when it all stands still.

The longer days have been a gift. It is such a happy thing to be able to walk outside at 4:30 in the afternoon and not be met with total darkness. And the sun here has been a welcome change. Now I just ache for the warmer days. It’ll be such a relief when I no longer have to wear layer after layer just to feel remotely comfortable, or sink into a bathtub to try and take the chill away.

But I must admit that when I actively choose to have a positive attitude, it’s amazing how quickly the small things add up into big things, and my entire perspective can shift. A moment to acknowledge a bloom forcing its way through the packed earth. The sun streaming through the window. An unexpected latte from Jeffrey. Late night TV marathons and Thai food. A new plant for the house. Sitting here and giving myself the time to write about precisely nothing. It all feels so good.

Sometimes it feels good to have nothing of real note to write about. Sometimes it's enough just to talk about a shift in the weather and to share some pictures from a spontaneous trip to the coast. Sometimes it feels right that my only dream for the foreseeable future is to have a tan of some kind.

To be at peace is a special kind of feeling. To close my eyes and feel that my insides are still. That I am completely whole as I am right now. And even when I change tomorrow, I will still be whole. I had forgotten that the stillness can feel so incredibly good. My brain hardly ever allows for it, but this reprieve; I will soak it all in.

the sou'wester.

Last weekend, Jeffrey and I spent a night at the Sou'wester, which is a mix of private cabins, vintage travel trailers, suites, and campsites. For Christmas, I told Jeffrey that I just wanted to be surprised, and this is what he found! Because it was so cold, the entire tiny town was really quiet and peaceful. We stayed in the big red lodge, and our room was absolutely perfect. There was a kitchen and a bedroom and a porch, which we didn't get to take much advantage of due to the weather. We're already planning a trip back when it's a little warmer.

Walking through the surrounding neighborhood bundled up and driving through the deserted tourist town (probably crawling with people come summer!) and picking out a VHS to watch and making spaghetti in our little kitchen and watching the sunset on the beach and eating It's It ice cream sandwiches that had been smushed due to travel and reading for hours on end; this is how I will remember our beautifully fleeting trip.

Some places just feel like magic in every corner, and this was one of them.

(I frustratingly forgot my camera, so these were taken on my iPhone!)

weekenders.

 

This weekend Jeffrey and I stayed a night at the Sou'wester. It was so much fun and even the drive was pleasant. It felt really nice just to know we were heading somewhere to relax. Jeffrey brought all the supplies we needed to make our favorite spaghetti for dinner. We walked around the neighborhood in the freezing cold. We drove(!) down onto the beach to watch the sunset. We read books for hours. We watched Amélie. We talked about lots of different things, serious and lighthearted and everything in between. It was the most restorative, lovely, relaxing little trip.

We had to cut our trip a little short due to a snowstorm that was heading toward Portland, so we packed up a little early and drove back to the city. At home, we lit candles and made curry and watched Superstore and today we made pancakes and cookies and spent the entire day in our pajamas. It was the perfect weekend and I'm so glad for that.

giving a face to obamacare.

 

Today, I want to give a face to the Affordable Care Act. As a teacher, I was always pretty well taken care of when it came to health insurance and we were fortunate enough to use my coverage for both myself and for Jeffrey.

At the end of last school year, I decided not to return to my teaching career for the 2016-2017 school year. This is something that I haven’t really mentioned here, mostly because it was an incredibly difficult decision — one that was ultimately the right choice for my mental health and well being, but still broke my heart.

Because Jeffrey is self-employed, we didn’t have his benefits to fall back on. I soon became self-employed as well and so we had to enroll in ObamaCare. The ACA is an imperfect system with many kinks that need to be worked out and changes that need to be made — I am not disputing that — but Jeffrey and I rely on this system in order to ensure that we have the health coverage that we need and deserve as hardworking Americans.

Our insurance isn’t cheap. We pay a monthly premium based on our income bracket and we chose from lots of different plans, many of which offered coverages that were actually sadly laughable.

I can’t pretend to understand why so many Americans would actively fight to dismantle this act. It allows millions of people to feel safe and secure and confident that, should something tragic or devastating (or otherwise health-related) happen to themselves or a loved one, they won’t be left high and dry. Jeffrey and I work hard and we pay a steep premium to make sure we have decent care.

(As a disclaimer, this post is written with nothing but love and also concern for my little family and other friends I hold dear who rely on the ACA. My intention isn’t to start a battle, but rather to share my experience and hopefully shed light on why the ACA  is, in my opinion, an essential piece of American legislation that deserves to stay put.)

sundays.

In an effort to document more of my daily life, here's a new series all about Sundays. I'll never forget a conversation I had with a colleague of mine where we basically trashed Sundays (sorry, Sunday). If you are someone who has a Monday through Friday work week, you can probably relate to the Sunday blues, which for me would typically begin at around 4 PM. The thought of an impending work week and what that encompasses, was often enough to send me into an anxious tailspin.

It wasn't until recently that I really came around to appreciating Sundays. We typically like to try and do something a little more ambitious on Saturdays, so Sundays became the low key, relaxed, cozier day of the week. And at exactly the same time on a recent Sunday afternoon, Jeffrey and I both remarked on what a perfect day we were having.

So thanks, Sunday (and sorry for taking awhile to warm up to you). xo

LA extras.

Our trip to LA was special for lots of reasons, many of which will stay nestled in our hearts for years to come. Some of the most special things happen when you least expect them, which is exactly what happened when we stopped in Los Alamos to do little more than use the restroom and stretch our legs. We were met with a small and lovely bakery, which had just been adorned with hand-painted signs by one of Jeffrey's favorite sign painters. We also spent a sun-soaked morning visiting two LA-area lighthouses, which was especially enjoyable for me because I have an odd and unexplained fascination with lighthouses of all kinds.

Small moments are often the best moments and these pictures were captured during what could be described as some of the smallest moments of our trip, which ended up being some of my very favorites. (As a note, that final picture is actually a lighthouse! It's located at the very top of that gable you can see up there!)

For the curious: the bakery we visited, the vine-covered hotel, the first lighthouse, the second lighthouse.

succulents, gardens, and my dreamworld.

I have this dream in my mind where I live in an airy, white farmhouse. It is situated on a large-but-not-too-large piece of land, nestled somewhere in the middle of the mountains. It's almost always raining in this dream, the natural light streams through the windows, I am enjoying a cup of tea, wearing a flowing, white dress (to match the white farmhouse?), there is a brick chimney, and there's something delicious bubbling on the stove. I am looking out a large, paned window onto my well-tended garden. My garden is full of many, many things — vegetables, fruits, flowers (ranunculus and daisies, please), and regardless of the season, it all grows just fine.

And in this dream, there were never really succulents present. That is, until we visited Jeffrey's grandparents' home and I saw the beauty and majesty of a yard overgrown with succulents. In my real life, I've had plenty of small, potted succulents, and I've loved each of them dearly, but it wasn't until I saw them growing in vast quantities that they became a part of my dream garden. And now, when I imagine this dreamworld, I see the succulents, too. And of all these things growing in my garden live in perfect harmony. And since it's a dream, they probably grow and survive without so much as a wink and a nod on my end.

weekenders.

This weekend was a Richard Gere movie marathon, lunch with my parents, Jeffrey's homecoming (after a week away), cooking decadent lunches, leisurely walks with Woody, staying up late, sleeping in, trips to the grocery store just for a fresh bunch of flowers, warm, hearty breakfasts, and dance parties in the living room.

P H O T O G R A P H S / /
( 1 || Woody in the evening sunspill, forever on-guard. )
( 2 || Warming oatmeal for late breakfast [recipe in this post]. )
( 3 || Fresh flowers, my favorite thing to buy just-for-me. )
( 4 || A deliciously satisfying lunch, made on a whim. )

weekenders.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I want to make a conscious effort to have a thankful heart. I'll start with weekends. These weekender posts have been a really wonderful exercise for me. I've never really had many hobbies and taking photographs has quickly become one of my favorite ways to pass the time. I love walking around our neighborhood and looking for simple moments to capture.

This weekend, we headed out of our little neighborhood and across the bridge. We explored parts of the city we've never paid much mind to and it was nice to get a fresh perspective on a familiar place. Ever since Jeffrey began his sign painting venture, I feel like I've taken note of so many beautiful signs that I may never have noticed in the past.

I've come to realize that sometimes things are hard and that's okay. The wrinkles will shake out when the time is right. This weekend, I took care to remember the wonderful pieces that make up my life. My heart is full.

P H O T O G R A P H S / /
( 1 || These sweet yellow blooms are everywhere and I adore them. )
( 2 || Late fall in Florida often means perfect outdoor-dining weather, which is just what we did in one of our favorite neighborhoods at one of our favorite restaurants. )
( 3 || Taking note. )
( 4 || Taking note, part II. )

P.S. More weekend posts here.

weekenders.

This weekend there was a big pot of soup, lazy mornings and ambling walks to our little coffee shop, chats with a sister who is geographically far but close at heart, walks around the neighborhood to take in the incredibly beautiful weather, open windows, devouring this book, and tabbing nearly every recipe in this delicious cookbook.

I caught my breath and reminded myself of the great fortune I have of living this life with these people in this time. And this week there will be a classroom filled with fall activities because this time of year must be celebrated and squeezed and loved and remembered because of its fleeting nature. A very happy Monday to you!

P H O T O G R A P H S / /
( 1 || Something about a pink building always catches my eye. )
( 2 || Shadows and ferns and perfect, perfect weather. )
( 3 || Palms and clear, blue skies. )
( 4 || Making note of all the recipes I want to recreate in my own kitchen. Started this weekend with soup. )

P.S. More weekend posts here.

weekenders.

I woke up yesterday with an incredible craving for pumpkin pancakes. I like listening to the Andrews Sisters when I cook. On Saturday morning, we went to our farmers' market. Now that it's October, lots of our favorite vendors have returned to the market. It was hot, but there was still a crispness in the air. We spent Saturday evening at Jeffrey's parents house. We ordered Thai food and enjoyed my very favorite Publix cookies (sugar with sprinkles, thank you very much). It was the kind of weekend that you never want to end, even in its complete simplicity (which, to me, is the best kind of weekend). I love my life and I've heard plenty of musings about the dangers of living for the weekend, but when weekends are this pleasant, it's a bit hard not to.

P H O T O G R A P H S / /
( 1 || Pumpkin from my in-laws, makes my heart happy. )
( 2 || Incredibly thoughtful birthday card from my incredibly thoughtful parents [illustrated by my talented dad]. )
( 3 || Pumpkin pancakes for a slow Sunday morning. )
( 4 || Woody, looking a bit unamused. )
( 5 || My birthday banner, still hanging in our hallway. )



P.S. More weekend posts here.