Gotta Have Faith

You know, I feel like this whole search for a place to live is no longer about me finding a place to rent but about me learning a lesson of patience. You know how, at first, things that don't seem to flow smoothly just are that way because, right? But then after months of not going smoothly, you start to wonder if perhaps there is more involved. Like perhaps you are meant to take something away from the experience that is to groom you for greater things down the road. I try to look at everything in life this way, when I'm overwhelmed or feeling very annoyed because I'm not making progress in a certain areas, that well it must be a learning experience -- I am being groomed somehow for a greater purpose. Maybe that is why I can look for a place to live for 8 months now and not feel that terrible... I mean, I am learning something, right? But what? That is what you only know after the test. For now I'm guessing it's a test of patience and to help me to be even more patient than (gulp!) I thought I was. If I do find an apartment in the 9th month, I may even take this as a sign: that I will soon become pregnant and will need to be very patient for another 9 months. ha ha!

The place we've been waiting on since last November, the one that was going to call us on June 7th to let us know if we have it or not, is once again MIA. Missing In Action. I can't find a single agent here who takes their job seriously. They take their fee seriously though! Always the case, right? So we don't know what will become of that -- will we eventually get a call, will we not get a call? Fortunately, there is a new place on the horizon that will be empty next week and we can see it when I'm back from London a week from Friday. I'm very, very excited. It will be great to see it - and I'm definitely taking photos this time because if we take it I want to have something to reference as I plan on what furniture and such I will need to put in it! Oh I can't wait to move... I am simply over the moon excited to imagine setting up a new, long term, home for Thorsten and I. I am tired of limbo living and having my wardrobe and personal possessions in the basement. It's time to break freeeeee!

This weekend I venture off to London again to meet with the publisher to review spreads and such and also to work with Debi Treloar on more shoots - she takes dreamy photos and I style them which can be fun sometimes and physically demanding others because styling rooms isn't a glamorous job -- you are under furniture removing visible cords, cleaning surfaces, folding and refolding blankets and throws a million times to make them look photo perfect, fluffing pillows but not too perfectly (it's an art to make a pillow lie gracefully for a photo!), smoothing beds -- it's all I did in Denmark as the Danish have lumpy beds like the Germans so I was smoothly bed tops constantly! And of course, there are fun sides to styling a home -- flower arranging, reorganizing storage and shelving, playing with people's stuff (well in a respectful manner but still, it's a bit of a play time for me), moving furniture and objects around (in one home I moved everything out of the living room and moved in completely different furniture changing it altogether), I could go on and on. You get to shoots around 8-9 a.m. and stay on your feet until you finish, breaking for a quick bite (in Denmark nearly everyone cooked a huge spread for us, which was not necessary but very, very sweet) and then you either take a taxi to the next shoot or if the morning shoot is a full day, you continue on to other rooms. One home we shot had 7 rooms on the first floor (about 2,500 square feet) and 6 rooms on the second floor (about 2,500 square feet again), which kept us busy all day. It was a gorgeous home so it took a great deal of time. By day's end, I was so excited to be there and so energized, I wanted to keep going and going but then, around dinner, I completely mellowed out and gave in to Japanese food and a cocktail. Once the adrenaline rush is over, it's OVER! After 5 days of shoots all over Denmark and also over to Sweden, I think 7 total, or maybe 8 homes, I felt a lot different than after a week of blogging and writing! I would love to style part-time and write part-time to mix things up, so perhaps I will do that someday as I did like being on my feet more. Sometimes I feel like all of this sitting will catch up to me, and I often miss my more physical jobs of the past. I'm thinking in my new space to get a high table to work from so I can blog while standing for several hours, or get a balance ball to sit on and work from 20 minutes a day as I had one in New Hampshire and this was so, so helpful to my back and posture!

So I've rambled a lot today! But this will be about it until June 18th as I need to get my notes together, finish all of my writing assignments, and get packed! But on the 18th I'll be home and I'll be looking at the new apartment in the afternoon so I'll be sure to tell you all about it when I get home. See you in 9 days!