Traditions

Traditions are a necessary part of life. 

Josh and I started a tradition last November that we didn't know was a tradition until today.

On Sunday morning, after last year's Daylight Savings, we used our extra hour to have a coffee date.  We got crepes, a pumpkin spice latte, and a strawberry smoothie at French Press. We had only been married a few months then, and it was our first coffee date as a married couple.

Today, exactly a year later, we chose Starbucks, sausage sandwiches, and carmel macchiatos.

We are totally thrilled by the idea of a traditional coffee date every "fall back." It is one extra hour once a year to relax, reflect, and reconnect.  I am also excited to see what this tradition will evolve into when our family grows. For now, I absolutely treasure this time with my husband. Today we talked about what our future holds. What next after the CPA license? Should Josh pursue a real estate license? What about babies? Adoption? 

Traditions are a necessary part of life. I admire those traditions that also have meaning and purpose. I believe we stumbled upon one of those traditions this morning. 

What are your traditions?

When I am 23

Torie confidently says, "Montana has always been God's plan for me."

So when God took her to Montana to marry a farmer, Josh and I followed soon after... for a little vacation. 

We left Monday morning at 9:30am, and drove the 11 hours and the 679 miles to the Lake Five Resort in West Glacier, Montana. The Grubbs were there vacationing as it is their family tradition to camp at the Lake the week before harvest. 

This was a week for rejuvenation.

For the Grubbs, it was their calm before the chaos.
For the Warners, it was everything we had been craving.

We played Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Nerts. We mini-golfed. We ate pulled pork, steak, and tacos-in-a-bag. We sat around the campfire late at night and sat around the coffee pot early in the morning. 

But the majority of our week was spent out on the boat wake boarding. Garrett was a natural. Torie and I improved. And Josh...well...Josh entertained us all. 

Oh, and did I mention it was my birthday? My 23rd birthday began with huckleberry pancakes at the Huckleberry Patch with Grandpa Glenn and Grandma Peggy, Devra (Garrett's mom), G, T, and J. Grandpa Glenn and Garrett talked about farming, and I smiled because it reminded me so much of how my Dad and Josh sit around the table and talk baseball.











The boys wanted nothing to do with mine and Torie's plans to spend the afternoon antiquing. But Grandma Peggy was thrilled to join Torie and me and she quickly set out to find the best spots for our adventure. She was on a hunt for old schoolhouse items to include in a display at the Conrad Museum. Torie was on a hunt for an old, but working flour-sifter. I was on a hunt for all things Montana.

I could have completely bought out at least 2 of the 5 stores we rummaged, but I left with two prized possessions - a Montana license plate and an old milk can painted turquoise.  I even negotiated my milk can down 7 dollars.  I totally pulled the "It's my birthday" card.

But I think my favorite thing of the week was our early morning hike at Logan's Pass to Hidden Lake. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I always said I would get married at 23. Well here I finally am at 23, an age I have wished to be for so many years.  I've been married a year already - and even my baby sister is now married.  I'm ahead of the game and that makes me even more excited about 23. It's going to be a good year.  And I started it out the best way I knew how.

Though it wasn't easy accepting the fact that my sister would move away, it has been easy to fall in love with her new home.  Josh and I were so blessed, filled up, and renewed by our time with the Grubbs in Montana- and we hope to make it our tradition too to vacation at Lake Five every year during the week before harvest. Our harvest comes in the form of baseball tournaments - but it's all the same. Lake Five now represents our little slice of heaven, our calm before the chaos - billy-goats, huckleberry pancakes, and sun-freckles included.

I guess Montana has always been God's plan for us too. 

One Year and Counting

A lot can happen in one year.

Today, Josh and I celebrate our one year anniversary.  July 9, 2011 we said "I do" under a setting sun in the company of all our loved ones. Josh bawled as I walked down the aisle and tried to steal a kiss as my Dad gave me away. We ate pancakes, danced with all our family and friends, and let off over 50 sky lanterns into the night sky. That day still remains my favorite day of my entire life so far...






















Our first couple months of marriage were light and breezy. I spent the days lying in the sun, while Josh worked from home. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together every day.

Unfortunately, life isn't always a fairytale, and I had to start work at the end of September. Josh began coaching at Corban for fall ball and continued working from home in the mornings for Baseball Northwest.

It finally started to hit that there were bills to pay and work to be done to pay those bills. We braced ourselves for the upcoming busy season we knew was coming.

Let's put this in the nicest way possible. It's really tough to be a married baseball coach and tax accountant - and have any energy left at the end of the day for one another.  Josh would be at practice until 7 or later every evening. I came home just about the same time after a 10+ hour work day.  We'd eat whatever we could shove in our mouths the quickest, numb our brains with the TV, fall asleep, and do it all over again the next day.

During those busy months, we lost track of who we really were - individually and as a married couple. We reverted to "survival mode" and it took us about a month and a half after April 15th to really bounce back. It was a true test of our marriage - and I honestly wouldn't wish it on any newlyweds. There were countless nights of tears, frustration, and sometimes plain apathy.


Looking back on our first year of marriage, we are celebrating in a different way than I thought we would.  Believe me - we are more than thrilled that we made it - and more than thrilled to have each other for the rest of our lives - but we are celebrating this mile marker more with a sigh of relief than an exclamation of joy.

That was obvious by how we chose to spend our long weekend off "celebrating." We had originally planned to travel to Seattle to stay at Salish Lodge where we stayed on our honeymoon. But the 10 hour round trip had us contemplating the waste of a day driving... so we decided to just stay put. We spent Thursday through Sunday mostly at home - napping, lying out in the sun, finishing the last season of Lost, cleaning, loving on each other. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together every day. We woke up together and went to bed together. And even though it wasn't glorious in any fashion - it was just what my wife-heart needed.

Josh is an understanding, generous man that brings me so much comfort and so much joy. I am forever grateful for his constant support.  There are NO others arms I'd rather fall into after my long, hard days.  We're still figuring life out... but we're TOGETHER. And that's all that matters.

I love you, Warner.

1 year down. Always and forever left to go. ♥

From the Office to the Kitchen

This evening, I was washing our dishes from last night, or were those from the night before last...   thinking about how excited I am for April 17th. (That's this year's tax deadline, in case you didn't know. Really, why push it back until Tuesday the 17th? Uncle Sam couldn't do us all a favor and call the deadline Friday, April 13th?) 

I was thinking about how my tax deadline went last year.  I was at AKT then too, and by 4PM, I had completely run out of tax work to do. After asking all my in-charges, they told me just to kill time until 5.  Instead of pulling up Youtube videos like any of my coworkers would have done, I naturally, and rather subconsciously, went to the kitchen.  While in there, I emptied the dishwasher, filled it back up with dirty coffee cups, wiped down the counter, straightened up the newspapers.  

And then it hit me...

The office is not where I'm meant to be. 

In the deepest part of my soul, I am one who cleans and creates. I am not a number cruncher; I am not a brainiac; I'm not a machine. 

Almost a year later, I now see the significance of my moving from the office to the kitchen.

I grew up working in a bed and breakfast. I was the Activities Coordinator on student government. My favorite thing to do is cook dinner for my husband.  None of those things say 8-5 in front of a computer screen. Rather, they say - people-person, hospitality, coordinating, designing, creating.

While I enjoy accounting, it is not what I am passionate about. And until now, I didn't realize that it is not even what truly comes natural to me. 

But being in the kitchen won't pay the bills. 

It doesn't have medical benefits. 

It means giving up "a great job."

But that's ok.

Life is not about money. 

Life is about arms-wide-open passion for what and whom you love. 

The bills will still be here when I leave, but my soul won't. It's time for me to start taking care of my soul.

And let me tell you - my soul- she's not in the office.

Here's to finding her way out.