Catch me Riding Dirty, well at least I was until an hour ago!

In California, every car has a shine. It is always so sunny out here ('cept for those 2 weeks in January right after we moved here) that most cars are ALWAYS washed. Like the numerous donut shops that can be found in any strip mall out here (Doug's favorite is called Yum Donuts :), on almost every other street is a Car Wash. This is yet another key difference between Colorado and California, I cannot help but over look.

Last weekend, when we were back home in Colorado, I took comfort in the cars on the roads to and from my parents house. All had a nice dirty tinge to them. Even though the week before we got home had reportedly hit the 70s (of course it waited to snow until we were in town!), most cars did NOT take advantage of the nice weather for a car wash. Why wash when the possibility of snow is always present up until almost the end of the April. So cars looked comfortable with their dirt.

Here, my little blue Suburu Legacy looked out of place until this evening. Failing to realize the new "standards" out here in California, I have been remiss in keeping the car sparkling on the outside. So my car had taken on a dirty/grime like quality only appreciated back home in Colorado. Doug couldn't stand the grime, so after gassing up the car on our way back from his mom's tonight (OH, other observation, so mid range is now $3.71 out here now. Coloradan friends back home, do not complain!), we added on a car was to the bill and now I am proud to say that under the car port, the Legacy is sparkling! Just doing our part to adjust to the California lifestyle!

Bittersweet Return to the Sun

So it has been a couple of days since the return "home" from the other "home," and I have neglected to throw up a posting about how the weekend went. To be honest, it was bittersweet going home, and there are a few reasons why.

 Home isn't home. I never gave much credibility to the phrase "you can't go home again."  Rubbish I thought, I CAN and WILL go home again, especially with our house in Colorado readily available. But this past weekend proved that even if the location fits, the person in it doesn't. It hit home (pardon the pun) that Windsor, while not changing in the last 2 months, felt different. It was so quiet, so different (keep in mind by different I don't mean that anything had changed AT All. If anything 2 months proved that it had not had all the much time to change while we were gone.) It felt different, because I was different. My life here in Colorado is what I am used to. The smells of freshly cut green grass, the smoggy dirty smell I have gotten used to on occasion. The summer like weather that had me, as a NATIVE of Colorado shivering the other day when it got a tiny bit cold. This crazy adventure out here in California, felt more like what I was used to and left me tripping out most of my experience in Colorado because of it. I actually was surprised that I was ready to come back again. And with the first experience back to  Colorado as a non-resident, I am surprisingly ok with not being there (out of sight out of mind I guess). It was great to see my family, and a good close friend on Sunday morning. But going home made me appreciate and really value the different experience I am having out here. IN the end, I think it really will help me if we move back to Colo. someday. Kinda one of those "don't know what you got, 'til it is gone" type feelings. You don't realize what the rest of the world has to offer, if you don't make yourself experience it.

So, with that, I went back to experiencing it again, tonight, with a run at the Rosebowl after work. Reminded me that while "home" seems so far off in Colorado, "home" here in Cali is mine to race towards finding, one foot in front of me at a time.

The prodigal daughter returns!

I have always been one to countdown for things to look forward to. I often feel like my whole life has been one big countdown. One of my favorite countdowns occurred in college, when my best friend and I were meeting up to attend a concert of one of our local bands at Red Rocks. It was the first time we would get to hang out with each other since starting college at different schools. I was so excited I taped index cards with dates on them to countdown the time 'til the concert on my dorm room wall, a MONTH in advance. Most friends and family also know that I countdown my birthday days when February starts, or the days until a vacation we have planned if I am excited about it. So it goes without saying that on the eve of my first trip back home to Colorado..I have been counting this time down in my head.

 

Doug initially told me he was going back to Colorado this weekend about a month ago. He was planning his next business trip to Sacramento and let me know it would have to be a two weeker. Figuring he could tie up some loose ends we had back home, he decided flying from Sacramento to Denver for the weekend worked. But I actually at first, did not jump to get my ticket. While a tiny part of me was anxious,and wanted to book MY flight right away, I also didn't want to go rushing home, after all, it has only been 2 months of being out here. And one of my biggest fears about moving to California, was knowing that if I allowed myself to go home a LOT, it would make it harder on me to get used to being here (Cali), set up a routine here, learn to like being here. So I resisted saying I wanted to travel back home too.

Oddly, it was Doug who encouraged me head home, and meet him there in Colorado. "When are you going to get the chance to come back before June (my brother's wedding)," he asked. "Besides, it is Easter weekend, and I know it wouldn't mind spending it with your family."

So, since booking my flight two weeks ago, I have had a running countdown going in my head and outloud every day. All my co-workers know I am heading home tomorrow and I think they can sense the excitement and nervousness in my voice. But I would be lying if I said this countdown wasn't  touching a few nerves.

Before we moved here, I was incredibly scared. Fear of the unknown. And after knowing the same thing in Colorado for 32 years, you get used to it. Plus, not until then, did I realize how proud I was to be a Coloradan. I was so afraid someplace so foreign, so scary like California would eat me up.

But things here are going ok. So I return home to fears of the unknown awaiting me there. Is it going to feel like things have stayed the same? WIll it be only me that is different? Will it be a countdown to fears of realizing how much I miss my town, my friends and an even bigger fear that it will be harder to come back to California, alone, on Sunday?

 

For now, I continue to countdown hours until my plane's departure. And push myself towards knowing that the countdown to head back out here to California, and start my routine and life like I am used to, will follow soon after.

See you in Colorado!

Get low, and shine!

Doug and I were out wildflower hunting this weekend (doesn't sound as weird as it looks written though :) Basically we were on a quest for the best photo shot of wildflowers for Doug). As we drove out to Lake Elsinore for our second "hunt" I began to see something quite noticeable in the cars driving next to us. It is pretty clear that California is the place where ANY car, regardless of SUV or not, might very well be sitting on Low profile tires and shinning, chromed out "dubs" (rims for those not versed in my goofy slang :)

I noticed this clearly the other day while in the drive thru at McDonald's. While waiting for Doug's Sausage McMuffins with Egg, I spotted a Chevy Trailblazer very similar to the one my parents have. Yet this one came rolling into the parking lot with tires that looked to have about an inch of air in them, and sparkly rims so clear, you could do your hair in them.

What a difference from back home. My parents car would NEVER get switched out with low profile tires. What would that do spinning around in the snow and ice? At least mom would be styling as she slid around Highlands Ranch parkway!

It is clear that out here without risk of snow, or ice, or much else to muck up a person's tire, that having your car lower to the ground (even if it is an SUV) and having chromed out, shiny rims is where it is at. No thanks though.

This Colorado kid though is perfectly fine, riding in our Forester, with the factory "dubs" and tires that will get us through snow if need be. Never know when a blizzard might hit right? 

What'cha Listenin' To?

Music has always been a big love in my life. As a kid, I was "forced" into learning the piano (all these years later, I realize it wasn't being forced and that I wish I had paid more attention). I have always found the craft of it, so intriguing, and have rarely gone a day without listening to it on the radio, in my ipod, or via the internet. So it stand without reason that out here in CA, one of the biggest things that has helped ease my stress level in the car in traffic, at work when I am trying to concentrate on something, or running, has been jamming out to some tunes.

Rather than bring the hundreds of CDs I have, mostly scratched too :( , out with me to Cali, I opted to bring only a few favs, and start downloading the rest off of iTunes (which I really haven't started doing yet). But for times at work, I have found a good site thanks to my friend Bill that allows me to make my "own playlist", not using iTunes on my work computer to jam out, for free. A site called Seeqpod, allows you to search for you tube videos, hooks you up to wiki entries, and allows me to pick some of my favorite songs and throw into my own mini playlist and listen to at work, like a search engine for my listening pleasure. Much easier than carting around all 500+ CDs I have.

Today, my ears were soothed by the Beatles. (I think I craved hearing the songs by the REAL stars, not the goofy American Idol versions, after watching Idol with Doug the other night). It reminded me of the fact that some of my very early listening joys were listen to old Beatles records my mom had from when she was a kid (yes, I am proud to say I listened to records as a kid! :) I appreciated Mom's old 45 collection. Songs that would later be known as "classic oldies" were my first entry into music appreciation. To this day I slightly miss the scratched out skipping from those records. And mom had an awesome collection. Much better than my dad's hodge podge of 33s. :)

Songs take me back to many different times, places and people that have captured moments in my life. Chances are if you are friend or family member reading this blog now, I have a song (or two, or ten) that remind me of that one time..'when we did', when 'went here to...' and so on. I even thought about creating a California playlist for the move out here, so I could have songs about California blaring on my nano as we took off from DIA (don't worry..I ran out of time for that cheesiness to kick in). But I find it amazing how calming music of our past can affect me. For this reason making a play list on my ipod has changed the whole way I organize my music. I mean gone are the days of a cool mixed tape from Jess (oddly the only one who NEVER really appreciated the power of a good mix was Doug :D) I have playlists for my workouts/runs, playlists that remind me of specific friends, playlists for specific moods. And in typical Jess fashion, like my old mixed tapes they have goofy names (My workout one is appropriately titled, 'Get Rid of the Fatty' :D

So the next time you hear "Don't Stop Believing", or "Yesterday", or any of the other countless songs that are out there, stop to think for a minute why that song means a lot to you, and who it reminds you of, what place it brings back in your mind. Chances are, maybe it reminds ME of you! 

A place a cell phone SHOULDN'T go!

It is hard to remember a time where we all didn't have a cell phone attached to our hips, in our purses or sitting charged up at our desks. I think about kids in college now, and it feels like such a different world they are living in, where their computers can hook them up to the Internet in blistering speeds and where many do not even get land lines hooked up in their dorms/apartments or rental houses because EVERYONE has some form of cell phone, blackberry, or sidekick to communicate.

I entered the cell phone world sometime around 1998-1999, late by many people's standards. I denied myself from getting one because I didn't see the point. If people really wanted to talk to me, they could wait until I was somewhere near a land line to call them. But after having my little Ford Tempo I was driving fail on my twice with timing belt issues, decided "for emergency" sake it was worth snagging one.

Now, almost 10 years later I can honestly say I feel naked if I do not have my cell phone with me. When Doug was "living out here" on his own, his blackberry # was the only way I could get a hold of him. When we were looking for a place to live, back and forth calls to our real estate guys cell phone was the easiest way to get a hold of him.  Just this morning, I got a block away from the house on my way to the gym and realized I didn't have my cell phone, I actually drove back to grab it.

But, also this morning, I witnessed something that OFFICIALLY has reminded me that cell phones have invaded our lives a bit too far.

SOMEONE was yammering on their phone (via bluetooth) IN THE SHOWER!

Yes..that's right, in the shower. Someone had the gall in the stall next to me to chat away while washing her hair, her face, and unmentionable body parts.

I don't know about you, but the idea of being completely naked in a gym locker room is bothersome enough. Yes there are separate stalls for each member shower on their own. And for me, showering at the gym means not having to come home, get ready and then make yet another hr drive back down to work, since the gym is 5 minutes away from work. But this chick officially went on my list of most annoying people of the day. Who cannot put their phone down for 5 minutes to take a shower, do their thing, and then call? I honestly thought she was talking to herself in the stall (which would be equally as disturbing). But to be on the phone, while in the shower at 6:30 in the morning?

Cell phones have officially invaded my personal space......DEFINITELY a bit too far!

Are they multiplying?

About the only time we ever got ants as a kid in Colorado, was if we left food out entirely too long on the counter (a scene that RARELY occured given the way my mom made my brother and I clean up or do dishes after dinner every night. There were those few spring/summertime days where a few sugar ants popped up here and there, but never anything serious).

So, much to my surprise to find out that we have another tenant living in our little condo with us, ants. Yup, ants invading our little home. Nothing super overwhelming (I mean we aren't talking Alfred Hitchcock like crazy ants coming to eat us away, or drag Sienna or Joey off as prey), but they are making their nuisance felt. 

When we first moved in, the first two weeks were a fun filled "winter" like time in California. Winter out here in January means rain, not snow. So the ants stayed away, on a bit of an extended holiday.

When warmer climates returned (yesterday it was 82, DEFINITELY warmer! ) so too did our little annoying friends. Don't get me wrong, it is not cause Doug and I are leaving massive amounts of uneaten food around, or even still that they are swarming the cat's food dishes (which I have seen happen back home in Colorado). No, these little nit picky ants are coming through under a tiny crack in our windows, and are about the size of a pin point. So most of the time, unless i am feeding the girls their dinner, or putting dishes on the counter I don't even notice them. Until my hand gets itchy, and I see a tiny one crawling up my finger. 

I have never been an insect fan. As a little tomboy I loved being outside, playing with rocks, and dirt..but hated the little insects I might find out the way ('cept for the 'rolly polly" beetles I used to love finding in my sandbox). So it stands to reason ants are high on my list of hated insects (right next to the dreaded spider, I immediately kill if I see). 

So my only hope is that some ant traps we buy (think of it as our way of being hospitable to our squatting guests), will do the trick. In the meantime,  I only hope they quit multiplying (murphy's law is kicking in for me, because every time I kill a batch, another one crops up to take it's place), and learn to prey on someone else's condo for a while.

In other insect news, as I type this I have just noticed an incredible itch on my right wrist. After a few innocent scratches..I have realized what I am scratching is my first mosquito bite of 2008...IN MARCH!

A True Sports Fan!

A month and 1/2 into our crazy California adventure, Doug and I were able to attend a hockey game courtesy of my brother and "soon to be" sis in law. I got excited as the Anaheim Ducks were playing my HOME TEAM of the Colorado Avs. Doug and I had the pleasure of going to a few Avs games in the past, and had always had a good time, so my anticipation was high for this game.

For me, sports has always been super important. I was raised a good Coloradan, rooting every Sunday for my Denver Broncos. I used to want to be the first girl quarterback in the NFL. Too bad the nerf football I carried around religiously during football season was always easier to throw than the real one. 

In high school, baseball became a new sport to love. My friend got me into watching the Braves play in the world series (they were big Atlanta fans) and as my friend Sarah pointed out, baseball guys look so cute in their uniforms. That love of baseball (and a cute baseball guy) still exists today as I found myself getting swept up in the Rockies...my lowly little Colorado team making it to the series last year.

I know I scared the crap out of Doug when we first started dating. I was a gal who knew WAY more than he did about sports. We would go to Rockies games and I could name off players, stats, other teams they might  have played with, etc. Nothing highlights on the news and sports pages in the paper didn't answer.

But hockey  is a relatively new sport I have started watching. I remember rooting for them (the Avs) when they won their first Stanley Cup and watching the second right after meeting Doug. So to be able to see them out here, made it feel like I had a bit of back home coming to visit.

However, the vibe here at a hockey game, MUCH different. Not sure if it was the fact the Ducks were playing the Avs (who are hurting player and game wise this year), or the fact that it was a mid week game, but the fan appreciation I am used to back home, just wasn't there. The Ducks were Stanley Cup champs last year. The #1 team! Why were their fans not more rowdy? (anyone who has been to an Avalanche game understand there is just a different intensity, excitement, vibe when rooting for a Colorado team).

Don't get me wrong, I had a good time. And I was surprised to see the number of Av's jerseys on the fellow fans around me. But the hometown crowd just seemed subdued. And their lack of rowdy, rousing cheering, left the game feeling boring. Doug and I left early, he noticing the same subdued nature. He even confirmed it the next day at work when a co-worker told him, "yeah, unless you are at a LA Kings game, or a Dodger game, fans don't normally get too rowdy."

You are talking to a kid who is proud to be a Colorado fan. Who grew up watching the Barrel Man at Bronco games in nothing but a cowboy hat, boots, a Santa like white beard..and an Orange Barrel and NOTHING else! Gotta love of a Colorado fan.

So, there is a difference in sports out here too. I am still holding out hope that when Doug and I hit a couple of other sporting events (both of us want to try getting in a few Dodger and Angels games this year when baseball starts up again). Until then, this PROUD Colorado fan will cheer with my rowdy self out here from afar in California.  

They have mountains here too?

When I was learning how to drive, I remember my dad freaking me out and asking me what direction were we headed in. Mind you, this was on a busy street, in the midst of crazy traffic, with my mom and brother in the back seat. And suddenly, he wanted to know if we were going north or south? How was I to know? I was trying to get in another lane and I couldn't see where the mountains were.

Yes, that is how I learned to tell my cardinal directions. It is  well known fact (at least for me) that in Colorado, you can tell you are going west because the mountains are ALWAYS to the west.

So moving to California I was nervous. Doug is scared of my driving enough as it is, but throw this Colorado kid loose on the streets of California, not knowing where west is anymore and there was bound to be trouble. So flying out here for the first time into the Ontario airport, I was shocked. There in front of me, as the plane touched down were...MOUNTAINS! My savior for my directionally challenged soul, had also made the move with me!

Ok, so I will admit, I guess as a sheltered kid in Colorado, I had NO clue that Southern California had mountains. But there they were, outside the plane window. Oh joy, I might be able to find my way around AFTER all, I mean with mountains to remind me where west was, I couldn't loose right?

Well duh, mountains in CA don't mean west, they actually mean you are heading north. But oddly, seeing mountains when it is a clear day, provides a comfort to me. How did I NOT notice these on previous trips out here? Was the allure of LA, Disneyland, Universal Studios overshadowing the obvious San Gabriel Mountain ranges all around? Even my dad, whose busy travel schedule brought him out here this week said the same thing when we met for lunch on Sunday, "you have mountains here? Look at how close they are?"

Guess as someone who values and appreciates those mountains in the distance off of I-25, even if I am not always up there playing in them, I assumed nothing else could compare to the Rockies. While the San Gabriels are not as massive, they are a comforting, familiar reminder of home, and they are magnificent to see..as I drive next to them, going west.

Car shopping on the 210?

Growing up in Denver every time I saw a fancy "luxury" car like a Mercedes, or BMW, I remembered thinking, wow, those people in that car MUST be rich. I also remember telling my mom as a kid that when I made my first million (STILL hasn't happened, dang it) that I was going to buy myself a brand new, forest green Jaguar. I mean after all...isn't that what ALL millionaires want to drive?

So as a wide eyed new "California resident", and being one who is always stuck in a 45 minute commute home those 15 miles from the office...I tend to gaze around me at the cars people drive (hard not to as on the 210 freeway you have to be alert for who might cut you off). And while I realize now that CA isn't entirely made up of just luxury high end cars (I think this was my thought as a kid; that everyone in Southern California had to drive a Mercedes, or Jag, or Porshe....otherwise you were kicked out), I have noticed myself becoming de-sensitized to the idea of seeing them in the lane next to me. It isn't out of line to see a 7 series BMW, trailing a Porshe, with an Audi right behind it. On the other end..you have the "eco" friendly cars. So many cute pastel Prius cars speeding past all the above $5oK models.

Is it weird I miss seeing an SUV in 4wd cruise by? Or a big dualie truck with the loud diesel? 

On a completely unrelated thought (yup typical Jess, veering off to something else) can I just say while I don't miss the snow that seems to keep falling back home, "summer" in March is still throwing me. On the drive home the other night (when not staring at the BMW or Mercedes around me) I caught a whiff of one of my favorite smells, freshly cut grass as I passed a park in Arcadia. FRESHLY CUT GRASS...in MARCH! WHAT?? This smell has a small place in my heart. It's the way my senses tell me it is officially summer time in the Rockies.  So to smell it in March is just unreal! Yet every day since I noticed it, I make sure to take in a huge breath of it, and pretend it is summertime, back home.

How traffic has kept me updated on the election

So when Doug and I began telling everyone we were moving to California, I can't recall how many times I heard "wow...traffic is going to be rough out there, just plan ahead." Even Doug at some point had me paranoid. As a Colo kid...I was used to knowing how long it took to get everywhere. From our house to work was about 50 miles..and the drive down was around 40 minutes. I knew that if I needed to get from our house in Northern Colorado to Mom and Dad's, it took an hour and 10 minutes..etc. So I prepared for the worst driving wise out here in California. The cool thing though is that all in all I haven't found myself lost yet (knocking on wood) and can make it down to Arcadia in 20 minutes (of course..that is at 5 in the morning, to hit the gym first). 

But more informed about the election? Huh? How does traffic help that? Oddly enough living so close to LA, I have yet to find a radio station that I can listen to in the wee morn' hours when I am 1/2 asleep, making that drive to the gym, and on the way home from work, when I am in bumper to bumper traffic. So, my constant has been listening to NPR. One radio station I have found...and stuck with.

I will admit, up until a few years ago, NPR never tickled my fancy. I always thought the people that listened to it were much more intellectually superior than myself. It always sounded so cool when I heard someone say "on NPR this morning I heard....". So I began to tune in on the NPR station back home in Colo. And surprisingly enough...I enjoyed it. Although because I grew up in Denver, I knew which radio stations to listen to for music too..so NPR always took a back burner to laughing with the Masters on the Fox (103.5) or Larry, Kendal and Kathy on 107.5. 

So now, with no other true options to brighten my music loving ears, I have been tuning into NPR night and day. And surprisingly, loving how much election coverage I have been able to listen to. It helps living in California (which was a highly contested state during the primaries) and for once, when I vote later this year, I might actually know more about the candidates, their stand on key issues, and make a conscious decision, rather than just who "I happen to like" that day.

And I have nothing but slow moving traffic to blame! Who knew traffic would lead to something positive?

A Brand New Start..3 months into the new year!

Ok, it is the 2nd day of March..a bit late to start a blog I had intended on starting at the beginning of the new year. But with a move to another state, I liked the idea of being able to capture my thoughts and babblings to my friends and family back home via blog. I have often been told my emails and cards are "story like" anyway..so why not go hi-tech with a blog.

It has officially been a month and 1/2 since our move out of Colorado. Life has had its ups and downs, but relatively all is going well in the La La Land of California. I will admit, I haven't quite gotten used to the idea of it being in the 80s in the middle of winter. The thought of wearing shorts in January always seemed like such a foreign concept. But I am slowly getting used to it.

While the title may sound negative..trading snow for smog..the smog actually hasn't been too overpowering yet. Although it did get me early on. For those that know how crazy I got last year with my 5Ks/10K running in general, this is something I vowed to maintain moving out here. I was convinced at much lower altitudes I could kick ass...running a 5K that took me 28 minutes in Fort Collins, in under 25 out here. BOY was I mistaken. My first 5K, towards the end of January..resulted in a time of 33..MUCH slower than I expected. So much for my super Colorado lungs. Since then I have learned to pace, and my times have thus improved.

Well...I could go on and on..about everything that has been percolating on my mind the last few weeks, but now that I FINALLY created a blog...that can come in future posts.