Hollen Family Christmas Cards

We accomplished something this year that we have never pulled off before....sending out Christmas cards! I probably had way too much fun picking out the design and figuring out the photographs for the card. It is difficult when you are both photographers and don't have anyone to take your own photos, go figure, but we managed! As long as you have a picture of your cat somewhere on the card to keep things real, you'll be fine. 

This also means I can cross another item off of my 28 Things List! (Click on the link to see where I am at in that whole process....) 

On the Back Blurp: 

Merry Christmas from the Hollens! 2013 was a year of many changes for us. We are expecting a daughter in February. Her name is Marin Ryan Hollen! We have spent the year playing as much music as time allows, keeping busy with work, photography, and film projects, and tolerating our cat, Geoff. We want to wish you joy and peace this Christmas season and pray for many blessings for you and your family in the New Year! 

It has been very enjoyable to receive cards from so many of our friends as well. Snail mail is pretty much the best thing ever. I will definitely try and keep this up as a tradition for the next few years. 

I hope all of you that we sent cards to received them. My handwriting is pretty horrible, but I really tried to keep addresses legible! Fingers crossed....

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2013 (Better Late Than Never)

It's officially Christmas Eve and I'm just now blogging about Thanksgiving. I think that little fact is a great representation of how insanely fast this season has flown by and how preoccupied I have been with being pregnant over the holidays. My mind is in about a million places at any given time. But, even in the midst of the chaos, I know once thing for certain: We have been blessed with amazing families and the fact that we are bringing a child into that family is very comforting and exciting. 

One of my goals for the New Year should be to take more pictures of Ryan and myself. We are always on the other side of the camera. Always. 

Happy Thanksgiving (On Christmas Eve)!

Better late than never. Right? 

Colorado Floods 2013

Before I continue on with my normal blog posts, I can't shake the fact that as of a few days ago, half of my state is underwater. After my melodramatic post about the rain, I almost feel guilty for embracing the welcomed water. At that point, I had no idea what thousands of people would be facing. 

It just kept raining and raining and raining. I am used to this type of rain from living in the northwest for a few years. But, the big difference between here and there is the terrain. The ground can handle the amount of rain in Washington. Clearly, the ground in Colorado cannot. 

Our home is safe. Our family is safe. Many of the people I work with are safe. But, much of the town I grew up in is flooded. Numerous other towns all across Colorado are flooded. The Big Thompson Canyon leading up to Estes is devastated. My Aunt and Uncle live up the canyon and things are not looking good for them or the people around them. They have been evacuated and are at a shelter as of yesterday. 

It's times like this when you really have to step back and realize how lucky you are and also how many other people need help. 

It's hard to just continue on as usual when I know that so many people are without homes, running water, toilets that they can flush. 

The latest I've read is: 17,494 homes damaged, 1,502 homes destroyed, 11,700 ppl evacuated, 1,253 people unaccounted for, 26 shelters. 

My heart is very heavy this evening.