The Grass is Greener?

The other side of the mountain...

.....isn't that the place where the grass is always greener? 
.....where the sun shines brighter?
.....where people are happier? 
.....where you fit in?
.....where you are loved?
.....where there is no more pain?
.....where sorrows are a grey haze in the distant horizon of your past?

Well here I am.
On the other side of the mountain.
Several mountains actually.
From the flat plains of the Midwest, to the inspiring peaks of the Pacific North West. 
From being surrounded by cornfields, to being surrounded by mountains.
I'm on the other side.


I must admit: the grass IS greener here. 
However, what they don't often tell you is that for the grass to be so vibrantly green, it requires a lot of rain. 
Welcome to Seattle. 
Where the grass is greener, but the sun is a special friend that visits only on occasion. 



Being a spunky, homeschooled, girl from the midwest, I've always been a big dreamer. Always longing for more. More to learn. More to understand. More to love. More to explore. About my faith. About life. About people. My dreams have often revolved around getting to the "other side of the mountains" - both literally and figuratively. Some of my dreams are simple ones, like finishing a tri-athalon, joining a book-club, starting a business, writing a blog....etc....So here we are. Checking some things off the "dream-list".

The purpose of this blog is not to become famous. It's not to grow followers. It's not to sell ads, run campaigns, write a book someday, make shallow attempts at theology, or make converts. I am an unashamed follower of Jesus Christ, which by its nature and name is offensive to some. But my purpose here is not to offend. 


This blog is just me,  sharing my physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental journey up and down the mountains and switchbacks of life.

My husband, Jesse and I made the rather abrupt decision to move to Seattle from Chicago in August of 2012. This move was deemed necessary due to the necessity of keeping his job.  Especially necessary with our first child on his way. Our engaging, joyous, and energetic son, Caden, was born 2 weeks after we crossed the physical mountains separating the Pacific North - from the Mid of the west. 

To be perfectly honest, the move hasn't been an easy one. (Is there such a thing as an "easy" move??) I definitely have a deeper understanding of why moving is considered one of life's most stressful circumstances. As well as having a baby. As well as having changes with jobs. As well as losing physical access to your entire relational support system. As well as having a 2 month, miserable battle with bedbugs somewhere in the middle of everything else. It's been a massive dog-pile of stressful life transitions. Not at all what I envisioned life would look like on the other side of the mountain.  

I have found great comfort and strength through the writings of Henri Nouwen, Ann Voskamp, Tim Keller, Walter Brueggemann, the Bible, Babywise, PNW hiking trail guides, instagram, my cookbooks, and journaling. It's become a precious season of finding an inner strength and resilience that I didn't know I had access too.  I have found the treasure that Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians 4...the treasure of having an "all-surpassing power that is from God and not natural to human nature" (my paraphrase). I read the rest of the passage with new empathy and understanding: "We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed ." (v.8) 

This other side of the mountain thing. Its really not all that its cracked up to be. But I am purposing to not lose heart. I am purposing to fix my eyes not on what is seen in the moments of crises or despair - but to instead raise my gaze to see the gifts in the present. To the unseen blessings of solitude, and the contentment found therein. The gifts. They are here. No matter which side of the mountain I am standing on.