the 5 w's of i carry your heart

my blog buddy leah posted this a few days ago, and i thought it would be fun to do one myself. most of you already know me, but maybe you'll learn a few new things! 

who // melissa (that's me!), my husband thatcher, daughter azalea (turning 5 this weekend) and son ashford (2). thatcher and i met in the fall of 2001 at the community education program where we both worked. we dated long distance for 4 years while i was in college. we got engaged in venice italy in may 2006, married in minneapolis in june 2007. welcomed our daughter azalea in march 2011 and our son ashford in december 2013. whew! 

what // this blog is mostly a weekly(ish) journal of our lives. time flies by so quickly and it's so easy to forget the details, so i love having this look back on. and i do - sometimes i get sucked into reading old posts for a long time! i also love sharing a little of our life with friends, family, and strangers on the internet who have become friends :) i also throw in random blog posts on other topics on occasion if i'm feeling inspired. 

when // i started this blog in april 2010 (same as you leah, i didn't realize that!) when we were trying to start a family. i had been reading a lot of blogs written by pregnant women and moms of young kids and i knew i really wanted to document this time in my life. we got pregnant with azalea about 3 months after i started the blog and i've been keeping it up ever since! almost 6 years now. i actually had a live journal blog in college from 2002-2006 and it still exists. i go back and read it for a good laugh every once in a while. i barely knew anyone else with a blog back then. ok, fiiiiine, here is a screen shot: 

where // the first 31 years of my life were spent in minneapolis (with a 4 year stint in duluth for college). last spring thatcher applied for a job in seattle because we had always talked about moving to another part of the country for a few years and low and behold it actually happened! i am so glad we did it (even if it was the hardest decision i've ever had to make in my life, for many reasons). we are loving our time in seattle, but minneapolis will always be home. we will be back in the next couple years, as that's always been the plan and i don't see it changing. 

why // i already touched on this a bit, but my favorite parts of blogging are having a record of our lives that i can always look back on and reminisce about, reading about other peoples' lives (i will never be able to explain my fascination (er noseyness) with other's lives :) finally i have met some amazing people through this blog in the last 6 years and i can't imagine them not being a part of my life! 

thanks for following along!