Daily Life

Daily Life + Garden Update

June 15, 2017 · 1 Comment

Spring seemed to just come and go with a whirlwind of road trips, concerts, work and garden projects. Things kicked off in April with a vacation to good ole Nashville (which I’ll share a separate post about) and then a few weeks later a quick 24 hours in Chicago. In between my mini-getaways and working I’ve poured the vast majority of my spare time into the huge 100 square foot garden I started in March.

It began as a place for me to create, work, and unwind, but it’s evolved into a beautiful and functional space that has allowed me to spend time with my family and bond over projects we’re working on together. My dad, Tracy, is an all around handy-man/wizard when it comes to… well, just about everything! He leveled out the ground we chose for the garden and built a retaining wall, complete with steps up into the garden so instead of raised garden beds, we have one giant raised garden! We installed a fence with additional chicken wire at the bottom to keep the adorable, but garden consuming, bunnies and squinnies out and used an old picket fence of my mom’s for the gate.

March

April

May

The next challenge was watering a space this big without running up the water bill every month. Tracy devised a simple and yet complex plan to redirect water that the pump in the basement would otherwise be pumping into the yard, into two 55 gallon drums instead. Clean, filtered, fresh, and most importantly, free, water every day to help the garden flourish.

I wanted to go vertical with my herb garden so we used two pallets and rebuilt them with shelves and weed fabric to hold in the soil and plants. We also added an archway that my mother gifted him several years ago that had rusted over. A layer of primer and some vibrant paint brought it back to life and attracts hummingbirds.

I built a trellis for the cucumbers out of leftover fence, used stones out of the creek to line the walkways, and now we’re in the process of slicing up some old trees that had been cut down to making stepping stones throughout the paths. We even found one that was slightly heart shaped! <3

I’m so proud of how much we’ve been able to re-purpose to make this garden come to life. I’m also very proud to have two loving parents that support and help me in accomplishing my goals and ideas.. even if they tell me I’m “off my rocker” when I first tell them my ideas. 😉

The garden is very close to being finished so I’ll share more photos once all the aesthetic parts are completed and stay tuned for some new cocktail recipes that will be rolling out this weekend!

Daily Life

May 12, 2017

It’s been a little difficult for me to do any personal writing lately because when I do finally have a moment to sit down and process it all, it’s just an intense outpouring of everything all at once. It ends up being a little too raw and personal or the reverse and I find myself “editing” as if everyone is reading it live, so I have to make sure not to say anything I’ll regret later. I realize that in doing so I’ve been depriving myself of expression to be who I am. Life is not a perfectly edited and filtered Instagram photo and life is not a phony upbeat blog post trying to make things sound different than they are.

So here it goes.. raw and unfiltered.

Several months ago I made the choice to move back home, but I felt embarrassed and pathetic about the notion of being twenty-eight years and starting over at home again, so I chose not to talk about it at all. Now it just seems a little ridiculous to be embarrassed or to omit that part of my life because someone somewhere could be in the exact same boat and why feel shame over something that has actually been one of the smarter moves I’ve made?

When I moved back from Oregon I needed solace and solitude. I found a rental house way out in the country and it provided exactly what I needed at the time. The lease was month to month, but I intended on staying at least 1 to 2 years. After moving so much I just wanted a place that I could call home, even if I was only renting. Unfortunately there were several ongoing issues with the house and the arrangement with the property and I realized.. this is not my home.

I had two options: #1. Be the same old stubborn and proud asshole I’ve always been and just put up with it until spring when I could move into another place during a better time of year or #2. Swallow all of that pride, move back home, and save the majority of my income to purchase MY OWN home instead of paying for someone else’s.

Option #2 seems like the easier choice, but making that decision was far from it because it felt like another gigantic failure in a long line of them that I’d already been recovering from. Just the thought of saying, “I live at home with my parents.” immediately gives me the mental image of some 40 year old loser smoking pot and playing video games in his mom’s basement while she makes him meatloaf and does his laundry. Then I realized that I am none of those things.. and I hate meatloaf for the record.. I am ME in this situation. I hit these huge walls of failure and instead of wallowing in it forever (I still wallow a little), I focus on rebuilding my life, a little wiser, a little stronger.

After I got moved and settled in I still felt pretty down about my situation (wallowing), so I grabbed a notebook, pen, and calculator and jotted down my three major goals for 2018. I assigned rough estimations of the cost for these goals and then broke it down into a monthly and bi-monthly savings plan. I’m a little bit of a control freak so making plans like these help me feel like I have a better grasp on things when life is seemingly spiraling away from me. My plan not only helped me get out of debt very quickly, but it has helped me put a comma in my savings account, something that I have NEVER been able to make happen in the decade+ that I’ve been working. It’s a small feat, but it’s one I’m extremely proud of.

I catch myself growing frustrated or placing more pressure on myself to make this savings goal happen even faster, but adding unnecessary stress won’t make more money appear in my account. My entire life I’ve been in this big hurry to do it all, see it all, and live a fulfilled life, but my pride and stubborn ways of doing it the hard way or doing it all without help has only hindered me in accomplishing more. Accepting help, making small sacrifices and compromises, and maintaining even just a little bit of faith and patience are my lessons I’m learning.

So there you have it.. I’m a 28 year old “loser” who temporarily lives at home with her parents (not in the basement I might add) and I am damn proud of it!

Daily Life

March 6, 2017

After a five day battle with a nasty cold I’m happy to report that with the help of a steady stream of Dayquil, NyQuil, and Sudafed.. I’m back to good health!

The last time I checked in, we were talking about some of the goals that I’m working on for this year, like getting out of debt, horseback riding, and being more active in general so here’s a quick update on them:

I’m still horseback riding once a week, learning new skills, patterns, and techniques, and I’ll actually be even more involved with them this spring volunteering for an adult special needs program and trail rides. I’ll admit that I felt a little silly when a young girl, about 7 years old and half my size, came walking into the barn for her lesson after me and she was going to be riding the same horse I was on. I’m guessing she’s a far more advanced rider than I am, but the feeling of fulfillment I get after riding and being around horses far overshadows any embarrassment I have about being “too old” for horseback riding lessons.

My financial goals: I didn’t quite reach my savings goal, but I did make it at least halfway there by setting aside $500 and I have a mere $150 left to pay towards my last debt, but credit cards are completely paid off! I haven’t had more than just a few dollars in my savings account since about six years ago, so while $500 seems minimal to some, this is HUGE for me. Now that I’m not tossing money at pointless interest, I can actual save large chunks of it each paycheck. I’ve set some lofty financial goals for 2018 that involve two major vacations AND buying a home. It’s going to require discipline, hard work, and getting some additional streams of revenue rolling, but it at least feels attainable now that I’m out of the hole.

I feel that I have a solid grip on those goals so I’m about to circle 4-5 more off of my 2017 list and I can’t wait to share them with you!

Oh and as you can see, Punk is also working away on her one goal of living the best life ever.

In between tackling my list I’ve been working a lot and trying to keep balance by spending time with friends and family, which hasn’t left a lot of room for blogging. I kept beating myself up over the fact that I wasn’t following my regular schedule of recipes, drinks, and projects, but then I realized that my life schedule looks nothing like it used to. I needed to forgive myself and allow some time for the blog to evolve and grow as well. I’m still trying to work out a schedule that allows me a bit more personal time to share more content because this is a big part of me too. It deserves time and attention just like any other area of my life.

What do you struggle to balance in your life and how are you overcoming it? What’s next on your goal list for 2017?

Daily Life + 2017 Goals

January 24, 2017

After the last “heavy” Daily Life.. it’s time to talk about some of the awesome things finally unfolding in my life, some 2017 goals, and how to tackle them more successfully than last year.

A few days after New Years, I filled up a piece of paper with all of the things I would like to accomplish in 2017 in no particular order. I circled 5 of them and wrote out a brief game plan on how I was going to make those goals happen in the next month. Some of these might be common goals for you too, so I hope that this helps motivate and inspire you to accomplishing yours as well!

First up was horseback riding. I know it sounds completely random, but I actually used to take lessons back when I was a kid. Of course I stopped at age 13 when I became too “punk-rock” for it all and thought smoking cigarettes and skipping school was a far “cooler” hobby. I missed it all the time and after spending a day at a stable while working a gig in Oregon, I realized it was time to quite literally get back in the saddle! This was an easy one to accomplish as all I had to do was research a few stables, find one nearby, call and set up my first lesson. My favorite boots are caked with mud and dust and my thighs and bum have never been more sore! Haha really.. this might be the best butt workout I’ve ever done!

While this may not be on a lot of people’s list, taking time for YOURSELF might be and that’s exactly what I’m doing. At least once a week commit to making time for yourself, a passion, or discovering that passion. You’ll be happier, more relaxed, and confident knowing you’re doing something just for YOU!

My next goal was to start working out and doing yoga on a daily basis again. This seemed like a daunting one at first, but after I started horseback riding I realized I needed some strong legs and lots of stretching so that I’m able to walk the next day! I’m motivated to work out more knowing that it benefits me in accomplishing my other goal. Finding ways to sync up goals like this will increase your success rate in accomplishing them, so look for those benefits any way you can! I don’t commit to a specific amount of time or reps, I just do what feels good for my body and this type of no-pressure approach works well for me. Others do better with a strict routine, so if you need that structure, commit yourself to 15 minutes every day, working up to lengthier workouts.

Another big one I circled that might be on your goal list too: Become debt-free! This is actually a goal I accomplished at the beginning of 2016, but of course a job change, divorce, cross-country move, another job change, and another move put me right back into debt! I had little savings and relied on my credit cards and help from family to float me through, putting me $3,475 in debt. In just a few months I’ve already paid half of that off and estimate that by the end of February I’ll not only be debt-free but ALSO have $1,000 saved.

I had to first get organized, swallow my pride and say, “I need help,” and make some big changes to get my finances back on track. I use the app Debts Break to keep track of my debts, estimate payoff dates, and it even shows me just how much money is going to principal and interest. It’s a huge motivator to plug the numbers in and realize you can save hundreds of dollars that otherwise would have just gone to interest. I also use the app Pennies to create budgets for things like gas, groceries, and extra spending money to keep me mindful of my spending habits and how much I have left. I make coffee at home, take my lunch to work almost every day, and try not to spend money on myself for things I can do at home, e.g., dye my own hair, do my own nails, workout, etc. I’m no expert so I can only offer up what works for me, but I recommend listening to podcasts, reading books, or finding information online from debt-free pros like Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard to keep you on track!

I’ll share more of the goals I’m working on currently as well as progress on the ones mentioned above with you all in the next Daily Life or perhaps a separate feature altogether if you found this post helpful.

What do you hope to accomplish this year? What steps have you already taken to make those goals happen? I’d love to chat with you more so leave your comments below!

Daily Life

January 4, 2017

This isn’t so much of a Daily Life as it is just a very honest and intimate reflection on everything that occurred in my 2016. With every beginning of a new year I feel it’s important to look back at the good and bad times and the lessons we learned from them.

2016.. What The Hell Just Happened?

As ridiculous as it sounds, just the simple change of the date rolling from 2016 to 2017 has brought an immense amount of relief to me because last year was one of those years that left me pondering, “What the hell just happened?”

Toward the beginning of 2016 I was feeling extremely lost and knew something really great or really awful was on it’s way to shake things up. Of course.. it turned out to be the latter. I can use cute phrases like, “Life gave me a lot of lemons.” but I think a more accurate visual image would be one giant a-hole of a lemon driving a dump truck full of more lemons and dumping them at my feet while flipping me the bird. That was my year.

I began 2016 married, living in Oregon, and planning a long term future there. As much as I loved it, I was still feeling like something was a bit off and decided to take a solo trip to Iowa in February to spend time with family. While I was there my husband and I had a pretty serious conversation about our relationship, his dislike of Portland, the possibility of us returning to Iowa, or just him returning. We realized we were quickly heading down two very different paths and the talk of divorce began.

I left a stressful job and took on another only to find that it was not the answer or change I was looking for. It took me even further away from my passions and caused even more wear and tear on an already threadbare situation holding my marriage together. I eventually became so far removed from who I was that I barely recognized myself anymore. I was depressed and couldn’t figure out how to stop it, change it, or move on from it. Looking from the outside into my own life or anyone else in a similar situation, I would have just said, “Oh come on! Get over it and be happy already!” But when you’re in the depths of it you cannot even fathom just how you’re going to begin to pull yourself back up.

One particular night I found myself alone at the house, feeling disgusted with myself, exhausted, and depressed. I was too emotionally spent to have an appetite for a real meal and found myself sitting on the kitchen floor, drinking wine, and eating cheese and crackers while sharing the cheese with the cat.

Let’s let that pathetic image sink in: Sobbing, drinking, sitting on the floor, and sharing cheese with the cat. That’s when I had my wake up call to myself and promptly got up and went straight to my laptop to write an email. I cried the whole time I wrote it and then finally hit send.

When I realized what I had done I had a brief moment of thinking, ” Great, now you’re full blown crazy.” because I had actually sent the email to myself. At this point I don’t really care how “crazy” it was or still is because it’s what saved me..

“Dear Sasha,

Pick yourself up and dust yourself off.. Literally. You were just sitting on the kitchen floor drinking $6 wine and feeding cheese to the cat.

Wake the f*** up and realize your potential. You know exactly what you want out of the future, but it’s this in between stage you can’t get past. It’s time to start making every day count by taking a solid step towards furthering the business or businesses. The husband can wait. Friends can wait. This is your time to be selfish and take care of yourself. Ask for help (from the right people) when you need it and don’t be afraid of being vulnerable.

It’s not going to happen unless you can pull yourself (mentally) out of this sh***y situation. Yes.. you are in a confusing tumultuous relationship. You work a miserable call center job, your commute sucks, you’re broke. People have done far more with far less.. what’s your excuse?

Read this every day.. add to it.. do what you have to do. But do not forget that you are a strong, independent, smart, and creative woman that has the power to make real change and inspire others. Learn how to love yourself.. that’s the only person you can depend on anyway.”

I still read this and cry, wondering where that voice came from, because despite advice from friends, family, and the occasional self-help book or two, none of it got through to me like my own words did.

While my path and future are far from being figured out, everything feels right and is starting to become much more clear. I still struggle and find myself feeling pretty beat down at times, and finally just have that breakdown moment of saying, “OKAY! Enough! I can’t handle anymore!” but I still pick myself up and remember my own words to keep on going, succeeding, failing, trying, and starting over again and again.

I’m sad that my marriage ended, but I’m happy that we both now can pursue our own happiness and paths. I will forever miss Oregon, it’s beauty, and the lifelong friends I made there, but I know I can return to visit any time that I want. I’m grateful that I made the choice to move back to Iowa and I see my mom nearly every day instead of just once a year for a few days followed by a painful airport goodbye. It was the perfect year of balance between loss and gain, heartache and learning.

I’m very eager to see what this year has in store and despite all that I encountered, experienced, and overcame in 2016, I’m oddly grateful for it all because I’m forever altered as a person.

Daily Life

November 16, 2016

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The last few weeks have been BUSY and I’ll dive into that in a little bit, but I did manage to take some time this past Saturday to do a little hike at Ledges State Park. I hadn’t been there in years, so it was nice to get out and do a little exploring. You may assume that most of Iowa is flat, but the sandstone cliffs in the park provide some serious elevation gain! We were sticking to a fairly level, but rocky dried out creek, but then ventured off and straight up a hillside with nothing but loose fallen leaves to dig into. It was a pretty comical one step forward, four steps, and a skid backwards type of scramble, but once at the top, it offered up beautiful views over the river as the sun was setting.

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Now onto the busy business..

The days may appear to have gotten shorter, but I decided to make mine even longer by adding a fulltime job and relaunching my vintage Etsy shop on top of Tattooed Martha, freelance blogging, and selling on eBay.

I haven’t talked a lot about the eBay and Etsy shops on the blog just yet because I wasn’t quite sure how they were going to pan out or if I wanted to continue with them, but it’s slowly becoming more and more apart of my life. Selling through eBay started during the “EVERYTHING MUST GO” period of my life in August. A cross country move is a hell of a lot easier with less stuff and if I can make money to fund said move, then it’s a win-win. I’ll dive more into my reselling process in a separate post, so look out for that in the very near future.

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Some of my quirkier thrift store finds.

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The Etsy shop was sparked by my friend and I’s love for vintage dresses, Harley t-shirts, and retro decor. Britnee sells her items from Portland and I sell mine from Des Moines. A few items went up, but then it was put on hold during my move. After a few months of hunting, I’ve built up an arsenal of amazing vintage items that I’m excited to get listed in the shop this week!

It seems I’m the queen of biting off more than I can chew and then pushing myself to the limit to keep it all rolling, but there’s a lot of people out there doing much more than I am with even less time. I’m still young(ish) and haven’t started a family yet, so there’s no reason I shouldn’t hustle a little harder for the goals I want to achieve. I also want to share my successes and failures with you, so that if you’re wanting to add extra income, pursue a passion, become partially or completely self-employed, or just get better at balancing an already busy schedule, you can learn from my experiences.

Let me know what you want to know or see more of and I’ll be sure to keep you updated with the good, bad, ugly, and awesome!

Have a great week everybody!

Daily Life

November 2, 2016

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Of course we’re just two days into November and I believe I’m already sick. I’m currently drinking a gallon of lemon ginger tea with honey to soothe this sore throat, but I’m thinking a Hot Toddy may be in order soon!

The last few weeks have been a pretty equal balance of good, bad, calm, and weird. I try to keep a pretty sunny disposition about it all, but sometimes your optimism bank feels pretty tapped out. On those days I find myself feeling very grateful for friends and family near and far that help pull me out of the funk that I’m in. And speaking of feeling grateful..

I used to go over a list of about 10 things or people that I was grateful for every morning when I woke up and every night before I went to bed, but somewhere along the way, I stopped. Perhaps that’s why I’m feeling the way that I am? I suppose it’s only fitting that we’re in November, where everyone starts doing their 30 days of things their thankful for, that I choose to start going over that list each day again. It may seem a little bit silly, but it always helped me start and end my day on a positive note. Anyone else do this as well?

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Mornings with Duck Duck. The no-name duck that can’t fly 💛 #mylittlefarmhouse #countryliving #midwestliving #nonameduck

A photo posted by Sasha (@sasha_danielle) on Oct 18, 2016 at 8:06am PDT

If you follow my personal Instagram, you may have seen a few weeks ago that I was having coffee with my little duck down by the pond and everyone was really excited to see more adventures of my no-name duck that couldn’t fly… And then he died.

I have no idea how or why, but it was just two days after that photo. Of course the way that I found him was really awful timing.. We took my friend’s two year old down to the pond to feed him and there in the water we found him floating. : ( Thankfully she didn’t spot him so we got to avoid the whole death discussion with her for now. Rest in peace Duck Duck, the pond is not the same without you!

The rest of the wildlife around here is quite alive though. Every day it’s a parade of deer, feral cats, raccoons, wild turkeys, woodpeckers, and the occasional skunk. My step-dad comically and poetically put it quite perfect, “The country is great. Quiet with a meat department.” Haha I don’t think I’ll be hunting this year as my target practice still needs a bit of work (see below), but I do love being able to take a break from my laptop to go wandering around the property to collect things for various craft projects (coming soon!) and of course Punk has been enjoying her new land as well.

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I also have been able to spend a lot of time with my parents (and their pup, Coco!) which was a big part of why I moved back to Iowa. I’m still in this weird adjustment period after kind of turning my life upside down, but when I’m with them, I feel home and that I made the right choice. Alright, I’m about to get all emotional so I’m going to close things out..

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I’ve got an amazing November planned with tons of new recipes, DIY projects, and some house projects, so stay tuned! You can always keep up on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or make sure you’re signed up for my new weekly newsletter!

Daily Life

October 11, 2016

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I’m several weeks into living in my new home and I wish I could report that I’m fully settled, fully furnished, and at ease in my new place… but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

As you can see from all the photos, I’ve been enjoying a lot of walks around my place and appreciating the country sunsets, so it’s not to say that things are all bad. Right now it’s just more about surviving emotionally and financially day after day. I’ve been waiting for three weeks to get internet up and running in my new place, only to get a phone call yesterday saying they can’t service my address after initially telling me they could. Instead of berating an innocent call center employee for something that was out of her control, I chose to quietly and pathetically shed a few tears at the public library where I’ve been forced to call my office for the last few weeks. Turns out that in order to run a blog, you kinnnnnd of need internet, so this has been a huge set back for me. I’ve allowed myself a few days to throw a pity party and now it’s time to move on.

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You may also have noticed my complete absence from social media the last two weeks as well and I wish I could say this was due to no internet service, but unfortunately it was for safety and privacy reasons. We all process things and express ourselves in different ways, but it is in no way okay to make serious, emotional, or hypothetical threats against someone’s life. I will admit that this caused me to feel very fearful for my life and those around me for the last few weeks, so I thought it best to keep my social life as private as possible. I refuse to live my life in fear though and will instead be taking all necessary precautions to feel safe again. And yes that includes being a sharp shooting badass of the Midwest. 😉

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I’m hanging on.. by a thread it feels like, but I’m hanging on. I have brought so much good into my life and I know that I can continue to bring in more, I just have to keep pushing through.

A few highlights and positive notes from the last week:

I became an aunt again! My brother and his girlfriend welcomed their new son, Porter, on the 25th of September. He’s an adorable little ginger and I look forward to baby-sitting this little nugget very soon.

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A few days later I turned twenty-eight years old and celebrated by heading to Missouri for the Roots n’ Blues Festival to see Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nightsweats as well as several other talented bands.

And speaking of shows.. one of my best friends surprised me several months ago by telling me she had picked up tickets for us to go see one of my guilty pleasures…. DRAKE.. on October 4th. Yes.. I listen to Drake. It’s an odd choice when I primarily listen to blues, folk, Americana, classic rock, and indie music, but for some reason I just can’t get enough of it. We danced our buns off and I found myself feeling more like 48 than 28 when midnight rolled around and I started wishing the show was over so I could go home and go to bed.

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All of it was a great way to close out September and begin October despite everything else that’s going on.

I’m ready to start in on some Halloween crafts and recipes heading toward the end of this month.. what are you guys most excited for in October?

Daily Life

September 17, 2016

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Hopefully this is the last post (at least for a few months) where I find myself wanting to open it by saying, “What a whirlwind!” “My head is spinning!” or “What the hell just happened?!”

As a lot of you know I’ve been in the process of closing off one chapter of my life to start a new one. They say that divorce and moving are among the top 5 stresses in life and I decided to tackle them at the same time. And not just a simple down the street move.. an 1800 mile move to my home state of Iowa that took two car trips. My bum is about as flat as a pancake from the 60+ hours I’ve spent in a car the last two weeks and my forehead looks like an etched road map of all my stress. Botox party, anyone?

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Today I go and pick up the keys to my new place which I’m excited and nervous about. It comes with 2 acres that I’ll be tending to and it’s my first time renting a house and not some teeny tiny apartment. It’s also been about 6 years since I’ve lived alone and I’ll be out in the country, adding another factor of isolation. I’m sure I’ll be hypersensitive to every new creak and groan of the house and of course the new season of American Horror Story will not be helping my paranoia any, but I’m ready for this. I tend to work best when I’m alone and my creative side thrives on it.

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I’m really looking forward to finally getting settled and being able to shift my focus back to what I love: THIS BLOG! Fall is my favorite cooking and crafting season, so I’ll be working on a ton of new projects to share with you.

Stay tuned for a brand new recipe tomorrow!

Daily Life

August 31, 2016

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I feel like my head is still spinning from the last week. I traversed seven states in 35 hours by car and then flew 1800 miles back to Portland just 4 days later, arriving late last night.

Getting out of Oregon was slightly more chaotic than I would have liked.. My rental car fell through last minute and I found myself in tears on the phone with another company, only to be told that all of their cars were booked that day. This left me with no other option than to pack up my Toyota Corolla that originally got me out to Portland 5 years ago. I found myself feeling extremely grateful that I have a step-father that taught me basic car knowledge; checking tire pressure, oil, and other fluids since my last tune up was a few months ago. Carol (my car) was in good enough shape to hit the road so I got to work loading her up on a lovely 97 degree day here in Portland.

To add to the stress, I was still being hounded by Craigslisters and others that wanted to purchase furniture that I had listed earlier that week. So here I am lugging a 75lb desk out my door into a woman’s car, just minutes before I was ready to hit the road. I earned a mere $20 that would help pay for one of the several tanks of gas needed for the trip ahead. After a tearful goodbye with my roommate and loading Punk up into the car, I was finally able to get on the road 3 hours past my original leave time.

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I drove through two thirds of Oregon, seeing areas that I had yet to explore, then Washington, watched the sunset just as I was entering Montana and watched it rise again as I was leaving Hardin, MT, marking the halfway point of my trip. I power napped for about 40 minutes in my car in a McDonald’s parking lot (the only thing that place is good for!), and continued to push through to Wyoming and South Dakota – where a minor car issue was quickly resolved thanks to my Chuck Taylor shoelace, before finally arriving in Iowa at about 1:30am Saturday.

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Let me tell you.. nothing tests your mental and physical endurance better than hauling ass across the country with no sleep in a car lacking control.

On Sunday I saw my house for the first time and signed the lease. It’s.. PERFECT. Everything I’ve been wanting for the past few years and then some.

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Tucked back on 2 acres of land that includes a large fenced in garden area, another fenced in area perfect for goats or little piggies, a chicken coop, a private pond complete with a sweet and friendly duck, and a small vineyard. You guys.. a freaking vineyard! The house itself is an old barn that a gentleman revamped into a rather interesting space. I can’t even really begin to describe it so I’ll be doing a house tour that I’ll share on the blog very soon.

Some quality time with friends and my parents, a few thunderstorms, and country sunsets quickly reminded me of what I miss and how beautiful Iowa can be.. when you’re not angry all the time! 😉 I’m looking forward to exploring it with a fresh perspective and renewed sense of self.

So what do you guys think? Can you picture me as a gardening, chicken raising, shot gun toting country girl? Haha it’s definitely going to be a wild ride and I can’t wait to share every bit of it with you!

2016.. What The Hell Just Happened?

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