Haha wow my last post was well over a year ago....let's see if I can get back on track with this whole blog thing. I have a bad (is it bad?) habit of treating Facebook like a blog. I'm essentially forcing everyone to read everything about my life (because I post everything) when what I'm really just posting it for me for the most part. In the end who cares? Anyway, I'll slowly catch up here with things that have happened over the last year but for now I'll just write about the things floating around in my head.

Roller Derby
Yep, I'm still playing. My two year anniversary with the Cherry City Derby Girls is coming up pretty quick! I broke my foot on Rachaell's 13th birthday (10/19) at the after party dancing to Gangnam Style. Don't laugh. Ok you can laugh...it is rather funny. Last night was my first night back on skates since that night. It was great, while I seem to have lost quite a bit of muscle memory and strength in my right ankle I have faith it will come back rather quickly. I was also finally able to do crossovers in the opposite direction without pain in my left ankle for the first time since April (yet another stupid injury non derby related) so that was a hurdle I was happy to overcome. The last 6 months or so have been a struggle for me, but I feel like I've moved past most of the things that were bringing me down and I'm optimistic for what the future holds for me in derby.

Home
The girls and I took a leap of faith and decided to rent a house with someone (and her kids) I really didn't know all too well. We talked a bit here and there, she new Rachaell as she was one of the jr. derby coaches but we never spent any time together. It ended up being the best decision I've made in quite some time. She quickly became a very good friend, like a sister and I'm so grateful for her coming into my life. We now live in a pretty big house with a yard, a hot tub (someday we'll get it running) 2 fireplaces, a garage and nice hardwood floors upstairs. The girls are doing just great in school and I'm so proud of them.

Work
For the last year I've been slowly building Olive Chaos. I mainly make bags but I want to get back into make scarves, mixed media art, hats and other accessories. I got into some of the markets through Salem Saturday Market this year and I hope to do more in 2014. Last weekend I did the Salem Holiday Market at the fairgrounds and it was my biggest show yet! I was so proud of myself, for the first time I actually went in with a good selection of stock. Not nearly what I should have, I'm sure sales would have doubled if I would have been a bit more prepared. Nonetheless, I considered it a success.

Personal
I've been working on myself a lot lately, trying to be more positive...and in general just a better person. It's been a fun journey and I'm enjoying getting to know myself more. Since taking a leave from derby a few months ago I've gained a bit of weight..I was eating worse than ever and was still drinking just as much. A glass (or 3) of wine a night, a beer or two, a cocktail...never enough to alter my mood but enough to pile on the pounds. I joined Planet Fitness a couple days ago for $10 a month and I decided yesterday to stop drinking for a while. I also decided to go back to mainly a plant based diet, starting with the Engine 2 Diet. I've owned this book for a couple years now but I've never really followed it. I've never followed any diet plan to be honest. I'm looking forward to sticking with something. Anything. Tonight for dinner, I'm making shepherds pie. We'll see how the kids like it.

Love Life
My relationship of almost 7 years pretty much ended a year and a half ago. Since then I've gone on a few dates but nothing serious. It's strange, for the first time in my adult life I really have no desire to be in another relationship. I hate to say I'm jaded, that just sounds terrible. Cautious maybe.

So that pretty much sums up quite a bit - hopefully more to come.