One Year Later...

I’ve had a few people ask me to start writing on my blog again. It has been awhile. Quite a few things have happened. My brother and his girlfriend Kirsten moved to Boise and bought a house in our neighborhood. Michael and I have been busy tearing down walls in our kitchen. I fractured my pelvis running too much, too hard, and believe it or not too fast. Peggy & Jennifer’s house got plowed into by a car. My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Cairo had to be put to sleep after a long, undetected illness. Life, death, growth, movement, progress, quite a bit of pain and even more joy – all in the 368 days since I last posted.

Everything just seems so much brighter, cleaner, and clearer after a long winter. Especially this winter – I’ve been unable to do anything weight-bearing since I fractured my pelvis at the end of February. It has been, for lack of a better word, hell. I know there are far worse things that can happen to a person, really I do. But I also know that if I can’t get out and run (or at least walk) all my thoughts get so jumbled in my head that I can’t think straight. Activity is my coping mechanism for the winter blues. This winter was hard. Last night Michael and I went hiking on a trail in the foothills that neither of us had ever been on. It was my first hike since my stress fracture and it felt amazing. The wildflowers were out in full force and everything was so green. I still have three more weeks of physical therapy before I can even attempt to start running again. The ability to be out last night in my hills hand in hand with my husband in all that clean, fresh, wonderful air gave me such a sense of overwhelming gratitude. It was a much needed respite from the foggy gloom of the past few weeks and months.

I hope everyone out there in the blogosphere is enjoying spring wherever they may be. Glasses of wine on the patio, the sun hitting your face as you devour a great novel, coffee with a dog curled up at your feet, trips to the mountains for stories around a campfire. The good stuff. I hope you are all enjoying the good stuff that spring and life have to offer us all.

Lots of love, -M

My husband and our dates...

A couple of dorks mooing in cow hats at the Tillamook Dairy on the Oregon Coast last year.

Before we were married Michael and I would set aside the money and time for at least one date alone together per month. We’d go to the classic dinner and a movie at the Flicks (Boise’s theatre for indie flicks). A lot of times we’d go to see a concert. Once we drove to the top of 8th Street and had a picnic. Another time we had a picnic at Albertson’s park as the sun set. A memorable one we went on a sushi/ martini tour, hitting a couple different restaurants in one night sampling rolls and lemon drops as we went.
Since our big event in July we’ve decided to have our date night on the 18th of each month. Last month we got all dressed up (Michael wore his suit and I wore a dress) went to Milky Way, a nice restaurant downtown and then out to a pub to listen to some live folk/country music by a local band. Next Tuesday Michael and I will celebrate two months of wedded bliss. We are deciding between two options for our date this month... going to one of my favorite plays - Little Shop of Horrors at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival with wine, cheese, and bread dipped in olive oil on their lawn is one idea; going to Boondocks an amusement park out in Meridian for laser tag, batting cages, bumper boats, go karts and greasy pizza is another.
I think that the fact that we are going back and forth between two such diverse options is hilarious. I believe what that says about us is that even though we are still figuring things out on this journey we’ve decided to take together, we really enjoy each other and it doesn’t matter what we do together - high brow or low brow or somewhere in between. I feel very lucky to have married such a truly fun, intelligent, warm, caring person that is interested in seeing a play and still enjoys playing around.