The Places I've Been ~ MD

 I have a motivated husband.  It's one of the many things that I love about him.  He's been persistent about providing for himself and our new family for a long time.  He wants to be challenged.  In order for this to take place a move will most likely be involved.  Or it may not.  Things change and at this point in time who knows what will happen. 
Let me give a little back story.  Back at the end of August/beginning of September Chris called me at work and said "I have a question for you.  Their is no right or wrong answer." I tentatively responded, "Ok..." He asks in one word: "Baltimore?" My gut immediately said: "Heck ya." 
I knew what he was asking.  He was asking if he could apply for a director position within his company in Baltimore, Maryland.  Obviously timing was kinda crazy, but I wanted to be supportive, and gave him my enthusiastic blessing.
Right away I was excited.  I had never been to Baltimore, but knew of people who had and enjoyed the area, and I've been to the East coast many times, just not that part of the East coast.
In mid-September Chris flew to Baltimore for a day.  He arrived around 12noon and left the same day back to Denver around 7pm.  He met and interviewed with who would be his boss, and got a tour of the hospital where he was applying.
All went well, and before any other plans were made they wanted to make sure I was on board.
So on Monday October 8th we flew back to Baltimore has a newly married couple to check out the area to possibly live.  Things were crazy as I had just taken time off of work the week before to get married, and had scheduled time off the following week for our honeymoon, and in the middle of all this I needed to make time to go to Baltimore, along with a company that's Union Contract expired and no time off is allowed.  (I was lucky to get approved time off for the wedding and honeymoon.)  Luckily we're currently working day to day without a contract so although stressful flying to Baltimore for 3 days wasn't that bad.

We enjoyed what we called our mini-honeymoon.  We stayed in the Inner-Harbor of downtown Baltimore, drove around a LOT to all the different areas and suburbs.  Enjoyed some fresh seafood.  And then we were back in Denver to work for two days before leaving again for a week on our real honeymoon.
When everything was said and done I definitely think Baltimore could be a place to live, and to call home.  But now that some time has passed, Chris has learned that they'll most likely go with another candidate internal to the hospital.  Which is why I feel comfortable writing about it now.
We're a little bit disappointed, but we know all things happen for a reason, and the right opportunity will come along.
As you know, I truly enjoy going places I've never been, and seeing new things.  And if anything, this was an opportunity for that. 

The Places I've Been: MO

Sandwiched in between our trip to Arkansas was a visit and stay in Branson, MO. We flew into the tiniest airport I have ever been to, in Branson. The airport has 4 gates total, one security check and one baggage claim, and you get off/get on the plane by walking up a ramp outside. This was the first sign that we were in small country, USA.
Here's my trip to Branson, MO.

When we arrived in Branson we immediately drove south into Arkansas, so not a lot of MO country was seen. Driving back to MO we actually drove a different way by heading north from AR, then West all in MO. We drove through the Mark Twain National Forrest. It was very pretty. The changing colors were so pretty. Unfortunately the few pictures I have don't do them justice. Chris took a bunch of pictures on his Ipad, but I don't have that right now.


Once we arrived in Branson we checked into a bed and breakfast. I had never stayed at a bed and breakfast before and this was was super nice. We stayed near the Branson Landing, which is right on the water. We walked along, did some shopping, and just enjoying each other's company.




the bed and breakfast - the Branson House Inn

Overall the trip was a lot of fun. The wedding was beautiful and we got to spend lots of one on one time together which is always nice.
It's amazing how my travel series has grown. This year alone I've been to 5 new states: WY, NE, KS, AR, and MO. Four of those I hadn't been to had I not met Chris. And definitely wouldn't had sought out going to those location. I'm thankful to Chris for so many things. One of those things is for showing me states I had never been.

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The Places I've Been: AR

A couple of weekend's ago Chris and I traveled to Northern Arkansas to attend his friend Justin's wedding. It was all country and very beautiful. Small towns, winding roads, hills full of leafs changing colors.
Here's my trip to Horseshoe Bend, Batesville, and Mountain Home, AR.

We arrived in Branson, MO and drove immediately south into Arkansas, then about two and half hours to Horseshoe Bend where Justin's parents live. We hung out there for the night, meeting various friends and family of the bride and groom.
Saturday was the big day. We traveled about 45 minutes south to Batesville where the groom's grandmother lives on a beautiful vineyard; Harmony Hills.

the bride and groom
Judy and Justin

the reception area

After the wedding we drove to Mountain Home which is considered the "big" town in the area. the drive in the dark was a little bit scary, as it was dark, and the highways are all two lane, and very winding. Thankfully Chris drove that portion of the trip.
Overall the area was beautiful. I think the largest town we entered had a population of 1200. Talk about small country. This was definitely it.
Although not the most exciting place to be, experiencing new places with Chris is always exciting.

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The Places I've Been: KS

Chris and I returned from our Nebraska trip on Sun. 8/28. The Wednesday morning that we returned Chris got a phone call from his mom with news of his great-grandmother's passing. She was a 103. With that the weekend plans were canceled and were back on our way to Nebraska.
Thursday afternoon we picked up Chris' uncle John at the airport to join us on our drive to Kearney. That Friday we drove with his dad and sister 3 hours south to Ellsworth, KS. His mom drove down with two of her brother's.
This is my trip to Ellsworth, KS.

driving into NE...again

The drive down to Kansas is all country, and a lot of the area is where Marty grew up. So we took a couple of behind the scene's drive of farming and lots of corn and lots of dirt roads.
Once we arrived in Ellsworth we went to Chris' grandmother's farm house. Included are a donkey and some chickens.




The trip was a good one, given the circumstances. I got to meet majority of Chris' mom's extended family.... I got in some good bonding moment's with Alice and got to see small town USA. I've never seen this part of the country, and to see these town's that don't have more than 1,000 people...it's just so interesting. Small town, literally.
Most of you mentioned that being on a road trip with someone makes for a situation of getting to know someone real fast. And to be honest Chris and I have gotten to know each other super fast. If you think back when we went camping back in June at that time we had only been dating 3 weeks, and were on a 3 hour car ride to Wyoming. We've had many a good conversation on our long car trips.
I feel so fortunate that the trip to KS happened. Although no planned, I got to spend more time with his parents, and create more of a comfort with his whole family.

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The Places I've Been: NE

when i came back from albuquerque in july chris and i sat down and talked about our trips for the rest of the year(mainly when we would go "home"). we decided we would go to his home town for thanksgiving and my home town for christmas. we both had hopes to meet the respective families sooner, but time just wasn't on our side.
well come the beginning of august i get a call at work from chris "i spoke to my dad this morning, and he really wants us to go to nebraska sooner than thanksgiving." now i knew that marty (chris' dad) was anxious for me to meet the rest of the immediate family: chris' mom and sister, but we had plans and agreed that it would happen in november for thanksgiving. but realizing that importance to marty chris and i decided we would drive to kearney, nebraska on thursday 8/25 which was the weekend we were set to go camping. (and now we are set to go to NM on 9/30)
chris and i started the 5 - 5 and 1/2 hour drive thursday afternoon and got into town around 8:30pm. his dad was sleeping (he works early early morning) so we were greeted by his mom (mary) and his sister (alice).
we relaxed and enjoyed the humid air out on their patio.
Kearney, Nebraska

on the drive: eastbound I-80

the trip was a good one. very relaxing with his parents taking turns showing me pictures of chris' childhood and driving around kearney.

his parents are hilarious. so funny and quick with a comeback. we get along great, and i am really looking forward to introducing them to my mom, as she'll fit right in!

on friday night we went with his sister miniature golfing.

alice, chris, and iduring the day friday we took his mom lunch. his mom is a deaf interpreter at the local middle school. i had me some runza for the first time. unfortunately this food didn't sit too well with me and gave me an upset stomach in the middle of the afternoon while we were walking around menards. if you like ground beef, cheese, and onion this would be your thing.

having a runza for the first timesaturday night we put on our sunday best for a fancy dinner.

me, marty, chris, and mary
saturday during the day we went this archway that goes over I-80. it was very interesting. it's a museum that talks about the history of the interstate, as it was the first one to go coast to coast east to west.



the trip was great and the drive was boring...little did we know that we would be making that same exact drive again in another 4 days...

it was great to meet chris' family. it makes this whole relationship that much bigger...that isn't really the right word, but hopefully you know what i mean. i now know so much more about chris. where he came from and how it created who he is today. his family is awesome and we got along great.

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The Places I've Been: WY

more catch up.
last weekend i went on a camping trip to guernsey, wy. lots of my friends were very surprised by this. apparently i don't seem to be the camping type. well surprise surprise! this chick can camp! in fact some of my most favorite childhood memories are camping with my parents and fishing with my dad.
anyways, my friend april had been planning this trip since march and goes to this lake every year. this year was no different, except she invited all her friends to take part this year in the festivities! and well, for the most part all of us showed up!
this was a great trip. guernesy is about 3 hours north of where i live in CO, and beautiful. our campsite was tucked away in a little cove and right on the water.
C even came along, met a huge group of my friends for the first time and fit in wonderfully. not only that but we spent lots of time together talking and creating great memories.

the kiddos on the toys

view of the lake

view of our campsite

yummy s'mores by ayden!

annabelle, april, brandi, kortny, justine, and i

grace and ayden

brooklyn and daisy

around the campfire

christina, annabelle, and i

campfire

doesn't it seem like my group of friends and i are always having so much fun?! going on new adventures, creating lifelong memories?! well it is true. i appreciate my time with these friends so much. you would think it would be overwhelming at times, and i'm sure to an outsider it is, but we all have so much fun, that everything just seems to flow in a stream of organized chaos!
our 2nd camping trip is already booked for the end of august!
in attendance:
nicole and damon and their 2 girls
brandi and kevin and their 3 kids
C and i
christina and her 2 kids
april and bobby and their 2 kids
chris and kara and their 3 kids
annabelle and daniel and their 2 kids
scott
justine and charlie and their 2 kids
steven and kortny and their 2 kids
final count 37 humans plus 3 dogs!

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The Places I've Been: WA

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Seattle, WA

Here's to the last domestic post for my "The Places I've Been" travel series!

The first time I went to Seattle was either fall 1991, or spring 1992. I can't remember for sure. I'll let my cousin Kari clarify. The visit was to see my cousin Kari and her new husband Larry. I traveled there with my Aunt Kathleen (Kari's Mom). We stayed with Kari and Larry in there apartment. When I look back and remember this trip I remember a few things. The first is the apartment. Kari decorated it beautifully. Her wedding colors were teal, and all around the apartment were accents of teal and so many beautiful pictures from their wedding. I also remember the mermaids. My cousin loves mermaids, and all around the apartment were beautiful mermaid portraits, figurines, and even lamps. It sounds over the top, but trust me, it wasn't.
Another memory is hot tea. We drank cups of hot tea just about every single night. And I loved it. I can still remember the flavor, and it was so good. To this day I don't think I've ever had anything like it. I'm sure it wasn't anything special, but I remember feeling so grown up drinking hot tea and chatting with my cousin.
Lastly was our trip altogether to Victoria, British Columbia. I don't remember the name of it, but we went to this amazing botanical garden park, with gorgeous flowers everywhere! The hotel we stayed in was this old Victorian hotel.
The whole trip was so much fun.
I think my second trip to Seattle was in spring of 1997? Kari had just had her first son Riley. What I remember about this trip is the perfect weather, crab legs, the Seattle Space Needle, and babysitting Riley. Our weather was truly perfect. The day we went downtown to the Space Needle was perfect. I went with my Uncle Billy and we had dinner atop the Space Needle. It was a lot of fun, and very memorable.
One night I stayed home and watched Riley, and was so excited to have him all to myself. He was about 6 months old, and while changing his diaper he rolled over into his poop...but thinking about it I think it was the dogs poop because he pooped inside the house?! ...I don't remember for sure. What I do remember is freaking out that Riley literally had poop all over him! When Kari and Larry came home I was terrified to tell them in fear that they would be upset with me. Now I'm happy to report that we laugh about it.
With the birth of Riley, I'm pretty sure that I traveled to Seattle every year to visit Kari and her family up until they moved back to Albuquerque.
Seattle is a gorgeous city, and I would love to go back.

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The Places I've Been: TX

nikki and i on the Texas A&M campus in College Station, TX

the Texas State Capitol in Austin, TX

College Station and Austin, Texas

I traveled to Texas in April 2009 to visit my cousin Nikki and her husband Dan. At the time they were living in College Station attending and working at Texas A&M University. Prior to this trip I had never really been to Texas before. (in 2005 I flew into Houston to travel to Galveston, to catch a cruise ship.)
I spent two days in College Station and two days in Austin. I had a great time. What I remember fondly about this trip are my times and quality chats with Nikki. I remember Nikki taking me on a long fun windy tour of the A&M campus. I remember this because it was shortly before this trip that my left knee started to hurt from the beginning of my workout journey. (both of my knee's hurt now everyday.)
Nikki and I often talk about our love of just hanging out and talking. This trip was full of all that, all in between some fabulous food, shopping, taking a tour of the Texas State Capital, fresh strawberry shortcake, and lots of fun in general. Oh and of course some Texas bluebells!
Thinking about this trip I can't help but remember my life from two years ago. I have more to share from the changes that my life has made over the last two years, but right now I want to focus on my relationship with Nikki.
She truly wants the best, and cares for me. She recognizes that the work that I have done has put years on my life, so that we can be friends and cousins for many many years to come. She is someone that I can just talk to about this healthiness journey, because she lives it. She runs, and hikes, and eats healthy. She gives me something to strive for, which is priceless! Love you Nikki!
Can't wait for more memories.

master step 60min

The Places I've Been: SD

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Black Hills, South Dakota

I haven't spent a lot of time in South Dakota. But I do feel it has been long enough to mention here. I had lunch in the Black Hills of South Dakota on my road trip to North Dakota in March 2005 with my ex-boyfriend Aaron. Wow...just about 6 years ago. Six years almost to the day if I think about it, because I was in Bismarck on St. Patrick's Day 2005. Talk about timing...anyways.

I remember on the drive Aaron was so excited to show me the Black Hills. And I was excited because he was so excited. I'm not too sure what I was expecting, but it was something different. Something other than mountains. But let me be honest, the Black Hills are just mountains. In my opinion nothing too special about them. We had lunch in a cute little area that I can describe as Black Hawk, CO for those of you that have been there. A classic cowboy town.

It was a fun little venture in the Northwest corner of South Dakota.

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The Places I've Been: RI

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No big story here, as I write about my trips to Rhode Island every summer I take them.

One of the coolest things about Rhode Island, is the fact that it is indeed the smallest state. Because of that everything is so close! Connecticut is only a 30 minute drive, and Boston is only an hour away. You can literally walk to the next town. In general I think that is one thing I like about Rhode Island, and the New England states in general. Example if you think of the drive from Denver to Albuquerque 450 miles, and 2 states. If you were to drive out of RI for 450 miles and go south you would end up in Virginia and cross 7 states.

I have very vague memories of my early trips to RI. …well technically my first trip was when my mom was pregnant with me. But I don’t remember that. I was 5 or 6, and it was the summer time. I remember a trip to the beach, and jumping the waves in the ocean. So much fun! I remember this memory mainly because we (my parents) have pictures of said trip.

Another fond memory I have when I think of my summer trips to RI, is traveling by myself for the first time without adult supervision. Who knows how old we were, but for a few summers my cousins and I would fly to RI all by ourselves. Greg, Nikki, and I would fly to RI, and the first night was always the night to go get ice cream! I remember on one of the first nights we went to get ice cream, and I got my first ever banana split.

My memories of RI are endless, and I look forward to creating more memories with my family members that live there.

strike! 60min

The Places I've Been: OR

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wow, it's been almost 3 months since i posted about my travel series. time to catch up.

this time: oregon.

and in all honesty i couldn't tell you where in OR i've been, i just know that i've been there. i drove there with some family the first time i visited seattle, WA in the summer 1992(?). i went with my cousin Kari and her mom, my aunt Kathleen. and i think my aunt Patty was there and my cousins, Greg, Nikki, and Kyle. i'm not really all too sure who was there. anyways, i think we drove to oregon for a little family reunion that was going on? i remember meeting a bunch of my mom's aunts and uncles...so my great aunts and uncles. if i remember correctly we were only there for a afternoon. we drove there and back to seattle in the same day. i think it was maybe a 3 hour drive? ...who knows? maybe i'm making all of this up, and i've never been to oregon. but i'm pretty sure i've been there.

what i do know is that i want to go back there. i remember when aaron and i broke up and i thought about moving anywhere...portland, OR was on my list. because what i do remember about the afternoon that i spent in OR was how green and beautiful it was. and for some reason whenever i think about moving or relocating, portland always seems to be on my list of a place i could actually live. a few years ago my friend michelle was travel nursing and was transferring jobs between seattle and san francisco and drove down the oregon coast line and invited me to join her. unfortunately i couldn't go, but looking back on it now i regret it and wish i would have made it work, because she said it was so gorgeous. hopefully one day i'll have the opportunity again.

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The Places I've Been: OK

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Tulsa, Oklahoma

I know I've been to Oklahoma once, possibly twice and I don't remember the second time. My dad's sister and her family lives in Tulsa, OK. My parents and I went on our first big road trip to Tulsa when I was in middle school, I think? I honestly can't remember when this trip took place.

The drive took forever (in my mind anyways) and I remember being super exciting arriving at my my Aunt Ruby's house. I think my dad probably went fishing and one night we had a big fish fry.

What I remember very specifically about my stay in OK is chewing gum. I was in my aunts bathroom chewing bubble gum and for the first time ever I successfully blew a bubble with my gum! I was so excited! This was something I had been working on, and thought I would never be able to do. But then I went into the bathroom, stood in front of the mirror and focused on blowing a bubble with my gum. Once I accomplished blowing bubbles I went into the living room to show-off my new talent, and nobody cared! Of course now I realize that the talent of blowing bubbles with gum isn't really that big of a deal, but at the time I was impressed with myself! :) Needless to say now whenever I chew gum and blow a bubble I remember that exact moment in time in my aunts bathroom in Oklahoma.

Isn't weird how some random moments stay with us for forever?

Do you remember when you blew your first bubble with gum?

zumba 60min

The Places I've been: OH

Columbus, OH

when i was 19 i got a job at a call center, working for victoria's secret catalogue. my official title was "sales consultant". i took catalogue orders over the phone. it was my first full time job, and for the most part i really liked it. i made good money, and met my dear friend tina there. victoria's secret is part of the Limited family, and their headquarters are in Columbus, OH where the other call center was located. i believe it was the summer of 1999 or 2000 when i decided to try and get out of NM and move to columbus to work and go to school. i applied to Ohio State University, and got accepted, and made an appointment with the director of the call center to take a tour upon my trip to columbus. as another one of her daughter's "crazy" idea's, my mom was on board as well!

i was so excited for this trip! in fact the night before this trip was when i got my first speeding ticket. for those of you that know the Albuquerque area, the VS call center is technically in Rio Rancho which i guess would be considered a suburb of Abq. so my commute from work to home (i was living with my parents at the time) was 40 miles. at the time i worked until 1am, and was speeding home excited for my trip, and anxious to try and get some sleep before waking up early to catch a plane the next(same) morning. i was heading East on I-40 when i saw the flashing lights. speeding ticket for april.

anyways.

i had never been to that part of the country before, and i remember going in the fall, i think september or october? it was beautiful. my mom and i really enjoyed our trip. i set up a tour of the OSU campus, and i loved it! at the time i was attending TVI (a junior college in NM) and i loved the feel of campus life while walking around OSU. ....i guess this was the fall of '99 now that i think of it, because i'm pretty sure it was spring '00 when i first lived on campus and when i transferred to UNM. moving on.

the campus was gorgeous, and everyone was so nice. the tour of the call center was equally as nice! i immediately saw myself living there, and making a life for myself. unfortunately it was the out of state tuition that stopped me from going.

instead i immediately decided TVI wasn't where i wanted to go, and that i wanted a true college experience from the start. (the original college plan was to go to TVI for a couple of years then transfer to Colorado College in Colorado Springs for the rest.) once i got back home from OH i applied to UNM, got accepted, got my credits transferred over, and good approval to live in the dorms in which i wanted, and started at UNM in january 2000. wow, looking at the timeline a lot happened in a really short amount of time. because i started working at VS in may 1999. i remember feeling proud and accomplished that i set out to do something, and i got it done.

i would definitely love to go back to that part of the country one day and hang out some more in the "mid-west".

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The Places I've Been: ND

me, aaron, allison, ryan~march 2005

aaron and i inside the ND state capitol

Bismarck, North Dakota

sorry about the blurring pictures, they are pictures of pictures :)

so i knew the time would come for me to tell you about my road trip to north dakota. in order for me to tell you about this story i have to give you some background on my ex-boyfriend. aaron is my ex. we were together january 2004 to november 2005. he was my first serious boyfriend. he's originally from north dakota.
we drove to bismarck in march 2005 for his birthday. it was a great trip. the drive was about 8 hours, and it wasn't bad because we split it up. on the way there we stopped in black hills, SD. i remember driving up to his parents house, being so nervous. wanting his family to like me. i met his parents, one of his sisters, her boyfriend (now husband), and his grandparents on his dad's side. i immediately bonded with his mom, i love her!
we were there for 3 or 4 nights i think. we saw his best friends band gypsy foot play, along with a trip to the state capitol. did you know that the only 2 state capitol's that aren't a dome shape are north dakota and new mexico? weird coincidence.
cars there have a power outlet sticking out, so they can keep their cars plugged in at night so they don't freeze because it gets so cold there. i do remember it being cold, but not super cold. the only tall building in the city is the capitol building.
the trip was a lot of fun. it was great to see aaron in his home town, and hear his stories of growing up there. i really enjoyed the conversations i had with his mom and just hanging out. i'm glad aaron invited me to join him on this trip, as i will probably never go to north dakota again.
i still think highly of aaron and my relationship with him. so i'm glad i got to tell you a little bit about our time together, because for me it was and is still very significant.

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