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Yesterday for the first time in the six years that I have lived in Baltimore, I went to the basement for a tornado warning. As a Hoosier native that was born and bred in tornado alley, I decided that clearly things with the weather were not so hot when I glanced out the glass-paned door in my studio to see a sky that had turned black and green. Forget tornado warnings. Sometimes they don't predict the right thing. And sometimes they come after the fact when it is too late (like the time a tornado touched down literally three houses down from my childhood home). But when that sky is green, that's my warning. (I also often half joke that if it sounds like a freight train is about to come through your living room, then that's a good sign you should head to the basement. That sort of happened in the situation of that last little side note I made.)

This morning is a different story. Lazy, gray wisps of clouds are dissipating to show peeks of blue. It makes for a good Friday morning. Not hot enough yet that the buzz of the air conditioning units in our alley have taken over the peaceful morning. And promising of better weather for tonight's baseball game. So, what better to do than round up a few things I've been browsing upon while sipping my morning's iced coffee.

My sister has some pretty amazing recent adds to her shop, StarSeventeen. I recently favorited this hat. The colors are just fabulous! And I've commissioned her to paint a super awesome hat for me. I'll be sure to share it once it's all done!

via StarSeventeen

I'm a sucker for turquoise, and this necklace from Cat&Bot is definitely one I wouldn't mind having.

via Cat&Bot

This little bowl just makes me happy.

via up in the air somewhere

I would really love to add this scarf to my collection. Perfect for summer! Light and bright.

via LeLeni

I love this abstract painting. The colors are fabulous and I really like the triangle and geometric theme.

via Mardi & Me

And of course, I couldn't leave you without a few good things to read.

Like this mind boggling BuzzFeed article, Why No One Should Mess With the Ocean.

This recipe for spiced salmon skewers. (You may have remembered seeing these in my Instagram feed!)

And some permission to do the things you've wanted to do. I especially like that last bullet point!

Any plans for you this weekend? We're heading to the O's game tonight. For Saturday and Sunday I see some bike rides in our future, plus some painting. Yup, big basement project is underway. Will have to update you all soon!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Yes, it has been a while since I have set foot in these parts. Almost a month, to be exact. In truth, sometimes you just have to put something on the back burner until you actually have the time for it, and with a lot going on in my life in the past month, there really wasn't time.

Yesterday, I spent a final day in the classroom. I had spent three days tearing down my room, giving away six years worth of materials, supplies, and other odds and ends, and it all came down to two black milk crates filled with a few things that I decided to keep. It's amazing how long it takes to build up a stock of all of these materials and supplies, and how quickly they disappear after you send an email blast to your entire school proclaiming "FREE STUFF!"

Two hours. Yup, two hours was it and all of the markers (except for my Sharpies! You can't take those from a Sharpie addict!), crayons, colored pencils, bulletin board borders and letters, books, construction paper, paper towels, and everything else you can imagine was gone. These things are GOLD to teachers and despite it all, it felt good to know that a lot of people left my room super happy with some amazing supplies for next year.

When I decided to stop teaching it was the easiest decision I had to make in a long time. And while the past week has been extremely bittersweet, I don't feel a bit of regret. In Baltimore City, six years is a long time for someone like me that came through an alternative teaching certification program. I had never intended to teach for my entire life, but just for a couple years. A couple years turned into six, and those six years were fabulous. But times change and your heart no longer feels happy or something just feels tiring about going into the classroom every single day. And then one day, you realize that summer break isn't going to be enough. That you are just too tired to think about returning.

Today is the start of a new era. I know that I am done for good, that I'm moving on to my card business. At the same time, nothing about it feels strange. I am usually free with all the time in the world to work on my business during this time of year. My brain has been buzzing with all sorts of new ideas and projects like it usually does as the school year winds down. It feels normal. What won't feel normal is when August rolls around and I'm not setting up my classroom. Summer is a good transition period. It's a great time for me to change, but I am still unsure of how I will feel when I truly realize that this is it. I'm not going back and I'm stuck with myself in my studio until I decide otherwise.

I think it is only natural to have fears amidst all of the excitement. The unknown is scary. I've crunched numbers what feels like a thousand times, but what if I forgot something? What if people stop buying my cards? What if I fail miserably? What if all of the friends I've made at school never speak to me again? These are all seriously legitimate fears that I've had roaming around in this head of mine over the last two months.

On the other hand, how will I ever know whether or not I can accomplish what I dream of if I never try? The fear of regret of what could have been, if I don't do what I feel pulled toward in my life right now, is bigger than all of those other what ifs. Wondering whether or not my business could have been a success later on in life is not something that I want to be thinking about when I'm old, feeling as though my life passed without me truly doing what I love.

Not taking this risk is the greatest risk of all.

Today's Blog Every Day in May topic was to think of things that make you happy. Clearly, I have failed at keeping up with this challenge, but after yesterday's announcement, it only seemed fitting that I write about things that make me happy.

1. Eating and drinking really good food and drink outside on a beautiful day.


2. Cuddling with Finn and Lilah (even if it's more like cuddling with Finn and getting squashed by Lilah).

3. Laughing so hard that I start to cry.

4. Afternoon coffee shop dates with myself.

5. Spending a perfectly good evening at a baseball game. I could never get tired of this.


6. Live music and record shops.

7. Road trips and traveling adventures.


8. The ocean.


9. Freshly baked French bread. The smell always takes me back to my childhood.

10. Getting a letter or card in the mail.

What things make you happy?

Ever have one of those blog posts that you dream of writing, but you have to wait until that right moment? Well, people, that post is happening today. And what is that post about? It's about how I quit my day job. Yup! You read that right. After over a year of contemplating, I finally did it!!! Woot woot!!

I have always known that I wasn't meant to be a teacher my entire life, that I'd eventually want to move on to something new. Over the past two years I started really feeling burned out and found myself much happier with my handmade business. Then there was that pivotal moment when Andrew and I went out to dinner on a Friday night in January and we just sat there talking about school and how much I hated it and how stressed out I was about it and how stifled I was feeling. We were also talking about how happy I was when I was working with my hands in my card business, how much creative energy I was able to use in my designs. Ultimately, Andrew said, "You remember when we were in college and we were dirt poor? Those were some of the most fun moments of our lives. Wouldn't you rather be poor and happy than rich and unhappy?"

It was a moment of reality-- one that made me understand just how unhappy I was with my teaching job, and a moment in which I realized Andrew's happiness was at risk because of my own unhappiness.

I decided in that instant that I would be moving on. It had been in the works for a while. I had planned on coming back for one more year of teaching, long enough for me to totally pay off my student loans to provide a little more financial stability. I couldn't imagine having to give up another year of my happiness just to pay off some loans that will be manageable anyway.

If you're unhappy, you are the only one that can change that. I was unhappy, so I decided to change that.

via NeueGraphic

I am turning 30 in September. I am not afraid of getting older. I am afraid of not living my life to its fullest potential. There are so many things that I want to do in my lifetime that I know change needs to happen now.

Before my Spring Break, I spoke with both my Principal and Assistant Principal and let them know I would be leaving at the end of the year. A couple weeks ago, I handed in my letter of resignation, and this past week I told my students that I would be leaving. While a huge weight had lifted off of me, I also had a very rough week dealing with the emotions of breaking the news to my students. Some of them wanted to know why I was leaving them, which was the toughest part of all. One of my closest students sat in the classroom with tears in his eyes. One of my basketball players made me promise her I would still come to see her games. They did not make it easy for me and I hadn't expected they would.

After sharing the news with one of my former students, I felt better. He said, "Ms. Shenk, all I want is for you to be happy. If you're happy, then I'm happy. Life isn't fun if you're not happy." Here I had spent a good three years dishing out advice to this kid and here he was dishing it back at me. Being happy. That's what life is about.

So where does life lead me next? My card business! At the end of the school year, I'll be taking a quick break and then return to work being self-employed working from home. I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot of you to thank because I know my business wouldn't be what it is today without all of you! Aside from working full time with my business, there will also be a few other crazy things to look forward to in my future! Let's just say that 30 is going to be an amazing year!

And to celebrate and thank YOU ALL, for the next few days you can use the code WOOTWOOT25 to get 25% off everything in my shop and 25% off all blog ads. I'm looking forward starting this new adventure in the coming year!

P.S. 24 school days til I peace out from Baltimore City Schools! And yes, I've been counting down. You know that's how I do! ;)

I skipped out on yesterday's Blog Every Day in May post because the topic was to write about something you are an expert on. Not really sure where my expertise lies, so I decided to stay away from that one. I don't really consider myself an expert at anything. I'm always learning new things and I just couldn't put a finger on anything in particular.

Today's post is much more simple for me. Writing about things that make me uncomfortable? Easy!

Conflict. I don't do well with it. I get really uncomfortable with people that like to create it or come to me with their conflicts that I am not involved in. It always makes me feel like I'm stuck in the middle which makes we feel weird and icky.

Overly aggressive personalities. Example: a lady at the dog park this past weekend insisted that a family of four leave because their children were underage for the park. Yes, she was in the right and I don't deny that. However, the way she went about it was in such an aggressive tone that it made me totally freak out about the situation. She was super bossy all out of nowhere and used the phrase, "No, you see I INSIST that you leave this park at once." Eeeeeeek. Uncomfortable. Also, the types of people that are so aggressive that you feel you can't do anything, but nod in agreement even if you don't agree-- big time uncomfortable.

Religion. I am not really religious and I don't write about my beliefs on my blog because I know if I were to do so, I would probably be attacked by others for them. On the flip side, it makes me really uncomfortable when people talk about religion as though it is truth and that if you're not believing the same thing, well then, you must be a horrible person. It makes me uncomfortable when people suddenly bust out things about Jesus and God in a way that assumes all must agree with them. It all feels a bit preachy and makes me feel like I am not in an arena where I truly have freedom of religion. The jargon freaks me out the most. I know I once told Andrew, why do you have to call your church trips "mission trips"? Just call them trips where you're helping people out! Calling it a "mission trip" makes it sounds like you're trying to convert people or something. Uggggh. Suuuuuper uncomfortable.


Talking to another introvert. All you introverts out there, have you ever been stuck in a situation where it's just you and another introvert? Eeeeeeeeek! Worst ever! So uncomfortable because neither of you want to start the conversation first or know what to say. Big time uncomfortable! This is the same reason why I often freak out if Andrew does not come with me to social situations. I need an extrovert to help me out!

Dresses. In a day when it seems dresses are the best thing ever (seriously, these days as soon as the weather is nice I'm the only girl not wearing one) I still feel extremely uncomfortable wearing one. I'm always worried that something is going to fly up or fall down. Skirts I can do. Dresses? I own them, but then don't wear them enough to justify having purchased them. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm so tall that finding a short length dress that covers my butt is impossible and finding a maxi dress that covers my ankles is just as impossible. Who knows. They just make me uncomfortable.

What makes you uncomfortable?