Back on line

I'm back!!!!

We turned on our computer this morning and plugged it in to find that they had turned on our internet connection. So much has gone on in the last month and a half that it may not all make on here but there will be pictures and a few tales.

Kevin and Alder are heading out for three days of camping over in the Adirondacks so I'll put up a proper catch up post then. For those of you who asked to see what this new town looks like there are pictures to come, although I can't really get the feeling of the town in pictures yet.

I will say that after this move I really hope we don't have to pack up again any time soon, we've moved three times in three years, closed two businesses, had a baby and finished grad school (Kevin) we are tired and we may very well hibernate all winter just like the bears.

Studio Inspiration

Spaces click here for flickr credits




Moods click here for flickr credits

Our New Home

Just a quick note while in the midst of packing and unpacking. So far we love everything about our new home. Especially the kitchen, the fenced backyard, the light, the shed/studio. Gas prices are killing us and causing us to stuff the car to the brim each trip. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa watched Alder all day Saturday and Sunday so we could move some really big things. Perhaps a moving truck would have been a good idea, except that would have meant erasing one life before starting the next and with a toddler that's near impossible. For right now we're spending a few nights in each house as needed.



We really don't have much choice about how we move right now, we don't have access to a truck so it's load by load. Luckily Kevin has a client in Bennington who wants to get treated anytime he's around so she's paying for our gas.



I hope everyone out there is having a great August, it's my favorite month (actually the August September cusp is)

All at once now

Just a little brief update before the chaos ensues. Today I am going to a "working interview" as in I am going to work for a few days and get paid then we'll discuss if we are the right fit. Tomorrow we pick up the keys for our new apartment, Friday we work on moving, Saturday is the BIG move day (that's relative since we're doing it in a Vitara) and it also happens to be our 5th anniversary. Sunday Kevin works and we...well that's a good question. Luckily we have an overlapping month in the apartments to move (it's 80 miles round trip). Now if I could only manifest a pickup truck.

About a year ago I was doing this. Moving was so exciting then. Now it hardly seems like we've started packing.

Have a good Wednesday.

A weekend

A sleeping Alder is giving me a moment to tell you a little about our weekend.


A Project


Dinner Out with the Girls






Spending Time with Family, following in traditions.




Not photographed: a pitiful yard sale (enough for lunch and what we bought at the really cool yard sale across the street), two job interviews, and Alder spending the day with Irie and Sarah with us away. Now I really should be filling boxes.

Cutting Costs

Like everyone else out there we have been struggling with the rise in cost of oil. Both directly with our gas tank and indirect with food. We have decided to use the next month to cut our spending as much as possible. In fact we have challenged ourselves in a few different areas of our life to see how the changes affect our bank account. I admit that while a lot of these changes are ones that we have been wanting to make for a long time our reasons for changing them now are initiated by our personal need to spend less money.

We've already reduced the amount of extra driving trips from our life, this has been especially tough for me who is a wanderer by nature so I have had to get used to having my wings clipped. I am starting to discover more nearby and really appreciate the times that I do get to go for longer drives. But driving is still a big part of our life (at least for the next few weeks) since Kevin is now commuting four days a week out of town.

The changes that we are making are as follows:

1) Eating out only once a week. Other than books, which we have already cut way down on this is really our only extra expenditure.

2) Move to the town where Kevin is working, in walking distance of his job. This is a big one, right now we have an almost 500 dollar a month gas bill. It will also cut down on driving because there is a lot for Alder and I to do in this town that is either walking distance or very short drives.

3) We are moving into a much smaller apartment that is all on one floor. This is more important for the winter when we won't have as much to heat. Plus it has a fenced in yard and is a few blocks from a playground.

4) We are going to get back into baking all of our bread products. Another bonus of our new apartment is that it has a great kitchen. Right now we're stuck with barely any counter space.

5) Air dry most of our laundry, this one is still going to take some persuading of Kevin but I'm determined.

I'm going to use this blog to help me keep track of our progress. In theory the eating out ban is only for a month but we hope that we'll just get into the habit.

Any other ideas on cost cutting is welcome.

News

So I promised not to tell you all the heart aches and decision making process for what we were going to do with our life until we had a definite plan. And now we do. A few months ago we were in Brattleboro (VT) were playing at our favorite toy store when Kevin decided to go across the street to stop into the acupuncture center across the street to say hi. The acupuncturist wasn't there but he left his card. A few days later he got a call asking if he wanted a job a few days a week and he's been working there ever since, and gaining new days. So we've ordered the boxes and are starting to fill them.... god I hope this is are last move for a while. The move is a good one, that whole area seems more receptive to acupuncture and Kevin still has a small private practice that he'll keep going.

Until then we're packing up and enjoying the summer here. Luckily theres only one more month of commuting for Kevin (poor guy he hates driving and he's got an 80 mile daily commute).

By the way this is what we were doing last year.

Evening Lights

It's 5:30 and it still is light out. I'm sitting alone in the shop finishing the weeks worth of redecorating and feeling really good about the direction things are going. Starting next week we are going to be open Wednesday nights 4 -9 for Open Craft Night. Even our house seems more hospitable lately.

I've been having lapses of newness lately. We've met a few people so far but really our social life revolves around the monthly long weekends when my family is at their cabins. I get shy around new people that I like, give me a stranger who I'm indifferent to or dislike I can talk their ear off. But if they are someone I think that I might like to know, really know, it takes a while to warm up to them.

Really since we've been here we've only met one couple who we spend a lot of time with, they are pretty different than us and I would have never thought we would have gotten on so well but we have fun with them and Alder is in love with their daughter. I was beginning to feel badly about how few people we can count as even casual friends, but then today Kevin invited another couple to dinner next week and then another couple came by the shop and invited us to Shabbat dinner tonight (they're both Rabbis) at their farm house. So the sun is returning and it is bringing new acquaintances with it.

So dear friends on that note I will wish you all good night so I can finish a little more cleaning before we head out for dinner.

Just the Stuff of Life on a Day

Moving in is a longer process this time than it ever has been. Alder isn't being too independent these days, who can blame him both Kevin and I are distracted with organizing. This means that only one of us can really focus on working on the house at a time. At this point it really is only the stuff on the dinning room table and a few piles in the living room that need working on. Not much at all. My studio is up and I spent a long evening working on projects listening to Mountain Stage and the rain. We are determined to finish up tonight because there is an island in Maine where we want to be camping tomorrow night.

One of the funky things about this place is that the house next door is deserted, no cool story just a divorce. This means that we look out onto a big dark house at night. At first we thought we wouldn't put curtains up since no one is going to look in but after a few nights we realized we need the curtains to keep us from looking out. There is a big brown cat living in the abandoned house that whooped Bancha's butt the first night we were here, and a few times since then. Bancha is so used to being alpha male that now he stays inside most of the time.

This place is so big for us, we have a bedroom and then all three of us have our own room as well, and there is a spare room. The computer even has it's own little nook. We lucked out on furniture, a Goodwill a few towns over gets a lot of salvage from Target and some furniture stores, we picked up a really cool wood desk for Kevin, two book wooden bookcases and one of those over the toilet cabinets for $200. We are trying not to buy or build too much and wait on somethings for what we can find a flea markets and tag sales.

Alder and I went on a play date yesterday with a cool family near by. The mama is a doula and she unschools her four kids. It was really nice to sit down and talk with another woman who has kids, I enjoyed it a lot. On the way home Alder fell asleep so I just loaded Kevin up in the car and we went on a long drive, ending up at the Northshire Bookstore, which is easily as cool at the Tattered Cover with an entire floor of kids books, crafts and toys (the good kind).

It's finally clearing up after two and a half days of rain, I don't care if it's cloudy in Maine I just hope it doesn't rain the entire time, it might be tough with Alder in the tent all day.

I promise pictures of Maine and the house when we get back, everyone have a good week.

Quick Update

Okay the computer is finally on line. I promise to write about the trip and the adventures since the soon but for now I'm just saying hi. As for Bennington all I've seen is the Home Depot, Coffee Shop and the farmer's market. Kevin took Alder hiking today and I am supremely jealous.

We did get a little break this past weekend with family. It was a tumbled mix of Garlic Festival, Dinners, Fireman's Barbecue, and one long evening of wine and conversation. There are pictures to come soon.

There are however no trip pictures, we didn't stop long enough to take any.

I'm glad to be back.

Arrived

So we made it across the country. Alder was powered primarily by chocolate Newman-Os and the rest of us on coffee and grease. If you have choice do not drive cross country with a one year old unless you are planning to stop and see stuff. We've been here in our new place two days and are living in a sea of boxes, the kitchen and bedroom are almost done but much more to go.

Right now I'm stealing computer time from my cousin who was awesome and helped with the unpacking, but he's off today so we'll be computer-less for a few more days. Then there will be pictures.

Love to everyone and see you soon.

Stacey

4 Days See Ya In Vermont

Just a quick note as we are finishing packing. The computer is next up. Our next week will be filled with graduation, painting, packing the truck and driving across the country on 36, 24, 6 and finally onto the interstate for I-90 across New York. See you on the other side.

5 Days Simplicity...returning to

If I am up at 3 am you know that life is stressful right now. Of course we are only in the middle of moving across the country to start a business in a town where we know no one. So instead of getting some much needed sleep I am sitting here on the computer (actually in front of it, I would smush it if I sat on it).

Yes there is a lot of unknowns coming up soon so I am trying to focus on the things that I actually know. This means I have spent and inordinate amount of time collecting paint chips anytime I am at or in the neighborhood of a store that sells paint. Even if our landlord doesn't let us paint we will be able to do the fabric wall thing. Either way thinking about colors has been a good stress reliever lately.

This brings me to what I look forward to the most when we move, a return to simplicity. The last few years have been chaotic between Kevin's school and having a baby we haven't had much time or mental space for it. But now that school is over we are going to go back to our old ways. I am so excited.

This world we live in is complicated, there are so many things going on that we can't simplify (have you looked at the news paper lately?). the one thing any person can control is their own life. That is why we chose simplicity. Before you get any pictures of a Japanese inspired home with no furniture and no entertainment let me explain how we do simplicity.

To us it means our Friday night date involves cooking dinner together and dancing in the kitchen to Rosemary Clooney or Sam Bush. It means creating a home where curling up on the couch with a book is the fought after and then pile on location. It means being out on the trail before seven, just because. It means reading out loud to each other in the car. It also means that we are going to get organized.

The organization thing is the tough one for us. We are fairly good at organizing, it's the staying organized that is difficult. We get complacent and things pile up, then the piles become enemies and we fight dealing with them. But we are determined to start fresh begin with new systems for getting things done, keeping things neat, going out less to eat, and most importantly spending more time together. It sounds linear, I know, but there needs to be an underlying structure that allows for the creative, spontaneous, and random to occur.

here are some resources I found on getting organized:
I think this list is about where I am, a beginner.

This site has some good ideas, doesn't seem as Zen as the title though.

I like the 90% rules Emme has here.

This is the website of the New Road Map Foundation, Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez is the book which their ideas are based, it is a good look at how to become financially independent.

And of course there is the book that I found in a used books store seven years ago: The Simple Living Guide by Janet Lours Amazon doesn't have a copy but you can find it at Abebooks used.

The saddest part of looking up all these sites was the amount of sites that were about things you should by to help you organize. I'm not talking bookshelves and file folders but lots of crap.

I suppose I should attempt to get some sleep.

6 Days When Your House Looks Like This

When your house looks like this:



You really only can go do this:
Or smile like this:

More on the Move

As our days in Denver diminish I find myself distracting myself with thoughts of colors. Specifically I am pondering wall colors for our new home. It isn't a very practical thing to think about when I've seen the place but it keeps my mind away from the larger issues that moving brings.

I've come to terms with leaving Colorado, but I think the sorrow of leaving friends will come later, probably on those days this fall when all I want is a long walk with a friend. The other issues are more practical starting a business, finding a part-time (from home?) job, money, making new friends, yet they are all their in the back of my mind.

At this point it really is better to just think about paint and curtains, did I mention the curtains? Tomorrow is the beginning of the good byes. We are going out to eat with good friends for the last time. This isn't meant to sound mopey. Just trying to contextualizing for myself.

The funny part is I look at my last entry here and I see that in some ways we are still just living here. There isn't really a transition period like with other moves. Kevin graduates and three days later we drive out of here. Period.

So many of our moves have involved weeks of in between time where we would stay with people in neither place. These were always the most difficult for us. This time we are jumping in no time to ponder and doubt our choices only time to do.

Of course this past month we have had to abandon any semblance of simple living we had going on. Between the heat, Kevin's boards and moving we've spent too much time in the car and not enough outside or in the kitchen. Hopefully we can quickly regain our balance when we land in Vermont.

14 Days What Now?

Two weeks from today we will be driving away from Denver with all of our stuff in a U-Haul truck. I've spent so much time over the last few months waiting for this that now that it is so close I am starting to get nervous. It isn't the packing and driving that are making me nervous but the starting again in a new town.

As much as I have complained about Denver this summer, have I mentioned the heat? This really has been the place that I have lived I have enjoyed the most. It was the right place at the right time in my life. I don't regret our move but I will miss all the wonderful people that have become my friends. That being said this is also the first time that I feel as though I am leaving someplace with friends who I will stay in contact with.

Kevin doesn't deal well with change, we know this and try to make moves easy for him by making sure we set up the house quickly and start exploring the natural world where we live. For me it is the being new that I have the hard time with. I know it takes a year to really start to feel comfortable living anywhere. That is a long time without a strong community of friends around. A long time to be skirting the edges of a place without really getting it. At least with this move we will be near family who we can see every few weeks (I believe my aunt has every other weekend plans to see her "grandson").

So what does that leave me doing now? Well packing. Our life has become a world of boxes, full boxes, empty ones, ones still flat, ones used as boats. So rather than thinking too hard about being new, a situation which only dissipates with time, I think of boxes.

And of course biscuits, because nothing can be too bad when your making biscuits and eating them with honey butter.This is Alder mixing his own biscuits with his great grandma Hannah's bowl and his grandma Joyce's spoon. Two wonderful people who he will never meet but their spirit infuses him, I can already see it.

THE BIG ROAD TRIP

Just to clarify for all of you who have been confused about the plans this August. Kevin and I are renting a 17' truck and driving it and the car across the country and we are camping out along the way. We are willing to pay one one way ticket for someone to help us, anyone else who wants to come along is welcome but should know that we can't afford their plane ticket. We are not staying in motels because after being in the car all day we look forward to camping out. We are not towing the car because there isn't a place for Alder in the truck. We are planning on picnicking and cooking our own meals, except one special diner meal. And most of all we are not in any way shape or form hiring movers.

Our plan right now is to drive rt 34 most of the way across the country rather than the interstate since we aren't going to be moving that fast and there is more to see on 34.

We Have Made a Choice

Well I'm back at my father's apartment after week of checking out towns. It was a long trip with lots of driving but completely worth while. We have made a choice. It's funny how the whole thing happened. We kept enjoying every town we came to but I knew somehow that when we were in the right town it would be obvious, and it was.

Saratoga Springs was to hip for us.

Rutland was great but the population isn't very receptive to acupuncture.

Brattleboro already has six, besides the downtown is very noisy.

But Bennington is quite, full of interesting people and their acupuncturist recently retired!

The way that Bennington became obvious was completely fortuitous. My dad and Alder were waiting for Kevin and I in a bookstore. A couple comes up to him to tell comment on how cute Alder was. This leads them to having a long conversation that lasts after Kevin and I come in. After a while I feel guilty that there are five of us just standing there so I buy a card. While I am paying I talk with the women about how we are looking for a place. At first she is a little reticent. But when I tell her why we are looking how I work from the internet and Kevin is starting a practice she softened and spent time suggesting people we should talk to.

There is an added pleasure with Bennington. We knew that most places that we were looking at would have some of the outdoor activities we like. So it was an extra bonus when we bought a river guide and a trail guide to find that we will be right near two class 2 and 3 rivers as well as a lot of hiking.

It feels a little strange finally knowing where we are heading, after over a year of research and daydreaming now we can really get down to the business of moving and planning. I am surprisingly placid about the entire thing. There is a lot of work to do in the next eight weeks but I am excited to do it.

I'll have lots of pictures in a few days.

A too much in the brain list.

1) Kevin took a part time job raft guiding in Salida so we will be going down there for three or four days a week through August. A good thing.
a) We get out of the Denver heat.
b) Extra income is always good.
c) Kevin loves to guide.
d) Alder gets to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa before we move.

2) We decided that we would move forward our move until September. A good thing.
a) Roads are less crowded.
b) Kevin can have a few more weeks to study for national boards.
c) More time to get everything done after my business trip.
d) Cooler weather for driving (in theory).

3) Alder now turns around before going down stairs. A very very good thing.

4) My back has now been hurting for over a month. A bad thing.
a) I can hardly lift Alder by the afternoon.
b) No hiking without Kevin to carry babe.
c) I don't fall asleep well.
d) I'm cranky because I haven't slept well.
e) Kevin says I'm moving like a 90 year old.

5) I am going to start Yoga. A good thing.
a) My back will feel better.
b) My mind will slow down.
c) My hamstrings will stretch out.
d) I can go back to being a 33 year old.

6) I am starting to sell the older baby stuff we don't need on Craigslist. A good thing.
a) Less junk in the house.
b) A little cash in hand.

7) We are leaving in less than 3 weeks for our visit out east. A mixed thing.
a) There is a lot to get done before then.
b) I can't wait to see everyone.

8) We have to start a five month calendar so we don't forget anything. A mixed thing.
a) The summer is usually for last minute get togethers.
b) We might actually get everything done by September.

Suddenly Soon

Recently Kevin and I realized just how little time we have left in Denver. He graduates on the 18th of August and we have two weeks after that to pack and clean up our place. Between now and then there is a lot going on.

May 1-4 My dad is in town.
May 9th Amy's group show opening.
May 29- June 11 East coast trip:
15th High School reunion
Visiting towns
June 16th& 17th Estes Park Wool Market
July 4th Week Kevin's break.
July 13th Alder's 1st birthday.
August 2nd Our 4th Anniversary
August 9th - 12th Outdoor Retailers Trade Show (Mama's first business trip)
August 18th Kevin graduates!!!!!!
August 31st Our lease is up.

On top of all of that we have to pack, hang with friends, play in the garden, and spend time in the mountains.