Sunday, February 10, 2013

god made plows

disappointingly, the real nemo is no where near as cute or friendly as the little disney fish. no. the nemo i just met came with school cancellations, travel bans, massive winds, and two feet of snow. this nemo was a beast.

despite growing up with nemo-like storms most winters, i'm still a california girl at heart. i get knots in my stomach EVERY time i get into the car when there is even the slightest hint of bad weather. (rain included.) but every once in a while, i do love a good snow storm. the kind that forces everyone to head home and hunker down. the kind that wipes out the bread and milk aisles in the grocery store. the kind that gives you nothing to do but build a fire, make some soup, and just watch in awe as the heavens dump. the kind that, when it passes, brings all of the neighbors, who you haven't seen since october, out in the dead of winter to shovel and snowblow. (thanks, nemo, for introducing me to two neighbors who had thus far been strangers.)

[building a channel through the banks.]
[yes, that snow is UP TO THE ROOF of the shed.]
[view from inside.]
[opening the gate to the backyard.]
my favorite part about this storm, though, was watching god's power in action. he dumped multiple feet of snow all across the region. he blew gusts of wind powerful enough to topple trees and power lines. and then, he cleared it...

during a break in the heavy snow, josh and i walked down to the beach to see what damage nemo had done there (since it is, afterall, nemo's home turf). we sunk to our knees in the parking lot snow, and awed quietly at the deep grey sky and the crashing waves in the distance. as we trudged closer, we marveled at how little snow had stuck on the beach. how could there be feet of snow at home and only the tiniest dusting less than a mile away? god's creation has a built-in plow system. moving water + salt = instant melting action. even with heavy snow at home--not to mention the parking lot--the massive flakes hardly touched the ocean's shore. his ocean and his wind kept his beach from being affected by the storm. what an incredible design.
 








Saturday, January 12, 2013

change is good.

really good. and hard, too. 2012 was a big transition year for us, and while many of those transitions are still in process, i'm finally feeling like i can come up for air [gulp]. since last year at this time, we celebrated a job change for me, kissed our first apartment good-bye and moved into a [temporary] new living situation, made the bittersweet decision to leave our church and begin searching for one closer to home, and celebrated one year of marriage.

through each of these experiences, i've been riding the wave of tension between excitement over new possibilities and remorse over losing what has been our 'norm.' there's a part of me that thrives in the midst of change and a part of me that dives into worried panic over it--especially with big changes like these. give me a room to rearrange or a closet to reorganize and i will be PUMPED about those small changes. it might even launch me into an unstoppable mission of rearranging every room and reorganizing every closet in the house. and i will love it. but give me big life changes and i will most certainly oscillate between thrill and fear. and in the end, i will be more grateful to have gone through those big changes--no matter how hard and scary and exciting they may have been--than i will be to have a fresh new spin on my room or closet.

so, i'm entering 2013 grateful for the transitions that we went through this past year, and hopeful that this new year will be one of resolution. don't worry--we toasted to it.


packing up our cozy little apartment


our new home for now
happy anniversary!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

year in review

anniversary day! josh and i have officially been married for a year now. what a crazy, fun, exciting, emotional, frustrating, and wonderful journey it's been. god has blessed me with such a thoughtful, compassionate, spontaneous, and grounded man. i couldn't be more thankful for you, josh. i love you and i'm excited about what the future holds.

mush aside, i thought i'd share some snapshots from the year. before we got married, josh and i decided to stash some of our wedding money and use it for little getaway weekends each month, or at least most months. these little adventures have been such a fun way to disengage from life and reconnect with each other. i wish we could keep doing this every month, every year, forever.

...
october: cottage in sunapee, new hampshire

[typical]
...
november: marriage conference in western mass (no photos, but it was a great event)

...
february: spontaneous trip to cape cod (we literally spun a bottle when we got home from work and drove in that direction for two hours, and ended up here...)



...
march: boston for st. patricks' day

[such an incredible view from our room]
[we love food. enough said.]
[acorn: favorite street in boston]
...
april: ogunquit, maine


[he was thrilled that i made him do this...]
 ...
may: camping on lake george in the adirondack mountains

[great hiking trip]
[uh, terrible picture. the only one i had of us from the whole weekend]

...
june: camping in pennsylvania 

[what most of the weekend consisted of]
[and then the boys went off-roading...]

...
july: historic inn in vermont
[rainy weekend!]
[hurricane irene wiped out this bridge LAST summer. wow.]
[thunderstorm rolling in]

...
august: anniversary trip to boothbay harbor, maine
[view from our room. we were literally staying ON the water.]

[so many docks and bridges and boats and harbors]
[on the dock at our hotel]
[love this guy. i think i'll keep him.]
...
here's to many more adventures, love!