Tuesday, February 26, 2013

....And We're Back!

It's been a little more than a year since my last blog post and I'm ready to get back in the game!  During a recent trip to the bookstore with an old roommate of mine (and after browsing through many books entitled the _____'s wife), I received the suggestion to write a book about the life of a linewife.  That's when the little lightbulb in my brain click on - Oh Yeah! I have a linewife's BLOG!  

I feel that I should explain my extended absense...  Without going into many details, my beau and I had a split in early February last year and as you can probably imagine I wanted nothing to do with lineman related materials.  As of late May last year Drew and I are back together and as of September we are planning a wedding!  I thought that the title of this post was especially important since this is my return to blogging, as well as being back together with my (now) fiance, AND we are living in Dubuque, Iowa - where I lived for four years prior to meeting Drew!

We are experiencing something new in our traveling life because of our location; we are living in an apartment!  Unable to find any RV parks open for the winter nearby, our only options were to commute an hour or get a place in town.  Let me tell you, finding a dwelling that is available to rent on a short term basis (we agreed to sign a 3 month lease) and allows pets (because of our adorable daughter-dog Shiloh) is no easy task.  In fact, we were only able to find two options; an third floor walk-up apartment above a bar downtown and a crooked little creepy house sandwiched in between two others in the ghetto.  Considering I spend most of the time at our place by myself I opted for the apartment - bar or no bar at least the building is locked and accessible to only residents.

 Dubuque is a beautiful hilly and historical city in northeastern Iowa.  It is situated right on the Mississippi River across from where Wisconsin meets Illinois.  Besides having friends who live in town, being within an hour from where my parents live, and knowing the area, we are also getting married in Dubuque so living here is convenient for wedding planning purposes.  Unfortunately, Drew sees most of the downsides to living here.  He still has a bit of a commute to work and is disliking greatly working in the cold and nasty Iowa winter we are seeing this year.  Also, this job is 11-12 hours a day and 7 days a week so we don't see a lot of one another outside of dinner and bedtime :( .  I, myself, have just finished my degree and will have a little extra spare time to contribute.  I've decided to try to find a job since we will be around for a couple of months at least (wedding are EXPENSIVE!).  Ideally, I would be able to putz around crafting and creating things to sell online or find one of the be your own boss jobs like Mary Kay, or Scentsy that I actually believed in enough to pursue.

I have been making some things in my spare time over the past few months.  I did some painted letters for a family friend when she had a daughter and they seem to be catching on with her friends and coworkers.  I make a few sets and a couple cutesy little signs and sold them for Christmas presents.  I would love to be able to find more interested parties to make them for.  I've also been getting back in to crocheting and have gotten started on the ever so popular amigurami.  A couple of friends of mine have little girls that like the owl theme so I wanted to make them as gifts.  Any linewives out there make a living on the road or have any ideas of what to do when traveling?