Making Snow Angels in the Mountains!

Current mood: hopeful

You don't even KNOW how excited I am to go back and visit Laramie this week. The place where my Timmy and I spent our first year of marriage bliss. Our first home, so many road trips, so many happy friends who were truly content, a stress-free lifestyle, SNOW, adventures, re-defining who I was through many new experiences, "dancing to a different beat" ... I do miss it. When I first moved out there, sure it took a while for the CA girl in me to adjust, but when I did-I finally discovered how much more there is to the ways in which we CHOOSE to live this life we are given. It is so baffling to me the drastic differences in the many ways of life there are to live in our country. It is as if CA, (especially SO Cal) and Wyoming are two different countries. And obviously the differences only start there. Like night and day. How could a simple thing like geography influence such drastic sociological differences? Hmmmm... I think I am the most indecisive person I know right now. I question as to why I am soooooo thrilled to go back there if I was sooooo ready to move back here when I lived there. Are we ever truly content with what we have at the present moment? I told Tim tonight that if when we are in Colorado and Wyoming this week I feel like that is our place could we ever move back? I think he passed out cold. :)
Dec. 19
So our trip to Laramie and Ft. Collins was absolutely fabulous! As we flew over the rockies, I saw stars for the first time in 7 months. No not stupid celebrities, celestial beauties! :) The vast, wide open night sky was so peaceful and a sense of calm washed over me that I have not felt since I've been back there. As we landed in Denver, I had a strange feeling that we were FINALLY HOME again after 7 long months in some weird, foreign country. (Well we practically are, the OC is weird!) Laramie was the last place we have experienced the feeling of "home". Ever since we've been back in CA, our life has not been stable. The sparkling snow glistened in the moonlight and lightly dusted everything in sight. My first breath of fresh air was exhilarating!
The next morning we drove up to Laramie through the almost-blizzard like conditions. The howling wind and blowing snow danced around us in a whirlwind of excitement! The buffalos even seemed to shoot us their welcome back smiles! :) I wanted to jump out of our suv and run through the wide, open spaces and revel in the freedom I felt!
When we arrived in Laramie around lunch time, I dropped Tim off at the office and went to go find some lunch. I ended up at my old hangout-the Coal Creek coffee shop. As I walked in a familiar voice called my name, " Laura-where you been?" I couldn't believe it! It was Guillermo, my 70+, Italian buddy that used to chat with me here when I first moved to Laramie and needed the coffee shop for internet. There he was, still coming to his same spot everyday at 1:00, as usual. Of course. :) What a neat feeling to roll into town after being gone 7 months and see an old friend immediately! We sat and caught up on our lives for about 2 hours. He is hilarious and speaks of life through such expressive undertones full of depth and wisdom. I feel like I am reading "Tuesdays With Morrie" all over again. :) We part ways and he says to remember that life is always suprising and one must just be able to go with the flow to fully enjoy and understand it. "See you again," he says and he fades into the snow.
I was so happy to be able to spend time throughout the week with so many of our friends. I didn't realize how many good friends we have over there. Everyone was doing well and was so happy. I even arrived just in time to see my old kiddos perform in their annual "Peppermint Parade" - the Christmas program at the Open School that I used to teach at. All of my old students remembered me and it was so good to see their little happy faces again. They grow up so fast at that age!
In being back in the small town life, I realized more and more how much I missed it and how happy it made me. Too bad I had to come back to CA to fully appreciate it. It usually takes learning through experience for me to fully solidify things for myself though. And to me it's the best way. I do see us moving back there someday though. To Colorado that is, Boulder maybe. For now, we'll have to give CA our best shot, to see if we can be as happy and carefree here, to meet some more friends who aren't caught up in the materialism that sucks the genuine-ness right out of the people in our state, that drains them of true contentment and happiness. We'll see...

My OC Observations-copyright 2007 by LB

You know you are in the OC when...


1) You go clubbing with your OC MOM, and all the men are hitting on her

2) If the temperature drops below 70 degrees, people bust out their winter coats and UGS

3) People put their children on a leash but parade their toy dogs around, fully dressed in fancy doggie clothes, in special dog strollers at the mall. NO JOKE!

4) When they do take their 4 year old children on a walk outside, they put a pacifier in their mouth and listen to their i pod.

5) They have had at least 3 failed marriages by the tender age of 35

6) A typical conversation among 40 year old moms includes discussing how hard it is on their teenage sons because all their male friends are in love with them, (meaning the 40 year old moms)

7) If there's not a fast track sticker on your car window, you are gonna be spending most of your day in traffic

8) There's valet service at McDonald's

9) Kids get BMWs and Mercedes for their 16th Birthdays

10) There's a concierge service at the local high school

11) People wear board shorts and flip flops to church

12) Our Church is it's own little city, about 40 acres. ( Mariners of Newport Beach look it up online) Parking garage, organic cafe, bookstore, vocal lessons, play gym for kids...I've heard rumors that a small Walgreens is opening there soon. You know, in case you are in church and you need to drop off your Prozac RX, you can have it filled while you worship!

13) You are with your therapist discussing the traumatic breakup with your stylist when you realize you are late for your botox appointment! Whoopsie!

14) You have a nanny, a in- home chef, a gardener and a personal assistant. And you don't work.

15) The only reason you have a Costco membership is to purchase your monthly alcohol in bulk

16) There are about 3 Target stores within a 5 mile radius to your house

17) You can shop for hip trendy clothing at the local coffee shop

18) The Whole Foods has a wine and tapas bar in it! Halleluiah!

19) Most neighborhoods are gated so you cannot enter unless you have a VIP pass

20) Most of the junk mail ads are for beauty services such as botox, liposuction, manis/pedis, teeth whitening, weight loss drinks, potions, and lotions!

21) There is at least one photo shoot happening every time you visit the beach

22) You have more restaurant take-out menus in your kitchen than cookbooks

23) The local news always includes Britney, Lindsey
and Paris updates

24) There is a girl in the public restroom of a
restaurant who's job it is to hand you a warm towel
after washing your hands. And you can't use the
restroom unless you are prepared to tip her.

25) The valet services at Bloomingdales are known to
double, (illegally) as a handy babysitting service
when frustrated housewives have had enough and need to
"stop in" for a "quick" shoe splurge. Yep, that's
right, they just leave their little ones in the car
with the valet attendants while they buy their 500th
pair of shoes.

Thanksgiving Take 2!

The day after Thanksgiving, T and I had been invited to another Thanksgiving by his friends at work. It was at a young couples' cute apartment in Orange. There were about 5 couples there and some cute kids as well. I have not had the chance to socialize with this group much, only twice now since we've lived here, but they were all so welcoming and nice. Everyone had pitched in and brought so much food and drinks! We took some girlie shots together and chatted about our lives. One girl had a rotten Thanksgiving and so we shared our funny stories with each other and did the venting and laughing we so desperately needed. We both agreed that this day felt like out REAL Thanksgiving because there were more people around and we were having a better time. I had a really great time and wished we were living here longer so I could get to know this group better. T and I haven't had the chance to really make friends here since we've lived here. We also haven't really made the effort since we know we will be moving again soon. But it was a really nice feeling on the drive home that night because I felt for the first time like we did have other friends here and this WAS and IS our current home. I suddenly felt inspired to make more efforts with the friends I do have around here before I leave so that we have more memories here.
The rest of our holiday weekend was great. T and I went to Hollywood for the first time together and shopped around on Melrose and at the Grove which were both really exciting and fun. I discovered the American Girl's huge store at the Grove and fell in love. The American Girl collection were my most favorite books when I was a girl. Valerie Tripp is the author and a brilliant one at that! She tied in 6 different eras in American History and the each character went along with a different era of time. For instance, "Samantha" was the girl from the Victorian Era and her six books told of stories from that time. There was a whole catalogue to accompany the stories with dolls, clothing, accessories and even matching clothing for you! It was heaven. I always treasured my American Girl book and my Samantha doll. So as you could imagine, visiting the store for the first time was a dream come true! There was so much to see it was like Disneyland for doll and book lovers! There was even a restaurant where you could bring your doll to dinner with special doll high chairs and items on the menu that corresponded to the foods that you would read about in the books! I was in love! I seriously cannot WAIT to have a baby girl! There was a musical theatre where you could go watch a live performance of the stories from the books, a doll hospital, a doll salon, a portrait studio... it was amazing! So if anyone has an American girl doll they would like to take to lunch with me-let's go!!! :)

Wise'n Up Buttercup!

Current mood: contemplative

So the word on the street is that we are moving up to the bay area for Tim's job sometime in the next month. But-last night Timmy and I put our little heads together and really thought hard about this one. Bay area= more traffic, houses with no land, stressful and fast-paced lifestyle and for what purpose? To live near some shopping mall? Please!? What for? So we can spend all our money on useless things everyday? Living in Irvine, "the OC" has proved that theory. I can easily spend $100 a day on "things we need" without even trying. (I don't all the time but I have) If we lived in a small town, we would only shop every couple weekends and that's fine by me! (That's how it was in Wyoming and it worked out fine- just stock up when you go!) And- I'm sure you've seen in all my pics that I don't need any help with my wardrobe! :) It IS nice to have all the best shopping malls in the nation right here in my own neighboorhood, but is it necessary to my happiness? I think not.
Bay area...hmmmm...lots of restaurants...I can cook very well thank you. And even more so when my lifestyle is slower to allow room for it. Lets see, rely on restaurants for the rest of my life or provide healthy food for my family...(I think many people here eat out daily and we started to for a while) Bay area=Tim's job/promotion...well now here's a toughie. Do we go where the $$$$/instant gratification is or where our hearts are leading us? The latter might be a more difficult path at first, then the perfect opportunity could be found there in time. (Tim says he should get to quit his job and stay home for a while like I have, and I should be the breadwinner) :) Oh I will one day in time Timmy, right after my first book becomes a bestseller. Just you wait! :)
Another major factor in our decisions are our future children. Do we really want to raise them in a busy neighboorhood where if they go outside to play I have to worry about some creep running them over with their gigantic Land Rover? Red Rover don't run my kid over! :) OR- send them out to play out on 4 acres of our beautiful, green grassy meadow with tons of perfect tree-house trees and a babbling brook? Gee now that's not a hard decision after all is it? And did you know there's a new issue called "nature-defecit-disorder" with kids in our society? (Lack of exposure to the outdoors and inability to enjoy the outdoors once they are there) And guess what the cause is? All those mindless video games, TV, DVD's, the internet...Kids aren't playing outside anymore and learning how to be creative. The video game already does that for them. SAD. So I definetly want to keep nature a big part of our kids lives. It is more liberating than sitting in front of a video game like a robot.
People in smaller towns watch out for each other because being that there are less people, they value each other more. I loved going to the grocery store in Laramie and always seeing people I knew. This was always a small reminder that where ever I went in town, there were always friends around. Safe.
So anywhoo-that's the current update on our ever-changing life. Tim and I both feel we would ultimately be much happier in a smaller town, bigger house with more land, and a better life for our 10 future children. :) Now back to reality! How are we gonna make this work?!!! We haven't a clue! Not too many jobs right now in Sonora...We'll just have to pray...
p.s. Maybe I'm really a country girl who was raised in a city family so I'm a little confused. But I'm figuring it out. :)

Fumbling Towards Stability

me walking out of our OC condo!
I am starting this blog because A) I have recently become one of the OC's newest housewives :) and B) Myspace is not equipped to hold ALL the thoughts of my active mind :).
In the last year my husband and I have been in one, continous transition. We moved back to CA from Wyoming-that's right where there are still REAL cowboys with spurs and all! We moved into my in-laws house in Turlock for about a month, then moved down to the "OC", Irvine that is. :) I was substitite teaching on the side but T has had to travel so much for work lately so I have opted to go with him on many occasions. I have spent many weeks this past year living out of hotels and making friends with the room service people. But it is much better than being alone here in Irvine.! Just a month after moving down here, we are informed that we must move to the bay area before the end of the year! WHEW! I feel like a military wife who didn't sign up for this life! Though the past few months have been interesting and different, I am sooooo ready to be settled in a house again with a steady job and start our CA life together. I know it is important to be thankful for the present, bbbbbut being in transition is really hard. With no stability to our current lifestyle, it is hard to make friends, have routines, have a life again.
The only time my life has not been stressfulwas for the year we lived in Wyoming. I felt as though I was at some good- for- the- soul rehab center living with almost no stress. It was very refreshing. I do miss the signifigance of those wide open spaces and beautiful mountains. They signify peace for me. Simplicity. Contentment.
Well anywhoo-I'm getting off track. Back to my current reality.