Petricited.

I am petricited. Petrified and incredibly excited about this ever looming, expectedly unexpected journey.

KFarm and I are working our way through a rough itinerary for this excursion. Neither one of us like trips that are planned to the minute, we are more "fly by the seat of the one pair of pants you packed" kind of travelers. Needless to say, I am petricited.

Petrified for the fact that I will be on the other side of not only the planet, but also in a completely different hemisphere. I am mainly worried about my creatures, especially Levi. He's been off lately from a health standpoint and if things go downhill while I'm away there isn't enough money or technology in the world to get me back in time. My chest gets tight just thinking about it. Ill be as far away as I can possibly get from everything and everyone I've ever know, aside from KFarm of course.

This is also an aspect that really does excite me at the same time though. If there is one thing that I have learned about myself at all it is the fact that I thrive on learning. New terrain, new faces, new life skills. All are things that I feel does a person good, body and soul. I want my soul to be like a goldfish and grow as big as the tank it lives in.

It's been an interesting week my friends. Damn good thing I learned how to play chess, that whole multiple strategy mind frame sure as hell comes in handy when planning the unplanned adventure.

-LP

Advice taken...

My 2 Year Life Physical:

Since January 2011 I ....

- Got married
- Lost my grandfather
- Became an entrepreneur (I make beautiful things happen to paper)
- Took a new job that I actually enjoyed and felt at home in
- Fell into a lovely spell of depression
- Clawed my way our of said depression
- Created some better life goals
- Got divorced (surprisingly, this is much more legally and financially complicated than the actual marriage)
- Moved into aforementioned Tiny House
- Became and much happier and wiser version of myself (LP 2.6)
- Experienced my first 3 day date
- Was suckered into keeping a puppy
- Almost gave away said puppy on 2984 different occasions
- Bought tickets for the trip of my lifetime (thus far)
- Somehow managed to convince a rather wonderful man that he should date me
- Went to the zoo!
- Celebrated the New Year properly
- Officially fit into single digit sized jeans
- Am happier, healthier and more satisfied that I should ever have a right to be.

We need tacos.

"Tacos. We need tacos."

A funny thing occured today...

I have been attempting to write this blog entry for a number of months now. Being the detail obsessed person that I can be when I am forcing myself to a task that I don't particularly relish, I was continually hung up on pieces of this entry. I couldn't find the right word, the right quote, the right thought to pull it all together.

I have been searching for a way to illustrate how I feel about exploration, adventure, spontaneity and definitely having an appetite for life. In reality, the answer had been before me at every meal I have eaten for the last 26ish years. 

Little did I know, all I needed was a subtly inspirational Mex-American dish.

During one of many not-so-focused planning sessions for our New Zealand excursion, KFarm and I were craving some food. I would have been pleased with anything, but Katie is a taco freak. That is her go to meal if there is a kitchen nearby. (Mad props to her taco prep skills by the way, she knows how to work a skillet). At the mere mention of food in our bellies we dropped what we were doing an quickly absconded to the nearest grocery for some necessary items.  Not long after, stomachs full, we were then able to turn our collective brains towards the looming task of accomplishing some form of a plan for our quickly approaching trip. And all was right in the world again.

Epiphany moment:

Every meal you have ever eaten and ever will eat should be appreciated.

Maybe simply for the fact that you have food on your table at all. Maybe for the fact that someone took time to prepare it for you. Maybe for the people you get to enjoy a meal with. Maybe for the fact that you used the special china to eat cereal out of and broke several etiquette rules in doing so.

The point being that you should take time to enjoy the meals you have. Taste every bite. Really THINK about what you are tasting. Name as many flavors in your head as you can. Fill as many seats at the table as you can. The more you can appreciate your food for what effort goes into it, the greater your appetite for life will become.

I told you it was small...

"True life is lived when tiny changes occur."

-Lee Tolstoy                           

       

     So you want to see the world, add some captivating stories to your repertoire, eat amazing food, skydive in New Zealand? (Totally happening by the way. Get excited.) Well you would, but you have bills, and responsibilities and a bustling social calendar. Spend less, share responsibilities where you can and broaden your social horizon. 

     My life has undergone some pretty radical changes as of late. There was just too much of everything. Too much work, too much stuff, too many issues. When human beings are faced with too many issues and they feel their life is scattered to the wind, they fix what they can get their hands on first. 

Example: Have you ever had just a shitty month? Over-worked, miserable, lost, broke? Little thing after little thing until you have a pile of negative feeling built up so high that you let chores slip. You don't have enough energy to mentally focus on that massive pile of dishes? Or that stack of laundry? Or that the carpet is a different color completely because of all of the dog hair? Then your karma starts to turn around, or you just reach that invisible line in the sand where you've had enough. Just ENOUGH. So you open your eyes to the mess you've been ignoring. And what do you do? You tackle the living daylights out of it. 

1. Music On.  On LOUD. (We are talking 11, not just 10.)

2. Exercise attire on in full force, because lets face it, you're going to sweat. 

3. Game face? You betcha.

Commence issue domination. Dishes clean, dogs bathed, laundry done (ok maybe not folded, or even removed from the dryer. But hey, its clean right?) It might take you all effing weekend, but damn it, your house is clean! And there you stand, sweaty and disgusting, amidst all of your prized (and now clean) possessions. You look like shit, but you just got done bringing sexy back to your abode. Totally worth it. How do you feel? Awesome. Until you have to go back to looking at the ugly elephant in the room of your life.

We all have an elephant. It drags on you, sucks the life out of you. My elephant was simply too much. How in the hell do you address that? Get rid of what you have too much of. 

I had piles clothes I hadn't worn in 6 months. Gone. Things stored in the spare bedroom that you haven't seen in a year? Get rid of it. There were bigger things to address too. Too much emotion because you bottle it inside? Talk it out. Make some changes. You can't take stuff with you. Plus its a pain to move. So get rid of it. 

Enter the tiny house:

 

I went from married and living in a decently sized house in suburbia (corner lot, fenced back yard and 5 inches from your nearest dearest neighbor.) to divorced in a 107 square foot cottage on a 165 acre farm. Back yard = win.

Here is the part where you start to think that I am crazy. 

Top 5 Reactions:

                                              5. "I didn't think you would actually do it."

                                              4. - silence-

                                              3. -head cocked to one side- "You were serious?"

                                              2. "So you'll be getting an apartment soon then?"

                                              1. "Why?"

And here is the part where I prove you're wrong. 

Why I Love My Tiny House

5. It takes 30 minutes to clean the whole thing. What's up weekend!

4. My back yard is totally bigger than yours. 

I can go hiking just by walking out my front (and only) door.

3. Two large windows and one bad ass ceiling fan = no need to use the air conditioner 

and plenty of fresh happy air.

2. There are 12 million birds at my feeders, I can grow a garden 

anywhere, I have the best views out of any window.

1. Rent and utilities for an apartment = roughly $850/month. 

Rent and utilities for The Tiny House? $250/month

$850 - $250 = $600. Per month. Put that profit straight into savings and you have $7200 in savings at the end of the year. Hello New Zealand. Or Africa. Or French Polynesia. Or Antartica. Or Ireland. You get it.

- L

I have a goal.

Goals are an inherent part of human life. We all have them. 

The question is, have you tried to reach for yours?

My goal? I want to be a part of this life, not just be in it. I was put on this planet to see it. To experience awkward things. To eat things that my colon will hate. To be friends with people who will change me forever as a person. My life will be described with verbs. Not your run-of-the-mill verbs, but really freaking cool verbs. Adventuring. Tasting. Laughing. Loving. Commandeering. Skijoring. (Google it. I know you want to.) I am going to pwn life. And this is how to do it.

Step One: The Tiny House.

No really. It's tiny. More to follow soon :)

- L