17/52

This week kicked off my (Michael) new schedule at The Scoop! This ramped up my hours and synced up our schedules. What a blessing. After a full yet relaxing week, we went out with a couple of friends for a photo shoot. They were kind enough to let us take a little break from their shoot to let us snap a few of our own. We have passed up this location many times on our previous outings, but were glad to finally stop into this new spot.

In other news, we were approved for a new apartment so I'm sure our postings for the next few weeks will be related to the move!

-M&K

16/52 // Bloomsday

Bloomsday comes every spring in Spokane.  Honestly, this is the first one I've embraced as an opportunity to get involved in the community - in years prior I've just tried my best to avoid the crowds, traffic, and closed roads. But watching the event today, and cheering a bunch of strangers on as they entered the last mile of the race, was a really neat experience. Michael was always seeing regulars at the Scoop run by - those were some speedy little kids!  It's also more fun for me to watch running events now that my mom and sister run and do triathlons. Maybe one day I'll be as cool as them. :)

A lot of people were willing to throw up a fist pump when they saw the camera. :)

Seriously, these people are inspiring!

We were stationed at the beginning of mile 7 - it was fun to see people regain their motivation when they realized they were in the home stretch!  It also meant that we took a lot of pictures of people with the "Mile 7" sign on their phones as they passed - I'm sure it felt good to put that sign behind them!

This guy was one of my favorites.

Throw in some hot tea & coffee to keep us warm, and it was a great morning.

Well done, runners!  Thanks for bringing the city together.

-K&M

15/52

Here we are, a week late (again). And this week's aren't very exciting... we've both been working outside of and in the home a lot.  It's been amazing.  How does organizing closets really feel SO cleansing?  Michael and I have both been finding that the less stuff we have, the more freedom we feel.  I think it's a combination of a lot of things but I love not having a basement full of things that I consider to be valuable but am not using.  Having extra stuff requires time for upkeep, organizing, and cleaning, and I think each thing also holds a little piece of my heart that just loves having stuff.  But that's all that it is - stuff!  It makes moving that much more of a pain and finding anything even a bigger pain.  We do treasure things that hold special memories for each of us, but we're getting to the place of letting go of our entire high school wardrobes (I know, it's embarrassing...), trinkets, and many "just in case" items. 

Michael won't be driving the truck quite as much this summer but he did want to show off the beginnings of the new paint job!

So happy spring cleaning and organizing to all of you, if that's your thing.

Much love, 

-K&M

14/52 // Easter

Happy (late) Easter, everybody.

So it seems like every time a holiday rolls around, it serves as a huge reminder that we do not live close to family.  We know that family is gathering back home and we see friends with family here getting together to share meals.  In some ways it can be discouraging.  However, I have found that without the assumed family get togethers with each holiday, I have had to think more intentionally about the reason behind the roast dinners.  I've had to analyze why, as Christians, we celebrate Easter.  Why should we be sure to gather with other believers that day instead of stay home watching movies all day?  Why is it necessary to celebrate... is it even necessary to celebrate?  In thinking over these questions, Easter has undoubtedly become my favorite holiday - we can live without fear every day because of Christ's death on the cross and resurrection.  For this year's celebration, we got together with an extended family from church... and it was SUCH a blessing to us.

Before church we got coffee and went to a nearby park... the day was just too beautiful.

And this gem... was taken in front of the trees that are in bloom by church.  The whole way in to church I was trying to get Michael to hurry so we wouldn't be late but then I made us stop by the tree for a picture... I'm pretty sure I will be out of control with photo ops once the kids start coming along.

Much love,

K&M

13/52

It has been quite a busy week for the two of us! So much so that I (Michael) have taken over posting this week.  Katelyn took my photo last week and I never got out to take one of her until this morning. Have to say, I love that smile!  My photo is taken in front of Wisconsin Burger - a new burger joint in Spokane that is driving locals mad. These people have needed real cheese curds for too long!

-M&K

10/52

Here we go week 10!

Michael has been filling his days with as much coffee as he can.  His primary job during the week has been providing more opportunities for him to improve his skill and implement some new ideas.  And on some of his weekends, he hosts coffee tastings at the Main Market Co-op in downtown Spokane.  If you every see him in there, stop by for some Evans Brothers coffee roasted in Sandpoint, ID!

My photos this week incorporate one of the best gifts I've ever received.  This quilt was made for my Grandpa Cumbie when he was a baby... him and my grandma had it backed later in life so it was really never used throughout the years.  They gave it to me as my bridal shower gift... I think that it may be the most beautiful thing I own.   

-K&M

7/52

Friends. The snow and cold has gotten a bit out of control this weekend. We chose an inside location for the pictures this week - luckily our favorite coffee spot has wonderful light.

But seriously, let's talk about this zebra tail...

 Then on to one of our favorite local restaurants for shared lunch sandwiches.

Most of the above photos were taken by our best friend Liza.

Sundays are pretty wonderful around here.  Even when they're frigid.

-K&M

6/52

Yesterday was one of those rare days that hardly anything was scheduled into the calendar, and I kept having panic moments thinking that there must be a commitment that I forgot about.

There wasn't.

Having that time for reading, rearranging, and all around relaxing set up this coming week very nicely.  I'm grateful for that.

And then, this morning, there was snow. So we visited a few of our favorite spots.

Aaaaand a few more from today

-K&M

5/52

Happy Valentine's weekend everyone!  This week's post is brought to you by

(Please excuse the cheesiness, I just couldn't not do it.)

Yesterday morning we went to the best little breakfast place (in my opinion) called Chaps.  After that we took a few back roads out into the country to see what we could find.

Michael had a little too much fun with the mud/rock wall.

On another note, we had to sleep with some of the windows open last night after I melted a plastic cutting board by turning on the wrong burner... at this moment I am EXTREMELY grateful that 1) nothing caught fire, and 2) we had fresh morning (albeit, freezing) air in the apartment this morning.  Crisp air makes me excited for the day.

We're off to coffee and church! 

-K&M

4/52

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Wandering book stores and libraries has always been one of my favorite past times.  Seriously. As a kid I LOVED it when my mom would drop me off at the library for hours. Heaven!

M & I headed over to Barnes and Noble this afternoon for a little bookie date. With gift cards from Christmas (best kind of date, am I right?) we each picked a favorite.

"A portrait of each other, once a week, every week, while 23."

-K&M

2/52

This weekend has been one of those where I would've been happy in bed all weekend, so I'm grateful for reason to get out and explore a little bit with the husband.

He's pretty great.

"A portrait of each other, once a week, every week, while 23."

-K&M

1/52

Michael and I are excited to begin a new photo project, called the 52 project.  I've always loved the idea of faithfully logging a year of your life in photos, and at one point thought I would someday conquer the 365 project. Ha! The idea of this is to be intentional about taking a photo (in Michael's and mine case, of each other) each week for a year.  I have seen a number of people do this with their children to log their growth and interests in a consistent but natural way.  We have a few reasons for starting now:

• This past week I turned 23.  I know that New Years was a few weeks ago, but Tuesday marked a new year for me personally. 22 seems like a blur, and knowing that 23 will feel that way as well, I'm looking forward to having these photos to outline our year together.
• We recently replaced our camera and also got a new lens.  We are in no way trained or qualified photographers, but we hope to continue to improve in both our skill and faithfulness to get our camera out and use it!
• Going on picture-taking dates is one thing that we really like to do.  This will be another reason to connect intentionally once a week.

                                            "A portrait of each other, once a week, every week, while 23."

In each other's favorite coats, enjoying the frost that still remains on the trees of the South Hill.

For more photos from today, visit our instagram accounts. His and Hers.

Cumbies in Spokane

Well, now that tomorrow is February, I figured that it's about time we share some pictures from our wonderful December month!  First is when my family came to town... there were so many good things about this weekend amongst a very busy season.

This was an action-packed weekend, so please bear with me in the length of this post!

The first morning that they were here we visited Donut Parade - a central part of mine and Michael's history here in Spokane :)

 Then I graduated!! It was so nice having our friends and family there.

 The next day we adventured around Spokane - including a visit to the park where Michael and I were engaged

 It was so nice to be in the same place as these dear ones for a few days.

To see how Natalie and Jack have turned into little adults

To catch up on movies and other news with my dad

To get to serve my mom in a very small way of how she served me for 18 years

I'm still so grateful that you guys were able to make the trip.

Love and miss you all!

-K&M