Ch-ch-ch-changes!

A lot has changed, dear Reader. For one, I live in Oregon now. I finally launched my Etsy shop (psst: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TinyWitchStudios). And I left corporate retail (in December 2022) to finally start working in the field that I have my education in (in June 2023). I’m living with that wonder girlfriend of my that I mentioned in my last post. Yes, Reader, I was able to drag a New Englander out west. I was impressed by that one as well.

I do wish, however, that I had documented the move from Arizona to Oregon as well as I documented the move from West Virginia to Arizona. But I know the stress of it all prevented me from doing a lot of things. We mostly wanted to relax. My girlfriend had just driven from Connecticut to Arizona (a trip that should have taken her 4-5 days) in a little over 48 hours. I was stressed because all my stuff could not fit in the U-Haul box and I had to leave some things to a storage unit in Arizona. And while I did not have a cat carrier on my lap for the long, multi-day drive to Oregon, I had a box instead and I was equally frustrated and sore

We did leave Arizona later than we wanted on that Friday (that seems to be a trend with me moving to another state, huh), but we finally made it to our first destination in SoCal around midnight-ish. We spent the weekend with our friends and relaxed for the first time in like a week. Monday morning, we piled back into the car and made our way up north. We stopped briefly just outside of SoCal to visit a friend and then headed up to the Bay Area, which was our next destination. We made, had dinner with the friends we were staying with, and quickly passed out from exhaustion. The next morning we left quickly because we were trying to get ahead of storms. This was our last day on the road as we planned on not stopping until we reached our new location. Driving from NorCal to northwestern Oregon is beautiful. As someone who has lived in Arizona for almost five years at that point, it was great to see the color green again. As I saw snow on the ground for the first time since living back east. I was actually happy to see it.

We arrived around 7pm and got to the hotel (because nobody wants to move into a new apartment after driving for 10 hours). Even though we were in a hotel, it felt good to be home. We ordered take out and got a drink from the hotel bar to celebrate our new adventure.

That was a little over three months ago, Reader. Living with the person I love has been far better for my mental health. When I’m having a hard day (which has been frequently) it’s nice to have someone be there to pull me into a hug and tell me that everything is going to be alright. Money is very tight right now because I hadn’t been working since I left corporate retail. Though, I started a new job last week and start a second job next week. With the extra money around (after catching up with bills first, of course), we will be able to explore more our new state and the PNW in general.

Quiet

I’ve been quiet. Things have been weird the last couple years and it wasn’t just COVID.

Right before the pandemic got bad in the States, after almost nine and a half years together (roughly six and half of those married), my husband and I separated. We had just moved into a new apartment with separate bedrooms, because who the hell can afford an apartment on their own in Phoenix in 2020.

Then COVID happened.

We were both sent to work from home for two weeks while this thing blows over. I am very sarcastically proud to say that we recently passed the two year anniversary of working from home for only two weeks. It be like that now, I guess.

Being stuck at home with the person who broke my heart was not good for me mentally. Fights absolutely did happen. Tears (mine) were definitely shed. I felt like I was going crazy as my world was crashing down around me. If it weren’t for my online friends who became my chosen family, I would not be here today. I’m eternally grateful for them.

Fast forward to summer 2021, I’m still in the apartment with my future ex-husband because COVID really fucked up apartment searching and as someone who has had asthma since I was three years old, I wasn’t eager to go out and about. Despite all of that, I feel better. Call it something clicked in my brain that told me I had no reason to be sad and jealous or call it the medication I’m on works.

At the end of last month, I started moving into my new apartment. My recent promotion at work has afforded me the ability to probably live on my own. But I think it’s super important not only for my friendship with my ex-husband, but for my mental health. I’ve even started dating someone. And reader, she is amazing. She is everything a partner should be. The downside to it is she living in Connecticut.

I was in Connecticut back in November to visit her for my birthday and it was wonderful. It was so nice to see fall leaves again. I even got to go to the Bronx Zoo in New York!

I plan on being a bit more active on this in the coming year. I have more trips planned, like going to Salem, MA in October!

Until next time!

-Sarah

California Dreamin’ – September 2019

I never expected to fall in love with California. But I did.

At the end of September, I flew to San Diego for TwitchCon. How I was able to afford it, I’m still not sure, but this trip was a big deal for me. It was the first time I traveled alone in 10 years. AND it was also the first time meeting online friends.

But, I can finally say I’ve officially been coast to coast in the United States. Yay!

My only gripe about the whole trip was that I didn’t have enough time to do everything I wanted. I wanted to swim in the ocean, I wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo, and I definitely wanted to go to the cat cafe downtown.

I ultimately decided not to take my good camera with me. I knew that if I took it, I would hate carrying it around, and/or it would get damaged.

The weather was…perfect. It was a nice break to escape the still 90°+ in Phoenix with actual sweatshirt weather. Phoenix has been extremely dry this summer, so it was nice to feel at least a tiny bit of rain while I was there.

This trip meant a lot to me as it was a chance to get away from home stuff. Not that home stuff is particularly bad, but it felt great to be my own person again. To be just…. Sarah.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

All in all, it was probably one of the best vacations I’ve had in a very long time. TwitchCon 2020 is set to be back in San Diego and holy shit, I can’t wait to go back.

Viva Las Vegas – May/June 2019

I’ve visited the City of Sin. And I loved it.

vegas
Obligatory Vegas sign selfie!

May 31/June 1, I took my first “vacation” in 3 years (when I went to Indy Pop Con in 2016). It was a quick trip, up one day, back the next, but it was worth it. This trip also had me on a plane for the first time since 2004.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The one thing I noticed about Vegas is there is a lot of people. And I mean a lot.

After getting to Vegas and taking the obligatory Vegas sign selfie, we walked down The Strip. And yes, I did go to the aquarium at Mandalay Bay.

Basically the trip consisted of walking down The Strip and drinking. A bit of gambling. I won $233.00 which was nice. Side note, I’m not much of a gambler.

I didn’t take many pictures with my good camera just because carrying it around with the large crowds was becoming a hassle.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So now I’m finally caught up with pictures. (FINALLY!)

My next known trip will September for TwitchCon. I’ll be in San Diego. I’m still debating on whether or not I want to take my camera or just take pictures on my phone.

Papago Park – February 2019

I know, I know….. I’m behind.

I’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to want to do anything on my days off. I’m so exhausted from working all week, that I’m not really doing anything on the weekends except feeling overwhelmed.

This, of course, is causing me to get behind on a lot of different projects…including this one. I still have pictures from the Phoenix Zoo from May as well as a few pictures from my super quick trip to Las Vegas at the very end of May that I need to edit as well.

Be patient, please.

Anyway, back in February I went to Papago Park near the Phoenix Zoo to take some pictures on a nice winter day. So here’s a photo dump from that.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Birthday #32

Last month I turned 32.

Since I turned 30, I’ve been fining myself less and less excited about my birthday. But this year I wanted to be different. I wanted the chance to start a brand new year. What better way to  bring in a new year than to watch the sun rise.

So that’s exactly what I did. I woke up at an ungodly hour and took the train down to Tempe, climbed up to the top of Hayden Butte, and took pictures.

It was pretty refreshing and I couldn’t stop smiling. Here’s to another year of adventure!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Adventures in Tempe

I’ve been trying to get back into photography lately since I have a lot of spare time on my hands. Particularly I’ve been messing around with the manual setting on my DSLR. I used to really know that stuff when I took photography classes in college using my trusty film camera.

Yesterday, the husband and I ventured to Tempe so I could take sunset pictures. Our plans were almost scrapped due to the dust storm that appeared out of nowhere followed quickly by a severe thunderstorm.

We waited out the storms and I’m so glad we did. This is just a few of the pictures taken yesterday evening.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.