This blog has always been a place to share what’s happening in my life and for many years that was almost constant travel. This past year (and maybe the last several) have stopped me in my tracks in more ways than one, making me look around at my life and… Read more
When I first moved to Portland at 18, I would sit in my apartment at night, my desk looking out over the city streets below, watching the city light up as night fell and I’d just write. I’d listen as the streetcar chimed on the tracks below, as the city… Read more
Nick is celebrating his 35th birthday today and if you’ve been reading these pages for any length of time, you’ll know that he is everywhere when you look around here on Land of Marvels. He’s in the angles of the photos taken and shared, he captures the moments the we… Read more
We made it to 2021. Honestly just that feels like an accomplishment. And with the new year, an aura of hope hangs in the air: a vaccine and a chance for humanity to get back to the things we love this year. To be honest, I think it will probably… Read more
2020 sure has been a crazy year and up until December I was telling anyone who would listen that I felt like I have aged 10 years this year. After my December so far, I feel like I’ve aged 20. The first week of December, Nick tested positive for COVID… Read more
I sit here on a rainy Saturday afternoon on November 7th, 2020 and I’m watching the scenes play out on the news around my country as people take to the streets, celebrating freedom, celebrating democracy, celebrating a historic day. Flags are waving, people coming together, hope is returning to a… Read more
You know, there are moments in life that you simultaneously wonder how you made it there and how it came so fast. Today, Nick and I celebrate ten years of marriage. This anniversary, it’s definitely one of those moments. Ten years of marriage seems like a milestone that I’m not… Read more
I turn 34 today and like many of you, this year has been a challenge. I have often joked that this year has aged me a decade and in reality, I feel a lot older than just 34, but here we are. Another year down, another year ahead and another… Read more
As I sit here writing this post, looking out the windows from my house, the sky is orange, the air heavy with a thick smoke. It smells like I’m next to a campfire, even when indoors. Ash is falling from the sky like snow. People are loosing everything they own… Read more
I have been struck several times through 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic with thoughts of how grateful I am that I pushed myself to travel so much this past decade. Never in my life did I envision a day where I wouldn’t be allowed to leave the borders of the… Read more
Over the course of the last six months while COVID stopped our lives in their tracks, while protests began and are still going, and while I started to realize that our “normal” that was gone, really was just something that we had gotten used to, the one thing that helped… Read more
Over the years of this space here on the internet, I’ve always been honest. I’ve shared when I’ve been heartbroken and when world issues are important. I’ve shared my joys and I’ve shared my struggles. And these days, like many of you I’m sure, I’m feeling a deep sadness and… Read more
This blog has always been my space to write, to bare my thoughts, to sit and let the words flow out. And I’ll be honest, this post wasn’t planned but it’s one that I needed to write, one that I had to mark here on my little space on the… Read more
I sat down a few days ago to really think through everything happening in the world right now, to assess my feelings and my emotions and just to think. The rain was pouring outside as I watched through the windows in my dining room to the street, empty of people… Read more
When I wrote out my thoughts last here on the blog, it was 4 weeks ago, right after we had gotten home from our quick trip to Hawaii. It was before the stay-at-home orders, before grocery shopping became like an olympic sport to get everything you might need to sustain… Read more