I quit cold turkey. Macaroni and Cheese that is. After a stomach bug hit me a few weekends ago, the meal prior to my demise was housing back left over mac n cheese that my children ate for lunch. I even buy the organic kind that helps me feel better since it is a quick and easy meal in my house when things are crazy. After my unpleasant weekend, the thought of the delicious yellow gooey noodle meal made me want to curl up in a dark corner and turn my head, shake my hands, and yell "NO!!!" at it. So, here we are, kids love mac n cheese, it sits on my counter top with the coaxing hot steam tempting me to just lick the spoon. But I quit. Do they make a patch for this? They should.

Baby Blessing

We found out on July 3rd 2012 that we are having a baby! Our little one is also a girl! She is due in the middle of March 2013 and we cannot even begin to describe how excited we are. She is going to be such an awesome little girl with two adventurous parents who want to show her the world! I realize that life is truly about the love you share with those that have been gifted to you. We are so equally blessed with amazing families and for about 7 years we have lived far away from them. I don't want to give up the things we love and that we want to instill into our child, but I believe the benefits of moving closer for a longer period of time and setting up a home base with family is the best thing for our futures. We will always be able to find great hiking and camping, most of all we need water to do the things we love. I hope our little girl loves to swim and go sailing. I hope we can teach her so many water related activities. The future is exciting, not so much scary, but open to new possibilities and seeing life through fresh eyes. Anyway, We are here in Northern CA. I am grateful that I have awesome prenatal care. I love my Dr's and midwives. The birth center I will be delivering our baby in is a very human focused model of care rather than techno-medical which can treat patients and mothers as just a number on a time schedule. I feel like I will be allowed to labor and do my best to give birth naturally without the Dr. making quick decisions for me. So finally, I am pregnant and loving it now. My first trimester was tough. Since week 17 I began to feel much better. Now the time is moving so quickly. I am 34 1/2 weeks and only 2 1/2 weeks away from being considered "full term". She grows each day and I can tell by how heavy I am feeling. At week 30 I began early disability from work so I could focus on my health. My weight had been declining and that is not healthy for either of us. My Dr. contributed this to stress from work and the inability to focus on my health. Since then, I have finally gained the appropriate weight although I am still on the low end of average for my height and beginning weight. I feel like I finally have a handle on it though. Our little girl moves all of the time. She is very active and kicks my ribs a lot. I love waking up and then she wakes up too. I find myself wanting to wake her up so I can feel her and say hi! My braxton hicks contractions have begun. I have had them for 4 days now. It feels like my pelvis opens up and then closes. At times it takes my breath away but I consider this to be progress and one step closer to me meeting our daughter. Ben and I are so thankful. I pray for patience and guidance. This is going to be awesome!

Re-ignited

Dreams do come true.

Our trip in September of 2011 was a success. It put a stamp of approval on our longing to move back to California. Plans were set into motion as soon as we returned to Florida and by December 15th 2011 we had bought a truck, packed it up as well as my car, hitched our sailboat on, tied our bikes together, and left with only room for Sparky to sit on the bench seat with Ben. We were off on our journey to leave the southernmost place in the continental United States.

We were welcomed with open arms for the holidays back home in Indiana. We enjoyed much needed family time and reflection. We had just left behind a life of two years in the Florida Keys. I didn't turn back, not even a glance.

It was a wonderful month full of tons of joy. There was also some much needed consolation and warmth within our family at the sudden loss of my amazing Grandfather George who left us so suddenly back in November. His memory feels tangible and it remains hard to fathom his earthly life is not here any longer. The entire family still aches and that is okay. Our grieving seems like stepping stones and we are each on different ones. As the month of December drew to a close we were thankful for the love from our incredible family.

By January, Ben and I were itching to hit the road. We said our last "see ya laters", hugged everyone we loved and set off on yet another cross country road trip. This was unlike any other. We didn't stop often to enjoy the ride. We didn't take the time to try interesting foods or visit town markets. I was in one car and Ben in the other. We drove 9-12 hour days for 5 days straight. We could only go 55 mph with our trailer on the pick up truck and my car loaded down.

On Saturday January 7th, we arrived at our new home miles and miles up Fickle Hill Rd. in Arcata CA. As we drove down our new driveway and the landscape opened itself up to us, we saw the vast California coast line and redwood covered hills. Our eyes can see miles to the South and to the North. We were breathing fresh air filled with scents of pine and grass. Birds were chirping and the sun shone down on us and we smiled.

Our newest chapter had begun. I feel more at home here than I have ever felt in my adult life. We have been welcomed back into this community with solid hugs and warm hearts. God has showered us with blessings that seem countless.

I can recall the feeling of losing myself in Key West and of forgetting what true beauty in life can look and feel like. Here we are able to live simple and fruitful lives where we have the knowledge of having redwood hiking trails in our backyard and knowing that the food on our dinner table was grown 10 miles away on a family farm where they too are thankful for living in a community that appreciates them.

If on earth there is a place that supports its neighbors, finds joy in nature, and respects what joys life can bring, this is the place. I am grateful that our path has led us back to, not our birth home, but our hearts home.

Redwood Re-Ignition

This will count as our 4th time driving across the country. All of which, including this one, are for great reasons. This time in particular is for a much needed month long sojourn to reignite our souls. At this time we live in Key West FL., a small island on the southern most tip of the Continental United States. Living on an island sounds very grandiose and at moments it truly is. The gift it has given me in our almost 2 years of being here has been the gift of refocusing as well as enormous growth personally and professionally. However, I wake up dreaming about my old home in the redwoods of Northern California and in a few weeks we will be there again.

When my husband and I take trips, each one takes on a character of its own. Last year we traversed the entire east coast and spent a month in Acadia National Park and Camden Maine. We camped out of our tent and took amazing hikes and paddle board adventures.

This one too will become its own entity and we are hoping for an adventure unlike any other.
We leave in less then a week and will begin our drive from Key West to the coast of Ventura CA. We will then drive north until we reach our old home in Humboldt County CA. Our friends are excited to see us and we are excited to see our old friend, the Pacific Ocean.

Rain Reminds Me of....

We finally have rain today! I had forgotten how much I truly enjoy the rain. It is fantastic to listen to and to watch. Our island doesn't always particularly smell great with all the tourists mess but with the rain it has freshened everything up nicely. However, what the rain does most for me is it takes me back into the recesses of my mind and sends me into a flood of memories.


Rain reminds me of crisp mornings and crisp evenings with constant umbrella use or none at all. It reminds me of windshield wipers, from scratch chicken pot pies, nudging closer to the heater, and movies during the day. Rain reminds me of the redwood forests, elk, waterfalls, lagoons cloaked in fog, and creeks running strong with fish. Rain reminds me of fresh air, my fuzzy hair, and a wonderfully hoppy IPA with dinner. Rain reminds me of warm fleece vests, perching to watch the waves, and braving the ocean for a short surfing session. The rain truly reminds me of my life in California and makes me miss it so.

Wow... customer service?

I am continually dumbfounded at the lack of care or concern business owners have for the public here. How is it that in a place that reaches 100 + degrees daily can have faulty air conditioner servicemen? By faulty I mean the absolute inability to communicate with customers or fix things in a timely manner. In fact, the company I use here.. there aren't many to choose from... decided to forget about me and my air conditioning problems for about 2 weeks until I haunted him with phone calls and an attitude. I didn't WANT to get an attitude with these people but no one could give a straight answer as to why I am sweating and sleeping in a hot box all the while the part to fix my air conditioner is rolling around in the back of their work van.

I am praying that today.. he means what he says and will come by to do his job. Thankfully this $600.00 that is about to be headed his way isn't my actual own money and the owners of the Spa and our apartment are happy to foot the bill.

I also have had problems in this area when it comes to tree trimmers, eye Dr's, Dr's in general. The only people who care about what they do here are the bartenders. Something is wrong with that maybe.

The days seem to be getting hotter and hotter and my mind is wandering towards cooler climates. I never thought I would actually long for a climate where I could sit next to a piping hot fire with winter clothes on and sip soup. I often wondered if I would prefer being cold over being warm or the other way around. I think I have finally decided that I would rather be cold! CRAZY!

Crossing my fingers, crossing my braids, everything... I need this air conditioner fixed!

Just call me lonely lonesome pants.

A delicious, strong, and intoxicating cocktail has a nice ring to it right now. It is only 12:30 in the afternoon. What am I thinking? I am nearing the end of my work week soon. It is Friday today and my official "Friday" is tomorrow. One of the main facets of a good life are friendships and best of all friends to share in after work drinks. I have many friendships and friends that would love to meet me out for a drink tonight. However, none of those amazing friends of mine live here. I feel sad often when I think about how I don't have any soul busting girlfriends where I live right now. I know it is partly because I never have any time to be out of this spa. I wake up here, I work here, I end my day here and at night I am still doing work for the spa. This has taught me some serious lessons in living in the same place I work. It gets very tough mentally do deal with. So, since I don't have any friends that would either be calling me to go have a drink or that I can call... I will still have a beer or 4 but with my next to human best friend Sparky dog.