I Think I've Found Something Awesome - Stace

I've been kind of struggling with life and I wanted to find something just for me, other than reading, that I could do. This was hard because I have a two and a half year old basically glued to my hip. I'm also not miss athletic so putting her in the stroller and like going for a run isn't an enjoyable time for me. My favorite is to just be at home on my couch. One could call me a couch potato and I don't know that I would be offended. My husband suggested that maybe I need to change up my routine a bit and thought maybe walks by myself that could either be for exercise or just a nice stroll might help. Get out of the house, and off the couch; The idea wasn't horrible. Alone with my thoughts and music. The problem is the only way I could walk alone was when Jared was home and I wanted something that I could do whenever and not have it based around other peoples schedule.

And then a very strange thought popped in my head. Coloring! Its a fairly cheap hobby, especially for a novice like me and adult coloring books have become pretty popular. When I was a kid, I used to love those velvet color posters. They were the coolest! I got online and started looking at adult coloring books and found that there were a ton and I got pretty excited but the more I looked the more overwhelmed I got. The covers of some of the coloring books said things like "stress relieving" or "relaxing". I was not relaxing; I was stressing out! The adult coloring books are hardcore and I'm not hardcore about anything. I already felt weird about wanting to color so I didn't want to just use my children's coloring books or a coloring book that they would want. And this is when it gets embarrassing. I looked up adult coloring books by number. Yep. It happened and oh they exist my friends! I went to Walmart the next day bought me some colored pencils and ordered my adult coloring book by number.

I wanted the color by number to obviously tell me what to do and to help my imagination expand and to start thinking like an "artist". I want to get comfortable trying new colors and schemes before going to more hardcore things. I haven't been coloring for even a week but already I'm enjoying it so much. It gives me a sense of satisfaction, like I'm accomplishing something. Maybe its silly (ok it is) but I don't care. Its exactly what I was looking for. I can work on it while my kids eat or play. It can be a little frustrating to have to stop sometimes but I don't let it become an issue. I like that I have something just for me and that I can do it basically whenever I want to and not have it depend on other people. I like that I'm "creating" something beautiful. Eventually I will move beyond adult color by number but I'm in no rush. Its my thing I can go at any pace I want and right now I'm just taking it easy. I don't want it to turn into something stressful or frustrating that would defeat the purpose. Ultimately my goal is to get to the Harry Potter coloring books, you know that's right, but until then I'm just taking my sweet time and enjoying myself.