one year in Vermont


It’s been a year since we moved! Which seems crazy in many ways – it seems like we’ve only been here a few months, and it seems like we’ve been here forever. A million things have happened. House buying, new jobs, fertility treatments, family times, exploring & falling more in love with New England, cat traumas, family dramas. I love our house (though whew! I knew an old house would be trouble and work, but was not QUITE prepared for it) & I love our town, but I do miss California a lot. Especially Big Sur.

It’s also a year since Hurricane Irene – we hadn’t even fully unpacked the moving van when it hit.  I don’t think many people realize how brutal it was for the state and the economy. Between a mellow winter and trashed roads, Vermont is hurting. It still shocks me to see houses tipped on their sides, guardrails crumpled in a ball as if squeezed in a giant’s fist. The state is recovering, though, and I think a lot of people are ready to put the last year of recovery behind them and to move forward.

Our goals for year two:

– Get the cottage up and running as an AirBnB rental
– Make a frickin’ baby
– Continue the house-fixing, especially making it healthy – basement drainage & air flow
– Get out more in summer! Especially to lakes!
– Find a health club / health routine we like and stick with it
– Start making things again now that my studio is set up
– Get back into Etsy selling
– Think about long term career goals / education goals
– Set a plan for family financial goals / jam on debt (see above Etsy & AirBnB plans!)
– More travel!

16 Comments

  1. Congratulations on a year accomplished, and best of luck in your babymaking adventure–the ride only gets wilder on that front, and time will pass all the quicker. A bit like buying an old house, perhaps, babies are both harder and more fun than you expect (probably true even if you only wind up with the one).

    1. And yet, the likelihood of 2 is high! (Especially as we head further down the treatment path!)

      But one would be good! I’ll take just one!

      You seem to be managing two nicely. :)

  2. Your list looks pretty exciting and also a lot of work, but the good kind of work that has great rewards and happiness in the end.

    Hope this next year is even more wonderful than the last.

    1. It is a lot of work, I need to kick myself in the ass to get it done. Etsy! I forgot what a pain it was. So much stuff to get rid of, though. I want the house to feel much cleaner and less cluttered!

  3. love the light in that first picture – and how the lamp in your hallway looks like a moon.

    hoping for all the best for you in your second year in vermont!

  4. I’m excited for you. And I think year 2 will be really big for you guys. You’ve been there long enough to have a good lay of the land. Now is the time to kick off the big stuff.

      1. So far so good. I’m in Chicago and staying with friends. We get to move into our new apartment in two weeks when Travis drives the truck loaded with all of our stuff.

  5. I can’t believe it’s been a year. Holy crap, man. So much has changed. Here’s to the second one! I want everything on your list to come true.

    PS Apropos of nothing, several months ago you posted about a Santigold song — Disparate Youth, I think — which was awesome because I didn’t even know she was putting out new tunes. I got that song and then when the album came out I got that too, and I haven’t been able to stop listening all summer. Then she played the Colbert show a couple weeks ago and when he interviewed her I almost dissolved into a puddle of crush. I NOW HAVE A SERIOUS SANTIGOLD OBSESSION. And it’s all your fault!

    Just thought you should know.

    1. I was listening to that album in the car this morning! I don’t even know how long it’s been since I bought a whole album, either.

      Now I have to go look up the Colbert episode…

Leave a Reply to anne b. Cancel reply