Circe's Circle

It's been a while since I posted! I forgot. That's all.

This week - making me happy is Jamie's Circe's Circle being opened up for new participants. I took part in last years circle, and it was a truly amazing experience. I learned a ton about myself, got some ideas lined out for my own business, and made amazing friends.

My project for Circe's Circle was thinking about my own business doing web design. During the class, I had a lot of stress and personal things going on (You'll remember - Mike's stressful job, my health, our decision to move to Oregon... all during Circe's Circle!) I put my business ideas on the back burner during the circle, and focused on myself. But those ideas were there, and now they have actually started happening! Amazing!

I am an independent web designer now. I have a business called Off-Center Studio (taken directly from the circle and ideas we floated then!) I am in process of designing my own business website. www.off-centerstudio.com. And hoping to take on new design clients soon!

That is a lot of success in one year's time. And I can really attribute much of it to the time I spent on the calls and "homework" in Circe's Circle. Thanks Jamie!!! You rock.

If you're interested, take a look at Jamie's website. She is offering a preview call and I will be part of that. yay! It is a life changing experience.

Return to blogging

Maybe... some days I feel like blogging, and other days I don't. Many days I miss the interaction I have had with you all! (If anyone even stops by here anymore!)

Our transition to Oregon has gone really well. We really love our little town and the Oregon coast. The weather is turning to winter grey, but we still love it - if possible, even more than sun. We're hearing from locals that we'll be running into more grumpiness out and about because a lot of people really hate the constant grey. Both Mike and I really like it so far.

We've LOVED the farmer's market this summer - we went every Saturday morning until this last week. It is over until next spring :( The tomatoes have been amazing - and huge bunches of fresh basil! Yum. I've been experimenting with squash to find ones Mike will eat. He has liked the spaghetti squash and the butternut. Not so much the acorn or the delicata. (I love them all!)

We found an amazing organic farm nearby called Barking Dog. We love the place - the produce is awesome and the owners are super-friendly and fun! Again, we're sad to see them close for the winter...

We LOVED the Kite Festival on the beach near us. It was so fun - we spent about 8 hours down on the sand that day. Took lots of photos and videos. We'll definitely look forward to going to the spring festival as well! We're also discovering some amazing local restaurants! We love trying new places. (Favorites so far include Riptide BBQ, Beach Dog, and J's Fish and Chips. Mike is eating fish! Can you believe it?!)

As always, I have taken tons of ocean pictures. I'll share a few, but you can go to my flickr page and see them all if you're interested.


We love our little apartment and our amazing view. Lots of sunrise pictures too - taken from our balcony looking over the lake.


Our cats have transitioned well too. They like being able to go out on the balcony - almost outside!

I'm starting to work on my own website - Off-Center Studio (http://www.off-centerstudio.com/ - coming soon!) so that I can take on some new clients and build some new websites! It's a bit daunting to design my own, but I'm getting excited to do it! I'm also looking forward to taking a couple classes at the culinary center here in Lincoln City!

N.E.D. - Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted. Things have been a bit hectic as we try to settle into our new life here in Oregon! I'll have an update soon, and I hope to get back to regular posting as well. I have a lot of ideas floating around that I want to share!

But - today - I want to bring something to your attention. September (TOMORROW! Yikes!) is Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. I wasn't aware of this fact until I received an email a little bit ago letting me know this. I was also asked to share this with you all here on my blog and I agreed because it is SO important!

On September 8, there will be a CD release party for a band called N.E.D. This band is made up of six doctors - gynecologic oncologists. N.E.D. stands for No Evidence of Disease. This "represents the hope that every gynecologic oncologist has for every patient: at the end of treatment the disease will be gone." This group of doctors is passionate about their cause and hope that their music will help bring awareness and knowledge about gynecologic cancers.

Check out this great CD - and pass on the good word about the work that this band is doing to raise awareness about cancer! (The music is all original and it's really good in my opinion!) :) On the widget below you can hear the music, learn more about N.E.D., the facts, etc. If you're so drawn, you can donate as well.

Back to the Blog World

I'm back! I don't know if anyone missed me, but I've finally decided I want to blog again! I am starting over with a whole new blog. My previous home is still in existence at Mimmsical Creations. Since getting married a little more than six (!) months ago, I have felt I needed and wanted to change the name of my blog. I kind of needed a writing break too, so that all combined to my absence.

My new home (here!) is a fresh start, and a branching out, all in one. My blog name is Off Center Studio. Over the past couple of months, I participated in Circe's Circle with the amazing Jamie and Suzie. We worked on projects, and ideas, for ourselves. My initial project/idea was to have my own website design business. I work for a company doing their website currently. I love that job very much. But, I also have an interest in branching out and doing design for others. We worked through some of my thoughts, brainstorms, etc. I came up (with Jamie and Suzie's great help!) my name of Off Center Studio. It fits! I'm going to take that name right now and go with it.

My project morphed, stalled, and changed during our 12 weeks of Circe's Circle. I put it on hold when we had some major things happen in our life. But, I have held onto all of the information about what I want to do, and I'm going to see where it takes me, or where I take it! I am starting Off Center Studio with this blog!

My plan for this space (as of right now anyway) is to share a lot of things. I have a lot of photographs that I want to have a place to share. I love to cook, and I want to share my process, recipes, successes, and failures. I am also going to join in The Next Chapter bookclub, and will share about that process here as well. As things change in my life, I'm sure this blog will change too!

A lot of things have happened since I last posted. The biggest thing is that I was diagnosed with Diabetes (Type II - and very borderline.) That news hit me quite hard, as you can imagine, and I had to really relax into the idea of needing to make some major changes! Since learning this, about 10 weeks ago now, I have begun making changes in my diet and life. My doctor told me, and here is the really good news, that if I could lose about 50 pounds, she thinks I can reverse the diagnosis! Well... I took that very seriously, and I have lost 19 pounds (as of this morning) so far! I have changed my eating habits by eliminating all obvious sugar. I also eat smaller portions, and more frequent small meals. I have limited carbohydrate intake and am careful to choose foods that have a low glycemic index. Mike has, of course, been totally supportive! Even while on our honeymoon two weeks ago, I did pretty well with the new eating habits and maintained my weight loss!

On our honeymoon, Mike and I realized that we NEED to follow our dream of moving to Oregon. We spent the week in Yachats, Oregon, and we absolutely fell in love with the area. It is the spot for us! We have already started planning what it will take for us to move out there, even if Mike doesn't have a job there! We've been wanting to move for quite some time, but haven't taken the leap. Well, we are both ready to leap now! The ocean is calling us! We're going to listen! It may take a while to be prepared, but we're planning and I just know it will happen!!