Wish List Wednesday: Long Hair Envy

I've never been one to have crazy long hair. Once mine gets anywhere near that point I decide to treat it unkindly or chop it all off in a swift moment of sheer boredom. I chopped off my locks not too long ago and I tolerate it. I miss my long-ish hair. And pony-tails. And not having to do it every single day. But, I chopped it all off to give it a fighting chance because my hair was slightly damaged and I needed a fresh start. It's growing, ever so slowly, but growing still. Someday I would love to have long, healthy locks. We shall see. 

My hair envy this week.....

Adele: Stellar voice, killer hair. (Source) 

Jennifer Lawrence (Source) 

Amy Adams (Source) 

Drew Barrymore (Source) 

A girl can dream right? 

Grow hair, grow. 

Maintenance

 

Life seems to slowly teach me certain things. Some things I grasp easier than others. Others have to hit me like sledge hammer for me to gain one ounce of respect from whatever situation I’m facing. I keep finding myself thinking about the depths of life, how time passes, and how it passes too quickly. It is a terrifying thing to sit and grasp for a moment how quickly minutes really do pass and how far I’ve come in my 26 years of life. So much has happened. So much will still happen. Even though I am young, I still feel like time passes by so quickly. The weeks all blur into one and I’m left watching the leaves turn and fall yet again as the first snow graces our lawn. Time moves quickly. I want to keep a hold of it. But how?

Maintenance. I know I’ve spoken of this before, but it’s in the journey. Every day we are faced with a decision to merely sleep our way through life or to take every day by the horns for all that its worth. You have to make the decision though, it just won’t happen the second you finally decide to quit hitting your snooze button and get out of bed. Maintenance is found in the eating of wholesome meals, working out the kinks in my muscles, keeping our house as much of a home as possible. Maintenance is in reading a novel when life slows down in the evening. It’s found in picking up a guitar or paint brush. Or having a campfire out back while drinking wine and spending time with others. Maintenance is a massive process.

I want to know that I have maintained a good life, one that didn’t settle even when everything seems so routine and mundane. Life can be found in the maintenance only if you are willing to seek it out. We are all from somewhere, yet we have now found ourselves here with one another. I don’t think that should be taken for granted. I don’t think time is incredibly fair, but my goal each day is to make the most of it, in whatever way possible. No matter if I sit in an office staring at a computer screen all day, get to play a show, or experience the outside world as nature has intended: it’s all about maintenance.

 

This Past Week: In A Funk

Do you ever have a week where you just feel thrown off? Nothing seems to get deep down into your bones to challenge you every day you wake up? Life is routine and that's just not enough. There must be more. 

This past week was one of those for me. In a funk and one that I didn't try too hard to get out of. I don't like these weeks, I don't enjoy those days like I want to, and I feel the need to make this next week so much better. 

Life is fine. That's about it. Nothing too extraordinary or life changing. It's in weeks like this past one that I need to put my dedication and thirst for the creative in over drive or I will surely succumb to all things ordinary and routine. 

I went to bed early most nights, also in a fight against getting the sickness that has been sweeping through our little home. I picked up the house, I wiped down the counters, I folded the laundry. I spent too many countless minutes watching mindless drab on the television. I went to work, did my job, and went home to prepare to start the same cycle the next day.

It was only 8:30pm. 

I don't need weeks like that one. I want to feel alive, like I'm challenging myself every minute that I can. I want to wake up and write. I want to drink a latte on a slow morning and do the best job I can do at my place of work. I want to work my muscles and my mind, stretching them to find a strength I didn't know I could possess. 

I want that for this next week. 

The only glimpse that shook me out of my rut was the fact that yesterday I picked up a guitar and I sat down at my keyboard. My husband and I played through my music. I have blisters on my hands that signify the fact that I haven't done these things in far too long. My instrument felt foreign for the first few songs and then I was set free. I felt the rush of something that I hadn't put my heart into for far too long. 

I need more days like that. I love that I am actually able to play music with my husband. 

I hope the songs don't become so foreign to me anymore, I hope the new ones present themselves in every hour of every day. I need that breath of fresh air, that feeling of blisters forming on my fingertips.

So many blisters. 

Being creative in life is the only way I avoid the feeling of being in a funk. 

Here's to a new week. 

A Few Things I've Learned Lately

I tend to overanalyze just about everything anymore. I think about what I think about, if that makes any sense at all. I've been learning a few hard truths lately. These things are good for me to think through. I need to have these thoughts, they keep me going on the path I believe I should be on. 

1. I am a stubborn, clean freak. Ask the people who live in our home. I'm probably driving them crazy. Actually, I know that I am. Part of me hates that, part of me doesn't really know what to do with it. I'm working on my crazy, one day at a time. Does that dish left on the counter really need to freak me out all of the time? Shall it just rest there for a while? Should it? I haven't come to that conclusion quite yet. 

2. I miss my gym. We need to have the thick as thieves relationship that we once had. My thighs and the ever-encrouching love-handles will thank me one day. Going to Mexico with my work (ie swimsuit freak out time) is only 6 months away. Elliptical here I come. 

3. My will power kind of sucks. Vodka tonics are wonderful, right along with whatever carb I can get my hands on. It's a slow process of trying not to feel too deprived and accomplishing the task of still buttoning my pants every morning without any tears of agony and frustration being shed. 

4. I miss my band. We are sort of in pieces right now and far too often I realize that a piece of me really is missing when I don't let my songs be heard. (As cheesy as that may sound.) This problem must be remedied. I need to do the work. That's about it. 

5. I am a planner. As much as I loathe routine, it is the glue that holds my sanity together. I need to let go a bit more. I believe that would make every week far more enjoyable for myself and those around me. But, I already have half of my Christmas shopping done. So is this really a pro or con? I'm not so sure. 

Campfires, S'mores, and Toddy

We awoke yesterday to the beginning of our first snow. Don't get me wrong, I love the colder weather lately, but I'm not ready for snow. At all. I want to enjoy all that fall has to offer for a little while longer. Luckily, the snow didn't stick around for too long. But, sadly, we have finally resorted to turning on our horrible heater for the first time this year. That generally signals the beginning of a cold season. Our house is from the seventies and we have all of the original windows in the house. Which means: outrageous heating bills or going day to day freezing, stocking up on a good pair of house slippers, and eight blankets on our bed. We usually lean towards the second option because we aren't made of money. My philosophy regarding heat: I turn up the heater only enough for the pipes not to freeze and we bundle up. Cheap? Probably. Do we really need to replace our windows? Oh yes. Someday. 

Aside from the freaky, yet predicable Colorado weather, the rest of the day was pretty awesome. My honey and I went and saw Looper in the afternoon, which was an awesome movie. We really enjoyed it. 

On our way home from the movie theater we decided to have a nice evening at home with one of our roommates and a friend. We went to the store and purchased what we needed for a fire out back, s'mores, and hot toddy. 

Geoff was a huge help as always. 

My honey. 

I can now cross off three things from my fall bucket list. It was a wonderful evening. 

Wishlist Wednesday: Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

It really is no secret that I love shoes. Shoes are about the only thing I will spend money on. Aside from that, I'm about as cheap as them come and most of the clothing I own is from Ross or a thrift store. But shoes, I willing to splurge on if necessary. 

Minnetonka: Kilty Suede Moc Hardsole, in brown. 

Silver Karsen Women's Classic Toms

Pink and Pepper Racer Boot

Restricted Gallop Riding Boot

I normally wear a size 9.5. Just so you know.... 

A Bucket List for Fall

As previously mentioned, fall is most definitely my favorite season every year. I love once everything begins to cool down a bit and I can dig out my boots and scarves. I love the changing that occurs within this season: the leaves, the holidays that are right around the corner. I love the prospect of a chai or latte early in the morning on my way to work, anything to keep me sane while working at a desk all day and longingly wishing I could be outside or anywhere else. 

I decided to create a bucket list of sorts. I'm a list girl. This is how I will always role and what better way than to dedicate this list to all things fall related. 

1. Buy pumpkins. (Already accomplished this on Sunday, but figured I place it on my list anyway.) 

2. Make this hot toddy. 

3. Take a drive through the mountains and take some photographs. 

4. Bake something fall-ish: pie, bread, scones, anything. 

5. Make s'mores and sit around our fire bowl out back, all bundled up and under the stars. 

6. Find a new scarf for the new season. And maybe some new boots. 

7. Make chili. Lots of chili. 

8. Make a fall sangria. 

9. Cook something involving butternut squash. Soup perhaps? 

Clearly, I will be cooking, baking, or drinking through must of this season. Can't complain really. 

Bring. It. On. 

Weekend Project: The Front Door

We own our home. I love it really mostly all of the time. Being a home owner also gives you the ability and opportunity to paint whatever nook and cranny of that home that suits your fancy. I always love how a coat of paint can completely transform something. 

This past weekend's project: The Front Door

Our front door was bland, predictable, and the same color as the rest of the house. Boring. What fun is that?

Somewhere in the midst of building our front porch, I was looking through paint swatches to find our perfect door color. I feel that red has been fairly overdone and wanted to find something unique to us. I've been placing more orange into our house over the past few year or so and have been trying to get away from red. (Nothing against red, but I've just used it far too long!) 

Here enters: Maple Leaf. The color of our freshly painted door. In the course of a few hours we had a spruced up door, some pumpkins to go with it, and my wreath hung up on the front door. Home Sweet Home.

I love it. For an inexpensive, weekend project: this is it. Aside from cleaning the door off and making sure that it was ready to be painted, this project was seriously a piece of cake. You just need a bit of patience in making sure the first coat is dry before you add the second, but other than that: easy as pie. (Clearly, I must want cake or pie, or really any dessert of any kind, due to my use of sayings today.) 

I need to quit thinking about dessert. 

I really must fix the number on our sign. The crooked two pretty much drives me nuts. 

I also managed to get some decorating done on the inside of our little home as well. 

I love this season.