only a lifetime

I'm back home, despite these photos' deceptive location.  I'm not sure when I'll have another excuse to go up to Juneau, so I'm glad I got some photos on the beach.  I think these types of beaches are so much more interesting than sandy, tropical beaches, though the latter are much more appropriate for sunbathing.  Tacoma has a couple similar, albiet less rural, beaches (like the one where we took our wedding photos and where I did these family portraits), but it's so much more work to get in the car and drive there, than just walk a hundred feet out the back door.
It's good and weird to be home.  Like a good procrastinator I haven't done our taxes yet, so I'm only slightly freaking out about tackling that project.  It looks like we've got a couple sunny days this week, so I really want to finish painting the house, too.  It's gonna be a busy two weeks! dress/courtesy of lace affair :: top (similar) + belt/thrifted :: cardigan (similar)/gap boots (similar)/target :: necklace/courtesy of moorea seal tights/courtesy of the stylish fox :: jacket/courtesy of asianicandy I am glad I got to go up and spend a week with my grandparents as an adult.  It's definitely a different experience talking to and hanging out them as a grown up.  Since they lived a plane ride away, we always were with my parents when we visited them, even when I was older.  I know a lot of people are closer with extended family members and grandparents because they live close by.  Dan's Aunt and Uncle are grandparents and it's so cool to see how often they get to see their grandkids.  I know my mom wants to be nearby whenever Dan & I end up having kids (oh, btw if you didn't see, my pregnancy announcement today was an april fools...no baby on the way!).
My grandma has kept so many things from their life together.  She has boxes full of letters, from friends, family, and my grandpa.  My grandpa commercial fished for over 50 years, which meant that he was gone for summers, and would write her letters.  I read a few, trying to get an idea of what they were like when they were younger and in love.  I saw one letter that he signed, "love forever, Martin" and I teared up thinking about how he really has.  They've been married for almost 62 years.  They can barely hear each other and argue a lot (mostly because they can't hear each other), but when they said love forever, they meant it in a way that is more moving now at 92 years old than any emotional, romantic love story.  We tend to think of love stories as these great sweeping romances filled with passion and sensuality, but that's such a limited, stunted, and damaging way to view love.  I can only hope, and work as hard as I can, to have a love like theirs.  Not a love remembered by crazy, wild passion (though that's nice too), but a love remembered by devotion so deep it can only be expressed over a lifetime.  

a new little notch

Just kidding.  No babies.  Though, the dog would be nice.  This is my grandma's birth announcement for my dad...

the forest through the trees

When I decided to come up to Juneau, I didn't know how long I would stay, so I only got a one-way ticket.  Luckily I brought a white lace dress, which I'll be remixing again today to go to Easter service with my grandparents (I've styled it twice already in the last week, haha).  I thought about wearing this denim dress for Easter, but I think the white one feels more "Easter-y".  As far as dresses go, though, this denim dress does have a bit of a Juneau vibe to it.  My grandparents go to the early service, and I'm a bit of a zombie (hah, just like Jesus, amirite?) at that hour.  This girl is never going to be a morning person, and whoever decided that morning was a time that any type of worshiping was going to happen, except for that of my pillow, is a crazy person.  Sorrynotsorry almost-every-church-in-existence.  Lucky for me, I'm pretty sure God both a morning person and a night-owl, but someone needs to convince the rest of the church-world that that is the case, if they have any hope of getting me to attend.  Uh, on that note, Happy Easter! dress/dainty june courtesy of modcloth ::  scarf + belt/thrifted tights/target :: boots (similar)/courtesy of blowfish shoes I love these temperate rainforests of the Southeast and Pacific Northwest.  The huge trees covered in mosses are so majestic, and I especially love how they come right down to the beach and meet the sea.  My Dad's treehouse is still up in the trees, though decidedly less safe looking than I imagine it used to.  They had a big zipline from his treehouse to the neighbor kid's treehouse, so much fun!  I always wanted a treehouse, but we never lived somewhere with big enough trees like these.  Trees are a bit more spindly up in Anchorage where the winters are harsher and it isn't nearly as rainy.  Still, we made tons of forts and instead of 'house' we'd play 'bush family' and we'd go out and "fish" and "hunt" and "tend to wounds" by making "salves and bandages" out of crushed leaves and grasses and such.  The house I lived in as a kid had a large greenbelt behind it between our house and a lake, and between our house and the neighbor's was a vacant lot, so we had lots of land, mostly forested, to run around playing all kinds of games and going on lots of tiny adventures.  Not quite as epic as this forest and beach, but the next best thing.

north to the future

Another casual Juneau outfit.  I was thinking how it'd be awesome if it was summer so I could find more sea creatures on the beach, and then I realized that these photos would've been taken at 10 pm if it was summer, in order to get this kind of lighting.  It's fun having the sun out later, but summer nights in Tacoma are nothing like the midnight sun in Alaska.  At least in Tacoma it actually gets dark so you can get a good 4th of July fireworks show.  It's almost not even worth it in AK!  I remember we used to do 4th of July out at our cabin, and we'd have to wait until it was pretty late for any firework shows to happen, and even then it was only like dusk, never pitch black.  Our cabin was on an island in a lake, and one of the hotels on the lake would put on a firework show and everyone would boat in to watch it.  It was so much fun sitting on the bow of our boat at midnight, all curled up in blankets watching the fireworks.  I'm sure it was a relatively amateurish show (the "hotel" that put it on was more like a motel... and it was in the Valley, so not really highfalutin if you know what I mean), but nothing could beat bobbing around in your boat watching the show as a kid.  Last year we watched the big firework show put on out in front of Tacoma, which is also right on the water, and tons of people were out there bobbing around in their boats watching the show.  The show itself was a huge professional show, but I imagine there were kids sitting on the bow of one of those boats, wrapped in a blanket oohing and ahhing at the show.  I suppose it's a bit early to be thinking about 4th of July festivities.

plaid (similar)/courtesy of free people :: tank/courtesy of lulu's :: jeans/courtesy of modcloth

shoes/minnetonka :: jacket/courtesy of asianicandy

I've been spending this past week with my grandparents, and it's so strange to think about aging.  Hearing stories of my grandparents when they were young and spry, and seeing them so old is an interesting juxtaposition.  I run up and down stairs without a thought and am doing my workouts every night and just walking around is a lengthy ordeal for them, and usually they are out of breath after any little trip.  When you're young it's the furthest thing from your mind, but one day I'll be that old and slow moving.  Assuming I make it that far (My grandparents turn 92 this year, wowza).  It's almost impossible for my mind to imagine these people being my age, or me being their age.  It's all in pictures, frozen in time.  Maybe one day my grandkids will look at this blog and see young-me clambering around on beach rocks, talking about doing Insanity, and won't be able to picture my grey-haired self able do to more than scoot around with a walker.  Even thinking about my parents being that old is difficult.  I must say, though, that I will be sad if my kids never get to know my grandparents, which they probably won't, unless they keep living for quite some time (though they are some rather hardy folks.  Hard to kill, those ones, and not for lack of trying.  They're like cats with nine lives!).  My grandma was making a little easter basket for a friend's daughter, and I thought about how my kids will probably never get an easter basket made by her.  She could craft the pants off of any one of the best DIY bloggers out there today.  Her craft room is a sight to behold.  She has file cabinets full of clippings from craft magazines.  She can barely see and was sewing up a little stuffed bunny rabbit to put in the basket, and made handmade chocolate covered coconut "eggs" as well.  I swear, she'll craft till the day she dies.

Q + A // staying motivated to blog

For me, the key to being motivated to blog is to keep it enjoyable.  I want my blog to be something that I enjoy doing, not a hassle or a chore.  I figure if I'm enjoying creating the content, it's probably more likely that readers will enjoy it too.

I'm not the kind of blogger who has every post planned out for the next two weeks.  I often don't know what I'm going to post the next day.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing... but so far I have never been able to come up with a system that works for scheduling things out more than a week in advance.

  Create regular features that you enjoy writing.  Things I love Thursday, Friday Wishlist, Weekly Wrap-up, etc.  I like to do Q&A posts once a week and Remix Archives posts on the weekends, and then fill in with outfit posts, recipes, and other posts.  Some people have every day of the week scheduled with a specific type of post.

  Read other blogs that inspire you.  I enjoy reading other blogs that inspire me to be a better blogger.  Whether it's great features, improving my photography, getting better at writing, etc, reading other blogs that are high-quality can inspire you to get better at blogging!

  Find something you enjoy posting.  Don't blog things just because everyone else is doing it.  If you don't like doing outfit posts, you don't have to do them!  There's no rule out there stating you have to post certain types of things.  The blogosphere is full of readers with an infinite amount of varying interests.  You're a totally unique person, so let that shine through in your blogging.  You'll enjoy blogging more if you're being yourself, rather than trying to be someone else just because they're a "big successful blogger."


  Take time to brainstorm.  Take the inspiration that you've gathered from other bloggers and re-imagine it in your own way for your blog.  Create a notebook for your blog where you can write down ideas for new blog posts or new features.
  Interview other bloggers!  Not only is this a fun way to feature other bloggers, but it's also a great way to gain more readers!  Oftentimes when you feature a blogger, they'll tweet about the interview telling their readers to go check it out, so those people who weren't aware of your blog have now been introduced to it via the interviewed blogger.
  Don't stretch yourself too thin.  A sure way to feel burnt out about blogging is to put too much on your plate.  I oftentimes find myself wanting to do everything, but I know that if I do my own blog will suffer.  Find a balance between taking on projects and knowing how much time you need to create quality content on your own blog.  This might mean turning down opportunities now and then, but ultimately your sanity is more important.  This is especially important for those of you who blog on top of a full time job or school.  Know that the most important thing in life is your relationships, not blogging, and if blogging is keeping you from giving enough time to your relationships, dial it back a bit.
  Remember the real world!  Step away from the computer, take a technology-vacation, just get away.  It's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of the internet, and all its trappings... pinterest, twitter, facebook, social sites, checking email, writing emails... I always find that when I take a break from blogging and step away from the laptop, I regain some of my sanity and my life recalibrates.  Don't let blogging make you into a crazy person!  It can do that, I promise.
  Think about things about which you can share your expertise.  Makeup maven?  Share some of your favorite makeup, or do a tutorial on how to get a specific look.  Love doing hair?  Share hair tutorials, or your favorite products.  Love to cook?  Share your favorite recipes.  Love where you live?  Feature your favorite local spots.  DIY queen?  Show us how it's done!  The list can go on, but you get the idea.

  Create a space that inspires you to blog.  As an artist and graphic designer, creating a comfortable and inspiring space is important to me, and my blog is no different.  One of the first things I did when I started my blog was to customize my blog design to reflect my personality and make it more aesthetically pleasing.  No offense, blog platforms, but your standard blog layouts?  Kind of ugly and boring.  Luckily there are tons of tutorials out there that you can google if you're up for DIYing your design, and if you're too overwhelmed, there are tons of blog designers who would be happy to help you create a beautiful space!
  Get inspired by the seasons.  There are always a ton of fun things to share with each season.  Whether it's your favorite new collections from the runway, fun DIY projects for seasonal holidays, recipes
  For me, what's most important in keeping motivated is blogging for myself.  There will always be people who either love or hate what you're doing (some more vocal than others).  If you try to change how you blog every time someone voices an opinion about what/how you're blogging, you'll go crazy. Your head will become a knot of other people's opinions mixed up with your own desires for what you want to blog.  Be honest, be genuine, and if someone doesn't like what you're doing then they are free to leave and find other blogs they do enjoy!