HABOOB!

Hello Reader,

Nothing says welcome back to AZ like walking out your front door and seeing a wall of dust coming along the horizon.

These dust storms are called haboobs (I giggled the first time I heard that). They don't have names like hurricanes - there is no Haboob Florence, probably because there are more dust storms than letters in the alphabet. This is the first dust storm I have truly encountered since being in AZ. I have seen them pass by, but this one actually came rolling through my neck of the woods. You can find out more about them and see much more dramatic pictures here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haboob

Really, this one was quite anticlimactic.  The sun went away (which is more than ok in this heat), no one goes outside during it (in this heat, who would want to anyways), and you waited for it to pass (just like the extreme heat of the day.)

I look forward to more.

Thanks for reading!

- M

My trip with the boys ...

Hello Again,

Life in AZ is back in full swing! Classes start in nine days - I'm not ready for that - so I am hanging on to my vacation for as long as possible. I find editing photos a great way to relive all that I did.

 

(From the plane over ME)

One extra special thing about this trip from ME to AZ was I was not traveling alone ... I had two cats with me. It was memorable, let's just say that. They cried, I cried ... the three of us were a hot mess.

They had to travel as cargo (broke my heart) since I was just me and couldn't take that much carry-on. They were on a different flight than me because the Phoenix airport does not accept live animals between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. - and they call themselves America's friendliest airport - so we were separated. They had a nine hour layover in Jersey; the poor things, no one ever wants a nine hour layover in Newark!

(From the plane about 100 miles northeast of Phoenix) 

I arrived in AZ that afternoon and the boys flew in without any problems that evening. They were very confused and scared when they got here - although, that is a permanent expression on Odin's face.

I think they have adjusted fully to this place now....

Thanks for reading!

- M

Vacation In Review - Photo recap!

Hello Reader!

It's been a while, I've been busy. Since my last post I have been in Maine for 10 days, Arizona for a day, then Nebraska/Iowa for a conference for 5 ish days, and I have been back in AZ for about a week now.

While on vacation, I accomplished my to-do-in-Maine list in full - sort of, I cheated on a few but that's ok because it is my list and I can do what I wish with it - which was a great way to map out my time in Maine.

I have finally started sorting through the 1500+ photos I took while home and I thought I would share the highlights of the trip. Most of the highlights are made up of food, drinks, friends, and natural bodies of water - All things that have been missing from my life since moving to AZ!


Enjoy!


Places to Visit:
1. Tubby's Ice Cream - CHECK! (there may have been multiple checks on this in-particular one)

2. Gifford's Ice Cream - CHECK! I decided to try a very Maine flavor, LL Bean's Muddy Bean Boots

3. The coast, specifically Rockland  (I am very ready to see an ocean again, or any natural body of water for that matter) - CHECK!

4. Orono - CHECK!

5. Ampersand (I want a cookie and coffee) Homemade cinnamon buns at Chica's - CHECK!

6. Woodmans (mmmm....flirtinis) - CHECK! (twice) I forgot how good these were!

7. Pat's, specifically the Tap Room Bear Brew for guoda and roasted red pepper dip with blueberry ale on tap - CHECK!  I had never had blueberries floating in the ale either, so that was a fun surprise.

 8. Monmouth Theatre for some Shakespeare- CHECK!

9. Hallowell (On Old Hallowell Day and probably at least one other time) - CHECK! It was Hallowell's 250th birthday so they had a cake baking contest instead of the typical pie baking contest. Worked for me!

10. Slates Bakery, and maybe the restaurant but definitely the bakery - CHECK! (three times)

11. Acadia National Park - CHECK! Which also meant popovers at Jordan Pond Restaurant - CHECK! And I also got crab cakes to amp up the Maine experience!

12. Central Street Yoga - CHECK! I didn't take a picture of it because that would be disruptive to do in the middle of a yoga class. But I did go and it was absolutely amazing - Could not have asked for a more perfect yoga class in Bangor!

13. Stillwater river - not because it's beautiful place or anything but because it is nostalgic, it was my go-to-think spot for about 6 years - CHECK!

Things to do:
1. See friends (duh) - CHECK! I, sadly, didn't get pictures with everyone...

2. Dance with friends - CHECK!

3. Eat (not all at once) lobster, blueberries, whoppie pies, maple syrup (on waffles made by Mom), and other things made with things from Maine. - CHECK! Some are listed above and I also should have added Harvest Moon Deli, Wicked Good Bean Coffee, and comfort food made by mom to the list above :-)

4. Convince Mom we are writing a children's book - CHECK (ish) we started one at least. Below is the scene we overlooked while writing

5. Take lots of picture - maybe even be in a photo shoot? - CHECK! I took approximately 1500. I reached my 10,000th picture on my camera while in Orono where I took my first photo on this camera. I captured the 9999 since the camera doesn't count above that. I also taught mom how to use the camera on my iPhone which she used to take pictures of me taking picture...

6. Sit by the lake every single chance I get! - CHECK! I was joined by an incredibly friendly/vain dragonfly who I must have taken 50+ pictures of. He even landed on my camera. So I took a pic of the dragonfly on my camera in one hand with my iPhone in the other hand so the focus is bad, but you get the idea :-)

More vacation recaps to happen later this week!

Thanks for reading! 

- M

Take me to Vacationland!

Hello Reader,

Approximately one week from right now I will be wrapping things up at new student orientation to hop on a bus to take me to my apartment to grab my luggage before getting back on a bus that will take me to the lightrail, which will take me to the shuttle that takes me to the airport where I will hop on my plane back home to Maine!!! *Happy dance* Technically, I have to hang out in Jersey for a bit on my layover, but whatever, at least I'll be back on the east coast!

Acadia National Park - Photo by Molly Schenck

I must say, Vacationland has a whole new meaning to me now. I thought it was kind of cool to live in a place known as Vacationland because I never had to go anywhere to be on a relaxing vacation. Now, it means more to me. I am so happy to be heading home for a 10 day vacation where I can relax by the lake in non-triple digit temperatures.

I should also add whenever I think/say/hear the word "vacationland" I think of the the Elvis song, "Promised Land." It is a very suitable song for my travel across the country...well, I'm traveling the opposite direction as the song and Elvis never sang about Arizona, Maine or Jersey in that journey, BUT it sort of works... Who cares!? I'm coming home in a week!

Finally, I want to leave you with this fun scene that has been bouncing around in my head this past week. As I said, "vacationland" makes me think of "Promised Land" and, well, "Promised Land" makes me think of the tunnel scene from Men In Black. So, combining all of that, the scene in my head has Tommy Lee Jones, upside-down, singing along to Elvis and replacing the words"Promised Land" with "Vacationland." The scene is below if you need some help envisioning it. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

- M

The Recyclables

Hello Reader,

About two months ago I had two friends from Maine visit. We went to an event called, "Yoga Rocks The Park" which was amazing in it's own right, but it was extra special and amazing going with these two lucky charms. At the end of the practice there were giveaways and one of my friends won a six month supply of bottled water!

Now that is a lot of water  - and I am sure there is some Arizona-desert-water joke in there somewhere - but when you take public transportation from one city to another lugging a dozen cases of water is not feasible. So, long story short, since my friends couldn't bring all of the water on a plane back to Maine I inherited the water. Best (and only) inheritance of my life.  

For the past two months the recycling bin has looked like this daily. 

 On one of my many trips to dump the bottles in the apartment complex's recycling bin I realized one thing I really missed about Maine, I don't get five cents back on each bottle! I know it sounds frugal, but it was so exciting to turn a bunch of bottles into enough money for a fancy cup of coffee or a cookie from Ampersand. And now, I don't get any of that. If I had inherited all this water in Maine and recycled it, I would have made a whopping $14 off of free water. But, oh well. I did save on water filters for the past two months.

Thanks for reading.

- M

ONE MONTH!!!

I'LL BE HOME IN MAINE IN A MONTH!!! 

HOLY SHENANIGANS, I CANNOT WAIT!!!

Can you tell I am excited about this??

I am trying to figure out how to fit everything I want to do into 10 days ... I think I may just skip sleeping, simple solution, right?

I function on to-do lists and post-it notes. So, in order to easily share this plan for my vacation with those who need to know about it, below is my list of things to do in Maine that must be completed in a total of ten days. It may be, well, it will be quite challenging, but I am so ready for it!

I have broken it into two categories; places to visit and things to do (there could be another category of things to eat, but I promised to not talk about food for a while...) Check it out below!

Vacationland To Do List (in no particular order)

Places to Visit:
1. Tubby's Ice Cream
2. Gifford's Ice Cream
3. The coast, specifically Rockland  (I am very ready to see an ocean again, or any natural body of water for that matter)
4. Orono
5. Ampersand (I want a cookie and coffee)
6. Woodmans (mmmm....flirtinis)
7. Pat's, specifically the Tap Room
8. Monmouth Theatre for some Shakespeare
9. Hallowell (On Old Hallowell Day and probably at least one other time)
10. Slates Bakery, and maybe the restaurant but definitely the bakery
11. Acadia National Park
12. Central Street Yoga
13. Stillwater river - not because it's beautiful place or anything but because it is nostalgic, it was my go-to-think spot for about 6 years


Things to do:
1. See friends (duh)
2. Dance with friends
3. Eat (not all at once) lobster, blueberries, whoppie pies, maple syrup (on waffles made by Mom), and other things made with things from Maine.
4. Convince Mom we are writing a children's book
5. Take lots of picture - maybe even be in a photo shoot?
6. Sit by the lake every single chance I get!

I think that makes for a full 10 day vacation!

Let me know if you think I am missing anything, or if some place I want to visit no longer exists, or if there is some new place I should definitely check out.

Thanks for reading!

- M

Gathering Information; It's An Adventure!

Hello Reader,

Relocating from one corner of the country to another is one of the more difficult situations I have ever put myself in. I have had my fair share of freak outs over the past eight months - which is to be expected I think. More recently, I have these little moments (typically on my walk to public transportation to get to work) where I think, "...I live here...huh..." Overall, the transition has not been as rough as I anticipated *knock on wood* ...

I believe I owe this positive perspective to some advice I received as I was embracing the idea of living in Arizona. Simply put, this whole thing is an adventure. I am just gathering information - daily, I have discovered - on my personal preferences about my living environment, my job, my life. I keep these reminder on post-it notes on the bathroom mirror (now counter, since they lost their stickiness) as a daily reminder.

On the more difficult days, I think of them more as my purpose than a reminder. I am here to figure out what I want next, and I need as much information about that as I can possibly soak up! It is a good way to refocus my thinking away from the 3,000 miles that separate me from everything in Maine. I do not regret this move at all. I feel so lucky to be where I am and to have so many incredible opportunities on the horizon. I am beginning to think I received only one job offer for a reason. This is only the start of a wonderful adventure.

Thanks for reading!

- M