Wednesday Rambles.

I thought about writing a Sweet Season post, but didn't look forward to getting halfway through, running out of things to say and abandoning it.  I  also thought about writing a Currently post but, didn't look forward to getting half way through, running out of things to say and abandoning it.  So instead?  I ramble.  Lucky youuuuu!

I'm trying out a new coffee shop in our neighborhood, Tenn Street Coffee.  I've got a piping hot cup of tea next to me and am wondering if the shelfs after shelfs of books are for check out?  Borrow?  Purchase?  Visual stimulation?  All of the above?  We spent the past weekend in Denver enjoying seeing old friends, new brunch places, feeling back at home at big tailgates, and soaking up the deliciously warm fall weather.  We had a 24 hour trip up to Snowy so Hunter could brew some brew and I could wrap up a few projects I had started.  We got back to Denver last night and ran straight to Root Down for a scrumptious dinner with Hunter's dad!  There are a dozen reasons why it's one of my favorite restaurants in Denver, but they point back to so many fun happy hours/dinners/brunches with so many fun friends over so many fun years.  I was thrilled at the chance to share it with two people who had never been there before!  This morning I busted out 3 miles....not the best and not the worst run I had ever had, but the temps were high and that is what kept my spirits up until the end.

I've been thinking a lot about the past, present and future.  Thinking back to so many situations that directed me right here.  Right now.  With Hunter.  Happy as a clam at high tide.  Slightly unemployed, slightly thriving with freelance work.  It's always a trip seeing people you worked with in a big time corporate setting for 5+ years.  I am a firm believer in the phrase "Different strokes for different folks" and while I understand that disciplined 9a-5p setting works for most...lots in fact!  it's just so blazingly clear to me that it just isn't my cup of tea.  I'll take a morning filled with blue skies, enjoying a post run banana on the porch with the pooch, whipping up a few green smoothies + a salad + QT time with that boyfriend of mine and enjoying my own cup of tea on my own terms.

Good lord that was corny.

But true!

I leave on Monday for a week in California and couldn't be more excited.  I truly think my mom takes some sort of hosting holiday crack pill because that woman does not miss a beat when it comes to providing a warm, friendly and delicious holiday week.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also thrilled about early afternoons spent playing cards at the wineries, but I'm equally thrilled to enjoy earlier mornings helping my mom get all the food prepared, tables set and drinks poured.

I'll miss the opening weekend of Snowy Range's ski season as they open the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm just not ready to give up the holiday's with my family yet.  My loud, insane, hilariously beautiful family.

I thought about including some photos I've snapped recently but I'm keeping with the theme of random. NOT including photos in a post is extremely random, so there you have it.

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

"Beth, I have to ask you..."

"...what piqued your interest about pickles so much that you drove 3 hours to take this pickling class?!"

I'll get to that question AND answer here in a hot minute.  But first I am happy to report that we had successful and safe travels and have been back in Colorado for a week now!  Well, Colorado/Wyoming/ColoradoWyoming but you know what I mean. It has been a really beautiful whirlwind of emotions seeing all these people we've been missing for months.  

When I saw on the calendar that Hunter's last day was just a few days before Jaime's 30th birthday, I just knew that we would be back for her celebrations.  Even before I knew what those celebrations were, before I had talked to her husband or sister about plans...I simply knew we would be in attendance.  Sure enough, Ryan had been scheming a surprise party for Jaime that we were able to crash!  We were faced with the decision of simply going to her birthday party, or SURPRISING HER AT HER SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY.  Even though it forced me to fib once or twice { or five+ times } on the weeks and days leading up to the party, it was absolutely worth it when Hunter and I walked out { of the bathroom - hello hilarious } to surprise the birthday girl.  She just stared at us completely speechless with her eyes very quickly filling up with tears.  It was such a fun moment!

Knowing that in the months you've been gone, you've changed in so many big and little ways and knowing your nearest and dearest have done the same was pretty intimidating to me.  Admittedly, I spent far too much time thinking/obsessing over this little detail and formed so many { too many } different situations in my mind.  I should have spent more time going over all the big and little things I love about the people I was about to see and reminding myself how resilient and beautiful friendship is.  Note to self for next time.  ;)

As I was walking into the wine bar where Jaime's party was held { we were having sliiiight car issues so Hunter worked out the problems while I made sure to get to the wine bar before the surprise } I saw Jaime's husband's brother and his wife walking into the restaurant just a few steps ahead of me.  Something about that moment calmed all of my ohmygoshi'mgoingtoseeallmyfriendsihaven'tseenin7monthswhatiftheydon'tlikemeanymore because seeing Luke and Krista walk in reminded me that these are my people.  It reminded me that behind those doors were a very large man's handful of people that I have hundreds if not thousands of memories with.  People that I love and who I know love me.  And sure enough, it was a beautiful evening.  It was so fun seeing all the people who came together to celebrate Jaime.  I loved seeing all our old friends, and meeting new { Hi, Sara!!! : } and picking up at the exact moment that we had left off.

After 7 months of pure longing to see your nearest and dearest, if you have even a seconds worth of opportunity to see those you haven't seen in anywhere from 2 weeks, to 7 months, to 12 months you just say yes.  You say yes to the plans and figure out the details later.  Even if those details require 13 hour driving days, setting the alarm for 5:30am several mornings in a row, driving 45mph alone through a twisty turny icy cannon while watching someone get pulled from the steep cliff and gripping your steering wheel as tightly as you possibly can.  We've been bouncing around quite a bit since getting back.  Denver, then Laramie the very next morning { Those Godkids of ours you guys.  Those cuddly, smiley and beautiful kids?  They own our hearts through and through. }, Steamboat the day after that then a quick drive through Ft Collins before landing in Denver for a few days.  On Tuesday, Hunter headed up to Snowy to get to work, and I drove from Steamboat to Ft Collins for a few hours, then to Denver.  My very sweet and dear friend Lesli, along with her husband Dustin opened up a beautiful spice and oil/vinegar shop, Crescendo!  They are constantly posting cooking classes that they offer on their Facebook page, and it was so painful to be in WA and watch all these fun classes come and go while being so far away.  When I saw they had a class October 15th, it was another moment of "I know I'm going.  I don't quite know how or where we'll be....but I'm going to this sumbitchin' pickling class come hell or high water!"  And sure enough, I made it { after that clenched steering wheel, icy twisty turny drive I referred to } and it was beyond enjoyable!  I worked with Lesli at my last job.  We both got out of corporate hell { no offense corporate job people reading this! } and really enjoyed sharing a few hugs, laughs and venting about how different that life was compared to what we are living right now.  She cracked me up when she looked at me mid class and says "Beth, I have to ask you.  What piqued your interest about pickles so much that you drove for 3 hours to take a pickling class?!"  I was a little embarrassed and gave her an answer of loving to cook, wanting to live a more self sustainable life blah blah.  Though that answer was part of the truth, the whole truth is what I spoke about above.  After missing these people, and these memories for so many months that when you have that opportunity to make a memory, you jump on it.  I am so proud of the leap Lesli and Dustin took and want to support them in any and every capacity I can!

So all in all, it's been really great being back.  It's been filled with little quirks like listening to the news and actually knowing the areas of the state and interstates they are talking about.  Laughing over 4+ old inside jokes brought up by old friends that you had completely forgotten about.  Pulling out your ID and not hearing "Oh gosh, ok Colorado, ColoradoColoradooooo.  Where is your DOB, whereeeisssyourrrrDOBBBB OH OK THERE IT IS." meanwhile all the ice has melted in your adult beverage and you are kind of wanting to throw it in the sweet WA bartender's face for not being quick on the uptake of finding a CO birthdate.  It's been fun remembering how one simple street in Denver can hold endless memories.  It's been challenging struggling to  navigate through a city you once knew like the back of your hand, but it's fulfilling when you instincts take you down the streets to the very place you are looking to get to.  It's a daily goal of mine to keep Bremerton as alive and close to the surface as I can.  I want it to remain a part of me and not let it fade into a distant memory.  

Cheers, friends!  And TGIF!!

Orange you glad I didn't say green?

Move over, green.  There is a new lady in town.

It's everywhere, and I ain't mad.  Oh and what's that?  Yes, I did loose some weight thank for asking.  How much?  About 7 inches.  No, no, no, no, nonononono not of my waist little goose, my hair!  It was about 4 months overdue, but I am appreciating a good new light hairdo while forgetting time after time after time that I don't need a hefty blob of shampoo/conditioner  anymore. 

I remember my very first day of Graphic Design school, our instructor Yvonne showed us an image of a blank piece of paper with a sharpened pencil laying over it.  She had us look at it for a few minutes before we tried to answer what it was we were looking at.  Being the new design student I was, I so didn't get it.  One of my beautifully talented classmates did, however, and pointed out how it was meant to symbolize an artists nightmare.  Blank piece of paper, theoretically endless opportunities for said artist to create, but for whatever reason it may be, the artists block takes place, and as hard as you try, you can't even coax anything to come out of that pencil to create on the sheet of paper.

Why the long winded opening paragraph?  I've felt this artist's writers block for a few weeks now.  My mind has been on overdrive memorizing this first month of unemployment { a month already!!! } and the first few weeks of our new life up here at Snowy while carefully constructing sentences in my head to translate and record to this blog.  To share with you the things I want to remember forever and ever.  When I go to sit and write all that is swirling around in my head, I go completely blank, and somewhat nervous to try and properly document this all.  I've wanted to sit down and tell you all about my beautiful and sincere going away party.  About my emotionally exhausting yet wonderful last day of work.  I've wanted to tell you more about our drive to Arizona, and the over-the-top magnificent hospitality I received, the new cousins I met, the memories made with my great uncle.  I've wanted to take time and write down every single memory I have from my 2 weeks spent in California with the 3 people I adore the most in this world.  I wanted to tell you all about how this Christmas, I do believe, has been my most favorite Christmas in close to 5 years.  Maybe even 10.  I've wanted to get down on paper my 15 year old-like nerves for bringing a boy home to my parents for the first time ever, and how seamlessly he fit in.  How I would swoon over him taking the time to help my dad with figuring out his phone, { which seems to be a never ending process that doesn't even matter how many years he's had the phone to get used to it ;}.  I wanted to tell you about our carefree day spent at the ocean, and the hundreds...literally hundreds of stories my great uncles and aunts told over those two weeks.  I want to tell you about how it really felt like I left a piece of my heart and soul in California when I had to say goodbye to my family, and how I walked away feeling closer in relationships to every single person I had crossed in that trip.  I so badly want to sit down and tell you about every little smile Chloe shines our way in just one day, how her little tongue she sticks out at us could very well be the cutest little teeny tiny tongue I've seen in my existence.  I want to brag about Charlie's BAD ASS bedhead he has morning after morning, nap after nap and when he looks at you with those big doey eyes and pleas for you to "pay trainsss???" I can't imagine one single other activity in the entire world that is more important in that second than in fact, paying trains.  I want to tell you how I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with something cuter that I've seen in my 27 years of existence cuter than my boyfriend, holding his 3 year old nephew who has a super hero cape attached to his "Superhero in Training Shirt" and "flying" him around the kitchen with his superpowers.  I would tell you about how I unload the dishwasher sometimes up to 3 times a day, but I can't fathom complaining about it because before we had the dishwasher, we'd have 7-9 people's dirty dishes sitting in the sink waiting to be hand washed, and after you have to hand wash 7-9 people's dirty dishes x3 meals for a few weeks, you will never, ever, ever complain about loading and unloading a dishwasher 3 times a day.  I so desperately want to tell you that I have found my new favorite way to read a book; in the dark, with a headlamp on my head, book in lap, beer around a hand knit necklace coozy { how these came to be is an entirely different blog post } roaring up a ski mountain in a snow cat being driven by Hunter.  I want to tell you how fulfilling it is to get to cook dinners for these men up here who work so, so hard, and how thankful I am that they eat my cashew cheese/tofu ricotta experiments with absolutely zero complaints.  I want to sit down and write a completely separate blog post about how Hunter, Bob and I spent the weekend in Denver and my complete whirlwind of emotions going back to the city, seeing my friends in our regular stomping grounds.  How driving through the city I realized the streets I once drove up and down alone and discovered alone, I now had Hunter to drive up and down and discover with.  I would tell you about the oh so quiet and blissful 4 hours I had to my own on Saturday, which was the most I've spent by myself in well over a month, and I enjoyed each and every single second of it, but also was itching for the door to open and Hunter/Bob to walk back in.  I would love to tell you how beautifully blessed I feel to have had the opportunity to stay in a loft in Downtown Denver where you really, truly and honestly feel like you have the entire city of Denver at your fingertips.  I would tell you that it was such a treat to see my favorite coworkers over the weekend, but after hearing about office drama, affairs, and hearing snide comments from people whom I've always struggled to find common ground with, has solidified that that chapter is in fact closed and I've made the right decision being where I am.  I would explain to you the inner struggles I've been having with spending all my time with only Hunter's friends and Hunter's family.  How the only time I have to my own during the day is when I shower.  I would try my hardest to explain how I struggle daily with doing too much, saying too much and of course doing too little and saying too little up here.  But I would be quick to counter that statement saying I knew when we agreed to move up here that that all would be the case, and how I feel like it is a big loud chaotic dysfunctional apartment living, but I can't imagine living anywhere else right now.  I would then thank you for listening as really I think that's all I want is someone to listen to the highs and lows of this new adventure regardless of how miniscule or giant they may seem to be.  I would tell you how I cherish the mornings when I sign on to my email and always, I mean ALWAYS have an email waiting in there from my mom.  How I am so grateful to Gmail Chat and Skye for still being able to talk daily to Mary, Shannon and Amie.  How I would go nutso off the grid lost if I didn't have them to still shoot the shit with.  I would tell you how receiving photos like this, and the gut splitting hilarious story that goes with them can totally change my day around, and makes the sun shine brighter.

I would tell you how I spontaneously booked a week long vacation to go see Amie in the east coast, and it still seems surreal that I get to spend a week with the person who most often knows me better than I know myself.  I would tell you how these first few weeks of 2013 have proved to me how irreplaceable good friends and family are, and that you need to celebrate every single person you have in your life right now with often, crazy and silly celebrations.

Thanks for helping me get through my little writing block.  If I could, I would overshare so much more than I already have above...but for now, that will have to suffice.  Thanks for listening friends.

 

I'm using a blanket as I type this.

And also am not using the middle finger on my right hand as I type because I cut the crap out of it chopping veggies opening wine and it hurts too badly to type with.

But anyway - can I get a whoop whoop for actually feeling a smidge of chill in the evenings which require a blanket vs walking around with a spray bottle and taking 3 showers just to cool off?

Whoop whoop!

I also miiiiiight have my dinner { read: soup } picked up for Thursday night, which won't be just any dinner { soup }.  It will be the dinner {soup } on a day where the forecast is predicted to be in the 60s!  THE SIXTIES   And of course I didn't pick one of the soups from my list because that would be far too expected.  aka I have an obsession for food blogs and found the top dog today.  It's called veganyumyum, guys.  I mean.  Really.  VEGANYUMYUM.  Not only am I infatuated with the blog name....the pictures.  Sweet Pickled Carrots - the pictures!  I need to stop before I get ahead of my rustic bread & eggplant lasagna self.

I'm stopping.

Anyway.

I made a very important To Do list for this evening, and I don't give a shiiiiiii if you want to hear what it  is or not, I'm sharing it:

Email Cody
Email Bob and Aaron
Email Becky pictures
Workout
Go to store
Drink wine
Laundry
Nails

See what I said?  VERY important.  I'll have you know I have successfully chedked off #4, #5, #6 ok FINE it was the wine I cut my finger on.  Busted. and #7.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to complete #1-3 while dreaming up what color of nail polish to use before bed.

Talk about serious life decisions.  Nein!  Nein!  Nein!  Ok fine.?!  Or You Don't Know Jacques????!
I CAN'T DECIDE EITHER.

Also, judge me for putting "Drink wine" on my to do list, and I'll bore you with details on a looooooooong work week { emphasis on ooooooooooooong } mixed with an abundance of freelance work without a ton of extra time to do get'erdone.  Let's just agree to agree it's necessary, mmk?  Mmk.

As you were.