A BIT ABOUT US

Hi! I’m Sarah and this is me hugging tight to my best friend, husband and soulmate, Zack.

We knew from the start we wanted a life full of adventure together, and quite frankly, we bring that quality out in each other. Zack accepted a teaching position in England not long after our wedding in 2013, and so off we went. What began as a year living abroad, turned into travelling most of Europe, which then led to two years living and working in Thailand.

Throughout this time, I fell in love with the world around me, photographing and writing about our experiences. I shared our travel stories on a blog as well as began selling my travel photography as cards and prints on Etsy. My background and post secondary education in Interior Design gave me a great foundation of the arts and design principles. Throughout our travels, creativity seemed to seep out of me, yearning to share a different perspective on life that included intentional creative habits, learning to see things from new angles, and finding joy in using my hands to create.

a fork in the road

After spending two years living in Chiang Mai (Zack teaching Math and Science. My creative work continued as well as working as a substitute teacher and teaching KG and Pre School Art), we faced a fork in the road. My oldest brother, and also a husband and father, was diagnosed with cancer. Stage 4. Though we loved our adventurous life in Thailand, we packed our bags and headed home to Canada to be home with family. Over the following two years, we experienced a lot of pain and grief, having to say our final goodbyes to my brother Ben on February 7, 2018. He passed at the young age of 31.

EVERY DAY IS A GIFT

Growing and living through grief has brought on a completely new perspective. Though we still love to travel, I cannot compare anything to the lessons learned over those couple of years at home in Canada. I’m still learning every day how to mindfully cherish each and every moment, holding tightly to those I love. In no way do I have it figured out, or understand why such traumatic experiences can seem to come crashing in, though I do understand the value and importance in every breath I take.

where we are today

As much as I cherish my time being in close proximity to family, Zack and I knew deep down that our adventures abroad were not yet over. Taking a leap of faith, and what seemed like all my courage, we stepped onto a flight heading to New Zealand in January 2019. People often ask me “why New Zealand?” and I just reply with “why not?”!

Now it only seems natural for us to be here. After spending a year and a half in the South Island town of Timaru, we have now found our dream location nestled on a hill beside the sea in Christchurch. We have also grown our family by one more - we welcomed our darling boy River on October 2nd, 2019.

Never would I have envisioned ourselves here when we were just naive 20 something year olds, backpacking Europe. There is so much more I can say about the in-betweens of this quick recap.I can’t wait to see what the next 5 (or 10) years will bring.

Sarah