50/365 :: Friday 19 February 2021
this is my friend Robért. sometimes he's pretty scared. but he's pretty cute and makes intense eye contact.

51/365 :: Saturday 20 February 2021
I wanted a photo of the animal tracks in my backyard, not realizing that I also captured the firepit and plastic chairs that came with the house a year and a half ago but I have yet to do anything about (oops).

52/365 :: Sunday 21 February 2021
​another Sunday sunrise.

53/365 :: Monday 22 February 2021
I do wonder what the librarians think about my selections.

54/365 :: Tuesday 23 February 2021
back on the road to see my fluffy friend.

55/365 :: Wednesday 24 February 2021
​I love this lake. not that you can see it beneath that fog.

56/365 :: Thursday 25 February 2021
I couldn't add to my collection of Carley Baer-designed shirts (because the only color options were blue and orange and we all know I rarely wear anything that isn't black or grey), so I had to get this big mug.

43/365 :: Friday 12 February 2021
​just a few things on my dining room table.

44/365 :: Saturday 13 February 2021
I couldn't not buy a shirt from Phenomenal. (and my Pipsticks arrived.)

45/365 :: Sunday 14 February 2021
Valentine's Day sunrise.

46/365 :: Monday 15 February 2021
new stickers from Pipsticks!! it's always a fun surprise around the middle of the month when they arrive.

47/365 :: Tuesday 16 February 2021
​new print on the wall in my bedroom.

48/365 :: Wednesday 17 February 2021
​blue skies again.

49/365 :: Thursday 18 February 2021
a few hours after my grandma died. I loved this big cloud. and an hour or two later there was a beautiful sunset on Lake Michigan.

36/365 :: Friday 5 February 2021
when your coworkers still aren't 100% sure how to spell your name, so they spell it in funny ways.

37/365 :: Saturday 6 February 2021
I've been ordering stamps online for a few years now to make sure that I get the fun ones that I want. I really love the lunar new year ones, and the current series is really pretty.

38/365 :: Sunday 7 February 2021
I had to leave my lipstick out the night before to remind me of the video I had to film the next day.

39/365 :: Monday 8 February 2021
sunshine and icicles.

40/365 :: Tuesday 9 February 2021
a little cold out there (for a couple weeks) on my half birthday.

41/365 :: Wednesday 10 February 2021
a little corner in my bedroom. I love this fake plant that my stepmom gave me, and that print has been hanging in each of my last four bedrooms. (it looked best on the brick walls when I lived downtown, but I do like the grey walls in this room.)
[ps - it's Functional Gray by Sherwin Williams but I call it Formidable Grey.]

42/365 :: Thursday 11 February 2021
it's been a while since I've taken a books photo here. I'm forever trying to knock books off my Goodreads to read list. I had a bit of a confusing time with Again Again because it would frequently shift to alternate worlds, so there would be several variations of a scenario that the characters went through.

29/365 :: Friday 29 January 2021
back at the lake, of course.

30/365 :: Saturday 30 January 2021
​a surprise thank you note in the mail made my day.

31/365 :: Sunday 31 January 2021
​friends.

32/365 :: Monday 1 February 2021
​first sunrise of the month.

33/365 :: Tuesday 2 February 2021
​blue skies.

34/365 :: Wednesday 3 February 2021
​it's like my own personal hotel here.

35/365 :: Thursday 4 February 2021
​new lovely print from Alyssa Lentz via Spark Haus Vintage.

as of today, I have been sober for five years. five years. so much has happened in those five years.

I have been (essentially) told that I’m not allowed to call myself “sober” because it wasn’t like I had a drinking problem. but that’s not how I see it. no, I wasn’t going out every night or even every week, but I was still going out and getting drunk with certain people because I thought it made me seem cool.

I was young and impressionable, and I thought that this was what I was supposed to be doing. but I wasn’t taking care of myself. it was so easy for me to quickly get drunk with maybe a drink or two because I wasn’t eating like I should have been. I would look back the next day and just didn’t like who I had been the night before. I would look ahead and see the way that my life was going to turn out if I kept this up. one of those cringey moments was when I cried on new year’s eve because the ice in my water melted. I laugh about it now, but I also feel sad for the 22-year-old I was.

so, no, I didn’t really have a big drinking problem, but I could have if I didn’t change my ways. yes, I still crave the whiskey sometimes, but I’m glad that it’s not in my life anymore.

I guess the moral of the story is that you can be proud of who you are and the decisions you make for yourself. just because I didn’t have to dig myself out of a hole doesn’t mean I can’t claim my journey.

here’s to five years clean, and the next five ahead.