Here to stay!

Wow.  Has it really been That long since I've blogged?  Well...in my defense, since I've been gone I've gotten engaged, quit my old job, got a better job, had a baby, quit the Better job to stay home with the baby, and am still living in the cold up-north, though in a little town in Benton County, not Stearns.  A few things to address:

1. I am here to stay.  Now that I'm at home with CS, the lil' man, I have all the time in the world to blog, and so that's what I'll be doing.  

2.  Now onto subject--since being at home I've started two things a lot more heavily than I had before:  crafting, and trying to have a greener lifestyle. As you can imagine, that will have an impact on my posts. No, I'm not a hippie mama who never showers (although I may not have a shower every day because trying to get fifteen minutes where my happy, healthy three month old doesn't need me is Difficult) but I am trying to be healthier, not just for the fiance' and I, but for baby as well.  For example, I cloth diaper, and have been using essential oils in my day-to-day going-ons (Look for a blog post about both!)

 

One of my many crafting projects--I make rosaries!

3.  AC is not dead.  I know this because I've been in contact with her, although I haven't seen her for a bit since she lives across the nation from me currently.  Hopefully I'll convince her with all the not-so-free time she has to pop in for a quick hello.

Anyway, for those new readers (or old readers who are surprised we're even alive still), I'll give a brief intro.

 

I started blogging with AC back when we both were bright-eyed freshmen in college.  She went to big-city public college and I went to a smaller, liberal arts.  We talked about our adventures.

Then I left college, she continued. We couldn't blog about being Collegiate Crazies when we both weren't, so we shifted gears to a new blog.  ...then life got in the way, we got busy, and well, life changed again.  She graduated, and took a year off before getting into a Master's program at an east-coast college while I quit my job at the local Cracker Barrel and moved up north to Minnesota (not so random, my dad's from there).  So we started this blog: a blog about life, about the crazy, constantly turning world we live in.  ...and then life got busy and we fell off the map. 

 Me and a much-smaller CS

As for me, I'm a twenty-four year old stay-at-home-mom to a wonderfully bright-eyed three month old boy.  He's the light of my life and definitely keeps my days busy.  The fiancé and I live on a small fixer-upper farm.  Right now it's fixing up the house--small steps.  I'll be planting a garden when it warms up a bit and stops raining, and I hope by next year to have chickens.  I do a lot of sewing and crafting to take up the time not spent playing with CS.  I look forward to blogging more about my family, Minnesota, my new projects, and my essential oils (I've become quite passionate about it). 

Hope you tune in for more!

A Rambling from LB

If you asked me five years ago where I saw my life going, well, this wasn't it.  I never thought I'd be virtually on my own, new job, new place, trying to make life work.  Hell, a year ago, I would have called you crazy.  Truth is, that's what life is.  It's crazy and ever-changing and I'm still not sure if I'm prepared for it all, but you know, I'm making it.

See, life isn't always pretty.  It's full of a million little choices.  Sometimes they're beautiful, sometimes they're ugly, but they all form together to make something real.  Something true.  And no matter where you are in life, good or bad, you should be thankful for them.  I mean, look at me.

A little over three months ago, I packed up over half of what I owned (thanks for keeping the rest at your house, Mama!) and moved approximately 724 miles away.  Away from my parents, away from my sisters, niece and nephew, grandparents.  Away from the only job I've ever had.  Away from my home.  And for what?  Because you know that's the question I'm always asked nowadays:  Why?

Because I moved to a tiny town in Sterns County Minnesota to know my family.  To find my roots. To go on an adventure.  I'm living on the same farm Daddy and his brothers were raised on.  I go to the same church my grandparents were married in, and learning more about my family than I could have ever imagined.  It's amazing.  Minnesota's gorgeous, and though it's been scary leaving my Indiana home, I'm happy here.

I thought, after the first couple weeks, that maybe I'd made a mistake.  What if I couldn't make it?  What if I never found a job?  What if I fell flat on my face with no one to pick me up?  But then I realized: look at how much I've accomplished.  I'm not sure anyone believed I'd make the trip.  Me: the dreamer.  The girl given to flights of fancy.  But here I am, working at the local gas station to pay the bills, staying with my cousin and his wife and their three kids while I save up money for my own place.  Even found me a man who treats me like I'm a princess.

I've told him on multiple occasions I'm definitely not ladylike enough for that, but I digress. 

The point of this story:  Life is never simple.  And leaving is never, ever easy, but sometimes you have to go out on a limb and go to find out what you can do.  A wise man once said:

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.  You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Wise words from Bilbo Baggins, my friend.  Completely true, as well.  Five years ago I'd never imagine such an adventure.  But then again, I also thought I'd finish college, never lose friends, and hate shrimp forever.  Dreams change.  I may never has seen Minnesota as home, but now? 

I can't imagine life without.

~LB

A Word From AC

People say a lot of things, & mostly it ends up being bullshit. Whoever planted the idea in our heads that growing up is great, for example, was full of it. Growing up is hard, & not always fun, & honestly very tiring. That's the truth. You don't always get to do what you want, & good thoughts & hard work aren't always enough to make your dreams come true.
 

Now don't get me wrong; it's not all bad. You know 1 of those silly little sayings I do believe? Everything happens for a reason. Okay, so it hasn't all worked out according to plan. Instead of getting my next degree & being paid to write, I'm tutoring athletes. If you told me even a couple of years ago that this is where I'd be at 22, I'd have laughed. Mostly because I don't know the 1st thing about sports. But you know what, I love my job. I'm still learning a lot, even if I'm not a student, & when I reapply to grad schools in the coming months I'll be a much stronger applicant because of the added experience.
 

Now you're probably wondering who I am, & why it even matters. The name's AC. I'm a recent graduate of the great Indiana University, a life-long learner & lover of knowledge (especially of the literary variety), & I'm going to accomplish everything I've dreamed & more. It may not be today or next week, & it's possible you'll never hear of me outside this blog. But the pages of my life are turning, & no matter where my wanderlust takes me, no matter how my dreams change or grow, I'm going to accomplish my goals. & in the process no doubt provide plenty of entertainment as I stumble through this big wide "real world".
 

Whoever said growing up was easy & great was full of shit, that's true. That doesn't mean I plan on backing away from the challenge though.

~AC