it’s a long one, 2015

i blogged with words three times this year. three.
thankfully, i also blogged without words every m-f. and filled up a crapton of notebooks.

in september of 2014 i finished my last post of that calendar year with “this season will be one of reflection & growth. shit is about to get real. i am ready. are you in?”

reading that now makes me rip open with laughter.

i didn’t write again until june, 2015, in a post called “coming up for air” to inform the world that “i had been making lists like i have people working for me” and that “things will be changing around here. all for the better.”

from then i posted quickly twice in july, once about my lady loves and once when i booked the flights for girlpack!

i have to be honest that when i looked back over these four posts all i could think was HOLY SHIT 2015 has been one hell of a year!

as i outlined in the june post, we had spent january doing a whole 30 program. in feburary, i tested out different morning routines and began a regular meditation practice. we also went on a wonderful ski trip with friends in Colorado. i spent march and much of april traveling for work. in that time i also applied for and was accepted to the first ever spring edition of the Little Craft Show. there was lots of making in hotel rooms going on. when i was home i was working pretty much part time to prepare for the show. for the first Little Craft Show all i sold was baskets made of vintage sheets from our wedding. for the spring show i wanted to dye the materials so i had more options over color and could bring something new to the baskets. after understanding a little more about the process i saw a lot of people line the bottom of their dye bins with material. so i figured why the hell not? i started throwing in our old flour sack towels. i loved how they turned out and that they hid all the random kitchen stains that flour sack towels are notorious for. from there i bought new towels and threw them in. i also dyed some cloth napkins. made coasters. and experimented with a few wall hangings, bunting and pillows. i had never been creative like this before. it was a huge time of growth.

while i went like a madwoman, i did plan in a weekend trip to the bufflow river with friends for and amazing sunset, a badass hike (except the horse poop) and some super storm camping. oh, and i also participated in a silent auction for the Wine & Roses event for the Reynold’s Cancer House in Ft. Smith and had a beautiful night with my sarah.

at this point, in June, i had started doing yoga on our boat dock two nights a week, using a few different free podcasts. we spent as much time on the dock after work as possible. the summer was spent camping and laking and a few trips back to kc, mostly to celebrate all the new babies and mamas in some way. we got a boat and i finally truly understand why dogs stick their heads out of windows. we spent many a night watching the sunset from the middle of the lake; one of my absolute favorite things in the world. there were dice on the dock. many late nights with friends and family. some hikes. some stand up paddle board. and before i knew it, it was labor day weekend and time to meet kelly and jill in the woods for our second backpacking trip.

we met in portland, took the scenic route (and our sweet ass time) to hood river where we stayed the night before getting on the trail the next day. our hike was three days, two nights and we covered about 30 miles. the whole trip deserves a post of it’s own, and it will get that, and maybe more…it was a beautiful journey and i am still learning it’s lessons.

in september i began a program called Mindfullness Based Achievement. which is a personal development program, centered around mindfulness. in a “funny” turn of events, i also had the opportunity to participate in another program that i had been interested in for a bit, Igolu. between weekly work for the mindfulness program , monthly work for Igolu and my twice weekly yoga practice, i stayed very busy up to and through Thanksgiving.

in addition to the work i was doing for myself, i have also begun to work with another creative to help her create processes and structure, provide accountability and sound encouragement to fulfill her dreams of being a full time creative. i could not be more excited to be working alongside of kelly at MeritMade! we have have schemed and dreamed for a long time on how we could team up in our business/creative worlds. i never dreamed it would be quite like this, but i just don’t think we could dream big enough then. this month, ms. fancypants kissed the corporate world and all its performance measurement reports goodbye and jumped feet first into being a full time metalsmith!

lady, you are brave and talented beyond measure. your love for your craft shows through in every detail, as does it’s love for you. i can’t wait for this ride!

(if this is something that sounds interesting to you, hit me up)

in between all that developing of persons, i spent almost every weekend in the woods until it got too cold. we are fortunate that a family member has some land that we were able to made a campsite on. it became our weekend retreat all fall, as we made the most of hammock camping. bryce’s annual birthday campfest (end of October) reached an all time max as we enjoyed a long lazy weekend with friends and family.

once it got too chilly to do yoga onthe dock, we started practicing at the house. since there is an overhead heater in my ridiculous bathroom, that is where destini and i have been practicing. this is now lovingly referred to as bathroom yoga. in november, dione and i went to our first yoga retreat, Yoga on the Mountain and had a beautiful time. i loved the immersion. it was also powerful to be practicing in a big room full of people-a far cry from bathroom yoga. the retreat was the same weekend as the Paris bombings and it was an experience to be immersed in so much love during a moment like that. i practiced in ways i hadn’t practiced before and was moved to tears more than once, but always at the most random times.

from there it was thanksgiving with my family. then brad and kelly joined us for a friendsthanksgiving of good eats, beer brewing, website building and board game playing. those three days felt like a week, and it was awesome.

december brought a small and awesome art show in kansas city. it was a great experience! i think i am figuring this show thing out a bit. from there things went all topsy turvy. almost every plan we had for the holidays shifted in some way or another, and we just went with it. while this holiday season looks almost nothing like i thought it would, it has been lovely and so incredibly easy and laid back.

so, it was a wordy one. and begs all kinds of follow up, but here it is.
i just couldn’t handle another year without a recap.
this year i really learned the importance of getting quiet, to really listen and to be present. and for those things i am more grateful than i have words for.
if you do ONE thing for yourself in 2016, meditate for 5 minutes a day.

be well.
with love.t