A Celebration of STUFF.

Can you believe that we're half way through November already? I can't. We moved to Southern Nevada at the beginning of summer, and it seems like just a few weeks ago when, in reality, several months have passed. We've had new apartments, new friends, old friends, family visits, new beds, new rhythms to get used to, new weather to adjust to, a few birthdays (with one more coming up in about ten days for N; he's so excited he can hardly contain it), and more. 

And here we are in the middle of November. Have I mentioned that we left most all of our things in storage in Colorado when we moved? The move was so sudden, we just didn't have enough time to gather the money needed to bring it all with us, so in Colorado it stayed. And has stayed. We will finally be able to bring it all out here at the end of this month. D has a plane ticket purchased, the moving truck reserved, and a hotel room waiting for him half way back. We hope that his drive back through Vail will be uneventful (we had a rather not-very-fun experience driving through Vail in the winter back when we were first married, we're just hoping it's better than that at the very least), and that he will not encounter anything that will hold him up.

And then... oh, then we will have the most joyful celebration of STUFF we've ever had. 

We are not material people in the least. We try to keep our things simplified, and regularly purge and sell or donate things that are not being used. But, after six months of living with nothing more than the bare basics in the kitchen, a few camping chairs, and the king size bed that we bought when we got here, I am ready to have my things back. I am ready to see smiling faces look out at me from photo frames on the wall. I am ready to see my beautiful vintage French provincial style dresser that we use in place of an entertainment center. I am ready to have my dishes and baking pans and nice silverware in my kitchen again. I am ready for N to have his bed again (I could write a whole other post specifically about this if I wanted to; we love co-sleeping with him, but to not even have the option of him sleeping elsewhere has been a little rough). I am ready to have my bed in the bedroom (it is currently housed in our living room, since it is literally the only thing we have to sit on at the moment) and my nice, super comfy (covered in a slipcover that I dyed myself) sofa in the living room where it belongs. I am ready to have a place to hang my purse and our various hoodies and sweaters. I am ready to eat at a table and not on our bed.

I will not miss the camping chairs (that my parents loaned to us so we had some place for guests to sit) one bit. 

In other news, the weather has finally cooled down enough that we are outside regularly, which has been a welcome change. 

We went to a pumpkin patch near the end of October that had a small petting zoo; N was not sure what to think about the goats; I was a little relieved that I didn't have to find out whether his pet allergy extends to goats.

 It always seems that life goes better... smoother... when there is plenty of time spent outdoors. Have you found the same to be true for your family?

We love beanie weather:)

This fall has also found me spending a lot more time with my paints. It's becoming more and more an important part of me, which is a bit surprising to me, as I had never really even thought of painting before a few months ago. I picked it up simply so that I could teach N how, using the traditional wet-on-wet water color method. As I continued, though, I found myself really being drawn to it, and I really love it now.

Here are a few of the pieces I've been working on lately, in between my day job (mother, wife, teacher) and my side job (freelance graphic design). Nothing big, as I've just been kind of playing around, finding my style, learning different techniques, etc. 

Robot and Bird; I want to do a series of pieces using these two little friends

You'll have to excuse the lighting; all I have to photograph with right now is my cell phone and it, as you can tell , is less than ideal.

I used salt on this one; pretty neat effect, I think!

This little girl still needs to be painted, but I think she's going to be super cute

This was our dragon for Michaelmas that Sir George befriended (since N is still so young, he overcomes him by befriending him, rather than slaying him)

This is one reason I love the Waldorf way so so much. It has brought many wonderful things into our home and family, and my new love of painting is one of those things. It's been interesting, too, to see how N has suddenly wanted to start trying new artistic things as well. I think it's a wonderful thing for children to watch the adults in their life do things that they love.

I'm thinking I want to create a piece to hang in our living room before D brings all of our things back to us. It will be kind of like ceremonially joining our new life here in Nevada with all of our things from our old life in Colorado. It's a lovely thought.

Much Love,

K