A year ago, when Johnny and I were dreaming of our first apartment together we imagined it'd be located in some mountain town with big windows that filled each room with diffused light, perfect for pictures. There'd be lots of walls to fill with the artwork we'd already started collecting. The kitchen would be open and airy so that we could cook our meals together. And, most importantly, there'd be a dishwasher... In reality, we got the dishwasher. So yeah, our first apartment is far from perfect. We share one bedroom and 500 square feet between the two of us, Winslow, and Gus (our guinea pig who surprising takes up a lot more room than you would expect!). Sometimes I still dream about that light, airy apartment with barstools, a sectional couch set against an exposed brick wall, and room for guests, but 500 square feet has been good to us. We share one small closet and a set of drawers so we've simplified our wardrobes by selling stuff on eBay or by bringing it to the Fashion Runway Exchange (basically a Plato's closet). Despite the unavoidable high cost of housing in Flagstaff and how convenient it would be to have a second bedroom, our small place has allowed us to save money to put towards our future goals and weekend excursions. All in all, I like where we live. We have a great patio and a small "yard" with two pines spaced just perfectly to string a hammock between. We're not far from campus or downtown but we're surrounded by forest so it feels like we live in a more secluded area. Best of all, we've made these 500 square feet feel like ours. Below you'll find some pictures of our first home. I think our tiny place will surprise you. It's tight but totally livable. What you won't see are the many baskets, deep cabinets and drawers, and hidden storage we have scattered throughout our place. What you wouldn't know (if I wasn't about to tell you) is that sometimes we feel like we're constantly cleaning because even the tiniest mess can seem like a disaster in this small space. Thankfully for us, we both enjoy cleaning. Small living has its quirks but also its advantages. I'm excited to see what our next place will be like, hopefully full of big windows and light, but for now we continue tiny living and making this place more and more our own.
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I've been meaning to get this post up for awhile because, let's get real - this was probably the coolest place we've been since we moved to the southwest (in my opinion - ask Johnny and you might get a different answer)! Between work, working with Winslow on being okay when he's alone (we've got a doggie daycare attendee now!), and being sick this entire week, I just couldn't muster the creative energy to sit down and write, although I think the pictures from this excursion really speak for themselves... Usually die-hard football fans (or at least I am - SKOL VIKES!), we opted outside for Super Bowl Sunday this year and it's a decision we most definitely do not regret. Two hours north of our mountain home lies surreal Horseshoe Bend and the comforting water views of Lake Powell, both situated right outside Page, Arizona. Despite the glorious mid-winter weather, the marina and beaches were oddly vacant. We lazily strolled along the marina gazing at yachts larger than our apartment and a lone fisherman. This was the first time we've spent time waterside since moving to Flagstaff and having spent much of our summers during childhood on the water (Johnny at Flathead Lake in Montana and Ali at her family's lake cabin in South Dakota) it was rejuvenating. Winslow could hardly keep it together, curiously sniffing the waves as they splashed into shore and wading ankle deep in the chilly February water. Based on his excitement and curiosity, we think it might have been this ex-desert dog's first time seeing a body of water. This summer we have plans to camp along one of the beaches. Regardless, we know our return is Page is inevitable. The white washed rocks of Lake Powell's beaches and unreal desertscape views are already calling us back. The primary destination of our trip to Page, of course, was Horseshoe Bend. I've seen glorious photo after photo of this place in my Google research and on my Instagram feed but the feeling I got seeing it in person was something I don't encounter frequently. It felt surreal and awe-inspiring and like I needed to start planning our return trip that very instant. I'm fortunate to have seen a good deal of iconic places in my travels but Horseshoe Bend is comparable to only a few. I'd rank it alongside only the Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana, Cuba and the nearly millennia old Catedral de Santiago de Compostela which Johnny and I sat beneath, basking in its grandeur alongside half a dozen of our classmates after walking 100 kilometers in Northern Spain four years ago. On all of our adventures together, legendary or not, photography has been the common denominator. Johnny might prefer the extreme sport side of travel while I prefer to wander and soak it all in, but for the both of us, photography has long been an essential, creative outlet. And yet, there are moments we both appreciate as not needing to be captured excessively but instead enjoyed sitting together on the edge of a steep cliff far above a nearly 360 degree turn in the Colorado River of Northern Arizona watching as the sun sinks beyond the horizon and as fingers turn purple in the quickly fading February air.
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