ypsithings.

Fun with Leigh in Ypsilanti!

Outside the Ugly Mug Coffee Shop in Ypsi.

Fire Spinning at the Corner Brewery.

Coffee hearts at Beezy's.

Taz Mandrila, the kitty cat.

Hello Summer.

It's about time for a vacation, if I do say so myself. I've been on an epic adventure for the last year since graduating from Warren Wilson. Let's look back for a bit:

I moved out of the dorm at Wilson, drove home for a few days, and then drove to Maine to work on a schooner until October. Or at least that's what I was planning on. As it turned out, working on the boat was miserable. I was so depressed. It became clear to me very quickly that I would not be able to stay there for the next 9ish months as I had previously planned. And I was also told by a wonderful woman that I met who worked on another boat that if I gave a two-weeks notice that I would then be fired. So I left. I just packed all of my things back onto the boat without telling anyone and left. It went against every grain in my good-work-ethics body to leave like that and then call later to say that I was not coming back, but it was the best decision I could have possibly made. So Scott drove up to Freeport, ME and we spent the weekend camping at a nice little campground and figuring out my next moves. I decided that I would try to get a job(s) in Freeport and find a place to live, and if that fell through then I would move to Littleton with Scott and try again for a job there, and if that also fell through then I could always just go home to Chapel Hill. It was worth the adventure. I collected, filled out, and turned in about 12 applications in Freeport and then went to stay with Scott's grandparents in Kennebunkport while I waited to hear back about jobs. Then I started looking for a place to live. Scott found a couple looking to sublet a room in their tiny house right outside of Freeport. We went and looked at it and it was perfect! I got three job offers, took two jobs, and ended up with one almost-full-time job for about five months. It was probably the best thing that could have happened. Then as time went on we realized that Scott and I were not going to realistically move to Maine together at this point in our lives. So on Christmas Eve I had my last day at my job and moved to Littleton. I spent a week visiting my family and then started looking for jobs in and around Littleton. I applied to about five places, and started waiting for phone calls again. Then my grandfather passed away and I took advantage of the fact that I was currently unemployed and spent about a week with my grandmother after the memorial service. It was wonderful. During that time I got three calls for jobs. I came back and was hired at EMS in Acton! I have been counting my blessings with getting jobs and have felt so fortunate to have found great places to work. I worked at EMS for about five months and spent some wonderful time living with Scott. He decided to go back to Wilson to finish school, which is taking us back to Asheville, NC! We will have gone full circle, on an epic adventure, and end up back in the place where we met and fell in love, a place that we both are so happy. A place where we can jump out on our own and nest and make it ours. I couldn't be much happier!

Right now I am mid-road-trip-move-back-south in Ypsilanti, MI visiting my friend Leigh. We've decided to treat this week like a vacation and rest and relax and enjoy our time together. And after a year of moving around, it's nice to have a vacation before I get back to looking for jobs and places to live. The plan is to stay in Asheville for at least a few years until Scott is finished with school ... and who knows, maybe we'll stay longer. Here's to an adventure called life and all the wonderful places it is taking me and all the wonderful people I am surrounded by.

I continue to count my blessings.

so many blogs!

I'm doing a bit of an experiment. To see what the differences are between certain blogs. Namely: WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr. (Respectively: http://aphotofortoday.wordpress.com/ , this blog, and http://alittlehappydance.tumblr.com/ )

That's why I haven't been posting here on Blogger quite as often. Feel free to check out my other blogs though! I'm working on figuring out which one to keep up with a bit more regularly. There are definitely differences between all of the hosts, and some are better than others at certain things. They all have their peculiarities, that's for sure.

In other news: things are looking up for moving back to North Carolina!!! I'll be back in time for my brother's graduation in June ... with just enough time before said graduation for a trip to Michigan. I know, random and not-at-all-on-the-way. But what's life without a bit of adventure, even if it's not necessarily "on the way."

Things in this neck of the woods are going. That's the most I care to elaborate other than to say that work is going well and it's been glorious to be able to see my sweetheart on a daily basis. I'm really going to miss that a lot for the couple of months that we're apart. Oh, and it's spring! Finally!!! Here are a few photos to document that it is, indeed, spring here in New England.

Repotting tomato seedlings into their own pots to grow, grow, grow!

The very last of the snow in the front yard just as it was melting.

Fungus!!! Neat mushrooms growing all over the rotting wood in the backyard.

Iris shoots!!! I can't wait until they bloom.

Mutual Weirdness

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love." 
- Dr. Seuss

GPOY Lazy Sunday Morning

We were watching to see if the squirrel would run away with his mouth on fire and smoke coming out of  his ears after eating birdseed with cayenne pepper on it. To our dismay, he's still there. Not for long!

skivvies?

Mkay, thanks.

feeling all earthy and stuff.

1. Green Smoothies: This is very strange and new to me, and I think it's wonderful. And I'm probably not "doing it the right way" because I use frozen produce rather than fresh produce because I think it makes a better smoothie, but hey! Who cares!? Not me. Much. I've been learning that it's very much part of the raw food movement, and I think that's great, but I'm not doing it for being a raw-foodist. I like cooked food. I'm doing it because it just adds that many more healthy things to a smoothie, and it still tastes great! I've also started adding carrot juice to my smoothies. The idea of putting fruits and vegetables together into a smoothie is a bit strange to me still, but I've tried it and it's super tasty! Also a great additive for smoothies - peanut butter. On to try new things!

2. Yoga: I'm utterly and completely sold on yoga. It's amazing. It makes me feel so good! I have yet to find a class here in MA to go to, so I've just been doing yoga by myself in my room. And let me tell you, it's amazing. I do miss being in a yoga class, but it's also wonderfully relaxing to do it alone because it gives you so much freedom to do whatever pose you feel like, and to hold said pose as long as your little heart desires! Yay yoga!

3. Bare Feet: First off, this is something that I miss about warm weather - being able to step outside barefoot and not freeze to the ice that covers the ground. One day. In the mean time, I'll stay inside with my bare feet. Working at a gear store I've been learning about the new fads in outdoor gear and activities. I suppose this one is not all that new, but parts of it are - barefoot running. I could go on and on, but I'll try to be somewhat concise. Our bodies are meant to be barefoot - the way our bodies are aligned, the way we walk, the way we move, the way our foot muscles are supposed to support our bodies alone and without the support of shoes. Super supportive shoes have allowed our foot muscles to atrophy, becoming very weak and unable to support our bodies they way they're designed to. Therefore, we must continue to add more support in our shoes to compensate for those weak muscles. Insert new idea here: BAREFOOT SHOES. This is not an instant fix! It takes diligence, training, strengthening, concentration, and devotion. And some other intense-sounding things too. When standing barefoot, the muscles in our feet should support us. The feet, when bare, are able to feel the world and make adjustments based on those feelings to support our body properly - proprioception. Yaddah, yaddah, blah, blah, blah. If you're curious, Google "barefoot running" and you can learn more. My point is - barefoot shoes! You've seen those Vibram Five Fingers - those are barefoot running shoes. They give your foot a bit of protection from things you step on, while still allowing the benefits of being barefoot. Think they look a little silly? Me too. But they're awesome! And now Merrell makes a barefoot shoe that looks more like a "conventional running shoe" but still allows for the benefits of barefootness. Sold.

4. Positive Psychology: My friends in Maine told me I sound very "crunchy granola" when I ramble on about these things. Hippie? Maybe. I prefer crunchy granola if you're going to categorize me that way, mostly because I actually do like crunchy granola for eating. Anyway - more to the point here. I believe that believing in these things adds a degree of effectiveness that is unparalleled when just participating in the activity at hand. For example, if you walk into a yoga class feeling like it's just another silly fad that people are into right now, chances are it's not going to help you nearly as much as if you go into that same yoga class with the mindset that says, "This yoga class is going to be amazing and I'm going to feel so good after we're done!" Okay, so maybe you don't actually say that to yourself, but the idea is that you are instantly more open to the possibility of that yoga making you feel awesome. And it applies to making smoothies with veggies AND fruit, even when it sounds kinda yucky at first. And it applies to being barefoot and strengthening the muscles in your feet to make your body feel better. You, my friends, have the power to help yourself just by thinking positively. (My Positive Psych professor would be so proud.)

Think about it.