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I got back from a trip out to my family’s Wyoming ranch last week. I joined my parents and my brother and his family there. Then they all came back here to Bellingham for a few days. The bro and his fam left on Sunday and my parents left on Tuesday. And now I have four days to myself until cheerleading starts again. Oh summer, where have you gone?
The trip to Wyoming/Montana was good. The ranch is near Yellowstone and has been in my family since the 1930′s – my great grandmother bought it and it has stayed in the family ever since (although some of it was sold off before I was born). There were three things that made the trip great:
1. My niece and nephew were there.
2. I am now an adult and can make my own decisions about going on hikes and what I want to eat.
3. We did things in Yellowstone that I’d either never or rarely done before.
My niece is now 5 1/2 and she is fun, fun, fun. She and I stayed in a small cabin on our property. There are two beds in it – a single for her and a queen for me. The second night she was scared that wolves were going to come get us (an impossibility) and I let her get in bed with me. And that’s where she stayed every night after that. Anyway, she was quite the trooper during the day and it was wonderful having the chance to interact with her so much. My nephew is 2 1/2 and has decided that he is Mr. Independent, but still likes to refer to himself as Baby. He was a very easy going baby who would eat anything. Until now. Now he pretty much only likes carbs (and not all carbs at that) and he wants to do everything by HIMSELF! So that took some adjusting to. He was also obsessed with doors on this trip. Every door, everywhere. They needed to be opened. They needed to be closed. They needed to be opened, then closed. Luckily with the amount of opening and closing of doors he did he only ended up with squished fingers once and I think two head bumps (from slamming it closed and being surprised when it came bouncing back at him). But no matter how many two year old oddities he is going through he still remains one of the most adorable and kissable kids I’ve ever met.
The last time I went to the ranch was eight years ago and I was only twenty. I remember feeling pretty grown up then and that makes me laugh now. Not that I am more grown up now, but I at least recognize the folly of thinking you are super mature at age twenty. Anyway, as with any multi-generational family gathering, you are treated in a way that reflects which generation you come from. Now that there are grand kids (thank you to my brother for providing those!), I get to be more in the middle generation. Which meant that if I didn’t want to go along on a hike I didn’t have to. But some of my more outdoorsy friends will be happy to know that I elected to do this only once. Well, actually twice, but the second time I volunteered to drive into town (1 1/2 hours away) with my mom when she was going to order a new stove, so that doesn’t count since I was still doing “something”. Anyway, the day that I decided not to go on the big hike, my brother reacted with disappointment right away and my dad started to freak out and almost demand that I come. But, my mom stepped in and stood up for me saying that I was an adult and they had to let me make my own decisions. Yay Mom! Then I volunteered to help with some maitenence work my dad was in the middle of and he got super excited for me to stay back and do that instead. Typical.
The one thing that I really wanted to do on the trip was go on (or at least to) Yellowstone Lake. My family (the whole extended family) hardly ever goes to the Lake part of the park. We usually hit the falls, Mammoth, Lamar Valley, and occasionally Old Faithful. Since people from my family have been going to the ranch since the 1930′s, it is understandable that many of them have the “been there, done that” attitude when it comes to Yellowstone. But the last time I was there I drove by the lake with an uncle and some cousins and thought it was so beautiful. I had looked into renting boats on the lake before leaving for my trip so I knew it was a possibility but figured it would be difficult to actually get one since we were there during the height of tourist season. Anyway, in the end we drove to the lake’s marina, checked out what they had available and were able to rent two motor boats for an hour. My brother and his family went in one and Mom, Dad, and I went in the other. This ended up being great because it was really fun to be able to watch the kids having fun riding in the boat and to zip around each other and make waves and all that. It was an absolutely beautiful day and it was so fun to see the Lake Hotel from the water. It is the oldest hotel in the park and while it shows its age a bit, it is really beautiful.
We also went to swim in Firehole River which I’d never been to, plus checked out mud volcanoes and some geysers we’d never stopped at. It was nice having my sister in-law there because she pointed out new things from the map that most of us just glance over now. We also saw more animals (both in number and variety) than I ever remember having seen before. Tons of buffalo (my favorite), deer, elk (we spotted a HUGE bull elk one night), two grizzly bears, numerous birds, and a wolf. My sister in-law also spotted a yellow bellied marmot. Which I just think is a funny name.
Anyway, there is much more to share about the trip but I’ll leave it at that for now. Maybe I’ll surprise myself and get motivated to post some pictures. I will at least write about a few other special or funny things that happened on the trip.
a few things that are making me happy in a dreamy sort of way:
*a big beautiful bouquet from our farmer’s market for just five bucks
*tangerine popsicles
*the anticipation of going on a short road trip soon
*fresh raspberry pie at lunchtime
*indulging in a massage and then consequently booking the appointment for the next one
*catching up with one of my best friends
*reading eat, pray, love
*anticipating reading harry potter next
*watching the new season of my boys (started yesterday) with my roommate
Well. It’s been a little less than a year since my last post. Which was written just a few days before cheerleading season began. And I just recently got home from cheer camp for this year and am on my official “break” from coaching right now. Which means I suddenly have time and a desire to actually write on my blog. One could gather some thoughts/ideas from that pattern, but we’ll leave it at that for now.
The truth is, this has been a difficult year overall. Cheerleading had its ups and quite a few downs. My co-coach and I are always somewhat mystified by the way each year always (ALWAYS) brings new situations/problems/joys/anxieties. We never (NEVER) have a year that just flies on by without any new and hard situation to tackle. This past year seemed to bring them in droves. But, I survived! And I’m planning to coach again next year (although to be honest, part of me feels like I’m crazy for doing it).
My health has given me quite a few problems too. Starting last fall, I had incredible pain that was brought on by tension headaches – really tension head/neck/shoulder/back aches. These lasted a good 4 to 5 months and still affect my everyday life to some degree. I am extremely thankful for physical therapy that basically just involves getting massaged in the specific problem area for an hour or so. My PT saved my sanity (or what was left of it). In more recent months I’ve been dealing with being really tired most of the time. I’m in the process of figuring out the cause (if there is one) and trying to deal with it. It is affecting my ability to be at work on time and stay focused throughout the day. Not the greatest when my outside of work schedule doesn’t always leave room for making up hours.
And then to add insult to injury, my parents both had health issues of their own. Mom had a bunionectomy right before Christmas (lucky for her I was able to be in town to help nurse her back to health – or really just keep her from wanting to kill my dad). Dad had a heart attack in March that he thankfully seems to be making a full recovery from, but my hope is that he is truly learning from the experience as well and will do a better job taking care of himself. We shall see.
Now enough with the whining. There have been exceptional (EXCEPTIONAL!) things that have happened as well. In October, I was able to travel to Italy with an old college friend. We did a week long Rick Steves tour in Rome and then we traveled up to Cinque Terre for a few days on our own. The tour was incredible and I fell in love with Rome. We saw and did so many amazing things, I still get a little giddy when I think about it. Like the fact that I’ve actually stood in the Colosseum and walked through the Forum. These were things I studied in college and to actually see them in person and breathe it all in was amazing. My very favorite thing we did on the tour was go to the Borghese Gallery. The statues by Bernini that are held there are some of the most fantastic pieces of art I have ever seen. So just a tidbit in case you ever find yourself in Rome wondering what to do. Oh, and another tidbit…the hot men work at the Vatican (and no, I don’t mean the Pope). I enjoyed our time in Cinque Terre as well, but to be honest I was so ready to be blown away because of all the wonderful things I had heard about it that once I got there it was a tiny bit of a let down. Plus we were pretty exhausted after our tour (there was lots and lots and lots of walking).
Other great things have happened this year as well. Lots of friends have had babies. And really cute babies at that. I was able to be in Alaska at Christmas and got to celebrate my niece’s 5th birthday with her. I served on a board for cheer coaches in the state. Which okay, does not sound like that much fun, but it helped me to be more involved with cheer on a wider level which is something I’ve been wanting for a long time. And along with that, I also trained to be a judge for cheer competitions and passed all four of the testing points on the first try. I’m looking forward to judging competitions this fall/winter. And this last spring I sort of got promoted. Technically I am still the administrative assistant, but I used to have receptionist responsibilities on top of that and it was getting to the point of being too much to balance. So I got to move up to a different office and I got a raise. All good things.
Anyway, I’d like to keep blogging on a regular basis, but I always seem to cave under the pressure. “What pressure?” you ask. Um. Just the pressure I put on myself. Because I am a perfectionist who only likes to do things if I can do them right and well and you know, perfectly. So of course we’ll see how this goes, but hopefully it goes somewhere. Maybe my next post can be less than 10 1/2 months from now? That’d be a good start.
Welp, I’ve been back from Alaska for about a week and half and am just now getting around to posting pictures and a recap of the trip. One reason is because my parents actually came down here the same night I did so I’ve been a little busy doing stuff with them. And another reason is just because I’ve been lazy and enjoying my days of having few responsibilities. But things are changing today! I’ve posted some pictures on facebook and now I’m writing this post. Crossing stuff off the list. 
So make yourself comfortable, I think this is going to be a long one.
The trip was great. One of the best trips home in recent years. I was able to see quite a few of my friends (sadly, for only quick visits with most of them), I got to spend quite a bit of time with my niece and nephew, I got to hang out quite a bit with one of my closest friends Carlie (and help out with her brother’s wedding), and I got to attend (and plan and set up) my 10 year high school reunion. The weather was amazing. As in pretty hot – it was in the mid 80′s for most of my trip. I only remember it reaching those kind of temps maybe once or twice growing up. I had of course packed completely inappropriately. Luckily I’d brought quite a few tank tops for layering, so I just dropped the extra layers. And I never once touched the fleece jacket that took up tons of space in my suitcase. Oh well.
The first weekend I was there, my niece (A) and nephew (Z) stayed with us at my parents’ house. A is 4 1/2 and Z is about 15 months. They arrived on Saturday evening and we had them until Monday morning. It was fun, it was exhausting, and it reminded me of just how amazing my sister in-law is to be able to keep up with them on a daily basis. It took my dad, mom, and I all of our effort to keep just 2 kids in line. Dad and I took A to the park where she ran around for 2 hours straight and someone thought my dad was either homeless or a creepy old man because he laid down in the shady part of one of the jungle gyms and was taking a snooze. When another lady asked me about him I was confused at first and then realized that she was talking about him. A little embarrassing to say the least.
That evening we took the kids to Kepler Park for a boat ride. A decided that her life jacket was killing her after my mom tied together the top set of ties. So, much of the ride was spent listening to her complain of choking and saying that her vest was “sooo heavy”. Finally she perked up a bit when she got the chance to row the boat with Granny. Then Z started fussing and we couldn’t figure out what his deal was. Turns out he wanted to row too. He’s very mechanically minded, which doesn’t surprise me a bit seeing as how my dad is a civil engineer, my brother is an areonautical engineer, and Z‘s other grandpa owns his own construction company. And while a bit small for actual rowing, he did seem to have a grasp on the concept and was as happy as a clam after that.
That night Z fell asleep in my arms while we watched Black Beauty (um, how sad is that movie?) and when I went to put him down on his makeshift bed of couch cushions, I couldn’t believe how much he actually looked like a little cherub. It helped that he was just in a diaper and wrapped up in his champagne colored silky blanket. His blonde hair didn’t hurt either. I wish I had a picture of him at that moment. So adorable.
I met up with lots of my friends for lunches during the week. I went with one of them to this newer restaurant called the Red Beet. They don’t have a full menu there. Instead, they make one entree a day and that’s what you get. It helps that the food is totally gourmet and delicious. I can be a picky eater so I was nervous they’d be serving something I really didn’t like, but the food was fabulous. I thought it really couldn’t get much better and then we ordered dessert! I got this amazing almond cake with cream and I couldn’t believe how good it was. I’ve been craving it ever since that day. I can taste it right now it was so great!
My friend Carlie was up from Tennessee for her brother’s wedding and our high school reunion. Her husband is originally from Florida and has only been up to Alaska once before. It was actually when he proposed to her and it was a pretty short trip with disappointing weather, so he was excited about the chance to visit again. I asked my dad if he would take the three of us up in his plane to fly over a nearby glacier. The sky had gotten pretty hazy because of wildfires up by Denali, but the view was still amazing. I think Tony had a great time and it turns out it was Carlie’s first time having a scenic flight like that (and she grew up in AK).
I spent my last Friday and Saturday there helping with the wedding. Friday was pretty fun because Carlie and I got to zip around in my dad’s Miata going from place to place. There was the normal wedding stress, but I had fun for the most part. Saturday was a bit of a different story. I had fun, but was a lot more stressed. I’ve coined the day as “running a marathon in bad shoes”. Seriously, one of the worst blisters I’ve ever had on my heel. But it all worked in the end and the bride and groom are married (they were high school sweethearts!) and everyone survived! (But I’ve only worn flip flops since then.)
Oh, and that Friday night we celebrated my brother’s 31st birthday. I made him a spice cake because my sister in-law told me that whenever they eat spice cake somewhere he always says something to the effect of “why isn’t spice cake in our life more often?” I got him the first season of Lost on dvd because a couple of months ago he called me on a Wednesday night about 10 minutes before it was on. I told him I could only talk for that bit of time because Lost would be on and I couldn’t miss it. And he had the audacity to ask me, “What’s Lost?” AAAAHHHHH, are you kidding me? I understand to some degree – they don’t have regular tv and basically just watch things through Netflix. But Lost just seemed up his alley especially with all the conspiracy theory stuff. So now I hope he does actually like it seeing as how I went ahead and just bought the season for him instead of telling him to get it on Netflix.
That night the kids ran around my parents’ yard for quite awhile. I just sat down in the middle of it and started taking pictures.
Sunday was our reunion. We had planned on having a potluck BBQ at one of the local parks. I’d gotten kind of anxious about all the details of it (but not about seeing any of the people). Luckily my friend Hailee really stepped up to the plate and got lots of decorations and nice things to make it feel more festive. I spent the better part of the week worrying about parking, which of course turned out to be a non issue. I’d say about 40 people from my class (out of 216) along with families came. So a little dissappointing size wise, but it was so great to see the people who were there. And everyone was so gracious about thanking me for putting it together. I was really glad we did it, even if I had anxiety about it for a whole stinking year. Everyone looked pretty much exactly the same and it was weird to see little miniature versions of them running around on the park’s jungle gym. And their were quite a few little babies there. So sweet.
That night I took the red eye flight back down to WA. My parents were on another flight that was scheduled to take off at the exact same time (I’m pretty sure we were on 2 different runways). Once we were in Seattle I took the shuttle bus and they had a layover and then a commuter flight up to B’ham. And I beat them there by 5 minutes.
Here are my goals for my trip to Alaska:
1. Take lots of pictures.
2. Post said pictures on Facebook or blog when I get back.
3. Spend time with people I love.
4. Do not sleep in past 9:30am so that I have a better chance at accomplishing #3.
5. Feel free to stay up until the sun sets (around 2am) or later if it means accomplishing #3.
6. Drive to the places that I always think of when I think of being at home.
7. Take pictures when I arrive at #6′s destinations.
8. Be patient with the parents.
9. Spend minimal time on the internet and avoid watching pointless tv (watching a movie with family isn’t necessarily pointless).
10. Spend lots of time outside.
I’ll let you know how I do. Or better yet, you”ll hopefully get to see pictures and then you can judge how well I did.
I can’t believe that tomorrow is the last day in June. It went by really fast. But looking back I realize I did so much and had a good time throughout it. Three cheers for June!
I just got back from cheer camp on Saturday. It was by far the best camp I’ve taken my squad to in the last 5 years that I’ve been a coach. It was a fairly small camp because some other schools that had been signed up were still in school due to making up for snow days. Can you imagine? Still in school during the 4th week of June? Ugh. But it made camp nicer for the teams that did make it because we got a lot more individualized attention. And the girls did great! I think 16 (out of 21) of them were nominated for All American and 6 actually made the All American team (I think there were only 12 total for the entire camp). One of the girls was named Top All American of the camp for the second year in a row (and she’s only going to be a junior this year). One of the seniors was “apped” at the end of the camp. That means that the NCA staff thought she was good enough to try out for their staff next year and she got a special application to do so. The team as a whole won the “Top Performance Team” award and received a Nationals bid. And the other coach and myself won a “Been There, Done That” award acknowledging our commitment, knowledge and dedication to our squad and to cheerleading as a whole. All in all it was a fabulous 4 days. Except for the mattresses we slept on in the dorms – we called them our “cement slabs”. It was seriously an adult version of a crib mattress. And there was a ginormous hill that we had to go down and up 3 times a day. Which was never fun, but at least I felt like my legs and butt were getting a good workout. Makes up for all the cafeteria food we ate there (which was actually pretty tasty). And now I have a break until August!!!
On to other summer plans. I’m leaving for Alaska this Friday. I’m going to be there for about 10 days, but already I’m wondering how I’m going to cram in all my plans. There are a lot of people to see. Last time I was there it was for a short trip around Thanksgiving so I didn’t get to see a whole lot of my friends for very long. I’d like to be able to spend a little more time with everyone. And some of my other out of state friends will be up there because it is our 10 year high school reunion and we’re all heading back for it. (Can I just say that I’m so looking forward to the day after the reunion? Not because I’m nervous about seeing anyone, just because even the idea of planning this event has caused me anxiety for the past year and now I won’t have to think about reunions again for another 10 years.) I also get to help with one of my best friend’s younger brother’s wedding. He is getting married to his high school sweetheart who I actually knew when she was just a wee toddler. And I’ve known the groom since he was in middle school. Whenever I think of him I just think about him doing calf raises on their stairs because he wanted to get stronger so he could make the 8th grade basketball team. And now he’s getting married! And of course I’m excited to see the neice and nephew. I sent a card to my neice to tell her that I’d be coming and that I hoped we could have a sleepover. My mom told me that she was very excited about this prospect and had already decided we’d do it at Granny and Granddaddy’s house rather than her own (I have a feeling that’s because she gets spoiled more there).
Anyway, lots of blah blah blah here in this post. But I’m excited. Excited about what this past month has brought my way and what’s coming around the corner. And thinking a lot about how blessed I am. And that I have a good life. And that I’m a lucky girl.
Yay for June! I can’t believe how fast this year is already going by, but I am excited for this coming month for a bunch of reasons.
1. I’m taking next week off of work. Our PTO runs from July – June and we have to use it all up in the year or else we lose it. For some reason this year I had a quite a bit left over and had to figure out what to do. But I’m already going to Alaska in July so a trip up there seemed silly and I didn’t have anyone to travel with somewhere else. But I do have a bunch of stuff I’ve been either putting off here at home and stuff I’ve just wanted to do but haven’t had time. So I decided to stick around town and take care of it. I’ve got a big list of stuff to do and I’ve got to make a plan so that I have at least half a shot at actually following through. I am really hoping that I get my act together and take advantage of this time rather than just sleeping in and watching tv all week.
2. My roommate and I are planning to go to Friday Harbor for a day next week. Its her finals week and she’ll be done with tests pretty early in the week so our time off timing worked out well. We went last year and it was so beautiful and we had a great relaxing day.
Friday Harbor
3. I get to see my friend Danyeal. But only because I’m mooch and needed a place to stay in the Seattle area and called her out of the blue to see if I could stay at her place. But luckily she is a very gracious person and immediately said yes. It’s only for one night and I have to be somewhere pretty early the next day (thus the need to be down there in the first place). Anyway, I haven’t seen her since November so I’m excited to get to hang out with her even if its just a short time.
4. Cheer camp is at the end of the month. I’m looking forward to this for 2 reasons. First, the girls always learn a ton and even though its tiring and can be overwhelming it is always a good experience on the whole. And second, once we’re done with camp I’ll have a break for about a month and a half! I love coaching, but having time away always makes it better when we get back at it.
5. So You Think You Can Dance is on TV. Okay, so technically this season started in May, but it’s about to get to my favorite part (basically anything past the auditions). I grew up dancing and this show makes me wish I was 17 again and dancing all the time and could go and audition myself. And this time some of my friends are coming over to watch along with me which always makes it more fun.
At the beginning of April I headed to Tennessee to see one of my old high school friends. It was her birthday on April 3rd and I had some PTO that was itching to be used. But instead of telling Carlie about it, I contacted her husband (who luckily I’m friends with on good ol’ myspace) to see if we could pull off me coming to surprise her. So Tony and I planned this all out via messaging on myspace which I have to say is not the most efficient means of communication. But it got figured out, I bought the ticket, and he was going to drive to Nashville to pick me up from the airport. So of course the day before I leave, Carlie throws a wrench in the plans. She has decided to take their youth group (of which they are the leaders) to laser tag because it is the kids’ spring break. She has planned for the group to meet at 4pm at the church and meanwhile Tony is supposed to be picking me up at about 3pm in Nashville which is a good 45 minutes to an hour from their town. Tony tried to lie and say he was going to play basketball with some of his coworkers and she got all mad at him for having plans on a day they were doing a youth activity. He couldn’t handle her wrath so he eventually just told her that he was getting something for her birthday and that was the only time he was going to be able to get it taken care of. So of course she was fine about it all after that. Anyway…Tony picks me up, we head to the church, and I hide in the truck until she comes outside. Then I sneak over, crouching down behind her car and pop up right when I’m in her line of sight. She definitely wasn’t expecting me – the look on her face made that clear. And then she just gasped and asked the obligatory, “What are YOU doing HERE?” But she didn’t cry. I would have like to have seen tears.
Oh, and I joined in on one of the rounds of laser tag and had the highest score in our group of 19. Maybe that’s my secret life skill?
The week that ensued was mostly just us hanging out. Which was nice and relaxing and just what I needed. Carlie and Tony have a baby girl who is just about the most darling child you’ve ever met. I got to babysit her a little bit which was pretty fun, but also really tiring. Its weird how the longer I’m single and childless the more overwhelmed when I have to take care of a kid. At 17 I was sure I wanted to be married and have 4 kids and now at 27 I can almost imagine not having any just because of the amount of energy they suck out of you every moment of every day. Anyway, here are some pics of their adorable munchkin.
On the day I was supposed to be heading home, I got to the airport in Nashville and they said that my flight was 29 minutes late which meant I’d miss my connection and there were absolutely no other flights to get me to Seattle that day. Ridiculous. 29 minutes causes this much of a hiccup in the system? And I wasn’t the only one. At least 5 other people right in line behind me were dealing with the same thing – one girl was going to Australia and there was an older couple who had driven from Kentucky and were heading to Idaho for her mother’s 95th birthday – not really things that are easy to reschedule. Luckily I was just able to call Carlie and they turned around, drove the 20 minutes back to the airport and then we went all the way back to their place. I did get another cherry limeaide from Sonic out of the deal, so not all was lost. Then poor Carlie had to drive me back to Nashville the next morning to catch a 9:30am flight. BUT, I got to ride first class from Chicago to Seattle and that made up for it all. Did you know they give you your beverages in real glasses? And besides warm nuts in ramekins, a lunch of warm shrimp salad and tomato basil vegetable soup, plus all the liquids you could ever want in a 4 hour period, they brought you a warm chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk! I had to use the lavatory twice and felt so bad about disturbing the woman sitting next to me (I mean, we’re in first class – people pay to not be disturbed here!). So after tentatively waking her, I was surprised when she was all bright smiles and saying, “No worries. They pump you full of liquids up here!” And maybe you didn’t want to know about my peeing needs, but the whole thing was just amusing (ok, maybe only to me) so I had to share.
Anyway it was a great trip. I was so happy to be able to just surprise Carlie and I love that our friendship is strong enough that she can handle me just dropping in for 6 days unannounced. It can be hard to live so far away from her. Luckily we get to see each other in July up in Alaska for our 10 year reunion. Which is still weird to realize it’s been that long since we were sitting in class together in high school.
