Family Portrait

Landon has been gone all week. This isn't the first time he has traveled for school - it definitely won't be the last. I'm starting to feel like a seasoned veteran. I went to a playgroup with Walt this morning, and many of my friends expressed sympathy for me at being home alone. A lot of them are older than me, with several kids, and I have a feeling they were feeling a little bit of pity towards the newlywed having to be home alone for the first time. I wanted to say "Girls, I have been home all by myself for 5 weeks in my first trimester of pregnancy. I am no stranger to this." But, I feel like I bring that up a lot, so you folks get to read about it instead. :)

This is what our family looks like quite often. And it is hard. But this is where we are now. I can't change it, and to be honest, I wouldn't want to. We are working towards lofty goals here in Seattle. It's hard living far away from family, and hard having a husband who has a habit of taking off around the holidays a lot. But in other ways, it's fulfilling. We're doing it. Landon is a "real-life" scientist, publishing papers, attending conferences, and doing fieldwork. I am managing to stay at home with Walt and continue with my career at the same time. It's the dream, you know? It's messy sometimes but it's what we signed up for. We don't love every minute, but who does? We love where we're headed, we love the time we spend together (even if it's online), and we love all the stuff that counts!