it's monday.

It has been a little crazy over here for us. We've just moved to a new apartment (and already started looking for our next one...we're crazy), I am in between jobs, Ben's work schedule has just changed, and one of my best friends is getting married on Saturday.

Life is changing at a rapid pace.

It's amazing I can keep up with myself, let alone any of my friends or family.


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Today has already started to be "one of those days". I woke up way earlier than I wanted to. When I went in the kitchen to put some dishes away, I broke a glass. The glass got all over the floor and counter, and cut my pinky in the process. Then when I was sweeping I kneeled in more glass. After using the vacuum I realized I have literally no place to store it. Then I went to get a bowl for breakfast and broke that too, cutting my finger again. I swear I didn't cry...

The day will get better though. I have too much to do for it not to be a good day. I have an interview to prepare for, things to put away, and yoga to practice (I'm getting better).

Hopefully I won't break any more dishes.


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I have many things to share about what I've been up to in the last 10 days. I have been creating and feel the spark to keep doing so. I will start putting more pictures on here to make the blog a little more interesting and to show what I create and where we go.

Happy Monday.

yoga update.

Let's be real with each other: I have not done yoga 3x a week since my goal post, simply because it's been too darn hot.

Our apartment is blessed with wonderful 7 1/2 ft windows (yes, those are the real measurements) and while they look great with our 11 1/2 foot ceilings, they let in too much sun. Yes, you read that correctly I'm complaining about the lovely sun they let in. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and definitely energy efficient. But it makes it hot. Really hot. If it's 95 degrees out like it has been, well, it's 95 degrees inside. No, we do not have an air conditioner in our living room. We have a fan and windows but they don't help.

It's the sun's fault, and I'm not into whatever kind of yoga it is where they make the room 100 degrees and you sweat to death. No, not for me. I tried and gave up after a few minutes.

I have done some mini-yoga stuff here and there, but no real workouts until this morning.

Jillian Michaels ruined my yoga this morning. I bought her yoga meltdown to add a kick to my yoga and I was annoyed the whole time. Yoga is my happy place and she annoyed me out of it. Next time, she gets put on mute. The work out was good though. I felt like I really accomplished something and my body said "Thank you, I needed that."

I will do more yoga, and my next update will be one that says "I did it!" Today, is not that day. Being accountable here is helpful though. I really want to improve my yoga practice. Yoga gives my body the stretches and strength building it needs all the while centering and focusing me on my breath, my body, my health. I love it. Plus, I want to be able to do this:

sitting pretty.

For most of my life, I've wanted to live in Pennsylvania with the rest of my family. I love their farms, their great stretches of open fields, the daily cow sitings, the great cities so close but far enough away to breathe fresh air.

About a year ago, Ben and I decided we were really going to do it, we were going to move to Pennsylvania. The only problem was we had a lease on our apartment so we'd have to wait. So, wait we did.

In the spring we started looking for jobs. I searched, I read, I hunted, and I strategized. Our goal was to move in August because our lease ends in July and it would just make sense to move right then.  We knew it wasn't right for us to move without a job.

Here we are, mid-July and still no job. I know, the economy is bad, etc. But that wasn't the problem. Ben's line of work often isn't hiring no matter how good the economy is. Employees stay for 15 or 20 years, meaning that he would be lucky to find an open position. One company said they just hired someone a month ago. If only we had called a month sooner....

So, ben went with a back up plan, to no avail. The company uses a staffing agency. Naturally you have to be in person to register with said agency and there is no way to work for the company Ben is trying to work for unless he were to use the staffing agency. We just took our honeymoon, we have no vacation days.

So, my heart has had to learn to be happy here and appreciate the good about where we are even though it longs for green grasses, fresh air and the ones I love so dearly. There is so much good here, and there is so much good in Pennsylvania too. I am excited to stay near friends and family that are here, especially as some changes happen for Ben and I.

The spring will bring new opportunities in the form of vacation time, and trips during the week to Pennsylvania to register with staffing agencies and to interview with companies. Until then, I must be content. I miss those in Pennsylvania so much each day, but I have so much here, too. I have family, Ben has family, we have jobs, we live in a great place and we have so much to look forward to.

I will gain all I can from everyday here. I must find all the good in each day and use it, no matter where I am.

goal tending.

I think most people must have some sort of space that inspires them. For some it may be a boat on a lake, for others it may be a mountaintop. For me, my “space” has always been the beach. I love the smell of the salty air, the sounds of the foamy waves as they crash to the shore, and the pale color pallet of white sands and a gray blue ocean. This calm and peaceful place always centers me, reminds me who I am, where I am, and where I’m going. I love the beach so much we even got married there at sunset (I didn’t plan the sunset part). So, it should come as no surprise that going on vacation to the beach would center me and remind me of who I am.

Vacations usually inspire me, regardless of where they are. I think it’s the break from reality that it offers. I’m not thinking about a to-do list, vacuuming, doing laundry, or running errands. On vacation I simply exist. We don’t really plan out our days; we just go with whatever we feel like doing at that moment. I think this break from reality really charges me and helps me think about how I’m doing in this journey we call life. I feel more refreshed and ready to go, which is the whole point of vacation, isn’t it?

I always read when I’m on the beach to pass the time. I have an e-reader but I felt wary about bringing it to the ocean so I picked up a book at Barnes & Noble called The Happiness Project. I have an ever growing list of books I want to read and this was somewhere on it, so I purchased it and planned to read the whole thing that week. Well, I made it through about 200 of the 300 pages, which is honestly remarkably slow for me (one of the perks of vacation). This book is incredible so far, though I’m still reading the end of it.

In The Happiness Project, the author discusses how she thinks she could be happier. She knows she is already happy, and there is no great tragedy going on around her, but she knows she could be a better citizen, daughter, sister, friend, employee, wife and mother. I identified with this sentiment, because while I am generally happy I know that I could be a better citizen, sister, friend, and wife.  So, the author sets small goals on a weekly & monthly basis. I recommend you pick up the book to know more about it, because this isn’t intended to be a book review, just a basis for something I want to do.

The author uses her small goals to make up what she calls her “Happiness Project”. My vacation thoughts combined with this reading had me thinking about doing something similar on my own. I have small goals I’d like to set and keep setting in the future. I think that these smaller goals that go under some overarching themes would certainly make me happier (though, like the author in this case I am definitely happy). I guess you could call it my own Happiness Project, but I am averse to being labeled or labeling things I do, so let’s just say I’m setting goals.

I will be mentioning these goals as I go along, because somehow writing it out will keep me accountable and able to evaluate my progress somehow.  I want to do things like go to bed when I’m tired, do more yoga, stop swearing, go to the dentist more, give more compliments, make smarter purchases, and not mention the socks. I want to do these things to help me stay centered, especially as many big changes happen around me. 

First up: more yoga. I picked yoga first because I feel great when I do yoga and I want to regularly have that sense of feeling so centered, peaceful, and energetic. Those feelings will give me motivation to continue on with my other goals, and other goals will probably happen naturally as a result.

road trip!

When we got married a little more than 10 months ago, Ben & I decided we would delay our honeymoon in order to save some money and really figure out where we wanted to go. September is not the ideal time for going anywhere with a beach due to hurricanes, and we knew we wanted the beach. So, we waited until the end of June and decided to go to Myrtle Beach, SC. I'd been numerous times as a child but Ben had never gone there before and we thought would be a great combination of relaxation and having something to do.

We stopped to visit some family in Pennsylvania on our way down. It wasn't exactly on the way so to speak, but any chance to be near those beautiful farms and the fresh air that I get, I take.

After a couple restful nights with family, our drive began again. This drive was much longer, but it landed us happily on the beach at the end of the day. We stayed at this great resort with many different hotels on it. We loved it. We spent our days at the beach or the pool, followed by dinner and mini golf and a return trip to the beach. It was so hot that our return trips at night were definitely the most enjoyable because we got some relief from the very high temperatures combined with humidity.

We really loved our vacation, and even planned another while we were there (not to Myrtle, but where we want to go next). We got to spend so much time together without distractions, and I know we need to make more of those moments here at home. It can be so hard sometimes in the busyness of life to just sit and enjoy each others company and talk, but it's so important! We made goals together, plans, talked about what was next, and just had so much fun. I made a lot of other goals while we were away, too and I'll share those tomorrow.

For rest and no distractions.

i blame the heat.

I haven't been so good at keeping up with this blog as I originally intended to. I even have a list of different types of blog posts that I would like to write. I want to take this seriously, but I keep avoiding it.

My first excuse was that I did not feel like loading vacation pictures onto a web album so that I could add them to a post (after I figured out how to). Then I was too hot to sit down and actually write anything because our apartment is almost always over 80 degrees except at night when I want to spend time with my husband.

No more excuses! Tomorrow I'm going to upload some pictures and write about our vacation. Vacations are always more than just a trip away for me. I always end up thinking about who I am, where I'm going, and who I want to be. Maybe it's the calming ocean waves or the long drives, or perhaps I'm just overly thoughtful. Whatever it is, I love vacations and I love coming home with resolutions about starting fresh.

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July 4th does not have pictures but it was a wonderful day spent in the heat of Boston, surrounded by friends and spent on quiet (however quiet Boston can be with millions of people around) walks with my husband. Watching the fireworks right on the banks of the Charles River always takes me breath away. They are so big, so bright, and so close. I love July 4th for its celebrations of country, camaraderie, and of course cookouts with friends.

Vacation discussion coming soon. I hope to have other regular sorts of posts that I will update about next time.

For friends near or far.

back again.

My husband and I took a week long trip to the beach, and while I thought of many blog posts while we were away I intentionally did not post a single one, or even write anything down.

I will be back this week with thoughts about our trip, as well as other posts about what's in store.

Happy 4th.