My Life in 250 Words

Today is Day 1 of the Blog Every Day In May challenge, and I must say, this has already proven to be harder than I anticipated! Today's topic is "write the story of your life in 250 words or less." I admit, my response took on a different form than I anticipated, but I decided to just go with it. 

The story of my life is one of constant motion. At a young age my family moved from upstate New York to West Virginia. I had an amazing life in West Virginia, but never really felt “at home.” I missed my grandparents…I missed Lake Ontario and Adirondack grape soda. I felt misplaced and was constantly looking towards that next big step in life, hoping it would take me to where I belonged. After high school, it wasn’t hard to leave that small town in WV behind. I packed my bags and never looked backed as I headed towards Lynchburg, Virginia. There, I buried my face in textbooks and novels for four years and experienced an immense transition. I learned about comma splices and Americanos. I grew spiritually. I fell in love. After I graduated I moved to Washington. Moving 3,000 miles away sounds frightening, but it wasn’t. Adapting to life here hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve never had to do it alone –Steven has been by my side. Shortly after my move we got engaged, married 6 months later, and bought a home. Our home. And one day it hit me –he’s my home. For the first time in my life I felt settled and I knew I was exactly where I belonged. My life of constant motion came to a rest.

Steven has my heart. Steven is my home. The story of my life is a closed chapter. This is our life, and the story has just begun.

Exactly 250 words. Mission accomplished. 

Sorry for the mushy, gushy love-fest post. But it's the truth, yo. Deal with it.

Blog Every Day in May Challenge. Are you in?

Have you heard about Jenni's challenge to blog every day in May?  If not, you live under a rock you can read all about it here. 
This challenge could not have come at a better time. Lately, I've had a love/hate relationship with blogging. I've been yearning to share more on this blog than my everyday nonsense. Although I'm well aware that my everyday nonsense is rather epic, admit it, that's why you're reading this right now ;), I've found that writing about my day-to-day on the blog has replaced my other creative writing pursuits. And I'm not so sure that's a good thing. 
The other day at lunch, Steven and I talked about our future --where we see ourselves in five years, what we want to be doing, where we want to be living, how we'd like to be spending our time -- and somehow in the midst of this conversation my passion for writing came up. Steven said something uber romantic that of course I can't remember, but in a nutshell, he said that he thought I was a great writer, he believed in me, and he thinks I should really invest more time in writing. (I mean, seriously, how amazing is my man?) 
Since that conversation, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that I'm missing out on something in life. That I'm pursuing the wrong goals and dreams...
So what does all this mean? I don't really know. I feel confused right now about life and my purpose in it, but when my head is most clear and when this world makes the most sense to me is when my fingers are tapping on the keys telling a story. I want to use this challenge to get my creative juices flowing, clear my head, and simply write more. 
So (hopefully) that's what you'll be seeing these next 31 days. More writing and creative content and less "filler" posts that do nothing to feed my cravings and hone my skill. If there's a writing prompt that doesn't resonate with me or I find that I just need a break, I'll skip it or blog about something else, but I really do want to use this month to buckle down and just write. 
So please, bear with me these next 31 days as I remove the rust from my writing joints. Who knows, maybe if I get really brave I'll share some more of my fiction with you lovely readers. In the meantime, I encourage you to partake in the challenge as well! You can find Jenni's writing prompts for each of the 31 days here. Good luck!

Huckleberry's Baby Butt

 This is a picture of Huckleberry's 8 week old fluffy butt. Really, it doesn't get much cuter.

Exciting News!

I'm excited to announce that Taking Notes...Coast to Coast is now accepting sponsors! If you'd like to grow your blog and/or shop, simply go to my Sponsor page to view my stats and grab a spot! All sponsor proceeds will go to sponsorships on bigger blogs, therefore generating more traffic back to my blog and your ad in return :)

As a gift to all my lovely readers (you guys have seriously been so awesome this year and have truly made this whole blogging experience so much fun!), I am offering 50% off all ads. Simply enter the Promo Code: GIFT.

Also, I am still interested in doing button swaps! If you'd like to continue to swap buttons with me, purchase the Medium // SWAP ad and enter the Promo code: LOVEHUCK. Then grab the button on my blog, or email me if you need another size! 

I am so excited for the upcoming year and continuing to share me and my little families life with each of you!

The Benefits of Blogging & Why I LOVE People Like You!

I originally started this blog to stay in touch with friends and family on the east coast after I moved across the country with the love of my life. I thought I would just write brief notes and post crappy pictures for those even remotely interested back home. Yet, this baby blog has become such an asset to me! Through it I have made connections with AMAZING people who a) are weird like me and take the time to blog {it is time consuming and you all are kinda weird}, b) give me awesome advice, c) bring me encouragement through their sweet comments and emails, and d) flatter me by reading about my mundane life.

Recently, I was contacted by Sarah who gave me advice concerning a wedding venue in the Seattle area. She read this post about my wedding planning progress {or lack thereof} and referred me to the venue her and the hubby got married at on Whidbey Island.

What Sarah, and most of you, didn't know is that my original vision was to get married in a barn. That's SUPER easy in West Virginia. I could just go to my neighbors house or an abandoned lot with a barn on it! {HA! Okay, probably not} But I was having trouble finding a barn style wedding venue in WA. The barns I found online were either a) WAY, WAY, WAY over priced! {Seriously? IT'S A BARN PEOPLE! A BARN!} or b) were in no man's land. 

When I clicked on the link Sarah sent me, I knew almost instantly that this is where I wanted to get married. Sarah raved about the the gorgeous views and the food and after reading other reviews, I knew she wasn't exaggerating! I soon contacted the owners and set up a date to meet and view the barn! I already told Steven to have his deposit ready because I know we will be booking this venue on the spot! You can take a look for yourself here. 

The funny thing is that this venue never showed up in any of my online searches {and trust me, I searched A LOT}. If Sarah wouldn't have shared her experience with me, I may never have found this ideal location --and that would have been a shame. 

So with all this said, I just wanted to say Thank You, Sarah! And thank you to everyone else who has left me comments concerning wedding planning and marriage advice! They all are truly appreciated and cherished. 

All Photos Found HERE!