It is hard to believe that summer is almost over. Conversations have turned to school shopping and fall knitting. I have a bit of free time tonight as BigJ and LilJ are both visiting family in NY. Its been so quiet around the house with LilJ gone for 10 days now. I am so happy that he is getting a chance to spend some uninterrupted time with his Grandma in NY. My parents are blessed with living close to LilJ and have spent most of his 5 years seeing him almost daily as they are our daycare. This September he is starting school full-time. I wonder if there is such a thing as grandparent's empty nest?
As always, BigJ has been very busy with his tree business this summer. Of course, that is in addition to his "real" job. He loves to stay busy and I'm just glad he's doing something he loves.
I have started a new adventure at work, taking on some more leadership responsibilities in some restructuring. It is always fun to mix it up a bit and flex those organizational muscles!
Summer has been fun for knitting too! In June I went to the Zombie Knitpocalypse, a retreat for knitters over in Rochester, MN. I had a great time and felt like I had finally found my tribe. A bundle of yarn also followed me home! In August, a friend and I took a jaunt down to Chicago-suburbia and explored Stitches Midwest. That was a crazy escapade of yarn-buying and hanging out with more new friends.
All in all its been a great summer, enjoying the heat before the big chill which we all know is coming. At least now I have enough yarn to keep us all warm!
Friday, August 15, 2014
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Blog-fading? No just Blog-sparingly
Long time, no see/read, eh? It looks like the last time I update my blog was winter 2011. Here we are in Spring (I think) 2014. My have times changed! There is still snow on the ground like the last photo shoot, but instead I have a big boy out playing in it! LilJ is 5! I have to repeatedly remind myself that he is not a baby anymore. But when does a kid stop being Mama's baby? Never.
BigJ and I have been doing updates to our house, what house you ask? Well, our same old small town house in Shell Lake. We moved back after a sabbatical, during which we got some much-needed perspective. What we learned: small houses are good, living in a small town fits our lifestyle for now, its ok to improve your house so you LOVE it. We also have reiterated some things we knew before: TV is not necessary, internet is not necessary, but love, time, and energy are totally necessary.
BigJ has started a big adventure of his own Tree Business which is gearing up for its third season. I'm enjoying working in Hayward at a clinic. It was a great switch from the Hospital and I'm so glad I did it.
For the last year we have been trying to focus on eating fresh, local, real food. We have had some ups and downs, but its a day by day choice. We try to follow a Paleo diet most of the time, but do allow some dairy. Sweets, as always, are my biggest downfall and I can't seem to tame that lion. The best strategy for me seems to be STAY FAR FAR AWAY as only one taste is a slippery slope. My horrible feet won't allow me to run or train for a 5K as I've tried in the past, but I am able to use the elliptical often. So our basic philosophy is move your body and feed it real food. Its been a fun adventure learning to cook from scratch rather than from a box. I've found some great Paleo cookbooks: Eat like a Dinosaur, Nom Nom Paleo Cookbook, Well Fed 1 & 2, Gather and as always Pinterest!
Knitting is my main form of entertainment, that and keeping up with the fiber world online. Ravelry, like Pinterest, can suck the time away leaving me feeling guilty and without a warm sweater to show for it. As I'm limited to my phone for internet time at home, I can usually get back to knitting rather quickly, but updating the blog is near-impossible. In the past year or two, the sweater-bug has definitely caught me. I am finishing my tenth sweater in two years! Its all I can do to finish one before casting on the next, but Barbara Walker really spoke to me in Fiber Hooligan's recent podcast saying that you need to power through and finish one project before starting another. I like to do a "palate cleansing" project in between sweaters but I haven't knit nearly as many socks as I did in the past! I'm excited to be signed up for my first knitting retreat, the Zombie Knitpocalypse in Rochester MN in June. A whole room full of crazy knitters for a whole weekend! Its been fun getting to know them online. A friend and I have also made plans to go to STITCHES Midwest in IL in August. I feel like I might be a real Knitter now.
I thought that by the time I was 33-34 I would be "there" but I find myself always yearning for something more in life whether its my personal growth, professional, relationship, home or family improvement. I guess its good to always be evolving, changing, and bettering ourselves. My theme of 2014 is CONNECT. Connecting with my vision of my best self, connecting with my husband, LilJ, family, friends, my community and the earth. Its nice to have a theme to remind myself of when I'm feeling slumped or uninspired.
I'm hoping I post more often than every three years... but only time will tell.
BigJ and I have been doing updates to our house, what house you ask? Well, our same old small town house in Shell Lake. We moved back after a sabbatical, during which we got some much-needed perspective. What we learned: small houses are good, living in a small town fits our lifestyle for now, its ok to improve your house so you LOVE it. We also have reiterated some things we knew before: TV is not necessary, internet is not necessary, but love, time, and energy are totally necessary.
BigJ has started a big adventure of his own Tree Business which is gearing up for its third season. I'm enjoying working in Hayward at a clinic. It was a great switch from the Hospital and I'm so glad I did it.
For the last year we have been trying to focus on eating fresh, local, real food. We have had some ups and downs, but its a day by day choice. We try to follow a Paleo diet most of the time, but do allow some dairy. Sweets, as always, are my biggest downfall and I can't seem to tame that lion. The best strategy for me seems to be STAY FAR FAR AWAY as only one taste is a slippery slope. My horrible feet won't allow me to run or train for a 5K as I've tried in the past, but I am able to use the elliptical often. So our basic philosophy is move your body and feed it real food. Its been a fun adventure learning to cook from scratch rather than from a box. I've found some great Paleo cookbooks: Eat like a Dinosaur, Nom Nom Paleo Cookbook, Well Fed 1 & 2, Gather and as always Pinterest!
Knitting is my main form of entertainment, that and keeping up with the fiber world online. Ravelry, like Pinterest, can suck the time away leaving me feeling guilty and without a warm sweater to show for it. As I'm limited to my phone for internet time at home, I can usually get back to knitting rather quickly, but updating the blog is near-impossible. In the past year or two, the sweater-bug has definitely caught me. I am finishing my tenth sweater in two years! Its all I can do to finish one before casting on the next, but Barbara Walker really spoke to me in Fiber Hooligan's recent podcast saying that you need to power through and finish one project before starting another. I like to do a "palate cleansing" project in between sweaters but I haven't knit nearly as many socks as I did in the past! I'm excited to be signed up for my first knitting retreat, the Zombie Knitpocalypse in Rochester MN in June. A whole room full of crazy knitters for a whole weekend! Its been fun getting to know them online. A friend and I have also made plans to go to STITCHES Midwest in IL in August. I feel like I might be a real Knitter now.
I thought that by the time I was 33-34 I would be "there" but I find myself always yearning for something more in life whether its my personal growth, professional, relationship, home or family improvement. I guess its good to always be evolving, changing, and bettering ourselves. My theme of 2014 is CONNECT. Connecting with my vision of my best self, connecting with my husband, LilJ, family, friends, my community and the earth. Its nice to have a theme to remind myself of when I'm feeling slumped or uninspired.
I'm hoping I post more often than every three years... but only time will tell.
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