And This is the End

I’ve wanted to sit down and write a new post for this blog for awhile.  But there always seems to be a block in my mind.  And try as I might, I can’t get past it.

I tried, with my last posts, to change the tone and feeling of this blog.  But in my mind, it’s still a symbol of the “old me.”  It still feels as if I should be posting pictures of butter or snow or creeks.

I have showed so much of one part of my life here, but that part is now gone.  Rather than try to totally change this blog, and force this new era into my old life, it’s time for me to start afresh.

And so, this Window is closing.

So, goodbye.  Thank you so much to all of you who have commented, liked, and read. Thank you for giving me a bit of your time.  It has been a joy to have you here.

For now, this blog will remain public, but I may eventually make it private, to keep as a journal for myself.

And who knows?  I may see you in another corner of the internet – or real life – someday.

A Personal Note

I’ve been considering several potential posts, but all of them revolve around an event in my life and rather than telling it in bits and pieces over several posts, I decided to do one post about it, then do several reflective posts. It will be easier this way. So. Diving in.

A little over a year ago, I received a letter in the mail from my school.  Not a totally unusual occurrence, but I had no idea what it was about.  I only got through the first sentence before stifling a scream.  The letter read:

“Dear Student:

We would like you to consider a semester abroad studying in Canterbury, England…”

And that was the beginning of one of the biggest adventures of my life.

It’s been a dream of mine to travel, particularly to Europe.  There are just so many places to see.  So many adventures.  The little bit of travel I had done, family vacations, China, Seattle, they had only made me fall deeper in love with traveling.  But it was something that I really saw as unfeasible, something that wouldn’t happen for a long time.  It would cost too much, so I’d have to wait.

So when this letter showed up in my mailbox, in was not even an answered prayer, but it was a dream come true.

Getting to live in England for three months was amazing.  Those three months probably rank up as the three best months of my life.  I traveled more than I have ever traveled, made some incredible friends, experienced things I couldn’t have imagined, and grew exponentially.

Basically, I lived with a family in Canterbury, England for three months while studying at Canterbury Christ Church University. As a part of the curriculum, we were bussed to a different location every week that corresponded with something that we lectured on.  On the weekends, I usually travelled with friends or on my own.  I ended up getting to London about 5 times.  The places we visited included Bath, Eastbourne, Margate, Wales, Paris, Rochester, Bruges, and Dover.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have gotten to have had this incredible experience.

And now, with this knowledge, we are ready to proceed. 😉

Seasons Come and Seasons Go

I’ve been thinking about this little corner of the web over the past few weeks.  This blog has meant so much to me over the years.  It was a place for me to explore various interests that I had at the time – cooking, sewing, photography.  Sometimes I’m afraid to look back over this little archive and see all I’ve written, worried it’ll be ridiculous or embarrassing.  And sometimes it is, but only slightly.  Usually, it reminds me of who I was then.  And how I’m not that girl now.

It’s strange how much can change in so short a time.  How things that once seemed like so important are no longer even on the radar.  This blog was a small place where I chronicled years of trying, experimenting, and exploring.  I think that’s why it doesn’t seem embarrassing to me know: because it’s such a picture of who I was then.

But this is also the reason why it has left me perplexed at how to pick back up.  In some ways, I don’t want to disturb this image of who I once was.  Just like me, though, this space can’t remain unchanged forever, or else it would be incredibly boring.  It kind of already is.

(Also coming up with a new name for a blog is more than I can do.  Let’s be honest here.)

So here I am, ready to try this again.  Except, it’s going to be different.

Previously, my life seemed to revolve around cooking, food, and photography.  These days, though, I’m generally grabbing something quick to eat while running out the door.  When I do cook, I shoot for quick recipes, and the fewer dishes, the better.  My big black camera, while still important to me, is mostly in its bag now.  It’s been almost a year since it’s been out.  I know, sad.  Most of my photos are now taken on my phone.

What’s life look like now?

As a full time student and a part time piano teacher, I’m either teaching, learning, studying, or driving between all three.  It’s a lot to try to balance, and can be super stressful at times (ok like all the time).

But here’s the (not really) secret: I love it.  I absolutely love it.

I have been given myriads of opportunities I never would have had otherwise.  It’s opened horizons, stretched me, and taught me so very much.  And I can’t wait to see what will come next.

So what’s that mean for this blog?

Some days, weirdly enough, this science major just has the urge to write.  Whether it’s a thought I’ve been pondering, a memory that pops out, an interesting experience, wondering why we do something a certain way, or nostalgia, it sometimes just begs to be written.

So that’s what you’ll see here: a weird snapshot of my mind.

It won’t always be pretty, it probably won’t be very good.  But I’ll enjoy it. Hopefully, you will too.  And maybe, in five years, it will give me something to look back on.

If you’ve read this far, you are a fantastic human and you deserve an award.

And that’s it.  Hopefully I will be on here more – and we’ll see where it goes.

 

 

Hello hello hello.

Well, it’s been awhile.  🙂

Almost a year, to be exact.

I’m still here.  But life has happened.

I just completed my first full time year at college, working toward my Bachelor of Science, or that’s what I’m currently thinking.  I know I have to pick soon, but I still have some time to decide.  We no longer live in the country, and now live in the suburbs.  I am now a piano teacher with 12 students.

Between school and work and other obligations, I don’t really have time for that much cooking or canning or other crazy kitchen adventures.  My life is mostly school, work, homework, chill, sleep, school, homework…you get the picture.

I do miss some of my “old habits,” lol.  The cooking, the creating, the photography.

But now my life is homework due dates, piano lessons, school friends, and professors, and I’m kinda loving it.  A lot. ;p

Soooooo, that means I don’t have a terrible amount of time to dedicate to this lovely little nook here.  But at least while I’m on break for the next few weeks, I’ll try to post a few things.  I can’t make any promises, though, cause when Calculus starts in a few weeks…it may be crazy.

OK, it WILL be totally crazy.

Till then-
Allison

For Now-

I have stuff to post, but for now, here are some photos from my California trip.  More to come!

 

 

 

The Concert

On Saturday I went to my first concert.

IT. WAS. AMAZING.

I am still in the happy-from-music stage.

The Script, American Authors, and OneRepublic.

I heard about this concert last Friday (just over a week before the concert), and at that point I knew only about 3 OneRepublic songs, only 1 American Authors song, and I had never heard of The Script.

But I have been wanting to go to a concert, and I thought OneRepublic would be fun to see. I looked up the concert that day, and saw there were still tickets available. So I talked to Dad, and we decided to listen to more of OneRepublic’s music, to see if we liked it enough to go.  We didn’t get around to listening to it until Tuesday.

On Monday night I made a semi-final decision not to go, and I texted my friend (who was talking about coming with us) and told her we weren’t going to go.

And that’s when I heard Counting Stars playing from my dad’s office.

I went downstairs to tell him I had changed my mind, but when I went down there, my mind was swayed.  After listening to more OneRepublic (and liking most of their songs), I changed my mind.  Dad came up later that day and said, “Hey, these guys are cool, I think we should go see them.”

So I texted my friend, and told her we were going.  We were able to get tickets that night.

And I could hardly wait.

Bethany and I had way too much fun together – we danced for a good part of the concert.  I was so very thankful to have someone to dance with!

I am not sure what else to write – it is hard to describe.  The skill the musicians have is amazing – I was so glad that they used a real piano.  Also, the guitarist played a mad guitar solo before Counting Stars.  SO.  AMAZING.

At one point, the microphone that OneRepublic’s main singer was using stopped working.  He played the intro to a song (a beautiful piano piece) and then when the song got to the place where it should start, he kept messing with his microphone. After a few moments, he starts singing, “My microphone wasn’t working, but now it does.”

There were several unusual instruments used – dobro, viola, cello, and banjo.  It just adds a neat edge. And for the last song, OneRepublic had 4 or 5 drums lined up across the front of the stage, and during instrumental portions of the song, they would play them. I am so not good at articulating this – it was great.

Well, I think I’ll quite trying now.

Except for one final thing:

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN AND AMAZING AND JUST…GAAAAAH.

I don’t feel like this post does my mood justice. But I am not that great with words.  Oh well.

Here are some photos.

Bethany and I – American Authors playing in the background

The Script

Us and The Script. =)

❤

The Script had asked everyone to take out their cellphones, and it looked so cool.

OneRepublic playing Secrets

(Same as above)

Note: As with all things, if you are under your parent’s authority, don’t just take my word for it, make sure they are O.K. with it!  I do not necessarily endorse everything that these artists have done or put out.  Use discretion.

GAAAAAAH!!!

Just attended my first concert. Oh. My. Goodness. So very, very epic. I feel so blessed that I got to go!!!

For those of you who are interested, American Authors, The Script, and…ONEREPUBLIC!! So much fun!

 

 

 

Note: As with all things, if you are under your parents’ authority, please don’t just take my word for it. Ask them.

hello again.

Life gets busy.  And certain things get put on the back burner – like this blog.  🙂 

So to catch up…

Life mostly consists of three things – school, work, and family – mostly kitchen management.  Drake and I officially manage dinner and keeping the kitchen clean, and I do much of the meal planning and making of the main dish, while Drake often helps with sides.  It keeps me busy!

I think I have mentioned before that I was blessed with a job at a small salon in town.  I recently passed my one year anniversary there, and I have really been enjoying it.  I clean, answer the phone, and do other secretarial work.  Sometimes there’s time to study or read, which I always enjoy.  Often there are fun people I get to meet.  Today there was this ADORABLE four year old that helped me for a little while.  She was so sweet.

School.  School.  School.  That’s the other one.  So my midwifery school is going well. I am hoping to have it done in about a year, and then I can figure out where I want to go from there.  At this time, I am pretty sure that I don’t want to continue with midwifery, but I still want to stay in the alternative health world.  I am currently thinking about naturopathy, but we’ll see where I am in a year.  Who knows what will change!

So those are the big three.  I haven’t been doing much trying of knew recipes, or creative cooking, just because I have been so busy.  Mostly I am just trying to get a dinner that works with my food restrictions onto the table. 

Oh, and food restrictions…so I think I have written about not being Primal/Paleo anymore.  I started incorporating more grains into my diet earlier this year, and helped me feel better. Now I am avoiding red meats, dairy, and caffeine, which my doctor has me doing to speed healing.  It has pushed me to try new things.

A few weekends ago, my cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents came and visited.  We all had too much fun.  Love all of you – I am so blessed to have you all!

Aaaand last night we started dance lessons!  Drake and I danced together. So much fun. Looking forward to more dancing.  😛

Well, that is all for now.  See you around!

~Allison

Breakfast

This was my breakfast a few weeks ago.  The light was beautiful, so I took a photo.  Thought I’d share.  🙂

Morning

Freshly washed

Shining in the sun

New

Morning after a rain