Comin and Goin, Life a Changin

It's been months (a year, almost) since I last blogged. We've been enjoying life to the max, really. Doesn't take too much soul searching to come to the realization that work for both of us has been great--lots of good challenges and lots of rewarding experiences. There were some very stressful months for me from July through November, but since then I feel I have a handle on it (mostly).

2011 was a wonderful year, and one I have so many happy memories of. The blog documents our wonderful time spent out in San Francisco, where we fell in love with the West Coast way of life and geography. We were so lucky to be near so many friends, and explore the state to our heart's content. We got to Yosemite, Joshua Tree, LA, Big Sur, Tahoe, and lots more. It was the perfect 5 months, living the dream we had dreamt about for so long.

Coming back to Atlanta was initially pretty rough. The city seemed so biking and walking un-friendly. Our friends continued to stream out of Atlanta. We missed the easy days of living in the Mission District. Ben was hit by a car. I felt out of whack.

But the last few months have been very special. We've reconnected with many and met many more. I appreciate the special things about Atlanta that I love, like our friends, the incredible food scene, the Dekalb Farmers Market (and all our real farmers markets), our affordable living situation, and what feels like a growing community of people like me. Though ATL doesn't quite have the vibrancy or the cultural flair of San Francisco, it certainly feels like home. And it's been a good home for us.

In the mean time, I've done lots and lots of traveling for work, continuing to explore new countries (Bolivia three times!, Korea) and return to ones I know (Indonesia, Thailand, UK). We've gotten around to see lots of friends and family with incredible trips to New York, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Seattle, DC, San Fran, Ringrock, and pure fun city exploration trips like Denver and Santa Fe, not to mention frequent trips to Asheville. We spent every weekend we were here up in the north GA and Western NC mountains, outside. Like I said, it's been a very special year.

Our lives as we know them are about to change. We are now expecting a child this spring. The first few months of pregnancy were quite difficult, as I suffered from some very long months of nausea and near daily vomiting. When people said to me "I loved being pregnant!!" I always thought they were crazy. But the last few months have been just fine. Great, in fact. And I seem to have forgotten about those early months.

We are more and more excited about being parents to a baby all the time, but in the meantime we have been relishing our time as pre-parents, soaking up the relaxing days we have together, outdoing ourselves in cooking and baking, and watching Friday Night Lights. We don't know what it will be like when we have a baby. Will we be able to keep traveling, domestically and internationally? Will we be able to camp? Hike? Backpack? Go to our favorite rivers and waterholes? How on earth will we cope with sleep loss? Those questions seems somewhat unimportant right now. We know it's coming, and we truly look forward to it.