one year ago.

i am feeling nostalgic, grateful, and reminiscent. one year ago, i gave my notice to work that i would not be returning from maternity leave. not every day is good, but there is good in every day. forever thankful to gabe for supporting me, especially when i say "today was not good." the long and the short of it- yes, i love being a stay at home mom and yes, i miss working and and yes, some days i feel unfulfilled and yes, most days i feel like i'm the luckiest girl in the world and yes, i will work again in some capacity at some point in the near future and yes, i'm not using my degree and yes, this is the most important work i have ever, will ever, and could ever do. and yes, this was very very difficult to write so i'm throwing in a video of baby Sloane both to mark the anniversary & for good measure in hopes of non-judgement.

Gesundheit. from jenny martin on Vimeo.

fish out of water.

why we live in scottsdale, simplified.

gabe moved here from miami when he was 13. he liked it. our paths crossed at work in miami when we were 23. gabe wanted to move back to the dessert. i was obsessed with him and thought this adventure sounded fun. we hopped in a car with a beagle, and i was landlocked in a city i'd never seen before. my first reaction: "this is it?" hmph. some 8 years, many occupations & endless conversations about why we live so far from my family, the ocean, home later-here we still are. it's nice here. the people are nice, the weather is nice, the lack of traffic is nice. the cost of living is nice. it's a nice place to raise a family, a nice place to live. truth is, i don't know the valley at all. i got lost twice last week, like seriously pull over and google maps it kind of lost. i've never hiked camelback mountain and definitely never been to the grand canyon even though my license plate says it's the grand canyon state. i think mexican food is asking for trouble. i'm a pretty liberal jew married to a pretty liberal cuban. i'm the most anti-gun you can get in a very gun friendly place. my number one hobby in life is saltwater fishing. hmph. this state has given me marriage (well, technically vegas did); this state has given us parenthood. that's pretty nice. and as i tell my dear father when he asks about our future, we'll see, dad. We'll see.

smile.

source.