In late January 2021 I took a similar picture as my opening main image. I was driving south. I was by myself. In those hours, minutes and seconds between Minneapolis and Kansas City I vowed to myself to prioritize my health and my well being, both physical and mental. It was the spark I needed to drive real and big changes in my life.

At that moment of making that change, I was living a stress filled and fear based life. Lots of what ifs. Lots of challenges. Lots of things out of my control and in other peoples hands and other peoples whims. So much has changed since that time. I have incredible momentum in my health and fitness. I am learning so much and advancing toward my own dreams every day. So it may seam strange that I took almost the exact same picture driving south and that I am sharing I have struggled a bit more in February than pretty much any months since I quit my job last July. Let me explain that just a bit and share some thoughts.

This February has been filled with so much. I am moving forward with an idea about my own brand, my own products and my own direction. I am constantly learning new things and challenging myself to be creative, albeit differently. We’ve been traveling with a fun trip to see our daughter ski the Mora Vasaloppet and our son has been home the last few weekends. Somehow I squeezed a trip in to Oklahoma to see friends, ride and continue learning more about sewing and construction. Heck, we also committed to a long family trip after both kids finish their freshman year of college. Yeah, busy.

It really is strange that after 7 months of dedicated learning I am finding my mind slip back a bit and falling into some old behaviors. Old behaviors that are the same as when I was working, busy and coping with life. Even though the business of February was filled with things that I am and was in control of, I found myself busy and coping just a bit just like I used too. So it’s time to recommit and renew.

Delete everything in your brain and memory that isn’t moving you forward

This is a quote that someone sent me. I think we all have some stuff that we simply can’t delete without at least dealing with and processing, but the idea and notion I take from this, is to focus on moving forward and not backward. This quote keeps me focused and I use it daily. When I am busy I sometimes eat poorly. I sometimes want to buy a crappy old vintage lens to experiment with. I ignore some things that I shouldn’t because I am simply busy. Being busy becomes an excuse for me to settle. That thinking has got to go! This is why this quote is so helpful to me. It keeps me from spending money. It keeps me out of the negative. It keeps me focused on moving forward no matter the situation.

And with that, I want to share a few photos.

A highlight of this month is for sure spending time watching and supporting our girl in the Mora Vasaloppet. While cold, it was such a joy seeing her do something so challenging. What a cool event.

Jen and I got out for Valentine’s Day to Petite Leon. I’ve been dying to go and we finally were able to carve out the time. My encouragement to all of you is to simply go and enjoy. I really want to go back to sit at the bar and have their burger. Just go. Thank me later.

As I shared already, I also manage to sneak in a really quick trip down to Stillwater, OK. I was hoping to get a few days in of riding but crappy weather everywhere only allowed one ride. It was 70+ on this day of the pics and the next morning was 17 degrees with 20-30mph wind! Oh well, a little is better than none and I got to see people I care about and have missed. Most importantly, I laughed A LOT. There is no better therapy than laughing. Period.

I also spent the month continuing down the rabbit hole I started in January. I love to learn and when a used sewing machine popped up locally from someone I know and trust, I jumped at the opportunity. I have been spending time in almost everyday since learning to sew and making things. I learned to sew as a child. I am completely sucked into creating things, so much so that I haven’t been pushing myself creatively in photography. That’s OK. It’s just creating in a different format. But it sure is tickling those creative depths of my brain and there is nothing like holding something you made yourself in your hand or hands. So damn much fun.

So with that, I am signing off. Hope you all are well and I sure appreciate you all stopping by. Looking forward to what March may bring. Take care folks.