oh, hi.

wow, i don't know if i've ever gone this long without blogging! wanted to let you all know i am still alive and well. finding it hard to keep up with the blog world while i prepare for this enormous transition that is just around the corner. but i definitely miss it and feel very much out of the loop. come tomorrow, august 1st, it will be moving month {we leave august 24th}. i had to pause for a moment after typing that and stare blankly at my screen. you guys, it still doesn't seem real and i guess it just won't until we're there. i have lived here {in the mitten state} for nearly my entire life, and i am moving 2,400 miles away. i just can't wrap my head around it. but i will say that, though the moments of overwhelming sadness/shock/i feel like balling my eyes out are starting to hit, overall i am still feeling really excited for this new chapter. there is SO much to look forward to.

thought i'd share a few of my favorite instagrams of life since you last heard from me. it has been rather full. we have had a 4-day yard sale in the hot, hot heat and moved out of our house & into my parents. we've traveled to the Denver area for my friend's wedding {for which i was a bridesmaid & joel played music} & then to Manitou Springs for some majestic sight-seeing at Garden of the Gods & Pike's Peak. i finally figured out my work situation for after the move. we visited my sister & brother-in-law (and their new pup) across the state and spent a weekend up north with my in-laws. we sent out a bajillion emails to prospective rentals in Portland, filled out multiple applications, paid multiple fees, stressed the freak out, and THANK THE LORD, secured a place to live (woot woot - more on that later). with LOTS of time spent with family and friends in between, some good memories for sure. there has not been a dull moment during these last days in Michigan. hopefully the rest will be just as sweet.