EARLY SPRING FEVER

it's almost spring, the daffodils are sprouting from their bulbs, and we've been itching to get outside and do something- anything. i'm feeling all kinds of waderlust and summer festival angst (listening to the sxsw lineup as i blog). plus, with easter around the corner, and the season of rebirth, i'm getting impatient for babies and houses and deep roots. i know i am so incredibly blessed to have our families, and lola. and my mom is the sweetest woman on earth. and jared is the most loving and caring soul mate a woman could ask for. but something about the human condition always leaves us wanting to move forward. onward. progress.

the last few years have taught me a lot about patience. about delayed gratification. and about loving and/or accepting the here and now. i've learned that life basically never turns out the way you plan. good or bad, it kinda moves along and we enjoy the scenery and learn to cherish each other.

although we may have to keep waiting a while for the ever elusive future, let the wind blow where it may. we only really lose when the present is lost.

so with all the sweat and tears swirling around in the beautiful spring breeze, we've decided we gotta get out and do more with family, and more in nature. it's still too cold and snowy for spring hiking, so this last weekend we met lisa, nate, and their babies down at wheeler farm to see the new baby animals.

i have to quickly point out here lisa's two blonde babies next to her blackish-brown hair. it's really cool to see how each addition to the family is so different and unexpected. when zach was born, i remember lisa saying, "i wouldn't have picked that baby out of a lineup. he doesn't look anything like me." and it was completely true. now she's got two blondies, and a new understanding of her (apparently) recessive genes.

i can't believe this little girl is already pulling herself up to a standing position. plus, look at those awesome teeth! it kinda makes me sad to see her growing up so fast. i wish she could just stay in this sweet little baby stage forever.

zach really loved all of the big farm equipment and couldn't wait to sit in this big seat. he's only about a foot tall, so he couldn't quite reach the pedals and levers, but thankfully jared was there to help him out. thanks, uncle jar.

whitney was too small to sit on the big tractor, but she did have fun standing in a truck, watching the birds, playing in the dirt, and trying to snack on bales of hay.

as for me, i just loved seeing all the animals and hanging out with family. i'm kind of an animal lover, an aspiring st. francis, and a bleeding heart. so it's nice to see these animals at a happy little farm, where they have space to roam... sad knowing most of them will be sold off in the weeks and months to come. but, i'm practicing living in the present, and focusing on the beauty we have around us today. siblings, goats, babies, and spring.

i hope you all had a great week and are enjoying the beginnings of spring. love ya lots.

A TIME FOR LOVE

this year i decided to have some fun with valentine's day and surprise jared with random valentines throughout the month. this fun-loving fella woke  up to paper hearts, came home to mini cheesecakes, and had his car filled with valentine stickers...which are now permanently attached to the dashboard of the geo (sorry lis).

here he is, pictured snacking on a strawberry butterfly cupcake after a long night at parent teacher conference. sometimes you need some valentine's season sweets to make it through the week.

jared, as usual, did lots of nice things for me as well, including buying me a few bath bombs from lush (i need to gush about lush for a second here, because they are a really cool animal rights/eco friendly beauty supplier and since jared and i are vegetarian environmentalists, it's nice to buy products that promote those values).

one of the best valentine's jared gave me was to come along when i got my hair cut and highlighted at a local hair school. this was actually the first time i'd ever tried a hair school and i was a little shocked when the whole process took over four hours. neither of us had any idea it would take that long, but jared hung out, went on walks, and checked up on me. he never got annoyed or mad or impatient. when the rookie hairstylist finally hung up her clippers, we busted out of there and bought ourselves two giant burritos.

if you ask me, that is what love is all about, my friends. sticking through grueling appointments and meetings, sitting in uncomfortable chairs, until you finally get to scarf down 2lbs chile rellono burritos.

is it just me, or has this valentine's day been extra awesome?

plus, look how amazingly good looking he is. i hope you all had a fabulous valentine's day & an eventful president's day weekend! love ya lots!

HOMEWARD BOUND

jared and i are in a new place in life. we aren't students anymore, we have decent jobs (most of the time), and are trying to eat healthy and exercise. don't get me wrong, we haven't changed that much... our exercise still primarily consists of the video game "just dance," but things are moving in a new direction.

i worry more about our parents, our siblings, our future. and i seem to spend more and more time thinking about where our future children will go to college, and whether or not we will have raised them with strong, loving, and creative hearts. i wonder about a place where they will call home, which will supply the same sense of love and security that we were blessed with. in truth, jared and i are ready. we've been thrifty, paid off our student loans, and saved all our nickles and dimes- and we're starting to look at houses.

however, looking at the housing market here in salt lake, basically just makes you depressed. all of the options are either overpriced, or too crowded, or just plain boring. we have gorgeous views here in utah, but seldom do architects or city planners seem to take the natural beauty into consideration when designing homes and communities. what the heck, architects. what the heck.

here's what i want, and if anyone has ideas on where i can buy (renovate) or build this, please let me know. i need all of the help i can get.

1. something small. i'm talking something under 1200 sq feet. i grew up in a house with 7 kids, and one of the things i learned was you don't need a lot of space to have a happy family.

2. natural vegetation. we have enough beauty all around us without trying to make it look like we live in great britian. i love utah, and i love deserts. let's embrace the beauty that already exists here naturally and save on watering unnecessary lawns, bushes, and flowerbeds.

3. a room with a view. this one is probably #1 on my list of priorities. i like to draw, and paint, and play music. and nothing seems to rejuvenate and inspire more than rooms with views (minus the golf course).

4. spatial economics. it doesn't matter if you have a family room, and a living room, and an office, and a library, and a mud room, and a game-room, and 8 bedrooms. non of that matters, because everyone spends all of their time in one room, and it is always the room connected to the kitchen. i would like a house that focuses on the living room and kitchen, with a few bedrooms the size of closets.

5. simplified kitchen. i think i am entirely alone on this one, but why in the world are we spending so much money on fancy cupboards, when inexpensive shelves work just as well? why have a dish washer when it only takes 10 mins to wash dishes? minimalism, minimalism, minimalism.

6. nooks for art and books. i want our house to be full of beautiful original art and a love for learning.

so that's about it. and now the hard part, actually finding something that fits into this dream. ideas?

NONPROFITS AND THERAPY ANIMALS

what do you do? i get that question a lot, and sometimes i hesitate to explain. i think, well how much time do you have? i studied nonprofit management, got a masters degree in the field, and then joined the workforce as a program coordinator in a nonprofit charitable organization. that much seems pretty straightforward. after that, things get a little more confusing. cuter, but confusing.

i work in animal therapy. actually, i coordinate thousands of volunteers in all 50 states and 15 different countries who volunteer in schools, pediatric hospitals, women's shelters, libraries, and rest homes. these sweet, trained, furry friends help children through physical therapy, support young people with learning disabilities, and visit stressed out college kids during finals week. research suggests that these four-legged therapists actually make a huge difference in the rehabilitation process and significantly decrease stress levels in medical facilities and schools. so that's what i do. i coordinate volunteers who cheer up kids with cancer and help young people with disabilities. pretty cool, eh?

in reality, most of my job is just your typical office work. paper pushing, typing on the computer, phone calls. however, i do get to cuddle up with lots of puppies... and occasionally scoop the litter box of our beloved office cat, oliver. i have worked with lots of nonprofit organizations over the last 5 years, but this one's events have been a learning experience. putting together the "winter games" at special olympics was a little bit different than organizing an animal therapy version of the nutcracker. okay, a lot different. 

there are lots of stresses, and tons of busy work. but i do get paid to help thousands of people in need - and not everyone can say that. plus, i have some sweet new fluffy friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe87cNLQCqA

so that's another piece of my life. in case you were interested.

FAMILY PHOTOS

the whole buhanan family was home for the holidays, so, as a christmas gift for my mom, we decided to organize a family photo shoot. in this family, getting everyone in the same place at the same time, and all looking at a camera, is nearly impossible... but thanks to jared's sister, jen, we were able to capture some nice moments.

we are so incredibly blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives. happy 2015!

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES!

merry christmas! we are so fortunate to spend the holidays surrounded by good food, fun activities, and many loved ones. due to my work schedule this year, we didn't have as much time to hangout. still, we got to participate in many great family traditions including the decker family gingerbread houses, the buhanan christmas songs, the christmas lights caravan, and the traditional reading of the christmas story. 

^^^making edible houses^^^

^^^getting excited about the holidays^^^

even little micky got to celebrate christmas with some new sweaters! in this new little outfit, he looks like an ewok version of little red riding-hood. pretty darn cute.

gifts were opened, carols were sung. and we got to spend time with the ones we love. what a great holiday.

i hope you all had the merriest of christmases! 

WHATEVER SOULS ARE MADE OF...

whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same.

-emily bronte

a little over 10 years ago, on an early summer night, i met a random boy around a simple kitchen table and an uneventful board game…or so I thought. it still baffles me how one mundane evening can change your entire life, turning your day to day routine into a fantastical, mystical, nerve-racking journey worthy of a chagall painting or a campfire story fit for peter and the lost boys. the story, this beautiful adventure story, has heartache, it has struggle, and just like any great story, it has conflict. but this is not a tragedy. it’s a love story.

our love story.

how could it be any other kind? because throughout this adventure and adversity, this tale of love and loss, there have been warm golden fall mornings, and summer evenings sunbathing beneath the stars. there have been slow, winding italian trains, crowded korean night clubs, rocky irish shores, and afternoon downpours in tican rainforests.

there have been quiet evenings, where we fell asleep to the rhythmic purring of a new kitten. and loud all night rock and roll festivals where we went to bed with music still ringing in our heads (permanently damaging our hearing). there have been many moments i wish i could remember better, and others i would love to forget. but that's the way with love.

in truth, we found the surreal. 

i don’t know what the future holds, but i know wherever we go, it will be together. because I love you, jared- from here, to there. to everywhere.

happy 10 years together.