Mini Adventures For Now

These next few months are filled with so much activity and travel. I'm so excited to see where all the places Russ and I might end up going to (so stay tuned -- I'll share more as we solidify our plans).

Last week, Russ and I had a simple day trip to LA. We took a half day on Friday, drove up to beautiful Los Angeles and visited a bunch of cool places. One of which was THE LAST BOOKSTORE.

For all book lovers, this is a must-visit. I heard about this place from my friend Stephanie (hi!) and told Russ about it. He then told me he already had this place on his list of "Places to take Katrina on dates". We were in LA to originally submit some government documents but since that appointment went by faster than we expected, we searched to see how close this bookstore would be to where we were at. It turned out it was just around the block. So we didn't even have to pay more for parking. Yay!

It's easily now one of my favorite places to visit. There's even books arranged by color:

The place is so pretty.

Afterwards we went to an ice cream store, a mall, and Santa Monica pier. None of which I took pictures of but all were equally as fun. But come on, a giant bookstore will of course have more pictures and take a majority of this post.

That's all for now. Till next time!

Introducing, The Henry Pets

Russell's feet, Lewis, and Tiki the Turtle (right of the white fence)

Hey there! Here's a picture of Lewis and Tiki meeting for the first time. Both our dog and our turtle are curious creatures. While Tiki likes to stay in his cave during the afternoon (Interesting fact: desert tortoises survive hot weather by hiding from it), he came quickly to the white fence when he saw Lewis peeking through. I don't think Tiki has seen may dogs up close since he kept trying to stick his face through the hole in the fence. Lewis was less calm about meeting a new creature and kept trying to lick Tiki's head every time our tortoise stuck his head through the fence hole. Eventually Lewis got tired of not being able to reach Tiki that he lifted his leg, and...peed on Tiki.

Cuddle buddies

The man Lewis was named after!

We've also got our saltwater fish tank set up. Russell has slowly been adding fish into the tank and just this weekend we were able to get some free coral from our new friends down in San Diego. And somewhere in that tank should be a baby starfish.

One of our clearer fish tank pictures. Here's one of our fish (upper right hand),
a cleaner shrimp (mid-lower left hand), and a bunch of hermit crabs (the shells on sand).

Our family is already growing. It's been a happy home.

Selfie family portrait

Uncertain Hopeful Possibilities

I've never been so excited yet nervous of the future as I have been lately. There are so many possibilities yet I do not know if I have the courage to take the leap of faith into any of them. But I am still giddy by the thought of possibilities.

Life has been slow yet fast all at once. We've been married FIVE MONTHS, can you believe it? I know in the big scheme of things, that is a blink of an eye and that is exactly my point. I feel like I've been married forever and at the same time I feel like a fumbling newlywed.

Anyways, I talk about the cliched topic of "life" because that is what Russ and I have been trying to figure out lately--our life together. We're not exactly sure where we're going to live next year after our lease is up and because we don't have a set plan yet, we have so many...possibilities of where we're gonna end up. Do you feel my excitement/fear yet?

While we are still in the process of opening doors and having a few slam shut, I am excited/anxious to see what we'll be doing a year from now. There is so much uncertainty and hope right now that it makes me nervous.

So for now, I'll post this picture of Russ and I at our honeymoon because there are so many places I want to be but in all of them I know I want him there.

Puerta Vallarta

Busy Lives

We are a busy bunch, a lazy bunch, a tired bunch, a broken bunch.

We are busy working up a storm. We have no time for that one hour lunch--too long, too long--so we sit in our desks and eat our hastily made packed lunches or fast food sandwiches. We eat while we work, forgetting to taste our food and sometimes forgetting to chew. Instead of the sunshine outside we see the glow of the computers. Instead of the sound of birds or the rustle of the leaves, we hear mouse clickings and keyboard typings. And this goes on yet we do not catch on. We don't see what we can't see and we don't see what we do not want to see.

We're too lazy to do our chores. A clean house is a happy house but a productive you is a frustrated you. So we come home and we see the dishes and the laundry but we sit on the couches and surf on our laptops. This is our weeknights. Rest, we say. We are resting from a busy day by sitting and spending our days away.

Then before we know it, the sun has set and the hours have gone by too fast. Again. Our bones are weary, our minds are lazy, and our eyes are drowsy. The feet are dragged to the bedroom. The covers thrown aside. And all too fast sleep has come and another night has passed.

While this all happens our lives are going. We're spinning in circles, chasing our tails. We think we're going but we're exactly where we started. What we want is not there. What we want is not here. So what is it? What do we want? We waste our time pondering this and all the while lives are breaking. We work and we sleep and we hesitate but we ignore everything besides the work in front of us. We're a broken bunch and a needy bunch.

The conversations past, the vacations that were never rested, and the living that was never lived...it haunts us. We cover up the jagged edges of life yet still, we remain busy, and lazy, and tired, and above all, crumbling human beings.

Fetch!

Lewis learning how to play fetch.