So…after so much consistency, I essentially disappeared for several months. My apologies, folks. Here’s what happened: Our little family visited the Detroit Institute of Arts back in July. We saw an abundance of incredible artwork by a myriad of talented artists across multiple centuries. I fully intend(ed) to write a well-researched, thorough, beautiful post about our stop at the DIA. […]

2021 began much less dramatically than 2020. After seeing my grandfather doing as well as possible after his heart attack, we went back to Cocoa Beach and celebrated a quiet New Year’s with my mom. Several lazy, relaxed days later, we drove to Marco Island to spend time with Frank’s family at his parents’ condo. We deeply enjoyed taking Victoria […]

After the novel that was my last post, this one will be a wee bit shorter than the last. Also, Victoria’s first year was the year of Covid, so how much is there to write about anyway? I jest; in spite of Covid, we managed to share a wonderful first year together. We had our own little bubble of people […]

Christmas and New Years of 2019 passed by in a blur. Then 2020 started.  Now, I’ll do my best to not wax poetic about how 2020 provided innumerable challenges; I know it was ridiculously challenging for basically EVERYONE. Thus, I will skip all of the flowery language about how hard it was getting through that crazy year. All I will […]

Before we moved from Jacksonville, I found out I was pregnant! In the very beginning, pre-move, I honestly enjoyed my pregnancy. I experienced some of the typical symptoms, like tiredness, occasional mild bouts of morning sickness, but nothing too extreme. After I finally got to tell Frank, I couldn’t help myself and I started telling everyone. During that last week, […]

By now you are probably thinking, “They sure seem to move a lot…they just can’t seem to settle down in one place…what’s their deal?” We have an abundance of reasons and responses to those comments, but I will boil it down to one fundamental principle. From the absolute beginning, we agreed to share a life of adventure. We know that […]

We Love Chicago, plain and simple. We just keep coming back to this exhilarating city, time and time again. In fact, Chicago has featured in every major stage of our relationship! We visited Chicago for the first time when we were dating, when I came up from Gainesville with Frank to meet his parents. We took a quick day trip, […]

Newlywed bliss did not last long for us. As many are aware, moving in together is a huge adjustment! Though we saw each other every single day during our engagement, things changed immediately after that blissful honeymoon. Frank went back into a job he tolerated (at best). I continued working a part-time job at a retailer and tried to learn […]

First Stop – Toledo In 2015, a few months after Frank and I (Julia) got engaged, I moved from Gainesville, Florida to Toledo, Ohio, to get to know Frank’s family a little better. I moved in with his parents in Toledo’s suburb of Sylvania because it was important to us that we not live together at first, but we did […]