Unexpected Encouragement!

I was walking out of Mozart's Coffee shop today after sending a thousand e-mails and forcing my brain on to the next thing I have to do and planning the rest of my day, when a 4 year old walks out of the restroom, looks at me and says, "Me and my dad just shared an ice cream!!!" He was ecstatic! I asked him what kind. "Chocolate!" (of course) Before I can say "YUM," he starts to tell me about his big plan to go to the Nature Center and how he hasn't been in a "long long time" so he doesn't really remember the bat cave! And that is his first stop, the bat cave!! This precious conversation lasted all the way from the front door of Mozart's, across the front deck, up the stairs and to the edge of the parking lot. As we began to part ways, I tell him that his day sounds so fun and that I hope he remembers the bat cave this time, and he says "Yeehh!!" And instead of "BYE!" he turns and yells "GOOD LUCK!"

Just the encouragement I needed for my first big project at work! It also put a huge smile on my face!

Tour de France Phenomena

Its that time of the year. Tour de France... Unfortunately that catchy slogan, "Tour de Lance" will not be shouted, as our hometown hero hold down 3rd place after 8 stages and Spain has a steady lead. All of that said, the Tour brings out the professional biker in all of us. Roadside cyclist are not an uncommon sight on the shoulders of our hill country highways. On weekends, city dwellers flock by the hundreds to the beautiful back roads. But during these weeks of nail biting trials and seconds between first and second place as our favorites press on over the Pyreneese Mtns to win that yellow jersey, those weekend warriors are hitting the roads more frequently than Saturday and Sunday mornings. Instead I passed a team in training just this morning... its Tuesday. Its almost as if they are trying to make up for those dreadful minutes trapping their choice Austinite in 3rd. The only difference in their hard work and his, its 105* here and about 80* there.

A 180

I'm in Texas. And its hard right now but I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I decided not to move to LA and go to grad school here. It has been something I have wanted to do for a long time now and the best way to do that is to stay in Austin. Now I have to figure out how to pay for it and thats a life time of stress filled conversations. I am open to all ideas and suggestions!

I'm super excited about having a summer in Austin. I have wanted to be here for so long but school and work kept me away. Now, I'm here. I'm about to leave for Port Aransas to spend some much needed time with my brother and my precious grandparents, Peggy and Cactus. Chase and I are going camping with friends this weekend and the Frio River sounds so sweet!

A Bittersweet Symphony

I'm sitting at TOMS HQ and it is so good to be back! Reunited with friends and stationary, at least for a while. So now we are processing our travels. And a process it is... I've really been everywhere. After this tour, I will drive 4 hours to meet someone for lunch and then turn around and go home. I mean, after driving 24 hours straight 8 hours of driving in one day is nothing.

How am I feeling about going home? Truthfully, it's a little bittersweet. I'm super excited to fly home with Katie and see my mom and dad and Pec. Stoked about hanging out with Charity and Angela, eating some Salt Lick and going dancing! I'm ready for my body to go into hypothermic shock as soon as I jump into Barton Springs. The cliffs of Lake Travis are calling my name. But at the same time, I'm leaving LA. 3rd Street Promenade all day, Venice Beach for sunset, Malibu on the weekends, wineries in Napa and the most amazing fresh strawberries on the side of the road, 65* at night and beautiful during the day! So yes, I am sad to leave California.

People ask why I love LA so much... "there is traffic?!?!" "everyone is so superficial"... yadda yadda YADDA! I just tell them: number 1, I am either going to sit in traffic in Downtown Austin, or sit in traffic on the PCH next to the beach. number 2, there are superficial people everywhere. and number 3, LA is this huge city on the beach that is totally chill and laid back. Everything I love is with in 2 hours of me. I can be at Butterfly Beach in 1.5 hrs, hiking in the mountains of Topanga is 30 mins or working out at muscle beach in 15. Perfection!

the past few weeks...

Let's talk about the past few weeks! I don't even know where to begin, so I guess I will begin at the beginning. Have you heard about The Rescue? Did you hear that Oprah rescued Chicago 6 days after it had begun? Well, if you haven't I will tell you about it. The Rescue was a peaceful demonstration to raise awareness for the war in Northern Uganda and Joseph Knoy's abducted child soldiers. We were to meet at one location and "abduct" ourselves. We then marched to another public location, in my case we marched to the Arch in St. Louis, and set up camp and waited until a federal politician or A-lister came to our rescue. (side note: Spending the night under the stars in downtown St. Louis worked out perfectly as we had no where to stay that night...) This was done by them coming to the site and giving a statement of support. There were 100 cities around the world involved and 6 days later, 500 people were in Chicago. Their dedication paid off when Oprah rescued them and segmented a spot for the Invisible Children film makers to make their case. Do you know how huge that is?? Just think about how many people watch Oprah. I mean the amount of power the woman has is ridiculous and she told all of her viewers to look up InvisibleChildren.com and watch the documentary. Harpo wins in my book!

After The Rescue, we started making our way back to the West coast. Drove half way to Albuquerque where Justin had to catch a flight back to Nashville for a wedding and Carolyn and I drove the last 14 hours just the two of us! We didn't get tired until the last 4 hours of the trip. I would say that's pretty good! The best part about being back in Cali - STAYING WITH THE HAMMERS!!! Yes you heard me we got to spend an entire weekend with Mike Hammer's parents! We also go to meet his grandma and she is precious!
(The van parked in front of one of many roadside attractions we encountered along the way...)

We are now back in San Francisco staying with the Maxey's! Great family! They introduced us to some amazing Indian food... it might be my new favorite cuisine!

Today is Cinco de Mayo... we will see what San Fran has in store for us tonight!!!

Home Sweet South

We ended up having a few days to kill and we were only 17 hours away from Nashville, TN, so we thought it would be a great idea to head East for a nice home cooked meal and a comfy bed at Justin's house.

It felt so good to be back in Dixie Land! The smell of wild onions filled the air and the sun shinned! Sweet tea was available everywhere we went and a side of gravy is always an option!

Meeting Justin's parents was amazing! Joni Cook made sure we were comfortable and well fed. Every morning there were cinnamon rolls and coffee! Everyday was brownies or rice krispy treats! We had our own rooms and bathrooms! SPACE!! This is something we are not used to and it was amazing!

Justin was able to get his "man" time! This regenerated his soul and he is back to liking our girly company again!

Now we are hanging out in Columbia, MO at the coolest coffee, bar, music venue!

update!

I've ignored my dear blog lately and I have chosen now, 10:57pm the evening before Easter Sunday, to give a quick update.

We are currently in Denver, CO with the lovely Coop! Those of you who do not know Coop, you are missing out and I will brief you on her greatness! Coop, NW vagabond season 1, letting Carolyn and I sleep in her very comfy bed, and took us to the greatest crep place in Denver. She introduced us to an amazing game that has to do with eating a napkin as fast as possible... very funny to do in a public space. I will give you more on Denver in a few days, since we have just arrived there is not much to report.

My parents came to see me in Colorado Springs! YAYA fro parents!!! They brought Chaco and that was so good for my heart! I hate to see them go and can't wait to see them on May 25 at 2:30pm at Austin, Bergstrom International Ariport.

I have begun my job search. Thats enough about that.

Anyway I just wanted to say hi! More on my life later!