For the past two months, I have been holding in a problem that has been taking so much time and energy out of me. I'm the kind of person who can stay composed through most tough situations, but lately that side of me seems so worn out. When that happens, I tend to withdraw from the world to reflect and take care of myself. I hate to admit when I feel defeated but during these past two months, I have felt nothing but defeat. Vlogmas is here and I haven't been able to record anything that I had planned which really disappoints me.

    You're probably wondering now what this problem is, so I'll spill the beans: I am taking my landlord to court for failure to make repairs. It feels crazy to come to terms with this, but it's true. Now, if you've read my earlier posts from when I first moved into my apartment back in 2021, you're aware of the problems we had with our landlord which involved lead. Once again, the concerns of lead come up except this time, I have been waiting about two months for the repairs to be done. 

    Now, if you've dealt with a crummy landlord, you understand how frustrating it can be. After all, the one person you're suppose to be able to rely on shouldn't be the person that ends up causing you more problems in the end. Unfortunately, there are so many landlords like this, that tenants often get dismissed or discouraged even to hold their landlord accountable. I would know because I am now one of those tenants. 

    To briefly fill you in, on September 26, water damaged was caused in our apartment from renovations done in the apartments above ours. We reported it as usual to the Property Manager and she hired a contractor to fix the walls. However, because we live in an apartment with lead in it, a fact she knew since we moved in and probably even before that, we insisted that the repairs needed to be done by a lead professional. 

    So many things happened in that month of waiting for a response from the Property Manager like; pictures were taken, they hired a lead inspector to test the walls even though we already provided a full lead report of the entire apartment (it honestly made us suspicious that they did this...), and I even filed a complaint with the local housing office which seems pointless now because they never called us back due to being under staff. Ugh.

    By the end of the month, we were told that a lead professional was hired and would start work that following week - which pushed us into November. When the contractors came, they said the water damage was extensive and spreading but the landlord insisted on only repairing the areas mentioned. So they agreed and began to prep our entire apartment. Keep in mind that these contractors insisted we go to a hotel during the renovations but our landlord did not want to relocate us and said we could stay in the apartment so the workers were kind enough to give us masks to wear.

1st contractor - floors covered completely

Room that we were staying in completely sealed off

The main working area

  About half way into prepping the apartment, the contractor received a call that the landlord didn't want to pay them which forced the contractors to take down their setup. It was a waste of materials, time, and energy for everyone! I was so upset because not only did it leave us as sitting ducks once again, but the contractors wasted so much money on the supplies which now had to be thrown out.

    A new company was hired by the next week but this time the Property Manager and the contractor wanted to go over the damage. I kid you not, but when the contractor asked how soon the issue was to be taken care of, the Property Manager said that the issue wasn't urgent. Unbelievable! I had a funny feeling she would belittle us so I made sure to record the entire conversation. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, but I also mailed the Property Manager a demand letter stating a complete timeline of events and that if repairs weren't made in a week, we would take the landlord to court. 

    Well, the new contractor finally came out by the end of November to start the repairs. We were told the project would take a day and that relocating us was not needed, DESPITE the fact that the repairs involved lead. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the contractors started the work without properly sealing up the apartment. I only noticed this because I heard them sanding down the walls. I assumed they were still prepping the apartment because it would take at least an hour or so, however they started working within 15 minutes of arriving!

    I noticed so many red flags immediately. Doors were not sealed off, the room we were staying in was not sealed off, the floors were not properly covered, one door leading into the work area was even cracked open, masks weren't offered to us to wear, and we weren't even informed that the work had started. I was so appalled by how unprofessional these workers were!

2nd Contractor - Floors not properly covered

Door left cracked open with no seal on it

Partially worked on walls

The apartment is a mess

   It has been rough for me this entire month. For those who have been following my blog for some time or for those who have been following me on my YouTube channel; you may know that I recently had to take one of my guinea pigs to the Vet. My piggie, Twixy (Twix for short) started to drag one of his legs behind him and it became quite worrisome. He lost a bit of weight but he still had an appetite and was even pooping too which was a good sign.

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    As a guinea pig parent, I try to avoid going to the Vet for several reasons. One of them being is that it's very hard to find a good exotic Vet where I live and when you do they are often expensive; at least here in America on the East Coast. Another reason is that when it comes to guinea pigs, you can always avoid visits to the Vet if they have a proper diet and a good home and I have been fortunate enough for my guinea pigs to thrive for so long.

    Normally if any of my guinea pig's are showing signs of concern, I resort to several things; syringe feeding with critical care, upping with vitamin c liquids, checking to make their they're eating and pooping, and weighing weekly. I have also recently started giving my piggies CBD as well since they're at the age where arthritis kicks in. Most of the time, this is enough for them to get through anything, but when Twixy continued to drag his leg, I knew it was time to get him checked out. 

    After x-rays and an exam, it turns out that Twixy is slightly underweight but his bones are fine. Nothing was broken or fractured but he does have a small case of arthritis. Other than that, he seemed fine. After a physical was done, the Vet did notice a small lump under his leg opposite to the one he was dragging. She recommended that I get a CT scan, but that alone was too expensive for me. Since Twixy is a senior now, if the lump was cancerous, any surgery would only stress his body out even more. So, I decided to take home pain meds instead and would continue monitoring him. 

    It's been a few days now since we've gotten back and Twixy has gained a bit more weight and seems to be doing better. He didn't like his pain meds at first but now he doesn't fight me as much. He still trips over his foot but there seems to be more organic movement within his leg than before. Is he getting better? I sure hope so. It has been hard thinking that the lump on him could be cancerous, or it could be fatty tissue even, but not knowing scares me so I've been trying hard not to think about it.

    As pet owners, I think we owe it to our pets to comfort them even if they are given a grim outlook. Cry behind closed doors if you need to, love them and pretend like nothing is wrong, keep fighting for them even when nothing seems to improve - but putting anymore stress on them will only scare them even more. I learned this working in Animal clinics and hospitals which helped me improve my ability to care for animals during their most stressful periods, when they're the most vulnerable and scared. 

    Until next time - Sarah 

    I was feeling artsy the other day and had a drive to draw something...fall related, of course. I haven't drawn in awhile and usually drawing is what I do to clear my head and ground myself when life feels too chaotic. Since I haven't done much of that lately though, todays post is dedicated to being creative. Even if you aren't artsy like I am, see what you can do anyways. If you are a creative bug, take this as a sign to continue being creative. 

    Now, I just want to give a heads up that from here on out until next year, please expect seasonal posts. I'm a pretty festive person and holidays tend to bring out the best in me; hopefully they do for you too. Since September is the start of the "ember," months, it's only fitting that I will begin to do more seasonal posts like todays; drawing pumpkins on Procreate. 

    Drawing pumpkins are pretty easy which is why I thought todays post would be great for everyone to try. Even though I am using Procreate, you don't have to use it and can instead draw on paper or the computer even; whichever works for you. The goal I hope to achieve is to inspire you to be creative and if I can do that, then I have succeeded - very nice. 

Pumpkin w/ witch hat sketch on Procreate

    To get started, I first sketched out my idea in Procreate. It takes a few rough drafts of sketches before I have one that is worthy of inking over. I wasn't sure if my idea would work out but the more I added to my stack of pumpkins, the more I began to like what I saw. I really wanted to add in a broom stick somewhere on the side, but I felt like the vines around the pumpkins were enough, so I didn't. 

Inked over plus color template for pumpkins

    After everything was sketched over and inked, I gave the background a beige/orange color. I thought it would compliment the pumpkins and it really did in the end! Afterwards, I had the idea to make the three pumpkins in the color of candy corn; white, orange, and yellow. The idea worked perfectly because candy corns are usually shaped like little triangles and the stacked pumpkins created a triangle as well. 

All base colors on

    With the base colors on, it's now time for my favorite part; adding in the shadows and highlights. This part really makes the entire illustration come to life and while it can take some extra time, it's worth it. When it comes to shadows, I use the darkest color on my illustration and lighten it's opacity. If the color only works for some parts on the illustration, I just take the darkest color of that object and use it instead. This will keep everything looking uniformed and well balanced. 

Adding shadows and highlights

Finished

    This illustration was spontaneous but so fun and relaxing to draw!  It's perfect for beginner's to add to their drawing adventures as the seasons change and one I will definitely do more of. The total time for this illustration took about two hours to complete but with recording, it took about three and a half hours. When you're having fun though, time is never a concern, but a luxury. 

    Watch the complete video below of me drawing these pumpkins to follow along yourself!

Until next time! xoxo - Sarah

    September is here and I can already feel the difference in the weather! Last night, I even slept with the windows open because it felt so amazing outside. To some, Fall doesn't start until October hits, but to me, Fall is all year round; the holiday spirit in my heart simply cannot be contained by dates or time. So, to embrace the changing of the seasons, I wanted to create my own festive wallpaper for my desktop so that everyday I can channel the Fall vibes within me. 

    I have made my own wallpapers before out of my own artwork, but this will be the first time I actually put together a Fall themed one using Pinterest as inspiration. Pinterest is excellent for an activity like this because of how well organized it is and I found that simply using Google alone just didn't give me the results that I wanted. So word of advice, use Pinterest!

    I also used Photoshop for this activity just because it allows me to layer all of the photos and edit each one individually if I need to. Even if you're photoshop skills aren't the best-like mine-I only use a few tools within it to help me make this collage; no crazy cropping required! In addition to Photoshop, I use Canva to help add in some small special effects just to make the final results pop a bit more. 

    The first thing you'll want to do is create a folder on your desktop; this is where you'll put all of your saved Pinterest photos. Searching for photos is the actual fun part as each photo will lift your spirits the more invested you are. You can have as many photos as you like, but try to aim for anywhere around twenty. There were some photos that I thought I would like that I ended up deleting, so it's better to have more than less. 

Starting a new project in Photoshop

    Once inside Photoshop, start a new project and set the canvas size to the size of your desktop. If you don't know how to find this information out, using this tool will help you. Once you have your size set, increase the resolution to at least 300 for better quality. From there, I do two things before actually importing the photos. 

    I wanted a border around my wallpaper so that I could easily see my desktop icons so I first added a marble wallpaper to my canvas. After that, I used the marquee tool to create a small rectangle in the center of the canvas where I then use the paint bucket tool to color that space in with white - this is where our photos will go. 

Setting up the layout of the canvas

Creating a white space for photos to be placed

     We now have two layers available and from there we will now add all of our photos. I didn't really know how to do this at first so I simply just dragged and dropped each photo into the center of the canvas. I did discover later on though that you could simply select multiple photos at once and add them in that way, but at least now I know. 

    Once your photos are imported, in the layer section, hide all of them except for the first one; we will work on each photo individually to make sure they look their best. If you have a lot of photos, this process will take the longest, but with good music playing and nice photos to play around with, it should be enjoyable; it was for me at least!

Arranging photos one by one

    When you're finished, you should have a collage that is glowing with autumn vibes. I had so much fun creating this wallpaper that I even decided to make another one just to show you all how easy it really is to make. Of course, I didn't find myself to enjoy the second one as much as I loved the first one, but I may just edit it some more to spice it up a bit. 

1st Wallpaper

    

2nd Wallpaper

    Now, the last thing to do is to make sure if looks great on your desktop. You shouldn't have to make any changes unless the border you made isn't wide enough for your desktop icons; if that's the case, just go back to your photoshop file and make your white space smaller, adjusting the photos along with it. 

    I hope my fall enthusiasts enjoy this small diy as it's a great daily reminder that our favorite time of the year is literally around the corner. Also, if you want the full experience, you can watch my YouTube video below to get a complete idea of the steps. 

Until next time! xoxo - Sarah

    We all have bad days where we feel off and nothing is going right, but have you ever felt like there was just a cloud hanging over your head all the time and no matter how often you tried to move, it would only follow you? Yeah, I know that feeling too well. The hardest part is knowing that you may even try your hardest to stay optimistic above it all, but nothing seems to give you a break or a breather. It's just blow after blow.

    If someone were to ask me right now, "Hey, what's the theme of your life?" I'd most definitely would say - letting go. Most challenges in my life were either too painful to give energy to, or I just felt a space in me surrender automatically to an unknown force because a part of me knew I needed to. I can say whole heartedly that it has felt like my whole life has been in a constant motion of tests and I'm not going to lie...it's so exhausting, but this is the Universe's sneaky way of testing you because you're so close to a break through.

    I wasn't sure if I wanted to write todays post but I think it's an important one and one I think many will be able to relate to. Whether you have a few bad days here and there, or your life is like mine and there is just a theme of constant challenges, I have found that changing the way we look at these challenges can really help us grow. Here are some ways the Universe may test you and how you can adjust so that you get the most benefits from them. 

1. SUDDEN CHANGES

2. FEELING OFF OR LOST

3. SLOW PROGRESS

4. CHANGE OF RELATIONSHIPS

5. LETTING GO

6. JUDGEMENT FROM OTHERS