dreaming big

We have a dream. Someday we would like to move back to Montana and raise our kids in the wild, wild west and the simple lifestyle of mountains and fresh air....But we can't do it unless we can find jobs. For me, it's not a big deal. Social work pays diddily squat not matter where you go and it's needed in every big and small town across the globe. But Nathan's chosen career is a little bit harder niche to fill in Montana. There are no e-commerce, dot coms or major companies to work for with the kind of room for advancement he has at Expedia. Being the breadwinner in our family, it's a bit important that he find something comparable. So we wait. Truthfully we aren't ready for Montana yet anyway (we are enjoying the diversity, liberal mindsets and opportunities that the city offers just a bit too much right now) but when we are, we need a plan.


Enter our grand idea: Start a business. I can't say our exact business idea because I'm afraid someone else might open it before we do...and then I'd be bummed. Especially since we're years out from it so who knows what can happen. But in the mean time, a girl can dream! The business involves food, a spot on downtown Main Street, cuteness and a concept that is extremely popular in Seattle and other big cities and most likely could catch on in Montana if we did it right. If you really want to know, ask me and I'll tell you if you promise to keep your mouth shut and not steal our idea.

Nathan also has a background in business so this wouldn't be a total blind idea. I would be in charge of the fun things and he'd do the business plan and the logistics. Eventually I'd tie in social work probably by being a socially conscious business, donating to non-profits and supporting other local businesses but using them in our own company. Ohh it'd be great. And delicious. We have so many ideas floating around and would love to someday take the risk and make them a reality. I think it's a risk because Montana will never be like Seattle and might not accept a new idea...but based on how it seems to flourish in every other community I don't see why it couldn't work if we were smart about it.

Someday. Someday. :)

blogger

I want to start a blog, like a real one with a theme and sponsors who pay to have their ads scroll along the sides of the screen. I want to write for fun but get paid a little too. I want followers who watch for my updates just like I watch for the updates on many of my favorite blogs. I LOVE blogs and I love blogging...you couldn't tell from the mundane updates of this blog but I really do love to write and I would love for it to be a bigger part of my life and/or career than just journal entries here and there. But I need a topic...something consistent in my blog like home improvements or motherhood or DIY projects..But we are far too unskilled to write about home improvements, I'm not a mommy (although I am super excited to have a mommy blog when I do have the chance) and crafts are fun...but I'm not that creative...Any ideas? There's got to be something.

As much as I love social work, things are just so slow at my job that I feel like I need a creative outlet somewhere or something to add a little spunk, something that gets me as excited as social work can on a good day. I'll find it...

In the mean time I spray painted picture frames and an old bedside table yesterday. I also inadvertantly painted our sidewalk white. Oops. Hopefully we'll live here long enough for it to fade before someone is interested in buying our house. I don't know how long it takes paint to come off the ground? I also found some chairs for our formal living room and will soon order them I think. It's coming together piece by piece and I'm anxious for friends and family to see our house soon. It is still far from being exactly what I envision but I think we're getting there slowly but surely!

labor day weekend

Labor Day weekend! Yay! It's fun to have my hubby home on a Monday. Sometimes I feel like I'm a stay at home wife since I get off work so early and have so much time off...I am getting dangerously used to it. School starts tomorrow though and I am hoping and praying I get busy. I will still be off at 2:30pm and have a million days off but hopefully my 7 hours a day of work will be full of things to do! I think these first weeks will be slow, just because I am not going to pull kids from classes they've just started...but I am sure it won't take long for things to get going. I hope.

We went to the state fair last night. As you could guess, the fat kid in me was extremely excited to indulge in fair food and ohhhh I did. Years ago at the Montana state fair in Great Falls I had deep fried onion (like onion rings only an entire onion, kind of like the Bloomin' Onion at Outback Steakhouse). I have always hoped other fairs would have them but have been continually let down. Imagine my excitement when we walked up to a booth with a blinking "Onion Burst $7" sign. Ohhhhh yum.

Despite resembling a spider, it was amazing. Now I have to wait a whole year to have another! It's probably a good thing though, I am planning a long walk/run with the dog today to burn a few of those calories.

We went to the rodeo expecting a big Montana-style event but instead were in a tiny indoor arena. It was still fun though, I can't ever complain about a fair.

We also filled our weekend with a trip to Ikea, dinner with Whitney and Joey and a few more projects around the house. I am going to run out and buy paint now to cross another room off the list, yippee! I have become obsessed with home decorating and right now mostly just read about it but day by day I am trying to add new things to our's. It's a long and expensive process but over time I hope our little home eventually become cute, cozy and even magazine-worthy if I can figure it all out.

married!

I haven't blogged since the wedding! After the wedding we spent a week in Montana relaxing, came back to Seattle for a week and a half and then went back to Montana again for Logan and Eric's wedding. It was a bit of a whirlwind but soooo fun. We still have one more wedding to go to in September and already FOUR scheduled for next year. We are definitely in the season of love with all of our friends. We are going to need to start a savings account just for all the wedding gifts we'll purchase!

Our wedding was truly amazing. It was perfect. And I really do mean perfect. There was nothing that went wrong, no major issues, no weather problems...it was truly perfect...magical...wonderful. We had so much fun too. It was four days of wedding celebrations starting with my bridal shower and going through to the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding and morning after brunch. SO much fun. My only wish? That we could do it all over again. The moments went by so quickly. This is why I actually love going to other people's weddings now. We can relive all the moments from our wedding, just through our friends.

wine tasting and to-do lists

I finally got around to uploading the pictures from my bachelorette party last weekend. It was SO much fun. We went wine tasting (my first time) and then out to dinner at a really good seafood restaurant in downtown Seattle on the lake.

I loved the group of girls who were able to come with, I think we all had a really good time and I am so thankful they were all there to help me celebrate!

3 weeks until our wedding! The last minute stuff has begun. I continue to write to-do lists of tasks that can't quite yet be done yet but must be accomplished by the wedding week. I am so nervous I will forget something like order 5 extra table cloths or add another appointment for a girl to get her hair done or order the kegs Tuesday...so many details! But I think I'm on top of it. The lists are my life savers for sure. I am anxious to be home and surrounded by a team of helpers and planners and organizers who can carry us through the rest of it.

I think Nathan and I are going to go head to a movie and round out our low-key weekend (I may also convince him to make a quick stop at the Nordstrom anniversary sale...just so I can take a peek). This is actually our last weekend before the storm. Next weekend is Abbie's wedding, the next weekend we head home and the following is our wedding...AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

summer sunshine

Can I just say I love summer? Things are just so carefree and sunny and happy and FUN. We are going to Bite of Seattle this weekend which totally equals summer to me. Tons of happy people, food stands for miles, water parks, music, sitting on the grass, walking around in shorts, holding hands, taking pictures. I'm excited.

Then next weekend we are back in Montana for Abbie's wedding! Weddings also equal summer to me and obviously this summer is no exception by any means. Ahh. I am definitely looking forward to all of it...

On the home front, I got a couple samples of paint so I can re-do the yellow office (it's just way too bright and I feel guilty considering it will also be a guest room...and our poor guests will die of yellow overload) and finally paint our bedroom. The yellow is definitely a go but for our bedroom I chose two greyish blues and we cannot seem to choose which one we like better, they're both good! We also have one naked wall in our family room because we ran out of taupe color and thought it might be the perfect opportunity to throw in an accent wall...But what color accent wall!? That room is mostly neutrals, tans, browns, light blues. I was thinking a really light blue which I don't think classifies as an accent wall, but whatever. The painting never goes very quickly anyway so I'm not in a hurry because I am estimating it will be the end of August before we finally get it all finished...but I like to dream.

I also want to plant some flowers in some planters on our steps but I am very nervous about them surviving while we are gone so much this summer. When we came back last week our little pansies were completely dead. I need a timed waterer for a little flower pot, has anyone invented that?

We are going to test drive some cars for Nathan this weekend. We are sad to say we may have to get rid of the truck. It's a bummer because we love its comfort, utility and just all around greatness...but it is a terrible vehicle for commuting and that is exactly what Nathan is doing every day. He is looking at the Audi A4 which isn't exactly what I was thinking but he really wants all wheel drive while still having some sportiness and power. It also has to be comfortable for a tall guy and have four doors...because let's be realistic, we plan to keep this next car for a while and that probably means needing to use the backseat for things like...babies. So we'll see what we can find. Surprisingly the Audi A4 is only about $15 more a month for insurance which was music to my ears considering our insurance is at a great rate since it just went down again when we moved to a safer area.

the ship has sailed!

We have finally finished our wedding invitations and got the majority of them in the mail exactly at the 6 week deadline. What a relief! I love them after adding a backing to the invite and polka dot yellow envelope liners. It was a lot of extra work but my sweet hubby-to-be was a great crafting assistant. In fact, on Sunday morning he got up at 6:00am and stamped our return address on every single envelope...and beautifully too!

We are ready for this wedding! There are a few extra details to work out and then it's go time! We're pretty excited for the big day and the combination of sealing the deal forever as well as spending time with so many friends and family in our favorite place.
A lot of our friends have been taking trips and buying fun things lately and we have been bummed to not take part due to saving for a wedding and our house...but looking back I don't know if I'd do it any other way. The wait is going to be so worth it and I think coming home to OUR house is going to feel even better when we can hang a "The Johnsons" sign on the door and wake up each morning as husband and wife. I know I'm going to spend a good part of August 7 crying but it's all going to be big huge happy tears. I'm crazy in love with the boy I will call my husband and I can't wait to make it officially official. We are also BEYOND excited to be at the lake for 2 weeks basking in the sun with family and taking a little break from the stressful side of life.

It's going to be good.