birthdays and hearts

earlier this week, john turned 36 years young. over birthday dinner, we talked about how abundant our lives are, how just a few months ago we made a tricky decision to move back to portland. and how since then, our everydays are full to the brim with activity, community, and laying down some roots. these days you can find john working long hours on our home renovation. he hasn’t shaved since starting the project and i’m not sure if i’ve ever seen him like this before. he looks like a handsome northwestern rugged man these days and i’m loving it so.

we are deeply aware of our blessings. and also how life can shift in an instant…somehow this awareness alone makes the blessings more saturated with joy. but these days, we’re just loving this time of birth. we’re having a baby, we’re creating a little bungalow home space, we’re falling back in love with portland which was the city where our relationship blossomed over eleven years ago. in so many ways, my heart feels settled.

in other news, i made a hard decision yesterday to close down the online shop until august. without a studio assistant (or a physical space to train/employ someone at the moment), i’m realizing i can’t do it all. my life is feeling so compartmentalized lately: baby/pregnancy, home reno, ecourse, everything else. at any given moment, my head is spinning inside one of those compartments! i think i underestimated how much time and energy would go into home renovation (so much research, and running errands, and decisions, and it’s happening so fast that it’s hard to stay on top of it all). i’m also feeling pulled to focus on the ecourse which is coming up so soon! and of course, all that comes with preparing to have a baby, not to mention the everyday business that comes with being self employed. choices….i’m so glad we have them. shop will be back in august with all sorts of brand new goodies….stay tuned!