# Plans to stay put for a while, make some art



## awkwardshelby (Apr 24, 2017)

This might be a long post, who knows but I'm just spewing out thoughts here for what I should do. Maybe some of you are in the same boat or were at one point. 

After my partner and I were done with school in Santa Fe, we traveled around and camped out of my car for a bit, planned to do it longer, but once we came back to our homecity of San Antonio, both of our families had some issues and thought we should stick around. We lived with my sister in her one bedroom apartment with her baby and her boyfriend, and now we live in our own apartment, but I'm already so stir-crazy and I haven't even been back in SA a full year yet (maybe 8 months). I want to sell all my shit again and leave since I've accumulated a good amount of stuff from being in storage and having a space to collect more things I don't need, haha!

But I'm feeling like staying put in SA for a while will be good for us. My partner might be getting nicer paying job at the humane society doing dog adoptions and grooming them, so we're looking to save up some money and slowly get rid of stuff instead of doing it all at once like we've done in the past. Meanwhile, I'm just doing freelance illustration and design work and random odd jobs for some extra cash. But also, SA's art scene has really expanded and there is a lot more shows for me to set up and sell stuff at, so I'm definitely taking advantage of that while I am here and making connections along the way.

Anyway, my point of staying in San Antonio for a while is because my grandmother isn't doing so well, she has some heart and knee issues and she's the caretaker for my 12-yr old brother, so I am occasionally helping her out , my sister is having her second baby, and my partner's grandparents are both basically on their deathbeds. Family has never been a super huge priority for both of us, but we figured they would appreciate it if we stayed for a little while so we can help out wherever we can. Plus, it's super cheap to live here and we have more resources because of family. My partner's brother just got a nice job as a radar analyst or something that super smart people do (haha) and he's looking into buying his first house, so we will probably move in with him to help alleviate some of the cost and we'll get a much cheaper living situation than we are in now.

My plan after we move in with her brother (or if it doesn't work out, rent a cheap room in a house instead of an apartment), to buy a van and slowly work my way to converting it. Totally want to take my time with it and not rush things buying one, getting materials, making it how we want, and also like I said getting rid of our stuff. That way, we can save up a good chunk of change to convert it and also take some smaller trips in the meantime (like the jamboree, yay!, and to zine fests across the country this summer).

I don't know how long I'll be back in SA, but I feel the need to settle for a bit, even though my heart is racing and I'm just like well fuck it let's just camp around again. I want to invest in a nicer vehicle and make it totally my own, and I feel like that's a worthy investment for the time being. Maybe small little trips every once in a while will help satisfy the craving to get out, I just hate being in one place too long, especially when it's my hometown where I spent what 16 years of my life in?


----------



## zipty6425 (Apr 24, 2017)

Sounds like a good plan. Van dwelling is bad ass! I hope you make progress on your goals... Stay focused!


----------



## awkwardshelby (Apr 24, 2017)

zipty6425 said:


> Sounds like a good plan. Van dwelling is bad ass! I hope you make progress on your goals... Stay focused!



Thanks friend! Super stoked and happy to have something to look forward to in the meantime.


----------



## AlwaysLost (Apr 25, 2017)

I want to see the art


----------



## awkwardshelby (Apr 25, 2017)

AlmostAlwaysLost said:


> I want to see the art



Hell yeah! In February, I started my own one of those #challenge things where I force myself to do at least one minicomic a month where each one has to be at least 8-10 pages or more. Turns out, I crank these out way too quickly and have been doing at least two a month, haha. I share a lot of my stuff on my instagram: *@shelbycriswell *if you wanna take a look  Thanks friend!


----------

