I feel like I want to read more poetry this year. Sometimes when I think about college I remember how exciting I always was to prepare for a class that was only going to discuss poems. I kept most of my books from college--especially the Norton Anthologies--so I have everything I need to get started again. I think I may just have to make time for an afternoon cup of tea and a poem each week. Doesn't that sound like a nice ritual?

I'm hoping to buy a new lens for my camera in the next few months--something for everyday photos around the house and "lifestyle" shots, I guess you could say. I'm missing What I Wore posts here, but I've had trouble finding a photographer nearby so I'm hoping to just upgrade my own equipment and do it all myself. Charlotte was such a creative and collaborative city and for some reason I'm struggling to find that in my new neighborhood.

Rob and I have been under the weather all week--he was sick at the end of our Charlotte trip and then I must have caught it. It's been pretty rough (I don't get super sick very often so I guess I'm kind of a baby), but at the same time taking it a little slow at the start of a new year doesn't suck, either. I've been on the couch, under a blanket for most of 2017 so far; just writing or snuggling with Ender.

What's new with you these days?

I miss Charlotte a lot lately. Rob and I both follow Not Just Coffee on Instagram and they posted about now being open 7 days a week at the location in our old neighborhood. On Sundays we would wake up in South End and wish that we could walk to the dog-friendy NJC with Ender, but we'd have to leave him at home and go to the Uptown location at 7th Street Public Market. South End Charlotte really is something special, and I have such great memories of taking Ender on long walks along the Rail Trail every day, often with a coffee in hand.

Ender and I are going to his first training session later this morning. He's always needed some work, but since we were living in our own house with a big yard all summer I forgot how quirky he can be. He's really been pulling me on the leash lately, and the squirrels in our neighborhood are going to drive him crazy. He also barks at people sometimes and it always makes me feel like a bad dog owner. I know it's going to be a lot of work, but I'm looking forward to meeting with the trainer and getting started.

Halloween doesn't strike me as a holiday that could make you feel lonely, but this year it kind of does. I talked to my great friend and college roommate, Caroline, on the phone this weekend for an hour and she was getting ready to go to a Halloween party at a friends' house. We had a really low key weekend which was much needed after all the traveling I've been doing, but at the same time I couldn't help but wish that we were on the East Coast getting ready to meet up with a bunch of our friends, whether they're in Charlotte or Roanoke or Richmond.

It takes so long to adjust to a new place--I keep reminding myself how much I missed Minneapolis when we first moved to Charlotte. I guess patience isn't a virtue I was blessed with.

Photo by Rémy Thurston.

October is a really busy month for us this year--we were in Minneapolis the first weekend of the month and were able to stay put this past weekend, but then we'll be in Roanoke Saturday night and to a wedding near Charlottesville the weekend after that. Then it's Halloween and Rob's brothers are visiting, and the first weekend in November is another wedding, this time in Washington DC. This time in our lives is so fun--lots of weddings and parties and other celebrations, but I always have to remember to take a second and catch my breath every once in a while.

It's that time of year in Charlotte where the mornings are really chilly, but then it reaches almost 80 degrees in the afternoon, which always kind of bums me out. I'm ready for cold days and hats and hot tea at 2PM. We've been leaving the windows open at night, though, which always makes me sleep so well.

One of my best friends, Elena, came through town on Sunday on her way to the airport to catch a flight back to Seattle and we got to hang out for the first time since my wedding, where she was a bridesmaid. Before that we hadn't seen each other in probably two years. It is truly ridiculous how rarely I see some of my closest friends, but I feel so incredibly fortunate to have these relationships that allow us to just pick up where we left off, no matter the distance between us.

I have to admit that I'm really surprised by how hard it's been for me to get back into the swing of things after taking two weeks to go to Roanoke and care for my mom after surgery. I guess I had been feeling burnt out for a long time, and that ended up kind of being the last straw for me. I really did anticipate just jumping back into everything--writing and blogging, working out, eating right, keeping our apartment organized--all the daily things we don't usually have to put too much thought into. But it's been a struggle to stay motivated, to stay inspired. I wish I could stay that I'm doing the best I can, but I'm not sure if that's true. There's still a big part of me that's trying to figure out what's next for me, what I want this blog to be, and what my goals and dreams actually look like.