Moving On

We are a week away from our move into our new apartment. I'm incredibly excited. Everything about this move is positive. We'll be saving money, getting a little more space, more perks, closer to work, near some friends. I feel that with this move, it is a new start and an opportunity to pick up some of the things that I left behind this past year. When we first moved to Columbia, I was rushed into two jobs at first, then a full time job, getting acquainted with the people at our church, finding my way around and resting when I could. My crafting slowed, my cooking became routine dishes, I stopped my baking (I miss my apricot pastry!), and I somehow lost time to make my homemade soaps. I miss these things. But I feel this move is a new wind, a new space to work and inspire. Granted, the view at our new place is not quite as green, but you make the most of what you're given. Which is what I haven't been able to do this past year. I have so many craft ideas and I'm getting excited about participating in the handmade market, and finishing my painting. I just finished a small one...which I'm sad to say was the only painting I did in this space. And hopefully my blogging will increase with the move. I even have some story ideas for my writing.

Now, I'm moving on in other ways. At the beginning of the year I made some resolutions that I'm happy to say are for the most part being kept up. The first was exercise consistently. I've joined up with a group of girls, and for the past month and a half we have been training for a running competition called the Warrior Dash. I don't know that words can contain how excited I am about this. It is a 5K with obstacles- over ropes, through mud, jumping over fire. We have been training by running (I think the longest I went was four miles), P90X, and "obstacle runs" where we go to a park with some obstacle equipment and include them in our run. It's been encouraging to go through this with the girls. We push each other just enough, cheer each other on and have tons of fun. I love those ladies! Other resolutions: I have learned to sew! This will hopefully play a part in my craftiness that is to come. I have so many ideas and have a fair amount of materials to create from. So hopefully you will see more of that from me.

The last resolution that has been fulfilled, and also something to move on from....Harry Potter. I had set out the goal to read all of the books, which I hadn't done, though I had seen all of the movies. So from February to May, I read all of them. They were fantastic. I love the movies, but the books were far superior. And now that the last movie has been seen, it is done....well, sort of. I thought the last movie was fantastic. This being the only movie I've seen after reading the book, I will say I was more aware of the things they changed or left out, or scenes they interpreted differently than how I pictured them. The only thing I would say I didn't like, was the pace of the film. It was nonstop action, and because of that, there was less time for important, thematic detail. They could have slowed it down a notch. And personally, I would have loved to see more Snape.

Anyway, that's it for me. Hopefully you will see more of me in the weeks and months to come. Cheers!