the years that make us/the years that break us

I’ve always been enchanted by the start of a new year. I’m not a resolutions person, but I cherish the deep work of reflecting on the year behind us and basking in the possibility of what’s to come.

In trying to summarize 2019, I’ve worked to focus on the lessons in the grief, or to polish up the edges — but that’s not how this year has gone.

Some years, there’s really no boiling it down to joy or heartache, failure or victory. Some years, it’s just digging deep and summoning the strength. Some years you just get by.

I’ve written and rewritten this post several times over the past few weeks, and it turns out the year was too big for this post.

This hasn’t been a year for summaries or making a long story short. I can tell you about the lotus in the mud, but not without telling you about the mud.

So, we’ll start here, because you have to start somewhere.

This year, personally:

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and came to terms with that… kind of. (To the extent that one can, when ‘powerlifter’ was such a big part of my identity.)

I turned 35 on the Oregon coast.

In the first of what would turn out to be many plot twists this year, I was asked (and agreed) to foster-adopt a baby born to a relative’s relative. I packed up and left Washington for mid-Michigan. Waited. Struggled. (I grew up in Michigan, and being there is energetically very hard for my spirit.)

My heart shattered when plans changed and the placement never happened. (I’ve been very careful about how I talk about this, because a lot of the story is not my story to tell.) The grief I experienced made me feel the loneliest I have ever felt. I can’t begin to articulate what it was like to have spent those months looking at pictures, growing to love her so deeply, and then learn that I’d never meet her. Or how strange it felt to have fully shifted my identity to being someone’s mom, and suddenly no longer be preparing to be a mom anymore.

I took solace at my sister’s place in Maine, and from there, decided to stay in Maine. I couldn’t bear to return to my life out west as though nothing had ever happened. I didn’t even recognize myself anymore.

R.T. listed our house in Tacoma. We lived apart for several months, during which I stayed at my sister’s homestead in the Kennebec Valley with our dogs. I managed to run my business despite unreliable rural internet and no cell service, which was no small feat. (I had to drive the 12 miles to town to upload files more than once!)

We went under contract on both our former and new houses on the same day. The house we bought here is in a tiny queer town with a population of about 2200 people. My sister calls it The Manifested House. It’s giant and weird and blue. We bought it from two artists who built it in the 80s and raised their children here. We love it so much, and it will be the perfect place to grow our family.

We did DIY home renovations with the help of my sister & dad, and hired our first contractor to replace windows in all six bedrooms. We got six chickens and a foster bunny.

We took trips to Detroit and Austin and Montreal. I took a late summer trip to the Seattle area. (That was a hard visit. There are about a thousand words on my heart about having left a place I love so dearly… I will write them. I miss my life and my friends there fiercely.)

In another plot twist – just as we began preparing to restart the adoption process, we learned I was pregnant.

(a personal note)

I haven’t found a way to say, “I unexpectedly got pregnant by someone other than my husband” that won’t make some of you clutch your pearls and/or hunger for drama or juicy details. But — being a person is complicated, and that’s what happened. And it was kind of a non-thing, honestly. R.T. and I are ready to be parents. I’m polyamorous, and have identified as such for about nine years – my relationship with R.T. has always been some style of non-monogamous/monogamish. My co-procreator is someone with whom I shared a significant, long-term connection. Our dynamic is complicated, but this baby was made with love.

I’m sharing this with you because raising my child with honesty and awareness is one of my core values. I don’t want them to grow up suspecting that there’s a shameful secret behind their existence. There is not. Baby Quinn is exceptionally loved and very, very wanted. There is more than one way to build a family. This is mine.

My pregnancy has been easy except when it wasn’t — I was never sick, but I bled the entire first trimester and then, midway through my second trimester, there were complications, and I was put on modified bed rest just before Thanksgiving. We were back and forth to providers and specialists and it was incredibly draining. (One of the trade-offs of living in rural Maine is that most of my doctor’s appointments take a solid half day with travel time.)

Happily, I was released from the high risk specialist just before Christmas. As I write this, I’ve just passed the 26 week mark, and I’m about to start my third trimester. The home stretch. Baby Quinn is developing perfectly and, at least for now, everything looks great. We’re counting up weeks and inching ever closer to meeting this new little love.

This year, professionally:

In July, I celebrated the tenth anniversary of starting my business. That’s really the only business-related milestone I have to share. There was so much else to navigate, and while I’m so, so fortunate that my business was able to sustain me/I was able to sustain my business, it was not a year for business growth. I’m okay with that, and grateful for the fact that sometimes my business is just a job, and I can show up and do good work and then get back to the life at hand.

My artwork was accepted into an art gallery for the first time, fulfilling a goal I set early this year, before the year took the course it did. It felt like an incredible feat. I’m very proud of this accomplishment, and look forward to devoting myself more fully to my art in the year to come.

There were a thousand reasons this year was hard. I don’t really do easy — I’m a bit addicted to chaos — but this year felt relentless. We just never had the chance to catch our breath before the next thing happened.

2019 required a lot of endurance. Our mental health suffered. Our income suffered. Our marriage did not suffer, and is instead perhaps the strongest it has ever been.

There’s been a lot of beauty in this year, too, and so much to be grateful for. My sister Bunny is definitely at the top of that list. I might have survived this year without her, but I can’t imagine it. She was my soft place to land time and time again. We live here in this quiet, rural part of Maine because of her, and it was absolutely the right decision.

If I had to live this year again, I would make a lot of decisions differently, and the outcome would be entirely different. There’s a lot I regret.

And yet. I believe that I’m exactly where I need to be. I probably would have ended up here regardless, through some other series of tumultuous events. I am happy to be here. I am healing. I am still learning.

So. On to 2020.

I’ll be back with more to share with you soon. We can talk about the adoption that wasn’t meant to be and the baby that was. I’ll tell you the story of the manifested house.

I want to be more intentional in noticing everyday magic, and sharing these little stories from small town life in Maine.
And not long from now, we’ll meet my son together.

Thanks for being here.

Happy new year. I hope the decade to come is the best one yet.

“Now I know what’s important: being charmed by my own life. Taking what is and making that the best that could happen. Trusting in my path. Trusting that keeping the magic alive in my life, keeping promises to myself, keeping my focus on the real and grounded things I want—that will lead me somewhere beautiful, somewhere I didn’t know I was going.”
– Jamie Varon

Coffee Break #17


:: A little collection of things I’ve read + relished around the internet recently ::

25 Reasons to Keep Making Stuff

“I was equating Netflix with self-care and downtime, but the truth is that creativity is a much more powerful form of self-care.”

I loved this post by my friend Marie. Why We Said Goodbye To Netflix on Weekdays

This. Is. Just. My. Face. – “My woman-face does not exist for the world’s collective amusement. I have things to do and life to live — and all kinds of thoughts to think. Sometimes I, too, look like I may be ordering a sandwich while mentally doing calculus, and that is okay. I am not a bitchface, resting or otherwise.”


Why We Pick Difficult Partners – I *loved* this video. 

What’s All This About Journaling? – I’ve been journaling a lot the last few months. The more I do it, the more I want to do it. I use my journal (a navy blue Leuchtturm 1917 covered in stickers) alongside my weekly planner. I keep a One Line A Day diary for each month as well as a page devoted to a gratitude list.

This really made my day: I Just Had The Most Surreal — And Profound — Flight Attendant Experience In My Life “On Thursday, as I boarded my flight, I instantly knew something out of the ordinary was happening when I was greeted by a sweet, 20-something puppy dog of a flight attendant who welcomed every single passenger onto the plane by singsonging the exact same thing ― something like: ‘Hi! I’m Zach! Welcome aboard and I hope you’re having an AWESOME day!’

He was so friendly it was almost violent.”

I’ve probably watched this ten times, and it cracks me up every time.

Life, Lately: May Flowers

Hello, friends! I think the first rule of being a blogger is that you’re not supposed to call attention to your gaps in posting, but c’mon, it’s been a year. I couldn’t possibly catch you up on everything, but here’s a glimpse of what my life has been like for the past little while.

Wearing:

Birkenstock season is in full swing here, and I currently have four pairs of Mayaris in rotation: a pair for around the house, a pair for yardwork (read: a retired old pair that I can’t bring myself to throw away), an everyday pair, and a pair I keep nice for dressing up a bit.

Before the weather changed, I was really obsessed with my Prairie Underground cloak hoodie. Yes, I did spend $280 on a hoodie, and yes it was worth it.

Otherwise – I recently got a Style Pass to Stitch Fix, which means I get Fixes for a year for only $49 (no styling fee). That’s been pretty fun.

Watching:

I’m super into Splitting Up Together. I don’t watch a lot of current TV – I’m a slow adopter in this way – but it’s my favorite since This is Us, and I hope it sticks around. (Getting into a show in its first season is risky!)

On the binge watching/streaming front, the last several months, I’ve really enjoyed Friends from College (even though every character is the actual worst), Amazing Mrs. Maisel (obviously), Atypical, Fleabag, and most recently, The Mortified Guide on Netflix, which my friend Kerstyne is in! (Episode 5.)

Reading:

I really enjoyed All These Wonders. Currently reading some fiction for a change – Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo. (A recommendation at my local so-beloved Tacoma bookstore, King Books.)

I also recently read Designer Relationships, which is a worthwhile read for anyone newly interested in exploring alternative relationship structures.

Smitten with:

Concentrated watercolors. These are a new discovery for me, and I am obsessed with them. There are a lot of similarities to the acrylic inks that were my favorite medium for a year prior, but they come in more colors and I find them easier to mix as well.

I remain obsessed with Chic Sparrow traveler’s notebooks. My favorite one (an Outlander Deluxe Time Traveler) has been discontinued, but I’m currently using and loving the Mr. Darcy Buttered Rum.

R.T. and I got this record player for ourselves for Christmas, and it’s… the best. I’ve never been into vinyl before this, and I’m super digging it. R.T. recently told me that I had to stop buying only Paul Simon records, though. What a buzzkill.

Indulging in:

As much time as I can possibly get in my hammock. I. Love. This. Thing. I just bought an umbrella to go over it, too, so now I can read in the hammock without the sun in my face. It’s a beautiful thing.

Creating:

I’m doing the 100 Day Challenge for the second time. I’m really inconsistent with posting updates, but I have been painting every day, both in my little sketchbooks and elsewhere. I’m obsessed with honing my style and making this a bigger part of my life.

I’ve also enrolled in this mentorship program with Annamieka Hopps Davidson, and really excited to see how my work evolves over the next year.

Celebrating:

Since it’s been a hundred years since I posted anything here, some highlights: I had a breast reduction in August, and I don’t think I could over-exaggerate what a profound difference it has made in my life. I paid out of pocket and the recovery was a couple of months long, but even with those details – totally, 100% worth it.

I also had my first powerlifting meet at the end of March. Training for the meet meant 8-10 hours/week in the gym for two months. It was a really incredible feeling to dedicate myself to an extreme stretch goal and see it through to the end. I went 8/9, failed one lift on a technicality (I made the lift but missed the command). I’m planning to compete again, but probably not until early next year.

Looking forward to:

Can I just say summertime? I’m also looking forward to the Womxn’s Strength Summit that my powerlifting coach Maria organized.

—

What’s life been like on your end? What are you looking forward to this summer? Tell me in the comments. If we haven’t already, let’s connect on Instagram.

Coffee Break #15

This is straight-up one of the most important + relevant articles on the internet. “My guess is that most creative work operates on a negative returns curve. I know in the past when I’ve done design work, I’ve tinkered with an image so much that I can’t even tell if it looks good or not anymore. I would then spend half the night trying to make it “look right,” only to wake up in the morning realizing the idea sucked in the first place and I was better off starting over.”

“Some things in life cannot be fixed. They can only be carried.”

24 Thoughts I, A Modern-Day New Yorker, Had During “When Harry Met Sally” – Laughed out loud (for real). I used to watch this movie allllllll the tiiiiiiime when I lived alone in my early twenties. (That said… driving from Chicago to NYC in one go isn’t that difficult, so that’s a weird observation. It’s 13 hours. I’ve driven close to twice that in a straight shot by myself. #humblebrag)

How to Work on your Creative Business When You’re Depressed as Fuck – This has been true for a lot of us since… November? Maybe even earlier? It’s been a tough time to be a creative, for sure. #thankstrump

Worrying is Not an Action Step. Mara is brilliant as always.

And finally… (closing out with some fun ones, per usual)

The Ongoing Influence of Darlene Conner.

Why Belle Should Have Chosen Gaston. (Sidenote: Did you see the new movie? What did you think? I’m a diehard Beauty and the Beast fan, and I really enjoyed it.)

Life, lately: Springtime in the Sound

Hey friends. It’s been a quiet few months ’round here. Keeping busy with client work, with a new rescue dog, with trying to will the rain away. (It finally worked!)

Everything I’ve been jazzed about since our last check-in…

reading: ‘Rescuing Penny Jane’ – This will make you cry and want to volunteer at an animal shelter. Fair warning. // A few friends and I are reading ‘What Love Is: And What It Could Be’ this month. // I also really enjoyed You are a Badass.

wearing: new Aeropastale jacket (not on their site, for some reason, but similar to this one, which is cheaper anyway – score!), ‘She Persisted’ necklace, headbands from Texture after getting a haircut I’m especially bummed about (bleh), my new custom Timbuk2 bag. (Mine is black/reflective polka dot/grey.)

smitten with: blue hair, sunny days, dog playdates, my new Fitbit Alta HR – I’ve had probably 5 different FitBits through the years, and this is my favorite. I love that it has a heart rate monitor and is slim enough that it doesn’t bug me while I’m typing. It’s just super comfortable to wear. // Oh, also – Divi Builder. I resisted working with any sort of builder or framework for a really long time, but I have to say, it makes life easier for me and my clients. I’ve seen the light.

indulging in: Lots of time in the studio. Time to learn and practice. It feels so luxurious, but it shouldn’t, right? I’ve been working toward a slower work life for awhile, and I’m finally getting there – creating more time for creating. Also – coffee dates with R.T. every weekend. Just the two of us and maybe a notebook.

creating: my new bullet journal, my blog landing page (did you notice?), lots of art journaling. // This only tangentially counts as ‘creating’, but a lot of my non-work time lately has been spent training Finnegan, the shelter dog I adopted in early January. Training a large puppy is a lot of work, as it turns out. I was unprepared. We work together every day. He’s super smart, but also super stubborn. It’s been both exhausting and rewarding and we’re nowhere near “done”.

listening to: S-Town, of course. It’s fascinating and heartbreaking. I only have a couple of episodes left. #sadface

celebrating: Two years in the PNW! Already, somehow. My life is so, so different than it was when I moved to Portland in 2015. // Getting re-energized about lifting. I’m in two small groups right now, so every Friday and Saturday I get to lift with a trainer named Maria and 2-3 other women. I got out of lifting for a bit during the time when we were buying our house – I was just too busy and stressed and other reasons. I lift because I love it, so when I wasn’t loving it, I stopped. Now I’m back to 3-4 days/week and am slowly but surely getting back to where I left off.

looking forward to: The 100 Day Project – it starts today, and it’s my first year participating. I’m nervousexcited. You can follow along with me on Instagram.

life, lately: Hello, 2017

newyear

Happy 2017, friends!

2016 went out with a bang on this end. In late October, R.T. and I went to an open house on a whim and ultimately ended up buying a house in Tacoma, WA (about 30 miles south of Seattle). It was the only house we toured, but it was very much a when you know, you know thing for me. I knew it had to be our house. We got keys on December 12th, spent that week painting, and moved in the following weekend. We’re mostly settled in already, which is mostly thanks to R.T.’s efforts.

A quick look at the other things I’m digging lately:

reading: The Big Leap (can’t believe I hadn’t read that earlier!), Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton. I promised to report back on Year of Yes – it was one of my favorite reads of 2016. Shonda is fantastic.

fryeboots

wearing: Second-hand Frye boots – I love these so much, but they’re showing wear earlier than I would have expected. (I probably don’t know how to take care of them…) TOMS Desert wedges – Tara gave me a pair of these (in taupe) during a pre-move purge while ago, and I only just started wearing them. LOVE. I found a black pair on Poshmark recently. I’m in love with a slouchy Crane Clothing beanie lately, too… As much as I dislike cold weather, I do like getting away with not doing my hair every day. Ha.

office

smitten with: My new office and studio spaces. And our new fireplace. The house in general, I suppose. My letter board. The lighting kit I just got last week – it’s super inexpensive, but makes SUCH a big difference for taking photos in the studio at night. (I mostly use this for Instagram – and now for FB Live – YMMV in more pro-level settings.)

indulging in: I just indulged in about a month of slow-working… generally only working a few hours a day and taking a lot of time off. Some of this was intentional – I always aim to be off for the second half of December – but some of it was just the timing of our house closing and our move. Now I’m not feeling very inclined to indulge – I’m more focused on being productive. (That’ll fade soon, I’m sure… probably when all of the TV shows I like come back from their mid-season breaks!)

creating: I’m anticipating a lot of creative work this month – both in my business and on personal projects – but for the last little while, I’ve mostly been focused on turning this house into a home. I did create a new offering last month, though. It’s been awhile since I offered a low-budget starter site – but here they are! Launchpad Sites!

listening to: in terms of music, I’m really into Passenger lately. Podcast-wise, I really loved the Being Boss episode with Nicole Antoinette. I’m also really enjoying Jess Lively‘s adventures on The Lively Show.

celebrating: becoming a homeowner, obviously! Opening my own tiny, intimate Facebook group and getting brave with the folks who are hanging out there.

looking forward to: Everything ahead this year! It’s going to be a big year for my business and I’m excited for the brilliant business owners I’ll get to help and collaborate with this year. I’m also looking forward to SPRING and the warmer weather adventures that I’ll get to enjoy with R.T. (hiking, camping, etc).

How about you? How’s 2017 shaping up so far? What are you excited about?

life lately: emerald city summer

lately716

Hello, from a coffeeshop in Seattle on this cloudy & very cold July day. We’re having a very mild summer here in the PNW. (I’m trying not to complain.)

Anyway, I thought I’d pop in with a bit of a life update. It’s been awhile, hm? (Are we connected on Instagram, by the way?)

It’s been an exceptionally busy couple of months. R.T. and I had a very tumultuous move, but life has been pretty good since settling here. We’re finding our groove. I’m genuinely surprised by how much I’ve fallen in love with this city — if I’m honest, I felt a lot of resistance about moving here, so it’s been remarkable to instantly feel at home.

As usual, I’ve been hard at work on a number of projects for my clients at SixteenJuly — but in between, I’ve been exploring this city and the nature in and around it.

Here’s a short list of the other things I’ve been enjoying lately:

reading:

I recently read A House in the Sky – not exactly a beach read, and different than my usual lighthearted or self-help picks, but I would definitely recommend it. I juuuuust started Year of Yes – it’s enjoyable and funny so far. Will report back.

birks

wearing:

This dress, Birkenstocks (above), these jean shorts (on the rare days it’s warm enough to wear shorts here), a bunch of cute stuff that came from Stitch Fix this month. (It was a month where I kept everything. Love those.)

smitten with:

new bluetooth headphones – they’ve made my lifting routine woooorlds more enjoyable. I listened to 2.5 podcast episodes last time I was at the gym.

Related: I’m also really into bouldering lately. I joined a bouldering gym for their strength training area, but my membership comes with unlimited bouldering… I love it a lot more than I expected to. I got to boulder with Marie for an afternoon last month, when she and her partner stayed with us for a weekend. I’ll probably never be as skilled or graceful as she is, but it was fun & inspiring to climb with her.

I’m also really digging Wednesday coworking dates at Kat’s. (Her business is yoga for roller derby skaters, which is pretty rad.)

lounge

indulging in:

self-care. June was super exhausting, and I’m trying to ease into an ease-filled July. Lots of rest. Listening to my body. I’m also off drinking, which shouldn’t feel indulgent, but I always sleep so terribly + struggle with anxiety when there’s booze in my life, so I’m actually enjoying having an excuse to not drink at all for awhile.

creating:

I’m just getting back into papercrafting (planner decorating & Project Life) as things start to settle down a bit. It’s been a long time since I carved that time out just to be fun & creative, and I’m really digging it.

listening to:

Music-wise, I’m really digging Theatrics by Puzzle Muteson. Still really into Modern Love the podcast. ‘Friends without Benefits’ was a recent favorite.

celebrating:

so many site launches! Liz! Squam! A facelift for Sas! Copperboom! Rachelle’s new site is just a day or two from launching – watch this space.

ALSO – my little business turns SEVEN in a couple of weeks. I’m pretty proud of that.

arboretum

looking forward to:

There are some big-to-me business changes happening this month and I’m really ready for those. (Blog post on the subject pending, in theory.) Also excited about some upcoming PNW adventures (like camping with R.T. for the first time), and for some travel to the mitten and back to the east coast in a couple of months.

life lately: springtime + seattlebound 

lifelately

Happy springtime, friends! I thought I would peek in with a little bit of a life update.

The first and most significant bit of news is that I’m moving to Seattle! I could probably write a whole post about this development, but I’ll try to keep this bite-sized.

As you know, R.T. and I have been living on opposite sides of the country for a little over a year now. We decided toward the end of last year that the goal was for him to join me here in the PNW. The plan was, of course, for him to move to Portland, potentially to resume working for me full-time. While we were rolling around options, his boss at his day job got wind of the whole thing and offered him a promotion + transfer to stay with the company. The closest the transfer could get him to Portland was Seattle. Close enough!

We gave some thought to continuing to maintain homes in both cities, but eventually decided to just get a place together there. I’ll still be back to Portland regularly (probably weekly), so this feels like a pretty moderate outcome, as far as potential solutions go. I’m really grateful that R.T. was willing to move west for me, even if we’re both compromising in some ways.

apartment

We’ve already rented a lovely apartment in an area I’m excited to explore, and I can’t wait to have a home with R.T. and our creatures again. I’ll be flying out to NH in about a month to drive cross-country with the whole crew.

If you’re in Seattle, definitely reach out – we’ll get coffee. FYI: I’m going to scream if one more person says Seattle Freeze to me, so don’t bother. That’s a crap reputation to give a place, and I’m determined that this won’t be my experience. I have a number of friends & connections in the city, and I really think that, in moving to any new place, you get out of it what you put into it.

Anyway! On to the other details.

Lately I’ve been…

reading:

The Latte Years by Phillipa Moore. Loving it. // I’m still in the midst of reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I thought I was going to finish that on one plane trip, but I set it aside and haven’t gotten back into it yet.

listening to:

Modern Love the podcast – Episode 8 shattered me. I listened to it twice in one day.

While I write this, I’m listening to In the Altogether by The Sea The Sea.

wearing

wearing:

Black tee-shirts and jeans. Seriously, that’s pretty much it. I’ve sort of given up investing in my wardrobe until the lifting-related changes in my body level off a bit. (I’m anticipating that I’m just about there.) In the meantime, I’m buying the softest black tees I can find – The AE Soft & Sexy Favorite T-Shirt is indeed soft, sexy, and my current favorite t-shirt.

I’m sporting one of two pairs of shoes when the weather is nice: Cortona Flat and Sienna MJ in tortoise shell. On less-nice days, I wear the Bern baby Bern boots in a green color that doesn’t seem to be for sale anymore – I got mine secondhand, in what was maybe the greatest thrift store find of my life.

spring

smitten with:

springtime in the PNW. Everything is flowering in Portland. We’re starting to see some sunny days here and there. I’ve been really lucky that both of my recent visits to Seattle have had fantastic weather.

indulging in:

… well, I’ll tell you that I recently discovered that you can buy gummy stars at Whole Foods in the bulk bins. (I can’t be trusted with the bigger packages. I need to buy just a single serving.)

looking forward to:

R.T.’s visit later this week – he’s flying into Seattle and I’m meeting him there to do some exploring. Seeing Joanna Newsom perform here in Portland on the 28th. Visiting NH friends next month and getting to see R.T.’s band perform again before they part ways.

Coffee Break #14

coffeebreak

Happy February! I have some things from the internet for you.

“You are as you are until you’re not. You change when you want to change. You put your ideas into action in the timing that is best. That’s just how it happens.

And what I think we all need more than anything is this: permission to be wherever the fuck we are when we’re there.“

— To anyone who thinks they’re falling behind by Jamie Varon (who is totally brilliant – I’ve been swooning over her writing a lot recently.)

Yesterday, Jessica wrote on Body Image and Business, and I love her for it. I gained quite a lot of weight after starting my business, and I’ve only lost (most of) it this past year — also by finally making self-care a priority (which is super hard to do when you’re in startup mode). It’s troubling, the extent to which feeling uncomfortable in your body impacts everything else. (By the way, Jessica is super adorable and seems so at home in herself with her bright pink hair – just goes to show you that we all tend to be a little too hard on ourselves, huh?)

Related: Work, Sleep, Family, Fitness, or Friends: Pick 3 — as much as I hate to admit it, this is true for me. My current 3 are work, fitness, friends. No idea what I’ll do when my husband and I live together again. He counts as family, right? Or can I hack the system and count him as a friend? Plus I’ll probably need to sleep more often when I’m not living like a pseudo-single lady and running myself ragged. ADULTING IS HARD GUYS.

Entrepreneurship is hard. To really drive that point home: The Mental Cost of Owning a Business

I really enjoyed Lovingly know your Hell No and have since been contemplating It’s hip to be sober (which Mary Beth linked to within her post).

R.T. and I have been talking about the allocation of funds throughout our relationship, and how it’s important to “buy experiences” (even though we wish we were better about squirreling our money away). I appreciated Live Broke in a Big City – life is short, right?

To end on a super light note — 23 times D.W. was the realest bitch who ever lived. This cracked me up. (I have a lot of younger siblings and had to watch a lot of PBS far past an age when I appreciated it… Arthur was the only show that was still tolerable after age 7.)

Hey! Today is the first anniversary of the day I moved to Portland! That’s pretty crazy. Thanks for following along with this journey.