The weather here is definitely starting to shift. Granted, we're still having plenty of rainy days, and the temperature has still taken a turn toward the colder end of the spectrum from time to time. But the sunlight is lasting longer each day, and the overall temperature seems to be gradually warming, even as the overall sunniness of the days seems to be increasing bit by bit.
I have taken a temporary "Leave of Absence" from roller derby: to work on my graduate studies, to spend time with my husband, and to work on my personal life. To that last effect, I have made several new friends, have started doing yoga with folks outside of my home, and have enjoyed hanging out with like-minded, outdoorsy people with whom I feel I am clicking quite well. It's very exciting, and bodes well for this coming summer that I will not feel quite so alone when Jack goes back to work. We got his start date: 18 April this year. Less than two months to go. It saddens me to think of it, but I am grateful for all the time we have together, and I am hoping that the summer will be positive and full of life and love regardless. Not to mention that I know it will make his homecoming that much more sweet once again.
The permanent job at Redwood NP flew at the end of January and I applied, but I haven't heard if I'm on the list yet, let alone any further information. I keep waiting with my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. Especially now that I have made some new friends, I find myself that much more eager to have a permanent position here and settle down. I really do feel that we could make Crescent City our home if we had the means.
Checking in on my goals:
1. Be happy: new friends = giant increase in my happiness level. Among other things, I feel like my base level of happiness has increased, overall, and that's a very encouraging thought.
2. Waste less: I don't know that there's anything to report here. We have been trying to use up the canned goods that I jarred over the course of the summer instead of purchasing things from the store, so I suppose that's a type of waste avoided.
3. Create more: I've been knitting up a storm, as well as crocheting, and more recently: I started working on my book again. You know, that "one" that I've been trying to write for at least a couple years now. The Bodie section was holding me up, and I finally realized that I was struggling because I couldn't separate my story from my nature writing. So I went back, deleted the whole section, and started rewriting it, beginning with an admission that I was having a hard time with this part of the book. Since then, I've written several pages and made some great progress, I believe, in the book. There are so many drafts floating around - I will have to at some point go through and verify that I have everything I want in there, but for now I have chosen the draft on my computer and have reformatted it and started adding on from there. I figure that the painstaking work of comparing drafts would only set me back at this point: I need to write while I have the inspiration. Hopefully I will be able to make a good plug toward the finish. At this point, I have over 60 pages of writing and still the rest of my "West" section (Bodie, with additions of Arizona and other western travels possibly in the mix), and my "Desert" section (exclusively Big Bend). I'll be pleased if I can get up to 100 pages with my current formatting. Once I'm done, I'll read through side-by-side drafts and see if there's anything else I need to include (or reinclude) before reading through the single draft as a whole. It's kind of exciting to realize that I'm beyond the halfway point with this book, and there's so much potential that I might finish it if I keep plugging away at it this year. Possibly there's still time enough that I could finish the rough draft before I go back to work this summer! Wouldn't that be a hoot?
4. Make a record: still on hold. I have begun to think about where I might find studio time, but I'm starting to think that maybe it would be best to hold off until next off-season. (Although, if I get a permanent position there will be no such thing...) The thought being that maybe I should get a little bit of a following by playing around town and whatnot and then introduce my album and hopefully get better sales that way. Strategy. ;P
5. Be a good student: so far, so good! I do have my first exam due by the end of this week, but so far my first paper and my discussion posts have all garnered good grades!
6. Read more: definitely a lot of reading going on with school. But I have managed last week and this week to read a little more of 1491 (not a required course reading), so that's been good. I also started reading my Edward Abbey books (starting with "Desert Solitaire") for my final paper. Granted, they're technically for school. But... they are also a wily way that I have gotten my school reading and my personal interest reading to combine. :)
7. Embrace movement: some days are better than others. I definitely cut back on a lot of movement by taking a break from twice weekly roller derby practices. But I have gone skating on my own around the neighborhood, and I have been fairly regular with yoga (both at home and with friends). I even went for a couple hikes. Hopefully I will keep taking advantage of the sunny days when they happen and I won't let myself lose the momentum that I've been garnering. Actually, reminding myself that this is one of my 2016 goals through typing up this blog post has rekindled my desire to get out there and achieve! :)
Look at all those smiley faces... I am definitely making progress on goal number 1. :)
Until next time!
22 February 2016
28 January 2016
End of the Month Check-in
We're home again after a week-and-a-half trip to SoCal to find a car for Jack and collect (most of) his stuff that was still down there. We were successful on both accounts. I got to visit with my friends Cecile and Roger (and their new puppy Cornelia), and I attended derby practices for a team in my in-laws' town and in L.A. area. The former was really awesome - 18 people skated practice and we were doing drills and did a quickie scrimmage at the end. So much fun! It reminded me what I like about derby. The L.A. one was a drag - apparently a newbie practice, and without any real drills or anything happening. I guess most of them weren't full contact, so there was no practicing anything that involved hitting. They didn't even bother to lay out a track... so I didn't stay long, and I regretted wasting my time/gas driving out there when I could've gone to a different team's practice that I'm pretty sure would've been legit. Oh well. I just wish they would've communicated to me that this was a newbie learn-to-skate deal instead of a real practice for full-contact skaters - but then again, the chick who was running the show kept talking to me like I wasn't full contact, so maybe that's why they didn't bother to tell me.
I also got to go to a skate shop in the Valley that had tons of selection and I bought some outdoor wheels so that I can skate outside now... well, when it's not raining, anyway.
It feels good to be home. Jack is deep-cleaning the kitchen. I am trying to tidy up the other spaces in the house, and alternating with doing my homework assignments - lots of reading! I'll have to write my first paper by the end of next week, then I'll really feel like I'm back in the student realms again!
Derby practices here have reminded me of everything I dislike about derby, unfortunately. Largely, I am losing my interest in our practices. So few people are coming we can barely do any real drills, I feel like my skill level is going nowhere fast, and I'm sick of just going around and around and around in circles with no real goal in mind. I miss having a coach, I miss having eight people or more at a practice. I can't help but feel like I invested all this time and money towards reaching a goal, and now that I'm ready to grab it, it's just gone. Everybody else has good memories of bouts and teams to fall back on. I don't have any of that, just a dwindling hope that maybe I'll get to play in a bout someday before I die. I've already sustained two injuries that have proved to have long-term consequences, I've spent probably around $300 on gear, and paid my monthly dues for 10 months - another $200. For that much I could've just bought that mountain bike I'd been wanting and be tearing it up on the old logging roads and minding my own business. I had hoped, too, that derby would lead to hanging out with new friends. I don't know what the deal is, but the few times I've tried I've been flaked on, and I don't have the energy to try more than a few times. So needless to say, that hope has been pretty well dashed too.
So I'm considering putting The Rogue Ranger to rest for awhile. Maybe she'll come out again if we move to a place with an actual, functional team. Or if NCRD has some miraculous recruitment and gets back up to a realistic number again. But I honestly don't know how many more weeks of this I can take.
On a bright note - as Jack reminded me - I get to go to my Friday crafting group for the first time since I started work last summer! I'm so excited to see those ladies again. I'll have to wear the cardigan I made for the wedding, and maybe I ought to put a few wedding photos on my phone to share. I'm going to knit myself a pair of new slippers because all of mine are falling apart right now. I just ordered yarn for a sweet cardigan pattern, too, so that'll be the next project and judging by the pattern it'll be tricky enough to keep me entertained for awhile! I just finished knitting a pair of fingerless gloves (for the first time!) for Jack - he likes them and will supposedly wear them to keep warm, but I guess the weather's too fine tonight because I can see them sitting on the chair across the living room. ;) Anyway, they turned out real cute and I'll have to put up a picture of them when I get a chance.
Well, the night is wearing on, and I ought to shower. I skated 50 laps at my solo practice tonight and then did Day 19 of Yoga Camp. I've fallen very far behind in that, but hopefully will get back on track now that we're home and not moving around so much. I'd like to finally check out one of the local yoga studios next week, too. It's been so long since I've had an instructor-led class - October in Sequoia I went to one of my friend Tara's classes, but the last one aside from that was probably last January... eesh.
How are my goals doing so far? Create more is definitely thriving; so far I'm being a good student; embrace movement has been doing so-so, but hopefully will iron out now that we're home from our trip; read more is being consumed by grad school reading assignments; and be happier is doing alright overall, but as you can tell is hitting a bit of a road block with regards to derby at the moment, so we'll see where that goes. Waste less is so-so, and make a record? Well, I've been giving a lot of thought to which songs... but I'm definitely feeling like that's on the back burner now that I've started grad school. We'll see if I can carve out some time for that next week since (as I keep saying) we're not traveling anymore for awhile.
Until next time!
I also got to go to a skate shop in the Valley that had tons of selection and I bought some outdoor wheels so that I can skate outside now... well, when it's not raining, anyway.
It feels good to be home. Jack is deep-cleaning the kitchen. I am trying to tidy up the other spaces in the house, and alternating with doing my homework assignments - lots of reading! I'll have to write my first paper by the end of next week, then I'll really feel like I'm back in the student realms again!
Derby practices here have reminded me of everything I dislike about derby, unfortunately. Largely, I am losing my interest in our practices. So few people are coming we can barely do any real drills, I feel like my skill level is going nowhere fast, and I'm sick of just going around and around and around in circles with no real goal in mind. I miss having a coach, I miss having eight people or more at a practice. I can't help but feel like I invested all this time and money towards reaching a goal, and now that I'm ready to grab it, it's just gone. Everybody else has good memories of bouts and teams to fall back on. I don't have any of that, just a dwindling hope that maybe I'll get to play in a bout someday before I die. I've already sustained two injuries that have proved to have long-term consequences, I've spent probably around $300 on gear, and paid my monthly dues for 10 months - another $200. For that much I could've just bought that mountain bike I'd been wanting and be tearing it up on the old logging roads and minding my own business. I had hoped, too, that derby would lead to hanging out with new friends. I don't know what the deal is, but the few times I've tried I've been flaked on, and I don't have the energy to try more than a few times. So needless to say, that hope has been pretty well dashed too.
So I'm considering putting The Rogue Ranger to rest for awhile. Maybe she'll come out again if we move to a place with an actual, functional team. Or if NCRD has some miraculous recruitment and gets back up to a realistic number again. But I honestly don't know how many more weeks of this I can take.
On a bright note - as Jack reminded me - I get to go to my Friday crafting group for the first time since I started work last summer! I'm so excited to see those ladies again. I'll have to wear the cardigan I made for the wedding, and maybe I ought to put a few wedding photos on my phone to share. I'm going to knit myself a pair of new slippers because all of mine are falling apart right now. I just ordered yarn for a sweet cardigan pattern, too, so that'll be the next project and judging by the pattern it'll be tricky enough to keep me entertained for awhile! I just finished knitting a pair of fingerless gloves (for the first time!) for Jack - he likes them and will supposedly wear them to keep warm, but I guess the weather's too fine tonight because I can see them sitting on the chair across the living room. ;) Anyway, they turned out real cute and I'll have to put up a picture of them when I get a chance.
Well, the night is wearing on, and I ought to shower. I skated 50 laps at my solo practice tonight and then did Day 19 of Yoga Camp. I've fallen very far behind in that, but hopefully will get back on track now that we're home and not moving around so much. I'd like to finally check out one of the local yoga studios next week, too. It's been so long since I've had an instructor-led class - October in Sequoia I went to one of my friend Tara's classes, but the last one aside from that was probably last January... eesh.
How are my goals doing so far? Create more is definitely thriving; so far I'm being a good student; embrace movement has been doing so-so, but hopefully will iron out now that we're home from our trip; read more is being consumed by grad school reading assignments; and be happier is doing alright overall, but as you can tell is hitting a bit of a road block with regards to derby at the moment, so we'll see where that goes. Waste less is so-so, and make a record? Well, I've been giving a lot of thought to which songs... but I'm definitely feeling like that's on the back burner now that I've started grad school. We'll see if I can carve out some time for that next week since (as I keep saying) we're not traveling anymore for awhile.
Until next time!
01 January 2016
Goals for 2016
Happy new year!
I haven't updated in awhile. Over a month. My bad. But have no fear, things are going well. It's just been busy - the wedding, the holidays, hosting friends and family. I have been feeling a bit swept up lately, though, and I figured I ought to take the time to reflect and make some goals for 2016.
1. Be happier. Straight forward enough - perhaps it should say "be content". I did a lot of pining over the summer last year, not to mention I was all moody during the previous winter... so this year my number one goal is to be happier with what is and accepting of it. After all, my life is pretty awesome, even when my husband is far away with only a sat phone and letters to keep us connected. I've also noticed that my patience was wearing a bit thin in 2015 - I definitely need to cultivate a thicker skin (equanimity, a quiet spirit) this year.
2. Waste less. Particularly with regards to food. I've been doing better, but I still would like to be more on top of using things before they go bad.
3. Create more. During the summer my art was definitely on the back burner. I want to make sure that I set aside time each week, if not each day, for some sort of creative activity, be that sewing, painting, knitting, writing, music, or whatever else I can come up with. And speaking of music...
4. Make a record. That's right: I think this is the year. This off-season, I want to get serious about getting into a studio and getting an album made. I've got some good stuff, and enough of it, and I want to get it out there.
5. Be a good student. Why? Because I'm going back to school! I've never really not been a good student, but since I haven't done it in awhile, I figured it would be prudent to put that on my goals.
6. Read more. Isn't this always on my list? I suppose it comes and goes in spurts - in an equal and opposite reaction to my computer usage, to be sure. I did alright last year, but I'd like to tackle a lot more pages in 2016. Of course, I will be starting masters courses in history, so that'll probably evoke a lot of reading on its own. But I'm hoping I'll be able to continue my personal reading besides to keep things interesting!
7. Embrace movement. 2015 involved a lot of sitting around. Too much, really. In order to achieve everything I've already listed, I need to get off my butt and get moving! Not just sitting in front of my computer (or that blasted iphone that Jack convinced me to buy) and getting nothing done. In particular, I'd really like to get in the habit of doing yoga every day (or most days, anyhow) and also of going for a walk most days. At least in the summer when it's nice out. Not having park lands right outside my door (because 1.5 miles is sooo far...) has really cut back on the amount of time I spend walking around in the great outdoors. I want to get out more, hike, bike, swim in the river, and whatever else this summer! For the winter: I definitely need to be doing yoga every day, and taking advantage of sunny days when they come.
So there you have it: my goals for the new year. I'll try to check in on them periodically and let you know how I'm doing.
For No. 7, Embrace Movement, I've signed up for #Yogacamp with Yoga with Adriene for 30 days of free yoga videos to kick off the new year. I did this last year too, and I definitely kept up with my yoga for awhile. Hopefully this year I'll keep up with it even longer.
For No. 3, Create More, I bought a new watercolor journal and started my first painting of the new year today. It's got a ways to go, but it's starting to look like something... :)
For No. 1, Be Happier, I am continuing reading "Jesus Calling", the daily devotional that I purchased over the summer, and I'm considering doing some sort of "fruit of the spirit" plan (either that I find online or that I design myself) to help me strengthen some of those more positive aspects that I feel have been a bit wimpy in my life this past year.
For No. 6, Read More, I think I'll finish typing this blog post and go pick up my copy of "1491" and do just that.
Until next time!
I haven't updated in awhile. Over a month. My bad. But have no fear, things are going well. It's just been busy - the wedding, the holidays, hosting friends and family. I have been feeling a bit swept up lately, though, and I figured I ought to take the time to reflect and make some goals for 2016.
1. Be happier. Straight forward enough - perhaps it should say "be content". I did a lot of pining over the summer last year, not to mention I was all moody during the previous winter... so this year my number one goal is to be happier with what is and accepting of it. After all, my life is pretty awesome, even when my husband is far away with only a sat phone and letters to keep us connected. I've also noticed that my patience was wearing a bit thin in 2015 - I definitely need to cultivate a thicker skin (equanimity, a quiet spirit) this year.
2. Waste less. Particularly with regards to food. I've been doing better, but I still would like to be more on top of using things before they go bad.
3. Create more. During the summer my art was definitely on the back burner. I want to make sure that I set aside time each week, if not each day, for some sort of creative activity, be that sewing, painting, knitting, writing, music, or whatever else I can come up with. And speaking of music...
4. Make a record. That's right: I think this is the year. This off-season, I want to get serious about getting into a studio and getting an album made. I've got some good stuff, and enough of it, and I want to get it out there.
5. Be a good student. Why? Because I'm going back to school! I've never really not been a good student, but since I haven't done it in awhile, I figured it would be prudent to put that on my goals.
6. Read more. Isn't this always on my list? I suppose it comes and goes in spurts - in an equal and opposite reaction to my computer usage, to be sure. I did alright last year, but I'd like to tackle a lot more pages in 2016. Of course, I will be starting masters courses in history, so that'll probably evoke a lot of reading on its own. But I'm hoping I'll be able to continue my personal reading besides to keep things interesting!
7. Embrace movement. 2015 involved a lot of sitting around. Too much, really. In order to achieve everything I've already listed, I need to get off my butt and get moving! Not just sitting in front of my computer (or that blasted iphone that Jack convinced me to buy) and getting nothing done. In particular, I'd really like to get in the habit of doing yoga every day (or most days, anyhow) and also of going for a walk most days. At least in the summer when it's nice out. Not having park lands right outside my door (because 1.5 miles is sooo far...) has really cut back on the amount of time I spend walking around in the great outdoors. I want to get out more, hike, bike, swim in the river, and whatever else this summer! For the winter: I definitely need to be doing yoga every day, and taking advantage of sunny days when they come.
So there you have it: my goals for the new year. I'll try to check in on them periodically and let you know how I'm doing.
For No. 7, Embrace Movement, I've signed up for #Yogacamp with Yoga with Adriene for 30 days of free yoga videos to kick off the new year. I did this last year too, and I definitely kept up with my yoga for awhile. Hopefully this year I'll keep up with it even longer.
For No. 3, Create More, I bought a new watercolor journal and started my first painting of the new year today. It's got a ways to go, but it's starting to look like something... :)
For No. 1, Be Happier, I am continuing reading "Jesus Calling", the daily devotional that I purchased over the summer, and I'm considering doing some sort of "fruit of the spirit" plan (either that I find online or that I design myself) to help me strengthen some of those more positive aspects that I feel have been a bit wimpy in my life this past year.
For No. 6, Read More, I think I'll finish typing this blog post and go pick up my copy of "1491" and do just that.
Until next time!
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