A Much Needed Adventure

We woke up on Friday (the 22nd) to a cloud-free morning that promised to turn into a really good day. So Rob and I decided to make the trip down to the coast, finally, after almost a full month of trying (an epic battle between my work schedule and the weather). I'm so glad we did!

We went to Reid State Park. Having only visited the Pacific Ocean before, and usually in California, I wasn't sure what to expect out of the Atlantic. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. :)

There are 2 sides of the beach at the state park...

 

The Sandy Side and...

the Rocky Side. We started out on the sandy side.

We left a little later in the day than we would have liked, so we just kept traveling and didn't stop on the way down. So by the time we got to the beach, we were both pretty hungry. Our first stop was to the snack bar, we had some hot dogs and french fries and sat overlooking the Lagoon...

What a nice place to have lunch. Did I mention the burliest seagulls ever? We were warned as we picked up our food to guard it carefully because the seagulls will take it right off your table. :D They were like the seagull mafia.

After we ate we decided to go play on the sandy side of the beach. We walked about halfway down and found a nice place to just hang out. No way were either of us going to swim in the water, it was 62 degrees according to the lifeguard station. Wading was just fine for me. Rob kept saying that his feet were going numb, but laughing the entire time.

Makes you feel insignificant.

Boats.

I loved the sand. So different than what is to offer at the places I've been on the Pacific. It's softer, and grainier at the same time. Instead of being fine, it's almost like tiny pebbles worn smooth by the tides.

See how much I liked the sand?

So after a good long while playing on the sandy side of the beach, we decided to head back to the rocky side to take some photos. We stopped at the benches on the dock to clear some sand off our feet and saw some interesting flowers.

I'm not sure what they are, but they were really pretty.

There's a bridge you have to cross to get to the other side...

 

view from the bridge. We went around and down on the other side. On the beach there was this giant, water washed log...

the picture doesn't do it much justice. It was huge. I made a joke to Rob that it looked like a dragon. :P

This was the coolest place to be on that side of the beach. I could have stood there for hours just watching the activity and enjoying the breeze. There were tons of lobster traps on that side of the beach and there were lobster boats checking the traps.

After we left the beach, we headed over to Martha's house just to hang out. We ended up taking Kaitlyn (who was bummed that we didn't take her to the beach with us) out to dinner, to McD's, where she wanted to go so she could play. Then we brought her back up with us so she could spend some time with her father. She's such a delightful child. :)

All in all it was a good day. I'm so glad that we decided to go down and now we both want to try to go again before the cold weather begins. Next time we'll bring Katie along too. :)

<Insert Small Town Name Here>, Maine

Living in a small town after coming from city life just gets more interesting for me every day. Today I went down to our town office to find out about registering my car, to only find that it's closed. Um... it's Monday??

Here are the hours:

First Monday of every month: 9-1, Tuesday 8:30 - 4:30, Thursday 1-6, Friday 8-1

Compare this to Phoenix where most DMVs are open 8 hours M-F and at least 4 hours on Saturdays.

Well alright then. Guess I'll have to go back tomorrow.

Evolution

"Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success... ...Flat stretches of boring routine... ...And valleys of frustration and failure."
-Calvin

Sometimes I think I was born to be a nomad, forever destined to desire a change of scenery. Other times I want nothing more than to have that comfort zone, familiarity and routine. If you asked me right now, this moment, I'd have to tell you that I was a nomad. I crave change.

So I made a change last night, just a small one that I didn't think was going to make the large impact that it did. But isn't that how life goes? You alter something so minutely and your whole universe collapses around you? Ok well It wasn't my universe, maybe just Uranus. I left my guild in Everquest 2, after a long discussion which ended in me basically being told to just "leave already". Which really sucks because I didn't think it was going to impact the friendships I've formed there.. I was assured that it wouldn't. But I think it already has.

The other universe-altering event that's going on in my life is our (My BF Rob's and my) decision to move to Washington and his mom's decision to sell this house. So lately I've been working on getting things cleaned up and sorted out. And soon I'll be packing up and making another cross-country trip, unpacking and getting used to another new town. And hopefully, after all that, the comfort-zone part of me will return. I'm gonna cross my fingers just in case. :P

The Sturdiest Keychain I Have Ever Owned...

So I was thinking about this on the way out to move my car because they were sealing the driveways at work. It might be the silliest thing to blog about, but it struck me as something pretty cool. Who knows, you might get a chuckle or two out of it. :)

The thought process starts with the fact that recently my watch on a keychain broke. I started thinking about how none of my keychains ever holds up, and they always end up breaking in some form or another. Usually the little metal ring that holds the fun part onto the ring stretches apart and no matter how many times you put it back together, after that initial stretch it's never the same. Then I looked down at my keys and realized that I have 1 keychain that has never done anything of the sort.

I have had this particular keychain since 2003. It's a piece of the cursed gold from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie on a 1 inch chain that's connected to the ring part. The front of it looks like this:

 

And on the back it's inscribed with Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Best of all it was FREE, a promotional item that was given to us when I worked at the bookstore.

I've carried this keychain just about every day since I got it. It used to be attached to my keys for the bookstore, and then it got attached to my car keys when I got my car. Aside from being a little bit dirty in those holes and crevices, and having a few rub spots on it, it's still going strong.

Oh and that keychain watch that I paid $15 for? It's lasted me a whopping 6 months...

Friends

Isn't it great that no matter how crappy you feel, how far into the doldrums you are, your friends can always pull you out and make you feel better? Last night my friends (in no particular order) Holly-Beth, Carrie, Bryan, GEo and my BF Rob had me laughing so hard I was crying, and made me feel like a part of something bigger than anything that could hold me down.

I just want to say thanks for being great friends. :)

 

Bananas