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Three years and four months ago, we moved to Northampton, Massachusetts. Pat was headed to UMass Amherst to finish a degree, and I was job-hunting after finishing my Masters program at SUNY Albany.

Our decision to head to Massachusetts was based on school, and our desire to live somewhere different for awhile. In the months leading up to our move, I started to worry. I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave Albany. I liked life there. I had a good group of friends, I knew the area like the back of my hand, I liked being near our families, I was feeling settled. I was sad about leaving all that, and the idea of moving to a place where we knew hardly anyone was scary. Finding a job in a place where I had no connections was proving to be very hard. At one point, after a trip to MA to check out apartments, I cried in the car on the Mass Pike. I wanted to put the brakes on the plan to move and keep things exactly as they were.

But we didn’t. We found an apartment that we loved, we packed a truck, and with the help of many reliable and strong friends, we moved our life to a new town in a new state. Not terribly far, but all of it new.

I took a job as a nanny while I looked for a ‘real’ job. In my free time I biked all the trails around town, I explored the shops on Main St, we tried the restaurants that we could walk to from our apartment. I missed Albany, but this place was growing on me. There were mountains visible where ever I went, the sky was unlike any other, the people were laid back, the attitude was right up my alley.

Slowly, this became home, and a lot of life happened here. We met some of our best friends, I found a job, we adopted a kitten, we invested in an air mattress which was used by visitors from near and far, we got engaged, we played trivia, we planned a wedding, we moved to another town, we celebrated the election of President Obama with dancing in the streets of Northampton, Patrick grew a beard (and a few months later, shaved it off), we had a winter of potlucks, we found community, I ran races, Pat helped grow a business, we took classes, Pat graduated, we developed our cooking skills, I had a Girl Scout troop, we climbed mountains, and we fell in love with this valley.

So why would we ever decide to move away from so much that was good? It wasn’t an easy decision, but I’ll tell you all about it in the next post.

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all photos by me except the last one, by Patrick.

Last month, we spent our first wedding anniversary having our potential new home inspected.

Yep, we’re in the process of buying a house! It’s thrilling and terrifying and exciting and stressful and eeee!

The house (not quite ours yet, but close) is in Albany. While we absolutely love the Pioneer Valley and our friends here, our grand plan was always to settle in our hometown. We’ll be within a few miles of both sets of parents, and we’ll be able to give back to a city that is near and dear to our hearts (and maybe we’ll get to attend some of those famous All Over Albany events!).

This is something we’ve dreamed about and worked towards for a long time- it’s surreal to be in the midst of it. The next month promises to be bonkers, with packing and goodbyes and moving and painting and leaving my job and starting a new one. Stay tuned for more…

“Life is too short to waste. Dreams are fulfilled only through action, not through endless planning to take action.” ~D. Schwartz

I love this idea. We adopted a number of antique cameras from Pat’s uncle, and my dad has a rather impressive collection of his own. My dad’s sat on a family room shelf when I was a kid, and occassionally I’d get him to show me how they worked, but for the most part both collections just sit in a box. This display idea is so whimsical and fun– I love the playfulness of framed cameras, poised to take your photo. And look! A neon pink 110!

p.s. After trying both, I’m declaring Vi.sualize the image bookmarking winner over We Heart It – it’s just much easier to sort and find images once they’re bookmarked. My Vi.sualize page of collected images is here.

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(Image via Houzz)

Sunday night I made butternut squash soup.

Monday night it was potato leek soup.

And there is a batch of tomato black bean soup cooking the day away in our slow cooker at this very moment.

It’s just that kind of week- gray and chilly, the trees quickly becoming skeletons, and a need for coziness in full swing.

One Strap Baby Booties
Originally uploaded by mon petit violon

I have a number of friends expecting babies this winter and spring, which seems like a perfect reason to dive back into some crochet projects. Conveniently, baby projects also tend to be small, and small/quick projects will be the key to me finishing anything this autumn and winter!

I have a Webs gift card (courtesy of Meg and Steve) burning a hole in my pocket- this might be the perfect excuse to buy a new crochet book.

(How adorable are these booties? I think I could handle making a few pairs of these for the little ones!)

On Sunday I ran a 5k on a very cold, rainy, windy morning. I made myself go- I had already paid the registration fee, and I was meeting two friends there. But I soooo didn’t want to go. I sooo wanted to stay in bed.

But I went. I bundled up and I ran. Along with a couple hundred other brave souls, I ran past a 1700s-era cemetery, through muddy fields, and alongside tractors, all the while the wind gusts smacked and rain pelted against my skin. And I crossed the finish line with my fastest time since 2003 (and only 5 seconds off that time, my true personal record).

Patrick bundled up too and cheered me on, took pictures, was the great supporter he always is. It made the miserable conditions much more bearable. He even bought me a bagel, soup, and a chai latte at Woodstar afterwards.

I’m glad I got out of bed- and glad I got to spend the rest of the day on the couch, under blankets, sipping tea and eating brownies.

My friend Holly, a fab cook, a mom to two cool girls, and a great Girl Scout co-leader, has started a food blog. It’s witty and educational, and the recipes look tasty (I have yet to make any, but I plan to try the Rice-Stuffed Acorn Squash ASAP.) I’ve had Holly’s food (and beverage) at various parties, and it’s always creative and delicious.

Go read about Holly’s kitchen conquests and feel inspired! Her blog is here.

With recent engagement announcements (exciting!), upcoming weddings to attend (also exciting!), and our first anniversary on the horizon (exciting and whoa nelly!), I’ve been thinking a lot about marriage.

We’ve been married for nearly 11 months. And after 10 years of unmarried togetherness (including 3 years of co-habitation), what’s the difference?

Planning our wedding, getting married surrounded by our loved ones, and embarking on this journey has been for us about renewed and fortified commitment to our relationship– this thing that is bigger than either of us. There is him, there is me, and there is The Marriage. It doesn’t shout about it or take up room on the couch; it’s a subtle thing, but it’s ever-present. We’ve always been a strong team and we’ve worked hard at good communication, but by entering into this larger whole our relationship has grown up a bit. Things have shifted in subtle but important ways.

Marriage sometimes (ok, often) gets a bad rap. Ball-and-chain, giving up your freedom, entering a life of boredom, something like prison, blah blah blah. But I’ve found just the opposite. Marriage, in the way that we’ve entered it, is freeing. It has freed us to dream big, to plan concretely, to rise above little things that used to butt in. Being boyfriend-girlfriend, and then fiancés, I thought I was feeling the full joy of Us. But that was just a taste. This marriage has brought me a joyfulness I never felt before. Every morning I wake up and see his head next to mine and I am giddy (even if that head is snoring a bit). On top of the love and happiness we’ve always felt together, there is a new bliss and excitement and I-can’t-believe-I-get-to-be-married-to-you joy in our lives. It’s not something we take for granted- the marriage deserves our attention and nurturance and gratitude. Things aren’t perfect, no way- that would be creepy. We have arguments and grumpy moments and I take bad moods out on him when I shouldn’t (working on it…), but we get through to the other side. Above all of it, the little things and the bigger, is our Marriage, enveloping us and elevating us- as a couple and as individuals.

Yes, for us marriage is different. It is the most important thing I’ve ever been a part of.

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For some good thoughts on marriage:

Meg’s Practical Wedding posts on the topic.
Laura Munson’s thought-provoking New York Times article on her own marriage and a love that is strong, patient, and unconditional.
Cate’s post on how marriage freed her.
Sara’s Successful Relationship series is good as well as this post- It’s about the Marriage Not the Wedding.

And on the lighter side, Real Simple’s answers to “What is the Secret to a Good Marriage?”

p.s. Best wishes to Meg of A Practical Wedding who gets married on Sunday. Her blog brought sanity to my own wedding planning– I can’t wait to read about her wedding experience!

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photo 1 by flickr user h.koppdelaney
photo 2 by Upstate Photographers

A few months ago I had one of those websurfing days where one link led me to another led me to another. I mean, I have those days all the time, but I’m telling you about this one particular time when a friend‘s Facebook page linked to a memorial page for one of her high school teachers. Something made me click it, which led me to a speech given at SUNY Potsdam by this teacher, Kathleen Sipher. I never knew her, but the text of that speech has stayed with me. You can read the whole thing, entitled A Survivor’s Story, here (I recommend it, for sure).

The following bit in particular has popped into my head more than once recently, when I’ve had to make similar choices (and don’t we all, everyday?):

“My husband is a morning person – he gets up promptly every day at 4 am. No alarm clock, no struggle to wake up. I’m definitely not a morning person – I was voted off the breakfast table by my family long before the show Survivor. Anyway, this morning at 4:30, my husband woke me up to tell me about this great meteor show going on. He said he’d seen dozens of meteors and did I want to get up and see it? Well, that bed was so warm and cozy and I was so happily sleeping that I told him to go watch it and tell me about it later. So he went away and I tried to go back to sleep. Then it hit me. I had to pee! Damn! I tried to put it off, to ignore it, but I finally just had to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. And while I was up, I looked out the picture window and saw him sitting in the hot tub and I then I noticed several shooting stars. So, I just gave in, put on my suit, and ran out in the 20-degree cold air to jump into the hot tub. We sat back in the warm water and counted the shooting stars we saw – in 45 minutes we saw over 500. It was absolutely awesome – better than the 4th of July.

So I guess the lesson from this little story is again that you shouldn’t give up happiness for pleasure. Being in that bed was so warm and pleasurable. And I almost gave in to it. But I would have missed an opportunity that is once in a lifetime.”
-Kathleen Sipher