A long note about hobbies.

Dear Mallory,

I wanted to write back last week but, as you know, orientation for my new job has been grueling. At the end of the day, when I arrived home, I could barely form a coherent sentence and all I wanted was an alcoholic beverage. But I was so glad to hear you were doing better. Considering I couldn't give you a hug, that's all I ask!

Also, yes, we better be making cookies. Girl, the recipes you've been pinning have me drooling. I know your sweet tooth is new to you [thanks, Harry!], but mine has been around since the dawn of time and all I'm asking is for a crunchy outside and a gooey inside to my cookies. With chocolate.

Hobbies! I love talking about hobbies. Is that weird? I don't know. Learning about how other people spend their spare time is so interesting to me. I met a woman the other day--at my orientation!--who seemed so nerdy and quiet and wholesome. And then I discovered she does roller derby. Not to say you can't be nerdy, quiet, wholesome, and play some rough and tumble roller derby, but I was pretty shocked.

So my hobbies. I finally mustered up the courage and refurbished some furniture! I had hopes and dreams of refurbishing more of our furniture, but maybe it was a good thing that I didn't coat myself and our home in dust from varnish. You should share the furniture that you've refurbished and built! I'm so impressed by the building you've done. And it's totally weird that you mention basket weaving because one of my roommates in college had a sister who majored in basket weaving. Isn't that awesome? I have no idea what you would do with a degree in basket weaving, but I was [and still am] enthralled by that. I think, if you ever find spare time [wink wink], you should look into basket weaving. I wonder if there's any sort of at-home kit or tutorial...

My hobbies. So I knit. You know that. I have this Etsy shop that I started last year and have never once taken an order in. A friend texted me the other day to find it and when she couldn't I realized it's probably not open to the public because I haven't paid my Etsy bill. Ha! ...Maybe that's not funny. It just sounds irresponsible and kind of typically me.

...So I knit. I write. I read. I'm constantly trying to find books that grab my attention. Unfortunately, recently that has meant that I find books that I cannot put down and, inevitably, end up reading in a day. Which includes staying up until 3A, when I finally have to set the book down because I can't hold my bleary eyes open anymore. Right now it's Gayle Forman's Just One Day and Just One Year.

I hunt for music. Is that a hobby? It feels as if it's a hobby. I'm never fully satisfied with the music on my iPod, so I'm constantly scrounging through music apps and YouTube and blogs. Right now it's Ellie Goulding, Kodaline, and Lorde. Over and over and over. Warning: I like emotion filled, note-building, multiple-octave, sometimes sad, sometimes joyful music.

In my front yard.

And then I like photography, as you're well aware. The majority of my high school and college careers was spent in dark rooms, developing film and photos by the light of an orange lightbulb. And I now have this Instagram profile with waaay too many photos and a huge external hard drive filled with photos and I just can't stop taking pictures. Of everything. All the time. In fact, as you know, on Saturday I started a project, the #forgottenhousesproject. [People can read more about it here.] I would talk more about it, but this letter has already gotten too long. I really feel like it's all about me right now and I hate that feeling. Just know that I'm super passionate about this project and if our lives weren't dictated by the military, I would be really tempted to buy some houses in our neighborhood and flip them. They're beautiful and it's so sad to me that they have fallen into such disrepair that the city has declared them "unsafe."

Both homes were built in 1939. 

The house on the bottom was sold for $3400 in 2012.

What are some hobbies you haven't been able to keep up with since having Harry? What are some hobbies that you've always had? I hope your weekend was better, that you're not building up that anger and that you're having a good Monday.

Amy