Where does the time go?

Wow, I didn't even look at the date on my last entry because it would just be shocking or depressing, not sure which. Lucky for me, I don't have dispense life or death material so it's not a huge deal.

Let's see. The past few months have been pretty much monumental, a piece of my life that will forever be in my memory and that has permanently shaped me. I saw my family a ton this summer but under unfortunate circumstances that my Mum was in the hospital, as pretty much anyone who reads this knows. In an effort to keep a very rough event in it's place, I will not delve deeper except for this, a quote that sums up a lot: "The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain." Oh that and do not neglect telling people how much you care about them and love them...we do not control everything and you just really never know what the last thing you say to someone will be, so make it good.

On a lighter note, the improvements have been such that our whole family, Mum included, will be going to Mexico for Thanksgiving! And to celebrate my oldest sister getting married (via elopement in The Seychelles). I can't wait. Yes, the sun is a very high item on the list of what I'm psyched about but more so to see the fam.

Other than that, I've been in the same travel boat of living out of a suitcase more often than not. And although I've been home for a good 2 weeks (amazing how that seems like a treat to me), I am off again this weekend but for an amazing wedding weekend! Happy Wedding to the amazing Brierley Wright (soon to be Horton) and her wonderful fiance Andy Horton!!!! Black tie fun, here we come.

Up Next

I feel like a broken record when I talk about my travel schedule and how often I'm on the road, and I thought this summer would feel different. Last summer I was literally gone 75+% of the time. Going into this summer I knew I'd be traveling for 8 or so days per month so figured it'd be much lighter. Well, some things came up that changed that and I, once again, feel like I live out of a suitcase. Actually, I pretty much DO live out of a suitcase, in airports, hotels and the likes.

Next up on the docket is Labor Day weekend in FL to spend time with my parents. This will be the first time in a while I'll be able to just pack a carry on bag. Crazy. I'll get back on Tuesday night and then 5 days later (just enough time to unpack, do laundry and repack!) I'll lug my giant suitcase back to the Burlington airport to head out west for 9 days in Salt Lake City for the 4th stop of the summer Dew Tour. I have never spent time in SLC (only in Park City one winter) so I'm excited to check the city out, hopefully find some good restaurants and watering holes, catch up w/my event friends and more. And even more exciting is Mini B is driving over from Aspen to work for me for the weekend. I have spent all summer with all guys (I guess there are worse things) but I've been dying for a female side-kick, partner in crime. And who better than Mini B! It will definitely add a lot to the weekend to have a close friend with me and someone to hang out w/during down time. Yahoo!

Time to get packing!

Two lives

This is my only pet peeve with Blogs is you don't update for a few weeks and you are so far behind you either have to post a long winded update or just skip over things and start at the current day. Hmm. I'll spare anyone who actually reads my blog the pain of reading about the past 2 months and jump to today.

I've been essentially living 2 separate lives the past 5 weeks. One, my normal life...work, friends, work travel, gym, cooking, etc. The other a world you can never prepare for, a world you aren't sure is real sometimes. A world that made me realize how important people in your life are...the ones you love. Friends, family, significant others. How overly important it is to spend time with these people and tell them how much you care for and love them, no matter how suffocating it may seem.

5 weeks ago I found myself walking into a room that I can honestly say embodied the worst day of my life, an experience I don't wish on my worst enemy. It put a lot into perspective. It also put me in a tailspin of having many days that I am not sure I can get through and some I do but end with a full on breakdown. It has been a test...physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Like I said, two different lives. Sometimes I go through the normal life and almost pretend the other isn't there...almost as a protector to insure my sanity, to insure I don't completely lose it. Then I remind myself how important the other life is in relation to my regular life...how it translates into what I was saying above about people.

I have learned about 1,000,000 things in the past 5 weeks but I think the most important one is to love the people in your life, love them fully and let them know it. Don't hold back, don't regret not saying things, not calling someone, not hugging someone, not spending time with someone. How lucky to be able to have people, friends, family you love. I am pretty sure that this experience has allowed me to more wholly love and care for people and that has truly been the thing getting me through many days.

Love the ones you are with.

The Rain in Spain

At least if it were the rain in Spain, I'd be in Spain. Ever since I returned from Chicago, it has been a non-stop deluge of rain, minus one sunny day over the weekend. I honestly don't know how it can rain this much short of living in a RAINforest. It is wearing on me, grating at my last nerve, causing me to lose motivation to be active or social or heck, even fun! I dig a good lightening and thunderstorm every once in a while...a good excuse to curl up on the couch with a good book all day. But every day, can't handle it. I'm a sun baby. I spent 19 of my 26 years in places that saw over 300 days of sun a year. And when it rained, it rained for an hour then the sun came back out to warm the ground and bring the smiles back to our faces.

The rain has been an added element to many big things going on in my head. It has sort of been the icing on a cake that is still in the oven, but almost ready to come out. This cake, it has been an intricate recipe, many ingrediants that needed to be handled in a very specific way so as not to upset the overall balance of the cake and flavors. I think I've gotten it right this time. When the cake is done and ready, I think it will be almost too pretty to eat, almost too good, but I have a feeling it might be the best cake yet. And if the recipe still isn't quite right, it will be very obvious...I won't be able to eat the cake just yet and will have to try again in the future.

We shall see....things to come.