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Breaking News! 

We sold our little house. We also moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Six months ago.

Our house only took a few weeks to sell. Mostly because it was awesome. I miss it. A lot. 

Surprisingly, I do miss Baltimore. Just a little. The missing belongs, for the most part, are our family and friends that we do not get to see as often. I also miss our house. Did I mention that already? 

Life in "the Hole" is drastically different than life in Charm City. But, that my friends is a story for another blog. 

For Sale!

It's official, our house is for sale! We are one step closer to heading West. Now, we just need to sell it. 

If you're curious to see it in its entirety or know anyone who would love to buy a practically perfect home in Charm City, check this out:

http://www.120chapelstreet.com/

If Your Heart Is In Your Dream, No Request Is Too Extreme

News flash! Jiminy Cricket is not a liar!

Remember years ago, when he told you, "When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true." Well folks, I am here to tell you that is a true statement. 

A wish, (a lot of) hard work, and a belief in yourself will take you just about anywhere you want to go. 

Allow me to clarify, we have been presented with an opportunity to move back to Jackson, WY, and have taken it. (please excuse me while I take a dance break)

It has always been our dream to one day be able to move back to Jackson. H is the eternal optimist and believed that we could make it work sooner rather than later. I however, thought this would mean that we would have to simply settle on retiring there. Years ago, as we were pulling out of town with our U-Haul, H told me he had a 5 year plan to be back, with a job in finance. I'm pretty sure that through my tears I was also emphatically rolling my eyes. Jackson is not the largest financial hub as I am sure you can imagine so, I thought he was crazy. Well, guess what, he was right. (please read that again, I don't say it very often so, let it soak in for a moment.)

Five years later, and we, (mostly H) have shot for the moon and have landed among the stars. Or at least landed in a place where you can see the stars. We can't wait to start our next chapter back where it all started.

Despite this being a dream come true for us it has also been a bitter sweet choice to make. We are brokenhearted  to be leaving our beautiful home and the close proximity to our family and friends on the East side, but in the end, we are sure that we are making the best decision for us. 

For now, please join us as we celebrate our very exciting news. Cheers!

Funny story about the picture above: I bought a bottle of champagne which, (shockingly) sat in the fridge for a few weeks UNOPENED. The night that we went through our list of pros and cons and eventually decided to 'take the plunge', we popped the top and indulged in some bubbles. Unbeknownst to us, this shooting star was on the bottom of the cork. We took it as a sign that we were headed in the right direction. 

Follow your dreams friends. 

P.S. Maui is pretty dang excited too! Wide open spaces, no leash laws and, no more Eastern grass allergies!

Clicking Away

Hello (hellooo... helloooo... hellooooo)

Is that an echo I hear or is anyone still out there? If you are, believe it or not, so am I. 

A few friends have been asking me what is going on with my Instagram account lately so kids, this post is for you, (mostly just you, Meredith). 

You may remember that a couple of birthdays ago H surprised me with one of my favorite gifts ever, a big girl camera. Since then, I have been clicking away with it, mostly on the automatic setting. This past birthday, knowing how much I have enjoyed using my camera, H surprised me with a photography class (and a new lens, tripod, etc.). He's a keeper. Most of the time. Since the class started I have been shooting in manual mode and experimenting with a whole new level of creativity and knowledge. I am very much a beginner but, really loving this new creative outlet and pushing myself out of the box. 

After the class wrapped a couple of weeks ago, I was having (a champagne) dinner with a (seriously fantastic) friend of mine. She is a very talented photographer who has been dabbling in the world of Instagram, we are a little bit opposite in this way. I was expressing interest in continuing my education and expression in photography and she encouraged me to try posting to a photo-a-day-challenge called, My_365. 

Once a week, the My_365 Instagram account posts a list of daily challenges. You take a picture of whatever that word or phrase may mean to you, (#) tag it, and the following day the My_365 account selects a small number of photos to 'feature', typically 3. It is so fun to see what other people post and who ends up being featured but, the best part is being apart of the large community of (professional and amateur) photographers who encourage and support each other.  

There are many other photo-a-day groups out there with a similar process, this is just the one that I am participating in. I should note, that you do not have to post every day but, it has been fun for me to have a reason to keep clicking away (whether with my big girl camera or just my iphone). 

Here are a few of my recent Instagram posts with the challenge word/phrase above as an example.

#from_where_i_stand

#homework

#found

#refreshed

The #refreshed photo that I took was even 'featured' on the My_365 account! 

So, there you have it friends. Thank you for checking in and for supporting my little hobby. If you don't follow me on Instagram already, please find me (samanthalivie). For those of you who don't have the app or have any idea what Instagram is (Dad, Grandma, MIL, FIL, etc.) I have my Instagram linked to this blog (pictures on the left of the page) so you can keep up with the happenings too. 

Any by all means, if you have any interest in participating in this (or any other) challenge I encourage you to join in! 

See you on the 'gram.

Moroccan Blues

Is it me or does the world seem to be spinning faster and faster? 

Ever wish you could just spin the globe and stop it with your fingertip and just go? Well, we did just that and ended up in Morocco!

photo

No not really. But, we basically did the same thing for less than $100. Okay, not the same thing at all. 

Like a lot of young couples, we are on a budget, meaning no Moroccan vacations just yet. We also don't agree on everything. I know, I know, that is hard to believe. 

For instance, H has been begging to spice up our abode and I am kind of digging our neutrals. But, after a little coaxing we headed out to pick up some paint. To throw a little color on the wall. Four of them to be exact.

When we first moved in, our mud room looked like this.

Gorgeous! 

But, after a year (holycraponeyear) the Benjamin Moore Horizon Gray walls started getting a little scuffed up. 

As I mentioned, H wanted to add some color. After I vetoed the big green forest that he wanted to paint (no, I am not joking), we went with a deep blue. 
  

We chose Pantone's Moroccan Blue via Valspar. Not quite navy with a hint of peacock. It is bold and a little bit sexy. Yes, I just described my mud room as sexy. I need to get out more. 

Eventually, I would like to hang a fun piece of artwork on the far wall. Maybe a painting of a forest. 

It's all about compromise people.