Ashley ·
As promised, I wanted to share a few more photos from our weekend at the Lake Quinault Lodge. The lodge and surrounding area are stunning and it was a lovely, quiet weekend full of rainy walks, photos, and lots of fireside reading.
Hope you had a great weekend friends!
Ashley ·
This weekend I got out of town for a night to spend some time with a few dear girl friends. It was, as always with this crew, a ton of fun. Apples to apples, wine, a feast of a breakfast and a lovely afternoon hike were a few of the highlights, not to mention tons of laughter and catching up.
Enjoy the photos, and happy Monday everyone!
Ashley ·
As the new year begins I've slowly been getting back into the swing of things with work. To be entirely honest, it hasn't been an easy transition. The time I took off after the holiday rush was much needed, and in retrospect was some of the first "time off" I've given myself since I quit my day job and took up working for myself full time.
Balance is something that has long been important to (and often eluded) me and the more I connect with other creative-self-employed-types, the more I see that finding balance is one of the biggest challenges of this lifestyle. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist workaholic (something I didn't know about myself until recently-it's crazy the things we keep from even ourselves) and I have struggled to create a sense of healthy structure and balance between my work and every day life.
Living and working in the same space, not to mention having a partner who is also self-employed, makes this extra challenging. There's just no clear line between "work time" and "non work time" and I struggle to find a sense of having done "enough" each day, and to create a sense of accomplishment for myself. Unlike most jobs and school there isn't someone else to give me a pat on the back, to hand out a grade, a raise, or a "job well done." It's just me, and it turns out I'm a pretty demanding boss most of the time.
So, all of this is to say, when I found myself a bit resistant to jumping headlong back into work this week I decided, in the name of balance, to try to be ok with that. To allow it to be what it is, and not be so hard on myself. I am trying to see it all as a process, something I will likely continue to struggle with and learn from for years to come.
How do you create balance in your life? Especially if you work for yourself, what have you learned while striving to find it?
I will leave you with a few sneak peek photos from our Lake Quinault trip (which was amazing!!) as well as a lovely hike with a friend today. More photos from our trip to come soon!
Happy friday friends!
Ashley ·
I know you all must just be dying to know where we went on my big birthday surprise adventure, so I figured it was about time to share some photos and stories with you!
Last week we packed up and headed East to the mountains, pines and rivers inland. All the maples were in full color and the drive was absolutely stunning. We spent a night camped on a back road and headed out in the morning to the Mckenzie River. The Mckenzie and the surrounding area is unbelievably beautiful and we spent the afternoon outside, hiking through glowing-green moss-dripping old growth forest, picking white chanterelles and fishing for beautiful leopard spotted cutthroat trout.
That evening we headed on to Breitenbush Hot Springs, one of my absolute favorite places in the world (check out this post for more about Breitenbush). We spent two days there, soaking in the hot springs, reading endlessly, napping, and generally taking it really easy. It felt great to just allow ourselves to do nothing and be a little indulgent. Over all it was a perfect birthday adventure and one I will remember for years to come. Here are a few more photos from the trip ~ Enjoy!
Ashley ·
My birthday is this week (whoop!) and The Photographer (AKA my amazing boyfriend Justin) is taking me on a surprise birthday adventure for a few days. I am ridiculously excited and so ready to get away for a little bit. I hope you have a great week and do something fun that makes you happy. In the meantime here's a few photos of what I've been up to (well, mostly jewelry-making and blackberry, coconut whip cream pancake-eating;)
