see beauty

i'm ready for this. ready to bursting.

change is inevitable.

a photo a day ...

times are busy and full around here as i dismantle things and prepare for john's three-day visit and then moving day, so maybe posts around here will be short ....

rising above the mess, i thought about future times, both dreamy and practical. there was sunshine in those places.

I'm adding to the list of new year's intentions:

Cook a recipe once a week. Chances are I'll do it way more than that once I settle in to a teaching job in the Philly area, but this one is so important to me so I'd like to make it achievable. I miss being in the kitchen more than I am now, and being purposeful yet meditative, and producing a healthy, delicious result -- and now I can do that for two! I'm so excited to cook for my love!

 Tomorrow I actually begin the physical process of packing, having already sold off a few items of furniture. I will also reserve the U-Haul this week.

To prepare myself mentally, I've treated myself to a few vintage mixing bowls ... and a cup of hot ginger-pear tea from Trader Joe's. I will post pics of the bowls tomorrow or this week sometime when the light is better (it's getting dark out now).

This is an incredibly busy time upstairs in my mind and heart. I'm hoping to figure a more regular yoga practice and daily meditation/reading into that mix to keep things (like emotions) more balanced.

Hope your week, too, is blessed with love and light.

k. 

new year, new intentions.

There's a lot of new around here, actually ....

entry steps, philadelphia art museum

 Has it really been over a MONTH since I last blogged? I guess life just has not been standing still as in years past. It's a very transitional year, in so many ways ... I said a couple of necessary good-byes, worked my first (and, turns out, last in KY) Montessori lead teacher job, went to school for my master's, obtained my master's, and met and started dating the man of my dreams!

Now ... I'm leaving Kentucky in a month. The man ... has said ... he wants to marry me! Oh, yes. I mean, we have some livin' it up to do first, but ... when you know, you know. And we both know. I'm so happy to be moving closer to him. Oh, more about him in another post ... Oh, and in case you weren't clear, he asked me. And I said YES!!! It's unofficial, of course ... I need a ring (heeeee!!) and a father's permission. But it was the sweetest, most natural, most loving, proposal ever and you know it's real when he's asking you 'cause he just can't keep it in .....

 I spent Christmas and New Year's traveling to see my boyfriend, my parents, my grandparents, and my very best friends. I saw where I'll be working in Philly. I did some knitting, not a lot, and more reading.

flowers, redding terminal market, philadelphia

 Actually, I came here to jot down, per custom, some of my new year's intentions. I try to keep it simple. so .....

write a letter or send a package once a month (i didn't do this last year and REALLY want to try this).

join the postcard project (google it ... very cool idea!).

go back to portland to visit my best friend

learn to sew (grr this one keeps getting carried over year to year!!)

faithfully save 10 percent of each paycheck

do yoga regularly

i'll add to that, maybe, but ... that's enough, for me. I'm likely to be starting a new job at some point this year (teaching, please!!) and settling in to a new part of the country, and finding a new place to nest, and making new friends, and making his friends, and figuring out where the yoga/knitting/hiking is, and riding the train two little hours to NYC (hee), and well ... that all just tends to keep one very busy indeed.

did i mention he also dreams of living in the vermont mountains one day ... ?? ah, yes, a keeper for sure ...

happy new year to you all. love and light. be easy on yourself. my big mantra for the year: go easy. have fun. live it up!!

xo xo xo,

k.

p.s. i'm getting MARRIED!!!!!!!

Philadelphia or bust!

I finally got the knitting bug!! So, this will be a quick one, as I have a very simple Christmas present (or two or three) to attend to.

In February .... I am moving a lot closer east .... temporarily to So. Jersey ... and then to Philadelphia!!

Now, I'll be honest, I don't have a teaching job ... yet. But the resumes are out there (including one to an AMI FARM school that's only a 20-minute commute...!!!) and I've received a bit of interest for having me sub or help with summer camps for the current school year. For the moment, I'm waiting for confirmation on this but I'll be transferring Trader Joe's stores so I can be employed on arrival.

I will be four hours from home by train. Over the moon about that.

Why Philly? Well ... a little magic happened in Louisville over Thanksgiving and I reconnected with a friend I met at school over the summer. Can you guess what spurred my move?? :-) :-)

It's not an easy thing to pack up four and a half years in a wonderful city that now feels truly like home. Where the weather is generally warm and sunny. Where there are THREE public radio stations, and ten times as many awesome restaurants and hang-out spots. Where vintage rules. Where people have this amazing sense of community, togetherness. Where it's just damned friendly everywhere you go.

I'll also be downsizing my digs quite a bit. I'll have a few months to find a place but from the rents I'm seeing (and most places require a two-month up-front security deposit, YIKES) ... yeah, it'll be, um, cozy, to say the least. I will miss my ridiculously over-large apartment here more than anything. It will make finding a new place challenging.

All worth it for a chance at love, right? Potential for starting a family? It's all there in this one, so ... I'll keep my fingers crossed and we'll just wait and see.

Stay tuned. In the meantime, I'll be there for a week after Christmas scoping things out. I really, really can't wait.

Also so happy to be out of that temporary limbo I was in. Just a pause before everything started falling into place, really.

It's a leap of faith, regardless. A huge one. But, one that feels just so right.

I'll be here, busy loving Louisville and working through my bucket list.


Love and light,
k.

*****change!*****

wow, some magical things are happening around here! i'll check in soon ...! be well out there. 

reflective thoughts.

 I'd like to become an earlier riser again. even if i get less sleep while adjusting. i work a lot of late nights (till midnight) now, so it's not the easiest to go straight to bed and then get up early. however, i do feel that even though it's been nice to sleep until 11 and go to work at 3 i'm not getting anything productive done. some of this is normal getting-used-to-the-seasons-changing routine. i have cover letters to write that I've really been dragging my feet on. I'm really resistant to leaving Louisville. There's really a lot going through my brain right now, potential decisions that don't feel ready to be decided. Stick it out here and try to run the home-based Montessori business? Leave and get good experience at an AMI school? Get Waldorf teacher training? Stay and work a part-time freelance teaching gig at the Waldorf school next year and run my own Montessori business?

I'm still feeling unhappy about my computer time. I spent too many hours with the screen and not enough time with friends. I've been really reflecting on friendships lately, the fake facebook ones (not including those dear who are far, of course) and the real ... offline ones. also pondering the quantity and quality. how to sustain and grow friendships in the digital age. it feels like new territory. but what if we just shut off our laptops and really try to engage? join an interesting group or something. I need computer-free days. Hmm.

I am also concerned about my lack of knitting and learning to sew. These are things I dream about constantly. Yeah, dream about. I never want to DO them. Where do you crafters get your inspiration? Do you have to carve out time, or does the magic simply happen?

I guess I'm just going through a bit of a ... limbo phase. Normal for this time of year. This, too, shall pass. I'm reflecting on where I've been, where I am, and where I'd like to go.

At least I know I'll be doing plenty of baking along the way. This week and next, between the two, I'd like to get to banana bread and pumpkin-chocolate chip bread. I enjoy sharing the treats at work. Baking is truly a meditation for me.

I also need to take to the yoga mat. In class form. Preferably soon. My two-month hiatus from yoga is not good.

Christmas will be different this year. Here, away from home. None of the usual gift-buying (except a few things for immediate family) will happen. I am more determined than ever to pay off my Capital One card. Student loan payments are coming due.

I am happy with reading more in the living room now that I've reorganized and made it cozy. Last night, I fnished The Help and I just read the first chapter of The Alphabet versus The Goddess, about how literacy introduced patriarchy. I think I'll love it. I'd like to also be reading the Little House on the Prairie series through the holidays. I never finished the Anne of Green Gables series, either.

That's all for me. I'll be celebrating my birthday on Saturday with a new tattoo and a little wine-snack soiree at my house. This week I plan on buying tights, leggings, knitting needles, and a vintage coffee table.

I love you, my muses. Happy week to you.

today was a wonderful day of staying home most of the day. i also went out and bought yarn for a dog coat I plan on making once the right size needles are back in stock, a vintage desk chair, butter dish, and 1940's red clock.isn't it cute on my yellow table? the flowers are from Trader Joe's.

Today, I also made the pear butter cake from Apples for Jam (which looked almost exactly like the one in the photo above, culled from google images). That cookbook sure does produce some deliciousness! I also imbibed in some pumpkin ice cream from Trader Joe's. It's so wonderful having Trader Joe's here now, at last.

I've decided to carry on with my home "school" now that the dust is settling! I think, two days a week for two to three hours sounds right. Of course, we'll make and eat lunch together! It will just be a seed for what's to one day come (hmmmm starting my own farm school?). I no longer have space for a dedicated classroom but with a gorgeous apartment, plenty of child-sized furniture and Montessori materials, I am just as confident. It's so important to fulfill your dreams, even if they start very small. I'm also considering a once-weekly children's knitting group.

I'm spending too much time on my computer again. I really am thinking of setting limits for myself. Worked last time. I'm not doing ANY knitting, but I am doing a lot of thinking about it. I am happy with my decision to not knit any gifts specifically for Christmas or birthdays this year. Instead, I like the idea of sending a little love to someone year-round when they're not expecting it! I think "happy christmas" and "happy birthday" suffices. Really, I do. I'm really getting over material Christmas. I can't wait to give to the local food bank, and some favorite charities. Like Farm Sanctuary and St. Jude's.

I'd also like to focus on reading more, for pleasure, of course. Computer time really eats away at that.

The remainder of this week will be somewhat busy, but I think I'll make tofu chili and pumpkin-black bean soup again, and I think life is calling for some pumpkin-chocolate chip bread, hm?

be well out there.

cooking, centering.

 I really keep meaning to return to this space more often than I do.

I wish I could post my beautiful pictures, my knitting, my sewing projects. But I don't even know where my camera is, and getting used to a new job with sometimes wacky hours has made me often just too tired/uninspired for crafting. plus i'm not doing ANY holiday knitting this year, so i lack the usual motivation for this time of year. i can't wait for the crafting bug to hit, though. i'm amazed it hasn't yet. but like i said, routine is different.

been trying to cook when i can, as that always centers me and makes me feel whole. Tonight, I made the green bean souffle loaf from Apples for Jam (GREAT comfort food cookbook!), and tomorrow I plan on making pear tart from the same book. I also made a great pumpkin and black bean soup this past week. Does anyone have a good slow-cooked beans dish for me? I'd love to use (dry) kidneys or pintos. Let me know! I'm really craving beans this time of year.

tomorrow is a rare day off. i plan on making some order out of my "studio" which is the third time this poor environment's been moved around the apartment. i don't think i've ever worked in one of my studios yet. i really hope this changes, though if i get a job i'll be moving from here in six months or so. sigh. such is life.

does it bother anyone else that "holiday" (why can't we just say christmas? i'm not even religious) starts now before halloween is even over?  i'm rarely in the shops but i was at old navy buying some new jeans for work the other day and they were playing christmas carols. drives me mad. definitely puts a damper on my spirits. :-( just a vent. sorry!

if anyone would like the recipes for what i've been making, i'd be happy to post them.

happy week to you! i'm off to read The Help.