Lately

Sorry for the radio silence around here. Hobbies other than hiking, unfortunately, have greatly fallen to the wayside, being replaced with funky moods, general tiredness, or the need to sit in sheer silence with no distractions. It’s that time of year when things tend to get hectic, and everything, for a short period, seems to come undone – for me, at least. It’s good to have friends who feel the same so we can all laugh about it together and find comfort in each other, and it’s pretty much the best thing ever to have a husband who is unendingly supportive, and full of love.

There is so much to say, so much to talk about, and yet so few ways I can think to appropriately verbalize or write them. I am coping with the ebb and flow of life a bit better – but I could use a little more practice.

I promise I’ll come back soon (and more often), with the ability to say something. Anything. Maybe even something worthwhile or otherwise important, but definitely with updates, and everyday musings with pictures thrown in. With the desperate distance between us and our families and friends on opposite coasts, somehow I feel like these posts bridge some of the gap. I know it feels that way when I read your blogs.

In any case, I can feel the heaviness of this month lifting, and sooner than I imagine – probably even this weekend – things will be back to normal.

For now, I leave you with a list (because I love lists, lists are awesome!) of things we’ve been up to this October:

Eating – charcuterie and cheese boards. They are kind of our thing right now, and they speak to our ultimate food love language: convenience. We’ve been having an assortment of pepper jellies from Pike Place Market as an accompaniment, and it takes everything to a whole new level. Our favorites are hot pomegranate and hot cranberry.

Drinking – cool blue Gatorade for him, and diet wild cherry pepsi for me. I think mulled cider and hot cocoa will have to come back into the rotation soon.

Learning – all about puppy training, puppy chew toys, and raising/having a puppy in a city. We’re determined to not be the people with the jumping, poorly socialized, or otherwise batshit crazy dog.

Practicing – Being more intentional with our time and actions.

Mastering – a trading scheme for Alex, not taking work personally for me.

Finishing – gathering prints to hang on the wall that fit our new theme. We’ve been meaning to do this for like, four months, but got distracted. This one just might be the best piece of artwork we’ve ever owned — for obvious reasons. (and just in the bizarre case that it’s not obvious — it’s a line from Biggie’s “Juicy” – a true legend within the genre, and our all-time favorite rapper. If you don’t know, now you know, as he’d say.)

Listening – to trap music for Alex, while I’ve been listening to a majority of electro-house and electro-pop with some old high school jams mixed in.

Loving – a vegetarian cookbook called Thug Kitchen. With the tagline “eat like you give a f-ck” and hilariously foul-mouthed lines littered on every page, it’s one of the best things I’ve laid eyes on this month. We’re so excited to try the recipes, especially the roasted sriracha cauliflower bites with peanut dipping sauce. Yum!

Watching – scandal. The histrionics that so often have me questioning my life choices actually make this a super entertaining, albeit, maddening show to watch. It is awesome, and because we haven’t quite gotten down exactly when it airs, we check Netflix everyday for a new episode.

Walking – to work, to Pike Place Market (to stock up on that pepper jelly!), in ever-changing weather.

Wearing – tee shirts for Alex, because his office is sweltering. It is the hottest building I’ve ever walked into in my life, and that is saying something after suffering for four springs and summers in the midday heat of the un-airconditioned C-Wing classrooms in high school (FLHS people — you know what it is). As for me, I’ve been living in cardigans and sweaters because if it’s slightly cold outside, I am guaranteed to be freezing. Rain jackets, our best friends for the next 9 months, have also made a reappearance.

Cooking/Baking– nothing of note. We are in a serious rut, and pretty desperate to get out. This week I am going to try to get back into the swing of baking (challah is calling our names – as usual), and hopefully ”Thug Kitchen” and the various other cookbooks sitting on the kitchen shelf will help to turn things around over here.

Visiting – the North Cascades more often! It’s a little bit of a trek, with the closest hikes in the area about an hour and a half away from Seattle, but it’s worth it.

Wanting – to buy a new rug, but feel like with a puppy coming so soon, it’ll be more of a soft pee area than a decorative statement for the foreseeable future. In an astonishing show of insight and patience, we’ve decided to hold off until she is house trained.

Talk to you all soon!