Since nearly all of my hobbies have magically turned into my job, I am on the hunt for new ones. I need something completely separate from my sticker, YouTube, blogging life to keep things interesting and to fill any (rare) downtime I may have. Enter knitting.

I learned how to knit on one very strange trip in middle school with my best friend/maid of honor Lauren. Her grandma got us supplies and we spent a good week knitting terrible-looking scarves we never actually finished. Fast forward to present day during a game night with a few new neighborhood friends. Amy showed me some of the stuffed animals she’s knitted for her two daughters and I about died from cuteness overload. I had to create them.

Amy was kind enough to bring over a few extra knitting supplies to practice with the next morning when I couldn’t get the knitting desire out of my head. I relearned everything I didn’t really know how to do in the first place and she and I talked about what pattern to start out with. I’ll be knitting an adorable hippo stuffed animal in no time.

So far I keep dropping stitches a little too often, but it’s been a great way to get to know one of my neighbors better while giving me a pointless project to work on. I’ve also joined a neighborhood book club to get me back into reading and Alex and I are having more fun preparing unique dinners. 

I never really knew how important hobbies were until I no longer had them. I’ve missed doing things just for the sake of doing them, not because they put food on the table. And who knows, maybe I’m a knitting savant and just haven’t uncovered my talents yet!

With the first day of fall come and gone I think it’s about time I officially said goodbye to summer. Although the weather is still holding on, I must admit I’m pretty excited for everything autumn has to over. Yet this summer has to be one for the history books and as I was gathering photos that I thought really captured the season, it became that much more apparent.

We moved into our new house in March so we had a summer filled with exploring our new city, flowers in are gardens, and lots of delicious baking. We made countless meals in our kitchen in sheer excitement over the fact that more than one person could easily be in it without being squished. We made candy sushi, way too many desserts, and started building new memories.

But above all this summer, we got married at the tail end of it. I’m still eagerly waiting for the arrival of all of the photos and videos, but our photographer kindly gave us a few teaser shots to tide us over until then. It was a fairy-tale wedding I never thought could be possible. I still can’t believe it and only when I finally see the video then I’ll be able to no longer deny that it really did happen.

There will be many, many photo heavy wedding posts to come, but I just knew I couldn’t say goodbye to this summer quietly as if it didn’t mean anything to me. This was the summer that started the rest of our lives together. A new home, a marriage, and many memories I won’t soon forget.

When I rediscovered enamel pins a few months back, I went a little mad. I scooped up so many over the past weeks that a check-in was due. I love picking up a new pin from a place we’ve visited or getting one that somehow speaks to me. I also switched my pins over from the large tote bag to something smaller with more structure. That way my collection is easier to show off without carrying around such a massive bag.

The top corgi pin and the introvert pin were both gifts from Alex on my 24th birthday. We’ve been talking about getting a corgi for months now and it definitely will be happening spring of next year. This little guy is keeping my eagerness at bay as I await the arrival of our own furry pup. Nothing screams Kayla like an introvert pin. I like to imagine that’s what I’ll look like when I’m older. Still socially awkward and much rather spend time by myself.

The two planner addict pins Alex and I created ourselves to sell at Oh, Hello. The mint green one we made exclusively for The Planner Addict box this month and I couldn’t be more proud of our efforts to expand our brand. We have a few more pins in the works for fall too!

The puffin and otter pins are both from the same shop and were the first two pins that kicked off the obsession. I wanted something that represented something Alex and I love, so why not our favorite animals? I think it’s safe to say that the shop they originated from is a constant source for pins I’ve added to my wishlist.

I found the little unicorn through my wanderings on Amazon and knew any pin collection wouldn’t be complete if there wasn’t a unicorn involved in one way or another.

The remaining pins I picked up during our recent travels. Apparently it’s quite common for zoos to have pins so I suspect a growing collection of similar pins as we tend to frequent zoos when we travel. I also snatched up an Upper Peninsula one when we went to Pictured Rocks a few weekends ago.

I’ve always had a thing for collection and I love that this one is so portable. Now to just tame the beast and stop buying so many!

Yours till the enamel pins,

Kayla

Guys, it happened to me. I’ve been blogging for nearly six years now and I finally hit a wall so big I stopped blogging for over a week. Now to most a week break seems completely acceptable after blogging nearly every day for such a long time. But for me, I didn’t feel like myself.

Blogging has been such a huge part of my life and the catalyst for a lot of the other amazing things in it. I started this particular blog right after I started dating Alex. He helped me take my first post photos and I honestly think this blog caused him to fall in love with me in some way. I know how silly that sounds, but my dedication and passion for this blog helped him see how dedicated and passionate I am in all aspects of my life. I stuck with this blog when no one read a word of it. He was a part of every second if it and knows who I was before people tuned in and who I remain now that there are you lovely lot reading these posts.

Blogging lead me to YouTube which lead me to planning. This blog started this whole crazy journey and then I somehow lost it for a few weeks. And I didn’t like it one bit yet I struggled to figure out how to start again. I’m still not sure how to jump start it back up to the fervor and passion it was at before this trip up. But I’m not patient enough to sit around and hope inspiration smacks me on the head and I feel like blogging a mile a minute again. This blog has done so much for me over the years that it deserves a little effort on my part to get the gears turning.

So I’m going to take photos. Tons of photos. Photos of everything, anything, and in every possible combination. Through that mess I’m sure to collect there will be blog posts waiting to be written. Just writing this post has me already itching to write more, photograph more, and get back at it.

Isn’t that always so curious? The thing you’re having trouble doing is the thing that’ll make it easier for you in the long run. Having trouble writing? Write. 

So although the momentary lapse of posts seemed just that, it was a big deal in my world. So let’s push it all aside, pretend like it didn’t happen, and get back at it.

Are there any posts you’d like to see? Help a girl out!

xoxo Kayla