It’s been a long day at work. But check out my colorful kicks!
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I also started a new tumblr that you can find here! Happy Funday.
Five important things I’ve learned from my clients:
01. We are all the same, just in different ways
B. Life can be taken day by day by day by day. If one day doesn’t work out, start over the next.
III. A little planning can change each day tremendously
04. Each day is filled with little things we don’t want to do, but we have to do them to get to the fun stuff
E. Students are teachers, teachers are students
xo
j
today’s bits
Fruit pops in bed // trying to feel better
Seen on my walk home from the grocery store
Empty chairs // too hot to sit outside!
I’m off for another overnight with clients…I had yesterday off, my first full day off in about two weeks, and I ended up spending three-fourths of it in bed trying to get better.
The upcoming week is going to fly…then come the weekend I’m making a special getaway to Ohioland to see sister Kacy, brother-in-law Matthew and a baby bump (baby on the way)! Weeee! Something to look forward to!
xo
j
for minot
It would be complete negligence to go without mentioning the flood in my hometown of Minot, ND that began it’s rapid ascent several weeks ago. My aunt Kelly recently sent me this photograph of a Minot neighborhood that was hit especially hard by the water. The yellow arrow is pointing at her (and my mother’s) childhood home located a block from the Souris “Mouse” River. Thankfully Grandma moved out of the house several years ago and is safely situated in a home on the hill, but it saddens me to see this image and recall the decades that I spent visiting Grandma’s home. She had gorgeous flowers lining the boulevard and poking through the cream picket fences, arched doorways and all sorts of fun nooks. There was a playhouse in the backyard by the garden — a miniature version of the house itself — that became a playtime dwelling for all my siblings and cousins. The backyard patio held countless back-to-school barbeques, birthdays and celebrations. I will never forget running to the basement to play the pinball machine, or yelling down the laundry chute from the top floor to a cousin in the basement.
I had to store a lot of these memories when Grandma moved after Grandpa’s passing in 2003, but seeing the home under water has resurfaced many of the memories. Things won’t be the same for Minot and all those affected, and my thoughts go toward their wellness; I hope that amidst what was lost, people might somehow find peace of mind, optimism and resilience.
I am so grateful that my loved ones — parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins and friends — have largely avoided the impact of this tremendous outpouring. I have heard the good and the bad. One of my good friends that’s been with me since Kindergarten called me up amidst the water’s rising. Sobbing, she pleaded for me to tell her that everything was going to be okay. She later told me that her house was swallowed by water clear to the eaves. How do you start over from there?
Some 12,000 people are out of a place to live and the reality hasn’t even begun. When these people enter their homes, businesses, parks, schools and churches again they’ll discover a shell of their lives, water-logged and stained. They have to find a way to tear down, rebuild or restore. It tears me up to think of this place I’ve weaved through nearly every street of as destructed.
Please continue to keep the good people of Minot in your thoughts and if you can give, give what you can — they are fighters!
Tattly
I truly want this tattoo! Find this and more “designy” temporary tats at the new Tattly shop!
here’s to you, heidi beth
I have been utterly sick with an ugly cold lately, I think it’s from working overtime…
Corn field — Moorhead, MN
It’s my beloved sister Heidi Beth’s birthday and she’s crawling behind me at 22 years old! I could never imagine my life without Heidi, she drives me crazy and keeps me sane, she’s the common sense to my daydreaming, she is the best friend I would never have if she weren’t my little sister. We have never been far apart and have watched one another grow (or in my case, shrink). Sure, we’ve had our hair-pulling, pounding-on-the-bathroom-door-waiting-for-the-shower, hey-that’s-my-shirt days, but we are of the same flesh, family forever.
Here’s to you, Heidi, and 22 years!
Heidi & Paul…and the cake I made with Starbursts and white chocolate!
i don’t care where you are, i miss you
To the A-Z’s of my brain, people you —
the one-timers, Kindergarten gang, my old housemates and flames —
To you, care-ers, mixers, harbors of love in my veins
To east coast, to west coast to all the days
I telephoned, airported, texted the sayings
of saying I miss you, for whatever it rang
I’m telling you, I miss you every day, every day
a fair time
My client and I visited the Red River Valley Fair the other day. I admittedly wasn’t too excited about the experience — I’ve never been much of a fair-goer —but it was actually really neat. I enjoyed people-watching, concert-going, and food-eating. There was so much activity and interesting folks of all ages. I loved photographing the little scenes. Here’s what I caught…(all photos taken with iPhone and edited with Instagram)
I Didn’t Know I had all these Muscles and other Yoga Tales
A few days ago I gave in to about four years worth of inner nagging, broke down and bought a yoga mat.
Now, the last time I did anything that was remotely flexible occurred 10-16 years ago on my neighbors trampoline and/or at gymnastics practice, where I lasted a whole month before realizing no one was calling my name to participate in any of the games we played (this may or may not still be a sore spot).
I know what you’re thinking: Small people by their very nature are supposed to be able to fold themselves into pretzels, overhead storage compartments, laundry chutes, or carry on luggage — and I can. The only issue is, I haven’t exercised these muscles since being stuffed in a locker my sophomore year of high school. As far as I’m concerned I have three muscles in my body: one-half in each arm, one-half in each leg, and one in my jaw. My client was working out to a Richard Simmons video the other day, “Sweatin’ to the Oldies,” where she jubilantly kicked her sturdy calves back while holding onto the back of a chair for support. An hour later and into the next morning she was saying, “My hips hurt. I didn’t know I had muscles in my hips. I didn’t know I had all these muscles!” It’s funny…or it was funny.
Being that I’m not fully invested in yoga yet, I only bought the mat and skimmed on the straps, bags, bricks, gloves, socks, and stretchy pants. I didn’t buy the DVD either, and instead sought any sort of free tutoring I could muster through my computer or phone. I immediately downloaded some jargon of a free yoga app that offered a limited number of beginner poses and their given names, but cut me off and demanded money when I grew antsy to see the intermediate and advanced stuff. I decided I didn’t care anyway, if they were going to blindly lead me into the darkness of stretching my body like Silly Putty and offer me no routine or advancement, then pish posh. You can’t give someone a chess set and expect them to play the game if they don’t know what a freaking pawn or knight is or does. I rested my case and moved on to other resources.
Beyond the censors and public computers of the Moorhead Public Library, I fell upon several shelves loaded with DVDs of children’s singalong’s and nature documentaries — and, after a slight dig, I came to my new yoga instructor: Chaos.
“Chaos,” who has no other given name, is my “certified yoga instructor.” Her name itself transcends the intentions of yoga, and certainly breaches my aims of calming my senses and getting in touch with my “inner self.” A ripped twenty-something blonde with multiple piercings, a wrist full of sharp bangles, and a harsh hairstyle, Chaos has the physique of belly dancer and the attitude of stripper. Her sports bra might have fit in the seventh grade, but today she’s blossoming out of it as she prepares to teach me the Sun Salutation.
Surrounded by three of her friends that could easily be mistaken as Barbie’s Rockers vs. Cyndi Lauper, I take myself to the setting of Chaos’ workout, a place only identifiable as a church basement. The girls position themselves on their colorful mats amongst a patterned brown linoleum sea, a stage behind them with a drum set that will tease me the entire video (“Will Chaos jump on stage and begin playing? When will the church band step in and take over? Better stay tuned…”). Sad indie music sets the mood, and Chaos rattles off her instructions with a preciseness I’ve never seen from a woman with her head between her legs.
What feels like three hours pass, and I’m questioning why I’ve demoted my exercise routine to touching my toes and raising my arms above my head to become “a triangle.” I can’t decide if I’m disoriented because of the sun worshippers I’ve been repeating, or from watching the DVD screen in an upside down position as I relaxed my muscles and bent backwards as far as possible without falling over. Checking the DVD’s chapters, I realize I still have three left.
The Chaos did cease, eventually, and when she did it was the most triumphant closing of all: the solemn instruction to lay on my back, arms at my sides and legs straight, eyes closed. “Now, let go of everything that is not in your control,” Chaos commanded. “Lay here as long as you need to and let go of your worries.” I did, almost falling asleep in the process and keeping in time with her last wish of a final bow. Like a roller coaster cart coming to a rest at the bottom of the track’s deepest drop, I got out in exhilaration and relief.
And the next day, I woke up sore as a beginner. The Chaos continues.
good exposure ≠ bad exposure
For all you designers out there, I found this excellent article that really nudged my conscience into believing that my work is worth something…
In the past I’ve found myself doing extensive design projects “for my portfolio,” but the time is definitely coming to begin calculating my time into money. (Of course, I always believe that there are certain exceptions, but for the most part design time = money.)
Check out the full article here!
approximatelyes.com 