Life is happening at a breathtaking place. We still wake up and say "Babe. We bought a house." In the past few months, we bought this house, one of my best friends was diagnosed with and has gone through treatment for breast cancer, I turned 34, and we will soon be getting a puppy. If I think about it all from a distance, it boggles my mind.


We have discovered new places to run and new little cafes to eat and drink at (although we have also quickly realized that we need to hold tighter to our money.) My favorite is the Mexican taqueria up the road where we seem to be the only white patrons and the girl at the counter giggles when my viking husband places his order.

Flowers are popping up all over our garden. I am happy to say that I love the roses that have been planted here. And the irises. And the lilies. We have big plans for the garden, but they will take years to fully be realized (as it should be!).

We ourselves have changed rather quickly. Dave and I are both more inclined to do chores, to take pride in them...maybe even enjoy them. Just like when we got married, there is more teamwork. We are reaching for the same goals.
 In a matter of weeks, the garage has gone from being very much a garage to having insulation and walls. Our wonderful friends helped us sheet rock the ceiling the other day--how quickly 7 hours can pass! We are scrambling to get it finished before we get our new puppy.
I am terribly excited to have a studio space again (and to not have all the studio furniture inside the house). I have no idea what I will be creating, but the desires and urges to get my hand on some metal is real. I have been thinking a lot about really, truly finding my own voice. Honoring those things that interest me. I have been thinking about abstracted flora and fauna, as well as the creation of modern mementos with Victorian jewelry as reference. It's all in my head right now--I should probably sketch it out or at least write notes, but I have gotten worse at that as the years have passed.

I recently listened to the audiobook version of "Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Honestly, I think that might be the best way to ingest her story. I feel like reading it might make it seem too fluffy, but listening to it in Gilbert's own voice really gives life to the story and the ideas behind it. I can't wait to listen to it again. She echoes a lot of my own ideas about creativity, such as NOT quitting your day job, and how ideas move and flow. Even if you don't believe all of it, it never hurts to be open to new and different thoughts.

Lately I have been thinking about anxiety (I will tell you a story on that soon) as well as what to do when life stops moving forward at such a frantic pace. More on that soon...thank you for being here!