Continuing

A big part of enjoying life for Simon and I is art. Simon is a musician and is now in a bang that is really starting to take off. I am, for the first time in my life, able to focus solely on my art which has already led to some amazing opportunities. We have both agreed that taking a three month trip at this time would be silly. If I was working at a desk, doing something I hated, I would say that staying home for my job would be selling out. I would have become the person I swore I wouldn't become. But Simon and I are doing the things we have always wanted to do. Things are progressing and looking great for both of us. To leave for so long would run the risk of losing it all, and that is just not worth it for us.

I think now would be a good time to remind you that I am not giving up on traveling. On the contrary, I think I am finally embracing it. Both Simon and I have decided to pick careers that will require us to do a lot of traveling while doing the things we love. We will also be able to make money living our dream, and in doing so, put that money towards travel. I think that is how this site, and the “Help!shop” has really changed. It is no longer some small thing that is helping me reach a bigger goal. It is the bigger goal. It is the bridge I am using to reach my future. This new look on our goals in life has really helped us gain a little more understanding and insight to our futures. We have long term goals that include everything we want from life right now, and I am so relieved and thankful for it.

With all of this thinking going on, I have also thought about how I will set up the site and the blog so it is more “business” like. I want to be able to think of it as a full time job, not just something I do on the side. If I put all the time and effort into it as I did at petco (or any other job) I would be making an amazing amount of progress. Plus, I would love it. I sill have a lot to do before then. I need to research what is actually means to own your own business. I am probably missing a lot of things. I also need to set up a sweet working space in the apartment. Ok, so I don't NEED that, but it would be nice. Having a place to sit down at that has everything thing you need around you (printer, computer, etc) makes it a lot easier to work at home. I think it would make it feel more like work. This is what I have been working towards this month, and I hope to have everything up and running be mid summer. We will see.

Finally, I would like to update everyone on the things Simon and I have been doing all this time....besides life change and all that. Simon is doing very well at his job. He got a raise for being there a year, and he still loves working there. He's my knight in shining armor. :) He also is in the middle of recording for a cd that his band is going to get mastered and packaged so they can sell it at shows. This did get a new drummer, but things are really working out and they are really going forward. Everyone seems really excited about the project again!

I am sill doing my art piece a day challenge, but never take pictures and put things up anymore. That is one of the things I want to get better at. I have so much to show all of you! I also have a lot of art in a show in Oakland, and I have print in the student art show. I am also thinking about trying to get a photography show somewhere, but I am not sure if I am confident enough with it yet. Maybe I'll take photo 2 next semester, and do a show then. I sill don't know what people consider “great photography”. Other then that I have been working away on art. I have this watercolor I want to finish since its been around for ever a year. I have this carousel horse that I'm in the process of wood burning, and then I also have this big list of things I want to start. Oh, and I have been sewing/quilting. It is fun. I am excited about it all. The house is a mess, so once I clean it up we are going to start re-arranging some things, and then SLOWLY start re-decorating it. We both want to do a minimalist/vintage/retro design around the house. We will get there. I don't think we are going to plan on moving for a while, so we want to make this place a little more homey. That is about it. There is always something in the works for us, and I will try to keep you better informed. Thank you for being patient. --Nikki

Some changes...

So, here I am again. I am having a lot of trouble keeping up on this blog with no Internet at my fingertips. Simon and I have are planning on getting the Internet in this apartment, but with me not working consistently, it is scary adding on any monthly bills. There are so many tings we need to think about. With Simon possibly starting school next semester, the Internet will be at the top of the list. I am also trying to get my whole business...thing...a little more up to date and easy to use, but doing it all with the computers at school is very annoying. I have been neglecting it which is bot really good for business. :) Hopefully by the summer, things will get better.

Fund raising has not been going great. I am still hoping it will work out, but I am also being realistic. Even if we do not get to go exactly when we planned, we will still keep saving ad just go when we do reach our financial goal. I think the biggest problem with it is the fact that I want at to be career, so I have taken this opportunity to go to school full time and do art, without the burden of working. Simon has been so wonderful to me and has been keeping us afloat by working full time. I am so proud and thankful for him. We would probably be on track with saving right now if I was working, but I know that if I want to make this art thing work, I need to focus solely on school and growing as an artist. Since I have this opportunity, I have to take it. I also spent a lot of money send y art to the show in Oakland, California. Sadly, because of finances, we were not able to visit it, but I feel so blessed that I was even asked to do it. Just having it there for people to see is an amazing opportunity.

I know this all seems a little flaky. Here I was, just a couple months ago, ranting on about my well thought out and planed three month trip to Europe, and now I am telling you that we might not go. Well please understand that the whole travel fund raising mission statement still holds. The money I am making from this site will help fun our traveling. But, to travel, we have to keep revenue coming in by maintaining this business as well as support ourselves while at home. Over the year and a half of intense saving, we have learned to scale back a lot on our living expenses. We have one car for the two of us, we don't have a tv, we live in a tiny apartment in order to save on rent. There is not a whole lot we could be cutting back on when is comes to living, but there are things we still need to pay for, and inevitably some of the money I get here ends up going into that fund to help out. I really feel like in the long run, this sort of dedication and simple living will pay off.

I have also been thinking a lot about why we wanted to go to Europe in the first place. I mean I know, it's Europe, everyone wants to go, but it was more then that. At the time I decided to start planing the three month trip, Simon and I were pretty new up here. Simon didn't have a consistent band, we didn't have many friends, we just worked and came home. That was our lives. It was hard for me to slow down that much when I had just come from a world of intense planning for our wedding and moving. I needed something to do and look forward to. Over the year, the trip become somewhat of a burden. There were times when we didn't want to buy healthy food because it was expensive and we “couldn't afford it” even though there was over $1000 in the bank. We were looking at it the wrong way. I still throughly believe in traveling, but I also know that there are things worth spending money on. We are going to be spending a lot more time in our everyday lives then on the road, we should enjoy them. That doesn't mean we have to waste, but I think now we have found some balance.

TO BE CONTINUED