Hi readers.... whoever you are out there in the ether... if there are any of you? I'm a little rusty at this so I guess I'll start by introducing myself (because isn't that what we've been trained to do since we were basically in grade school?). Anyways, I'm Grace. I'm from Rochester, NY ... I often follow that up with "and proud to be so." But lately I'm not so sure this is exactly where I'll end up in life. More on that later. I live in a quaint little town called Brighton, a town I've aspired to live in since I was little - and my Mom and / or Papa would drive me around to gawk at the sprawling English-inspired Tudors buried under overgrown ivy. I guess they are responsible for my infatuation with architecture. They sort of curated me to have an ... eye... for everything around me. I work at a local architecture + design firm (that I really love) in the heart of the city. Its funny that I wound up there ... as when I was a girl scout at the tender age of, like, 8? I was given a tour by an employee who still works there to this day! All I remember was a large circular window. And subsequently, being enamored by the idea that glass isn't restricted to rectilinear forms. The only downside of working at this firm is that it has made the idea of possibly relocating to a different geographical location in pursuit of a warmer climate + a more economically vibrant city an absolute conundrum in combination with the fact that my partner and I have an extensive warm and welcoming family that resides right here in Rochester, and has done so for generations. So, for now we have planted our family's little roots in our favorite town, and choose to enjoy the present.
Speaking of family, I should introduce you to my partner in love, in raising our baby + future children, and in life - Zach. Zach and I formally met in college at Alfred State College, as we both were enrolled in the Architecture program. We did vaguely know each other since we are actually grew up in neighboring towns and attended the same high school. I used to cheerlead with his sister, and my mom had been longtime friends with his aunt. My grandma used to regularly work out with his (very sweet and adorable) grandma at the YMCA. And my Mom's boyfriend frequents the bar with a good portion of the men in Zach's family. Shall I go on to prove anymore how he was always in my stratosphere? Anyways, the timing just ever so slightly lined up to have us be placed in the same Studio my Senior year of college. The way our desks were - I would always catch glimpses of him looking at me, and vice-versa. Needless to say, he finally came over one day to tell me he was quitting Architecture school. I was perplexed, and fumbled for reasons why he should give it another shot. (Studio can get to you like that). He wound up sticking to it - maybe it was just because of the impending study abroad trip - or maybe he mustered up enough confidence to take another swing at it.
We spent a lot of nights dedicated to our craft together. We used to go to the bar, play something good on the jukebox, and sit with our laptops and work together. There were many all nighters (more on why those are the worst idea ever, later) spent together before the others presentation just to keep company, followed by one of us grabbing the other coffee before snoozing the day away. I think this became the foundation of our relationship - constantly working through the tough parts of life but making it out to the other side together. Things got tougher before they got better, believe me. Like me finding out I was pregnant with his baby while he was on that aforementioned study abroad trip halfway across the world. But it just seems like there's nothing we can't fix with a conversation, some music, and a coffee. When I think about it, he's the only person I've ever felt that way about.
Between chasing around our little baby all day, our careers, passions, side hustles, and maintaining our house, our hands our pretty full. All of it gives us life, I mean life is really just compromised of how we spend our day to day. Its all the little moments. All of the good morning kisses, the trips to the grocery store, the night time routines, all of the good stuff. We're glad to have you here on this journey. It's gonna be a good one!
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