It’s Just a Hiatus

Oh. My. Goodness. I swear I’m still alive. I took a much-needed hiatus this summer, which was literally and figuratively filled with soaking in the sun and playing in the sand while taking breaks from the surf (and chaos).

If you took a peek at my Instagram feed (I hope you did!!), you saw the summer kicked off with the annual ladies trip to Vegas; a week later we packed and moved out of our Seattle home (yes; after living in the great, fantastic city of Seattle for 22 years, it was time to say goodbye); followed by 4 days in our Portland temp apartment before the boys and I left for our 5-week adventure back East to visit with family and friends (yes, it was an adventure; no, it was not a vacation); returned to Portland and, then a week later, moved into our new house. Smooshed in there, I worked on an assortment of client-related projects (YAY!) and we sold our Seattle home (eh-ay.).

The most popular question about the past 2.5 months I received was the following: FIVE weeks? Why?! (I guess that’s actually two questions.)

Basically it boiled down to this: Portland would’ve asked us to leave had we stayed in the apartment (as nice as it was) for the summer. Yes; we could’ve explored the city and visited every nook and cranny possible. I love my boys and know we would’ve driven each other mad in that small space, six floors up from street with a tiny balcony, and not-so-great shades in the bedrooms, which makes for two very worn out boys (and mama!) by mid-afternoon with a serious case of cabin-fever after 10 minutes of “quiet time.” (BTW: do you know how early the sun comes up in the PNW over the summer? Let me tell you: EARLY! And the boys don’t waste a single second of daylight).

Also, between placing a bid on the house a full week after we left Seattle and the move-in date, we had a six-week gap. We played it out right for our family’s well-being.

As for the hiatus, I promise I’m returning to this blog. I’ve really missed this place. Life just was too busy and this space – a space I deeply care about – had to be put on the back burner for my own well-being. I had to be realistic in asking “What will be accomplished today?” as I went through the daily checklist over the summer. Posting here was always pushed to the bottom. I needed to step away and take care of… well… of life and learn – and relearn – its many lessons.

I learned moments have to be treasured so those little things can be seen, felt and remembered, which ultimately was a lesson about being present. As cliche as it sounds, everything happens in its own time (sometimes at a snail’s pace!), which was a major lesson in patience, as well as a lesson in persistence and grace. Listening to your gut needs to rank higher than listening to other voices swirling around your head, which was a lesson in speaking up and acting upon it; not irrationally or impulsively, but with thought and care. These lessons have been hard ones to learn – and relearn – but such important ones to keep a firm hold of day in and day out.

I promise I’ll see you soon. Very soon. xo

P.S.: this lesson was definitely confirmed numerous times: