Learning

I feel like actually learning about things is a somewhat lost art. I've been thinking about some things lately that I want to learn about. These things being: homesteading/gardening and Scandinavia. I know I'm never going to live off the grid or anything, but it would be nice to know the basic skills involved.

This isn't really related, but since the "economic collapse" or whatever you want to call it has happened, I've thought a decent amount about it and it's relations to minimalism. Minimalism definitely isn't the fix to our economy, but the exact opposite. But what I keep thinking about is that something needs to happen for it to get back on it's feet. Or maybe it's what has already happened. People were living above their needs. Think about it. People with mortgages they can't afford, buying things with credit cards they can't pay off. Eventually, somethings gotta give. It shouldn't even really be surprising that this has happened. Companies have had to close stores and go out of business. I feel like eventually though, it will balance back out. People will get back to where they should be based on what they can actually afford and possibly have some extra money to spend. But obviously I'm no economist. I just wonder about our whole capitalist economy. I mean I think it's the way to go, but at the same time, there's a limit. At least in my eyes there is. Some people may not see it that way.

I don't know. I constantly wonder where I fall on the political scale. I consider myself a libertarian. I don't really know where I'm going with that. I just think about these things from time to time.

On to a different note, I'm happy because I've finally started using my multipurpose room again. I've starting getting back into my succulents and cacti, which are in that room. Well, about half of them are in my husbands music room because he gets better sun in there. I've repotted a few of them with better soil that's actually made for succulents. The ones I didn't do are because I don't have a bigger pot for them. But yeah, so for this room, I really would like to get a rug, possibly a love seat, and a 3x3 storage bookcase type thing. A couch might be weird, but I spend most of my time on the floor with a pillow. I really want the storage thing because I just like having all my stuff in one spot. I'd like one section for my records, one for books, one for my sewing box. Not sure about the rest, but I'm sure I'll find something to put in them.

So one of my plants is starting to grow babies out of where the leaves have fallen off. Last time I counted, I had 9 growths. If they get big enough in time, I'd like to give one to my mom and mother in law for Mother's Day. I'm hoping I may get more growths. I'm also hoping to propagate the leaves. I have them all sitting out now waiting to see if they develop roots. If they do, then I'll have babies.

I'm actually getting excited for spring. I pretty much only like fall and spring. But tomorrow it may snow! I'm so excited! I don't think it's snowed at all the last two years. I'm such a little kid when it comes to snow. I can guarantee Daniel and I will be outside tomorrow once it starts accumulating.

Bucket List

For some reason lately, I keep thinking about what I want to do before I die.  I'm not entirely sure why. I'm very thankful that I'm going to be able to do one of the things that's in my list that I mentioned last time, which is to see TSOAF live. The second biggest thing I want to do is to go to Iceland and Sweden. Pretty much everywhere and anywhere in Scandinavia. Iceland looks so beautiful. I've dreamed of going there and Sweden for sometime now. Call me crazy, but I've even imagined going there in my dreams and it was amazing. I think I wrote a post about that actually. I mostly want to go swimming in the blue lagoon and see the aurora borealis. Another thing I really want to do is get a tattoo. For a couple years now, I've thought about getting a feather. I still want one, but I'm not sure the exact details of it. So I thought of another idea. Something that really hits home for me in more ways than one which is getting the words "lagom är bäst" on my ribs. The word lagom is a Swedish word that best translates as "just enough". Not too much, not too little. It relates to minimalism and how I live my life. "Är bäst" means "is best". I still haven't decided about whether to just get the word lagom or get the full phrase or not yet. That phrase is apparently a Swedish proverb and is how a lot of Swedes try to live their lives. Another thing I want to do is obviously become a hair stylist. I cannot wait until the day I can call myself a hair stylist. I think about it every day. 

Ok just going out on a whim here, because why not. My dream is to 

- own a beautiful (but simply) landscaped, small craftsman style home with a vegetable garden (the above picture is essentially my dream house)

- be a hairstylist

- have a Mini Cooper

- travel

- have a couple tattoos

- have great hair

These are the basics. I could totally add more, but for the sake of simplicity I'll stick with those. 

Do you ever wonder how often people actually think of their dreams? Or if they even have dreams? And if they do, why aren't they working towards them (if they're not)? For me, it's totally a financial thing, but I'm going to make it happen. I'm not sure how soon, but I'm going to make it happen. I just feel like there's so many people today that don't have dreams. Nothing to look forward to in life. It may be a generation thing. I'm worried about our future generations. Honestly worried. I can't imagine people who are worried about twerking and swag (sorry I had to) have any interesting things they want to do in the future. I could be wrong though. It's nice to dream every once in a while. 

It's Been Forever

I honestly haven't had much to write about lately! Or maybe I have and I've been too lazy. For one MAJOR thing (to me anyway) is that Daniel and I are going to see The Sound Of Animals Fighting live in March!!!! I am so fricken happy about that. It's one of the things I wanted to do before I died if I had the opportunity. After all, they are a band that "stopped existing". It's going to be in Philadelphia. I cannot wait. It seems like a dream. I know it won't feel real until I'm there. We were going to go to the NY venue, but it's much bigger. I wanted a closer, and more personal experience. The Philly venue is much smaller :)

The last few days I've been getting back into my minimalism a bit, or maybe simplifying I should say. My bonus room has just been a mess and I really haven't been using it since summer. I used to do make up in there until my kitten knocked over, and broke my mirror. Since then, I've just stopped using it and started filling it with "stuff". But over the last couple days, I finally started sorting through things. Right now I have a few piles. 1) goodwill 2) stuff to take to my moms 3) stuff to try and sell at a used clothing store 4) stuff I'm not sure about yet 5) stuff that needs to go into the attic 6) stuff I want to try and sell on Amazon. As you can imagine, that's pretty overwhelming. I'm going to try and attack them in this order. 1) take stuff to moms 2) try to sell clothes 3) goodwill 4) put stuff in attic 5) sell stuff on amazon 6) figure out what to do with stuff I'm not sure about. Most of the piles are pretty tiny. Luckily the only stuff in my "Amazon" pile is 2 c.d.'s, the pair of shoes I got married in, and a book that I ironically bought off Amazon. I have a feeling I won't end up selling any of those things on Amazon, but we'll see. I can't wait to get rid of that stuff. It's been weighing on me for a while now. I really need to be more mindful of what I'm bringing in. I've been slipping since I've moved in the house, but I gotta get back on it. I just hate when you buy something that you honestly like and think you're going to use and then you don't. It's so frustrating, because it's just a waste of money. I mean I've definitely gotten a lot better about it over time though.

I bought an orange Crosley record player! I used to have one a couple years ago, but ended up giving it to my brother. I ended up really missing having one, and wanted a modern one with internal speakers. So I got one off target.com with free shipping for $80! Not bad. I'm kind of sad though because there was some dirt in it when I received it. I tried to get it out, but of course it smeared on the cream colored felt. It's not super noticeable, but I know it's there. I also bought 3 records from a band called Boards of Canada. One of my favorites. Also my favorite band for listening to at night when I'm doing stuff in my room.

I keep thinking about tattoos lately! I would love to get one I just want to be 100% sure. I know I want to get a feather, but I don't know the exact placement and the particular way I want it shaded in. I've just felt rather boring lately with my appearance and feel like I need to change something. I need my hair cut too, but it's finally getting long so I don't want to cut it! I know it'll look better though. I want to get a v-cut in the back. But I'll probably only get like 3/4 of an inch taken off the length. Getting it cut into a V will naturally cut off a lot of my ends anyway.

Well I guess I should head to bed. I'm starting to get hungry and I really don't want to eat before bed.