June 2016 – The Pursuit of Life

June 30, 2016 / 8 Comments

The Pursuit of Balance | The Kids Question.

I love kids with a passion I usually reserve for hot cheese, miniature chairs, and Prince concerts, but I feel no stress to reproduce simply because of a fear of withering eggs. – Olivia Wilde

We get the kids question A LOT and I love this quote from Olivia – she captures the sentiment pretty well if you ask me. With lots and lots and lots of talk about biological clocks and a woman’s age and fertility [which oftentimes comes up with near or perfect strangers, never ceasing to boggle the mind], can we just all agree that we are collectively tired of talking about it?! The way the conversation almost always goes for me is this: Are you married? [yes.] Do you have kids? [no.] How long have you been married? [3.5 years] How old are you? [Oh, early thirties.] When are you going to have kids? [Not sure – vague next few years reference.] Don’t worry, you have time. [Ok, thanks perfect stranger for that reassurance] or Oh, if you want to have more than one, you should think about getting started – you never know how long it will take [stranger then launches into stories about all the people they know who have had fertility issues].

June 28, 2016 / 0 Comments

Insta-Lately

Cascade Locks, Oregon, Teardrop Camper

Here are some recent Instagram snaps from @thepursuitof_life! If you aren’t following along and would like to see more of our day-to-day wanderings, head on over to Instagram to follow!

La Push, Olympic National Park, Washington

June 22, 2016 / 7 Comments

100 Days On the Road

Well we have officially been on the road for 100 days! Well a couple more than that by now. Our 100th day fell on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and we spent the day sea kayaking around San Juan Island in very windy seas but beautiful sunny weather, searching the horizon for signs of Orcas or other whales or dolphins. We didn’t see any whales unfortunately, but spotted a number of Bald Eagles, including some mating activity, and had a lovely time exploring the western coast of San Juan Island, and getting a workout in to boot.

So, as we celebrate this milestone of 100 days into this grand adventure, here are some random thoughts from me.

June 17, 2016 / 3 Comments

TinyHouse | Portland, Oregon

TinyHouses are all the rage these days, and so we jumped on the bandwagon! And LOVED IT! You guys sure loved the Instagram photo of the TinyHouse we rented in Portland, Oregon, too. It is my most loved, most appreciated photo so far. And by popular demand, in fact, very demanding demand, here’s a post about our experience staying in the TinyHouse in Portland.

TinyHouse Interior, Portland, Oregon

June 15, 2016 / 0 Comments

Memorial Day in Southern Oregon

Life was meant for good friends and great adventures. It is especially sweet when good friends join you for those great adventures. For Memorial Day this year, a couple of our favorites joined us on the road for the long weekend. We met them at Shasta National Forest, in the very northern part of California, and began our weekend of revelry. We hiked from Castle Lake to Heart Lake, catching up on life and enjoying the beautiful views of Mt. Shasta.

June 13, 2016 / 2 Comments

Life on the Road | May Digest

Rafting the Rogue River in Ashland, Oregon! Such great fun.

Another month on the road! We are officially just over 3 months into our trip, and it has been flying by! Here is the tally of facts and figures for our road trip from May 3rd through June 10th:

June 10, 2016 / 0 Comments

THE PURSUIT OF A GOOD BOOK | MISSOULA: RAPE AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN A COLLEGE TOWN

When an individual is raped in this country, more than 90 percent of the time the rapist gets away with the crime. With the current discussion about sexual assault, punishment (or lack thereof), privilege and college campuses, especially in light of the recent appallingly weak sentencing of the Stanford swimmer who raped an unconscious woman on campus, this is a book that should be at the very top of everyone’s reading list. I hadn’t heard of Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town when it was published in 2015, but in following the Stanford rapist case I read a quote by Jon Krakauer, one of my favorite authors, and wondered why they would be interviewing him for this story. And then I discovered his book and thought I’ve got to read this, it’s so relevant right now and he’s a great investigative author.

Missoula is a non-fiction book that discusses sexual assaults that occurred between 2010 and 2012 at the University of Montana, a huge, public, football-obsessed university (not unlike the University of Florida, where I went to school) located in the small town of Missoula, Montana. Krakauer investigates these sexual assaults and the responses to them by the police department, the university, the county attorney’s office and the public. And he paints a disturbing picture that is unfortunately probably not an outlier in the way that sexual assaults are handled in college towns, and one can only imagine in other facets of society as well.

June 8, 2016 / 0 Comments

Canyoneering

Canyoneering in Water Canyon, Utah

Canyoneering – what an exhilarating, slightly terrifying way to experience the canyons that make up so much of Utah’s beauty! When we are given a raving review of a place or activity, we usually take it. This is what happened when we decided to go canyoneering near Zion National Park in southern Utah. We’d met a guy on our hike on Hermit Trail at the Grand Canyon (see here for a recap!) and got to chatting with him, and he could not speak more highly of his experience canyoneering in Water Canyon in southern Utah. So we put it on the list and we are so glad that we did.

Canyoneering in Water Canyon, outside of Zion National Park, Utah

The Pursuit of Life

Month: June 2016