Welcome to the Journey. My Journey.

When does adulthood start?

Hey, you! I’m Liz. Have we met?

In case not, I’m a gal in her mid-30s living in a little house in Seattle with my husband, daughter, and our dog. Many of these details are on the “checklist for adulthood” that existed in my mind as a kid yet, I do not in any way feel like a grown-up. What about you? 

You’re here because at some point, you signed up to get emails from me on another platform. I’ve moved you over here for the launch of this new and exciting project of mine — surprise! It’s better here, I promise! I’m grateful for your support and am thrilled to share this new venture with you. I’d love for you to poke around, subscribe, and share with some friends. Thanks for being here. <3

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When I was fresh out of college – armed with two degrees and a boatload of enthusiasm – I moved to Trieste, Itay for my first “job” as an Associate Teacher at the International School of Trieste. I use quotes around “job” because the paycheck was quite small and I remember very little in the way of a benefits package? And I’m 98% sure that I supplied my own computer for my year there (do any jobs not come with a computer these days?). But all of that was just fine because in my memory, I also didn’t do a whole lot of what felt like work so perhaps everything balanced out nicely. 

Anyway, when I was planning my move to Europe, I started a blog. As one does. Or at least as one did back then.

I’m not sure how many people regularly read what I posted but I loved documenting my life and all the things I was learning about the world and myself. I have so many memories from that year of typing away – in my bed staying up late, at our kitchen table surrounded by good music and my roommates, or jotting notes in a little notebook while people-watching in a cafe along a picturesque piazza. 

Lately, I’ve been feeling boatloads of nostalgia for that time in my life. Perhaps it’s because I became a mother this year and I am fondly remembering my early 20s before any other humans truly depended on me. Or perhaps it’s because I loved all the corners of Europe I explored and I’ve not been gallivanting around Europe as much as I theoretically would like to be. Or maybe it’s also because the modality of writing helped me process the life I was living in a way that enabled me to stop, notice, and appreciate the journey. I think it’s probably some of all of that. 

I also know that over the past decade, I have been sliding down the slippery slope of incessant technology use that has permeated our modern culture through the addition of smartphones and social media to our day-to-day life. And when I really look at how I spend my time each day, I am loathe to realize how much of it is spent aimlessly scrolling through other people’s curated lives and wistfully wishing I was living more of my own. 

That brings us to this here space on the interwebs. A Substack. 

I want to spend more time reflecting on the life I AM living and putting my thoughts into words. In this age of curated social media, it is easy to feel like our lives are dull and unexciting. But when truly noticed, the ordinary moments that make up our lives are full of wonder and beauty – and yes, some hard things, too. And I want to notice and celebrate all of those moments for myself and to model that behavior for those around me, especially the daughter we are now raising (no pressure, right?). I want to live in a world where we’re all appreciative of small moments of beauty and can reckon with the hard things that crop up in the daily grind of life.

So here we are. 

In this space, you can expect journals on the journey. I’ll share stories as I move through the moments that ultimately make up a life. There will be a little bit of everything – books, travel, the daily grind, relationships (marriage, parenting, adult friendships), and miscellaneous little musings. I also plan to bring back posts from the archive of my original blog with new notes and edits so you can enjoy the sweet nostalgia of memory lane alongside me. 

And I hope you will come alongside me! 

Subscribe to get new posts directly to your inbox if that sounds like something you’d like. When you subscribe, you can choose which posts you’d like to receive directly and all will be available here. And share with a friend! Because everything is better when you bring your friends along.