One year ago my job was a mess.
And I hadn't exercised in 7 years.
And I was having severe stomach pains and migraines, completely unaware of what was causing them.
And we were making plans to move to Kansas.
I was depressed.
I am not joking.
That was one year ago, almost exactly to the date.
I don't think we stop often enough to realize and recognize the good that has happened in life. And today I just can't help but sit here, almost in near shock, as I think about everything that was going on a year ago--
--and now where we are today.

It seems like it's all very sudden-- until I realize how crazy hard the past year has been. It has been a year of settling ourselves-- mind, body, and soul.... and working our booties off to get ourselves together.
And now, officially, with my husband (the newly made Professor Sprague), we get to call Seattle our forever home.
Do you know what that means? It means the world. It means I get to wrap myself in the amazing community of friends we've made here over the last several years, and hug you all and tell you that we get to watch our kids grow up together. It means I don't have to figure out how to participate in this beautiful business painting shoes from 8 states away. It means that we maybe eventually might possibly move out of our tiny apartment, and find a little house and buy a paddle boat for the summer evenings. And adopt a dog, and have backyard birthday parties.
It means I get to watch Tyler do what he was put on this earth to do. And I get to dream of a real studio space that is larger than a computer desk.
I am in love with my job. I am in love with this city. I am in love with our YMCA and the way it has made me feel alive in my own skin again, especially through these stressful months of uncertainty and medical issues (especially recently).
Mostly, this week, I am in love with my husband who has spent the last 6 years pursuing his dream of becoming a professor at the University of Washington. He never gave up. And now, after so many years of worry-stress-uncertainty, we get to breathe, and plant our feet into the ground.
Afternoon champagne?? Yes please!