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Living Intentionally

For a number of years, I had no idea what I really wanted to do. I had some maybes that would work in a pinch; maybe I'd do fine being a teacher or an accountant or a business manager. All my possibilities spoke to my strengths but also had annoyances that I'd like to avoid, such as grading or being stuck indoors all day long. Additionally, the jobs just felt like they lacked the meaning I desired. Today, Zandria's post She decided to start living the life she'd imagined struck a cord and reminded me about this struggle for a meaningful career. It's actually a small challenge for me to reform my thinking and remember that I am doing what I want. Granted, I am still gaining experience, but I think that I am finally on the path toward a career I would love.

I love being outdoors. I love teaching others, and I'm especially thrilled by the joy of discovery. I find natural areas soothing to my soul; they're a great spot for reflection, centering, and relaxation. I want to help the earth by encouraging diverse, unique areas to prosper, and I feel compelled to educate others about the importance of place. I love organizing, managing, and dealing with challenges; a day just like any other is a boring day to me. All of these wishes and loves are satisfied by the path I see myself taking.

Moving: part I

Moving from Ann Arbor was a bit of a chore. I had to be out of my apartment by August 20th, but I didn't move to Minnesota until the 30th. I had to work at my day camp job all the way until the 29th, so I couldn't just randomly wander around the country or anything.

I ended up moving everything of mine to my friend Eileen's garage with the help of my fabulous friends Eileen, Abby, and Sus. Eileen and Sus brought over an SUV and a station wagon, and we loaded everything up to move on out. These are some fabulous women, considering that Eileen was already loaning me her garage and Sus is pregnant (was ~ 15 weeks at the time).

On the 29th, I went back to Eileen's house to pack up my car and trailer. The fabulous Abby graciously helped me accomplish this amazing feat. Here she is with my fully-loaded trailer. And by fully loaded, I mean that we put that poster in, shut the door, and prayed that it would hold.

At least the interior of my car wasn't so bad. I could see out the back window, and I just had a few things on my passenger seat.

For gratuitous fun, here is a wonderful photo of Abby and myself post-packing.

For more gratuitous photo fun, one of the few pictures from my going away party. I was not in typical form; I brought my camera, but I decided not to document the event. Instead, I laid out all the food I bought, let people go for it, and had a fabulous time with my friends. But my friend Toby, bless his dear heart, did take a few photos for me. This is one of my favorites because it is vaguely candid. Please ignore my awful hair -- I still haven't figured out how to make it look decent when it is pulled back. I had it up in a ponytail because it was really hot and I was playing some frisbee. The other two people in the photo are friends of mine from A2 Ultimate.

The moving in has been something. I've got a really small room here. I'm almost all unpacked and now just trying to figure out what to do with some random small stuff. I start work in the morning, but I'm hoping to take care of the rest tomorrow evening. Truth be told, I'm burned out on the moving process, and I'm already turning a critical eye to my stuff and have started a give away pile for things I probably shouldn't have bothered to move.

101 things: month 5

The month of August was difficult for me. I thought about doing something off my 101 things list, but it just never happened. I was a bit too busy enjoying all of Ann Arbor. So, I've got a few little corrections to make to my list, and I am crossing off all my Michigan goals this month.

17. Visit three museums in Ann Arbor

In my time in Ann Arbor, I only managed to visit two museums: the Hands-on Museum and the Ruthven Exhibit Museum of Natural History. I thought about going to a third museum, but spending time indoors didn't interest me during this lovely summer. Therefore, in lieu of museuming in, I will share my pictures of Ann Arbor. The first part of the slideshow is part of my walk from my old apartment to campus; the rest of the slideshow are some pictures of stuff I like around town. For more detail, visit my flickr page and the Ann Arbor set, as I've written descriptions on the photos there.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

18. Visit three new cities in Michigan 2/3 completed: Ypsilanti, Hartland

When I made this list, but before I had started it, I worked on some goals. In my mind, I didn't want to use that as part of my crossing off, but I don't really have a chance anytime soon to visit another city in Michigan. If I do get a chance, I'll do so and let you know here. In any case, I visited Brighton, Michigan, back in February sometime. It was a really cute little town, and I had some fabulous food there at Lynn's Off Main Street Cafe. Also, I visited the area of other cities while visiting friends -- South Lyon and Saline come to mind -- but I never really went downtown, so I feel weird claiming those as new cities.

46. While living by myself (or if I have amenable roommates), switch to purchasing renewable power for at least three months

This item was in progress and is now complete. Yay for renewable power! My roommate and I didn't even notice anything extra on the bill (to be fair, we worked to reduce out power consumption, so that probably helped). It was a simple little thing we did to make a difference.

That's it for this month. But I'll be working on more! I'll also be posting my last ten goals soon.

Tally:

-2 in progress for 6 total in progress
3 more completed for 21 total completed