Spring and Homesteading

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

Now that I’m freelancing, my schedule is a lot more flexible than it was.

Sure, I’m still working full time. But how—and when—that work happens is up to me.

Which allows for some wiggle room and a bit of discovery.

Discovery is one of my goals for this next season. Discovering more about myself, discovering what life as a freelancer looks like, discovering what I’m capable of, and what I’m brave enough to tackle. Now that spring is—hopefully—here to stay, that includes making our household more sustainable and moving toward homesteading my family’s property.

We have big gardening plans in the works.

I’m excited.

One of the ways my husband and I have made our tiny house a little more sustainable in the last few months has been clearing out the back closet and buying ourselves a real live washing machine. Now that we’re not hauling all our washing next door, laundry duty has become MILES easier, and I’m finally excited to wash my clothes again.

Can I get a ‘Hallelujah’?

Since our space and budget were limited for this project, we decided against buying a dryer with our new washer, and I’ve been line drying all our clothes.

This is my new favorite chore. I kid you not.

Not only does it get me outside, but since my newest obsession is turning our property into a homestead, line drying our clothes adds very positively to the aesthetic. And, you know, it saves us money, helps the environment, and makes our clothes last longer.

But having a line of washing flapping outside my window while I have bread dough rising on the counter gives my tiny house a cozy, farmhouse kind of feel to it, which I deeply appreciate.

I had a few concerns about stiff clothing and stretched out fabric before I started this project, but thanks to the magic of Pinterest and a half-dozen articles from experienced line-dryers, I’ve found clever ways to avoid those problems, and line drying has been a breeze.

Literally.

Homesteading is always a process, and we’re taking projects one at a time to get our little farm up and running again. Our fields have gotten a much needed reseeding, and two sweet bunnies have made an appearance in the barn. The rest will have to wait a bit until we have some sheds fixed up and a few windows replaced in the barn.

Spring is coming!

What are your plans for this spring? Tell me about them in the comments!

Rituals

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

I’ve officially been working from home for a year now.

Since I am now a freelancer, working from home should be a pretty permanent thing now. (Fingers crossed.) And, since I’m no longer logging hours or focusing solely on one project, my schedule has changed significantly in the last few weeks.

Which means that my rituals have had to change too.

I am, at the very core of my being, a creature of habit. I function best when most of my tasks are on autopilot. Cleaning the bathroom on Tuesday mornings, working out before breakfast, listening to podcasts while I clean my house before work. You get the idea. My mundane tasks are scheduled to the degree that they have become instinctive. I get up in the morning and never have to decide what to do first, because I already know and can start when I’m half asleep and groggy.

You would not believe how much I can get done before I am fully aware of my life. Usually I’m halfway out the door, already dressed in my workout gear before I really know what’s happening.

No going back after that.

Rituals, especially in the morning, free up so much of my brain for the creative work that I spend most of my day on. Writing—especially writing creatively—is one of those things that you can’t do on autopilot. My brain has to be fully engaged, otherwise what comes out won’t be any good.

That gets exhausting.

So when my mundane, kind of boring tasks get done without having to think or plan out what needs to happen ahead of time—it makes things easier.

A lot easier.

Unfortunately, since I switched over from full-time to freelancing, some of my rituals have gone straight out the window.

Things change. Life changes. And setting up new rituals to make into autopilot habits is hard.

Thankfully, I’ve managed to preserve a few things. The important bits that will make my day a success whether I’m freelancing or working on the clock. Things like my morning workout, or the way I plan out my day before I sit down at my computer. I still clean my bathroom on Tuesdays, and my favorite podcasts are still saved on my phone. But I’ve been doing some editing. Timed breaks have gone out the window, and my day is tracked more through progress on a project instead of hours worked. I’ve taken some time to step back and decide which of my rituals are helpful and which have run their course. Some are getting cut. A few are getting added here and there.

Making habits out of a ritual takes time, and I’m definitely looking forward to when my brain can put a few tasks on autopilot again.

I could use the brain space.

What rituals do you have in your life? Tell me about them in the comments!

Off to the Zoo

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

It’s spring now, right?

We’re gonna say it’s spring. Colorado will object and probably send a huge snowstorm just to spite me, but it’s warm today and I want to believe in miracles.

That’s why all my windows are open.

Since it is most definitely spring, I took some time out of the whirlwind of my job to go to the zoo with my sister and her one year old.

Have you ever noticed that the zoo is way more fun with a small child? Don’t get me wrong, I love the zoo. I am all about going to the zoo solo or on a date. But when you bring a toddler, you get to see things a little differently. For one thing, you spend a whole lot of time down on his level. For another, it becomes socially acceptable to practice as many animal noises as you can possibly remember in every single exhibit.

We spend a lot of time roaring at the lions.

It was great fun.

He also knew what a zebra says, which was very impressive to me, since I’m pretty sure I didn’t find that one out until I was at least ten.

He’s a smart little guy.

Colorado Springs has been updating their zoo exhibits recently, and although a whole section of the zoo was blocked off for construction, there was at least one new exhibit that I had never been inside. The penguin/hippo/pelican/warthog house.

It sounds a little weird.

I promise it made perfect sense once you got inside. Even though most of those animals don’t live anywhere near each other.

The hippos in-particular were a great favorite, because, since they’re in a pool and spend most of their time underwater, it was always a surprise when—and where—they popped up. So we played hide-and-seek with the world’s deadliest large land animal. My nephew was very into it. Every time the hippo’s head went under the water, he would act very surprised and ask where it went.

My sister and I spent a lot of time laughing that particular trip.

Now that spring is OFFICIALLY here and definitely won’t lapse back into winter and trap us all inside again, I’m hoping to get outside to the zoo and a few other places more often. Especially with my nephew.

Do you have any special outings planned now that the weather is warmer? Tell me about them in the comments!

Learning to Swim

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

I haven’t posted in two months.

Is that crazy or what? This may be the longest break I’ve taken since I started this blog.

Okay, it’s probably not the longest.

It feels like the longest, though.

I have a good reason for keeping my head down as long as I have. Things have been happening. Big things. Important things.

Basically, these last two months have been a whirlwind of transition, and I’ve been strapped in and holding on for dear life as my whole life has gotten turned upside down and shaken up.

Okay, not my whole life.

My cat’s still around. So is my husband.

They’re very loyal.

Last month marked the end of my nearly-two year long apprenticeship at Focus on the Family. I’ve been working as a scriptwriter for a children’s radio program and learning the ropes as a professional writer under some of the best in the business.

It’s been very educational.

But, as I said, my apprenticeship reached the close at the end of March, and rather than showing me the door and sending me off with a goodbye card and my box of stuff, they asked if I might like to stick around for a little while as a freelancer. I, naturally, said yes, please, and got my home office officially set up for freelancing.

This included starting a business and registering it with the state of Colorado.

I am now the proud owner of Story Nook Productions Ltd.

Emphasis on the ‘proud’ part.

Ahem.

Freelancing, especially with actual clients and several doors that flew open the minute I began the process, is the start of a whole new season for me, and one that I am wildly excited to explore. Registering an actual business and setting myself up as an actual professional adult writer has been very intimidating, and I can tell I am definitely out of my depth.

But, if I’m honest, I’ve out of my depth for a good long time now. So long, in fact, that I am learning pretty quickly to swim.

What’s better than that?

What’s been going on with you since I’ve been away? Tell me about it in the comments!