www.spiralingforward.com

Today is my first day as a full-time writer, maker, and mother.

I haven’t been on this blog since March. Life has been busy. We decided to “explore the idea” of selling our house, something we’ve been doing every six months since we bought it in July of 2010. As recently as March we were told it would be 3-4 years before the market would come back enough for us to sell without going in the hole.

And then, for reasons no one understands, our neighborhood got hot. Really hot. Our realtor called us and asked if we could have it on the market within three weeks.

We did it in two.

It sold a week later.

The next week, we drove to Minneapolis, looked at 30 houses in two days, found and bought our dream house.

I grew up in Minnesota and have wanted to move back here to be closer to my family for approximately 10 of the 12 years I lived in Tennessee. But it was still hard move when we moved from Franklin, Tennessee to Minneapolis, Minnesota, the last week in August. I transferred from one Whole Foods to another, going from the Franklin, Tennessee store to the brand spanking new store in Downtown Minneapolis.

Two weeks ago we realized that the retail lifestyle was no longer working for our family and I put my two weeks notice in. We gave notice at Austin’s daycare. And now we’re here at home, ready to pursue the careers that make me happy. Writing. Making beautiful jewelry. And being a mother and wife.

When we moved, one of the first things I had to pack up was my office. So, Spiraling Forward has been “on vacation” since the beginning of June. I have set several re-launch dates, the most recent being November 15. Last Friday came and went and I wasn’t ready to re-launch. Then, last night, I heard that John Mayer is accepting applications for artisans to sell at his shows. I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

So, this morning, my first day home full-time with Austin, I got the camera out and settled in for a long day of photography, editing, and writing. My Etsy store needed to be up and going before I could to the application for the show.

By the way, the show is this Saturday, and, due to lack of space, exactly zero of my display items came with me.

No worries. I can get it all together this week if I’m accepted. It’s Monday, I’ll know if I’m accepted Thursday or Friday. Show is Saturday. Totally doable, right?

Wrong. My camera battery is dead. We have searched high and low and we can’t find it anywhere here, which makes us think we either left it at my parents’ house when we went up for their wedding, or it got lost somewhere between here and Tennessee.

So, no pictures today.

No application to sell at the John Mayer show.

No mad dash to get my Etsy site back up.

No freaking out Friday and Saturday to get a display together.

I’m disappointed that I won’t even have a shot to sell at the show. But I also am thankful. Now. I was super frustrated and almost crying this morning. But when Spiraling Forward re-launches, I want it to be beautiful. Ready. Refined. I don’t want it thrown together with half of the tags, titles and descriptions that I’ve known need to be re-written for almost a year now. I want to take what I learned at The Makers Summit last year and put it to use.

So. Hopefully soon. Maybe next Monday I’ll be writing the Maker Monday post I thought I’d be writing today. Maybe it will be a few Mondays from now. I don’t know. I do know that it’s going to take me some time to do it right.

And I’m just getting settled in to my new life.

I hope you’ll come back and check out this journey with me.

First of all, this has nothing to do with anything, but have you heard of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis? I love it. Seriously. Check it out.

The point of this post, though, is Pinterest. And how amazing it is. Know before you go: give yourself a time limit. Or you will lose days. No, not hours, days. People will wonder where you went. You fell down the Pinterest hole.

I’ve been using Pinterest as my recipe box for the last few months and it’s working great. I pin all of the recipes that interest me from one of the many magazines I receive, then I go through that list and make my list of what I want to cook for the current week. You can see that board here. I’m a very visual person when deciding what too cook (or eat) so this has worked really well for me. This week, I even pinned what I want to make for lunches!

There’s a lot of hype right now, at least in my circles, about cutting back on television  or getting rid of the family TV all together. Part of it is because, lets face it, watching TV on the computer is so much more convenient. But it’s also because we’re hitting that age where we realize how much time and life TV sucks out of us.

But sometimes, sometimes, TV can be a good thing. Especially for creative people. Sometimes, you can find something that inspires you. That makes you want to create. That gets your juices flowing, while also giving you the mental rest that we all need from time to time.

For me, that show is Project Runway. Yes, in general, reality TV is particularly soul sucking. Its completely unrealistic and overly dramatic. But, just like watching the occasional Rachel Ray encourages me deal with what I’ve got in the kitchen and at least make an effort to get a good meal on the table no matter how much time I (don’t) have, Project Runway inspires me to Make it work! 

Do you have a particular show that inspires you? What do you watch and why? Let me know in the comments.

Photo by Ucsiuniversity (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

It’s true. It’s a real, honest to goodness thing. And now there is a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AVWLYG6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AVWLYG6&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwpilatesfor-20″>book to help you fight it. 100 Ways to Fight the Flab – The Wannabe Guide to a Better Bottom

It’s only 99 cents. And if you’re not sure if it’s worth a dollar, check out this interview. I haven’t read the book yet, but if this is any indication, that was a dollar well spent.

Long Sleeve Blue T-Shirt from Kimmchi

I make handmade jewelry. I want you to buy my handmade jewelry, even though I know you can buy jewelry at Target, Clairs, Afterthoughts and a host of other stores. I want you to buy mine because it’s mine. It’s often one of a kind, and it’s always handmade by me, right here in good ole Franklin, Tennessee by a little girl from Hill City, Minnesota.

What I make is a little more expensive than what you might find in stores, because it’s not mass-produced. I am a one-woman shop: I think up the designs, order the materials and wrap the wire, string the beads, crimp the metal, into the finished product. I do work with my uncle, he provides me with all of my glass pieces. He’s also a maker and takes great pride is his work.

The ironic thing in all of this? In the past, I haven’t bought a lot of handmade items simply because I could get mass-produced products more cheaply from chain stores. It wasn’t that I didn’t see the value in handmade, it was that I didn’t understand I could afford it.

I’ve been on a simplification quest lately. I have a lot of stuff. Most of it isn’t very high quality. It’s not hard for me to decide that I would rather give it away to Goodwill than continue to have it in my house. There is no value in it. In my budget-conscious way, I was accumulating things because I thought I wanted or needed them, rather than because they were amazing, valuable pieces that would enrich my life and that would last.

As I’ve simplified, there have been things that I wanted or needed to buy. I’ve been making a conscious effort to buy higher quality items, willing to spend a little bit more to make sure my dollars are expressing my values. Today, I am wearing the shirt pictured above, a shirt I bought while listening to its maker at The Maker’s Summit earlier this month. I love it. It’s a little more than I would normally spend on a shirt, but it’s beautiful, comfortable, and was hand printed. Also, it’s printed on American Apparel, whose business practices (not to mention their clothes) are in line with values I want to support.

I’m making a conscious effort to support smaller, local artisans with my money. Not because I’m rich or have a lot of expendable income– don’t get me wrong, I don’t– but because I want the purchases I make and the stuff I have to support and encourage other artists, people like me, who are just trying to do what they love and make enough money to live.

So- I do art. You knew that right?

That has nothing to do with today’s post.

We’ve had a fun-filled, very busy weekend, because on Friday we welcomed a new family member.

Meet Picasso:

Picasso

Picasso is a nine week old Golden Boxer, that is, Golden Retriever/Boxer mix. He’s awesome: handsome, happy, and playful. His name has very little to do with our love of art and more to do with keeping up the family tradition of naming our dogs after painters.

Van Gogh

Van Gogh is our 8 year old miniature dachshund. She got her name because she’s missing half of her left ear. Picasso got his name because he’s Van Gogh’s brother.

Next Big Thing

The amazing Candace White over at aintgotenoughgravy tagged me in the Next Big Thing Blog Hop. I am honored and excited to share what I’m working on. Normally, the way this works, is that at the end I tag five more authors to continue the journey. However, all of the authors I know have already participated. So instead, I’m just going to refer you to some great author websites that I love.

1. 1.    What is the working title of your book? 

Home

1. 2.   Where did the idea come from for the book? 

A friend and I were talking about how, if we didn’t have to go to work, we might never leave our houses. The story started out as a way to explore what it would be like to actually be agoraphobic, and grew from there.

1. 3.   What genre does your book come under? Fiction
2. 4.   Which actors would you choose to play your character in a movie rendition?
   1. Ashley: Jennifer Lawrence
   2. Megan: Kate Hudson
   3. Ben: Ryan Gosling
   4. Gary: Bradley Cooper
   5. Bernice: Diane Keeton
3. 5.   What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?

Ashley hasn’t left her house in ten years, but if she can’t figure out a way to leave, her sister may die.

1. 6.   Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Ask me in 2014.

1. 7.   How long did it take you to write a first draft of your manuscript? 

The first draft took 9 weeks, I’ve been working on the re-write and edits in the 10 months since. I’m hoping to have it to readers by March 10, which will be a year since I finished the first draft.

8. What other stories would you compare this story to within your genre? 

I don’t know! I need to figure that one out.

9.Who or what inspired you to write this book? 

My friend Heidi, and the conversation we had about staying home. My family, for always being supportive while I tried to do everything other than write until I knew that this is what I have to do, and then for giving me the time, space, and copy editing I need to be actually do it.

Authors I want you to check out:

Joe Hart: Joe and I went to High School together. Most of my memories of him are from shop class, we must have had a woodworking class together. He writes horror, and is SO. GOOD. Check him out.

Charlotte Rains Dixon: Charlotte’s book, Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior, released today! Yay! Charlotte mentored me in The Writer’s Loft and was awesome. She has an amazing website for authors and I definitely recommend her.

Linda Busby Parker: Linda was my first (and second, I couldn’t let go of her) mentor in The Writer’s Loft. Linda worked with me when my writing was a hot mess. (And my life wasn’t so hot at the time either.) She gave me supportive, but honest feedback, always pushing me. Linda was with me through the draft of Clouded. While I’ve let that stall for now, the closer I get to having Home done(ish) the more I’m ready to jump back into Clouded and start working on a publishable draft.

Morgan Wylie: Morgan and I met at Starbucks when her daughter, who happens to be the same age as my son, sat down and started talking to me while I was writing. Morgan just finished her first book and it will be out this spring.

Hope Clark: I don’t actually know Hope. But I’ve subscribed to her newsletter for a few years (thanks to Linda!) and  I feel like she’s a friend.

The new and improved Spiraling Forward is under construction. Until it’s ready, please check out

SPIRALING FORWARD 

on etsy.

Sorry I’ve been gone so long. I’ve been trying to decide how exactly to proceed with this, YPL and SpiralingForward and, quite frankly, got paralyzed  There is so much I want to do, and so much I have to do (because those kids and husband, they expect things!) that I stopped doing much of anything except working on my novel. Well, that, working my full-time job, making sure my family is fed, etc. But you know what I mean.

Anyway, I’ve had a lot of time to think and plan and consider, and I’m ready to get going. Here’s the plan:

This blog is going to remain my personal blog, but I’m going to bring more of my writing into it. During the course of re-writing Home in third person, I got so tired up just changing pronouns that I decided to start working on a short story for the first 15 minutes of all of my writing sessions. This has been SO. MUCH. FUN! So I’m going to start sharing some of that with you, along with more about the book and the work that I’ve put into it. I’m excited about it and the possibilities it holds and can’t wait to share it. I’m also going to do updates on what’s going on with YPL and SpiralingForward, but they have their own online homes, so it will mostly be “go check this out” links.

Speaking of…

Your Pilates Life is done. Well, pretty much. It’s a formatted, readable, searchable e-book. I wanted to do exercise photos to go with it and haven’t done those yet. But I’m giving myself a deadline and a launch date. On tax day, April 15, YPL will be available for sale. With or without pictures. Between now and then, I’ll be updating the YPL website and preparing some exciting offerings to go along with the book. I’m not currently teaching, and with my schedule I don’t see that changing anytime soon, but I do want to help refer out to the Middle Tennessee Pilates Community. We’ve got some awesome teachers around here.

As for SpiralingForward, first off, I’m going to be adding a blog over there too! I don’t know the exact schedule I’ll be posting on yet, it won’t be daily, and might even be just weekly, but I’m going to be using it to offer how-to’s, highlight both art that I’m making and art that is inspiring me, and to feature other artists and makers that are doing great things.

In case you’re worried that this is a tease, and I’m going to disappear again, here’s some reassurance. My amazing friend, Candace White, tagged me in “The Next Big Thing” blog hop for authors. So I’ll be posting about my new book, “Home” exactly one week from today, on February 13. I’ll also be tagging other authors I want you to check out, so make sure you come back for that.

Heart bracelet

Today, I decided I wanted a new bracelet, so I took 10 minutes and made myself one. I have (finally) come to realize how important it is for me to have at least a little bit of creative time each day and I hope I can inspire you to do the same.

From http://mommaknowsbestblog.com/2012/04/pinterest-feeds-my-procrastination/. See, it’s not just my problem!

I’m working on a book. Said book includes a garden- a beautiful, elaborate back yard garden. I went to a local nursery hoping for a quick interview that would give me a list of possible plants for the garden. Instead, when I arrived I was presented with a list, organized by category (SERIOUSLY!?!?!). It was so above and beyond and phenominal.

Side note- if you’re in the Nashville area, Bates Nursery is so worth the drive north. I live in West Franklin and drive up there for pete’s sake.

Anyway, back to the story. So I took the amazing list, paired it with Google images, and created a board on pinterest with images of each plant to help me while I’m working on the garden passages in the book.

It’s AMAZING. Except that I stopped writing almost 20 minutes ago to check the board because I’m working on a passage where Ashley is leading someone through the garden for the first time. I needed to see the pictures.

But, alas, as happens so often on Pinterest, I got sidetracked. And now I’m writing a blog post about it.   Because there is no better excuse for not getting my writing done than because I was getting other writing done.