Old Homes

Words & Photography
by Kimberly Stavros



Old homes have this way of coming alive at certain times, like the memories are locked within the wood and plaster and start to wake at certain moments.

There have been 123 Christmases celebrated here, and I wonder what Christmas looked like 100 years ago here, and what traditions the family that built this house celebrated.

There have been 123 Christmases celebrated here, and I wonder what Christmas looked like 100 years ago here, and what traditions the family that built this house celebrated. It's an amazing gift to be here now, keeping the Christmas traditions alive and well in this old home

Do Something Different

Words & Photography
by Sarah Copeland



I read something great today that I don’t want to forget: if you’re stuck, do the opposite of what you would normally do. In short, do something different. Easy, right?

Breakfasts are golden time in my family—cozy and chill and delicious. Zero drama. But dinner is not our family jam. There are usually arms flying and drinks spilling and someone accidentally getting poked with a fork. I usually try to keep it short and sweet and excuse everyone from the table as fast as I can. Tonight though, as the snow started falling fast and hard, I heard that little phrase: “do something different.”

But dinner is not our family jam. There are usually arms flying and drinks spilling and someone accidentally getting poked with a fork. I usually try to keep it short and sweet and excuse everyone from the table as fast as I can.

My first thought was—candlelight! So I lit candles, dimmed the lights, put on French cafe radio, and whipped some cream for pumpkin pie after our otherwise standard dinner (poached salmon, quinoa, baked sweet potatoes). Guys, dinner tonight was a DREAM, especially the part where the kids took their plates to the sink and spent the next two hours outside playing in the snow while I chilled inside by candlelight.

Feeling restored and I can’t wait to try something different tomorrow too, like, maybe, baked donuts on a school day (or having dad pack school lunches). Winter, I’m ready for ya.

Oklahoma City

Words & Photography
by Brittany Viklund



Where is the place you call home and why? I was born in southern CA, and lived there until we moved to New Mexico when I was ten. I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2011, and then two years later moved to Oklahoma City with my (at the time) boyfriend whose job moved him.

I got engaged and married in Oklahoma City. We bought our first house here, adopted three cats and a puppy, raised five foster kittens and one foster dog. Had two babies and one miscarriage. All of our babies' "firsts" have been here. I never thought I’d be in Oklahoma more than a year, and now I honestly can’t imagine myself anywhere else, even though at this point in our lives my husband’s work no longer keeps him here (he now works on his organization’s national team and could ultimately live anywhere).

We bought our first house here, adopted three cats and a puppy, raised five foster kittens and one foster dog. Had two babies and one miscarriage. All of our babies' "firsts" have been here. I never thought I’d be in Oklahoma more than a year, and now I honestly can’t imagine myself anywhere else...

Our roots are here and they are deep, despite the fact that none of our family lives anywhere close to us. We’ve started to talk about where we see ourselves, especially when the education of our boys comes into the conversation. It’s weird for us, we have no requirement to be here whatsoever, and yet we are consciously choosing to be here.

I don’t know what the future holds for us, so I collect keepsakes of the present moment, just in case our last days in Oklahoma sneak up on me before I realize it. This Mapiful print has the hospital at the lake where both of the boys were born, which was also the lake where Pat asked me to marry him. It has our wedding venue. Our favorite taco spot (Big Truck!). Our first apartment as newlyweds, and our first home. It has the downtown streets we used to ride our longboards on (pre-baby days), the little patch of land where we pick our pumpkins in the fall, and our Christmas tree in December. It captures so much, like the veins of my body, it’s the place that has given me my entire life, no matter where we end up next.

Reading Time

Words & Photography
by Jessica Strausbaugh

With the dark evenings and the cold temperatures outside, curling up in the warm house and reading book after book sounds so lovely. 

I would spend all of my time reading this Winter if I could. I'm really craving it since the time change. With the dark evenings and the cold temperatures outside, curling up in the warm house and reading book after book sounds so lovely. The truth is, I'm not sure I even finished more than one book this whole year. I'm going to start being intentional about taking a little time for myself to read.

How Times Have Changed

Words & Photography
by Chelsea Lybeck

Sometimes it feels like it was only yesterday that I was checking the back seat of the car every five seconds to make sure my little 5lb. peanut’s neck was supported in her infant carrier.

Sometimes it feels like it was only yesterday that I was checking the back seat of the car every five seconds to make sure my little 5lb. peanut’s neck was supported in her infant carrier. Other times, it feels like I’ve been throwing french fries at her in her car seat non-stop for like seven years to keep her from banshee screaming when she’s hungry. Oh, how times have changed.