Twenty-Eight

Twenty-eight has proved to be an odd and confusing age so far.  More than any other time that I can remember in the second-half of my 20s, I feel like I’ve been asked how old I was more THIS year.  When I answer, I get a really odd mix of responses.  Most people, especially strangers (dentist, hair dresser, lady at my gym), remark on how “young” I am, or that I’m still a “baby.”  That response is SO odd to me, because, I don’t really consider myself either of those two things.  The remainder of the people (co-workers, my family), usually want to know how long I’ve been married, and when I’m planning on having kids, because that’s what’s normal or expected to them.  A remark from my gym instructor really got me the other day—she was talking to someone else about this girl who did Cross Fit at another gym and was really good.  When asked how old the cross fit girl was, my instructor said, “She’s not young.  I think she’s like, 28, or 30.  She’s not like those young girls who can just rip out a workout.”

Okay, so WHICH is it, then?  Am I young?  Am I bordering on too old?  Maybe the reason that I get a bit edgy about it is not because people ask me more about my age now, but more because I feel conflicted about it.  Comparatively, I think that 28 is still young-ish.  But not just “young” by itself, you know?  I felt “young” in college.  Now, I’ve been paying my own way for a long while, and have become a fairly accomplished adult.  I’ve been out of college for 5 years now, I JUST got married a year and a half ago.  I’ve been doing stuff, enjoying my life, seeing the sites and having adventures.  I feel good about all of it.  I don’t (often) look at my friends who got married and had kids younger and wish I could go back for a re-do to be more like them.  I’m not even close to the oldest person in my office who doesn’t have kids.  

But, it still nags at me, because 28 seems so very close to 30, and with that age comes a bunch of expectations and judgments.  Not to mention, concerning stats.  One minute I feel so free to just be able to pick up and leave and travel for work with no qualms.  Another minute, I am consumed with worry of what people will think if I don’t produce offspring in the near future, and the consequences to MY future if I don’t.  It. Is. Exhausting.  For once, I’d like someone to say “Oh, 28… that’s a fun age.”  Or, even better—don’t ask at all!  I know how old I am, I am well informed of the expectations and stats of being 28, and I’m handling it.  I got this.  Trust me.

I digress from my moody rant.  It’s been a very busy March around these parts.  We were hit with the news that Steven’s grandma had passed away (peacefully) in the second week of March.  We made the trip back to Malta to be at her funeral.  I was glad to be there for Steve and help out the family during the hard time.  I feel comforted that she had a long, full life and was loved by so many people.  I know it will be hard for the Greens not to have her to talk to anymore.  She will be very missed.

The week after we got back from Montana, I was off again for a work trip to Chicago.  It turned out to be a nice visit, aside from the FREEZING cold weather, and the massive issues that our software’s build created the weekend before.  The office was "tense" to say the least.  But, I got to visit and bond with my team, as well as see a lot of other people I usually only email, so it was a pretty productive time.  There was also a product training during that time that some other people from the remote offices flew in for, and hanging out with them in a different city was pretty cool.  I always like going back to Chicago.  The streets and way of life are so fresh in my mind and it’s easy to get swept up in the city lifestyle after being submerged in suburbia for almost three years now.  But, I SO do not miss the cold.  I’ll take my 60 degree March days over anything else.  Caligurl4eva.  ;)

As always, I’ll end this blog with a resolution update:

1. I fell behind on blogging for reasons mentioned above, but I’m completing mine for this week!
2. I’ve been doing pretty well with being active during lunch.  This week it’s been rainy and hard to get outside, but I did go for a nice walk on Tuesday and cleaned up the house Wednesday.
3. I’ve kept up with bootcamp pretty well and really only fell off the wagon in Chicago, where it's pretty tough to work out in a hotel—but I walked so much that I feel like I MUST have got some calories burnt off that I normally would not have.  Steve and I also hiked at Sunol two weekends ago, so I hope that we can keep it up.  Exploring new hiking areas around the Bay is so fun!
4. I’m trying to get back on the wagon for eating less junk food.  I’ve done pretty well this week—as long as you don’t count the frozen strawberry lemonades at McDonalds as Junk.  :)
5. I’ve still flossed pretty regularly every other night, and my dentist check up went pretty well a few weeks ago.  I only have one cavity and I think it has been there for a bit, because the dentist said it was right beside a filling they had already done last year.  I think when that happens, they should re-do your filling for free.  It must be their fault if the filling didn’t do it’s job, right? ;)
6. I’ve been to a few places that I need to Yelp about, so I’ll try to get on that next week.
7. No back-blogs yet! 

I will leave you with some pictures from our most recent hike in Sunol.  I’m really enjoying getting outside and seeing the sites of the bay at new heights!  

First Road Adventure of 2013: Muir Woods

As random as it sounds, my husband chatted up his eye doctor about great places to go hiking in the Bay Area.  The doctor had, at some point, mentioned Muir Woods as a great, but touristy, place to check out.  Steve and I usually go on a walk around our very local park -- Coyote Hills, on the weekends, so tromping though the wilderness elsewhere seemed appealing for an otherwise open and plan-free weekend.

So, we made the 1 1/12ish drive up the windy and woody roads above San Fran to Muir Woods, part of the HUGE California Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  And unlike a lot of our other trips to scenic places around the pay area, this trip had a TON of ups and downs.

Aside from the winding roads, the first thing that we noticed was there were bicyclers, everywhere.  Seriously-- the windy, narrow roads were barely big enough for two cars to fit on, but we were constantly on the lookout for the tons of hardcore bike riders traveling up and down the same hill-littered terrain that we were in our Passat.  At about noon, we arrived at the mouth of the Muir Woods trail, and when we sailed passed the entrance, we noticed that the parking lot was full.  We traveled down the road to the overflow lot, which was also totally full.  The sign said that parking on the road was permitted, so we continued down it, thinking we'd for sure find something along the side.  To our astonishment, the road was absolutely packed.  We drove for about a mile before there was finally parking on a precarious hill behind the long line of cars we had just driven by.  It was a nice weekend, but still winter!  We couldn't believe that there were this many people on the hike today.  It seemed insane-- the hike to the entrance would probably take us longer than the actual trek through the woods.

So, we rolled with it and decided to explore other areas of the park, maybe to come back later when people had already had their hike.  We saw a sign for Stinson Beach and shrugged at it.  I'm still not sure why it sounded familiar; I thought maybe I had heard my friends at work talk about it, or something.  So, we followed the sign direction, and after about 40 mins of weaving, watching out for bikers, and seriously questioning if we were on the right road, we arrived at the small and compact town.  It's crazy to think that people live there-- it's so very secluded, and pretty much the only way in and out is a windy road through thick, hilly forest.  I don't know how the 500 residents must do it.  I guess it's a good way to get away from it all.  I might go insane.

We drove through the town and found that aside from the beach and some shops, there wasn't much to it.  We pulled up to the beach parking and sat in the car for a bit, wondering what to do from here.  We had no internet to speak of, so any chance at forming a backup plan for our day was shot.  We decided to check out the views on the beach, so we made our way through the lot to the water.  It was probably 60 or so degrees, but the wind was blowing so hard and right off the ocean that it made the day chilly.  We packed on our sweatpants and sweatshirts and took in the sights.  It was nice, and there were a considerable amount of people on the beach that day, but the wind was blowing so much that sitting and enjoying it for long was not something we were interested in.  It was also at this time that I unsheathed my camera from its case and tried to take a picture.  The screen blinked back at me-- "No Memory Card!"  WHAT?  Ugh, come to find out later that I left it in my computer.  So, any great shots for Facebook, or even memory's sake, would have to be taken from my less than amazing camera phone.  Ashton Kutcher would NOT be pleased.  And neither was I.

We left the beach and decided that since it was now about 2, we might as well find out what Stinson Beach had to offer for lunch.  We found a deli called The Lunch Box right off the main drag and bought some sandwiches, which we pretty solid, and ate them on a the sunny park outside.  We laughed that this trip was not exactly what we had planned for it to be, and vowed to create backup plans if we were to ever go anywhere with no internet access again.  What did people DO before 3G?  :)

Feeling like we had accomplished Stinson Beach, we set out for Muir Woods again, and found the entrance, much as we had left it-- packed.  Eh, we had come to hike, so we pulled behind the last car in the masses-- about a mile, or 16 min walk from the actual mouth of the trail.  We threw in our reserves-- water, my cell phone camera, and a bit of money, in case we had to pay to get in, and made our walk down the narrow road.

When we finally got to the ranger station at the trailhead, we looked in utter disbelief at the entrance fee sign--- $7 a person.  A Person!  We know that California was broke and I shook my head in agony at being so naive and thoughtless that a beautiful park like this wouldn't charge that kind of rate to get into a famous hike.  That didn't change the fact that we hadn't brought enough cash to get us both in.  Defeated and in a bad mood despite the calming nature around us, we walked the 16 minutes back to our car.  We did notice on our way back, that there were a lot of people leaving-- since it was about 4:00 now.  I shook my head and laughed and agreed with Steve to drive back toward the entrance, and see if there were any spots closer now.  If there wasn't something we both deemed a reasonable distance-- we'd head home.

As our luck (HA!) would have it, we DID find a spot a mere three minute walk from the entrance.  We collected our provisions + an extra $20 and finally, made it to the actual trailhead.  To be sure, the journey to this point proved to be more enthralling than the hike itself, but I will say that Muir Woods is something to see.  The redwoods are so old and tall and beautiful, that it's like walking back in time-- before cities and roads and all the things that show human touch.  During the first part of the trail, it was a bit noisy, as there were a ton of families with small children who took the opportunity of being outside to scream and yell and run.  But, as we walked along we finally separated ourselves and began to take in the serene surroundings and amazing resilience of the redwoods we were walking through.  It was peaceful and calming and allow me to reflect on the tumultuous year we'd had so far, but also be hopeful for the future.  We stopped for a few pictures along the way-- all of them blurrier that the last thanks to my camera phone.  We weaved through the trail and made a circle back to where we started at the ranger station.

Laughing to ourselves as we trekked the comparably small distance to the car, we packed up and headed for home sweet home.  Sometimes it really isn't about the destination.  It's about being together on the whole journey.  I couldn't ask for a better adventure partner, than my husband.

Welcome March!

February is over.  When I lived in Oregon and Chicago, that sentence would carry more weight than it does now, but since I lived in cold weather places most of my life, I still feel the significance of it.

February was always my least favorite month.  It’s the shortest, but when you live it a place where it’s been freezing cold and snowing for the last four months, it starts to grind on you.  I was always SO ready for the snow to be gone and the weather to change—well, let’s be real, I’m ready for snow and cold to be gone after Christmas, but February just always seems to drag on.  Here in The Bay, it’s not such a big change, as we are graced with 60 degree days frequently throughout the winter, but I think just with all the mess that’s been going on I’m ready for March and Spring to bring some change.

This week, my dad had some work in Berkeley, so he came to stay with us for a few days.  It was pretty fun having him here—cooking dinner and watching movies.  Unfortunately, some sad news also came during this time from Montana.  Steve’s grandma had taken very ill and was in the hospital.  The prognosis was not good, when we heard of this on Monday.  Through what I truly believe is the work of God, she is doing a bit better now, and we pray to hear more of the same good news in the days to come.  I know how hard it must be on Steve to be so far away during these times.  Although my heart has been heavy these last weeks for a myriad of reasons—I feel that I am in a better place to practice the Peace and Patience that I so desperately want.  When I feel worry creep up, I also feel better prepared to let it go, knowing that God is here, He is in control and He is able to lift the worry that sometimes seems too heavy for me to even drag along.  And I mean to let Him carry it.

Steve and I had an…interesting trip to Muir Woods last weekend that I hope to have time to write about soon, before it took becomes a backblog.  We all know how good I am with THOSE. :)

Quick Resolution update!

1. Weekly blog almost complete!
2. I walked or did something active at lunch every day except Wednesday.
3. Bootcamp twice and Rollerblading today.  Hopefully we’ll do something this weekend too.
4. Eh-- not so good with the junk food.  I had ice cream and a lot of those darn Girl Scout cookies!
5. Flossing teeth is still going great!
6. I actually have TWO Yelp reviews that are ready to be posted!
7. Blackblog-- this is bad, because now I’ll have another one if I don’t post again soon!