Reason to get up in the morning: my own space

source

All I can think about is having my own space. It's no secret that I love getting a peak into other people's studios but my obsession with creating spaces has always been a "thing" I have done. I spent a lot of time when I was younger in my room creating my own semi-self-sufficient nest. I loved having my own place to even just sit and think sometimes. In college, I loved having my own room during my junior and senior year to constantly play around with. But now, at the ripe age of 24, I am really done with the whole community living thing. I lived in dorms. I lived in houses with 5 other roommates. I am currently sharing a cabin but Matt and Rufio (which is a dream, to be quite honest) but that cabin has no bathroom or kitchen, just a place for a couch, a desk, a tiny closet for our clothes and a lofted bed. It is our own little slice of heaven sometimes. But sharing a kitchen and bathrooms constantly with 2-60 (yes, 60) other people at a time is just not cutting it anymore. I am tired of having to constantly clean up after myself, and the 75% of people who come through here who refuse to do their own dishes. Sometimes I want to leave my cereal bowl sitting out for an hour or two while I sit on the couch with Matt and watch some Saturday cartoons or some sports. I want a place I can put my things and not worry about someone stealing it or breaking it--yes, that is sadly the reality of where I live. And most of all, I want a place I can just relax... because that rarely gets to happen where I am at right now. Plus, I really just want to be able to start building a little creative place where I can start creating the art that I have been dreaming of. That is my reason to get out of bed in the morning. I am hoping it happens soon. I don't care where it is--Washington, Maine or somewhere in between--I will be happy with having a bathroom and kitchen I only have to share with Matt and, every once in a while, trip over Rufio. I am seeing some diy kitchen table action and so much decorating nonsense in my future!!

Reasons to get up in the morning: change

What is it about change that is so scary and exciting all at once? I am doing some serious job searching, resume editing and portfolio uploading these days and it is taking up a great deal of my time. With my job now, I seem to be stuck in a rut. I need a change and to be honest, knowing at the end of a work day I get to hop on my computer and search for new jobs is what really has been getting me out of bed in the morning. Change is like a breath of fresh air and I am excited to welcome it when it decides to come my way. Maybe I will end up in Maine or Washington or any other place with moisture (I need rain!!!!) but until then I am just going to keep on keepin' on.

On a somewhat related note, I decided to close my Etsy shop for a little bit. With all this job searching and other things going on, I can't give it the attention that it needs. It will reopen sometime later this year better than ever. I know, I've been promising looks of what I've been working on lately. I cross my heart that I am not pulling your chain-- the amount of stuff I am working on is pretty overwhelming. Until then, keep checking back in here. Good stuff coming your way!

Reason to get up in the morning: daydreams

I've been doing a lot of silly life planning lately. Dream house. Dream job. Dream projects. But even though I might go a little overboard with daydreaming, I've never been able to turn it off. When I get stuck in a rut, like I kind of feel like I am right now, daydreaming gives me some fight to go on. Cheers to daydreaming. Maybe some of them soon will start working their way into my reality. I'm definitely putting up a fight.

... Speaking of ... I got an interview for a killer job. Dream job like WHOA! More on that if anything comes of it. Fingers crossed!! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reason to get up in the morning: slackline

I've been bummed the past few days for multiple reasons so coming up with a reason to get out of bed is hard for this week. You know the feeling: when nothing seems to be going right. I've been waiting for over a month now for a loan to go through so I can pay for school. I've also been waiting for an obnoxiously long time to hear back about some new jobs… a girl can only be so aggressive before it comes out looking like neediness… I spent a majority of my free time embroidering this week. Yesterday I had a day off and spent a few hours working on my project, and with all that working I found myself inside my head quite a bit… bumming myself out. Loan, jobs, not being home (biggest bummer), too hot to have an afternoon of fun in the sun without passing out…

With all that bumming, I picked myself up and forced myself outside into the hot desert sun to do a little slacklining. And that is what my reason to get out of bed in the morning is this week: slacklining. It sounds funny and SUPER CORNY, but when you are working so hard to balance yourself on a line, it becomes easier to balance everything else too. I took my phone back to the cabin and left it there halfway through playing: what good is voicemail if I don't use it, right? I know chances are I will get the loan and maybe if I am lucky I will land another dream job, but freaking out about it and carrying my phone everywhere doesn't help the stress of waiting for emails or calls. Checking instagram and making myself sad when friends and family post pictures of Leelanau doesn't help much either.

So for the hour or so I played on my slackline, I found some much needed balance. Instead of spending the rest of the afternoon on my phone, I spent a good while wrestling with Rufio in a nice shady spot. Balance.

Reasons to get up in the morning: Books

Books. I love books as I stated yesterday. On our backpacking trip, one afternoon was particularly hot and we spend on hour under a pine tree in the shade. We read for FOUR HOURS, which is unheard of for us on a backpacking trip. We were both reading Jim Harrison books: Dalva and River Swimmer. It was such an odd thing to get lost in the stories and find connections with characters that knew details about our hometowns, ate at the restaurants we ate at and drive down the roads of our childhood to look up and remember we were sitting at the bottom of a red-rock canyon. So surreal! Another great reason to get up in the morning!

Reasons to get up in the morning: this guy

This guy. This coffee-making, fly-fishing, Michigan-lovin', day-dreaming, puppy-daddy man of mine. I can't imagine a better reason to get out of bed: so I can spend a day with him.

Reasons to get up in the morning: Rufio

It is not a secret. I love dogs. I always have. I started out my dog loving career before I could even remember. Our chocolate lab, Ellie (my sister wanted to name her elephant), would follow me around in my walker stealing my cheerios and constantly lick my face. We got Gus when I was in fourth grade and I loved every minute I got to spend with him. And then comes Rufio last August to my life. He has the most personality out of any dog I have ever met... plus the most amazing and comical facial expressions. He is my best four legged friend. And currently he is filling in for Matt as my protector. I cannot walk into a room without him going in first. He sits in front of whatever door I am in to protect from any intruders and he is constantly checking on me.

There are so many reasons to love Rufio. He is a little smarty pants. He gets kisses from me all the time, and reciprocates by booping me with his nose because he learned that's how humans give affection. He knows the sound of his dad's work vehicles and can hear them from inside the office. He has to pick up every stick as we pass them when we are walking. He knows how to paw at the door of the compost to get in. He wants to be friends with everyone; his interactions with other dogs at dog parks are priceless. He finally is over his "awkward teen phase" and now loves to cuddle with his mom again! He knows plenty of words, which include but aren't limited to: walk, ride, treat, hungry, thirsty, ice cream, nap and stick. And last but not least, he is just so excited to get up in the morning. It's hard to do anything but let him tackle me for the first few minutes once I get out of bed. He is a great reason to get up in the morning.

Reason to get up in the morning: frothed milk

I made myself a cappuccino late last night. For some reason there was organic hazelnut decaf floating around the kitchen and I needed something sweet so I ran with it. I sat outside with a cup of coffee and a cup of frothed milk and watched some clouds roll by in the moonlight. Pretty perfect. I started listing off all the things I am thankful for and couldn't stop. I thought it would be a great idea to start doing this weekly on my blog. Things I am thankful for... aka, reasons to get up in the morning. First reason:

I didn't grow up in a coffee-crazed family. Actually, I rarely remember my dad drinking it unless we were camping or with my grandparents. Plus my mom hates the stuff. So I'm not quite sure how I became so coffee obsessed but here I am writing about my morning ritual of coffee and the most important part of my coffee routine: frothing milk. It's decadent and like drinking a cloud. I'm not kidding. It's sometimes the only reason I get out of bed. Again, I'm not kidding. But then again, there's always tea and mate... you think frothed milk would be good in those too? Probably not...