About the Blobs

Andrew & Jill

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To begin, "Blobs" is the term of endearment used for us as a couple by our loved ones, evolved from a childhood nickname for Andrew, "Blub." (See below.) We identify with the nickname strongly. 

The two of us met in college, and got together one fateful Valentine's Day in 2014 when we went on our first date: sailing across Bellingham Bay on Andrew's little 25 foot sailboat, Danger Kitten. Listening to the Amelie soundtrack and talking about Doctor Who, we bobbed across the water until we anchored within rowing distance of a coffee shop. As they say, "the rest is history."

Andrew had been on two backpacking adventures before we met, but our first trip together was in May of 2017 when we visited Scotland for Andrew's sister's wedding. However, talk of a Big Trip was common from the beginning. Finally, as we were also having conversations about getting around to a wedding, we decided to throw caution to the wind and pull off BOTH. In the SAME YEAR. 

Well, we did it. In July 2018, we moved out of our rental house and in with Jill's parents, putting our furniture in storage. On August 31, we said "I do" and partied into the night with a Harry Potter inspired reception. After we'd hugged all our out-of-town guests goodbye a few days later, we got to work converting our 2005 Honda Element into a micro-camper, and started packing away anything that wasn't coming with us into Jill's parents' attic. The end of September saw us turning in our work keys, and on October 6th, with many tears as we waved to our friends and family, we hit the road. Three-hundred-and-eighty-two days and 14 countries later, we stumbled back to our hometown of Tacoma feeling closer as a couple and more inspired than ever.

Even before we returned from the trip, we knew we would continue to incorporate ambitious, adventurous experiences and values into our life together. Some major items on the list included living abroad for at least a year or two (with several chapters in various countries most likely, let's be honest), and at that time, living aboard a sailboat in our home region of the Pacific Northwest. (Hard to blame us; Andrew's parents are of Little Cunning Plan after all.) 

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If you've been following the timeline so far, you're aware that our homecoming from The Trip was in the fall of 2019. Naturally, the plans we'd been making---we were literally shopping for a boat and had our. name on marina lists---came to a screeching halt in early 2020 when the pandemic rocked the whole world. Barely having started our careers back up, we were on unsteady ground in murky territory as it was, and so much pivoting was done through that collective experience of uncertainty. 

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We rang in the new year of 2026 with a list of things we'd not expected to have six years ago: a house in Tacoma, a 3-year-old Australian Shepherd named Emmett, a Master's degree in counseling and a full private practice for Jill, nearly five years of government work as an engineer drafter for Andrew, a massive Ford F-350 and trailer-share for hauling horses (back to Jill), and more. Our life in Tacoma is rich with location-based passions and projects. We have absolutely zero complaints. 

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(Blatant lie. We complain about the depth of gray in the sky, and the lack of easy public transit, and the cost of living, and how early all the restaurants in this town close...but not about the big things.)

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And so it is not from a place of wanting to get away from a life we dislike that guides us towards what's next, but rather a deeply intentional honoring of the values we share as a couple for the life we're creating together: in September of 2026, after buttoning-up (read: hitting pause) our lively routines here in Tacoma, we're embarking on one of those "live abroad" goals and moving to Paris, France. 

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That announcement usually comes with a flurry of questions, and some of them we have answered, but many we have not yet! If there's anything we've learned together, it's that the presence of the unknown does not mean anything about what is actually possible. 

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Keep wandering!