Up North Adventures

Life has been tough lately.

I don’t pull punches or gloss things over with sparkle dust to make myself look more social media glamorous.  So yeah, here it is, life has been tough.  Two years ago, I was working so much I barely saw the kids, so I implemented 9-5 hours with two days off a week and no more 1am editing sessions.  Which did wonders for me and the family, but I fell so far behind in work.

And then I started school…and things really got behind.

For a while I had been trying to figure out what profession would be next in my life.  Photography as a career is for many reasons one that gets much harder the older you get, and while there are a few paths one can take to further your career, none of them are of interest to me.  So I sat back, and thought outside the box and ruminated over what I would be good at, what would include fancy things like retirement savings and insurance and time off and a job I could do into my 70s.  And one night I had a dream of me with grey braids, delivering a baby, and knew then and there that I wanted to become a midwife.

Research led me on the path I needed to take, SIX YEARS OF SCHOOL.  In science.  And I’m not…sciency.  But I’ve taken chemistry, organic chemistry, I’m taking microbiology…I’m working through it.  Full time school with a mushy adult brain is incredibly hard, along with running a business and trying to be a good wife and mother.  I am now back to 1-2am editing sessions and needing to stress breathe through life.  So yes, things have been hard.  I’ve basically been mediocre at everything I’m doing and only because our clients are extremely gracious and understanding have we made it through.  So all of that is to say, that the Hannemanns needed a weekend to themselves.  And nothing invigorates me more than winter on the North Shore.  It was heavenly.

We purposefully kept everything laid back, no schedules, no rules.  We introduced the kids to Grand Marais (you can find some good Pokemon up there, by the way) and spent hours on a gorgeous spring-like day watching the waves, hiking in the woods and letting our babes explore free range style.  I did have to stay back a-ways and let John parent while they played by the water…I was busy trying not to have a heart attack as the ice cold waves splashed all around them!

This kid is JUST like his dad…getting as close to the waves as possible.

   

Besides this lovely day, we enjoyed time at the Duluth water park and Children’s Museum along with awesome friends.  It was so nice to get away for just a little bit!