Two Years

Today marks two years since Andy and I officially joined forces. In one sense, it seems like its been a lifetime, but on the other hand, time could probably slow down a bit.

Life moves fast, as anyone will tell you. There are so many highlights realms that I replay in my mind — moments of pure joy that cause me to reminisce — but in truth, those memories are just fleeting moments of a much larger reality. We travel together and we dream big. But for each milestone moment, there are many more that are simple.

A good morning kiss.
Dancing in the kitchen to Indie folk music.
Silence around a fire.
Cuddling.
A rom com on a Friday night.
New experiences.
Weirdly finishing each others sentences.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the rush of doing, that we sometimes forget to just be. At least, I know I’m guilty of this. So much of my energy and focus can be spent on the next big thing— growing our saving account, the next international trip, finishing school, etc. Those moments bring joy and a sense of satisfaction, of course, but there will always be something to accomplish next. What I know gives me the most happiness is the time in between, I just need to be present enough not to miss those moments, because they move quick.

‘Waiting’ can mean you miss out on what’s right in front of you. So it will probably be really worthwhile for me to stop waiting and start enjoying.

That’s the journey of discovering. The freedom to choose. To establish your own boundaries within your relationship. To find what’s important, what you value most and how you want to live your life with intention.

We have no idea where we will be in a few months, never mind years. But I know whether I am on a beach or in the middle of another New England winter, choosing a life filled with love is the greatest gift I have been given.

Taking a trip down memory lane…

(so many individual photos, because we aren’t good at using tripods)

This weekend we are off to do what we do best and explore Acadia National Park in Maine where the reception is weak and the stars are strong. Cheers to new experiences, all of em’.

It’s a wonderful life with you by my side
All of our friends, feet in the sand
Beneath the stars it never ends
And we got no explanation cause there's no expectations
Just beautiful faces and nowhere to go

Good things come in threes, right? I’m sure this year will be the best one yet. XO

P.S. Wedding photos captured by the lovely Root and Bud.

Asthma + Life Lately

The third week in September is notoriously considered peak week here in Massachusetts, a term I had never heard before this year. It’s the week that asthma and allergies require the most hospitalization. And to my surprise, I became one of those statistics, landing myself in the hospital right during the middle of peak week.

After about 4 weeks of dealing with a chronic cough, post-nasal drip and fatigue, my cough progressed into recurrent asthma attacks resulting in a hospitalization with a heavy (and continued) dose of steroids. I’m finally on the mend, have most of my energy back and am feeling grateful that I have access to medicine yielding this experience an inconvenience rather than a death sentence. 

I haven’t suffered from allergies in about 12 years, but things change. It is most likely why I didn’t suspect allergies to be the culprit until it was a little too late. I pushed a little too far for a little too long. It scared me, to say the least. I usually take pride in my health and this experience definitely brought me to a point of surrender and vulnerability that I haven’t quite experienced before. My lungs felt like they were failing me and until you can’t breathe, it’s hard to understand how much of a blessing sufficient airflow is. I was left feeling grateful, more than anything.

From what I understand, there is a threshold to asthma. Our lungs can only tolerate and filter so much until our body goes into overdrive. During peak week allergies are at a season high, putting those with asthma at an increased risk. I don’t know fully what triggered my attacks yet, but I suspect the main culprit will be ragweed. As to the whole threshold theory, I am curious what other environmental irritants I could potentially be breathing in on a day to day basis. Dust, air quality concerns, fragrances, etc.? Pollen and air pollution are not things I can control, but it has definitely left me thinking of the things I maybe could.

I originally went down the natural home path to avoid unnecessary exposure to chemicals (don’t we get enough as is?) and to lighten the toxic load of my surroundings— but intuitively I feel like it makes sense that chemicals we breathe would cause our lungs to become irritated and inflamed over time, making it more likely that seasonal allergies would be the tipping point. Since the hospital stay, I have done a bit of minimizing (bye-bye dust) and removed the final remaining store-bought cleaners from my cabinets. It leaves me feeling like I am doing what I can in a highly uncontrollable world. Here’s a few final thoughts…

+ Introduce plants to filter air quality 

Plants filter the air, removing toxins that typically get released from wall paint, plastics, furniture, etc.

+ Use non-toxic cleaners

Consider swapping out store-bought cleaners for homemade ones with non-toxic ingredients.

+ Less things = less dust

Simply put.

I am clearly not a pulmonologist or an allergist, but I think removing as many environmental irritants as possible (aka what we breathe in) just makes sense to me. I obviously have more to discover in relation to my breathing, but feel like I am at least on the right path towards discovery now.