Seattle

I was so looking forward to writing this post.  For a long time I'd imagined coming back from my trip and writing a blog post about how insanely awesome Seattle was and what a fantastic time I'd had there, and unfortunately, that's not the post I'm going to write.

It has nothing to do with Seattle.  I actually really loved Seattle, and I definitely felt a deep soul kind of connection to the PNW.  I definitely still want to move there.

But.  I got sick right before we left, and spent my entire vacation just getting sicker.  I felt like total shit most of the time we were there; there was one day where I felt mostly OK.  So yeah.  Definitely not the trip I'd imagined and definitely not how I wanted my first impression of Seattle to be, and I'm still pretty effing disappointed.  But what can you do, right?

We left on a Tuesday.  The Sunday before that Tuesday, I woke up with a really, really sore throat.  Ever the optimist, I told myself it was nothing and that I'd just slept with my mouth open and/or too close to my fan or something like that.  But I was really tired all day too.  The next morning (the day before we left) I had a sore throat, ear pain, chest congestion, and a runny nose.  Lovely.

I definitely wasn't going to skip the trip, though, so we got up at the butt crack of dawn on Tuesday and made our way to Las Vegas.  We stopped in Kingman and dropped the dogs off with my mom and sister, they were thrilled to be there!  They seriously love my mom, I think they'd live with her if they could.  We also stopped in to see Jerbs' parents, they are very not happy about this move, but that's for another post.

We got to the airport a little behind schedule, but then checking our bags and getting through security went waaaaay faster than we'd expected.  We had time to chill at the airport and eat breakfast and that was actually really nice.  I bought cough drops at the airport too, because my throat was killing me.  Our flight left on time, I let Jerbs have the window seat for the trip and I was in the middle of the row.  The guy next to me took off his shoes which was disgusting, but other than that it was a good flight.  It was Jerbs' first ever flight and she did great with it!  I was proud of her.  The only bad part of the flight (other than the barefoot guy) was how my ears felt when we landed.  They already hurt since I was sick, so the popping as we descended felt absolutely awful, I legit almost cried.  And to top it off, my left ear never unpopped, I couldn't hear out of it until Saturday.  That was awesome.

But we made it to Seattle.  I teared up when we were off the plane, because I was just so overwhelmed that we were FINALLY there.  This was a trip that had been put off and postponed so many times because of all the bullshit that went on in my life, and I just felt so good to have overcome that.  As soon as we were off the plane, even when we were inside the airport, we could just feel water in the air.  That was nice.  We got our rental car and drove to our hotel, which ended up being not nearly as nice as expected, so that was disappointing.  It was definitely NOT worth what I paid for it.  And since I was sick I was even grumpier about it than I would have been.  We had dinner at a restaurant next to the hotel, then found a Rite Aid not far from where we were staying so I could buy cold medicine and Vicks.  After we got back to the hotel Jerbs fell asleep and I watched the finale of DWTS (because even vacation couldn't stop me from watching Nyle win! I called that shit from night one!).  I didn't sleep well that night.

On Wednesday we did touristy stuff.  We went to the Space Needle, which I actually thought was really cool.  Maybe because it is such a touristy place, I was expecting it to be a little underwhelming, but it was awesome.  The views are just incredible, and I had the best Italian soda ever at the little cafe at the observation deck.  My purse broke while we were there, though, which, combined with being sick, made me think maybe Seattle just didn't want me in it.  I am not exactly rational when sick and away from home.  I definitely want to go to the Space Needle again, and this time I want to do it at night.  After the Space Needle we had lunch at a pizza/biscuit place in downtown Seattle, and it was delicious but overpriced.  Then we made our way to Pike's Place Market, which is about when I started to just . . . fade.  I felt so sick and yucky.  But we explored the market, and I got this amazing hazelnut pastry at a place called Piroshky Piroshky.  Seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten, it was incredible.  There was also one of those living statue guys and he tried to grab me as I passed him, and I was so out of it I didn't react.  He was disappointed haha.  I think at this point I was running a fever and I was exhausted, so Jerbs and I walked to a Target on the next block and I bought Nyquil so I could sleep.  That night I took Nyquil as soon as we got to the hotel (or maybe when we got in the car to leave Pike's, I don't remember) and just PTFO'd.  It was glorious.

The next day, Thursday, we drove to Tacoma, ostensibly to look at some apartments.  Right off the bat, Tacoma didn't give us a great vibe.  Not necessarily a bad vibe but . . . I don't know, it didn't feel very homey.  It didn't feel like somewhere we could live.  We stopped for lunch at a restaurant we'd heard about before our trip, called Pacific South.  I'd been looking forward to their biscuits and gravy, and then the gravy just tasted like onions, so that wasn't great.  Then we went to one of the complexes we'd liked there, and the woman in the leasing office was extremely rude to us and impatient with us, and that was kind of the last straw for Tacoma.  I'm sure it's a lovely place but after that, I kind of said to Jerbs that I wasn't really feeling it.  She agreed.  We'd planned to spend the whole day there, exploring and getting a feel for the town, but I really wanted to see Olympia.  So we drove to Olympia.  We explored a little park on the waterfront there and then just drove around, looking at the city.  And we really liked it, and we really thought it seemed like somewhere we could live.  We went back to Seattle and went to Ikea, because we were right near it and I love Ikea and we want to get new furniture when we move.  Also I love those meatballs.  Then we went to a sushi place, because Jerbs wanted sushi.  She liked the place we tried, I just got stir fry and it wasn't bad.  Then we went back to our hotel.  I think this was the night that I had a minor freak out about being sick and decided I wanted to go home.  I just like to be home when I'm sick, and I wanted to be in my own bed with my dogs, so I definitely had an I don't care how much it costs I am leaving right now moment.  Jerbs talked me down.  The Nyquil helped.

The next day, Friday, we went to Olympia.  Olympia is 65 miles south of Seattle, but it took 3 hours to get there.  The highway was just packed, presumably with people heading out of town for the long weekend.  Finally got to Olympia, went to the complex we really liked, and actually met the manager and everything.  She was great.  The complex was full so she wasn't able to show us an actual apartment, but we saw the clubhouse, and she said it's pretty much the same flooring/appliances/cabinetry as the apartments, so we have a good idea of what it feels like.  We really liked this place, and it's very reasonably priced, so it's our first choice.  Since we got there so late that was the only place we got to go to, but we did have dinner at this pizza place called Vic's and it was amazing.  While we were there, after we'd ordered, this couple came in with their daughter.  They approached us and said they'd never been there and asked how to order, and I think being mistaken as a local is a good sign we can live in Olympia!

On Saturday, I actually felt OK enough to do something.  We started with brunch at this place called the Wandering Goose, seriously incredible biscuits and gravy.  They're known for their biscuits, and for good reason.  Then we went back to Pike's.  It was much more crowded on a Saturday than Wednesday (not surprising) but I was happy to be there without being miserable.  Jerbs wanted a Piroshky, and the line was super long, so while she waited I went to a little souvenir kind of shop and got stuff for my family.  (I pretty much got everyone mugs, I got Jillian a bag, and I got Austin and my dad Seattle shirts.  I also got Dad a can coozy with the skyline on it, and I got Austin a Seahawks pennant).  After we wandered some more, we went to the pier and took the ferry to Bainbridge Island.  That was actually my favorite part of the trip, it was so much fun to be out on the water.  It was cold and cloudy and windy but Jerbs and I sat on the deck the whole time.  On the island, we went for a walk on the Waterfront Trail, which was beautiful, and then we explored the downtown area.  We got pastries at a bakery and then ice cream at this awesome little ice cream store, it was so tasty.   Then we took the ferry back to Seattle, and the view of the city skyline under the grey sky as you're approaching it was just unbelievable.  One of the prettiest things I've ever seen.  I was so happy.  After the ferry we had dinner at a Mexican place in Renton, because I wanted to try at least one Mexican restaurant while we were there.  It was delicious.  Then it was back to the hotel to pack.

On Sunday we headed for the airport.  We had a mild moment of panic because since the airline we were flying on was so new to the area, they did not have a dedicated customer service counter.  So we had no idea where to go to check our bags.  That was a really shitty feeling but we did eventually figure it out and got our bags checked and all that.  Security was pretty quick too, which was nice, and then we found a Sbarro's right near our gate, so we had pizza for lunch.  (The Sbarro's in Flag closed quite awhile ago and we--especially Jerbs--miss it).  Then we flew home, and I got the window seat, but luckily for Jerbs, the person on the aisle was much better than the guy on our first flight.  She was a nice lady and she'd brought a coloring book, so definitely our kind of people!  This flight was a little less smooth, I had fallen asleep and we hit turbulence bad enough to wake me up and make us have to put our seat belts back on.  The lady next to us was fascinated by the desert, she was talking about how she hadn't been to Vegas since she was 21 and eloped there, and we were telling her about living in AZ.  She really was lovely.

We got off the plane, got our bags, got the car (and paid the outrageous fee for parking at the airport for 5 days), and headed home.  We stopped in Kingman and picked up the dogs, then went to my dad's and then to Jerbs' parents.  (And OMG her parents were just terrible about the whole thing, her mom was going on and on about how she just can't see us living in Washington and do we know the cost of utilities and groceries and it was just ridiculous).  Eventually we got back to Flagstaff, Hollie was very happy to be home and the cats were happy to see us.  It felt so nice to sleep in my own bed!

So that's that, our trip to Seattle.  Like I said, not the trip I'd been dreaming of but still fun.  And really, not long from now we'll live an hour away from Seattle and we'll be able to visit whenever we want, so I'm not too worried about all the stuff I didn't get to do on this trip!

Three Days!!

Three days until we fly to Seattle!!

I'm so excited and feeling so overwhelmed with all the stuff I need to do.  Because as usual I vowed that I would be super on top of things and get stuff done in advance and as usual I've done absolutely nothing that I needed to do so.  Yeah.  I can't believe how quick the time between booking the trip and now has gone by, it seems like just yesterday that I still had 120 some odd days until the trip and now it's time to actually get ready and go!

I did finally buy a big suitcase tonight so we can start packing, so that feels like a step in the right direction.

I can't wait!

Health and Fitness Update

I haven't really done a lot of posting about health and fitness and weight loss and all that stuff so far this year.  And the reason for that is that I'm basically stalled in those particular areas at the moment.

I started off doing really well in January.  I weighed in at 190 pounds on the first of the year and kicked ass in January, I was really consistent and just did well.  And I thought I could carry that momentum into the rest of the year and I was wrong.

In February I started doing yoga once a week and really enjoyed it.  But February ended up being a tough month mental health wise: turning 31, my youngest sister turning 23, the anniversary of my and my ex's engagement, it really hitting me that I'm going to move out of AZ this year, etc.  And I reverted back to old stress eating habits and undid all my January progress.

March and April were only a little bit better.  I quite going to yoga at the end of March.  And basically I didn't try at all for those months.

And now it's May and I'm still in that not caring not trying mode.  I don't know why but I just can't seem to shake it, and it's extremely frustrating.  I know my health is suffering.  I want to lose weight so badly, and I know EXACTLY what I need to do to make that happen, I just can't seem to bring myself to do it.

With my vacation coming up soon, I'm letting myself not worry about it for now.  I'm going to go on my trip, have a good time, and then when I get back I'll try and re-focus on the weight loss thing.  I'm not feeling super confident about it, but I at least have to tell myself I'm going to try, right?

Viva Alpha Chi

This all actually happened before Alton but I haven't wanted to write about it until now.

Back on like May 6th, Theresa texted me and asked me to call her when I had a chance and was, and I quote, "ready to be new shades of angry."  This completely freaked me out because Theresa and I don't really talk on the phone, we text, so I knew it had to be bad.  I also had a feeling it was about our sorority, and sure enough, she had wanted to tell me that our charter had officially been pulled by the director of bands at NAU.

Honestly, this is something that's probably been a long time coming, but it still sucks and is completely unfair, and it was still unexpected.  Basically Dr. Schmidt, NAU's director of bands, is a gigantic tool, and he always has been.  He was D.o.B. when I was at NAU, and I never liked him.  He just always gave off a douchey vive, and he's a total misogynist.  When I started at NAU, the associate D.o.B. was this amazing woman (Ms. Jones) who made band a blast and really made us into a great group, and she left after 3 years because she couldn't stand working with Schmidt.  She flat out said he had always made it obvious that he hated having a woman working under him, and she had enough.  That was why I left marching band, actually.  He was (and probably still is) a huge alcoholic and kind of known for showing up to events and rehearsals drunk.

So of course someone like that isn't going to be a big fan of an organization that promotes, supports, and celebrates women in music.  He was always demeaning when I was active, always acting like TBS didn't matter and wasn't important; I remember once he suggested us having a sleepover and giving each other mani/pedis as a service project, because why would women be good for anything else, right?  He's been trying for years and years to pull the charter, there were rumors about it when I was active and there have been rumors about it since I left.  And with no warning, with no catalyst or significant fuck up to warrant it, he finally got his way, and the Alpha Chi chapter officially no longer exists.

The Tuesday after it happened the chapter held an outgoing sister ceremony at Marshall Lake; Theresa came into town for it, and even though it was a sad occasion, I was thrilled to get to see my BFF.  A couple other alumni were up from Phoenix (including one I hadn't seen since a very awkward encounter back in 2010 when I was dating Corey), so that was . . . nice.  (This isn't really related to the chapter thing, but it was nice to make peace with this little bit of my past.  This girl was the last person from the Corey era drama stuff that needed to happen with and I'm glad to have done it before I move away).  Anyway, the outgoing sisterhood ceremony was really beautiful, and it was so nice to meet the active chapter.  I was so impressed with all of them, and I found myself wishing I'd been a more involved alumni when I'd had the chance . . . but nothing I can do about that now, so I'm not going to dwell on it.  It was sad and moving but it felt so good to be out in the woods around a campfire with my sisters, singing our hymn and sharing stories about sisterhood.  It had been so long since I'd experienced that, and I am very, very grateful that I got to do it again before I leave.  It feels fitting that it happened as my time in Flagstaff is coming to a close.  I'm sad for the girls who loved TBS and didn't get to experience it for very long, though; but I'm also proud at how few of them are going to KKPsi.  (Side story: we were out at the lake until freaking midnight.  I went to bed at like 1 AM and actually made it to work the next day, I was so proud of myself!  I haven't pulled that kind of shit in a loooong time!).

Some of the alumni and actives are still fighting the chapter closing, there's been a petition going around online and I know a few of them have coordinated letter writing to Schmidt.  At this point I'm not getting involved any further because, as upsetting as the whole thing is, I have so much bigger and more important things going on in my life than my old sorority.  And maybe that makes me sound like a terrible person but I honestly don't feel all that bad.  In a weird way it feels good to be so far removed from it, to feel how far my life has come from when I was active and to have made amends with TBS.

Alton Brown Live: Eat Your Science

Last night was Alton Brown Live, and OMG it was freaking awesome.  It was absolutely nothing that I was expecting (because honestly what are you supposed to expect when a chef goes on tour?), but it was so good and so, so worth it.

First of all, Alton Brown is a much better singer than I'd have expected, and during the show he plays guitar and has a keyboardist and a drummer on stage with him.  He opened with a song called "Science: Heck Yeah!" that was very entertaining.  Then he talked about what he'd do if he was the God of food (which he says will only happen if current God of food, Anthony Bourdain, is killed or kidnapped).  Then he talked about GMO's and sang another song about a GMO protester who told him how GMO's will bring about the zombie apocalypse (that song was a cowboy waltz).  After that he brought a mobile bar on stage and had a volunteer from the audience come up to play a game called "Spin Your Poison," which ended with him mixing a gin, brandy, and soy sauce cocktail and then playing with liquid nitrogen to make it not so disgusting.

Then there was an intermission and the second act was all about popcorn.  It opened with the third song of the night, which was a pop synth song about popcorn.  There was also a giant air popper called Astro Pop, and an eventual popcorn explosion that was pretty amazing to watch.  Also in this portion of the show was a part where Alton and his second audience volunteer sucked helium and read a scene from Pulp Fiction, which was awesome.  Alton kept joking that he's going to make a whole show where he just does movie scenes on helium with various celebrities and call it A Helium Home Companion with Alton Brown.  (For the record, I would watch the hell out of that).

After a Q and A (where all the questions came from Twitter), he did another song called "Mise en Place" that was set to the tune of "Edelweiss" from the Sound of Music.  Side note:  this was especially hilarious because Jerbs and I have a weird inside joke related to the song Edelweiss.  Basically, a few years ago, not too long after I'd moved back to Flagstaff, there was a point where I realized Jerbs had never seen the Sound of Music, and we ended up watching it one night when it was on TV.  I honestly don't remember now exactly how it came about but somehow we ended up having this weird joke where we basically sing Edelweiss in this weird voice, and now whenever we hear that word or song we crack up.  So Alton Brown singing something to its tune was just . . . amazing.  It felt very full circle.  He started playing and Jerbs and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing, and kept laughing until we cried.  The people next to us probably thought we were nuts but whatever, it was such a perfect moment.

After that song Alton got a standing ovation so he did another song called "Airport Shrimp Cocktail," which has been stuck in my head ever since.  And that was that.  By then it had been 3 hours since the show started but I still wished there was more.  It was really just so, so great.  Alton Brown is quite an entertainer, and there's something about seeing a guy who's a self professed nerd doing a show that is just so completely all of his own making and selling out venues doing it that is really inspiring.  I loved every second of it.

Oh, at one point in the Q and A, he called himself a high functioning sociopath, which is a Sherlock reference, and I was the only person in the audience who got it and cheered.  It made me feel special lol.

Other than the show, we also went to Hobby Lobby (dangerous dangerous dangerous, it was a good thing I hadn't gotten my new debit card at the time) and Hastings (so nostalgic).  And we had dinner at Red Robin, since we don't have one here in Flag.  And we had In and Out on the way out of town, because we can't go to Prescott and not get In and Out.

All in all a great weekend, I can't wait for Alton to tour again!

ALSO, 8 DAYS UNTIL SEATTLE!!

122 Days (2016)

It's the first of May!  The official start of summer!

Not that you would think it was even remotely summer time based on the weather . . . it's cold and rainy and it actually snowed pretty hard last night and we've had the big heater on a lot the past few days.  I really don't mind it, I like having extra blankets on my bed still and getting to snuggle under them, and I like being able to wear sweaters and boots to work.

But either way, it is May 1st, which means that the 122 days of summer time is here.

This year, those 122 days will be devoted to completing the AZ Bucket List we've made--all the things we want to do before we leave AZ in the fall.  I'm actually really glad we decided to wait until September to move, because as nice as leaving earlier would be, getting to spend the whole summer here and move as it ends feels somehow fitting.  I like it when things tie up nicely like that.

So this summer we'll be doing as many FUTS trails as we can, hopefully taking a trip to the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and Havasupai (just to name a few).  I'm planning to do the Climb to Conquer Cancer in August with my sister.  And of course, we'll be packing and cleaning and getting ready for the big move!  I'm looking forward to summer and doing a lot of fun Flagstaff/AZ stuff before we leave.

In a couple weeks we're actually going to Prescott to see Alton Brown live, so I'm looking forward to that.  Jerbs is really, REALLY looking forward to it, so it should be fun!

Here's to my last summer in Flagstaff!!

Moving Related Conversations

Moving to the PNW seems to be the most talked about thing between Jerbs and me right now.

We talked about the possibility of leaving Flagstaff earlier than September.  The point of staying until then was to reduce the amount I'd owe MHC for my coding class when I quit, and now that I'm not quitting, I don't have to worry about that.  We talked about leaving at the end of June, which is when our lease is actually up and would make the most sense.  But our trip to WA is at the end of May, and I feel like getting back and only having 30 days before we leave would just be a little too much stress.  Plus it wouldn't be great financially, we need more time to save up.  Then we talked about leaving at the end of July, and we had pretty much agreed that we were going to do that.  Then Jerbs remembered that she's going to ComicCon at the end of July so we nixed that idea.  I didn't want to have to do all the cleaning and packing mostly alone, and the turn around time of her getting back and us leaving like 3 days later felt like it would be too stressful.  So the plan is still to leave at the end of August/beginning of September.  I'm actually glad for that, just because it gives us plenty of time to save and get our ducks in a row, and I like the idea of leaving at the end of summer.  I'm just weird like that.

I've also been banned, mostly by myself but also by Jerbs, from looking at apartments online for the month of March.  I've been getting a little . . . carried away looking at apartments, trying to find somewhere we can live, and having massive anxiety attacks about not being able to find a nice place etc. etc. etc.  It's getting to a bad point so I'm forcing myself to just stop for a month and take a step back from it.  Jerbs has (rightfully) pointed out that the move is still far enough away that looking at apartment right now is pretty pointless, and that I'm not going to pick anywhere until I see places when we go to WA in May anyway.  So that's that.  (Full disclosure, I've already failed at my ban twice since I imposed it--yesterday and the day before.  I've been good today, though!).

The Big Three One

Today I turned 31.  It's extremely surreal to think about that, and I think that in the next couple weeks I'm probably going to get all up in my head about it, but today was a really good day so that's what I'm focusing on right now.

I was really excited for my birthday this year because after how horrible last year was, I figured there was nowhere to go but up.  And I was right!

Yesterday when I went to the gym I found a $10 Dunkin' Donuts giftcard waiting for me, and this morning, I checked my work email to find that my boss had sent me a $25 Dunkin' Donuts giftcard, so I'm going to be super caffeinated this week!  I was so touched that she thought to get me something, I seriously love her.  Almost ALL of my co-workers remembered my birthday this year, which was lovely, and I got a card and cupcakes from the billing department.  In the afternoon I got flowers at work from my sister and my nephew.  And Jerbs had the day off so she took me out for dinner.  We went to Beaver Street Brewery and I got a brewer's platter (pretty much my favorite meal ever), and we got a free dessert sampler because it was my birthday.  (They let you pick between a free shot of your choice or a free dessert).

So all in all an awesome day and just SO MUCH BETTER than last year when I was sitting in my car in the Michael's parking lot with the dogs because I was afraid to be home alone.

Here's to my 31st year!  I am determined to make it a good one.