We seek pitifully to convey to others the treasures of our heart, and quite often feel overcome with how clumsy the tools we wield are. There are so many things within the past few months that literally, at the risk of sounding cliché, have taken my breath away. That sharp inhalation as you try to register the beauty and the love, realizing the fleeting and transient nature of both of them. Like a beautiful sunset, or time with your mom, or your sister’s blossoming little belly, there is no accurate way to really capture the essence of the beauty and the experience, and trying to put it into words is frustrating at best.

The past few weeks have been, as Daði (our Icelandic friend) would say about his obnoxious 80’s shorts, “full of awesome.”  I turned 28, which by the way is a perfect number (an integer which is the sum of its proper positive divisors), in style. One of my closest friends from Iceland, Ásta, was in town and her very presence validated me in such a profound and unexpected way.  Her friendship is one of the treasures of my heart that I can’t hope to try to accurately convey. For my birthday, Ásta and Lynsey, and Aaron and Daði, and Amanda, went dancing in Auckland. For those that don’t know me quite well enough to have had the pleasure/misfortune to see me dance, I will accede that my dancing skills are lacking. Sometimes when there is a lack of skill I think that people become inordinately fond of the skill in others and Ásta and Lynsey have always inspired my admiration with their dancing skills – and to have both of them dancing together on my birthday was so amazing that it was hard to process.

I was able to go to Utah and Boston for a few weeks and spend some much needed time with my family and friends. I got to spend some time with my sister and my mom in Maine and Boston. I continue to feel so nourished by the time that I was able to spend with my mom, giggling on our plane ride to Boston or with friends, crashing in to a staff meeting at Higher Ground, that it makes the distance feel less onerous.

Before my trip back to Utah and Boston, I was able to go with Dave, James and Amanda to Wellington. With only vague recollections of Wellington as an 11 year old, I was pleasantly surprised by the rhythm and feel of the city. There were too many good coffee shops and restaurants, and movie theatres, and clothing stores; my stomach and wallet could only handle so much.

We are currently very busy planning for our upcoming wedding and honeymoon, and we are getting increasingly more excited as the day looms ever nearer. Our link outlines some of the details and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.