Rocky Top Christmas

We had the opportunity this year to visit my Dad's family in Tennessee. They all come from Georgia, Ohio, or of course, 'ole Rocky Top, so we don't get to see them very often. We were lucky enough to have almost everyone there, except for (of course) Cassidy and Cody & Rachelle, who were in Louisiana and Arizona respectively. 

Of course, before we even opened presents, we got Skype with SISTER STEELE who is finishing her last transfer and heading back to Utah in February. She has a Southern drawl, so we still felt a little out of place with the rest of our southeastern cousins... 

After finishing presents at about three pm (yes... three pm... that's what you get when you don't start opening them until ONE THIRTY and you have all your cousins and aunts and uncles over to open presents with you) we figured we should try and get a nice little family photo with all of us together.

We struggled just a little bit.... 

And of course, Christmas night is the perfect time for a nice little family round of gambling....

and Cards Against Humanity, obviously.

Which, as you know, is about as family oriented as Las Vegas. 

It was nice to go hiking in the Smoky Mountains the next day though. The original trail we wanted to go was a little crowded (pretty weird for the day after Christmas if you ask me), so we found another trail that followed the river. Only it didn't end.....

Overall... it was a lovely Christmas. Even if I currently have a carsick hangover from all those curvy Tennessee backroads... 

A little (but exciting) announcement!

Hi everyone! 

I HAVE WONDERFUL NEWS

AHHHHHHHH I am SO SO SO excited right now!

(ok first of all, no... I'm still working on the return mission paperwork! that's coming at the end of December or beginning of January... I'm hoping! Just gotta finish my chiropractor treatments!)

BUT!

I'm excited to announce.... 

that I've been approved as a vendor for Groopdealz! 

If anybody is wondering what Groopdealz is, it's a boutique, groupon type site where they sell all sorts of clothes, jewelry, little gadgets, home decor, kids items, and art for a discounted price.

I'll be selling items from my Etsy shop, Subway Art Nouveau. I've had this shop open for over three years and it's done really well! Since I've been home from my mission, I've been keeping myself busy until I can go back out by expanding my shop and creating new designs! All of my items are digital downloads, so most of the work after I do the designs is already done! And now I'll be able to sell my hard work on a larger scale!

Check out a few of my designs!

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Needless to say, I am STOKED! I've been waiting to get my little business off the ground, and this is going to help so so so much. I also love love love to do custom pieces, especially missionary art, so if you would like me to do a custom piece, just ask!! And if you're interested in any of these prints below, check out Groopdealz every once in a while for a great steal.... 

OR use the code " happyholidays2014 " for 50% any item in my shop, through December 31, 2014.

Just enter the code at checkout. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Frohe Weihnachten

Yeah, yeah I know.

That's German.

Well you may not know, but despite the fact that I was called to Mexico, I made sure to put on my mission papers that I knew quite a bit of German.

Well, high school German. So about as good as I could get.

Funny story... at one point, during one of our lessons in the MTC, I didn't know the Spanish word I wanted to use. So I used the German one instead...

whooops.... 

I'll never forget how confused my teacher looked. My companion, on the other hand, busted out laughing and I think we giggled for a solid five minutes with that one.

I never had the foresight to think that taking Spanish would be more beneficial than German.

Ha.... ha.... irrelevant..... 

side note : my dad served in the army and was stationed in Germany for three years during the cold war, and we had the opportunity a few years ago on our way to Serbia to visit his old stomping grounds and explore the wonderful, beautiful (rainy) Deutschland for a few days.

side note number two :  my great great grandma and grandpa immigrated from europe, being born in Germany and Poland respectively. Soooo we have a preeeeetty strong German/Polish family history that I'm insanely proud of.

side note number three: I actually saw my high school german teacher (from when I went to high school in Arizona) in the MTC (at the Provo temple during a session, actually).... she and her husband were on their way to serve in the Germany Berlin mission... talk about a small world.

Anyways... 

The point of this is... I loooooooove all things German. I love Germany. I love schnitzel. I love spätzle. I love Neuschwanstein. I love little german bakeries and chocolate croissants and bratwurst and lederhosen and biergartens (sans beer, of course) and little cobblestone streets and castles and gothic architecture and cathedrals and the autobahn.

Earlier today, my mom emailed me a link to a little shindig that goes on each time this year for a few days. Christkindlmarkt. A little collection of wooden shops, selling different things- from jewelry to little German clocks and nutcrackers... and there was also live reindeer, German yodelers, Alp horns, and visits from St Nicholas himself. Obviously, we decided to go (at my insistance, of course).

It was magical. 

For anyone who wants to take a look into our most recent trip to the r e a l  Germany... you can check out the pictures in this adorable little slideshow as it takes you down the Steele family memory lane.... through Münich, Dachau, Bavaria.... ahhhhhh those were the days.

& in honor of weihnachten.... alles liebe!