Thursday, September 26, 2013

Thankful Thursday

Today has been a beautiful, productive, jam-packed day. So I'm going to jump right in and reflect on all the lovely things I have to be grateful for.

1. I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve others. I love hosting events, or bringing meals to people, or cleaning Nolan's room, because those things show me just how much I really care about the people I'm serving. Sometimes you tend to take the folks in your life for granted, and I'm finding that when I really stop to think about them or do something focused on them, it reminds me of just how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life. Funny how that works, huh?
2. I'm thankful for the perfect Fall weather! Nothing beats riding my bike in the sun or going for a run in the chilly morning or wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and being JUST chilly enough to feel cozy.
3. I'm thankful for this time to post tonight. I've been running on empty a lot lately, and the fact that I can sit down and write this right now demonstrates that I really am in the middle of a breakthrough with my time-management skills. Yay!
4. I'm thankful for all the excitement of our future. We're trying to stay grounded in the present by hosting parties and staying connected to friends and our area...but it's tough when we have SO much to look forward to next summer! We even have a great Indian place all picked out for our new area, hey-o!
5. I'm thankful for Nolan, who is my rock and truest friend, whether we're adventuring in SouthEast Asia, or sitting at home eating desserts with Milo sprawled on our lap, or biking through our neighbourhood, filled to the brim with joy at how blessed we are. He makes my every day special and worth getting excited about. I am so, so grateful for such an amazing partner.

What are you thankful for?

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

On bacon and bike rides

Things have certainly been a little crazy for us in the last month, but last week was good to just kind of start to manage everyday activities again. Laundry is done, house is clean, Milo finally has a store of food again (we were down to the canned stuff while waiting for a shipment!)...you know, those things that have to happen to keep you relatively sane when you come home each night.

And in the last week and a half I've made 2 batches of mint Nanaimo bars. That helps.

It's also been nice (and painful) getting back to my CrossFit routine. I had to improvise with Insanity and random workouts while in Chicago, so last week I started back at the gym with my CF workouts and running. Other than the fact that I could not walk up or down stairs a couple days last week, it feels good.

Last week we had a surprise visitor - my dad has been in the Bay recently quite a bit for work, and we're not complaining! It means we get to see him more than usual, which is really nice :) And, you know, it's allowed for some bonding time between him and Milo - to resolve their past differences. I think it's finally working:

Wednesday, I was thinking that the weather has been SO awesome, I really need to take advantage of it. So since it was my day off from CF (and Thursday - you know how I adore Thursdays!), I woke up early for a nice long yoga sesh, had a delicious zucchini oatmeal breakfast, then hopped on my butter-yellow cruiser and rode to the CalTrain station in Redwood City. Which apparently has the nicest weather anywhere.

Admittedly, biking, taking CalTrain, and then walking to the office from there turned my commute into 2 hours each way (thank goodness I got up early!) instead of the usual 70 min, but it was awesome. That bike ride was my moment of meditation for the day - so nice!

This past weekend was awesome. Most relaxing, best weekend we've had in a very long time. We both had to work Friday (okay, Nolan chose to work), so we sat at home and at Starbucks and just worked side-by-side, taking time for a little lunch together and then just enjoying getting to sit together while we were on calls or working through presentations or spreadsheets. Friday night we met some friends for dinner in East Sac and explored the neighbourhood a bit before coming home for a late hot tub session with my mom under the stars clouds. So fun!

Saturday we each met our BFFs for breakfast in El Dorado Hills/Folsom, then met back up with my mom for visiting Gramma, running errands, and getting lunch at a new BBQ spot in Placerville. It was okay. By the time we got home the rain was pouring down, the fireplace was blazing, and it felt like a genuine fall day. So we settled in for some Rummikub, a nice nap, and then I worked on dinner items for our dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. Note: if you tell me you like bacon, I will put it in everything. We had bacon-wrapped rosemary pork tenderloin (double pig! yay!), sauteed veggies with little bits of bacon, and then black-bean brownies with a chocolate glaze and studded with...bacon! Tasty. We also played Carcassonne, but we won't talk about that because it was a travesty - I got utterly destroyed by pretty much everyone!

Sunday I woke up to do CrossFit with my sister-in-law, followed by a gorgeous little 4-mile run in the sunshine. We had a little breakfast, and then packed up and headed down to Granite Bay/Roseville to check out a new church and the general area. After church, we googled a good Indian lunch buffet (okay, maybe not the healthiest weekend ever!), and hit it up. It...was so good. And seriously good value. We already have plans to return. Definitely doesn't hurt (or does it?) that it's basically across the street from Nolan's new job that starts next year. Oh...did I mention he has a job next year?

YES. I'm so proud. If it wouldn't thoroughly embarrass him, I'd take a video of me dancing and post it here to convey my emotion. But.

Anyway. We documented the food (of course that's only pic we took of the whole weekend - we're fatties) with this pic, which demonstrates the value of the restaurant and the guaranteed goodness by its proximity to Subway and the appearance that it's in a strip mall. Quality. But seriously: really tasty.
My husband is super hot.

And now for an anecdote:

Somehow while blogging about our travels, I forgot to mention a crucial piece of the stress factor. While we were in the South of Thailand, Nolan was checking out our next hotel and figuring out other trip details in the lobby where there was good wifi. He brought his iPad, water bottle, and wallet down with him. When he came up to bed, he apparently just brought his iPad and water bottle. Of course this wasn't discovered until the next morning, and since it's an open-air lobby by the street...of course the wallet was gone. Good thing we each hold our own money. 
Stressful, eh? Just wait. That afternoon, we'd landed back in Bangkok, arrived at our admittedly terrible hotel, and decided to head to Chatuchak market, which is (by area) the largest market in the world. They say if you see something you like, buy it right then, because you'll never ever find the same stall again if you walk away from it. It's ginormous. Anyway, so we're walking along, eating tasty foods and checking out random things like stoneware and brass knuckles (hah!), and Nolan decides to try on a few dress shirts. They're like, $3, which is a little bit pricey in comparison to other stuff, so he says he'll think about it. We walk away. Half an hour later we're checking out some other stuff on the other side of the market, and Nolan reaches for his backpack...which is gone. He took it off to try on that dress shirt, and left it there. So I'm thinking, Okay, his wallet is already gone and I have our cash and we left the phones and cameras at the hotel...who cares about the backpack, since there is no way we'll ever find it? Thai and US Customs care, as apparently his passport was in there, and we have no photocopies (we're idiots, we know). So we're frantically running through the world's largest market with NO idea where we're going, I'm praying frantically and we're dodging shoppers and wares and oh by the way it's pouring down rain. 45 minutes and 12,000 steps on my pedometer later, I hear Nolan say, "Look! Brass knuckles! Brass knuckles!" and we turn around, and the dress shirt guy is cackling at us and saying, "you forget something I think?" Needless to say, out of our gratitude (and restored faith in humanity that he didn't pilfer it), we bought a $3 dress shirt. 
Lesson learned that trip? Anneliese holds the valuables.

Speaking of pedometers, we finally ordered one for Nolan, and are now officially engaged in a competition to see who can get the most steps per day from now through...(did we say an end date?). This seems a wee bit unfair to me, since even my CrossFit WODs don't always rack up tons of steps (I probably take like, 10 steps while doing a long set of thrusters, MAYBE). Then I sit at work all day at my desk, and sometimes don't get a chance to even go outside. Meanwhile he's on his feet and walking at the hospital for 12 hours straight without even bathroom breaks some nights (yikes). So I think I'm on my way to losing this one.

Monday, September 16, 2013

To summarize: TRAVEL.

Sometimes I don't even know where to begin when it's been awhile since my last update. Right before leaving on vacation, I was trying so hard to stay on top of everything that blogging absolutely took a backseat. And while we were in SE Asia? Pfft - forget about it. I was too busy eating delicious things, mostly. So here are some highlights, as best as I can put them together. These are a very poor representation of all the wondrous and incredible things we saw and did, so just...use your imagination to fill in the gaps where hundreds of pictures and stories are missing. Or, you know, check out the whole album on facebook.

Somebody last week asked me what my favourite part was. Hardest question ever. So let's see if I can list them out a bit:
1. The food? Pretty freakin' amazing. Curries, noodles, street-meat, coconut ice-cream served melting in the shell from a cart...nothing I really enjoy like sampling random foods from street vendors in foreign places!
2. Angkor Wat and all of the ruins around Siem Reap in Cambodia? Breathtakingly beautiful and unforgettable. Of all the wonders I've been privileged enough to see, this was certainly the best. Put it on your bucket list. NOW. Cambodia in general was probably one of my top highlights. LOVED the people, culture, natural beauty, everything.
3. Playing in the waterfalls and experiencing the markets and laid-back culture of Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand. Such a cool little place!
4. Scuba. Diving is one of my favourite things, but these were challenging dives, and all the better for it. I cannot even begin to describe the rush of exploring an underwater cave 75 feet below with no light and no sense of anything around you except for your own breathing. Terrifying and absolutely thrilling! And wreck-diving at 100+ feet? I loved it the first time and adored it the second. Exploring rusted old wrecks overcome by marine life on the ocean floor with limited light and visibility is awesome! I think I see a specialization in our futures.
5. Quality time with my lover. Nothing, NOTHING beats as many days as possible of solid time together exploring the world and getting to know new sides of each other. This is one of life's true joys and something I can't wait to continue doing for many, many years to come.

In pictures: 

Temples and Ruins.
Angkor Wat
Mind-blowing amounts of good food.
Lok Lak and Amok (Cambodian tasty dishes!)
Relaxation.
One of MANY massages. Support local economy, meet new people, feel amazing...why not?
Quality time!
In our tuk tuk on the way to Bayon Temple.
Motorbikes and mountains.
Cruising up Doi Suthep to see the Wat at the top.
Monuments and Temples.
Wat Phra Doi Suthep outside of Chiang Mai. Definitely the most..."golden" one we saw.
Long, sweet friendships.
Visiting with Briggs in Chiang Mai!
Waterfalls.
Relaxing at the bottom of the limestone waterfalls!
The Andaman Sea!
Koh Doc Mai (Flower Island).
Scuba!
Doing our pre-dive check: BWRAF - Bangkok Women Really Are Fellas. I'll never forget that acronym again.
Last dive - ready for hot coffee and reliving the rush!


After our long flights back across the Pacific, I was at home for all of 11 hours before taking off (pun intended) again. But man - jetlag was my friend. There was no way I could have done all that I needed to do if I wasn't wide-awake from 3am - on. So in those 11 hours, I unpacked from SE Asia, repacked for a business trip, did 2 loads of laundry, went for a run, did a CrossFit WOD, ate breakfast and showered, uploaded and edited all of our vacation pictures, slept for 4 hours, skyped for an hour with Nate in Beijing (jetlag win for the difference in timezones!), caught up on all work email from vacation, breathed a big sigh of exhaustion, then drove back to the airport to board my flight to Chicago.

Needless to say, those first 2 days were rough, especially after 1 more night of only 3 hours' sleep. I think the room service guy who brought my breakfast thought I was insane. 

But! Once I adjusted, it was fantastic. Honestly the most peaceful and rejuvenating work experience I've ever had, and that includes a day of lunch and facials at my old job. Seriously. We had someone from the SIY institute at Google teach us about mindfulness and meditation, and practiced it every day, several times a day. I did yoga with my boss one of the mornings, and learned to eat my meals slowly and enjoy the breeze during a hot Chicago day. Mindfulness: best lesson ever. I'm still working on putting it into practice. 

I also had an awesome time getting to know my colleagues better and especially my new boss, who I've  already praised to the high heavens on here, so I'll spare you the sappiness. But really - makes me sad that work can't always be this way. At least I'm excited about the good things we're doing on our team this year!
My super-fantastic boss and I! Love her!

Coming home was tough. It was SO good to see Nolan (and Milo, I guess), and I was so relieved to be home for good...but I was exhausted and a little bit wrecked. So Saturday was kind of a wash - I was productive and did restorative things like walk to the froyo shop and snack on it very slowly while people-watching in the sunshine. Even a little self-restoration takes time, though. Finally by Sunday I was back to my normal self. And I woke up to this after all my manic-cleaning on Saturday:
Sigh. I can never have truly clean things.

Today was my first day back in the office in 3 weeks, and I went for a little walk on lunch to see what's changed - because in San Francisco, change is constant. Sure enough - they've now installed a bike-share program (I saw it in Palo Alto last night too, so it's all of the Bay Area!). So now I really need an excuse to use one of these babies.
Bike-share! So much prettier than the DC bikes!

As if my boss wasn't great enough, she brought me this little souvenir today from Chicago as a reminder of mindfulness. One of the analogies used that really stuck with me was that our mind is like a snowglobe - sometimes there is a lot of stuff going on, but if you just wait and remain calm and focused, you'll see the still water again. The still water was always there, it's just a matter of focusing on the water instead of focusing on the "snow" floating around chaotically. So now I have this thoughtful little reminder sitting square in front of me at my desk, to remind me to focus on the water and not the snow.

What a busy, crazy, fun and exciting few weeks these have been!