Let’s Try Something New: Weekly Wednesday Updates

I’ve been toying with the idea of publishing a weekly update—mostly to keep myself on task with blogging, but also because I enjoy reading review-style posts on other blogs. I suspect that they satisfy my creepy desire to know personal details about people I may never meet IRL.

Weird? Yes. But that’s where I’m at.

All this to say that I’m going to give it a go. I thought I’d make it a Sunday series, but it’s Wednesday and I’m feeling inspired so let’s get started. Here’s what’s happening outside of my once-every-six-months posting schedule.

Life as a Colorado Resident

I officially became a Colorado resident last month, when I swapped my Florida driver’s license for a Colorado one. We changed all addresses to our cozy little one-bedroom apartment and promptly purchased an assortment of herbs and a peace lily.

I don’t know if it was the soil, the searing afternoon sun, too much water, not enough water, but the plants are not in a good way. We still water them regularly, clinging to the desperate hope that they’ll revive, but it seems unlikely.

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After an initial flurry of purchases, during which it felt like someone poked a hole in our bank account, we put a moratorium on buying things for the apartment. Now that enough time has passed, I’m turning my attention to decorating, something I haven’t done in *so* long I apparently have forgotten how to do it.

My goal is to create a gallery wall of travel photos over my desk, but I have unsurprisingly turned this from a simple concept into a very complicated one. The combinations of frame sizes and layouts are endless, not to mention the thousands of photos I have to choose from.

I’m currently looking for an app that lets me upload photos so I can simulate different layouts before I order prints and frames—if such a thing exists, please enlighten me.

Outside of photo gallery rabbit holes, I’m loving the trail networks in Boulder County. I can step outside for a run and follow a different trail in any direction, and every weekend we find a new hike. It’s exactly what I was hoping for when we moved here.

I’m Doing Whole 30

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’m temporarily part of the Whole 30 cult. A quick run down for those who are blissfully unaware: 30 days of no gluten, no dairy, no legumes, no alcohol, no sugar, no grains, no preservatives, no soy. The idea is to eliminate these food groups, then reintroduce them slowly to figure out how your body reacts to certain foods.

I’m doing it because of persistent lower back and joint pain (what am I, 100?) and out of morbid curiosity. Will it reduce inflammation? Give me more energy? Make my hair youthful and lustrous? I’ll never know unless I try, and after a year of chronic pain I’m open to anything.

Jared is doing it with me, so we commiserate together as we count down the days. Today is day 12 and I do not feel any different, except for the fact that I am always just a little bit hungry and my soul is just a little bit dead. I’m committed to seeing it through, but when these 30 days are over I intend to kick back with a beer and a loaf of bread, and never do an elimination diet again.

Joining a CSA

Speaking of food, we joined a CSA. It stands for community-supported agriculture, and it’s a way to eat local, seasonal food straight from the farm. Become a member and get a weekly veggie box for the season, which generally runs from May to October. We went with a half share at 63rd St. Farm, which feeds 2-3 people as opposed to a full, which feeds 3-5. The fee was $450 for 23 weeks, starting May 30. I’m excited to see what turns up in our box!

Vacation Planning

Now that Jared and I have been ‘settled’ for approximately six weeks, it’s obviously time to start thinking about going somewhere. Initial plans were to take advantage of the 4th of July holiday by road-tripping to South Dakota: Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, and the Badlands. But on second thought, we realized that it’s likely to be crowded that time of year. I think we’re going to play it cool and stay around Colorado.

That gives us a chance to funnel our resources towards a loose plan to go ‘somewhere warm’ and ‘somewhere in Mexico or Central America’ in September/October. It’s a region I’ve overlooked, and living in the US makes it much more accessible. We’re thinking Mexico, though Costa Rica and Guatemala could also be options.

The goal is to make it feel more like a true ‘vacation,’ where we stay in the same place for a week, rather than packing up and moving every other day. Ultimately, flight times and prices will probably be the deciding factors. Long flights are really not my jam these days.

Aerial Yoga

When I told my new doctor about my back pain, she told me to do yoga. “I already do yoga,” I said. “Do more yoga,” she said. So I bought a 10-class Groupon for Yoga Hive in Louisville, a nearby studio that does aerial yoga—that’s the one with the silk loops hanging from carabiners on the ceiling—and I’m totally enamoured with it.

I tried aerial a few years ago in Australia and loved it then, so I’m happy that it’s still as good as I remembered. There’s something about dangling upside down in a swathe of fabric that makes me feel so badass and I highly recommend giving it a go. The best part is being fully cocooned in silk during savasana, even though I spend the final minutes on edge, anticipating the moment that the instructor’s voice will break through my peaceful reverie. (Yoga: doing it right)

That’s it for today! Thanks for sticking around, we might just do this again next week.