Fleeting

     are these days and nights. Happiness encompasses the majority of my days but there are some other raw, darker emotions that make their way into the light here and there, as they do with everyone. I feel a little trapped sometimes. By the weather, by my location, by my own expectations. I've been thinking a lot lately about traveling and all the adventures I want to take. But my thinking is much more realistic than just "I want to go here someday". Because I'm realizing that "someday" can be a terrible word at times. I want to do things NOW. The realization of how short life is a blessing and a burden, I'm grateful. I love my home and who I share it with but I also want to be a bird. I want to explore and fly and then be able to come back to my nest again. I know that now is my time. 

     In less than a week we leave for the west coast. Las Vegas & California- Disneyland, Sequoia National Forest, Yosemite National Forest, San Francisco and home again. My extended family will be going to Las Vegas as well. My grandpa (whom we call Far-Far) wanted to go there for his 90th birthday this May. So we decided to make it a trip for all of us. Tanner and I will only be staying there two nights and then renting a car to drive through California and do the rest of our trip just the two of us. We'll be staying with various relatives and friends as we travel along with a few nights in a hotel and one night in a canvas tent in the middle of Yosemite. This is our first "real" adult trip together that we actually (mostly) planned by ourselves. I want to do more and more of this. I want to have weekends where we just pack up and go camping somewhere. Anywhere. That's my thinking for this summer. Adventure. Exploration.

    Being a nurse can be hard as I work every other weekend. Its a day shift that I work so I can still do things in the evening but we can't really travel out of town on those weekends that I work. I've been fortunate to always have fun opportunities in all of my summers. I don't know if there was ever a year that I didn't get to go to my family's cabin (one of my favorite places ever) or go on a summer road trip or even just camping with my family. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for all of those memories my parents created with us, even if they involved Johnny Cash for hours on end and crabby mom and dad yelling at us four girls and a dog and maybe a fiance or boyfriend all crammed into the back of a suburban for a week. 

The man of honor, my Far-Far.

Waking up

     It's been a while. Life has been bright and energetic and busy and beautiful. I find myself going to social media less and being more present and happy in real life. Moving to a beautiful new place and creating my own homey environment with my love and our new cat has had a huge impact on me and really gave me a breath of fresh air. Not to mention Minnesota has decided to actually give us a little taste of spring and sunshine the last few days.

     Walks through our little Como neighborhood here in St. Paul with the sunshine on our backs. Walking down to the little corner market and buying pretzel buns. Homemade meals and Game of Thrones. Kitty cuddles. Laughter and hanging Christmas lights inside our 3 season porch. Neighbor dog barking at 6:30am and morning light coming through the window. The slow purr of our coffee maker and the smell of cozy morning goodness. Afternoon sunshine coming through our old windows and onto the uneven hardwood floors. Kitty sitting in the window watching the world go by. Tanner playing his guitar/banjo as I get ready for bed. Unexpected kisses and embraces. Hot baths in a leaky bathtub. Succulents in the window. Moments I have collected and want to cherish.