goals

a few days ago, i turned 25.  25 sounds pretty solid to me – like you can’t get away with some of the things you did in your early twenties, like you’re really, truly an adult.  [as if turning 18, 21, or getting married wasn’t adult enough. !]  i’m not against this by any means, though i don’t really enjoy this month until kraig’s birthday in which i am three years older than him… =]  i’m glad to be 25.  and being 25 sounds like it brings more responsibility, and i want to make goals that i can tangibly accomplish.  i know these kinds of things go around on the internet, but i just figured i’d try it for myself.  it’d be really good to remember to check up on myself as the year progresses and see how i’m doing!  i also think it’d be really good to come up with some goals for mine and kraig’s first year of marriage, but that’s another post for another day. !  without further ado, here’s my

25 before 26:

1. buy a sewing machine and learn basic sewing techniques
2. adopt a second kitten and help ease the transition for banjo
3. bring my canon around a lot more often
4. keep blogging – even when school starts.  make an effort and push myself, but not to the point that it becomes an additional burden
5. come up with new goals for / resume counseling
6. go to a seattle sounders game
7. try new restaurants more often than go to old stand-bys
8. be more bold in practicum
9. learn new braided hairstyles via youtube tutorials
10. do yoga at least twice a week
11. learn more about woodworking [a.k.a. don’t just watch kraig, but try to learn for myself!]
12. form a budget
13. save for europe backpacking trip when i graduate!
14. come up with a tradition to make note of guests that visit us in seattle
15. explore oregon
16. learn how to make ice cream
17. get to know five classmate peers better
18. grow avocados
19. meal plan / learn new ways to cook!
20. reach out in the internet community / make blogger friends
21. formulate plans to make food truck & house flipping dreams happen
22. go to more shows / learn more about the seattle music scene
23. go to mount rainier
24. sell kraig’s car / buy vespa
25. mail surprise gifts

sunday in downtown seattle

this morning, we went to church and walked around after in olympic sculpture park near my school, and to the market too.  it was sunny and full of tourists, and quintessential seattle.  sometimes, i love to take a step back and remember that time i was a tourist in seattle with my mom, brother, and sister, and remember when this city didn’t also bring real world issues like finding an apartment or work.  =]  it’s good to remember all the extra fun things this city holds and to be a little more touristy sometimes.  i feel super lucky to live here and i don’t think we’ll ever take it for granted.

SEATTLE

it’s been quite the 24 hours. !  we left coronation, alberta around 7 last night, and arrived in our city of seattle at 10:30 this morning.  kraig proved his tour manager drive-through-the-night-while-sleepy-music-plays skills by driving nearly the entire time, and we had a grand little adventure with phil, mac, and spencer.  we literally couldn’t have made it here without their selfless love and care for us, and we pretty much owe them our firstborn after all of our spring and summer uhaul time.  really hoping they can come back to seattle super soon to have some pure, actual fun in our city and zero uhaul action.  =]

our dear friends lilli and brandon [who are also newlyweds as of this summer!!!] have been welcoming us back into seattle with open arms and such sweet hospitality ’til we hopefully move into a place of our own in a few days.  lilli was one of my roommate the past school year, so it’s basically like we’re all roommates [again?!] and life is great.  banjo is pretty psyched to see his aunt lilli and uncle brandon again too.  =]

transitions

today, we leave coronation, alberta for our shared home of seattle.  we are both SO excited to finally begin our life together as a married couple, sharing our first apartment home together [once all the final details fall into place!], but this is an extra-hard goodbye because kraig’s grandparents are also moving out of the home kraig has called his own the last few years.

kraig’s grandparents [whom we call nana and papa] have raised kraig for most of his life, caring for him in the best way possible, and for that, i am so grateful.  they’re incredible people, and have sold their home in this town they’ve called home for years, to buy a luxury motorhome and travel the country, which is pretty darn awesome by my account!

kraig’s family – many sides and facets of it – has deep roots in this small town called coronation.  it’s a really unique town for a midwest american girl like me – everyone knows everyone, there are farms galore, and just a few hometown places to go out to eat at.  he’s had family here for more than a hundred years!  they had to sell their family farm a couple years ago, which tore kraig’s heart out more than i think he could even show.  and now, with kraig’s grandparents leaving too, it’s kinda the final piece that makes us realize things will never be the same.

yesterday, we walked around, taking photos of kraig in a series of sorts, in front of all the places that have meant something to him.  it was kraig’s idea, which i thought was really sweet and sentimental of him.  =]  this place will always hold so much meaning to both of us for the way it has shaped him and the way he has called it home throughout so many seasons of his life.  somehow, he kept moving back to coronation, and for me, it’s the only place i’ve known him to live in alberta since we started dating, so it’s kinda sad for that, too.  we’re so excited for nana and papa to start their adventure, and we’re beyond ready for ours, too.  see ya later, coronation baby.

& away we go

i wanted to start a blog because i wanted to be part of this larger creative community, to be one that might spur others on in their creative thinking, to create beautiful things, to speak the truth, and maybe spread a bit of hope in the process.

i wanted to start a blog because i want inspiration to write more, to lug my “big” camera around to capture daily life moments that i would normally choose my iphone for.

i wanted to start a blog because i wanted to participate, to do and not just talk.  i want to be real, i want to be better, and i want to share.  so here we are and here we go.

(sitting in kraig’s grandparents’ house a.k.a. kraig’s house in coronation, alberta, between working at camp and before moving to seattle.)