Gratitude + Waiting

This season of life has been particularly hard on me and our family.  Long stretches of time separated from one another, solo parenting, living out of a suitcase for months, and feeling uprooted and desperate for home has been taxing.  I often find myself descending into negativity.  Feeling angry, frustrated, helpless, it's a pit with slippery walls and can feel so inviting to indulge in.  Sometimes when I think that I still have over a month left before we can even move into a home of our own I just feel so depressed.  A month isn't that long, but it can feel like an eternity in my mind, looking at the long days stretching out in front of me, each one its own little infinity.  When I realized we wouldn't be home until October and would miss summer in Tacoma, I got bummed out, but today I want to focus on the positive and get excited about all the great things that I can look forward to, instead of feeling sad that they aren't here yet.  

• Pumpkins on the front porch- we got married in November, right after Halloween, so our wedding had tons of pumpkins.  That first November we had a front yard full of pumpkins left over from the wedding.  It was so festive and I love how pumpkins on the porch remind me of our wedding.
• Going to the pumpkin patch- Dan and I have gone to the patch before, but this time it feels like the beginning of a little tradition with Jack and his first autumn!
• Fall leaves!- Alaska has lovely fall colors, but fall is short and there isn't a huge variety of fall colors the way there is in the Northwest.  Fall lasts so long in the Northwest.  Getting to take photos in the leaves is so much fun and I'm thinking Jack might be walking by then and will be able to play in piles of leaves!
• Home renovations!- In the summer I don't really want to renovate anything because I just want to enjoy summer and it's so damn hot (and we don't have a/c like all idiot PNW people.  Why don't we have a/c? I don't know. We are sadists).  After we redid the kitchen of our Anchorage apartment, I'm feeling really inspired and empowered to DIY the reno on our Tacoma kitchen.  I like our kitchen all right, but it can be so much better, and so much more "us" than it currently is.  Another mini reno I want to punch out?  ripping the nasty, old, dated, brown carpet in our upstairs and replacing it with white wood floors. Oh! And making our old bedroom into Jack's room!
• Going for neighborhood walks with Jack and Dusty- Our home in Anchorage wasn't great for going on walks, and here in Oregon it's pretty bad too.  Our house in Tacoma is the perfect walk distance from some of my favorite coffee shops, and I used to just take Dusty for walks with me, but now I can bring Jack in his stroller!
• Vintage shopping + Thrifting- I've been inspired lately with my personal style. I love the locally owned vintage shops in Tacoma and I plan on slowly building a wardrobe that makes me feel excited by grabbing special pieces from my favorite shops.  One of Dan and my favorite things to do together is go thrifting, and since we pared down our furniture a lot when we moved away, there are a lot of pieces we'll need to replace when we move back.  Instead of just hitting up IKEA, I want to find cool and funky pieces at thrift stores to refresh.
• Getting back in the gym- While lifting a tiny human has probably given me some of my strength back from my year absence at the gym, I'm looking forward to getting my sweat on and having a bit of time to myself.  My gym in Tacoma is my favorite place I've ever found for working out, and I've been looking forward to going back ever since I could think about working out post-baby without cringing.
• Planning Jack's 1st Birthday- Okay his birthday isn't until December, but you only get to plan a 1st birthday for your first kid once!  I do love planning parties, so I'm looking forward to putting together a really fun little party.
• Lady Dates!- my bffs are in Tacoma and I'm so looking forward to getting to hang out with my women.  Mama needs some boozy girls nights and some dancing in her life.
• Learning new things- Two things that I've been wanting to take classes in are pottery throwing and metal working for jewelry making.  Learning a new creative skill just for fun is such soul food.
• Cheap + amazing craigslisting- okay, no joke, people price things SO CRAZY HIGH on craigslist in Alaska.  I don't get it.  And it's nearly impossible to find anything cool.  Craigslisting here in the PNW is a dream.