March Madness

 I truly find it hard to comprehend the multitude of experiences that have happened to me since Ben and I got married. How AMAZING! Although, I feel like I took a pill that made everything in the past 2 1/2 years seem like a dream and my reality is where I was the whole entire time. 

It is nearing the end of March 2009. Beginning in January, Ben and I had camped and surfed the California coast, woke up to beautiful sun rises and sounds of sea lions, and frolicked amongst amazing natural rock formations in Colorado. We laughed, I cried, we drank, we dreamt and in all of these past 3 months I have felt more emotion, and I am sorry to say occasional stress, than I have ever experienced. I find that I had bottled up the sentimental feeling of picking up and moving from the home we made in California. I didn't want to let myself miss it. I now understand, that yes it was a wonderful decision to pick up our lives and move to an un-known place on the west coast. I enjoyed every minute of it. Not to mention, the rugged landscapes and enormous trees in our community made living there seem like I was in a fairy tale. I guess I didn't think that the same feeling of the un-known would come over me all over again when we moved next. 

Here I sit in my brand new kitchen. I can see the ocean as I look out of my front porch and hear awesome song birds in the morning. This is a feeling that can't escape you. I see now that no matter where I go and how long it takes me to get there, I will always look fondly back to my many homes and love them. Day by day I am enjoying our new home even more. When the sun shines, I run on the beach and when I need to go pick up my mail, I just hop on my beach cruiser bike and ride a couple blocks to my P.O. Box. Ben and I feel very different about this move. We are more serious about making the life for ourselves that we dream about. We feel like it can really happen here! What gives me peace is that I know I will always have a home in Humboldt County CA. I look forward to visiting. Here I am still getting used to the southern accents and no mountain backdrops but it is feeling more like home. Ben recently has ben hired on with an EcoWater company which is a great step in the right direction. I am working on my massage therapy credentialling because it takes up to 60 business days to pass through NC's requirements. In the mean time I picked up a few hours at a local island grill where I have met great people who enjoy a good beer and the beach life. 

It takes gumption, patience, understanding, and faith to bring you to a point of comfort and happiness. My grandpa once said that "In life there are hills and valleys, let us just hope that there are more hills... than valleys". 

The valleys in my life have taught me how to appreciate the hills. The climb has not been easy and I can wine and moan through some of it. But I know that all of these experiences have shaped me and will continue to shape me into the young women that God has intended on me being. 

The Prayer of Jabez 

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain." So God granted him what he requested. 

Miraculous blessings await everyone. 

JUMP!!

Trinity River, Willow Creek CA

Pleasure Island NC, Here we come

Ben and I spent the past weekend on Carolina Beach, North Carolina. This was where we had dreamed of finding a place to live and work! We woke up the morning after we spent 13 hours driving here from Indiana. When we woke up, we both mutually decided that today was the day we would find it! We drove around all day looking for "For Rent" signs, reading news papers, and looking online for apartments or homes to rent. At the end of the day we had some appointments set up to walk through a couple places. The 2nd place we walked through was this beauty at the top of this paragraph. We left with butterflies in our stomach and opted to try and not get too excited because we had a couple more to look at on the mainland. Although we both secretly knew that we REALLY wanted that 2nd condo! As the day wore on and we met all of our appointments, Ben and I agreed, we wanted the condo on Carolina Beach more than anything. So we called the man back who showed us the place and told him we were more than interested, that we wanted to get the ball rolling and sign some papers! The next morning, we were in our future kitchen with him signing papers, taking pictures, and reveling in our new place. God answered our prayer we had that morning over breakfast. We asked Him to provide for us, lead us in the right direction, and lend us patience to endure a day of searching. Ben and I could not feel more blessed as we have found our 2nd home since our marriage in 2006 and it is even better than the 1st! We feel as though moving to the beaches of North Carolina will not only bring us back to where we fell in love, but it will hopefully be a place full of prosperity and of course, a lot of fun. 

In the picture, our Condo is on the 1st floor with the American Flag. Our master bedroom has a balcony that looks out to a lake. Out of our front balcony connected to our living room, we can see the ocean! It is located just 2nd row from the ocean front homes. So we literally can cross the street and walk over the beach access. In a couple weeks we will be heading down there with our furniture and belongings to start our life ocean side. 

Wow, what a drive.

13 hours and 31 minutes passed when Ben and I finally decided to pull in for the night. We could have gone longer but felt that Nebraska and Iowa were just about killing us! We left Boulder CO. early on the morning of the 2nd of February. To be exact we left at 6:04 am. 

During our stay in Boulder, we naturally tried to acclimate but found it to be quite difficult. The wintery conditions and altitude were rejected by our bodies almost immediatly. Ben got a head cold the first day and I began running a fever 2 days into it! We kept saying that we were allergic to winter. Our friends could only laugh at how lame we were being about being in a real winter climate. We were coming by honestly about all of this though. I tried to laugh it off but felt like my head was detached from my body most of the time. Except for our minor illnesses, we had some fun mixed in. We visited Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. 

We also spent some time sampling local breweries and mostly catching up with good friends. Two of our friends, Sarah and Grant, had just moved to Denver and so we took a couple days to check out their new digs and raise a pint in honor of their new home! We really enjoyed being around them because they seem to have some good dreams up their sleeves. I also consider Sarah one of my sweetest and dearest friends. 

                            Me, Tina, and Sarah

By the end of our time there Ben and I were VERY ready to get a move on. We could not wait to get back to Indiana to begin our search for jobs and homes. We plan on networking as much as possible and hopefully moving to North Carolina by the first week in March.  We arrived in wintery Indiana on Tuesday evening just in time for dinner and nice big hugs from my parents. We stay at my parents house when we are home because they have a set up where we have our own personal space to spread out. 

As far as our trip goes, I view it as a sweet success. We were able to revel in the California sun as long as we could and also experience more of our most beautiful country we have. Blessings abound and dreams are coming true. My advice to everyone is to seriously, never give up.  

We made it to Boulder!

Yes, I am deep in some mountain snow! We made it to Boulder CO finally after a couple days of driving long hours. My friend Tina lives here and I am able to see her new home and meet her new friends and everything! It makes me happy to be here. I grew up with her and she is like a sister to me. So here we are and so far we have taken some really cool hikes, "enjoyed" the winter time, and feel as though we can rest a bit. I am looking forward to making it home to Indiana. I am anxious to hug my parents and start our process of moving to Wilmington NC. Ben and I both are already reaching for the ocean again. But because I am not able to be there soon, I have embraced each day on our trip and couldn't be having more fun. It is great! There are plenty of micro-breweries here in Boulder and we plan on visiting a few tonight. Oh, I also have been re-united with the cat that we had in college because Tina is her mom now and she completely remembers me and is laying in my lap as I type this. Life is good. 

Long way from home

This is our Carpinteria CA campsite. Although it was sprinkling rain most of the time, this place made me very happy. We walked out of our tent each morning and saw the sun rise over the mountains. The stars would come out for glimpses at a time during the evening. Most of all, it was a wonderful way to end our time in California. We realized on our last night, sitting around our fire and walking along the beach, that this was perfect living. We were able to formulate many more ideas about our future, and talk about how we are going to execute our plans. What finally urged us to move forward from there was the weekend crowds that rolled in and made living next to them quite annoying. So we strolled down the coast and visited some famous surf spots such as Rincon. Our goal that day was to make it to Las Vegas Nevada so we could stay over night and make it to Boulder CO the day after that. We drove through Ventura and spent some time there. We decided to avoid LA traffic all together and just see the city from the highway. We knew what that city looked like anyway. We finally made it to Las Vegas around 4:30 pm. We were just in time to find a nice place to stay. The day before this we were reading the USA today and found an article in the destinations section advertising about these new Airstream campers that are available to rent out while staying in Las Vegas. For only 45 dollars a night, we couldn't pass this one up. When we arrived in Vegas, we headed straight for the Circus Circus Casino right on the strip. This is where we found the registration for our Airstream's. It was a long shot since it was so last minute but it turned out that we were the 1st people to stay in ours! We were so impressed by this setup that we almost stayed inside all night. We actually had our own shower and bathroom. This was very different than what we had the week before. 

 Here we are during the day enjoying coffee outside of our airstream. And then at night as well is our wonderful 

abode in Vegas. We finally reached 

the cold and 

snow and wow my body is not adapting well! I am starting to actually feel like I am in the middle of the country. I have acknowledged that the ocean is a long way away from me now. That is o.k. though. We have bigger and better things yet ahead!

Tis the End

Well, it is the end of our stay in California. We have been staying in Carpinteria CA for the past 3 days. This will be our 3rd night and going on 4th day here. Ben has been able to surf right outside of our campsite each day and I have been catching up on reading while lounging in a chair watching my husband. Each morning I wake up to dolphins playing and eating, otters munching food on their backs, and pelicans swooping through the surf. It will feel very weird once we cross the state border and head towards the middle of the country where there is no ocean. Although we have longed for the east coast for too long and it is time. We will be back someday ready and willing to take on all of these places that we have been before. Soon I will get to spend time with my dear friend Tina whom I grew up with. She lives in Boulder CO. I am looking forward to our face to face talks over beers and good grub. I have missed her very much. 

So far, I can rate this trip a success. Next stop is Las Vegas. We found a KOA that provides modern and unique airstream campers with awesome amenities. It should be interesting. 

California keeps on going!

We are in Pismo Beach right now in a really cute little cafe' where I just enjoyed a delicious bagel with tomato's and avocado. Ben is reading some Hunter S. Thompson and I am trying to feel awake. We have spent the last two nights camping in some decent campgrounds. The first was in San Simeon where all of the elephant seals were mating and nursing babies on the beach. That was very cool to see. 

We then went to Cayucos the next morning in search of breakfast and some waves. We found a great little beach where I was able to lay around in the sun while Ben surfed some bigger sets. He then came in and we rented some boogie boards and played around for hours out in the water. Afterwards we needed to hit the road soon but before we did we went to the Schooner Saloon and had a beer. It overlooked the ocean and we had a perfect view of the pier. I was impressed with that little town. Although, it may have been to "sleepy" for me. The pictures at the beginning are of us on highway 1 near Big Sur. The other is of me at the Cayucos pier. We camped last night at Montana des Osos state park. It was a long windy road with exquisite views of blue waters and madrone trees. It could have easily been one of the best parks we have stayed at except for the raccoons. At one point we were eating dinner and heard a rustling in the bushes, then I turned on my head lamp and sure enough there was a raccoon staring straight at us with his mouth and hands in our garbage bag.  He looked at us like a child does when he has been caught. After a few seconds of the show down, he sped off with our trash into his little burglar stash! The whole rest of the night he kept visiting us and taunting us with his fluffy tail and beady robber eyes. Oh well. 

This morning we felt a bit foggy and are now contemplating our next few days. Soon we will be braving the desert and heading east finally. I can't believe this is really happening. I still feel like maybe soon we will have to turn around and go back to Humboldt. Then reality kicks in and Ben and I are meant to do exactly what we are doing. I wouldn't trade these memories with him for anything. I am in love with the life I have been given. Praise the Lord. 

Highways Can Be Beautiful

I am sitting in our good friends little bungalow in Santa Cruz CA sipping wine and enjoying each others company. The last couple days have been the beginning of our adventure back east. We drove away from Humboldt County on the morning of the 14th of January. Our goal that day was to make it to the Russian River Valley and wine taste in the evening with a wood fire oven pizza. When we passed over the county line we gave a hoot and holler for the rest of our lives! 

After pizza and wine we headed west towards Jenner CA where we knew of a little campsite on the beach. We made it just in time for the sunset. Lucky for us, while we were taking a pit stop in a redwood state park earlier that day, we stumbled upon a large heap of wood that someone obviously left in the parking lot. No one was around and we figured it was free game. So we had a blazing fire out at our beach campsite. We got up early that morning and headed out in search of some surf and sun. 

We found a beach off of highway 1 called Dillon Beach. It was 7 miles off of highway 1 and we swerved right so as not to miss the small road leading to it. The scenery was outstanding! It reminded me of pictures I see of Ireland. Just amazing. 

We arrived at a small beach that provided some fun little surf. It may have been one of the best days I have ever had. From an early morning surf at an unknown beach, to strolling San Francisco in search of tasty pubs, it was just wonderful. The sun was out and we were wearing flip flops, sunglasses, a skirt for me and a smile on our faces. I couldn't help but think of our families at home in Indiana where they were hunkered down in below zero temperatures. 

Later that evening we arrived in Santa Cruz where our good friends from back home had moved about a year ago. They were waiting with a beer in hand, and a friendly hug. We sure missed them. So we have been here since Thursday night and are ready to head back out on the road considering it is Monday morning. We look forward to starting the week off right. My favorite day here consisted of all four of us spending the day at a gorgeous beach sunbathing in 70 degree weather, a stint at a berry farm where we sampled jams, and then a sunset bottle of wine sitting on a rock with some hearty bread and cheese and good conversation. It could not have gotten any better. But it did! We went back to Chelsea and Adams house and we made caramelized onion and goat cheese bruschetta, 

pear and walnut salad with lemon shallot dressing, and Hawaiian chicken. It was a wonderful day. 

Ok... So I haven't written in over a year!? Well I apologize to myself since writing is for me most of the time. I enjoy streaming my thoughts onto my keyboard. But I will never give up the old standby, pen and paper. 

 

Updates and new things: Well Ben and I are moving from CA (hence the pic of one of our favorite beaches). We love "camel rock". We have made many memories here as well as some huge surfing breakthroughs for myself. In any case, we are very ready for a change and decided months ago that our future holds exciting wonderful things as long as we follow our hearts. Our hearts have always been pulled toward the beaches of North Carolina. California beaches are amazing, don't get me wrong. I don't think there are any more beautiful beaches than the ones in Humboldt County CA. Although I also feel like it has ceased to give back as much to us as we would like. Personally I feel as though I am meant to do many more things, not settle, and experience more and more. I kind of feel like Anthony Bourdaine, you know the travel channel guy who lives the best life ever. He gets to travel, eat, experience, soak in cultures, oh what I wouldn't give to be in his shoes most days. I have spent 2 1/2 years in a culture that devotes much of its time to the environment, natural living, and also marijuana cultivation. Compared to my youth, learning of this was a complete 180 and bothered me a lot of the times about the area. Although, here I learned to trust in natures remedies and teas. The herbal remedies for the common cold, flu, and menstrual cramps were easily accessible. I mean, they have herbalists that do more business than Walgreen's! I have learned to love myself, my womanly shape and figure, my personality, and also to let go of any vanities that held me before. Now that I have ruminated here, it is time to move on with my life, with my husband and my loves. When Ben and I were dating we exchanged a list that contained our most beloved things in life. I still hold Ben's in safe keeping in one of my journals. I believe he still has mine but I have a copy also in one of my journals. This list was made when I was a mere 19 years old. Somehow at that point in my life I was able to acknowledge some very beautiful experiences that I had either done or had yet to accomplish. One of my first loves was new adventures. They have always been best spent with Ben by my side. I am almost 24 years old and I feel as though I have done something right. Thank you God for all of these blessings! How is it that we actually made it out here on our own, thrived in our marriage, learned to love our earth, loved to learn intriguing things? I mean, I sometimes cannot believe it! 

MY FAVORITE PRAYER:

"Dear God, draw me close to Your heart and renew my vision. You are the Lord of my life, and the One I trust with all that I am and all I have yet to become."

There are many more updates to come. We are opening an entirely new chapter soon. I am interested to see how we take what we have learned in the American West and use it in our lives out in the east. When Ben returns to me soon from his 5 day long expedition from one coast to the other, I will begin more updates and pictures. Thanks for reading! Goodbye Humboldt County!