Everything Right Now...

Everything right now...its good. Moving, buzzing. We re-evaluated our monies over breakfast the other day and set our launch date for April 15th. Fifty-some days left here in Oklahoma!!!  It still sounds like a lot but we keep thinking of how quickly this past year has gone by. We have a to-do list full of final checks and ends to tie up. Finish paying off debt. Reach our minimum savings amount. Sell the rest of my things I can't take. Almost there.

It has been snowing in Oklahoma, again. Snow day #4 since we have been living in the Scamp. And how many snow days does Oklahoma normally give when I'm NOT living outside?! One, maybe two?!?! Thanks, dear home state. Poor Rumi has been confined to the trailer more between her wet, muddy potty breaks. I walk her where I can through the sludge and promise her long trips to the lake when it dries. 

I am deciding on when to turn in my salon key and counting down my weekends left bar-tending/serving at the pub. We scheduled our farewell party and I keep thinking of ways to see all my people before I go. It's feeling more real, and my heart is equally sunken and soaring. Good conversations like I've had this week (in even the simplest avenues of texting) already have me feeling the warmth that will follow when we're gone. I'm going to lose physical contact with my Oklahoma loves, but nothing more. The connections I have now, I will always have. They will only strengthen with absence, because I know that's how my soul will work it. A couple old familiar green bean cans attached by string, stretching from Oklahoma to wherever I am.

My heart beats gratitude and love today.

we have been videoing some things...soon to come!

first coffee making in the Scamp!

morning cuddles

The Winds Change...Again

As of my last entry I was holding on to sanity. Living on the NW corner of Oklahoma City in suburbia was beginning to take its toll.
Correction - had already taken its toll.
It took me some weeks to realize the depression I had sunken into wasn't just seasonal. I'm still finding my way out...but these are some changes that have helped:

1) Rae quit Sprint!

2) Rae then began picking up shifts again at The Wedge, a local pizza shop, as well as landed a job at Whole Foods! Woo-hoo! Jobs that make for a happier lover.

3) We decided (since the one job close to my dad's where we were living no longer existed) we should move closer to the jobs we had. "Why not live out of the trailer now!?!" So we moved into the backyard of Clementine, an artist community house owned by one of Rae's long time friends, and where my Frankie kitty also happened to be living.

moving across town!

4) We got a dog. Rumi, a 17-month old German Shepherd who was no longer going to be housed/trained by K9 University because she wasn't driven enough. She's a lover. And she belonged with us. 
 

"it's bright out here!"

Rumi

Camper Pup

It has been interesting, but we figured we should go ahead and get all the kinks worked out of living in our Scampi before we hit the road. So here we are!

After moving in we crashed - physically and emotionally. In our recuperation we began realizing how our environment had been so out of synch with our souls. We loved seeing my family and having a warm, comfortable room to sleep in. But you can't ignore the heart needs. Sometimes things just change. And sometimes you have to make them change.

Franken-lover

A dear friend made this quilt for us!

Parked in our new yard

The desk from which I post now

I'm still processing the magnitude of what we are about to do (and are already doing every day) but one very simple, solid point keeps me together - I share this with my person. A heart, mind and body that is intrinsically in tune with my own. I'm beyond words.

august

wow. i'm slightly ashamed of the fact that its the end of the month and i'm posting another "whoa, this month flew by" sort of blogs. geeeez! ah well. what i can say about that is:

1) i have been busy living, loving, coming, going, doing, being, and still becoming.
2) i hope everyone experiences such life periods where, at least for a moment, they don't feel the need to keep up with anyone but themselves.

so...august. new classes in hair school. new job for the weekends. new home.
i'm now taking guests on my own during the week in school! yippeee! on my weekends i'm serving food & drinks at a local pub. {i'll just mention here how much i <3 beer, and i will be continuing my "beer (yummm)" category of blogs soon.} i finally moved my babies with me into my love's apartment. last night was our first night all together and it felt like a very sweet sigh. the rushing current of this existence has merged our waters. we flow together now, naturally.

 finally got my carrot tattoo!

 rae & joey playing at the deli

 night time driving camera fun

 coffee & cream mornings

 and unwelcome morning photographs

 kitty games

 lunch dates

together

evenings

cheers for September!

out, around, and home.

sometimes life catches you by surprise. you realize what matters, what you want, who you are. days go by and you give due time to the necessities and then reserve the rest for your soul. heart time. days without watches or clocks, computers or electrical connections. you just live.
i've had that time and now i'm back for a while. back to catch up on photography jobs, document my thoughts, or lack thereof, reorganize my changing life. i start school on tuesday. i'll be busy with finding a way to keep my job(s) while in school, working on my weddings i've just photographed, and adjusting to a whole new 40 hr/week life. here goes nothin'. here goes something, everything.

rae

ty

yummm

luna moth at norman art walk

kennedy

<3

homecoming happiness

as i mentioned before my kitty is home, and we are finding new joy in each others company. we've changed the dynamic that was in place for so many years past and now it seems we have a new life together. just the three of us, my kitties and i. 

i hope changes like this are always possible in life. 

absence, reemergence, forgiveness and moving forward. 

realizing that holding on to past offenses only weakens the gait of our walk ahead.

 

i <3 lazy afternoon kitty yawns

* here's to changing, growing, loving *

happy sunday!

and the kaleidoscope turns yet again

i got a call from the Paul Mitchell school yesterday and financial aid will completely cover my school expenses!!!!!!! yes, i'll be paying back a helluvalot in loans once classes are over....but i'll be a hair stylist by then!
when it comes to big decisions like this ("hmm....i think i wanna spend $16,000 and go to hair school!") i seem to jump in head first, no second thoughts. but i've been circling the gorge before the final plunge this time, just to be sure. but regardless of the obvious worries all i can say is that this road feels...fitting. delightfully fitting, actually.
i still want to do as much photo & design work as i can manage, and hopefully by the time i'm out of school i can support myself solely with my camera & shears. an artful life, documentation and creation. it feels colorful.
along with this, my usual comparison to life is my garden. the seeds i had replanted have finally emerged and have thoroughly enjoyed the rain. i'm still watering with my stored rainwater and am relieved to finally see some growth (in all aspects).

sad news: my allie still hasn't come home. =(
frankie is so so lonely, especially since i've been working out of the house more. and i know its only going to get worse when i start school. i've been thinking of getting him a buddy. i was watching some orientals on youtube and found this one that sounds so much like my little boy! (yes, i know, "alien-ish" is what you're probably thinking.) but i love it!

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

 

hey yo! i'm shara! sharalee is my actual (long) name but since most people somehow translate it to "shirley" when i'm introduced we're just gonna go with shara. haha! what i will tell you about myself today will probably be completely different from what i might tell you in 6 months, that sort of happens with me. in the past 8 months i came out of the closet, got divorced, met a girl, broke up with girl, moved from my college town back to 'home' in the okc metro and got laid off from my job. i know i make that sound fairly breezy but its all been a giant roller coaster that i couldn't have survived without my lovely friends and family!

i'm a photographer, and had been doing that on my nights & weekends while working a bank job for 6 years during my  married life. the job layoff sort of booted me out of the comfort of a steady paycheck & health insurance, but made me realize what i really want my life to be like. so now i'm making each day mine, doing what i want to do.

which means: i'm re-launching my photo & design business. and i'm applying for hair school! i drink a lot of earl grey and french press coffee. i love spending time in my garden. i photograph anything and everything (which is why you may get tired of seeing photos of my cup of tea). i love music and movies and dinner nights with friends & wine. i make jewelry and other things out of bottle caps and whatever used things i can find. i love be outside, biking, running, climbing trees, swimming. i have super random fashion that combines old navy clearance racks, thrift stores, and my uncles junior high wardrobe. i'm half femme/half 13yr old boy.

see?  femme / 13 yr old boy

i dearly miss being a roller girl and need to join a team soon so i can relish being knocked around again. i want more tattoos. i'm a follower of mommy blogs even though the only "mommy" i am is of two cats. it took me freakin forever to even figure out what SAHM meant! but one day maybe i hope to be one. the older i get the younger i feel. and like i'm coming in near the end of this blog party, i tend to always arrive late!  :-)

 kid #1 - allie

                                                 kid #2 - frankie                                      teeaaaaaa

 i'm loving my life. and i love meeting new lives to follow, so leave a comment where i can find you! and if you decide to stick around i promise i'm not always this long-winded

(but i am always this random.)

love love!

<3 shara