Cell Phone Trauma

On Sunday we had some cell phone trauma. Not just one cell phone, but both cell phones. We thought we were doomed. You know when you make a big purchase and then right after everything around you starts falling apart? I told Brian, "Be prepared, once we buy this house everything is going to start having problems...something will happen with the cars, we'll have some major, unexpected payment on something, etc." Well, it was true. All of this started happening this week. I'm to the point where I think it is amusing...God has quite the sense of humor!

Back to the cell phones. I had to run to Orchard Supply for probably the 6th time that day and decided that I would take the Acura. Little did I know that Brian had left the black cell phone on the hood of the black Acura. I was walking through Orchard trying to find Henry's concrete floor primer when I finally found someone to ask. Lo and behold, they don't carry it...time to head to Home Depot for the 4th time that day. This is when I called Brian to tell him that Orchard had let us down again and I would be making the "trek" up 41st Ave. to grace Home Depot with my presence.

But no, Brian didn't answer. It was a woman and I was greeted with, "This is the second cell phone that I have found today! I'm just trying to be a good citizen. These Blackberry's are expensive phones, you should be thankful that I'm the one who found it. I'm trustworthy you know. I try to be an honest person. It says Brian Baer on the front. We were just bike riding down Portola when I saw something shiny and I said to Kyle, 'Hold on Kyle!' Kyle is my son. So then I found this phone and when I turned it over there was no back on it and the battery was gone. Then I told Kyle, 'We need to look for the rest of this phone.' Then we found the battery and then I saw something shining in the middle of the street, and it was the back!" You're lucky because it could have been run over and I'm an honest person and I want to get the phone back to you...." Wow, the woman could talk! Yes, I was thankful that she found it and yes, I was thankful thankful that she was an honest person. I was thankful for the non-stop talking lady in the tight, mid-drift showing, sequence enhanced Playboy Bunny shirt for finding the Blackberry and hunting down the rest of it's pieces. Oh, and of course I am thankful to Kyle for participating in the whole process.

Later on that night I was cleaning rollers and paint brushes...a large paint filled water puddle was forming in the trench where I was cleaning them. Next thing I know something in the puddle was glowing at me. What is that? Of course, it was my cell phone which i had forgotten was in my sweatshirt pocket. When I pulled it out it was covered in mud and of course some paint streaks. Those of you who know me well know that I have horrible luck with cell phones...they always get water damaged. I ruined many a cell phone during my waitressing days by keeping my phone in my apron pocket. Bad idea. When you work at a bar you should know that drinks get spilled often. Anyway, I figured that I would tack on another number to the running total of cell phones that I had drowned.

Much to my amazement it kept working. I stuck it in a bag of rice to absorb the moisture and 24 hours later it was as good as new (good trick for any of you who have never heard of that...we know of many success stories). So thankful that we didn't have to buy two new cell phones!

Homeowners

Along with the many words we daily use to describe ourselves, Brian and I can now add the word "homeowner" to that repertoire. This photo shows exactly how we reacted the moment we found out that the house was ours :-) Well, not exactly. I was at work and Brian called me, but we would have looked like this had we been together at that moment.


I have to admit, I was terrified to take the plunge. And yes, I had a small emotional breakdown..."I'm too young to own a house, we are never going to be able to travel again, is it the right time, etc." We had been talking about buying a house since before we got married, and we've been looking for at least the past year, so I don't know why it was so hard for me once we finally decided to pull the trigger.

Now that I am past the initial "freakout" and the home is ours for the keeping I am excited to make it our own. There were so many pieces of the puzzle that had to fit together for this house to become ours...it was crazy watching God orchestrate the whole thing. We have felt beyond blessed throughout this whole process and the house is way beyond anything we could have imagined.

I do find it somewhat humorous that the house came into our lives when it did. We are both working full time, I am going to school, and Brian is having another knee surgery in 12 days, perfect. We (and by "we" I mainly mean Brian, not me) have been trying to bust out as much work as possible before his surgery. Picking out flooring and paint colors on a deadline is extremely hard, but I think no matter what it would have been hard, so this just forces me to make a decision that otherwise would have taken months.

Also, last month some time I had decided that I needed to start spending more time with family, hanging out with my friends that are not in Santa Cruz more often, being a better Auntie, that I needed to learn how to take better pictures, needed to learn how to edit photos, needed to pick up sewing again, needed to pick up a new book, needed to try out new recipes and make better meals, and that I needed to work out more consistently...and there are many more things on my to do list that I was planning on doing, oh well. Some of these things I can still do, but most will have to be put on hold...life is entering a different season.

Though we are way too busy for our own good, I think this is all part of the lesson I am learning on contentment and enjoying where God has me, instead of always looking for what is coming.

Reforming My Fetish

I have a fetish…with traveling. I LOVE traveling. What’s not to love when you are exploring a new place, immersed in a different culture, and experiencing new sights, food, and scents? This may sound weird, but I feel the most at home when I travel; the most myself. I feel tranquil, which doesn’t seem to happen when I am physically home. I guess the feeling of tranquility correlates to me being content. I am the most content when I travel. I never seem to be fully content when I am home because I am longing for our next adventure and wanting the feeling of no responsibility, no timelines, and the anything goes mentality that comes with a trip.

I recently realized (last week) that my not being content at home is a problem…I need to reform my fetish. Time to start working on that one! Please don’t read this wrong, I love my life. I have an absolutely amazing husband, an adorable house, am surrounded by family and friends, we have our health, and we live by the ocean. But even with all of that my focus is on where can we go next? When can we do it? What is the longest possible time we can be gone? Basically I have realized that my focus needs to shift. When I am home I need to focus on what is going on here, and if we are fortunate enough to be on a trip then at that time I can enjoy all of the perks that come with it. I just need to start living in the moment, slow down, and focus on what is presently in front of me.

One year ago yesterday we left for our Southeast Asia trip. I can’t believe that was a year ago…quite possibly the fastest year of my life, scary. That trip was amazing, and Brian and I even got to spend our 1 year anniversary in Thailand. We are so lucky to have been able to do that! We were planning on heading down to Central/South American around Christmas for a few weeks, but with Brian’s knee surgeries and my decision to go back to school we are going to have to postpone…which actually works out well because it will force me to work on myself and will give me the opportunity to implement my new strategy on how to approach life. God has a plan and His plan is perfect.

Life in General

It's an absolutely amazing day outside...summer is finally here! It always takes a bit longer to get to us folks here in Santa Cruz. It's now time for more bikerides, summer dresses, bbq's and iced tea :-) Oh the joys of summer! I would love it if it were perpetually summer...the heat, sun, and the ocean make life just that much better.

I'm always trying to get Brian to move to Hawaii for a while. Wouldn't that be amazing? Wouldn't you love to wake up everyday to perfect weather and that fabulous tropical scent in the air? I don't think it's ever going to happen, but I can keep trying.

Life in general has been busy in a different sort of way. Brian recently hurt his knee and couldn't walk for two weeks. At that point we finally decided he should go see a real doctor (we went to urgent care the day it happened, but that didn't help much). After an MRI and meeting with different surgeons he had surgery two weeks ago. His meniscus had torn and flipped and was a big mess.

With a lot of elevating, icing, and physical therapy he is slowly starting to recover. He still will not be able to put any weight on his leg for another two or three weeks, so he'll have to continue with the crutches. The major bummer is that once his left knee heals enough for him to walk on it well he needs to have surgery on his right knee! This means no surfing, tennis, or anything super active until at least December. Brian is the most active person I know, so that is a looooooooooong time of no activity.

I have to give him props though...he has been doing well with all of his down time. We've been watching Arrested Development and I have him working on some photo books that i've been wanting to make :-) All in all, he's hoping these next 6 months go by fast....

In other news, I'm going back to school in the fall. I'll still be working full time for the Title IX Office at UCSC, but I will be taking two classes (i'm on the waiting list as of now, but I should be able to get into them). And what fun classes they are too...Chemistry and Psychology! Since Brian will be around the house alot more he'll be able to help me with Chemistry (science has never been my best friend), which will be SO helpful. It will be a busy, busy semester, but we'll pull through...i'm excited about this next step!