Check out the actual stamp on my new Instagram account. My username is TrailAndCompass, the name of a new jewelry shop I'm hoping to open by the end of this month.

I couldn't find the speedycut stuff, so I used the blue speedball carving medium and it totally sucks. The edges are jagged even though I splurged on some new blades. Grr. Oh well, my new mantra as of late is "done is better than perfect." I've decided to embrace the down 'n dirty aesthetic since it matches our brewing process. This design was my first "real" foray into hand lettering, I think I like it!

We weren't planning on buying an RV quite so soon, but we couldn't pass up this deal. We're going to customize it a bit, add some solar panels, internet, bike racks, and get ready to go..wherever. Starting (hopefully) this coming September, we're planning to purge our belongings, and do a slow crawl around the country, living and working from the road. We're hoping to visit national parks, family and friends, weird Americana, and just take our time connecting the dots.



We took the neighbors for a spin to the grocery store, only hitting one curb on the way. We parked, and walked in to pick up some pizza and champagne.


Everyone bought a bottle of sriracha. Because.
So the oven works! We had a pretty awesome pizza party with fancy drinks and sweet tunes. (Truckin' kicked in just as we were rollin' out :) We ended the day back on the block, where things got funky over at Tyler's. These people aren't making it any easier for us to pack up. ♥

I used the Elise Shawl pattern with Plymouth Baby Alpaca yarn (my first time using fingering weight). The color is shown most accurate in the photo I'm wearing it. This was a Christmas gift for my future sister-in-law. I'm quite proud of this project, I think it's one of the coolest things I've ever made.

I made a pot holder to match my harvest gold and green kitchen. When we first moved
in, this 70's oven was kind of a joke, but I've come to completely love it. Check out that
faux bois dashboard!
Also, I have a new years resolution to stop taking crappy phone pics.

I made this pixie dust solution with a half and half mixture of water and glycerin, and a pinch of fine glitter and food coloring. The corks are glued in with epoxy, the tag is a shrinky dink, and I'm positive that it's a great idea to give glass bottles full of glitter water to elementary students.

To anyone who has not yet accepted the natural functions of the female body, I'm sorry about your limitation, and proceed with caution, I'm talking about menstrual cups.

I cannot recommend them enough, they are so convenient. I use the Diva Cup, and am never turning back!

It's environmentally friendly, and I don't have to change the bathroom trash can twice during shark week.

It's frugal and pays for itself after two months of not buying an assortment of pads, tampons, and liners.

It's healthier! I can rest better (literally) knowing that I'm not going to get toxic shock syndrome if I forget to set my "wake up and take out your tampon so you don't die" alarm at 7am. Most cups are made of medical grade silicone, so your natural ph balance will not be compromised by chemically bleached treated and scented fibers. (Seriously, who ever thought THAT was a good idea?) Google 'tampon dangers' if you're brave enough.

There are a ton of resources online, check out the column on the right on this livejournal page, it can likely answer any question you could possibly have about menstrual cups. If I sound excited, I am! Seriously, it's a game changer. Try it, you'll like it.

We tend to find ourselves south of here when we have the opportunity. The husband and I took a short roadtrip to a couple southern Indiana parks and as many wineries and local eats that we could squeeze in from here to there.

We came home to a handful of happy anniversary cards and messages, thank you everyone!

We rode to the polls, and got a ton of positive attention and comments. I think it may have been obvious which way we were voting, but it seemed everyone was excited about bicycling to the polls!

Haven't sorted through the pictures yet, but this one has got to be my favorite. We hit the strip post-wedding and found ourselves in some club, at the top of Mandalay Bay with quite the view.

We had an incredible time, but are definitely happy to be back home with our purr-y kitteh.

edit: just figured out that we were in the House of Blues Foundation room. Shwank
Also, kitty is now less purr-y, and more like "time to make up for not playing with me the last 3.5 days" kitty.