2015 Month By Month

January

2015 began in New York City and kicked off a year of adventure, travel, and great discoveries about myself. I returned home to Portland and spent the month soul-searching about the year ahead - what I wanted to do, where I wanted to live, and my goals for health and finances. Little did I know that the year would reveal much more about me than I was prepared for.

February

My job with TNT kept me traveling back and forth between Portland and Boise. I was able to spend time with my family while keeping myself planted in Portland. It was the perfect blend of calling the PNW home while spending time with my family, and earning Alaska Airline miles.

March

Starting the end of December, I had been working on fitness and weight loss. I steadily lost weight and increased my time outdoors over the months. I had the opportunity to meet up with friends and family for hikes, and enjoyed many good conversations in the great outdoors.

April

April was full of travel - Boise, Cannon Beach, Palm Springs, Saddle Mountain, Opal Creek, and Seattle. April was possibly my favorite month of 2015.

May

May began my crazy travel for work season. I enjoyed a long weekend at Disneyland with a great group of heroes and cheered on the Boise team through the heart of the city. I also spent time in Long Beach with family, and, of course, visited Cannon Beach too.

June

A bittersweet month. I wrapped up my time at TNT with a trip to Lake Tahoe with my cycle family. I was sad to leave TNT, but excited to be starting my new job as the Marketing Manager at CCA. With true optimism, I thought the career change would bring the best opportunities and be the start of a new life in Portland. Little did I know it was the beginning of the end.

July

The height of summer - concerts, beach trips, hikes... the best things in life all enjoyed with good friends.

August

Started training for a half marathon, saw "Wicked," caught up with friends from Australia, photographed many families, found the best apartment in Portland, visited the coast... so many good things in August.

September

Generally speaking, September is my favorite month of the year. Fall arrives, my birthday is celebrated, and the leaves begin to change. This year September was tough for me. Things had been difficult at work for a few months, and it came to a head in September. I had the flu on my birthday, and plans fell through for any celebration. I had plans for the second New York trip of the year in Oct though, and in September I received my tickets to see Jimmy Fallon, and my nephew was born on the 25th... so it wasn't all bad.

October

There are few places I've loved more than NYC. 

Strike that. 

There's no place I've loved more than NYC.

The skyline, the culture, the chaos... I love it all and itch to go back. As often as possible.

I enjoyed 4 glorious days in New York in October, quit my (horrible) job, and ended the month with the hardest news I've received to date and headed to Palm Springs. October brought the highest highs and lowest lows of 2015.

November

My niece officially turned seven, and I officially feel old. I started and quit my job as a nanny, and decided my life was leading me to another big change. I didn't think I was ready to make this big decision yet, but I proved myself wrong and began the process of moving back to Idaho.

December

December was a month of saying goodbye to Portland and the many amazing friends I had made there. I fit in 3 more trips - San Francisco, Palm Springs, and Seattle - and spent a day at the coast, making memories. The month was emotional, and difficult, but overall I knew I had made the right decision in choosing to head back to Idaho. 

2015 was a year of change, growth, adventure, and self discovery. It was a year of top experiences and low emotions, and all have led to many great things. 

I look forward to discovering all 2016 has in store for me.

Priorities and Why I'm Moving Back to Idaho

Priorities shift in life. And sometimes they outright change. What we want may start to look different and suddenly choices we never thought we'd make are being made and plans are building to accomplish it.

When I first moved to Portland almost 4 years ago, my main priority was independence. I needed to prove to myself that I could move to new and unknown territory and survive. I surprised myself by not only surviving, but thriving. I found great apartments in the city, secured a few great jobs, explored and adventured in the area, and best of all, I found my tribe.

The friends that I've made while living in Portland have been some of the best people I know. They've been there for me when I've needed to cry, vent, or enjoy a good glass of wine. They've helped me move, helped me network, and two even named me Odd (God) Parent to their newborn. They've helped me discover so much about myself, and for that I am eternally grateful.

The idea of leaving the city and people I love is a tough one. It makes me sad to think about packing up the trailer and driving away in just a few short weeks.

But my priorities have changed.

For almost a year now the idea of moving back to Boise has been on my heart, but I've been pushing it aside and ignoring it. I chose to leave that place didn't I? I had very good, valid reasons for leaving, so why would I consider going back?

Family.

I miss my family. Seeing my brothers, sisters, mom, dad and niece every few months is just not enough. Each time I get back on that plane to leave again it gets more difficult. My niece squeezing me tight and asking me not to leave breaks my heart.

My niece turned seven in November and when I asked her what she wanted for her gift you know what she told me?

"I want you to move back to Boise."

I laughed at the time and told her that wasn't going to happen, but it sunk in deep and I haven't been able to shake it since.

I want a family someday. I want a husband and kids. And I want to raise those kids close to my family where they can see their aunts, uncles, cousins and Nana and Papa as often as possible. I grew up very close to my extended family, and I want nothing less for my own kids someday.

So, ironically, I used to wake up in Boise afraid I was going to meet someone, fall in love, and be stuck there. Now I worry I'll fall in love with someone in Portland and have to try and convince them to move closer to my family.

Life is funny isn't it?

Life Lately | A Rejuvenating Weekend

I have four favorite things. 

These four favorite things are near and dear to my heart, and they give me reason to get out of bed in the morning. These four things are family, the beach, live music, and theatrical productions.

And this past weekend was filled with all four!

My aunt flew into town on Saturday. I picked her up from the airport and we made our way downtown where we met up with my good friend, Heather, and we all found our seats in the Keller Auditorium to watch a Broadway production of Wicked!!

The show was AMAZING! The talent these performers posses just blows my mind! If you haven't seen it, I can't recommend it enough, go see it!!

On Sunday we first headed north to have a nice visit with my grandma and her boyfriend, Martin. Neither of us had seen her for quite some time, so it was great to spend a few hours chatting and catching up. She's so happy, and it's so nice to see.

Doesn't my grandma look awesome?! She's 83 and you'd swear not a day over 60. I'm not at all upset that it's her genes I've inherited.

After our visit Saleen and I headed west toward the coast. We made a quick pit stop at DQ and got our Blizzard on first.  Mmm, tasty!

Ahhh, then we arrived at my happy place.

 

Monday night we attended the sold out Kelly Clarkson concert and danced our socks off! Kelly put on an amazing show and it was a great way to round out the perfect weekend.

Cheers!

Life Lately | Barenaked Ladies at Edgefield

There's nothing better than live music. It's raw energy, and raw energy feeds the soul.
-Dhani Jones

Life Lately | June in an Instagram

June 2015 was an amazing month.  I traveled to Lake Tahoe for a weekend filled with love and TNT with my cycle family, celebrated Emerson's 2nd birthday, explored downtown Portland in more detail, spent lots of time with friends, and started a new job!

The month had its ups and its down, its challenges and victories, but overall it was amazing and I'm excited to see what July has to share.

Life Lately | Memorial Weekend

Memorial Weekend was an amazing 4 days of no work and all family.  

I began this glorious weekend with a quick "hello" to my favorite place as I made my way north to Long Beach, Washington.  It was cold and windy at the coast so I took just a quick stretch of the legs to photograph Haystack Rock and headed back to the car.

On the way back to the car I took a quick selfie with the Captain.  He looks awfully amused don't you think?

Once in Long Beach Jill, Blake, Emerson and I met up and settled into the cabin for the night.  We enjoyed catching up about house plans (them), new jobs (me), and celebrated being away and with family for a few days.

The next day was your quintessential Long Beach day with a visit to Adelaide's for coffee, books and chats. Blake met up with his step dad for a round of golf and Jill, Emerson and I headed to check out the Ilwaco Market.  

I just love these two so much <3

On Sunday we headed over to Astoria to meet up with Aunt Janet, Uncle Lauren and baby Ellie to explore the Astoria farmers market.  It was fun to walk around and look at the different booths with crafts, homemade goods and produce.  The market reminded me a lot of the Boise Market, and was the perfect size without being over or under whelming.

After exploring we popped into a local coffee shop to re-caffeinate and chat.  

Then we all headed back over to Long Beach for lunch/dinner and walked around downtown a bit. We enjoyed many giggles and good times.

Sunday night we loaded up the sand toys and headed down to the beach for a bit.  It was COLD, but Emerson was having a grand time playing with the sand, so we stayed as long as we could handle.

All-in-all it was a glorious weekend and one I hope to repeat many times.

Life Lately | Hiking Opal Creek

With the weather feeling very spring-y and warm lately, my good friend Heather and I planned to spend this last Sunday out in nature. We researched a couple new hiking spots and chose to drive south toward Salem. We found a great article about a hike east of Salem and up in the mountain called Opal Creek and decided to explore the trail.

The Opal Creek trail is an out and back with an optional loop to add a few miles.  We chose to travel down the path for about 2.5 miles before turning back and took our time to enjoy all the green.  It was a beautiful day and slightly overcast which really allowed for all the varieties of green to show off a bit.  

It was the perfect way to spend a spring Sunday in Oregon.

Easter on the Oregon Coast

Originally I was going to travel north to my aunt and uncle's house in Kelso, Washington for the holiday.  At the last minute, due to a few schedule changes and a time crunch for my cousin and her family, I decided against going, telling them all I'd see them in a couple of weeks.  I love time with my family, but sometimes the added pressure of it being a holiday puts everyone a bit on edge, and it makes me uncomfortable.

This past week has been really, really tough for me with a lot of emotional things going on at work and a few strained relationships, so the idea of being uncomfortable and around stress just did not sound appealing.  I felt badly for canceling with my family, but I'm proud of myself for making a choice to take care of me.

I jumped in the car and decided to head west, toward the coast. Before today it had been a couple months since I was last on the coast, and I was way overdue for a visit. I headed to Tillamook first, and then swung north and hugged the coastline on the 101 up to Cannon Beach.  I listened to music, had the windows rolled down, drank coffee and stopped the car anytime that felt right to snap a few photos.

It was amazing, and just what my soul needed.