Slacker

I know, I know. I've heard it from everyone that I am a blog slacker. Sorry bout that. I'm just about done with my sabbatical from the fitness and wellness world and I cannot believe how fast time flies. Four months, gone. Just like that.

I had a great time with my adventures in marketing and most importantly met great new people! I will be officially unemployed in about a week and a half and I will blog so much you can all start commenting on my lack of life...all 5 of you.

Some more highlights from the Go Love Adventure Tour:
Biking the Bay Area and over the Golden Gate
Road trip strategies
Halloween
And of course, the Wildlife Safari!

Have faith that I am writing, but not necessarily posting what I write, as seen by my sudden posting of 5 new entries. Thanks for the patience!

Sausalito

My mom raves about Sausalito. When I was on my road trip it was a must see location. The other day I wandered the streets and saw a little taste of the funkiness she has always talked about.

First there was the art car

Then there was the sailboats on the boardwalk

And the old, rusty tug boat hiding out at the very end

Last but not least the house boat village and their weird choice of lawn ornaments.

The fact that I was able to wander with no sense of time was spectacular. I might have been taking pictures of that car for 15 minutes or 1 hour. I have no idea! That is such a great feeling! It was the perfect reminder to slow down and notice the little things. There is so much beauty all around all the time. Most of the time, I'm just too busy to notice, and I need to be better about that. It is in the details. The little things. Contrasting colors and open doors.

Now I'm staring out my window at our little beach house in Muir Beach watching the ships cruise into the Bay. I have one of the best views of the city from my couch and I love it. Here is to living in the now and enjoying every moment of each day. My eyes are once again open.

If you want to see more pictures, check out my flickr.

Seattle Round 2

After I flew out of Atlanta the day after Thanksgiving, I decided it would be fun to hit the complete opposite corner of this great country (Alaska not included) and head to Seattle with Dylan, Neebin and Marley. Check out these lovely family portraits.

You can see some more here or visit with Seattle Round 1 here. Life is good.

A lot to be thankful for

This thanksgiving I went to visit my family in Chattaooga, TN. It was a full house with Oma, Kathy, the boys (Branden, Daniel and Dennis) plus all the out of towners (myself, Kyle, Nate, Ryan and Katrina). Here are a few shots from around the house:

I love this crew! Reminiscing about the old days and all the trouble we could get into running up Lookout Mountain. It was so great to see everyone! Dennis graduates this term (congratulations!) and I think I have been successful in convincing all of them that a trip out west is the much needed vacation they need.
We got lucky with some beautiful, crisp fall weather and, as always, there was good food to be had all over town, especially Thanksgiving Day! Kathy cooked a delicious feast with Katrina's help while everyone else enjoyed the snooze fest...

I baked the pies and got the best compliment of my life from Oma when she scarfed it down. We've been force feeding her hospital food for a week, but she ate the whole piece in about 1 minute flat! She said "it's hard to find a good piece of pie nowadays" (insert a visual of me patting myself on the back here)

Also, mad props to Ryan and Katrina who drove 16 hrs just to spend 1 day with the chaos. THANK YOU! I love you guys!

My Grandparents

I have some wild and crazy grandmas. I guess that would make sense considering traits like wanderlust are surely genetic, but it seems more apparent now that I am older. I look back and appreciate it more. I was very lucky growing up and was blessed with four “grandparents” who loved me.

The first two were the “normal” Grandma and Grandpa. They lived about 5 city blocks from us, although that is a really rough estimate considering we lived on dirt roads. Maybe it would be more accurate to say they lived two houses down. They hosted huge family reunions and large holiday feasts. We made strings of popcorn and cranberries for their Christmas tree every year. If Grandma made a sandwich it was cold cuts on white bread cut into quarters and placed on a folded napkin for us to devour…neatly.

We all lived in a small town and my Grandpa owned the glass shop. He also scared me when he snored at night and any time I tried to sneak past his chair to get upstairs. I remember them dancing, then my Grandpa danced less and my mom was left to dance with my Grandma more. My Grandpa passed away when I was in high school and it wasn’t until college when I learned more about all their travels across the country and wild escapades.

In 2007 I was living in St Augustine, FL and Grandma came to visit. Turns out she lived in St Augustine too when she was younger. She traveled to Florida, Texas, and everywhere in between before she was married. My sweet, little, traditional Grandma was more daring than I knew. That spring we played putt-putt, went to the beach, rode a scooter around town, and took a helicopter ride. She was 83 at the time.

Now the other two I always knew were a little different. I never knew my dad’s dad; he passed away before I was born. Instead I had Oma and Clara and they were awesome! They lived in Tennessee and Oma sent costumes that she made for us to play in. If Oma made a sandwich it was all the necessities spread out on the table: meat on the bone and a block of cheese kind of ingredients with a knife in the mayonnaise jar. They would pull up in the “bat mobile” and we would go on ADVENTURES. State parks, museums, civil war memorials…we went anywhere we wanted to go. Clara drove and Oma rode shotgun. Anytime we were off-track it became clear that there was no such thing, “Oh we’re not lost! We’re on an adventure!” I loved it. Clara also passed away when I was in high school and now I wish I had a better memory. I just know she was very kind and loving to us all and when I think of her it makes me smile.

In 2007 I also embarked on my journey across the country. My first stop was Oma’s house. Listening to old stories made me wish I could record every word as she recalled her life so I could always remember how strong she was. Full of fire and sharp as a tack, she could battle to the death in a political debate and slaughter anyone in trivial pursuit. The stacks of books are not just decoration. It was the perfect reminder to be open to learning.

This year has been hard. For the first time since high school, I am reminded of mortality and it is scary. A big part of me (selfishly) cannot picture them gone and hearing of their physical decline has made the distance from home seem twice as far. The other part of me is just grateful and inspired. In two totally different styles, they have showed me so much support throughout my life. Both are open and honest and I have never had to censor myself or my thoughts. Neither one has ever questioned me, my motives or my desire to wander. They just keep loving me, unconditionally.