There’s that saying, “if walls could talk,” that presumably says they’d share with us all they’ve seen and heard. In my case, it’s “if the trees and pavement” at Kiroli park could talk. Cause man, those woods have seen it all from me. I’ve taken to those trails during every major and minor life change of mine. I’ve stomped it out through a flooded house, divorce, heartache, money problems, moving unexpectedly, and health scares. I’ve paced those paths on good days and bad and if those trees could talk…
A New Season
It’s a new season today. While the weather and the view out my big picture window doesn’t really say it’s fall, the calendar does.
Personally, I can’t imagine a more perfect transition into a new season than what I’ve experienced today. I started my morning under a cozy blanket on the couch, sipping a cup of hot coffee and reading a good meditation from an old book that I just recently pulled back down from the shelf.
Writing When You Should Be Doing Something Else
I’m lying here in bed, desperate to fall asleep. I’m supposed to be at the gym in just a few hours, awake enough to successfully step onto a box holding heavier dumbbells than I ever have before. What an appropriate name for those, by the way. Dumb…bells.
It feels like it’ll be hours before I fall asleep. So much is running through by cluttered little mind. My head has felt extra full lately and I attribute some of that to not reserving time for this, for writing out my thoughts. I’ve learned over the years that this is how I process things. Both big and small, significant and trivial. All of the things in my world make more sense when I spill out some words on a page, just like this. Lately, I’ve not done this.
Continue reading5 Super Simple Tips for Being Better with Money
One of the things I’ve been focused on this year is money. As a thirty-three year old, grown business woman, I am paying attention to my money for the first time in my life. Before this year, the thought of a budget made me cringe. I could seldom tell you how much money I actually had on hand at any given time, and I felt truly incompetent when it came to business finance or even simple investing strategies. I very much so lived in a “fake it til you make it” world. Which, if you ask me how I’ve succeeded in life/business, that’s a strategy I’ll often pass on. Get started and figure it out as you go.
1 Second Everyday for 2018
Last year on a whim, I downloaded the 1 Second Everyday video app. The concept is that you do a video a day and pull one second from each to compile a video snapshot of the entire year. At the end of the year, you have a video that’s a few minutes long and showcases a little bit of your life from each day of the past year. How wonderful!
I will say upfront, I am usually terrible at sticking with something that has to be done every single day. I forget. I get tired of it. I get behind and then quit altogether. Something like this is most definitely not the type of thing I’d say I’m good at. However, I finished the year with only missing ONE DAY from my video. Just one day! Not only am I thrilled to have this documentation of such a big year, I’m incredibly proud of myself for sticking with it.
Work Retreat in Durham, NC
I just got home from a quick work retreat visiting Ashlee in Durham, NC and I’m returning with all the ideas and plans! Ashlee moved to North Carolina last summer after getting married and we’ve been working with me on the ground in LA and her doing every single thing she can remotely from there. We planned this few days to get together face to face for a bit of a “state of the union” and brainstorming session. It was much needed and I feel like we made all the plans!
Continue readingMoving & Photos from Light + Free Folk
Back when I first bought #wfwhitehouse in all it’s outdated glory, the insanely talented Abigail Berry with Light + Free Folk reached out and offered to take some photos of the finished product for me, and I looked forward to this throughout the entire renovation. She shared my vision for that old house and could see its potential just like I could. From the very beginning, I dreamed about the fresh flowers I’d buy and scatter about for these photos. Everything would be decorated so beautifully and I’d probably do these photos right before I invited all of you in to see the big reveal.
Continue readingHome for Now
I announced my big move from #wfwhitehouse last month and one of the things I didn’t mention was where I was headed next. Thankfully, I had just finished remodeling another little house in West Monroe so I had somewhere to go. It was my 7th house to remodel in 2.5 years. (I’ve done 8 total.) I had just finished it and posted a “coming soon” notice on my Facebook when I got the final news that I would indeed be selling my beautiful, old white house. I pulled it from the listing que and decided to just hold on to it for a bit. My intention had been to sell this one and yet if I needed somewhere to move quickly, this would be a good spot.
Continue readingMoving From #WFWhiteHouse
I sat there on a Saturday and I cried. It was the day after I got the unofficial news that I would indeed be moving. Everything was lining up as it should to make this unexpected deal work out for everyone involved. It wouldn’t be a “done deal” for a few more weeks, though verbal agreements were made and things were falling in to place.
Unraveling
So much has happened over the last 2-2.5 years. I lost my home and belongings to a flood. I lived in that uncertainty and rebuilt. I went through a divorce and lost that home again. I moved twice. I experienced the tragic death of a cousin and then the same for one of my closest mentors immediately after. My best friend/new boyfriend died in my lap. And then came back to life. And then we broke up and got back together. And then I had $15,000 taken from me and was homeless for a week and a half. Continue reading