LADDventure

Five Minute Friday - Rhythm

I miss the rhythm of a place I've only been to once before, but man it has a beat that stays with you.  The pace is too rushed at first, deafening, and hurried and like you can't find the beat.  It's like waiting to jump into double dutch on the playground for the first time...scared to get caught in the ropes, but then when you find that sweet spot in the middle and sync with the rhythm, it's oh so lovely.

New York City is like that.  Full of so much life and activity the streets seem to be actually pulsing.    There's a lot of talk about "not looking like a tourist" when you are in New York, and I think there's something to that.  It is inspiring and exhilarating to join in the dance of the city, and let it take you where it may, blending in and swimming along.

But there is also value in stopping to gaze (just not in the middle of the sidewalk), taking pictures, and whirring through Times Square late one night after a Broadway show in a pedicab you will undoubtedly pay way too much for.

Its unlike any other place I've seen, and today I'm literally craving the concrete, and the green oasis of Central Park, and the busy.

This post is linked up with other writers who took 5 minutes to write unedited on one word today.  Join us!

2012 - The Year of New

I'm back! I think the teacher in me is still used to a long Christmas break of doing nothing particularly productive.  So, I've been absent from writing  (among other things like laundry or anything else that didn't sound festive).

But, I wished for presence this holiday season, and I got it. I was present on a 12 day trip back to Wisconsin for an early Christmas with my family; present in a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in our house for the first time at home in Arizona, just the two of us! Can you tell I thought it lovely?  Then I was present playing hostess to Jeremiah's family right after that for our Christmas with them.

So now that the cookies are gone (mercifully), the guest beds are empty, and the world is returning to normal...I am left to linger in 2012 for one last day and reflect. It can be all too easy when the tree needles are falling and the house is quiet again to jump into resolutions, and what you need to get done or be better at.  While I love the opportunity for a fresh start and improvement after cleaning up the tinsel (Does anyone still decorate with tinsel?), I don't want to miss the chance to ponder all that has happened this year.  Resolutions without reflection on where you are and how you got there seem kind of pointless to me.

So, I have dubbed this past year, 2012, the Year Of New for the following reasons...

New Career

This was by far the biggest of the new things that happened this year.  After a very difficult 2011-2012 school year, I needed a change, not just a job change or school change, but a chance to work at something new; a chance to pour all that energy into other pursuits, myself, and my family.  So we decided that I would not sign a contract for the following year and that I would take an indefinite break from teaching to pursue writing full time.  It was not an easy decision, and it has been an adjustment, but I can honestly say I have not regretted that decision once, and feel so incredibly lucky to do what I do every day.


New Health

With the career change, came major changes in my health.  I started seeing a chiropractor back around the time I decided to quit teaching.  She helped me realize that I needed adjustments in more areas than one, and just how much stress was contributing to very poor habits and poor overall health.  I now have very few migraines, get 8-9 hours of sleep a night, and literally have not been sick one time since I started going to the chiropractor back in March.  While there is much room for improvement and other health goals, I am happy about taking control of my stress and finding some peace and balance in 2012.


New Adventures

We invested in our new favorite hobby, modifying our Jeep to turn it into a bit of an off-road beast.  So, we hit the Rubicon Trail in California for our summer vacation this year.  We got really dirty, climbed huge boulders, almost got eaten by a bear, and it was awesome.

I went to my first blogging conference, BlogHer '12, in New York City for the first time by myself.  Still processing everything I learned about blogging and myself on that trip.

I got my first tattoo with my sister on her visit out to AZ in February.

New Friends

We are getting to the point where we are really getting to know the many acquaintances we first met when we moved here, and growing some friendships.  I'm looking at you bloggy buddy and next door neighbor :-)


New House Stuff

With extra time for creativity, the interior of our house that we've now lived in for 3 years is finally starting to shape up.  What was a glorified hallway of a front room is now full and inviting, and finishing touches like rugs and curtains are falling into place in the rest of the house.


New Niece News

Aidee Asuncion Luis was born on November 6th this year and I got to spend some snuggly newborn time with her.

Also, 3 of our other nieces started kindergarten this fall, and this former kindergarten teacher of an aunt can't get enough of their first day of school pictures and school stories.  I know full well how magical that year is for learning.


New Focus

We have begun really focusing on starting a family this year.  We're not sure exactly what that will look like just yet, but we know we both want a loud holiday table of our own someday filled with kids and grandkids, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Stay tuned.

Tomorrow I'll be back with some goals for 2013, but tonight we are celebrating the end of a great year with great friends.  There will be homemade pizza, pajamas, and champagne.  

Happy New Year everyone!

BlogHer '12 Conference in NYC

"Write what you know so they say.  All I know is I don't know what to write or the right way to write it." 

While I was in New York City for my first blogging conference, I also saw Newsies on Broadway.  The above lyric is from the song "Watch What Happens" sung by the female lead, Katherine.  This song was like the soundtrack to my whole experience.  She was a journalist singing about writing the big story, the daunting task that writing can be, and how her words might have the power to really impact a situation. 

I have been back from New York for a while now, and I have felt much like Katherine from Newsies, unsure of where to even begin to put my experience into words.  But, here is my post-BlogHer post finally...

I made it to the BlogHer '12 Conference on Thursday night about two weeks ago, at 8:00 New York time.  After I finished sweating profusely (man I don't miss humidity), I picked up my badge and tried to get some rest.  Of course, I could not fall asleep despite getting less than 2 hours of shut-eye the night before due to nervous energy and a super early flight out of Phoenix that morning.  I laid in bed and tried to avoid a panic attack, which I've never actually had but was certain that exhaustion combined with extreme nerves about the next day could brew up.

When the alarm buzzed at 6:30 the next morning, I followed the advice of this wise sage and gave myself permission to sleep in and miss out on the newbie breakfast favoring sleep instead of my own incoherent rambling when it came time to network with other bloggers. I know myself well enough to be sure that I need sleep and downtime to be a functional human being.  I love meeting new people, hearing and telling stories, and experiencing new places, but I also need time to myself.  I actually am re-energized when I am alone and can process everything, and I think I struck up the perfect mix of the two during this hectic weekend in New York.  It was important, because this conference was consuming.....in a good way... which could become a bad way if you let it.

I tried to keep focused on what I was there for, to submerge myself into the blogosphere and soak up whatever it had for me like a sponge.  I wanted to see myself as a writer and meet other writers.  I wanted to talk about, learn about, and get excited about blogging .  I was not necessarily there to sell myself to brands, although there was plenty of opportunity for that in the expo hall, which I just completely avoided.  Talk about sensory overload and free crap that I did not want to drag home in my suitcase.  Another year in the future I may feel differently, but this was my starting point, an intentional step in the direction of taking my blog more seriously and writing as a career. 

It wasn't just the conference, it was the entire experience that affected me.  I was in New York for the first time, by myself, hailing cabs and walking in Central Park.  I was meeting people and handing out blog business cards and mingling.  The panels were enlightening and the keynotes were interesting and inspiring.  But, it was the overall reality humming in the back of my mind the whole time that was the most valuable.  "You are here, you are doing it, you are following another dream," and I don't know if I've been that proud of myself in a long time.

"Give life's little guy some ink, and when it dries just watch what happens!"  

sang the feisty Katherine onstage at Newsies, as I sat middle, 3rd row, mezzanine in the cozy Nederlander Theatre on freaking Broadway! I could hardly believe it.  I had purposely bought tickets for Newsies on the Saturday night of the BlogHer conference, knowing I might need a break from the chaos, and that I couldn't leave New York City without seeing a Broadway show.  I drank in every second as I inhaled the smells of the theater; varnish and chalky sawdust mingled with the cologne and breath mints of the audience into thick velvet curtains. But, the ironic reality of that line in the song brought hot, expectant tears to my eyes.  I was in New York, in a Broadway theater, taking a break from a blogging conference, because I was a writer now.   I had quit my teaching job and decided to pursue writing.  So, I was sitting there to hear that line at the very moment I would have normally been going back to school because I had made a decision to see what else might happen.  I am a little guy with some ink, and I have no idea what will happen when it dries.

New  York has a way of making you feel small.  The pace is frenetic, and the windows and steel go on forever in a sea of city.  Every crack in the sidewalk is full of people and productivity.  If you let it, it will dwarf you and you will feel lost and insignificant.  There were plenty of "big guys" like Martha Stewart (surprisingly sassy and clever), Katie Couric (brilliant and adorable) sharing their thoughts at the conference. Even President Obama had a message for this group of women bloggers.  But, hearing The Voices of the Year Keynote at BlogHer showed me how the words of a "little guy" can impact a whole room, a whole community.  And that one line in that one song reminded me.  Writing is powerful because it puts this life we are all living in a frame.  It fosters conversation and better understanding of ourselves and others. It is a chance for us to tell our stories,  and we don't always know how the story will end or the impact our writing will have on others, but the important part is to just sit down and begin.

So after the show, as I was whirled in between honking taxis on the back of a pedicab, I was exhilarated from the warm night air and bright lights of Times Square,  and I beamed at the possibilities as I was reminded of the last line of the song...

"So whatever happens....let's begin!"

 

My view from the back of the bike cab.  It's blurry cause I've never been on a faster or more recklessly driven bike.  That's New York for ya!

Home Again

Wow, it has been a crazy exciting couple of weeks.  My travels have ranged from the Hilton in midtown Manhattan one weekend, to a tent in the Sierra Nevada Mountains the next.  From the BlogHer '12 conference in New York City to the Rubicon Trail in the Jeep in Northern California. Coast to coast baby, without much time in between to unpack and repack bags.  And although the trips were not without their hiccups, like spending the night in the Chicago Midway airport and a bear sniffing at my tent in the middle of the night, it has been an amazing two weeks!

During both trips I met a lot of new people and the natural question that always came up was, "where are you from?"  I sometimes hesitate awkwardly at this question as I grew up and spent many years in Wisconsin, but now live in Arizona.  I don't feel like I've lived in Arizona long enough to claim to be "from here."  And although I love all kinds of things about living here,  I still miss the green and the autumn and the people in Wisconsin so much it hurts at times.  So, given this inner turmoil, when asked I usually go into a too long explanation of being from Wisconsin originally but moving to Arizona 3 years ago, and by that time the person has stopped listening.


Yesterday afternoon as we were on the 11th hour of our road trip back from California, we were remarking how our desert was prettier than the California desert.  We have saguaro cacti and bigger mountains.  Our skies are bluer and our clouds are puffier, and our rain has that smell.  While we had an amazing time on our trip, we were tired and dirty and so excited to be back to our dogs, our pool, our home.  It hit me that 3 years almost exactly since moving here, this has truly become home, and I can now answer that question more confidently.

After being without internet the last few days, I am catching up on writing, and there will be many more detailed blog posts later this week about recent adventures.  I am excited to tell some stories and share tons of pictures.   But for now I am unloading duffel bags, shaking off the dust, and doing umpteen loads of laundry.  Home is where you unpack, and there's nothing like being home.