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D e D e N i c h o l s o n✨

@dede_nicholson_

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Storyteller🎬🎭📸 @dedematlockphotography
Wanderluster🛫12🌎31🇺🇸4🗺
Adventurer🪂🚁
Mama👩‍🍼
✨To make living itself an art, that is the goal✨

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Cali 💔

I’m no stranger to grief, having lost my mom and all 4 grandparents (death) and my dad and then foster parents (abandonment) all before the age of 19. But this grief, the loss of my sweet first baby girl, Cali, has been a unique and special kind of pain. It’s so heavy. My heart is broken and there’s an emptiness and void that I don’t think will ever be filled.

Not only was her passing completely unexpected, and traumatic, but she was so, so young still (5 years old next month). Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m pretty obsessed with my kitties (JuJu my orange boy) and Cali (or as we called her MAMA) my grey tiger striped babe. They were adopted together as babies, choosing us as much as we chose them. And in the almost 5 years, they’ve been with us through so much, from the start of Covid and lockdown companions, multiple moves, our elopement that they were very much a part of, I could go on. We did presents for them and stockings on Christmas, their birthdays were celebrated and when I went skydiving I texted 2 people to make sure our babies would be taken care of if we died..

Cali and I had an exceptional bond. She wasn’t like other cats. All of the reasons people aren’t cat people, would never have applied to my girl. She was sweet and loving, gave kisses and cuddles, the most affectionate, playful girl. She played fetch like a dog, hardly slept, and always greeted me and us when we came into a room. She was shy and reserved, and took awhile to warm up, but she loved being held, loved pets and she just was a constant source of love and joy. She was the best. Truly. The night before I went into labor she laid on my stomach and stayed by my side all night (last pic In the carousel) and she was just always there for me. I truly questioned if I could ever love a baby as much as my kitties, and she was the first true example of unconditional, pure love I’d seen and felt, I think ever. She helped solidify my excitement in becoming a mom.

While my heart hurts, and I’ve tried to stay as distracted as I can, I have and plan to continue to honor her and take extra care of JuJu who is also missing his sister. I can only hope to see her again one day💛✨ by @dede_nicholson_

Role of a lifetime: MOM 🎬✨ by @dede_nicholson_

This is your sign to have an ✨a d v e n t u r e elopement✨

What exactly is an adventure elopement? Whatever you want it to be! For us, it was eloping (just the two of us🥰) in a national park (Redwood National Forest). It was also getting married in TWO states, hehe. We exchanged vows in the California Redwoods and then drove up the Oregon Coast, where we had our first dance, toast, and intimate picnic. It was*light* (I was full glam...sooo🙃) hiking, exploring, climbing a few rocks, and dancing to Adam Sandlers' Grow Old With You (Wedding Singer, IYKYK). It was getting married on the f i r s t day of F A L L (not planned, but ever so serendipitous) just 3 months shy of our ten year anniversary. I'm a numbers gal for sure. And a sentimental b.

Getting to have the most m a g i c a l experience starting with the most epic adventure was nothing short of a dream. We kept saying over and over, how we wouldn't have had it any other way- it was b e y o n d✨

"Thank you for being my family. Today... you and me.. is all the family I need." (a portion of my vows) @damatlock599 💚

**I definitely have a few people to shout out for their help in pulling this day off and vendors to praiseeeeee, so another post will be in order and coming soon, sorry 🙃

📸 @melissa_ergo (a literal angel and the actual best photographer and kindest soul and made the day so special)🥰

#matlockeditdown #10yearslater #adventureelopement #redwoodselopement by @dede_nicholson_

Our joint birthday National Park tradition continues! This time, Olympic National Park💚 Crossed off a new state for all of us and the Pacific Northwest did not disappoint.

10 days, 2 kids (15 months and turned 3 on the trip), 3 flights, many, many hours in the car and on hiking trails, and about as many meltdowns as there are differing landscapes. It was a moody (mostly Washington, but also my threenager), green, dramatic, misty, diverse and LUSH adventure 🌲✨🌲

I am continually in awe of all the beauty and wonder in the United States. I promise you don’t have to leave the country to see some of the MOST stunning, magical places😌✨ by @dede_nicholson_

‘Twas the night before Christmas ✨ by @dede_nicholson_

October, you were magical. 🍤

“And that’s all I have to say about that.”-Forrest Gump by @dede_nicholson_

Summer 2025, no notes. by @dede_nicholson_

S e p t e m b e r 1st, my boy turned ✨2✨

Two. It started with 2 lines on a stick and ended with 1 line on my lower abdomen.

I didn’t blink, and yet here we are.

Celebrating my birthday will always be celebrating your birth.

Hiking in Acadia National for your first birthday and Rocky Mountain National for your second. A new tradition?

What a year it’s been and what a joy it’s been to experience it alongside you:

Your first flight (well technically you flew a few days before 1, but whatever), meeting Santa for the first time, and your first Easter egg hunt.

Learning your ABCs and your name, getting your first kitty, and winning your first Halloween costume as Chucky.

A 3 month long sleep regression <

Park days for days.

You being the toughest critic, always.

Your hugs and kisses healing my heart.

Fusspot.

Leaning into your love for cars and trucks and busses and now, trains.

Finding my footing ironically as you found yours.

Loving every mundane routine. The eggs, the book reading, bath time, bedtime routine, same parks.. loving it all, bc I love you.

Little blue truck.

Six jumps.

Play dates , swim classes, music classes and gym. Your social life is enviable.

Peanut butter tuss and manas for breakfast.

Chasing birds and squirrels, and “buzz buzz”🐝

Your mouth full of teeth smiling

“Hi mama, hi dada!”

Bubbles, books, balloons >

My Velcro baby, my little man, my sturdy boy 🥰

Being told you are my twin (weekly) and your dads twin (also weekly)

Not being like all the other kids. Very much slow burn so to speak. You take your time, you watch and observe, off to yourself and you warm slowly and open yourself up at your own pace. I appreciate this quality.

Giving you everything we never had, but mostly, two loving parents 💚

The greatest PRIVILEGE and slowest heartbreak of my life is watching you grow up. So here’s to another year of adventures, with hopefully less diapers.

Love you, Asher Memphis. by @dede_nicholson_

Santa Baby❤️💚

✨T w e l v e ✨years ago he asked me to be his girlfriend and tonight he’s dressing up as Santa Clause and making Christmas magic for our Asher boy 🥰 ❤️🥹

Asher’s first time meeting *Santa* and he was not a fan, until the hot wheels saved the day.

And yes, the beard is real. Grown himself and dyed white…we are a family full of method actors🙃

#happyanniversary #santa #merrychristmas #makingchristmasmagic by @dede_nicholson_

my M A I N E men

A few months ago we spent the week roadtripping up the coast of Maine. We started in Boston, where we visited Fenway Park, took a walk through history on the Freedom Trail, ate cannoli’s in Little Italy, and visited Asher’s future college (last pic) 😅 We then continued up through Maine, stopping in the spooky town of Salem and exploring voodoo shops, cemeteries, and the witch museum, then heading up to Stephen King’s House. We ate our weight in fresh lobster, visited lighthouses, stayed in the cutest Victorian manor, hiked through Acadia National Park, and ate more 🦞. It was the perfect trip and we were able to cross off 2 new States, 1 more National Park, and Asher got his wings on his first flight✈️

Having a toddler definitely slows down (not stops) your travels, and I’ve found that that’s okay. Maybe slowing down, and getting to visit all the gems the US has to offer is a blessing in disguise. Maybe there’s beauty in slowing down, even just for a bit. ✨ by @dede_nicholson_

Michael Myers and Rosemary had a baby … named Chucky🔪🩸🔪

#happyhalloween by @dede_nicholson_

✨9.22✨

#matlockeditdown by @dede_nicholson_