Here's to Letting Ourselves Grow

I felt since this was the end of the year it would be a good time to look back on our time here in New York, and help get myself excited for these next few years. And a good way to waste some time while waiting for this little baby girl to come!


Visiting my brother and Grandparents in Queens

These past couple years here in New York have been amazing for me. I have pushed myself in so many different ways. I've also accepted some things that I had been denying myself for a long time. Here's a (very) small list of some of the things I'm proud of:

1. Joined a book club
This was something I'd always wanted to do, but never felt like I could for some reason. In January of 2013 I went out on a limb though and joined a group here on post. It's been amazing how much I've loved it and how much my confidence as a person has grown because of it. I committed in the beginning to be as involved in it as I could and I am now officially the leader, or the one in charge of it!

2. Bought my own car
When we first moved up here at the end of 2012 I finally got my name on a title of a car. Sometimes it just feels good to outright own something big like that.



36 weeks with Roland

3. Stayed behind during a deployment
In May of 2013, I found myself sending off my husband to Afghanistan while I stayed behind in New York. Many other women here were in the same situation as I was and I am so glad I decided to stay here with them rather than returning to Arizona where our families were. I have grown and loved the experiences I've shared with these women and am so grateful for their friendship.

4. Rocked a pregnancy and post-pregnancy body
This journey actually began in Arizona before I got pregnant and took up weight lifting. But since moving here I have kept it up and have accomplished some pretty great things. I helped get a workout group together, completed a tough mudder, and almost finished Jaime Easton's LiveFit program (a body building regimen) all in 2013. This was on top of being pregnant with my son Roland, and then healing. I have never felt so empowered and so healthy in my entire life. I haven't been able to be as rigorous this pregnancy due to some complications but I am excited to push this back into full gear after my little girl is born.



After the Tough Mudder

5. Accepted myself as a Writer
One of my dreams has always been to become a published Author. After wafting back and forth with schooling, in 2014 I finally took the plunge and took myself seriously as a writer. Already my writing has mastered new hurdles and I've made some great connections for the future.

6. Became a financial guru
I've always been good with money, and am usually the one in charge of our finances. But at the end of 2013/beginning of 2014 I started reading and researching out things concerning financial freedom and retirement. I didn't ever really want to think about such "adult" topics before, but I'm so glad I did. We're in a great spot right now because of it, and the next few years look so promising I get a little excited about it (you know, like in a geeky kind of number-crunching way).



4th of July Picnic

 

7. Chopped off my hair
One of the great things about being away from everyone you grew up with is you can almost start all over. Nobody knows you, and has no box to put you in when they meet you. You get to create your own for them! Since moving here I've been allowing myself to try different fashions, including new haircuts. I feel like I'm starting to develop an actual style, instead of just being stuck in the tomboy tween era. Chopping off my hair in 2013 forced me to face some physical things about myself I didn't like, and to own up to them. I've since been growing it out, but I honestly can't wait until I get to do it again - it was such an adventure!

Our time here in New York isn't done yet, but as you can guess we are gearing up for a move fairly soon. Unfortunately I still can't officially announce where we will be moving to (gotta love the Army) but I promise it will be soon. I've been so grateful for this season of our life here in New York, and am looking forward to the promises of our next adventure. I imagine it's going to be quite full of life learning experiences.

Here's to more chances to let ourselves grow :)



Roland & I (newborn photos)

 

NaNoWriMo Fail and End of Class

Just last month I *attempted* NaNoWriMo for the first time.

Let me preface the rest of this post with this - I failed.

If you don't already know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is a push to write 50,000 words in 30 days. (Learn more here)

I barely made it to 5,000.

I knew it was going to be hard, but wow I did not expect myself to fail as bad as I did. There are a few things though that now I feel better prepared for when I do it again next year. My biggest obstacle? Writing every day. It really does make a difference.

I'm still really glad I did it - even though it was super stressful with the end of my first writing class. I sat down last night to work on a new piece for this new class (that I was dreading writing) and was surprised at how easily I was able to crank out 500+ words. I can definitely say it was beneficial in increasing my word count.

Can we also just celebrate for a minute that I finished my first ever writing class?! It ended on November 30th and wow what an experience.

I wouldn't fully recommend that every aspiring author take a writing class. I could have easily gone through the whole thing and not improve my writing at all. The structure of the course didn't force me to change - I had to do that on my own. It did help me with deadlines, and making myself stay on top of my writing habits. However, I am a better writer now because I pushed myself. If you're not willing to push, a class like that will prove to be pointless.

I've already started my next class, as previously mentioned, so stay tuned for more updates! My writing journey is far from over :)

Mid-point check-in

At this point I've reached the halfway mark in my first writing class. I've finished my second piece and I have already experienced some serious highs and lows. It has been quite the ride so far.

What I'm in right now is technically a 100-level class. This makes it so there is a myriad of talented (and not-so-talented) students. Our professor is going through the publishing process herself right now, so while she is ahead of us on our career plans, I don't actually feel as much trepidation as I thought I would about getting my work graded by her.

What I'm about to say may make me seem really petty, but here it goes.

Our first two weeks were focused on introductions and poetry. I personally felt like I had a killer piece for this section. It moved, it dazzled, and it carried the intricately woven symbolism like a well-balanced woman carrying a basket on her head. It was the best piece of poetry I had ever done. I received minimal feedback on it though. It was as if I had spouted off some Shakespearian verse to a bunch of self-absorbed teenagers. They either didn't get it - or they didn't care.

We had a few free-write exercises too that were posted for review as well. I wasn't overly impressed with mine, but I was happy with how much I could see myself growing already. Then I read something another student wrote and I felt total despair. Her piece was truly amazing, and while she did admit that this wasn't her first rodeo (she'd been practicing for ten years, slowly tweaking her writing methods) I couldn't help but feel like I would never reach that point.  I could never write like that.

My saving grace happened the next day. We have been reading Stephen King's, On Writing (a book I would highly recommend for writers). Having him show all his vulnerabilities along with wonderful pep talks really boosted me up again. I could do this.

In fact, it boosted me up so much that I went ahead and signed up for my second writing class. I have just enough time to squeeze in one more between my current class and the birth of our little girl. Here's the kicker though - it's technically a 400-level class. Wow, does that make me nervous all over again. Sometimes I think I'm crazy.

The past two weeks we have been focusing on creative non-fiction - something I've never tried before. Not quite as much of a roller coaster as the poetry, but still bouncing me around a bit. I've come to really like it. Who knows, maybe I'll pursue it even more on my own.

I have been impressed with my writing/editing process in this section though and how much it has already grown. I don't feel like I am stuck in my old one anymore - which makes me even more committed to see this thing through.

Fall Wardrobe Inventory

I just finished pulling out all my fall and winter clothes from the box and adding them back into my wardrobe. Which means I went through and did a brief all over purge again while I had everything out. I was rather pleased with the results this time too. After almost two years of purging and trying to build a "real" wardrobe I am finally starting to see some results.

And since it's now part of my 30 before 30 list, I finally decided I should start documenting this transformation. This is kind of a vulnerable step for me, since I've felt a bit behind on my "looks" practically my whole life. I'm a late bloomer by nature, and I guess I'm still one? It might help me streamline my progress too though - who knows? :)

*Casualties*

I feel like these numbers are a huge improvement. The last two times I purged I was still dumping 30+ items. It made me sick to see all that money I had spent on all those clothes go to waste like that. Even though 95% of it was thrift/clearance purchases, it was shocking to see how much I was just throwing away after maybe wearing it once or twice. I definitely feel like I've been making wiser/more cost-efficient purchases this past year.

I'm still working on building up the staples in my wardrobe so I don't expect these numbers to go down any further, but maybe just shift around instead (holy moly how do I still have that many tops??). Also it looks like some of my well-seasoned staples are reaching the end of their time, like my black pencil skirt and my pair of skinny jeans, so some replacements will be coming in. These also include some temporary maternity items now that I am expecting again.

Here are the rest of the stats.

Although I've purged quite a bit from my closet I imagine it is going to be an ongoing process as I'm still trying out different options - hopefully I can keep it down to a minimum though! Being able to successfully purge and focusing on buying less (but better choices) I think has really helped so far.

I'll be focusing on these goals though over the next 6-12 months. New ones are bolded.

1. Buy better. Buy less. (still working on this one)
2. Replace cheaper items with quality ones.
3. Continue to try new styles to see what I like.
4. Take photos of outfits that feel "right" (I'm still not sure if I could tell you what my style is)
5. Continue to purge as the seasons change
6. Add in missing key pieces
7. Write down new purchases (to help track)
 

Taking the Plunge

In just a couple of weeks I will be starting my first official Creative Writing course.

I am definitely excited. But to say I'm not nervous at all would be a huge lie. To write is one thing, to be professionally critiqued is another though.

Even though I've decided to take this big step in my writing I have this huge insecurity still hanging over my head.

What if I'm not good enough?

This question has really always been looming over me, but thanks to a few books I've recently read I have finally worked up the courage to jump into this. The most influential book though was, Traveling with Pomegranates. I feel like I really connected to a part of it where Ann Kidd Taylor writes about giving herself up to an apprenticeship in writing. She's not sure whether she can really do it. But in the spirit of how people used to find their "careers" (so to speak) she decides to give herself seven years (the traditional time of an apprenticeship) of writing and trying to figure out how to make it professionally as a writer.

This really made me pause when I was reading it. Of course I knew it would take time to become accomplished - so why was I always beating myself up every time I couldn't figure it all out with in six months? I was burning myself out before I could make a decent start.

So I've decided to give myself an apprenticeship in writing, but only until I am 30. Which gives me about six-ish years to try and make my way into this publishing world.

And I'm about to take my first step.

Greek Artichoke & Chicken Flatbread

A favorite recipe over here is this Greek Artichoke & Chicken Flatbread (or as we like to lovingly call it - Greek Pizza). It's a recipe I won at a Pampered Chef Party a friend of mine was hosting, and wow was it so worth it. Normally I try to stay away from all those self-promoting business parties the other Army wives do, but it was winter and I needed some adult time. As a side note though, those Pampered Chef products are actually really nice. And sometimes I wish I could afford them. But my Walmart pots and pans will have to do for now.

 

 

Here's the recipe if you want to try it :)

 

Ingredients:

refrigerated thin crust pizza

marinated artichoke hearts, drained & chopped

fresh parsley, chopped

cooked chicken, chopped

mozzarella cheese

feta cheese

lemon zest

minced garlic

dash of olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

 

 

To prepare:

 

1. Cook the pizza crust as directed by the package, pulling it out of the oven about 5 minutes before it's done.

 

2. While your dough is cooking, combine the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, saving some of your parsley, feta, and mozzarella cheese for later.

 

3. After you've pulled your pizza crust out of the oven, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese generously across the crust. Top it off with your chicken and artichoke mixture, spreading it as evenly as possible. Return to oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

 

4. After 5 minutes, pull out your flatbread to cool and cut as desired. Before serving, garnish with parsley and feta cheese.

 

Sometimes I have leftover chicken and artichoke mix. I like to add in some spinach and refrigerate it, using it in a pita bread for a tasty sandwich. It will keep for a few days at least - I've never had it sitting in my fridge for very long though. Or you can always just make another pizza :)

So good.
I think I'm making more tonight!

 

Ruffled Roses

For my birthday this year I ended up getting my own darning foot for my sewing machine. It has been so much fun practicing with it and making quilting designs!

This is my first quilt I used it on. I ended up taking out the stitches after the first go-around on the machine. It was awful. The second time though I got it to work so much better.

If you look close enough at some spots you can still see some of my beginner mistakes! So of course I'm not going to show you the close ups of those areas :)

I will be giving this one away to a friend up here who is expecting her first little girl. They have three older boys already so I thought this rose patterned fabric would be a great addition to their home. Of course I had to add the ruffles to it as well - those boys need to get used to some frill in their life :)

If you're looking for some help on how to make ruffles I'd highly recommend using this tutorial. It's the one that I liked referencing the most when I was making my ruffle binding.

More projects to come! I can't wait to use my darning foot again.

First Posts

I felt like I needed a fresh start in blogging, so here it is - a personal blog for me! I don't expect to be posting very often but here's a little bit of what I'm expecting to write about over these next few years:

food
writing
quilt projects
parenthood
self-improvement
travels
army life

These are pretty much the things that consume my life right now. Don't expect too much deviation.

And since first posts are really awkward, I'll just end our misery now.