in search of the good life.

So you may have noticed that I’m not doing as good of a job keeping up this blog as I once was.

It’s not because I’m running out of stories to tell you, because believe me, I’m not.

It’s the age-old “so much to do and so little time.”

I’ve been writing this blog since 2011, when I had exponentially more time on my hands. You’ll notice that in those early days, I would post as often as twice week. But those were the days when I was living alone in a shitty apartment in Sioux Falls and making around ten dollars an hour. I didn’t have anyone to fill my days, nor did I have the funding to find a way to fill my days.

So I wrote my way out.

Thankfully, my life did get fuller. I switched jobs and found what would become my career. I was also making more money, so I could finally afford to go out for dinner and drinks with friends. My then-boyfriend James proposed, and my spare time soon filled with wedding planning. James moved from Ellsworth to my aforementioned shitty apartment. We got married, bought a house in Minnesota, I got promoted, and we got a cat. I began volunteering in Ellsworth school library for story time. We traveled whenever we could, I started a jewelry business, I started grad school, and I started a new job.

And the blog posts got fewer and fewer. What began as twice a week began to decline to once a week… then twice a month… and now once a month.

And honestly? Right now, even that is a struggle. This particular time in my life is especially hectic: I’ve been the library director in Luverne for almost four months, and there’s so much to do and so much I’m figuring out. I am beginning my third semester of graduate school, which is not necessarily difficult, but more reading and writing than I anticipated. My jewelry business has suffered because I no longer have the time to dedicate to its online marketing and doing weekend craft shows. I don’t have time for books, movies, or TV shows. However, I do my best to make time for my family and friends, because they are every fiber of joy within me.

But I am sorry about the things I’ve had to neglect. I love my jewelry business, and I love this blog. This blog got me through some of my loneliest times when I moved back from Minneapolis. And believe me when I tell you that it will be a cold day in hell when I give up this blog altogether.

Thankfully, this is temporary. Graduate school won’t last forever, though right now, I certainly feel as though it might. I will become more confident at my job, and I won’t talk myself into working 50 hours a week like I do now (hopefully). Graduate school and my new job are keys to the elusive good life. These are things I must do on the road to the best possible life for me, for James, for our nonexistent-maybe-someday-we’ll-see children. I am suffering now for a bright future, like so many before me. And that means putting some things on the back-burner.

For right now, though? I’ll do my best to keep writing the blog, but if I miss a month here and there, don’t give up on me.