, Robbie, and I had a group text going on that day he came of all the peaceful things we could do which included going down to the river, riding in Big Blue, eating breakfast made by Uncle Garth, and just hang out like we use to. It was lots of fun with him.

Grocery store bouquets started back up!

Foxglove

Random lunch date with all these girls and Tommy and William. We went to Panda and then the girls went over to A&W to get root beer floats.

This was our first big wedding of the season. We got to the venue, set up so many flowers, and had a blast while we did it. 

Memorial Day adventures to Birch Bay with my siblings. 

At the end of May and into the beginning of June, I got to work on a peony farm since they needed extra help. I loved getting to learn all about peonies and plus, the lady who owed it let me take home as many peonies as I wanted. It was the best.

Mariners game and a beautiful sunset to top it off.

JUNE

So many penoies

Another Friday, another day to prepare for whoever's wedding it was that weekend. 

June meant we were off to New York! We spontaneously decided to go one day when we found a really good seat sale. 

First view of Manhattan 

The 9/11 pools were one of my favorite sights. They were so huge and there was such a sober mood there. Most everyone was quiet and just watched the water fall down.

One of my other favorite things we did on that trip were all the times we would go up to our hotel's roof and just sit and relax. It was such a pretty rooftop and usually pretty empty so we definitely spent lots of time up there. Also, there was a planter basket at the top with dahlias growing in them. I was pretty happy about that. 

On the 100th floor of the World Trade Tower!! This was such a cool tower!

When we came back down, we suddenly found ourselves in an underground mall which was pretty legit. We walked around in this Sephora, and Nikki took a picture of one of the displays and a worker was all like, "Don't take pictures in here! It's not allowed!" So then we left and didn't buy anything hahaha. 

 I've dreamed about seeing this my whole life so it was so exciting when we finally got to see it up close and in person

The skyline. We were just leaving Ellis Island when I took this picture. 

We decided we had to have at least one fancy night so we dressed up and went to our hotel's restaurant for dessert. 

Lunch at Trump Tower!

It was so good to be back home and at work again. I had missed working at Triple Wren because I had been at the peony farm and then in New York. 

Janeal's birthday!

I got my top two wisdom teeth pulled. I think this text I sent Nikki right after my surgery is hilarious. I remember starting it and thinking, "I'm totally with it and know exactly what I'm saying," and then way later when I really woke up, I realized I had a text from her and when I saw what it said and re-read my text, it made me laugh so hard! Mom thought I was crying I was laughing so much and she was trying to comfort me. Here I was thinking I was with it and then I sent a crazy text. hahaha. Good times.

The next day, Mom, Dad, and I went to visit Papa who had fallen and been taken to the hospital. The two of us got a picture together because we were both the 'sick' ones of the family. 

This was the last time I was ever in Granny and Papa's house. I figured it would be because we didn't know how much longer Papa would have left to live.

My face took awhile for the swelling to go all the way down and Tommy thought it was hilarious. Whenever I'd be talking, he start smiling and say, "I just can't even take you seriously with that face!" In this picture, he stuck some strawberries in his mouth cuz he wanted to imitate me, the goof. 

Watching the sunset with Taylor. This was such a fun evening. We went to the lake, then went to get ice cream and watch the sunset. Then when we got home, we watched a movie. All the rest of my family was in Eastern Washington, so I was glad to hang out with her.

Sarah planned a super fun evening for Elise and I since we had completed our internship. We got to create bouquets, an arbor, and then we got our makeup done and had a professional photographer come out and get pictures of us. 

Baby shower for Lena! Little did we even think the baby would be born a week later considering he was due the end of July.....

...we were all sooo surprised when William texted us on June 28 to let us know that Mason Henri had been born!!! This was such a happy weekend. Robbie was here visiting and he got to come see the baby too which was fun for him. And of course, Tommy is super happy since Mason and him now have the same birthday. 

JULY

July started off by being rainy and gray. I liked picking Sun flowers and remembering what the sun was like haha

Jensen was into the whole blue berry picking thing

I got braces again. This first day of having them on, I was kinda like...."This was an awful decision and now I'm stuck with these things for the next two years.." but after a couple days once my teeth stopped hurting and I could start to see how much my teeth were changing, I was pretty glad I did it. 

Papa came to live with us! It's been a huge change having him live with us, especially for Mom and Dad since someone always has to be home with him, but it's been fun to be able to go talk with him when I get home from work and laugh at all his jokes. When we took this picture, we figured it wouldn't be long and there were so many days during the summer that we thought it would be the end, but it's December as I write this post and he is still with us.

Meanwhile, over at work, the dahlias were popping like crazy and we had officially reached the busy season. I got to be the manager during this season and it was way more fun than I thought it would be. A little frustrating sometimes especially when I had to explain the same thing and answer the same questions over and over, but other than that, I enjoyed being 'the boss'. 

This was the first bridal bouquet I made that went to an actual bride. For this wedding, Sarah had just been through a looot the night before and she was running on about an hour of sleep, so I told her that I could manage putting the wedding together by myself and made her to go rest.

This was a unique arbor, but Sarah and I enjoyed the challenge of putting the flowers together.

Sweet baby Mason. I always loved holding him because he would sleep on me just like that and it was the sweetest thing ever. 

Jowey Chantal was my favorite dahlia this year. Whenever I would assign people which flowers to pick, I would purposely not put anyone on this flower because it was my favorite and I wanted to pick it. Perks of being the manager. Haha

I looooved having roses at the farm this year!! They were a pain to pick, but they smelled and looked so amazing that it was well worth it. Plus, they were super great to have for all our weddings. 

July was super busy helping get lists of flowers together for Isabelle's big day. I told her when she got engaged that I would do her flowers and it was such a fun thing to do even though it stressed me out. Sarah helped out a little with it, but I pretty much figured out the whole wedding.

Summer days at the lake with this cutie

Another Saturday, another wedding! I threw that big wine barrel arrangement together and then Sarah bravely climbed a very tall ladder to get that swag on the cross. Doing weddings with Sarah were something I always looked forward to. We would usually drive to the venue together and talk about all sorts of things. I'm so thankful for the friendship we've been able to have because of this job! 

So. many. dahlias.  Sarah and I would say they were like our babies. We get a little too excited about dahlias I think. haha

Random evening where we all grabbed dinner at Red's, then went to our church to do karaoke. We all have the best times together!! I'm so thankful for each of these girls!!

I had to pick this order for Rebecca over at Barnstar and I was thinking, 'What is she thinking throwing Karma Chocolate, Gerrie Hoek, and Totally Tangerine together? That's not gonna match..." and then I was pleasantly surprised at how well those three went together after I put them all in her bucket.  They made such a mysterious blend together. I love seeing people's creativity in what they order!!

AUGUST

Beginning of August started out with the campout like always. I stayed with the VanderHeidens and had the best time. 

Mason even made his grand appearance at the campout soo of course I held him

Morning fog over the dahlia fields

"Caroline! Who am I right now??" Ooookay Tommy....you crazy...haha. When I took this picture, Tommy and Taylor had come to see the farm since they both love dahlias so we walked up and down all the rows and I told them the names of dahlias and picked a bunch for them. I always love showing my family and friends where I work! 

One random Saturday where Janeal and I went to pick flowers just to get a head start on our orders for the coming week. Days where I could pick flowers without having a crew to manage were the best. I could pick  so many buckets without having to stop and answer questions. 

The early morning sunrises over the flowers never got old. It was always my favorite part of the day to see what kind of sunrise it would be. 

For 3 Mondays in a row, we'd go over to Home Farm and pick their zinnias. Zinnas aren't my favorite to pick, but when they're all together like this, it's so worth it. Plus, Dan had planted so much variety that it was always fun to see what kind we would come away with. 

Any free time I had usually found me hanging out at Emily's house....mostly so I could spend time with this crazy baby. 

The Northwest Washington Fair with Grace!! In this picture, we were about to ride the Zipper and I was freaked out. 

Oh my goodness, can he get any cuter?!!

This wedding at the Pier was memorable, but good. I got to see so many different venues this summer which was always exciting.   

One of my favorite things to do at the end of a work day was clean out the cooler. It was a nice break from the sun and it made me feel better about the next day knowing the cooler was cleaned and swept out.  

This was a 2nd bouquet I got to make for a bride and let me tell you....I did not like this bouquet. It was so ugly. But it was funny when I went to the hotel to deliver it because I was riding an elevator up with a random couple and the lady was like, "Ohhh my, that bouquet is so pretty!! I love it!!" and I was thinking...."Well, that's good." hahaha. 

I carried on the tradition of listening to the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack in the early mornings while I scrabbled around, picking flowers. It was such a peaceful touch to add to those beautiful mornings.

I got to take family pictures for this little family! (Mason was over the photos if you can't tell from the picture)

A bunch of us got together at the VanderHeidens since summer was coming to a close. This evening was such a blast! We played volley ball, ate food, and sat around a big campfire and played Mafia. 

And then at the end of August, I created Isabelle's wedding which was what I had been preparing for all summer long. I was a little nervous, but I literally got the best girls helping me and they created exactly what I had imagined. I was so thankful!!

The venue for Isabelle's wedding. Sarah put together those wine barrel arrangements and then Janeal and I put together the arbor up front.  

SEPTEMBER

First day of September, William was like..."Let's go shoot guns!' So I tagged along and pretended like I know how to shoot a gun (it was a little pathetic) haha

You know it's starting to get colder when you hit the time of year where the spiders come and make webs on the dahlias. This spider was ridiculously huge even though it doesn't look too big in the photo. 

Dahlia Festival 2019!! This day was such a blast! I sure love working with these ladies!

I love, loveeee fall colors and flowers thrown all together. (And then I also love early spring blooms and hot summer blooms. So yeah. I can't decide what I like best because in the season, I always think I like what I'm working with best.....)  Often during the fall, you could find me going home with my arms full of fall flowers. 

Working for a month or so with Meghan was literally the best. We would carpool together when we could,  and I loved bossing her around when we would get to work because she caught on so fast what we were doing and knew really quickly where everything was.  I asked her several times, "Are you sure you really want to get married?? Like maybe you should just stay here and work for us...."  For some reason, she always wanted to get married. haha

I decided to go visit this little town again because I missed it so much. I was so glad I did too. I stayed with Priscilla and we were able to spend so much time together. It was so special getting to catch up on life and just hang out. 

Taylor picked this happy little bouquet for Priscilla and it was just the cutest thing ever. I hadn't ever been to Wyoming in the fall, so it was fun seeing all the wild sunflowers. 

I guess the highlight was this trip to Laramie Peak. I say, 'I guess' because when I was hiking up, I was sooo not thinking it was a highlight. It was such a steep hike, but once we finally made it to the top, the view was incredible. Also,  some random facts about Laramie Peak...it was super windy on the top and there was an abundant amount of lady bugs and Mountain Yarrow. Haha. The drive back down was also an adventure that included  swerving over to try to hit the cows on the side of the road, saying, "Hey a cattle guard! You know why they have those? For the cows!" evvvery time we crossed a cattle guard, driving all the way to Cheyenne on basically an empty tank, and ending the day by joining the rest of the school for mini golf and Concrete Mixers from Culvers. It was a full day, but it was also a good way to end what I thought would be the last time I would ever be in Wyoming.

This dahlia was my favorite, but it isn't an actual developed dahlia yet. So basically, this dahlia came from those same orange ones in the background, but every now and then, those orange ones will throw a random soft white/orange color instead.  It is sooo beautiful!! One of these days, someone needs to figure out how to get a tuber from this flower because it is so amazing. 

Last day of grocery store bouquets!!

The dahlia dresses day was one of my favorites at work. We created these, and then some models wore them for a photoshoot. It was such a fun day! 

This chair/venue was so cute and it matched so well with my outfit and bouquet so that was exciting.

Zach, Karin, and the family came to visit which was super fun!! I always love seeing these kids!

Janeal and I  got to run around the farm and tie everything off before our first frost hit. I was glad we got that job done  because it was one of those projects we kept putting off and I was nervous we wouldn't get it done and once it frosts, ain't no wayyy you're gonna be able to tell the plants apart.

For Emily's birthday, I got to babysit Jensen overnight so they could get away for a little and we had the best time. He was being so funny and cute the whole time! I took this picture of him while I was getting his bottle ready in the morning. He just stood there, holding his hands, waiting for his bottle. It was so cute. 

 Emily's birthday! 

Tommy and Taylor got engaged! 

September ended with the Skagit wedding tour that Sarah and I had a booth at. It was a pretty fun day....we decorated, talked to customers, and talked with each other about what we are gonna do next with our wedding business.

OCTOBER

Without fail, every time I wear my hair like this and Papa sees me, he'll say, "I like your hair like that." 

Meghan's big day!! I helped do all the bridesmaids hair and then I even got to sing, 'I See the Light' with William for the entrance of all the bridal party/bride. It was so special!

Such a fun wedding day! It was also fun to see old friends who came up for the wedding. 

Meanwhile...over at my work, the frost had hit, and I was running around, digging tubers for our October shipment! These days were full of working by myself and listening to intense WWII stories. 

Brenna and I walked down Homestead and it was definitely a good choice. It's so pretty during fall!

My uncle planned a fun surprise birthday party for my Grandma's 80th! Almost all her children were there and lots of the grand children and great-grandchildren.

Aunt Mar, Natasha, and Nikki came down for the party as well and then we had a a fun week of shopping and sight seeing with them. 

Ferry ride home from a quick trip to Friday Harbor

Michael hosted a pumpkin carving party which was a blast. William's Minion pumpkin won and my pumpkin got 2nd....but  I didn't even come away with a prize which was lame. hahaha 

Fall is so beautiful. I love it so much

Tree Line came to chop a tree down while I was working one day and I got to watch him swing around way up in a tree while he cut it down. Yikes...I was a little freaked out but it was also fun getting to watch him work and send pictures to the family. He's good at what he does!

Sooo many tubers. But like I said earlier, these days were filled with listening to WWII stories that kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat.......technically I wasn't ever sitting when I worked though. Whatever....you know what I mean. The two that I made it through during this season of work were, 'We Were the Lucky Ones' and 'Resistance Women.' Both of them were so good and so intense. 

NOVEMBER

November started out with this digger arriving and saving my back. I'm so thankful we got bought this instead of digging up all those dahlias by hand. (Also, fun fact about the digger....a guy from Wyoming drove this up for us and showed us how it worked and then I got to talking to him and told him how I went to La Grange for Bible school and he was like, "Oh nice! I know La Grange well! My cousins went there too." It was a small world moment.)

Early birthday celebrations for me by going to Canada, hanging out with friends, eating at the Spaghetti Factory, and then going to a for King and Country concert. It was such a fun day, but I'll definitely be bringing ear plugs if I ever go to another concert.

My birthday was on a Tuesday which meant that Cassidy and I got to work all day together. It was the best day....we talked about life's problems, Sarah gave us cheesecake bites and coffee, Janeal stopped by with McDonald's because I have a soft spot in my heart for Micky-D's, we listen to music, and it was just a good day in general to turn 21. 

I got a special picture with my baby boys on my birthday. I'm so thankful I have nephews close by again because I love spending time with them. 

The four of us went and got pizza one Sunday night and then Janeal and I proceeded to tell all our embarrassing stories from New York. This was the day right before Cassidy's birthday so it was special to be just us and have a good time together.

Sparky is always my first welcome home whenever I get back from a long day at work.

The digging only took about three weeks to finish! This digger sped things up so much which was great.

Kale

Sometimes we get dramatic tubers.....for example ^. Both have eyes, both would grow beautiful flowers, but the difference in these tubers is crazy!

Thanksgiving day Eggnog toasts. We all crossed arms and drank it at the same time. Thanksgiving was a fun day. Taylor ate too much sugar and that made her giddy the whole time and we were all getting a kick out of it.

We had a 'launch party' for our Triple Wren store re-opening. Sarah turned on the notifications to hear when a tuber order had been placed and I don't even know how many times that beep went off during those first 5 minutes!! It was so fun to see all the orders come in! 

Jensen usually isn't this serious, I promise. He just happened to frown really big right after I told him to smile. He's the cutest kid.

Helping Tommy and Taylor get their apartment all set up and ready for the end of January!

DECEMBER

In October, Brenna and I had the idea to do a Christmas concert and we convinced everyone else to do it so we had several practices in December

Filling up my December with hand lettering my own signs. Dad can bring me home all the wood I can imagine so that's a nice perk. 

I got to do one Messiah performance at the Lincoln Theater with these girls! 

The day after the Messiah performance, I hoped on a plane with these people and was off for Wyoming for the 2nd time that year! I was so excited to go back considering I didn't think I would ever be back! 

This trip to Wyoming was my biggest highlight of December. It was so great just being there to help get everything ready for Taylor and Priscilla and also getting to hang out with old friends. I was so glad I decided to go to this wedding since I was considering staying home so I could perform in the other two Messiah performances.

Mason was the cutest little kid at the wedding

Mr. & Mrs. Yost! 

Right after I got home from the wedding, I started planning Tommy and Taylor's wedding flowers. I'm telling you, my life revolves around weddings. Haha

Visits to this little cutie are always fun. Lately when I visit him, he gets soooo excited! It's the cutest thing! 

Jingle Bell run in downtown Bellingham! This run was a 'wear your most festive Christmas clothes,' so I definitely did. 

 You can probably tell which two stars Jensen helped put up on the advent calendar......that poor shepherd never knew what hit him. hahaha

Emily and I had a hallmark movie night because I didn't want to go Christmas caroling and Jensen had a cold. We ate popcorn and chex mix and had a good time. Jensen was thrilled too because I was there and also because we were eating food and he could try to be cute and get some from us. He was running back and forth between Emily and me saying, "Dee-Do! Dee-Do!" and pointing to our food. ('Dee-Do' means 'Please' in Jensen language)

Our Christmas concert was a success and such a blast!!! I love singing with all these people!

Triple Wren Christmas party!

Our annual Christmas Eve sibling photo. Our group gets a little bigger every year! 

This was my favorite surprise of the evening. I can't wait to welcome another little one to the family in July!! I'm rooting for a pink bundle this time because I definitely need more nieces to spoil.  

Taylor and Priscilla surprised everyone for a quick visit to Bellingham so Lena got a group of us to go skiing. It was my first time and Priscilla very patiently taught me how to do it the first couple runs, but I got the hang of it and had such a blast!! 

Babysitting this one is always fun. He would get the hugest amount of oatmeal on his spoon and then try to stick it all in his mouth. Pretty soon, he just started eating it with his hand, the stinker. 

And we rang in the new year at the VanderHeidens. We played games, ate lots of food, talked about 2019, and ate our carrots first thing in the new year to start it out healthy. It was a good time like always

So, there you have it folks. That was my 2019. It's been a memorable year for sure and there have been lots of lessons along the way, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Here's to 2020!!