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Thursday Three

September 18, 2014Samantha Gratton

I’m so glad to have a blog because my little vocal chords are so tired. I lost my voice earlier in the week and just haven’t quite managed to recover yet. But, it’s been a great and full week. Here’s the tops.

1. Parental visits make you really assess your life. My mom and stepdad visited us over the weekend for the first time since we’ve moved out here. We had to really think about what we wanted to show them and navigated all through the Triangle so they could see our favorite spots around town. It reminded me yet again how glad we are to be here and just how much we’ve gotten to do and see. They met our friends, enjoyed our Saturday routine (sleep-in, bakery visit, wine tasting and walk through town) and got a glimpse of our lives. We also spent a little time moseying around like tourists and later watched the Iowa vs. Iowa State game from our favorite neighborhood restaurant. Go State!

Family photo — A little rainy, but still a great day

2. The more involved you are in the community, the more you feel a part of the community. Whether it’s volunteering or going to an outdoor festival, do what you can to be in the community. We’re fortunate to live near downtown and there always seems to be a street festival, concert or something going on. But even if you live in a rural area or in the suburbs, there’s likely something going on in your neighborhood or a place that could use you volunteering. This weekend we walked to SPARKcon, a creative art/music/dance/drama/you-name-it festival and enjoyed seeing all the sidewalk chalk art, the handmade art (jewelry!) pieces and a pyrotechnic show.

People were invited to mark different places in Raleigh and I wrote about our "spot" where Raleigh was first considered as a place to live. — People were invited to mark different places in Raleigh and I wrote about our “spot” where Raleigh was first considered as a place to live.

3. When given the chance to join in on new cultural experience, take it. Some good friends of ours are getting married this weekend, but had a Vietnamese wedding ceremony here before we all head to the beach. Both the hubby and I are actually in the wedding party and were delighted to experience a Vietnamese ceremony for the first time. The bride wore red, family introductions were made and gifts were exchanged. The hubby even got to carry in a tray as a part of his duties. I, on the other hand, had the duty of joining in pedicures and fondue with the girls later that night. We’re looking forward to celebrating with them some more this weekend!

Thursday Three

September 4, 2014December 9, 2014Samantha Gratton

Oh, hello. It’s Thursday?! This week has gone SO fast! Three-day weekends are the best, but four-day work weeks are rough. Everything gets crammed into less time, and I just can’t quite keep up this week. It doesn’t help that some early mornings have been involved as every night for me is also a late night. When else is a girl to blog? You think these things just happen? Umm, no. But I love doing it, so it’s okay.

1. Our friends opened their coffee shop. (YEAH!!!) Speaking of things that don’t just happen…after months of hard work and planning, some of our good friends opened their very own coffee shop. There was a pre-party over the weekend and then the official first day on Labor Day. We had so much fun seeing all of their effort finally come to fruition and spent much of Monday just hanging out there as several other friends, neighbors and acquaintances trickled in and out to share in the opening day.

Look at that handsome guy. H could be a part-time model. — Look at that handsome guy. Could be a part-time model.

2. Old friends make great company. Over the weekend my friend Emily came for a visit. We’ve known each other since 6th grade softball and were good friends all through high school. She recently moved from Iowa to Georgia, meaning she is now only a few hours away. I loved having her stay with us as there’s something so natural about being with a friend you’ve known for so long. We didn’t really do anything too different from an ordinary Saturday, but it was nice to have another person to laugh with and someone to tell you if your outfit looks good or not. She saved me from buying a couple of doozies at the consignment store this weekend.

3. Too many conflicting thoughts make for a long day. I mentioned it, but the week has been crammed tight. With that comes different thoughts and feelings because with each new minute comes another thought or idea or emotion. A few days this week seemed so long (despite the short week) as there were so many different thoughts packed within them. One minute my life seems to be going in the right direction and the next it seems like I am completely behind on all of my to-dos and lose sight of who I am or what I am capable of. It’s amazing what a comment or success or failure can do to your perspective on something. At church right now we’re focusing on the big rocks vs. small rocks. Priorities vs. everything else. Before the series I thought I had a decent foundation on what was actually important. In the past two weeks alone it has become more clear that I am wearing myself too thin and not always focusing on the right things first. I’m trying to make adjustments, but in this time of scrambling to sort through job things while still wanting to be a great friend, hard worker, loving wife and everything else there is to be it’s hard to narrow it down. I don’t believe in glorifying busy, so I need to figure out a way to be less busy and that’s not easy.

Thursday Three

August 2, 2013July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

This has been an incredibly full week, it might even bring me to tears. So many people and thoughts and memories and moments—I couldn’t possibly fit it into a Thursday Three. I’m afraid though if I don’t say something, I’ll never manage to figure out what to say at all. After almost a week in our former home state, here’s the three.

1. Living in the moment sometimes means no photos. We’ve seen so many people that I’m tempted to just name everyone off. It has been wonderful to see people, to eat with them, do life with them. I want to breathe in every moment we have together and store up all the memories for a rainy day. And of all of those sweet memories, I might have two photos from the week because I didn’t want to break the moment for a photo. Call me crazy, but it was almost as if I have been holding my breath the whole time, not wanting it all to end, even if for a quick snapshot.

2. Hello, it’s been a year, goodbye. Most of our visits have basically consisted of these three phrases during our minutes or hours we have with friends, and it hardly seems to be enough. How do you explain everything that’s happened over the past year since we started this crazy adventure? How do you even begin to understand what the year has been like for them? Do you go straight for the direct questions or small talk your way there? Our time with friends has felt so fleeting, making it hard to have time to get to everything, much less process it.

3. We aren’t moving back any time soon. We’ve gotten this question a lot, whether or not we’d consider moving back to Iowa. I can’t say it’s altogether off the table, but we just don’t feel led to do that right now. We’ve loved our time here to visit. It hasn’t always been relaxing, but it has been rejuvenating as we were able to tap into friendships and hobbies that were almost forgotten. But Des Moines doesn’t have any holes with our name on it. It’s moved on, as it should. While bittersweet, it’s true. Our home is somewhere else now.