Hi, I’m Beth!
And this is my husband, Ryan. We love being goofy together.
You’ll occasionally see pictures of our black cat, Salsa. He likes food too :)
When I’m not taking pictures of food, I’m taking headshots of Ryan, haha. Just kidding!
This food blog was born in our really cozy kitchen, 120 square feet of coziness where all the baking, shooting, eating, and making started!
We moved from Illinois to Michigan, and into our first house in 2017!
Our family is little, but we are able to love big because He loved us first. 1 John 4:19
Where are we from?
We both grew up in Minnesota. We’re high school sweethearts, aww! We moved to Illinois in August 2013 because Ryan was working on his Ph.D. In 2017, Ryan graduated and we moved to Michigan, where we currently live.
What do we do?
Ryan is a chemist, which means he makes polymers and wears a lab coat. He says it’s a lot like baking.. he is a smart guy! We’ve been very blessed and I was able to leave my job in August 2016 and have been blogging full time.
Why is your blog called ‘The First Year’?
I started blogging in August 2013, 2 months after we got married. I wanted to document and share our first year of marriage, and the name just stuck. But even after we celebrated our first anniversary, there will always be new firsts for us to experience together.. first time buying a home, first time welcoming a baby into the world, first time getting ‘real’ jobs, etc. I am really, really blessed that I get to share these experiences with my best friend.
What do you share on your blog?
I share traditional American desserts and baked goods. You’ll also see a mix of healthier desserts and holiday themed desserts! I also share a monthly post, Out of the Kitchen, highlighting what we’ve been up to for that month.
What kind of equipment do you use?
I shoot with a Nikon D810 and use a 105mm macro lens and a 50mm lens. I love shooting on my real (and super heavy) marble slab and also have backgrounds from Erickson Wood Works. I also have a favorite beat up old cookie sheet that makes an appearance in some shoots, thanks to my mom for the many years of wear and tear on that! I find a lot of my props from local antique markets, good will and amazon.
Fun Facts About Us
- Ryan and I both loves squirrels. It all started back in college at the University of Minnesota.
- I am more of a morning person than I am a night person.
- I have a gluten allergy, but I don’t let that hold me back from making fun and delicious things! That’s actually why I love baking at home so much, almost anything can be made gluten free with a high quality gluten free flour. My favorite is King Arthur’s GF Measure for Measure Flour.
- We like weight lifting and running. And doing puzzles!
- I do not like Nutella but Ryan does.
- We welcomed our daughter Remi in May 2021!
