As I have mentioned previously, moving is miserable. Trying to figure out what you did with all of your things despite your very carefully organized system is a pain. You struggle to find any sort of normalcy in life as you are living in a city of boxes and stuff that you honestly don't even remember packing. It's even worse when you're downsizing considerably.
The first few days, you're super motivated. You tear open boxes and find the perfect places to put things. As you go, you get creative in filling your storage needs, praising pinterest for all of the possible uses of shoe storage hangers. (does anyone actually put shoes in those?) Then, as you get the essentials unpacked, you start to slack off. "I've earned a break," you think. And besides, there are other things you need to attend to. Finding a job. Getting your address changed on everything in existence. New drivers' licenses and registrations. Moving prescriptions to a new pharmacy.
Soon, your momentum is lost and you're about ready to resign yourself to living in box-city for the next several months. The important things are put away, why are there still things? Why do we have ALL of these things??
Pretty soon your motivation to do anything is failing. I'd like to go for a run, but I should really put things away instead. Since I don't want to put things away, I'll just browse facebook until I feel motivated. Pretty soon it's dark and cold and you just want to snuggle under the covers with a kitten and hope that tomorrow goes better.
So moving sucks. And motivation is hard to come by once momentum has run its course. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to go do some clean-up in my horse's pasture before I run out of sunlight. It doesn't usually last long here.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
What a parent is
The subject of adoption has been on my heart for a while. The only reason I'm posting this is because I know that no one reads this blog, and I get so many mixed reactions when I mention the possibility of adoption, and especially when I say something about adopting an older child. Oh the horror! You don't get to change their diaper and feed them bottles! I'd say you don't get to get up and comfort them when they cry in the night, but that's par for the course with children in general, not to mention kiddos suffering from PTSD.
Anyway, I've been indulging my desires by lurking through the blog-o-sphere on adoption and foster care blogs. I love them. It's a not-so-guilty pleasure, but one that I still keep secret. Like I said, mixed reactions. It's not that I can't stand up for myself, it's just that I get tired of "yes, I know that adopting older kids means that they'll probably have issues. Yes, I know what that means. Do you remember where I worked for two years?" I stumbled onto a blog tonight that spelled it out perfectly though, and I want to quote her words here, because they are so beautiful and spoke straight into my heart. I want to print them out on business cards and hand them to everyone who tells me that adoption is too much trouble.
"I realised there is no guarantees with parenting, full stop. Any kid, biological or otherwise, can have a whole string of issues that you didn’t plan for when you fantasise about your perfect, pink, plump healthy baby. I realised that it doesn’t matter if I can’t name my children fancy, well thought out names that sit somewhere appropriate on the Top 100 baby name list. That is not parenting. I realised that the first few weeks, months and years of parenting can be so tough regardless of how you get there, but that I would rather live through all of that with my hormones tightly regulated and with my mind in reasonable shape as a result."
http://www.nevermindthedistance.com/why-i-have-chosen-foster-care-adoption/
I don't know how to say it any better than that.
Anyway, I've been indulging my desires by lurking through the blog-o-sphere on adoption and foster care blogs. I love them. It's a not-so-guilty pleasure, but one that I still keep secret. Like I said, mixed reactions. It's not that I can't stand up for myself, it's just that I get tired of "yes, I know that adopting older kids means that they'll probably have issues. Yes, I know what that means. Do you remember where I worked for two years?" I stumbled onto a blog tonight that spelled it out perfectly though, and I want to quote her words here, because they are so beautiful and spoke straight into my heart. I want to print them out on business cards and hand them to everyone who tells me that adoption is too much trouble.
"I realised there is no guarantees with parenting, full stop. Any kid, biological or otherwise, can have a whole string of issues that you didn’t plan for when you fantasise about your perfect, pink, plump healthy baby. I realised that it doesn’t matter if I can’t name my children fancy, well thought out names that sit somewhere appropriate on the Top 100 baby name list. That is not parenting. I realised that the first few weeks, months and years of parenting can be so tough regardless of how you get there, but that I would rather live through all of that with my hormones tightly regulated and with my mind in reasonable shape as a result."
http://www.nevermindthedistance.com/why-i-have-chosen-foster-care-adoption/
I don't know how to say it any better than that.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
I hate moving
Barely started and already I'm neglecting this blog. Not a great way to begin, for sure. Once some of this craziness settles out, hopefully I'll get into a regular cycle though. or at least when the craziness becomes a regulated thing. Things are too all over the place right now.
Anyway. In 16 days I will be moving from North Dakota to Washington with my husband, two cats, two dogs, and one horse. We'll pick up horse #2 on the way. We will be moving from a 3-bedroom house that has always been way too big for us (hurray for base housing!) to a very small studio cottage. I'm excited that something is forcing us to really pare down all of the clutter in our lives, but at the same time this crap is HARD!
I went through my craft room today. That was slightly painful. I'm not done yet, but I made a pretty good dent. Threw out a lot of fabric scraps that weren't large enough to warrant saving. Kept the ones that are of a decent size that I could actually use for projects though. Went through my yarn after that. Prior to this, I had three overflowing, overstuffed large rubbermaid bins full of yarn. I'm a bit of a hoarder. But a lot of it was cheap yarn that I'd gotten when I first started getting into crochet and didn't know better. I will never use that yarn for anything because it is horribly scratchy and annoying to work with. So I filled an entire trashbag with yarn to take to GoodWill, so that someone else who is just starting out can enjoy it. I threw away all of the pieces that were honestly too small to really be worth keeping (I have a habit of holding on to anything more than about 6" long). By the time I was done with fabric and yarn and other various and sundry supplies, I had a large black bag of trash, and two large bags of donations. My yarn is also now into two bins, one large and one small. I could honestly have fit it all in the large one, but I keep my "baby" yarn in the small one, that way it's always easy to find when I have to make a last minute shower gift.
The upside of this massive decluttering? A few years ago, during one of our many moves, I lost the case that I kept my crochet hooks in. All of them. This was frustrating enough, but was particularly heartbreaking for me because it was my grandmother's case and all of the hooks that she gave me. I'm a stupidly sentimental person when it comes to things like that, and I was so sad that I didn't have my grandmother's hooks anymore, since she is the one who taught me to crochet years and years ago.
Well, guess what was at the bottom of the last bin! I have no idea how it got there, but there it was. I squealed I was so excited. Granted, I've since bought replacement hooks, so now I have a LOT of hooks, which I will need to go through eventually, but that can wait for another day.
Anyway. In 16 days I will be moving from North Dakota to Washington with my husband, two cats, two dogs, and one horse. We'll pick up horse #2 on the way. We will be moving from a 3-bedroom house that has always been way too big for us (hurray for base housing!) to a very small studio cottage. I'm excited that something is forcing us to really pare down all of the clutter in our lives, but at the same time this crap is HARD!
I went through my craft room today. That was slightly painful. I'm not done yet, but I made a pretty good dent. Threw out a lot of fabric scraps that weren't large enough to warrant saving. Kept the ones that are of a decent size that I could actually use for projects though. Went through my yarn after that. Prior to this, I had three overflowing, overstuffed large rubbermaid bins full of yarn. I'm a bit of a hoarder. But a lot of it was cheap yarn that I'd gotten when I first started getting into crochet and didn't know better. I will never use that yarn for anything because it is horribly scratchy and annoying to work with. So I filled an entire trashbag with yarn to take to GoodWill, so that someone else who is just starting out can enjoy it. I threw away all of the pieces that were honestly too small to really be worth keeping (I have a habit of holding on to anything more than about 6" long). By the time I was done with fabric and yarn and other various and sundry supplies, I had a large black bag of trash, and two large bags of donations. My yarn is also now into two bins, one large and one small. I could honestly have fit it all in the large one, but I keep my "baby" yarn in the small one, that way it's always easy to find when I have to make a last minute shower gift.
The upside of this massive decluttering? A few years ago, during one of our many moves, I lost the case that I kept my crochet hooks in. All of them. This was frustrating enough, but was particularly heartbreaking for me because it was my grandmother's case and all of the hooks that she gave me. I'm a stupidly sentimental person when it comes to things like that, and I was so sad that I didn't have my grandmother's hooks anymore, since she is the one who taught me to crochet years and years ago.
Well, guess what was at the bottom of the last bin! I have no idea how it got there, but there it was. I squealed I was so excited. Granted, I've since bought replacement hooks, so now I have a LOT of hooks, which I will need to go through eventually, but that can wait for another day.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Goal Setting
I know that I said I don't do New Years Resolutions, but I do like to set goals. I feel like they're an important part of my "not being boring" quest for this year, and it makes sure that I'm actually headed somewhere. So here's a breakdown of a few of the goals I have for the next year.
Compete at 2nd level
I used to show dressage horses, then I moved to North Dakota and the nearest shows are a long ways away, so I haven't competed since college. I have two horses now, a 6 year old paint mare named Indigo who is a rough training level and has some issues with the canter, and a 17 year old Saddlebred gelding named Loki who has an unknown history, a lot of muscle atrophy, but phenomenal work ethic. He knows all of the first level movements, though is no where near the physical condition to really perform them right now. I'm hoping that I can get a second level test or two out of him by the end of the year. The process of reaching this goal is going to be multi-faceted.
1. Personal fitness
I'm pretty good at using the winter here as an excuse to be lazy and eat lots of chocolate and carbs. If I'm going to compete again this summer, I'm going to need to not only be back to a fitness level that is required by serious athletes, but I'm going to need to be able to fit in my old show clothes. Buying new ones is definitely not in the picture for this year. I will achieve this by
a. Running minimum 3 days a week. Depending on how things look over the next few months, I might try to aim for a race or two just to give myself a little more motivation in this area. I'm horrifically slow, but having a race to look forward to would help me stay accountable.
b. Yoga once a week. I'm stiff and tight and that doesn't help my horse out at all. I did yoga in college and it did wonders for my riding, I need to start again.
c. Improving my diet. Athletes don't survive on cookies and crescent rolls. I need to eat foods that will fuel my body.
2. Equine fitness
Loki is in horrible shape. He doesn't live with me right now, but is staying with a friend in central Washington. He hasn't been worked regularly in close to a year. As a result, his topline has pretty much completely atrophied and he has basically no condition. He's rideable and still has phenomenal work ethic, but he needs some basic fitness before we can really start training. So.
a. Find a barn for the horses in Washington. Going to look at some places at the end of the month. I'm looking for a place with an all-weather arena and access to trails, preferably with some good hills.
b. Trail rides and hill work for the first month or so. Before we can really start dressage training, he needs to build up a little bit of basic fitness and muscle definition. This will definitely be weather permitting, depending on the hills, as there is a lot of rain the area we're moving to, and I don't want him slipping and pulling something scrambling down a muddy hillside.
c. Find a trainer. I don't think I'll be looking at weekly lessons, but someone that I can work with once or twice a month would be a huge boon. I haven't had a lesson since I graduated and I know that I've developed bad habits. Also, the work beyond second level is going to be new territory for me, I'm going to need help from someone more experienced to guide me through that training.
3. Financial Fitness
This one's big. Shows cost money. Horses cost money. Loki needs a saddle and bridle. Trainers cost money. I still don't have a truck or a trailer, so I've got to either purchase one or make myself a show buddy. Either way, I'll have to pay for gas. On top of that, I still need to be able to feed my family and pay the rent, which obviously comes first. With that in mind
a. Find a job. Something that pays more than minimum wage would be excellent, but I'm really looking for something with regular hours that will allow me to train in the evenings and show or clinic on weekends.
b. Make saving a priority. I've said this before, but I haven't practiced it, and it's definitely a need. Take the money that is being saved out of my paycheck when I first get it so I'm not tempted to spend it later. This is incredibly important. I'm pretty frugal, but saving doesn't just happen by accident. If I save in a purposeful manner, I can get a lot more accomplished.
c. Pay down debt. I have considerably more credit card debt than I'd like, so that's a big one. With less debt to pay off every month, there will be less money accumulating in interest and more money that can go towards savings or towards the purchase of fun things, like new saddles.
Start a Garden
I have a black thumb. I am not good at plants at all. I have found many new and exciting ways to accidentally kill them. That being said, the idea of growing my own produce appeals to the health-conscious side of me, as well as the frugal side. Plus, the idea of going outside and picking a cucumber to snack on just sounds like something out of a fantasy to me. We're looking at renting for the near future, probably in an apartment, so I'm going to need to do some research into container gardening as well as appropriate plants and produce for the area where we will be living. I'm going to try to find things that are fairly "easy" at first, and hopefully as I learn I'll get better at this whole keeping plants alive business.
Compete at 2nd level
I used to show dressage horses, then I moved to North Dakota and the nearest shows are a long ways away, so I haven't competed since college. I have two horses now, a 6 year old paint mare named Indigo who is a rough training level and has some issues with the canter, and a 17 year old Saddlebred gelding named Loki who has an unknown history, a lot of muscle atrophy, but phenomenal work ethic. He knows all of the first level movements, though is no where near the physical condition to really perform them right now. I'm hoping that I can get a second level test or two out of him by the end of the year. The process of reaching this goal is going to be multi-faceted.
1. Personal fitness
I'm pretty good at using the winter here as an excuse to be lazy and eat lots of chocolate and carbs. If I'm going to compete again this summer, I'm going to need to not only be back to a fitness level that is required by serious athletes, but I'm going to need to be able to fit in my old show clothes. Buying new ones is definitely not in the picture for this year. I will achieve this by
a. Running minimum 3 days a week. Depending on how things look over the next few months, I might try to aim for a race or two just to give myself a little more motivation in this area. I'm horrifically slow, but having a race to look forward to would help me stay accountable.
b. Yoga once a week. I'm stiff and tight and that doesn't help my horse out at all. I did yoga in college and it did wonders for my riding, I need to start again.
c. Improving my diet. Athletes don't survive on cookies and crescent rolls. I need to eat foods that will fuel my body.
2. Equine fitness
Loki is in horrible shape. He doesn't live with me right now, but is staying with a friend in central Washington. He hasn't been worked regularly in close to a year. As a result, his topline has pretty much completely atrophied and he has basically no condition. He's rideable and still has phenomenal work ethic, but he needs some basic fitness before we can really start training. So.
a. Find a barn for the horses in Washington. Going to look at some places at the end of the month. I'm looking for a place with an all-weather arena and access to trails, preferably with some good hills.
b. Trail rides and hill work for the first month or so. Before we can really start dressage training, he needs to build up a little bit of basic fitness and muscle definition. This will definitely be weather permitting, depending on the hills, as there is a lot of rain the area we're moving to, and I don't want him slipping and pulling something scrambling down a muddy hillside.
c. Find a trainer. I don't think I'll be looking at weekly lessons, but someone that I can work with once or twice a month would be a huge boon. I haven't had a lesson since I graduated and I know that I've developed bad habits. Also, the work beyond second level is going to be new territory for me, I'm going to need help from someone more experienced to guide me through that training.
3. Financial Fitness
This one's big. Shows cost money. Horses cost money. Loki needs a saddle and bridle. Trainers cost money. I still don't have a truck or a trailer, so I've got to either purchase one or make myself a show buddy. Either way, I'll have to pay for gas. On top of that, I still need to be able to feed my family and pay the rent, which obviously comes first. With that in mind
a. Find a job. Something that pays more than minimum wage would be excellent, but I'm really looking for something with regular hours that will allow me to train in the evenings and show or clinic on weekends.
b. Make saving a priority. I've said this before, but I haven't practiced it, and it's definitely a need. Take the money that is being saved out of my paycheck when I first get it so I'm not tempted to spend it later. This is incredibly important. I'm pretty frugal, but saving doesn't just happen by accident. If I save in a purposeful manner, I can get a lot more accomplished.
c. Pay down debt. I have considerably more credit card debt than I'd like, so that's a big one. With less debt to pay off every month, there will be less money accumulating in interest and more money that can go towards savings or towards the purchase of fun things, like new saddles.
Start a Garden
I have a black thumb. I am not good at plants at all. I have found many new and exciting ways to accidentally kill them. That being said, the idea of growing my own produce appeals to the health-conscious side of me, as well as the frugal side. Plus, the idea of going outside and picking a cucumber to snack on just sounds like something out of a fantasy to me. We're looking at renting for the near future, probably in an apartment, so I'm going to need to do some research into container gardening as well as appropriate plants and produce for the area where we will be living. I'm going to try to find things that are fairly "easy" at first, and hopefully as I learn I'll get better at this whole keeping plants alive business.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Seek Adventure
I'm not big on new years resolutions. Most people (myself included) don't follow through with them after about a month or so into the new year, or we put them off until the end of the year. In general, if there's a change I want to make, I'd rather make it NOW rather than waiting for an arbitrary date like January 1st. I do, however, like to use the beginning of the year to look back at my past and decide if there are some things that I'd like to work towards in the future. What elements of my life I have been dissatisfied with and how I'd like to improve those. With that in mind, I have my theme for 2013:
Seek Adventure
Since moving to North Dakota 2 1/2 years ago, there really hasn't been a lot of adventure in my life. I got married, which is awesome and has been an exciting journey, but we've definitely let ourselves fall into a routine of boring. We go to work, we come home, eat something, and then either surf the internet or watch tv. That's about it, and I'm not okay with that. We've allowed location to be our excuse for this, which I'm not proud of, but it is what it is. In February we're moving back to Washington though, and I'm going to make it a point to not fall into the same trap.
Finding adventure is harder as a real adult than it was when we were in college and could just ditch class on Friday and take off for the weekend. The reality of work and bills and schedules and responsibility is more pressing than I thought it would be. That's all excuses though, and I'm tired of using them to explain why my life is boring.
I don't know what sort of adventures we'll discover on the west coast, but I'm determined not to let life just pass us by any longer.
Seek Adventure
Since moving to North Dakota 2 1/2 years ago, there really hasn't been a lot of adventure in my life. I got married, which is awesome and has been an exciting journey, but we've definitely let ourselves fall into a routine of boring. We go to work, we come home, eat something, and then either surf the internet or watch tv. That's about it, and I'm not okay with that. We've allowed location to be our excuse for this, which I'm not proud of, but it is what it is. In February we're moving back to Washington though, and I'm going to make it a point to not fall into the same trap.
Finding adventure is harder as a real adult than it was when we were in college and could just ditch class on Friday and take off for the weekend. The reality of work and bills and schedules and responsibility is more pressing than I thought it would be. That's all excuses though, and I'm tired of using them to explain why my life is boring.
I don't know what sort of adventures we'll discover on the west coast, but I'm determined not to let life just pass us by any longer.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
This is not about sewing
This is not a blog about sewing.
It's not a blog about crochet or knitting either, although it may contain any of these three things from time to time.
This is a blog about dogs and dressage, running and recipes, and yes, crochet will probably make more than an occasional appearance.
Most of all this a blog about life and trying to find my way through it, one stitch at a time.
It's not a blog about crochet or knitting either, although it may contain any of these three things from time to time.
This is a blog about dogs and dressage, running and recipes, and yes, crochet will probably make more than an occasional appearance.
Most of all this a blog about life and trying to find my way through it, one stitch at a time.
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