Wedding Update # Losing Track

Ok, I'll keep it brief. When I returned from Costa Rica, Rick and I decided the Kauai wedding idea wouldn't work after all (keep in mind once we set the Kauai wedding idea I canceled our October Wenatchee venue), for a couple of reasons.

1: while this is exactly what we could envision and seemed perfect since we will already be there, we do want to keep our costs down. This seemed simple enough until we decided to do something back in Spokane after for those that can't make it, plus extended family and close friends. All of a sudden we had the cost of two weddings. After buying a house this year, neither of us were ok with spending that much, along with the time commitment and stress of planning two major events.

2: in our effort to keep our costs down, we realized our family that would be showing up would have a significant added cost to their year by coming.

Where does that leave us? Indefinitely on hold. We plan to have a wedding in Spokane at Ricks sisters event center sometime in the future. After canceling our October Wenatchee venue, then nixing the August Kaui, we thought we'd go back to October until I realized that we have no idea what my daughters schedule will be in October. This will be her first year of high school, the girl is involved in everything and homecoming typically happens last week of September or sometime in October. So as of now I can't commit to being gone for a weekend in the fall. These moments are her first, and it's her time. They are equally special to me, so we will wait and when the time is right, I hope everything will fall into place.

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Home...

They say home is where the heart is, however mine has been slow to follow. In large part because we moved in, a week later a major wind storm took a good chunk of the roof off, and a week after that I left to Costco Rica.

The roof, it's getting resolved with our insurance company. We've opted to have the entire side redone in a 45 year up 110mph wind guarantee. Insurance is paying a good chunk, but forking out the rest so soon after moving in with other plans of how we wanted to spend money is a little disheartening. Also as a temporary fix until they can get to doing our roof we have a tarp, one that flaps and makes a lot of noise through the night, so neither Rick or I are sleeping good. It's a little ironic, I use to live close to downtown and two blocks off the main route to the hospital so I dealt with sirens for 8 years, after some time I didn't even notice them. I move to the foothills with an amazing view and by all accounts looks to be so quiet, well these views in a valley clearly come at the cost of the wind howling through.

That the view from the kitchen. The views and the house itself is beautiful. The layout is a dream come true. However quite possibly my favorite space is the deck.

My walls are bare, and fine by me. The house needs to be painted in a desperate way, so before I hang and have to take down that needs to be done. Also I don't do knick knacks. I don't decorate for the sake of filling space. Anything in my house is there for a reason, not to accommodate those that come over so they think my house looks pretty. It will be years before we fully "decorate", because we are just starting this life together. The "things" that will be in my house will tell the story of us, Rick, myself and the kids.

My new bathroom is about the size of my old bedroom. No joke. It's great, but I'll warn anyone that likes nice hot steamy baths, a walk in shower is NOT the way to go. It's drafty. However, I will be ok with that, we just turned our water heater up to a dangerous level of high.

I'm excited for spring, excited to figure out how to take care of the yard, excited for the foothills to open to trail running, excited for dinner on the deck and lazy days reading there. My heart is making its way there.

 

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75% Raw

If you read my last post, I'm trying to eat at least a 75% raw diet. Going to the yoga retreat was a little like going to a really awesome fat camp. I ate delicious foods three times a day, worked out and lost 6lbs. My weight is relatively stable, here and there I fluctuate a few pounds, but unless I am super stressed I stay the same (I lose weight with stress). However I personally feel better about 5lbs lighter. I run faster, my clothes feel better, I'm more comfortable and confident.

Let's just say it's WAY easier when someone is cooking for you. I'm gone with Lo this weekend for dance competition, meaning a hotel and no kitchen. Before leaving, I packed a load of cut up veggies and a huge assortment of fruit. By 7 o'clock tonight I was starving! Had I not been working up until I left (yet another obstacle in Raw food prepping), I should've prepared a few raw meals, not just snacks. I haven't caved to the processed food yet, but could get seriously hangry by tomorrow! Plus side is I am drinking a lot more water than usual, I know that has to be good for me.......

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Home. Intentions.

Home and back to making decisions. At the yoga retreat the biggest decision of my day was to go to the pool or beach after morning yoga. It was wonderful, far exceeding all expectations.

Two days prior to heading to Nosara a small group of us traveled to La Fortuna. It was rainy, lush and green. We stayed at an authentic hotel (a bit out of my comfort zone, but turned out to be perfect), went canyoning, AKA repelling down waterfalls (in the rain), the largest being 165 feet, and one free drop (surprisingly that was my favorite). After, we went to one of the more local hot springs (basically not attached to a resort), called Eco Termales. It was perfect. You have to reserve your time slot because they do not allow anymore than 100 people in at a time. The pools are drained and cleaned nightly and naturally filled up each day.

Next day brought our 4 1/2 hour drive to Nosara. Quite honestly I did not think it was as bad as all the reviews made it sound. They did warn that a 4 hour drive is more like 5 hours just because of the roads. Roads from La Fortuna to Nicoya were paved and relatively good shape. As we got closer to the coast it became mostly dirt, but again not bad as long as you watch the holes and ruts.

 

Bodhi Tree

This place and experience is hard to put into words that could adequately describe it, so I hope I can do it justice.

There were just over 20 of us there from Wenatchee. All different personalities and at different places in our lives. The purpose of a yoga retreat is to make it your practice. I knew all but two of the ladies (and quickly got to know and like them). This was the first time in my life taking a vacation like this, for me, about me with only myself to think of. So truthfully I wanted to embrace it. I love quiet and no schedule. It's something that is rare in my day to day life. I had running shoes but had told myself I was there for yoga and to get back into meditation (something I practiced regularly in my early 20's and benefitted from). However I typically woke up at 5:30, so I started almost everyday with a run along the beach. Came back drank a cup of Costa Rican Coffee by the pool and ate a bowl of fruit before yoga.

Three meals a day were fixed for us. All gluten and dairy free. The food was amazing and the way I felt after a week there has inspired me to attempt a 75% raw diet. We're already pretty clean eaters here. I avoid pastas and rarely have bread, and we are heavy on the veggies, but cutting out gluten, sugar and dairy for a week, yet eating all the time delicious foods was inspiring.....thank goodness for Pinterest!

The group of woman was incredible. We all had different personalities some constantly wanting to be on the go others not so much. The beauty of such a diverse and accepting group is everyone did exactly what they wanted to do. I realized how introverted I actually am. I am not super social. I like people but I crave small groups over large. I was there to practice yoga and focus on me. That's what I did, most afternoons I spent by the pool or on the beach with my book. I realized how closed off I have become in the last 6 years since my ex husbands affair. That year was crazy and filled with self doubt for so long. I've carefully selected those around me, to those that have stayed the course with me, those I can trust with 100% certainty. It's not that I don't like other people, I have plenty of room to love and accept more, but perhaps I don't give as freely of my time anymore. Putting yourself in a situation like we were in was a perfect way for me to get to know others, in a safe environment. I came away feeling like it's time to get back out there getting to know other people I see routinely but don't take the time to invest in. This was a bit enlightening to me, and until being with others for a week I didn't know how scared I had been to allow more friends in. The person my husband had an affair with was a "friend" to me, someone that on the surface seemed fun, loving and loyal. I was easily deceived. This week at the retreat, with all these different woman was pure, mature. We each set our own intentions with no judgement, just support for each other's journey.

 

 

Finally the yoga.....it was phenomenal. Our instructors from our studio (here at home) had a surprise for us, they basically brought along some serious all stars instructors. A few past and present ones arrived to teach as well. Twice a day yoga was a luxury. I am hook, loved it so much. I came away so excited to continue and better my own practice!

 

I did miss my daughter something fierce, like I knew I would. However, I'm so excited to share this trip with her one day.

 

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