So to my few faithful blog readers (if there are any of you still out there?), I owe you a big apology! It's been months since I wrote a blog and, frankly, it hasn't been a priority the way it used to be.
My friend, Devon, had a good idea. Rather than torturing myself feeling guilty that I'm not blogging anymore or forcing myself to do something that doesn't really feel as genuine to me as it did when I started she suggested that I get some closure.
Literally.
So I'm officially closing my blog. It's actually quite timely. It was four years ago yesterday that I wrote my first blog post - with the convincing of Devon, Haley and some wine after a lovely Thanksgiving meal. I had just bought my home as a single gal and thought it would be a great outlet to share my trials and tribulations with my family and friends.
It was a fun ride and a lot has happened in those four years! I met and married Carl, grew to love another dog, became an Aunt again and traveled to many new places. And, most recently, we moved.
While I loved my little house it was time to move on. We were a little cramped in our 670 square feet and it always still felt like 'my' house. So we moved into a condo closer to downtown (and 2 blocks from my office) that Carl owned but had never lived in before.
It's been a month and I'm so happy. We're pretty well settled in and are about to put our Christmas Tree . So while I was sad to move on from a house that brought me so much happiness and created so many memories with me, it's time for a new chapter. But not a new blog.
xoxo
Friday, November 29, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Haircut
I started growing my hair long many years ago. After a stint with short hair about 5 years ago, I've enjoyed longer hair. At least most of the time. When Carl and I got engaged, it made sense for me to continue to grow it out so I could wear it the way I wanted. After the wedding, it just seemed easy to keep growing it out to donate it to help someone going through cancer treatment access a wig.
Sadly, there are limitations in the hair donation department for those of us who have grey hair and dye it. Luckily, I only use semi-permanent dye and I'm hoping I didn't have more than the allotted amount of grey hairs. But, what I lack in some of the details, I made up for length. The donation requirement was only 8 inches and I donated 13!
I'm really enjoying my short hair so far. It's great for summer and Carl says he loves it!
Sadly, there are limitations in the hair donation department for those of us who have grey hair and dye it. Luckily, I only use semi-permanent dye and I'm hoping I didn't have more than the allotted amount of grey hairs. But, what I lack in some of the details, I made up for length. The donation requirement was only 8 inches and I donated 13!
I'm really enjoying my short hair so far. It's great for summer and Carl says he loves it!
Meet Arlo!
My great friend, Jess, had her baby almost 2 weeks ago. He was a little bit late and didn't quite arrive into the world the way she planned but he is adorable and healthy and I got to meet him last week.
I can't wait to babysit, snuggle with and spend more time with him!
I can't wait to babysit, snuggle with and spend more time with him!
Cousins!
Sometime in the past couple of months (April maybe?) my brother and I did a road trip to Dallas to visit our cousin, Michelle and her husband Brian who live there. Her sister, Jen (also our cousin - duh) and her husband, Brock, were visiting from Virginia (without their kids) and we decided to have an adult cousin weekend.
Unfortunately, Carl was out of town for the weekend and Missy stayed in Austin with the girls but Chris and I decided to go for the night on Saturday. Despite a ridiculously long drive due to construction, an accident, traffic, who knows....we made it to Dallas on Saturday evening.
Michelle is an amazing hostess and had food and drinks ready for us upon arrival. She also has some amazing hostess tricks such as chocolates and water in your room and a personalized picture next to your bed, that make you feel even more special. The six of us then headed out for a night of drinks and dinner. Michelle was interested in some dancing but the rest of us nixed that idea. Instead we went back to their house and watched Saturday Night Live.
Needless to say, it was a lot of fun. We all grew up in Northern Virginia and spent a lot of time together as kids. We were the only grandchildren on my dad's side of the family and we only span 4 years in age. They're like best friends in many ways because we can go a long time without seeing each other but it's so easy when we are together again. I just hope next time Carl and Missy can join us, too!
Unfortunately, Carl was out of town for the weekend and Missy stayed in Austin with the girls but Chris and I decided to go for the night on Saturday. Despite a ridiculously long drive due to construction, an accident, traffic, who knows....we made it to Dallas on Saturday evening.
Michelle is an amazing hostess and had food and drinks ready for us upon arrival. She also has some amazing hostess tricks such as chocolates and water in your room and a personalized picture next to your bed, that make you feel even more special. The six of us then headed out for a night of drinks and dinner. Michelle was interested in some dancing but the rest of us nixed that idea. Instead we went back to their house and watched Saturday Night Live.
Needless to say, it was a lot of fun. We all grew up in Northern Virginia and spent a lot of time together as kids. We were the only grandchildren on my dad's side of the family and we only span 4 years in age. They're like best friends in many ways because we can go a long time without seeing each other but it's so easy when we are together again. I just hope next time Carl and Missy can join us, too!
Long Lost Blog....
So I'm back. Kind of.... I'm actually in San Diego for the next few days, straight off 5 days in Chicago. But I'm (finally) getting caught up on my blogs. At least some of them.
Trust me, I never thought I'd be that person who didn't blog for months. I give my friend, Jen, a hard time about her blog delays all the time. Turns out, I'm that person. Or I was?
Life has been busy. I wish I could say exactly what it was that has had me so busy but when I think about it all I can come up with is work. As you all know, there has been some very public issues affecting my work place this year. It's placed a lot of extra demands on all of us and additional responsibilities. All of which I'm grateful for and enjoying but it's time consuming, to say the least.
So typically when I get home at night I'm either too tired, still working or not focused enough to blog.
But I'm going to turn it around. At least for tonight!
Sadly the first update is not exactly good news. It's about our chickens. After over a year of taking care of 5 little chicks and enjoying fresh eggs and newly sprouting sunflowers in our yard (due to their food and, er, digestion), we are a chicken-less family.
As you may recall, we lost one chicken last summer, who had gone rogue. Then, in the matter of one week, the remaining four chickens were attacked and killed. I'll spare you the details but I'm so grateful for my amazing husband who really dealt with the after math of all of this. While we don't know exactly what happened or how they were getting to the chickens, what we do know is that whatever killed them was very determined and came back multiple times over the course of the week to make sure none were left.
So, while I'll miss the chickens and the delicious eggs, we'll take a break from having a chicken family for awhile. Later this year, we're moving into a condo and will rent out my house so it would have been an issue to deal with then anyway.
In the meantime, I learned a lot from Barley, Gerty, Peggie, Patricia and Petunia. RIP.
Trust me, I never thought I'd be that person who didn't blog for months. I give my friend, Jen, a hard time about her blog delays all the time. Turns out, I'm that person. Or I was?
Life has been busy. I wish I could say exactly what it was that has had me so busy but when I think about it all I can come up with is work. As you all know, there has been some very public issues affecting my work place this year. It's placed a lot of extra demands on all of us and additional responsibilities. All of which I'm grateful for and enjoying but it's time consuming, to say the least.
So typically when I get home at night I'm either too tired, still working or not focused enough to blog.
But I'm going to turn it around. At least for tonight!
Sadly the first update is not exactly good news. It's about our chickens. After over a year of taking care of 5 little chicks and enjoying fresh eggs and newly sprouting sunflowers in our yard (due to their food and, er, digestion), we are a chicken-less family.
As you may recall, we lost one chicken last summer, who had gone rogue. Then, in the matter of one week, the remaining four chickens were attacked and killed. I'll spare you the details but I'm so grateful for my amazing husband who really dealt with the after math of all of this. While we don't know exactly what happened or how they were getting to the chickens, what we do know is that whatever killed them was very determined and came back multiple times over the course of the week to make sure none were left.
So, while I'll miss the chickens and the delicious eggs, we'll take a break from having a chicken family for awhile. Later this year, we're moving into a condo and will rent out my house so it would have been an issue to deal with then anyway.
In the meantime, I learned a lot from Barley, Gerty, Peggie, Patricia and Petunia. RIP.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Good Night Moon
Recently my friend, Colleen, hooked me up with some tickets to a production of 'Good Night Moon'. She works at a local theatre and they do special children's productions and this time it was for the book.
I was planning to spend an afternoon with Lucie and Audrey who both know that book so it was a perfect activity to do with them.
Before that, though, we went to our favorite lunch place, Mandola's (who recently introduced some gluten free options so we can now go back with Audrey) and played at a park. I love those girls so much, my heart swells just thinking about them.
While I thought the show was amazing, it was a little bit of a challenge for Lucie and Audrey. It was the first time they've seen anything in a theatre and I think the loudness was not to their liking. At first, they loved the stage and props and were mesmerized by how much it looked like the book. Audrey was on the edge of her seat with big eyes but soon those big eyes filled with tears when Lucie got scared of the 'yelling' and dark and despite my best efforts to explain to them why the actors were 'yelling' we only lasted about 20 minutes.
So it was a good effort but not a complete success. The rest of the day was amazing, though, and I plan to try again with them one day.
I was planning to spend an afternoon with Lucie and Audrey who both know that book so it was a perfect activity to do with them.
Before that, though, we went to our favorite lunch place, Mandola's (who recently introduced some gluten free options so we can now go back with Audrey) and played at a park. I love those girls so much, my heart swells just thinking about them.
While I thought the show was amazing, it was a little bit of a challenge for Lucie and Audrey. It was the first time they've seen anything in a theatre and I think the loudness was not to their liking. At first, they loved the stage and props and were mesmerized by how much it looked like the book. Audrey was on the edge of her seat with big eyes but soon those big eyes filled with tears when Lucie got scared of the 'yelling' and dark and despite my best efforts to explain to them why the actors were 'yelling' we only lasted about 20 minutes.
So it was a good effort but not a complete success. The rest of the day was amazing, though, and I plan to try again with them one day.
Things That Make Me Proud.....
I feel pretty lucky in my life to be surrounded but such inspirational and highly motivated people. Two examples of those are the team that I work with at LIVESTRONG. They are some of the most amazing, dedicated people and I feel privileged to support their work helping people affected by cancer.
My direct team has been taking quarterly outings for the past few years. It's a chance for all of us to get out of the office, together, on a half day of work and do something non-work related. We rotate who plans it and it's a fun way to learn about what your co-workers like and to take some deep breaths since we're all so busy all the time. We've done things like scavenger hunts, game playing, volunteering and paddle boating. This time we spent the afternoon having a picnic at a local park and going on a hike. It always feels stressful to try and leave work early but the minute we're out of the office, it's worth it and I'm so glad we do this.
Other things that make me proud are the great friends that I have. Recently my friend, Haley, completed an 8 week Crossfit challenge. She ate 90% paleo and worked out 4x/week. In the course of her 8 weeks she lost a lot of weight and inches and I improved her work out ability. The final day of her challenge, everyone who was participating in this event had a final work out. Devon, Kelsey and I went to cheer her on and not only was that a surprise to her, she kicked butt! I'm so proud of my friends who focus on achieving something and then do! Here she is during her final work out.
My direct team has been taking quarterly outings for the past few years. It's a chance for all of us to get out of the office, together, on a half day of work and do something non-work related. We rotate who plans it and it's a fun way to learn about what your co-workers like and to take some deep breaths since we're all so busy all the time. We've done things like scavenger hunts, game playing, volunteering and paddle boating. This time we spent the afternoon having a picnic at a local park and going on a hike. It always feels stressful to try and leave work early but the minute we're out of the office, it's worth it and I'm so glad we do this.
Other things that make me proud are the great friends that I have. Recently my friend, Haley, completed an 8 week Crossfit challenge. She ate 90% paleo and worked out 4x/week. In the course of her 8 weeks she lost a lot of weight and inches and I improved her work out ability. The final day of her challenge, everyone who was participating in this event had a final work out. Devon, Kelsey and I went to cheer her on and not only was that a surprise to her, she kicked butt! I'm so proud of my friends who focus on achieving something and then do! Here she is during her final work out.
Work Hard, Play Hard
There is no excuse for how long it's been since I've written a blog post (I would say the same thing to my friend, Jen, who we often give a hard time to for her lack of posting - although lately she has been doing a great job!). But I digress....
February feels like a blur and March is flying by just as fast. Work was incredibly busy (still is) all leading up to a big annual event that we host each year for all of our various partners and leaders across the county who work with us to support the LIVESTRONG mission. This year's meeting felt especially important in light of all that's happened in the past 6 months. Needless to say it's a lot of work to plan an event for over 500 people and it's a team effort.
For the first time, we left Austin to host this event and went to Chicago. Despite a little influence of Mother Nature, most people arrived and the week was a huge success. It is, however, exhausting. Long days, little sleep, you name it....
I was lucky enough to share a hotel room with Devon who was working harder than most anybody there and could share in my delirium. By the last night, all the staff felt that they had earned a little celebrating and many of us enjoyed our far share of wine. Of the 30+ staff members there, it was largely women and this picture captures our little family for the week (Anthony was one lucky guy). Me doing splits (almost) in the front is certainly due to the wine but a fun party trick nonetheless!
And as if this wasn't exhausting enough, Carl and I decided to meet up for a weekend in Las Vegas. We've both been busy and he's been traveling a lot so we decided to find a place I could get to from Chicago and relax?
I realize most people don't go to Vegas to relax but we are the rare breed of people who actually went there and did not gamble. Not even once (my same friend, Jen, referenced above is gasping as she reads this). While I'm a competitive person, I am not a risk taker when it comes to my money. I'll save my competitive spirit for other things.
We spent a lot of the weekend sleeping, eating, sitting by the pool, going to Red Rocks for the day and people watching. We did have some good meals and went to see O Cirque du Soleil, which was amazing!
I think I'm finally recovering from the past month and getting back into a routine at work and home. And while I know how exhausting last month was, I would do it all over again because I care so much about the work that I do and that keeps me motivated.
February feels like a blur and March is flying by just as fast. Work was incredibly busy (still is) all leading up to a big annual event that we host each year for all of our various partners and leaders across the county who work with us to support the LIVESTRONG mission. This year's meeting felt especially important in light of all that's happened in the past 6 months. Needless to say it's a lot of work to plan an event for over 500 people and it's a team effort.
For the first time, we left Austin to host this event and went to Chicago. Despite a little influence of Mother Nature, most people arrived and the week was a huge success. It is, however, exhausting. Long days, little sleep, you name it....
I was lucky enough to share a hotel room with Devon who was working harder than most anybody there and could share in my delirium. By the last night, all the staff felt that they had earned a little celebrating and many of us enjoyed our far share of wine. Of the 30+ staff members there, it was largely women and this picture captures our little family for the week (Anthony was one lucky guy). Me doing splits (almost) in the front is certainly due to the wine but a fun party trick nonetheless!
I realize most people don't go to Vegas to relax but we are the rare breed of people who actually went there and did not gamble. Not even once (my same friend, Jen, referenced above is gasping as she reads this). While I'm a competitive person, I am not a risk taker when it comes to my money. I'll save my competitive spirit for other things.
We spent a lot of the weekend sleeping, eating, sitting by the pool, going to Red Rocks for the day and people watching. We did have some good meals and went to see O Cirque du Soleil, which was amazing!
I think I'm finally recovering from the past month and getting back into a routine at work and home. And while I know how exhausting last month was, I would do it all over again because I care so much about the work that I do and that keeps me motivated.
Monday, February 18, 2013
First Times and Sixth Times...
This past weekend was a busy weekend - my friend, Haley hosted her daughter's first birthday party (see Gardiner Family of Four blog) and Kelsey and I ran a half marathon.
I took pictures of Haley's daughter's birthday party but her blog is much better. Needless to say it was a pink heaven - pink everything - balloons, desserts, candy, lemonade, bubbly - and it was a big hit!
This little girl is so loved and I had fun shopping for her first birthday gift, which was found on pinterest thanks to Haley's bountiful pinning of all things she wants to buy for Anne.
Of note - if Carl approaches you to see what I may want or need for a gift please feel free to direct him to my pinterest boards.
On Sunday morning Kelsey and I ran the LIVESTRONG half marathon. It was my 6th (coincidentally her 6th as well) and our 4th in a row together!
It's so meaningful to me that we have done this for so many years together! I have no doubt Kelsey could run faster than I do but she is patient enough to let me set the pace (in my old age) and we do a good job of taking care of and checking in with each other.
The weather was pretty amazing but the course is, as always, tough. It's about 6 total miles of hills, which certainly makes me feel like more of a bad ass but it's hard! Overall I feel pretty accomplished with how we did. My goal is always to run the entire thing and we did that (except for some small walks when drinking water).
Today my much awaited massage was scheduled and despite some scheduling issues I managed to get one later in the afternoon.
Kelsey and I have also decided to train for the London Marathon in 2014 - assuming we get into the lottery. If not, we'll reevaluate and decide if we want to fundraise for it or pick a different one. For now I think we'll just enjoy running for the sake of running before it's too hot and not enjoyable.
Tomorrow it's back to work after a holiday weekend. I'm pretty sure I'll be squeezing in a full week of work in just 4 days since I'm on the road all of next week but I have another fun weekend to look forward to.
I took pictures of Haley's daughter's birthday party but her blog is much better. Needless to say it was a pink heaven - pink everything - balloons, desserts, candy, lemonade, bubbly - and it was a big hit!
This little girl is so loved and I had fun shopping for her first birthday gift, which was found on pinterest thanks to Haley's bountiful pinning of all things she wants to buy for Anne.
Of note - if Carl approaches you to see what I may want or need for a gift please feel free to direct him to my pinterest boards.
On Sunday morning Kelsey and I ran the LIVESTRONG half marathon. It was my 6th (coincidentally her 6th as well) and our 4th in a row together!
It's so meaningful to me that we have done this for so many years together! I have no doubt Kelsey could run faster than I do but she is patient enough to let me set the pace (in my old age) and we do a good job of taking care of and checking in with each other.
The weather was pretty amazing but the course is, as always, tough. It's about 6 total miles of hills, which certainly makes me feel like more of a bad ass but it's hard! Overall I feel pretty accomplished with how we did. My goal is always to run the entire thing and we did that (except for some small walks when drinking water).
Today my much awaited massage was scheduled and despite some scheduling issues I managed to get one later in the afternoon.
Kelsey and I have also decided to train for the London Marathon in 2014 - assuming we get into the lottery. If not, we'll reevaluate and decide if we want to fundraise for it or pick a different one. For now I think we'll just enjoy running for the sake of running before it's too hot and not enjoyable.
Tomorrow it's back to work after a holiday weekend. I'm pretty sure I'll be squeezing in a full week of work in just 4 days since I'm on the road all of next week but I have another fun weekend to look forward to.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Down Under
One of the greatest perks about my job (and I'm really trying to focus on the perks right now) is that I get to periodically travel to cool places.
When I first started traveling for work I thought it was pretty exciting. I would often add on some additional time in each new city to get some additional free time. But as the many years of work travel have added up, I do this less and less. Partly because I rarely go to a new city anymore and partly because I'm typically ready to get home and get back into my Austin routine.
But every so often I get to travel to some cool places. Most recently (directly from my honeymoon) I went to Brisbane, Australia. There is an annual international psycho-social oncology conference. I've been to it once before in Vienna, Austria - both because I was accepted as a conference speaker.
Devon also went on this trip for some additional work related projects with some partners in Australia. And I'm super glad she was there - for many reasons!
As previously stated, leaving my honeymoon and re-entering the work world was hard but spending a week in Australia, with Devon, was the best way to re-enter it. Not only did it give me time to check emails and get caught up at my own pace, without people coming to my desk or spending all day in my meetings, it also allowed me to spend time with one of my favorite people!
I hadn't dissected the wedding with anyone yet and, of course, hadn't told anyone about our honeymoon so it was fun to recap this with her. She also caught me up on her life and how work had been. I left the week that the Fall Lance drama hit (USADA report) and it was a tough week at the office. I was thrilled to leave (with a smidge of guilt) but I was glad to get caught up. For those of you who know Devon she is a great story teller so I knew her facts would be thorough and entertaining!
We rented a one bedroom condo for the five days we were there, which was perfect. We shared a room but there was a kitchen and living area so we had plenty of space, which was often needed with our weird jet lagged bodies. It was the start of Summer in Australia so the days were longer. The sun set around 6ish but rose by 4am. So many nights we were asleep by 9 and up by 4 - even working out by 5. We did wake up once in the middle of the night to hop on a work call. Again, it's very strange to be in such a different time zone. We were literally in the future. We'd wake up at 4am and work would still be in the previous day, post-lunch, working hard. It made it both challenging and easy to work. Challenging because you couldn't work 'live' but easy because you could really take time to respond to things - which is not always a luxury we have at work.
There were so many great things about the trip and I really loved Brisbane. It reminded me of Austin - it's a college town, right on water and people are very outdoorsy. So after 2 weeks in Spain with limited green vegetables and English I was ready for the laid back environment of Brisbane. They had veggies (especially avocados!), eat eggs for breakfast, love gluten free options (although they also make their iced coffees into milkshakes), spoke English (even though they of course have their own nuances too) and the weather was amazing.
Devon and I tried to make the most of our limited time there - going on some walks (including a brief nature trail walk, which made Nicole very happy), running (me), Crossfit (Devon), eating at every restaurant in walking distance including an amazing pancake house restored out of an old church, shopping and we even took one day off!
We rented a car and drove up to the Sunshine Coast to check out the beaches. After 2 failed attempts with beaches that were too windy (note: Devon was still finding sand in her backpack weeks later), we found a lovely, beautiful spot. We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing. The water was lovely, too - cold but so clear with no major drop offs.
The most challenging part of the trip for me was driving and walking on the opposite of the road. I quickly got used to it and then found, once I got back to Austin, I had to readjust again.
So not only am I so grateful to have a work place that provides me opportunities to travel to such great places but so grateful that I got to experience this with Devon!
She's returning to Australia this week for some ongoing work and it makes me sad not to go with her. The only thing I'm not jealous of is the 14 hour flight.....
When I first started traveling for work I thought it was pretty exciting. I would often add on some additional time in each new city to get some additional free time. But as the many years of work travel have added up, I do this less and less. Partly because I rarely go to a new city anymore and partly because I'm typically ready to get home and get back into my Austin routine.
But every so often I get to travel to some cool places. Most recently (directly from my honeymoon) I went to Brisbane, Australia. There is an annual international psycho-social oncology conference. I've been to it once before in Vienna, Austria - both because I was accepted as a conference speaker.
Devon also went on this trip for some additional work related projects with some partners in Australia. And I'm super glad she was there - for many reasons!
As previously stated, leaving my honeymoon and re-entering the work world was hard but spending a week in Australia, with Devon, was the best way to re-enter it. Not only did it give me time to check emails and get caught up at my own pace, without people coming to my desk or spending all day in my meetings, it also allowed me to spend time with one of my favorite people!
I hadn't dissected the wedding with anyone yet and, of course, hadn't told anyone about our honeymoon so it was fun to recap this with her. She also caught me up on her life and how work had been. I left the week that the Fall Lance drama hit (USADA report) and it was a tough week at the office. I was thrilled to leave (with a smidge of guilt) but I was glad to get caught up. For those of you who know Devon she is a great story teller so I knew her facts would be thorough and entertaining!
We rented a one bedroom condo for the five days we were there, which was perfect. We shared a room but there was a kitchen and living area so we had plenty of space, which was often needed with our weird jet lagged bodies. It was the start of Summer in Australia so the days were longer. The sun set around 6ish but rose by 4am. So many nights we were asleep by 9 and up by 4 - even working out by 5. We did wake up once in the middle of the night to hop on a work call. Again, it's very strange to be in such a different time zone. We were literally in the future. We'd wake up at 4am and work would still be in the previous day, post-lunch, working hard. It made it both challenging and easy to work. Challenging because you couldn't work 'live' but easy because you could really take time to respond to things - which is not always a luxury we have at work.
There were so many great things about the trip and I really loved Brisbane. It reminded me of Austin - it's a college town, right on water and people are very outdoorsy. So after 2 weeks in Spain with limited green vegetables and English I was ready for the laid back environment of Brisbane. They had veggies (especially avocados!), eat eggs for breakfast, love gluten free options (although they also make their iced coffees into milkshakes), spoke English (even though they of course have their own nuances too) and the weather was amazing.
The most challenging part of the trip for me was driving and walking on the opposite of the road. I quickly got used to it and then found, once I got back to Austin, I had to readjust again.
So not only am I so grateful to have a work place that provides me opportunities to travel to such great places but so grateful that I got to experience this with Devon!
She's returning to Australia this week for some ongoing work and it makes me sad not to go with her. The only thing I'm not jealous of is the 14 hour flight.....
Monday, January 21, 2013
Brace Yourself...
The long awaited (ok, maybe it's just been on my to-do list forever; I realize no one is waiting with baited breath) honeymoon blog is here.
I think these big blogs (wedding, honeymoon, etc.)
are the hardest to write because they will never do the event justice.
And I don't want to bore you all with a laundry list of what we did.
And then I thought about it and as much as this
blog is written for others to feel caught up on my life it's also written for
me to look back on and see, documented, the important steps in my life.
So, here we go....
Thanks to my very smart husband, and knowing that
Hurricane Sandy could impact our connection in NY, he rebooked us the day
before our honeymoon to fly through Minnesota. While it took us longer to get
to Spain - we got there and did not have to deal with weather issues.
Our first 2 nights were spent in Barcelona, where
Carl's family is from and his grandmother, aunt and some cousins still live.
Our very jet lagged selves spent our first afternoon with his
grandmother, who doesn't speak any English. Even if I wasn't jet lagged I
would have found it hard to keep up. I just succombed to nodding eventually and
that seemed ok. The large plate of paella that she fed us, while
delicious, was only inducing a food coma on top of my jet lag.
After forcing ourselves to stay up late, go out to
eat and have some wine (duh) we slept for 12 hours that first night. It
was amazing! Not only that I slept that long but that we could. We had no
agenda, no schedule, no one waiting for us. The day was our oyster!
After our 2 days in Barcelona, we rented a car and
drove north to the Rioja (wine) country. This is the Basque territory,
close to France and the northern coast. We stayed in a small town (of note:
where there was a Marriott) but spent our days driving around the countryside -
going to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, tapas/pincho hopping in San Sebastian
and enjoying many, many wine tastings.
We drove to Madrid for just one night. Due to a
delayed start, a rainy drive and then an even rainier night in Madrid, I can’t
say we experienced much here besides a delicious meal and nice hotel. Maybe next time?
Then we were off, by plane, to the Canary
Islands. Side note, packing for this
trip was hard. We experienced temperatures as cold as 30 and rainy and as warm
as 85 and sunny.
This part of our trip was certainly the most outdoorsy.
We spent the day on a (naked – sorry parents) beach, walked around the town,
hiked down an old volcano and drove around the hillside. There was more history here than I expected,
though, and it was beautiful and a nice change of pace from tapas to
seafood. Even I was growing a bit tired
of bread and cheese. But not wine!
As with most things, I like to take note (and make
lists) of the ways in which Spain had its unique characteristics. Things like:
1. They
serve potato chips as appetizers (their version of chips and salsa?)
2. They eat
tuna (as in cold tuna fish out of a can) on their salads. Gross.
3. Their
salads also only consist of ice berg lettuce, the aforementioned tuna, raw
onions and tomatoes. Double gross.
4. It is
clear why they are going bankrupt – they are very inefficient and have lines
everywhere with no one actually available to help you. Most likely because they
are on a break somewhere.
5. They are
very polite and kind, which is a great thing but also means no one uses their
horn. Not ideal when driving in a city
like Madrid.
But there were many things I loved about the trip as well. Too many to
name. Of course spending that much time
with Carl, post-wedding, not thinking about work and not having access to email
were the highlights. And while I loved being with Carl so much and we got along
great, you do run out of things to talk about. Thank goodness we brought our
iPad. We played tons of trivial pursuit and monopoly and watched movies when we
could stream.
So thanks for your patience while I wrote this blog (and in reading
it). I know I’ll never experience a trip
like this, again, so I’m happy to know I can reflect back on the pictures and
words I used to describe it.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
New Year, New Goals
I just read my friend Haley's blog who posted on her goals for the year and I felt inspired to post about mine.
For the past 5 years some friends and I have held each other accountable to our goals. We document them at the beginning of the year and then have monthly lunches where we check in with each other.
It's not meant to be punitive if we don't reach out goals. But if and when we do reach them we get everything from a round of applause to colored star stickers. We are easily pleased!
This year some of my goals focus on simplicity. Last year felt like such a hectic year, from the start, that I'd like this year to be about minimizing some things in my life (some things...I'm not going to suddenly stop shopping. That's just crazy pants - for me).
So I found a few things on pinterest and got help from Devon who focused on decluttering her house last year and am working on removing the physical and emotional clutter from my life.
In addition to some of these ambitious goals I'm also working on the following:
Flossing more
Accessorizing more
Picking a marathon to run in 2014
Planning my work sabbatical
Taking advantage of the free yoga and pilates at work
Going to visit Katie and Rob
And more....
This week, while the second week of January, really seems like the first full week of the year. Carl is back on the road for work and I am working 5 full days in a row. I have been known to over commit my free time but this week I had zero plans after work besides running and pilates. So I have been home every night and it's been lovely. I've gotten caught up on small projects around the house (i.e. an ever-growing ironing pile, some thank you notes, working on planning Jess's baby shower) and I've gotten to bed early and just enjoyed not feeling frenzied or rushed in the evenings.
So while I know weeks like this are rare I'm really appreciating it!
For the past 5 years some friends and I have held each other accountable to our goals. We document them at the beginning of the year and then have monthly lunches where we check in with each other.
It's not meant to be punitive if we don't reach out goals. But if and when we do reach them we get everything from a round of applause to colored star stickers. We are easily pleased!
This year some of my goals focus on simplicity. Last year felt like such a hectic year, from the start, that I'd like this year to be about minimizing some things in my life (some things...I'm not going to suddenly stop shopping. That's just crazy pants - for me).
So I found a few things on pinterest and got help from Devon who focused on decluttering her house last year and am working on removing the physical and emotional clutter from my life.
In addition to some of these ambitious goals I'm also working on the following:
Flossing more
Accessorizing more
Picking a marathon to run in 2014
Planning my work sabbatical
Taking advantage of the free yoga and pilates at work
Going to visit Katie and Rob
And more....
This week, while the second week of January, really seems like the first full week of the year. Carl is back on the road for work and I am working 5 full days in a row. I have been known to over commit my free time but this week I had zero plans after work besides running and pilates. So I have been home every night and it's been lovely. I've gotten caught up on small projects around the house (i.e. an ever-growing ironing pile, some thank you notes, working on planning Jess's baby shower) and I've gotten to bed early and just enjoyed not feeling frenzied or rushed in the evenings.
So while I know weeks like this are rare I'm really appreciating it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
+of+IMG_1714.jpg)