End of 2021

• Felt grateful to have spent the holidays with family.
• Painted a chicken portrait for my sister's boyfriend.
• Turned a basket into a lampshade for my diy short lamp.

New Year's resolutions: continue to make home improvements and decor diys, paint lots of watercolor landscapes.

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December 2021

This December I've been working hard at a new retail job as well as managing my art and watercolors shop on Etsy. But in my spare time I've been doing lots of budget home décor diy. 

Between struggling to keep my space neat, craving consistency, and dealing with holiday sensory overload, I don't usually feel motivated to decorate for Christmas. This year, however, I decided to put a wreath on my front door. I found a stick wreath at my local Goodwill and enhanced it with greenery I found in the backyard. It's very cheerful and I love seeing it when I came home. I put some of the leftover greenery in jars I already had around the house. I think I just needed to find the right holiday décor for me - something natural and not too busy or cluttered.

A new hobby I've picked up recently is tinkering with and rewiring old lamps. I used some old parts from thrifted table lamps to turn a decorative lantern into a warm light for my studio.

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October to November II

Here are some shots taken with my old Canon Powershot ELPH 300 HS. It's a really easy camera to keep in my bag or pocket. The zoom usually doesn't work anymore, but I prefer not to use it anyway.

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October to November

It's been a season of changes and challenges.

Here are some shots taken on my Nikon D3500.

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More Time Outdoors

Steven has been dealing with chronic back and leg pain for the past 6 years. Sometimes he's fine, but it often flares up and really impedes what he wants or needs to do. Recently he's started physical therapy, and it's been going really well. The physical therapists have taught him helpful exercises and practices for his condition. He was able to go on a short hike and a short bike ride this week, which considering the last few months is pretty amazing. I'm really happy that he's starting to get more of his physical life back.

Here are some photos from the Parkway and of our hike around Julian Price Lake. Also, I found some red Converses in my (not that unusual but also not common) 8.5 size at Goodwill. Converse sneakers have been a constant in my life since about 2008. They are so comfortable for walking and even hiking, and I know they always fit in a men's 6.5 or women's 8.5. The last few pairs I've had were found second-hand.

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June So Far

Here are some Android photos of the Linn Cove Viaduct. We've been in the area several times but this was the first time we were able to find parking for this view. I left my Nikon behind because I wasn't expecting to stop here that day, which was probably a good thing because we got absolutely drenched a few minutes before on a short hike. (The last three photos here were taken with my Nikon).

I've given up longboarding and have taken up casual cycling. Longboarding was so much fun and I was fully planning on keeping it up, but I eventually decided to switch to cycling for several reasons. 1). I'm a life-long clumsy person and I couldn't get the hang of falling properly on the longboard. I'd just slam the pavement instead of rolling. 2). Too hot and humid for me. Mad respect for skateboarders further south of us. 3). Too lonely. I wanted and activity I could do with Steven. 4). I don't have enough time or space for both cycling and longboarding. 

I passed on my longboard to my sister-in-law who was just getting into it, so hopefully she'll have a great time with it.

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Catching Up

Hello! I hope you are okay. I just wanted to share some photos from earlier this year. I haven't been taking many photos because I've been busy making watercolors (see last post). I can really only focus on one big thing in my life at a time - which is a truth I've come to accept in the past year. 

Because of jobs/age/location, my family members have all been vaccinated and that's a huge source of anxiety relief. I got the first shot of Moderna last week at our local health department; as a result I have some swollen lymph nodes, but I'm thankful and know it's only temporary discomfort. 

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