Update on my life

I'm not really sure what has brought me here tonight... Boredom, I suppose. Nick is playing video games and my youngest child Ezra, chewed up the book I am reading. (although it is still readable, but a convenient excuse to sit on my iPad wasting my life away.) I started  by reading the KSL classifieds, followed by KSL news, reddit, and then blog stalking everyone I have ever known.

Care for an update on life? For 2 years, Nick and I lived in Monterey, CA. He was in the military for part of that time. I taught in a small group classroom. I loved so many things about my job, mostly a few great people I worked with, but not enough to want to stay working there. Sorry California public school system, but you kind of suck. So I said goodbye to the ocean and Jezz, the two things I will miss the most and we moved to utah. I sometimes wonder why. Been there, done that. But for the most part I am happy back in, well, happy valley. I am teaching in a small group autism class, which is the most wonderful and anxiety inducing job. Nick works for a finance company. We have a cute little apartment of our own in my fathers basement and two babies: Phillip Kindred, the lionhead rabbit, and Ezra, the German Shepherd puppy. Don't worry, there will be more of my exciting life to come.

California dreamin

I moved to Monterey in the middle of January to live with my hubby, Nick.  I said goodbye to all my totes awes friends, family and handed over my perfect classroom with my perfect students and perfect TA's to a new teacher, who I am glad to hear is doing a great job with them.

Erin drove out here with me, which I was very grateful for.  We made a pit stop in Lovelock, NV where Nick and I eloped.  

Pershing County Courthouse

Erin and Lily got to spend the whole week with us, which made it feel like a vacation for me and I would have these strange moments where I would think, "This is my home now. This is where I live. Ahhhhhh!" Nick had a 4 day weekend and went with us to Santa Cruz to see the mystery spot and walk the boardwalk.  It is so warm out here (for the most part) and even though I occasionally miss the snow, I must admit, it's nice to go for walks along the coast line every day and not have to wear a jacket.

We spent a day in Carmel, Big Sur @ Pfeiffer Beach and did a lot of things around Monterey.  It was so fun to see Lily put her feet in the ocean for the first time. Nick and I both wanted to steal her and keep her forever.  She is so adorable and fun. Erin is adorable and fun too, I might add.

On their last day here, we drove up to San Francisco which reminded me of driving in New York City (scary) and I was happy Erin did the driving both of those times. We got our hotel room first, right by the wharf and Ghirardelli square so we could park the car, as everywhere else seems to be a tow-away zone.  We walked around for a few hours and got Lily's portrait drawn by an artist on the street.  Then Erin took me out to dinner for my birthday.  Thanks Erin. :) The next morning I dropped them off at the airport. Erin had dropped her phone in water the day before and it wasn't working. I was a little nervous that her flight would be canceled and she would be stuck at SFO for... forever. Or at least awhile.  But she made it home safe AND her phone started working again the next day. Two wins! I was sad to see her go though.

Things have been great here. It's nice to see my husband every day and not have to settle for talking on the phone. I am starting to turn into a great little housewife, cleaning the house and cooking dinner every night. *sigh* I tried going to the school district to apply for a substitute teaching position. They were excited that I wanted to do special education, but I had to talk to a certain lady, who it takes a few weeks to get an appointment with and then get a background check. By the time all of that was sorted out, it would be time for us to leave for Texas. So I am not working right now, but I am still getting a few paychecks from the school district in Utah. I think I need to volunteer my time somewhere.  Any ideas?  I was thinking of volunteering at the SPCA, taking adorable animals for walks. 

Bucket List

Bucket list:

1.  Raise and unconditionally love a flying squirrel named Cthulu or Chickenbear, Jr.

2.  Visit Glacier National Park

3.  Be as funny, for at least 5 minutes, as David Sedaris

4.  Read every book ever written by Philip K. Dick

5.  Understand a philosophy book.  Any one.  Or philosophy in general.  Anything. Please.

6.  Go back to school for my doctorate (this one is a most likely "to do")

That is all for now.

Inca Toffee and Nietzsche

I woke up this morning with a growing sense of unease.  It has been building up all day and it feels... uneasy.  I have come to the conclusion that I am going to die soon.  I also have been having serious heart pain the last few days (not heartburn) which only confirms my theory of imminent death.

One thing that did make my day wonderful, however, was the discovery of this in my bedroom:

I bought bags of these when I was in Peru, because they are legitimately the tastiest treats to ever exist.  I thought I had eaten them all and I found a bag of them today.  I rejoiced.  

On an entirely different note, I took Reeb to Barnes and Noble today to peruse the philosophy section (for myself) and the kids section (for Reeb).  I bought "The Philosopher's Handbook" and haven't even made it through the introduction yet after a considerable time spent reading and rereading.  This is not my road of thinking, but it really interests me.  When I lived in New Jersey, I had a friend named Aryn who was a philosophy major at Princeton.  She once took me to a party in a basement on campus somewhere.  I remember sitting there in awe at her and her fellow philosophy major friends' conversation.  I hope I can one day be on 1/10 of her level at understanding Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Locke, Kant and others.

Home Videos

I went to Erin's house last Monday night to pick up some beverage and ended up staying for my second and final dinner of the night. We started watching our home movies we made in 2002-2003, which would make me 19-20 years old. We used to record everything we did. Case in point: when we got into our car accident in Spanish Fork Canyon, my side of the car was smashed into a cement barrier and she couldn't open her door, so we had to crawl out the back. I remember jumping out the backseat of the car and one of us saying "Wait, grab the camera!" And I'm glad we did. You can see the car in the background, smoking and car horn blaring while Erin calls 911 on her dance light phone. Priceless memories. We spent 45-minutes on Monday watching videos and I really, really want to watch the rest right this second. We thought we were so cool. In hindsight, we were not really cool at all, but quite funny. I was 20-30 pounds heavier with red and blonde hair and a tongue ring, so I cringe alot while watching it, but again, funny stuff.

I told Erin that night that I was going to start recording everything that happens again, because even though I am not nearly as cool as I was when I was 19 and my life revolved around cruising for guys on State Street, I will really enjoy the memories down the line. I don't think she believed me, but here it is:

Yay! Now I can start recording everything I do again.  I love my new video camera. It's so handy and adorable.  Just you wait Erin. This is gonna be great.

William Randolph Hearst, Sand Dollars and Boo's.

I am currently sitting on a plane at LAX typing on my phone. I wonder if I throw a big enough fit, if I can stay in California? I don't want to go home! I don't want to go back to work yet! I don't wanna! *wah wah *. It didn't work. Oh, well. Home I go. I had the most wonderful time here. I got to see Summer, Rich and Lucy. I met my boo, Nick.



AND i did an enormous amount of wonderful things. This last weekend I was here, we got to go to Hearst Castle! I listened to a podcast about it last year some time and since then have dreamed numerous times about going and I have taken the online tour at least 4 times. I MUST decorate my future home as William Randolph Hearst did his: gaudy.






I also went hiking in Big Sur again. Then I went to Point Lobos, which I visited the first time I came out here in March. And Carmel, which is another quaint little town that reminds me a little of New Hope, with it's galleries and hip shops.






The last night I was there, Summer and I went to the beach to look for sand dollars. We didn't find any, but had a grand time giggling with our head lamps on and getting attacked by the occasional large wave that came crashing in. It was by far the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen.




And now... back to the daily grind. Good thing I love my job. And my friends in Utah too. I love you guys.

Monterey: Part One

I will be intermixing my recent Peru trip and current California trip on here.

Right now: Monterey, California

I haven't seen Summer, Rich and Lucy in so long: since March to be exact. I was quite excited to get here. Rich is in training at the Defense Language Institute and Summer is working as an administrative assistant. Lucy runs around and cuddles with people. She slept with me the first night. She's the sweetest, cuddliest dog in the history of dogs.



I went for a run on Thursday morning, for the first time in 3 weeks. I thought it would be torture, but my body said "Welcome back, Tiffers. I've been waiting for you." I don't know the area well, so I just started running and hoped I would be able to find my way back. I made it nearly 3 miles and it felt wonderful.

Since both Summer and Rich work full time, I am on my own to explore and have fun during the day. Rich kindly helped me secure a bus pass and though it took me a day or two, I've figured out the transit system here. On Friday, I rode into downtown and had an hour before my transfer, so I walked around for a little while. Monterey is a quaint little town and I was especially delighted to find a used bookstore. I spent most of my time in there and bought an old book on Peru. I will soon be up to date on Peruvian history, at least up to the year 1965. I'm such a sucker for old books with neat covers though.



I also walked along fisherman's wharf for a bit, until it was time to catch my transfer to Big Sur.



I hiked a little around Big Sur, but wasn't really apparel prepared. I plan to go back a few days next week, when I'm better prepared, so I can get in some nice hikes. I walked two miles down to Pfeiffer Beach and sat on the sand for awhile. I don't necessarily like sand, as I have tactile issues with it and I don't like getting into the water, but the sand didn't seem too bad today, so I sat down and relaxed for an hour or so before I needed to get back to the bus stop.





The last thing I'll mention (this blog post doesn't flow very well. I apologize.) is riding motorcycles. Oh dear, it is sure fun. Saturday we took an hour+ ride into San Jose to go to a leather shop. I bought a rad pocket knife with a pearl and dark wood handle. I have been dreaming about this purchase for a year now, and it feels so wonderful to have it sitting in my back pocket right now. I rode on the back of Kevin's bike, a Victory, and it's really nice, but it doesn't have a back rest, so I am pretty sore. This morning, I went to breakfast with Nick, who rides a bullet bike (I don't know what kind) and he got to 115 mph on the freeway and he hit 100 mph going through the tunnel in downtown. It was terrifying and exhilarating and as much as I shouldn't want to... I want to do it again.