Well, Happy New Year! We are back. Finally. After quite a long absence. We hope you didn’t completely give up on us. We are still here, still excited to tell our stories as we travel about and try to make a life out of what we love. We promise to keep up the posts much more frequently now.
So where did we leave off? Somewhere around here, am I right? 
We were on Easter Island working on production for our documentary. And then we weren’t. Sometimes airplane travel just blows my mind, because not more than a day after having that above as our view, we were staring out the window at this. 
Talk about contrast, and don’t get me started on lack of color. Anyone who travels to warmer climes during winter in Minnesota knows what we are talking about. That sinking feeling you get when you look out your window and realize the beaches have become snow and the long winter is still here, dragging on, and there’s no longer anywhere to hide.
But let’s back up for just a minute. We really have nothing to complain about on the travel end of things. For once, we had the easiest and most luxurious trip. No delays, not much rushing between flights. And a first class upgrade on our longest leg. Hello free drinks, three course dinners, puffy comforters and flat reclining airplane beds seats. Best early Christmas gift ever! 
And we have tried hard since being back to make the best of it. We’ve had some fabulous times over this holiday. Even the -40 F degree weather we’ve had of late hasn’t gotten us down. Has anyone tried blowing bubbles in that weather? It’s crazy. We tried it last time it was this cold (I was in junior high) and loved it. This time I was all prepped to do it and even had our goPro ready to film it for you, but by the time I got outside it was only (only!) -13 F, and sadly, that was not cold enough. 
But on to the overwhelmed part….we got back from production, jumped right into finishing a report about our progress for a grant we have, then straight away into the holidays, and then into this mess. 
Running off of a desire to have less, which we always feel strongest after returning from a place like Easter Island, we decided it was now or never. We are trying to organize and minimize our basement, our closets, our drawers, and sort through all of the papers and memories and keepsakes we’ve been accumulating over the years. It is hard work, emotional, and overwhelming in a whole other way than regular work and travel.
So with all that, we’ve really slacked on keeping this blog up to date. But we have so much to share. We are beyond excited about how well production went and how our ideas and direction for this documentary has grown over the last few months. And we came back renewed with energy to start up many more projects. If only we had endless sources of funds so we could be devoted to doing the projects and less tied up with what seems like never-ending grant writing. Although we are so thankful for grants as they are allowing us to live by doing what we love. Speaking of grant writing, we are in the thick of it again, with a big deadline for another grant at the end of this week. So, still overwhelmed, but happy.
On that note, we hope you all had wonderful holidays! That you stayed safe and warm and had many moments of laughter with family and friends. We wish you the happiest, most adventurous of new years!