I feel like the last 6 months have just been go-go-go (mostly on the business side of my life) so now that things are starting to get more settled I thought it was a great time for a check-in! if you follow me on Instagram you’ve gotten peeks here and there but I decided I wanted to do something on the blog that had a little more detail plus was reflective for myself.

Every time I’ve gone through a big chapter of change I feel like it becomes all-encompassing. To the point where I’m just trying to get through things a day at a time. Then there’s this strange stage where the dust starts to settle and you almost don’t know how to just slow down and ease back into ‘normal life’. Does that make sense? Because I feel like that’s the best way to describe where I’ve been the last few months. Stack that on top of being vaccinated nad things starting to open up again in Washington and it feels kind of like the clouds have been parted!

So what have I been up to lately? Here are some life updates!

Updates on the New Business

I won’t sugarcoat it, making the transition from closing one business and opening Going Bold Studio was A LOT! Especially since it wasn’t really a transition I was planning on making. #Realtalk, when I made the final call to start the new biz instead of doing a buyout, I’m not going to lie I was nervous. Sure, I’m not a new business owner, but I still had to start over in so many ways and I was nervous! Especially since I was also doing it while we were still in a pandemic. Nerves! But, hey I did it and now that I’ve come out on the other side I’m SO happy I decided to bet on myself.

Truly, I’ve never felt so aligned with my business, the goals I have and the direction I’m heading in my career. I’ve been incredibly blessed to have a full roster of clients pretty much since day 1… like legit I’m booking out 1-2 months for my design projects which just feels unreal 😱. Plus the projects and clients I’ve gotten to work on this year… ahhh they’ve just been the best. I feel like I’ve had so much growth as a designer which just feels great. There have certainly been some things I’ve had to get used to flying solo, and some big decisions I’ve had to make, but overall I couldn’t be happier with how this chapter has started.

Personal Growth

The last year has been A LOT…. for all of us! And I really needed to take some time to work through the emotions of everything. Honestly I think one of the tougher parts of the business transition was all of the emotions involved… top that on top of the pandemic… losing Scooter… family issues… dear lord it was an emotional roller coaster.

Through a lot of it, I repressed a lot of my feelings — I’m really good at that! 🙈 In a lot of ways it’s a survival strategy for me… I mean, we can ONLY deal with so much at a time. Once I had a little time to breathe though I realized I had a lot I needed to work through. To be honest, it’s still something I’m working on but the important part is I’m doing the work. This definitely isn’t a woe is me kind of thing, just a really transparent and raw look at what I’ve been working through. Because not everything is ice cream and ponies all of the time! I heard a saying, “you need to feel to heal” and I think it’s SO true. It’s definitely not always fun work but it’s important to reflect, work through things and soak in the lessons through it all.

Wedding Planning

On a much happier note, wedding planning is officially a go! With everything going on, it 100% got put on the backburner. Now that things have calmed down a little though it’s happeningggg and we officially have a date… June 11, 2022 — so almost exactly a year from now!

Apparently, a lot of people don’t know this about me, but I’m notttt into event planning. Like at all. Which I guess surprises people because I love doing DIY projects and decorating.. but legit even planning birthday parties stresses me out. So the idea of wedding planning was enough to give me hives. After a lot of brainstorming and researching options though, I think we found the perfect option for us. It’s an option I’ve been pushing since the beginning but Evan officially got on board once we visited the venue over Memorial Day weekend.

The venue is in eastern Washington at Loon Lake, which means a lot to us. It’s where we’ve spent summer trips with Evan’s family, where we first said I love you and where we got engaged… So it just felt right. Plus, the venue has the low-key vibes I was really after, has lots of options for lodging, and isn’t far from an airport for our out-of-state guests. It’s also close to a lot of Evan’s family who have already been so generous and supportive in offering to chip in however they can help! Which has been so amazing.

I know they say that your wedding day is yours so you really need to plan it how you want.. but dang that is easier said than done! I know we’re on the early end of planning, but it took me a hot minute to try and get over that. I felt like if we were going to have out of town and out of state friends and family apart of our celebration it needed to be this grand event which is notttt what I wanted at all. After getting over that though, I’m feeling really good about the direction we’re taking things. BBQ noms, summer camp/camping vibes, wildflowers, colorful touches, smores, donuts and corn hole… it’s feeling very “us” which somehow takes some of the stress out of it for me.

I know I said we just officially started planning too, but at this stage we’ve already ironed out most of the key big details…. budget, style, potential vendors, food, desset, honeymoon… we’re definitely well on our way of nailing things down. Listen, when I’m in on something I’m all in 😜

Family

Last but certainly not least, I’ve also been spending lots of time with family. My mom had surgery at the end of the year so I’ve been doing everything I can to support her in her recovery. I’ve also been embracing Aunty life! Little Squish has brought SO much joy to our lives and I soak up all of the time I get to spend with him. He’s turning 1 next week too! AHH! My other sister also moved back to Washington and we’ve been getting in lots of quality time! Lots of game nights, sprinkled in with adventures (which we’re starting to do more of!)

We’re also planning a trip to Disneyworld in the Fall! Evan has never been to the Disney parks and Faith has been itching to go so we’re making it happen! I always joke Evan is a Disney princess because he lovesss Disney, Marvel and just is an overall fairytale mush so it’s been fun to see him and Faith geek out together over everything.

So there you have it! A life update on some of the key things that have been keeping me busy lately!

When we headed to Evan’s family’s cabin for the weekend I definitely did NOT think I’d be coming home with a ring on my finger! 💍Like really, not on my radar! It turns out that I was the last in on the surprise though and most of both of our families were in on it. He had even talked to my Dad almost 3 months ago so it has been in the works for a few unbeknownst to me.

Obviously COVID has canceled pretty much all of our summer plans, but something we were both looking forward to was our annual trip to his family’s cabin. The cabin has been the center of so many family memories for Evan and his family from his childhood all the way through being an adult. And since we started dating, those trips have also been where we’ve made many lasting memories too. Loon Lake is such a special place in general and now we can add another big reason to that!

Evan’s grandparents live on the other side of the lake full-time and each year we come by to pick up the kayaks from storage and paddle them across to the cabin. So this year, after floating a lot of the day we hopped in the truck and headed over with his sister and brother to do just that — nothing out of the usual! Or so I thought…

I was paddling along, cruising out in the front of the group for a while, before Evan told me to come over to where he was so that we’d have a straight shot to the cabin from there. So I headed over to where he was and his sister said we should get a pic. It wasn’t until then… when I was like… why are we taking in pic in the middle of the lake?? Then I had this fleeting thought of, ummmm he isn’t going to propose is he?!

Well, my brief suspicions were confirmed. Because a few seconds later he pulled out a ring box and told me that he first told me he loved me on the lake and that he was going to love me forever and asked me to marry him. Which was pretty sweet since the first time he told me he loved me was our first summer together when we were kayaking. Such a thoughtful mush, I know. Luckily he got right down to the point too because it didn’t take much before I started getting sunscreen in my eyes. Yes, it was definitely just the sunscreen causing those tears! 😂

His sister was filming the whole thing too, but luckily you can mostly just hear the water. Which I’m thankful for because at that point I was dropping some F-bombs and yelling at him to keep the ring in the box! I think this pic is the exact time where I was saying keep that in the box, haven’t you seen those Youtube videos of people dropping rings in the water!!! Especially because we’re both so clumsy so that WOULD happen to us. Luckily it didn’t though! Although I did try to give us another shot at that when I leaned in for a kiss and rocked the boats haha. Don’t worry, no engagement rings were lost during this proposal.

Of course I said yes and put the ring on as soon as we made it to shore! If you guys know me, you know I’m 1.) not really a mush… Evan is def the more romantic of the two of us and 2.) I’m not a big fan of surprises buttt I’ll let this surprise slide because it was a pretty good one!

I have to give him mad props on the ring too! He went through some of the accounts I follow on Instagram and consulted with one of my besties to find out the shape of stone I liked. Then he had a ring custom-designed with my favorite company that I follow, Point No Point Studio! He secretly borrowed one of my other rings to get the sizing right too. The stone is morganite, which is something I had mentioned I liked before and the setting is a diamond eternity band set in rose gold. Like guys, this ring couldn’t be more “Anna” if I had designed it myself! I love that it’s really unique too — that was always something I wanted. Plussss my favorite part is the wedding bands contour around the engagement rings which is something I just love. AND, yes there are a few more ands, the company is also based in Washington, is woman-owned and their diamonds are ethically sourced. So even more reasons to love it.

So that is our engagement story! We’ll see where wedding planning takes us… I’m team eloping in the mountains or having a backyard wedding and Evan is more on team traditional wedding, because again, mush! We shall see though! We have plenty of time to figure it out with the whole world on pause right now! Until then I’m just going to enjoy this chapter and the sparkly new addition to my finger!