month 11.5: the sweetest thing

god i love you. 
my affections run deep and the laughter, even deeper. 

it's been a pretty busy month (and a half), and i'm finally taking a deep breath to soak you in. 

we jumped from missoula, to france, to ennis, to the tetons, back to missoula, and then a week of hosting my sister, two girls, and momma. PHEW! 

we went to jb & nino's wedding (OMG, THE BEST FRENCH WEDDING EVER); we spent time with paula and i got to meet your entire french family; we roamed around paris and ate our hearts out; came back to ennis and prepared for our teton crest backpacking trip with mary, then backpacked for five days in an icy-cold paradise that ended in a true white sandy beach paradise; popped back to missoula to do three days of intense apartment hunting and secure a beautiful new abode; you turned 30!!!; then immediately afterward, hosted my sister, mom, and two nieces for a week.

i witnessed your incredible patience, your deep affections for a little someone (ly-di-a!!!), your love for all things jane austen, your physical abilities to (rather easily) climb passes and jump into glacial lakes, your insightful reflections on our experiences and interactions between us and with others, and your ability to keep in touch with people (i didn't realize you were so good at that), and oooooh yeah....your love of the radish kimchi my mom made (it was absolutely delightful to see you eat your heart out with spicy fermented kimchi love). 

and at the end of all of this activity, i felt joyful and fulfilled to be simply right next to you, watching mansfield park (which was far worse than the uk version mini-series of pride & prejudice). haha.

you are my happy place. you are my safe space. you are my deep sigh of relief. 

you are the sweetest thing.
happy 11.5 months of marriage my love.

to be a monk. or, just a wannabe.

it's hard to believe that i've been back in the bay for 11 days. just one day longer than i was in montana. the past 11 days have gone by too quickly, too busily, too too much of everything. as a point of comparison, the richness of each day in montana easily flowers into my memory, alive with every detail. but i can barely remember the whirlwind of activity that has been whizzed past me in the same amount of time. how unfortunate! i regret allowing my mind to get overwhelmed by a belief that i needed to fill my time and "be productive."

more than ever before, i've been acutely bothered by the pace of life and the insane drive here in the silicon valley. i feel a growing desire to move away from the frenetic silicon valley beat, and instead, find and listen attentively to the native rhythm of life. what might that feel like? what would that look like?

thankfully, i am flying to france on wednesday to spend ten uninterrupted days on a tiny island called Île-aux-Moines -- or, "island of the monks." part of my fiance's family is from france, so we're making a trip to visit with them and to rest.

i have been told that no cars are allowed on this island, and that everyone travels by bicycle or on foot. i'm looking forward to just being there, observing, loving, laughing, enjoying, slowing,... and i'm especially looking forward to picking up my camera again. it has collected a bit of dust over the past few months, and i feel the tiniest itch that the island will awaken me creatively.