Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired

Me, 1986.

I have always been a mover-and-a-shaker. I love movies but hate sitting through them, I am almost always doing more than one thing at a time, and I freqently have my days planned out... morning to night... days, even weeks in advance. That's just how I always am. Mom used to call me "wiggle worm" because I never stopped moving.

It's not ADHD, I think I'm just trying to find something more interesting. I cant stop moving, thinking, doing. It's funny that I love yoga but I am not a true "yogi" because I do a TON of thinking during yoga class and never meditate or clear my mind or whatever crap they tell you to do.

Usually my weekends are filled with workouts, photo shoots, dates, concerts, meals, cooking, shopping, traveling. Not this weekend! I've been sick. I have what I call "30% Pneumonia". It's a lot like pneumonia but only 30% of it. This means: small fever, runny nose, phlegmmy cough. It hasn't gotten worse but it hasn't gotten better. So, to a mover-and-a-shaker like me, this is the worst. Better off dead! I'd rather be full-blown sick, forced to call off all my plans than just a little bit sick and trying to do all the stuff I want to do and feel crappy and have a bad attitude.

So, here I am with 30% pnemonia, trying to hang out with friends that last two nights in a row and it was no fun. So today I called off a day of snowboarding. (Snowboarding for 6 hours would turn 30% into 100% for sure.)

Dan named today "Artism Day". He started a blog... read it! And I finished a painting and almost finished a quilt. Go Artism Day! There's still time! What can you create today?

The Story of Us

The first photo of us.  At camp, summer 2000.

Dan and Lindsy met at church camp. Technically, we met when Lindsy was 11 or 12 and Dan was 13, but he doesn't remember her so she doesn't like to bring it up.  He was a late bloomer and paid no attention to girls.

During the summer of 2000, we both attended Senior High Camp at Camp Tapawingo in Falls City, Oregon.   Lindsy's friends were going to be late to camp (due to a trip to Europe and a cruise to Mexico).  So, Lindsy headed up to ol' Camp Tapawingo alone.  She didnt think it would be a big deal since she'd been going to this camp EVERY YEAR since she was 8.  When she showed up, she was mortified that she don't know anyone there.  Luckily, Dan noticed her.  So, on the first organized event of the evening, an ice-cream social, who rushes to sit next to her?  Dan, of course.  We laughed the entire time and talked a lot about movies.  Legend has it that later that night Dan was talking with his best friend, Jay, and was like "Did you see that girl, Lindsy, I was talking to? She's so cool." To which Jay replied, "Dan, you're going away to college."

The first couple days of camp we were together as often as possible at a conservative "no purple" camp. (Boys are blue, girls are pink, together they make purple). When Lindsy's friends showed up, she was torn between girl time and Dan time.  Dan wasn't torn.  He wanted to spend every possible second with her.  The week ended with a photo together, a hug, and an exchanging of phone numbers and email addresses.

We saw each other again that summer and he did go to college. We were "pen pals" (via e-mail) for a full year until the summer of 2001 when Lindsy announced that she was going to Taylor University also.  We told each other we liked each other.  I think we liked each other so much that we knew that if we started dating this would be it.  We would get married.

In the dorms.

We went on our first date September 15, 2001.  We said "I love you" just a few weeks later.

Dan proposed to Lindsy on his 22nd birthday and we got married 5 months later on August 23, 2003.  We had a big wedding with about 250 guests at the church Lindsy grew up at, Dan's dad officiated, and then we had a rockin' reception at Cedars Golf Club in Vancouver, Washington.

A lot of people think that getting married young will hold you back.  We think that in our situation it did the complete opposite. We have traveled the world together, lived in France and Canada and Chicago, renovated two houses, made some amazing friends, and helped each other through some of life's most depressing and difficult moments.  We attempt to seize the day, every day and we always try to support each others dreams.

And we are determined to live happily ever after....

Photo by Jade Ehlers Photography, 2012.

Caffeinated Beverages and UNO

This is Ben turning his flannel into a 
"deep-V" after giving Brittny his undershirt. 
Classic.

Last night I was at the new Metronome Coffee, formerly Origin 23. It's on 6th Ave and Union, right by the house that I own but don't live in. Last night was precious and definitely boosted my mood. Dan's been gone two weeks - and gets home TONIGHT!!! - and while he's been gone it's been a "crap storm" over at our house. Flooding, new gutters, more flooding, angry tenants, hiring a handyman. It was awful.

So, last night, a bunch of my pals got together at Metronome. As far as I know, it was a pretty spontaneous idea. Surprisingly, we were all free! A rare occasion. We were being really silly and I love that. A bunch of kids in their late twenties playing UNO in a coffee shop. Maybe it was the caffeinated beverages (Coffee Stout/ Tea) or the ambiance or maybe it had just been too long since we all had some good, clean fun but we had a blast.

Andy kissing Sam's probably-broken thumb

Dewey and I hiding behing our UNO cards

Sam

Brittny, being lovely

Blogs should be written on paper

I guess I am going to try and blog more. Right now, I have THREE followers and zero comments. Unless it gets better in... let's say...3 weeks... I will quit altogether. Maybe not delete it but just let it sit. Afterall, having a blog attached to your website helps your websites' Google ranking/web traffic/ all that jazz. [This information is courtesy of Josh at Ainsworth Studio.]

Okay, so I changed the blog header to be a little more about me than about other peoples weddings.

1) paint/art, pretty self explanatory
2) me taking photos - duh, it's a photography blog
3) the wine corks represent food and wine (maybe some resturant reviews????!!!)
4) me and my husband, Dan. He is a traveling musician in THIS BAND.
5) books. I like 'em. I've got a degree in Religion/Theology with a minor in English (Lit.)

................I guess I left out music but that can be part of the 'art' photo. I also left out yoga, cooking, running, and my faith. All these things make me. I've always struggled with not having a definition. Growing up I played viola, I played softball, I did a little bit of choir and theater. You know you have those friends that you're like, "This is Ben, he's a longboarder" or "This is Brittny, she's a writer"? I never had that. I kind-of wrote a poem about this last night, on paper, in my journal.

Nothing defines me

Mediocre or, at most, "GOOD"

at many things

Writing, Photography, Running,

Painting, Theology, Cooking, Music.

Nothing defines me because I'm just good

Good, not great

Not "nothing"

perhaps everything

Every one of these things makes me who I am

That's the worst poem ever written. It's more like the scribblings of an insomniac at 2am. So, here we go to 2011. A year of blogs, hopefully some happiness and restoration, art and beauty.... and whole lotta fun!

Cheers.

Photo of the Day / Reclaiming 2011

May I bear my soul to you? It's a blog, that's what blogs are for. Okay, to be completely honest, I am embarrased to announce that I spend a lot of time looking at my own Facebook page (self-centered, I know). I hate it.  I am constantly worrying about what kind of person I am portraying to : a) my family, b) people I used to go to church with, c) my real friends, d) my acquaintances and e) people I went to high school with. Instead of compartmentalizing my life I am going to be "me" all the time. So, now that I have granted myself this freedom, I get to go wild.

Anyway, my photography is really really important to me. I've been spending a lot of time playing music and learning new instruments that I just haven't put a lot of effort into my photography. And, as a previous post stated, 2010 was the worst year ... EVER. So, I wanted to use Facebook for something that is "me". Something to remember 2011 and make it a better year than last year. Thus, I started a "365" project on Facebook. I would have done this project via Blogger but I just dont have the time to login and open a new blog page and wait for the photos to upload (which takes FOREVER on Blogger and like 3 seconds on Facebook).

It's not that hard to take a photo. However, in the last 24 days my eyes have been renewed. I'm looking for art everywhere. I'm trying to create moments that warrant being added to the "Photo of the Day" project. If I just worked the ol' 9 to 5 and hit up the gym and then watched a movie what would I take a photo of?!!? My computer screen? BORRRRRRING.

I'm creating memories.

Looking for beauty and art.

Attempting to inspire myself.

Oh yeah, here's the link to the PHOTO OF THE DAY!  You probably have to login to see that. I dont know.  And, since this is a photo blog... here are a few of my favorite Photos of the Day, thus far....

Reflecting on "the Worst Year of my Life"

Christmas came and went. New Years came and went. Here I sit, reflecting on one of the worst years of my life. Dan went from full time youth ministry to being a full time musician. This means he plays 150 concerts a year and none of them are local. He's on the road about 2 weeks of every month. In addition to my life partner being gone half of the time, my parents separated, we moved twice, my job and circle of friends shifted, gained a few pounds, lost half of our income, gave away our dog.

But I'm not the type to throw a pity-party.

There were many highlights including Dan's brothers wedding in Rhode Island, Dan & I explored Boston for a couple days, I got to tour with Dan to California twice, we were in France in February for a very cool camp and got to spend some time in Germany. Here are some more highlights....

I ran another half marathon, this time with my best friend in the whole world! (The last half marathon I ran was in 2005!)

We live in a RAD loft in downtown Tacoma. Our house is being paid for and lived in by some pretty cool girls who go to University of Puget Sound. We love it here in the loft and want to stay FOREVER. In case you were wondering, "FOREVER" is not a word that Dan and I are comfortable with. We've moved about 6 times in the last 7 years. Anyway, we LOVE the loft.

My husbands' band is killin it! They've been touring consistently for a year and playing with some huge bands and lovin every minute of it. We're so pumped for 2011 to see where this will go.

We celebrated 7 years of marriage in August. SEVEN YEARS! I can't believe it. We continue to enrich each others lives every day. I never regret marrying so young. I couldn't have picked a better partner to navigate through the craziness of life with. Anyway, our anniversary was pretty low key. We went to Stanley and Seaforts, our favorite restaurant, and then cracked open our new (to us) season 4 of The O.C.! This season was aired while we were in France so we'd never seen any of it. We started at the beginning of 2010 with seasons 1, 2, and 3 and our anniversary seemed like the perfect time to FINALLY start season 4. It was amazing, by the way. If you've never seen The O.C. it's not too late to start.

With all this traveling and uncertainty, we made the decision to re-home our best little dog-friend, Bisou. She was so unhappy when we moved out of our house; she missed Dan, she missed her yard, she drove me CrAzY! Our new building doesn't allow dogs anyway. So now she's running around on a acreage with a few other dog friends, having the time of her life. So, it sucks for us but it's much better for her. It's friends-of-a-friend so we check up on her lots! We miss her and think of her often but know that we are not ideal parents at this crazy time in our lives.

Another highlight is that I took a 30-day Vegan challenge in the month of September and haven't turned back. I feel good and even though it's hard sometimes - especially when we travel - I feel like I'm doing something good for my body and good for animals. A book I have says that by eating vegan you're saving the lives of 60 animals a year. I think that's something to be proud of. It's also opened up a new world of cooking for me! I love trying new things and Dan, although he's not made the choice to be vegan and probably never will, has been VERY supportive and LOVES the food I make.

I'm probably forgetting many many things but that's all for now. Looking forward to booking som weddings and taking more photos and hopefully some more travels, finances pending. Thanks to everyone for your love and support this year! Let's have some fun in twenty-one-one!