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Well, things have finally settled down a bit. This post make be a little all-over-the-place because it's late, but here it goes.

This was one of the hardest moves I have ever had to deal with in the physical sense (I will spare you the details of my being violently ill the night before/morning we had to pack the truck, which rendered me near useless), and we never would have gotten everything done if it wasn't for our friends and family in both San Diego and Santa Barbara helping us. Literally, that truck would've never gotten packed or unpacked so efficiently, our last place would've never gotten so clean, and I would've brought up a lot of stuff I didn't really need anymore.

Most stuff is unpacked and in its proper place (again, thanks to some good friends of ours; I was especially thankful to have my kitchen clean and organized by the end of move-in day). The bedroom is still a disaster with bags of clothes and other random odds and ends strewn everywhere, but we just haven't had the time or energy to tackle it yet. We were so physically drained at the end of the move and we've hit the ground running ever since. When we woke up the morning after the move, Stuart thought I was dead for a moment and checked to see if I was still breathing (true story). I don't remember the last time I was so physically exhausted that I couldn't even move. And the funny thing is, once I had recovered from that, with all the walking we've been doing (in clunky walking shoes I haven't worn since my retail days), I ended up with shin splints and knee issues (splints are gone, and knees are thankfully slowly getting better).

Physical ailments aside, I'm so glad to finally be back in Santa Barbara. I think it's beginning to sink in that, oh, we're not on an extended vacation, we're home. Like, actually and truly home. A year ago I would have thought living up here was just a pipe dream. But things are slowly working themselves out. We have jobs, we have a roof over our head, we can buy food... and we get to do life in Santa Barbara.

I walked the UCSB commencement stage five years ago. Leaving Santa Barbara after college was one of the hardest things I had to do. I never imagined I'd get to come back. I mean, look at this:

I get to live here again? It wasn't just a once-in-a-lifetime, only-for-college thing? Is this real life?

I'm also incredibly thankful that we have some dear friends that still live in the area. I don't know how we could've handled the move and life in general these last couple of weeks without them. Something I'm noticing, though, now that we're away from the friends and network we had in San Diego, is that I will, in fact, have to go out and make new friends. And since I work from home, and church community group is on hold until fall, I'm actually going to have to go out of my way to meet people--which, if you know me, is not exactly one of my strongest traits. So that's a challenge on my immediate horizon. I've got my eyes and ears open for opportunities to connect with people; I just hope I have the courage to get out of my comfort zone and put myself out there.

Copper still seems a little anxious. I think it's going to take her a while to get used to our new home, and I'm hoping against hope that she'll eventually NOT bark every time someone walks by our door or talks within earshot of our window. But that's something she did at our old place, so we'll see.

Something I'd like to get once finances are more settled is a bike. Not a road bike, but just something to get me around town or the beach and up the occasional hill without inducing a heart attack. I feel like once I have a bike (and a bike lock), getting around will be SO much easier. We're trying to minimize our use of the car (for lots of reasons), and Santa Barbara is very pedestrian- and bike-friendly. Places that take me a while to get to on foot will be much more accessible by bike.

Stuart and I are both really excited about this next phase of our lives. I'll be sure to post about our adventures (and Copper's adventures, too!).

Anyway, my brain is shutting down on me, so I better leave it there. Goodnight!

Adventures in Moving

So it's been a while since I've posted anything. That's mainly due to the fact that life became even more bonkers than it was before. I was finishing a PR class, I'm working two jobs, and I'm also trying to pack our entire home. Oh, and taking care of our crazy (but adorable) dog at the same time.

We are in the process of moving to Santa Barbara, and are in the last two weeks of life in our current home. I'm tremendously excited to move back to Santa Barbara, as it has always been a special place for us. For me, it has always felt like home in a different way than other places I've lived. We have friends and a church in Santa Barbara, so it's not like we're going into completely unknown, unfamiliar territory. But at the same time, change is hard, and when it comes to things like, oh, finances, it can be downright scary.

We've been praying about this move and thinking and talking and assessing things for several months now, and enough things finally lined up where we said, "Okay, God, we're taking a leap of faith." Not long after my husband put in his notice at work last month, we found an apartment that was within our means, recently remodeled, and accepts dogs (all of which are hard enough to find individually in Santa Barbara, let alone as a combo deal). My husband is working so hard to find a job while he lives in our minimally furnished apartment. Meanwhile, I'm trying to work as many hours as I can and simultaneously pack our belongings here. It's tough in a lot of ways, and it's easy to feel helpless or for fear to creep in.

It's moments like that when I need to remind myself how God has always taken care of us and will always continue to do so. Not because we've done anything to deserve it, but because he's good and he loves us. So we're trusting him to work things out, even while a part of me is going, "man, things are getting kind of crazy here..."

These next couple weeks will probably be the hardest. I thought once I was done with my PR class, and therefore had one less thing to focus on amid the myriad of logistical concerns, that things would get slightly easier. HAHAHA, NOPE. Because now it's hitting me that we're leaving in less than two weeks. And I'm not talking about my brain going, "OH MAN, so much stuff to pack! How will we get it done?!" No, no, no. Now the emotions are kicking in.

We've always wanted to go back to Santa Barbara, but that doesn't make saying goodbye to all the friends we have here any easier. It doesn't stop thoughts like "I wish I had hung out with this person more while I was living here" and "I'm going to miss playing with so-and-so's kids" and others from popping into my head. And yeah, there's only a three to three-and-a-half hour car ride between San Diego and Santa Barbara, but visiting is not the same as doing life together on a regular basis. And I am going to miss my friends here something fierce...

In a way I'm both looking forward to the last weekend of May (our moving weekend) and dreading it, because of everything that it entails. It's like I want to hit the fast-forward button and the pause button at the same time.

Not sure if I will have time for another update between now and the big move, but I'll be sure to post about life in Santa Barbara once we're up there. In the meantime, keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Much love,
Alyssa

The briefest of updates.

I recently got full time (or close to it) at one of my publishing jobs, so it's been extra busy around here lately. When I have some down time, I'll make some blog posts. For now, hang tight. You'll be seeing me here soon.

Thanks.

Alyssa

A Shortcut to Mushrooms!

Well, technically a mushroom, and there were few shortcuts involved. Stuart's been wanting a Super Mario mushroom hat, so I crocheted one for him. I'm quite proud of the way it turned out, so I wanted to share it with you all in internet-land. Ta-da!

Mild Inspiration Is Better than None

Something I've noticed since finishing college (and even a bit during college)--I've felt a significant decrease in my creativity. Ask my friends who knew me in high school; I liked to sketch pictures and stuff, sure, but I loved to make up stories--primarily Lord of the Rings fan-fiction (go ahead and laugh, it was pretty silly)--to entertain them at lunchtime and beyond.

I'm going to be purposely vague here, partially because I don't want anyone to steal my idea, but also to avoid awkwardness if this doesn't lead anywhere. I've been kicking around this idea for a story that would probably fall under young adult fiction. A type of original fairy tale (original in that I am not putting a twist, spin, or implementing an "modern-day version" techniques to Grimm, Disney, or any other existing fairy or folk tale. I won't wax philosophical about the meaning of "originality" because I'm tired and really, no one wants to hear about that right now.). It's something I came up with about four years ago, and aside from some outline notes and an attempt to start the story, it's mostly just been stewing in the back of my head (and on my external hard drive and a scrap piece of paper in a notebook) ever since.

So, about that blog post title up there... The inspiration came after reading an entertaining article on The Mary Sue about a story in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. I am ashamed to admit, as a self-professed Tolkien geek, that I own but have never read The Silmarillion. (I tried once in high school and got about 10 pages in before giving up. Now that I'm so much older and wiser (HA!) I'd like to give it another go... eventually). So, this humorous run-down intrigued me.

The inspiration came from a piece of artwork the author linked from a user on DeviantArt that piqued my interest. I followed the link and couldn't help but spend a ridiculous amount of time perusing a number of the artist's other pieces. Here's just a couple examples to give you an idea:


I am no man by breathing2004 on DeviantArt


fate of Beren and Luthien by breathing2004 on DeviantArt

For real, do yourself a favor and go look through this guy's gallery. At the very least, go look at the full-size image of that last piece. 

(Side note: I'm pretty sure I love stained-glass and stained-glass-looking art because of the opening sequence to Beauty and the Beast. Side-side note: THAT MUSIC. My heart. Ahem... what was I saying?)

Anyway, when I was looking at his art, in my head I was going, man, when was the last time I drew something? Which turned into, when was the last time I wrote something? Like, an actual story? All of this boils down to: I was feeling inspired today, and with an encouraging nudge from my husband to get back into drawing and actually intentionally practice at it, I sketched a picture for the story I have not written yet. Which sounds odd, when I see it typed on the screen like that, but here's my point...

There was a spark. I hope that I can push past my tendency to not follow through and finish things, and fan that little flame and actually commit to making something. Who knows, maybe a decade from now I'll have an illustrated fairy-tale book out on the market. Or I might not. Maybe I'll go in an entirely different direction. Maybe I'll do something that only a few people will ever see. But that's okay, because the important thing here is that I pursue something creative and actually complete something. Not for an ego trip, not to show off and say "LOOKIT ME! I made art! Tell me you like it!" But because I enjoy it, because I want to tap back into my creativity, because I want to create something that, hopefully, will bring something special to another person's life.

When I've had very little to no inspiration for years, mild inspiration goes a long way. If this does lead to more art-output (for lack of a better term), I will keep you posted.

Now if you'll excuse me, I feel the sudden urge to watch Beauty and the Beast... and also to make a sketch of the White Tree of Gondor...

We Rang in the New Year by Saving a Dog

This post will be brief, as I need to get back to work, but I just wanted to say that I hope everyone had a great holiday season and a good start to the new year. Stuart and I are looking forward to a bunch of different things this year, and I will update you as those come to fruition.

We had an interesting start to our new year. As we pulled into our driveway around 12:30 a.m. on New Year's Day, we saw an animal trotting along the curb toward us. Turned out to be an old, tiny, dachshund with a weird skin condition on its back legs that made the skin all hairless and saggy. Long story short, we snatched her out of the street and kept her until Friday, when the Humane Society was open. She was a sweet little dog, once she wasn't scared of us anymore, and cheerfully wagged her tail when we took her out for walks. The people at the Animal Control desk said her owner had called Friday morning and was looking for her, so we were thankful to discover she had a home.

This is the second time we've found a lost dog near our home, and even though we've lived here for over two years, this oddly only started happening after we got our dog, Copper. It'll be interesting to see if any other lost pups find their way to us this year. We're just glad we were in the right place at the right time, because we live on a very busy street and who knows how long these little dogs would last out there on their own.

Well, that's all for now. I think I'm going to take my work down to Starbucks to enjoy this bizarre, spring-like weather we're suddenly having. January in San Diego, everybody.

Happy New Year!

Beyond Black Friday

When I heard the different opening times of various retailers for Thanksgiving/Black Friday this year, my heart gave an involuntary pang. I'm not making that up for dramatic effect, I swear. I'm not even a full year out of the trenches of retail, and after four consecutive years working Black Friday/Christmas season, I haven't forgotten the unbelievable frustration that comes with working during what's supposed to be a joyful time of year, surrounded by loved ones, and being thankful for what we already have. I don't even have to get Biblical to point out how LUDICROUS this whole thing is.

I know some people don't mind working Thanksgiving or Black Friday (though I imagine after dealing with some of the--let's call them intense--customers, they're just as glad as anyone else when it's over), and to go on a rant about how greedy and disgusting American culture has become and how we've lost the true meaning of the holiday season would be just beating a very dead horse... And yet every year, I'm surprised at how much farther people are willing to go to make a buck/save a buck (corporations and customers alike) at the expense of other people's personal lives, values, and sanity.

Not to mention the ridiculous back-to-back overtime shifts many overworked, understaffed retail employees have to do just to make the store BARELY survive the weekend (Have you SEEN a department store after a big sale? A tornado does less damage.). Companies try to dress it up for their employees (read: subjugated masses), make it fun, give you goodies to show they really appreciate you... but I don't buy it, and I don't think a lot of retail employees do either.

If a company truly valued their employees over profit, we wouldn't have this never-ending, one-upping battle between department stores and others over who can open the earliest and get the most business. If one store opens at 6PM on Thanksgiving, then all of their competitors "have" to open at 6PM or lose valuable opportunities to screw over the Black Friday shoppers with all these "deals." Given the trend of the last few years, I wouldn't be surprised if there were Turkey Day Doorbusters starting at 9AM by 2017.

The first time I remember hearing anything terrible about Black Friday was when that first, poor Wal-Mart employee got trampled several years back. Maybe I was blissfully ignorant, but up til then I'd never really heard of the shopping frenzy beyond a brief mention on the news alongside the weather forecast. And the funny thing is, I'm pretty sure this is a strictly American phenomenon (Although I know there are some countries which are starting to promote shopping on that day as well. Wikipedia told me so.). How strange it must be to foreigners watching people shoving their way into a store, demanding they get what they want (or else), and throwing LUDICROUS amounts of money at helpless sales clerks.

When will people wake up? Will getting all the latest-and-greatest in fashion, toys, gadgets, gizmos, cars, etc. really make you happy? Black Friday is such a hollow, shallow, superficial display. I'm pretty sure your friends and family will appreciate one thoughtful gift (or even no gift at all--just BE with them) for Christmas over a bunch of stuff you had to punch someone's grandmother in the face to get at a low, low price.

Meanwhile, all these retail workers have to put up with a tremendous mess; rude, impatient customers and their cranky children (who should be sound asleep in their beds after a big Thanksgiving meal); managers hounding them to open credit cards as if there is a Hellmouth in the stockroom and the only way to close the gates to hell is to get EVERYONE and their mother a credit card... And on top of it all: obnoxious, tasteless Christmas music, played on a loop, often with several variations of the same song. I'm not saying all Christmas music is bad--I quite like it under normal circumstances, provided it isn't cheesy or some permutation of "All I Want for Christmas Is You"--but the stuff that played when I was in retail? Shoot me.

I guess this rant all boils down to...

STOP. THIS. MADNESS.

A friend and former manager of mine made a very good point in an EPIC rant she posted on Facebook. The only way this stops is if people stop. Stop shopping on Thanksgiving, or even Black Friday. Stop making people work when they should be home with their families (and before you argue that healthcare and law enforcement don't get a break, I'm talking RETAIL here.). I don't know much about Trader Joe's, other than I love to shop there and their employees are always super nice, but the fact that they close for major holidays--including Thanksgiving--tells me something about how they think of their employees.

Employees = people. Not numbers. Not a bottom line. Not a profit-generating machine.

Maybe if companies start treating people like...well, PEOPLE, things will change. Maybe if we start valuing time spent with friends and family and enjoying a good meal over camping out in front of Best Buy to get that 54 inch flat screen at 75% off, things will change.

Until then, I'll be exercising my freedom from retail by eating dinner with my husband, my sister, and my brother-in-law on Thanksgiving, not shopping for a "can't-miss-it deal." And I'll be thinking about all my friends and former coworkers who still have to deal with the madness, and hope that things change soon.

And can someone please come get this horse out of here? I think it's had enough abuse.

Peace out.