Resfeber (n.) Fever
Happy New Year! It’s 2015 and I couldn’t be happier. Twenty fourteen was one of my favorites. There were crazier, more over-the-top-ridiculously-exciting years in Alaska (and thank god for those years, they shaped me into the succulent human I am now), but I like being a little older and closer to myself than I was in my twenties. I feel genuinely happy with my life today. The kind of happy that sticks with you, even when you wake up with a hangover. I believe 2015 is going to be everything I want. Warmth, sunrises in Mexico, yoga, adventure, Texas and time with my boyfriend’s family, my sister is having a baby and I’ll have a new nephew in March, and then we are headed to Alaska. The challenges ahead will all be part of the AMAZING-ness.
What does this happiness feel like? Is it OK if I admit that I still freak out sometimes? I sure hope so because, UGH! My whole life is in disarray. We are camped out in our living room, in front of the fireplace, which is super fun and romantic, and if I posted a snapshot of us all curled up and cozy with our cat, it would all look purrrfect. Truth is we are also surrounded by piles and piles of all our crap in various stages of organization. Things that need to be donated, things that need to be stored, stuff we are taking with us, stuff we have no idea what to do with, or we are currently using but can’t take with us, the things that are taunting us to pick them up and move to them to the keep pile even though there is absolutely no room! It’s chaos! Anyone that knows me well, knows I like order and organization, so this is a nightmare for me, even though it’s all going purrrrfectly.
My sister sent me a note the other day from the Facebook page, Word Porn, with the definition of a Swedish word, resfeber. Coincidentally, she sent it to me on the same day that I found myself completely and utterly spent. I came home from a slow day of work and proceeded to take a two-hour nap with my cat, Sophie. BTW, I never take naps, and I wasn’t the least hungover either. I almost always get anxious when I lay down in the middle of the day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m good at being lazy, I just don’t like taking naps. I feel like I’m going to miss something….or something. It’s hard to explain, but I get anxiety thinking about naps. But last week, I couldn’t help it, I totally passed out and then when I woke up, it was just to eat and go back to bed. I didn’t think I was getting a cold or coming down with anything either, I felt fine, I was just exhausted! I think I’m experiencing this Swedish term, RESFEBER (n.) the restless race of the traveler’s heart before the journey begins, when anxiety and anticipation are tangled together; a ‘travel fever’ that can manifest as illness. Have you ever heard this word before?
I was really hoping to be working on a Camper Van Conversion Part 2 blog post by now, but the van is currently torn apart (most of the conversion is built, just taken apart), and being used as a work truck until we are finished moving. Less than a week! It’s almost done. We’re almost there. It’s just a little crazy right now…. The countdown is on, as my good friend Laura put it. (I love you Laura!). Six days, if you’re wondering………and if we’re lucky!
It’s going to be so bad-ass when it’s all put together, well worth the wait, and I’ll be the first to admit I can be pretty damn impatient. So, to help combat my travel fever, and ground my senses, I’ve immersed myself in a book about hiking. It’s the perfect escape from my temporarily chaotic reality. It’s an awesome read and I highly recommend it if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, and who hasn’t?
Yay, less than a week and I will be on the road! I can’t wait to share pictures with you of our van, just as soon as it’s finished! For as small of a space as it is, and the limited amount of time my boyfriend has had to work on it, it’s going to magnificently comfortable and efficient. At least I think so. I love all the details, everything in it is custom-made just for us and Cota is brilliant at thinking of things I never would.
I’m stoked on life, and I have you, my handful of readers, friends and family, to thank. Without you I could never have made it this far. So many of you have influenced my life more than you probably know. I’ve been inspired and motivated by some of you, the ones that seem to have it all together and to be living the kind of lives that I want to be. I’ve been balanced by some of you too, as you struggle and get frustrated, I can relate and I learn with you. I’m so glad we have crossed paths, you’ve helped me get here, I love you, and Happy New Year!
Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure. – Thomas A. Edison
