Roller Coasters, Cheese Snowman and Nashville!
in 6 days we have quite literally driven more than 37 hours, over 2,000 miles and passed through 11 states. for the next 6 days, i refuse to be a car for more than 30 minutes or i could very well have a psychotic breakdown and that would get messy.
as i sit here almost starting to reflect on 2013 (i haven’t committed fully to the reflection process because i should be in a safe space to process all the wild and crazy things that 2013 has brought), i realize i am currently, right this second, creating moments and memories that will/have forever changed my life. this past week in itself has been bonkers (can you say that word and still be taken seriously? i’m trying it).
we arrived in Minneapolis, MN for our second to last workshop and since Mall of America was on the way to the workshop, we obviously had to stop by. my husband freaked when he saw all of the roller-coasters and then proceeded to ride 3 back to back while i took photos and ate cookies. i hate roller coasters. even the one where you only have to be like 2 feet tall to ride it…i’m not doing it. nope. no thank you. don’t ask me again.
we closed up our last workshop in Cedar Rapids, IA with one of the prettiest venues i’ve seen my husband speak in! it was at the Cedar Rapids Public Library and just opened in august. i basically stared at the christmas tree behind him the entire time and it felt magical.
oh do you see those people at the lower left-they are from a local news station and they did a story on him! way cool-check out the video below:
they also had the cutest snack table i’ve seen in a while. they had a snowman made of cheese!
this was the only picture of my new wifestyle dress, what do you think? my husband thinks it looks like i’m from the 80’s but he doesn’t know. we are standing with my cousin, Jo, who came to see us! she was so kind and even brought a stocking made out of delicious chocolate and slightly embarrassing photos of me with other cousins a child!
we made our way to Nashville, TN which is such a fun city and i’m excited to come back to adequately explore more of it. the most important thing we did was find the best brunch place and it happened to be at Garden Brunch Cafe. it is only open on friday, saturday and sunday from 9am-2pm so you better work your schedule out around that.
the red velvet pancakes i’ve ever had in my entire life. i am not making this up. follow me on Instagram @the_new_wifestyle and there you will find a close up of these bad boys as well as me as a 9 year old sporting a sleeveless denim shirt. if that’s not a good enough reason to check out my account-i’m not sure what will convince you.
we worked our keesters off during the day and enjoyed a friday night date! we went to see the new Disney movie “Frozen” and i really liked it. i liked it because there was a queen ruler, sort a Swedish/Danish theme and decoration to their community AND a stronger-than-most-other-princesses-princess and she saved the guy a few times too. she’s going to be a good wifestyler.
thanks Disney
our movie theater was right next to the Grand Ole Opry House but unfortunately no shows were going on there so we just frolicked around the huge guitars and pretended to have southern accents (my texan husband had this pretty much down). notice we don’t have coats on because it was a balmy 50 degrees and lovely out!
we are about to jump on a plane to Houston, pack up all of our stuff (again) and move back to Portland in 6 days. i mean…what else would we want to be doing after running around North America the last 3 months? i sure am excited to have a stationary place of our own to kick off 2014!
the new wifestyle: just because it’s crazy doesn’t mean it isn’t fun.
questions:
1) do you love amusement park rides?
2) if you have bad eyesight, when did you start wearing glasses/contacts? (7th grade for me but i wore contacts until i was 19)
3) any recommendations for highly entertaining/engaging/30 hour books on CD? or feel free to send us a road trip mix because we will be driving for more than 40 hours ahhhhh!
Heather Hawkins
December 21, 2013 at 9:27 am
1) I love most of them. But there a few I hate. Anything that twirls you upside down too long.
2) I started wearing glasses when I was 5 but switched to contacts in 5th grade. I had to wear the gas permeable ones in an attempt to stop my eyes from changing too many steps in a year. I used to have to get new lenses in my glasses every 4 months because my eyes are so bad.
3) We listen to the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. Sooooooo imaginative and very, very English humor. It has its moments of drama and sadness, but mostly it adds creativity and levity.
Nick
December 21, 2013 at 10:27 am
1) Depends – If the ride involves aggressive changes of direction im not a fan cause it hurts my neck, i cant help but tighten those neck muscles. So not a rollercoaster fan.
2) Nope, eyes are fine.
3) We also listen to the Dark Adventure Radio Theatre radio plays for a bit of lovecraftian horror.
chelsea
December 23, 2013 at 8:27 am
thanks for the other recommendation Nick and i’m totally jealous of you 20/20 eyes!
chelsea
December 23, 2013 at 8:24 am
ew yeah twirling upside down doesn’t sound fun at alllll. hahah love that you attempted to stop your ryes from changing-did it work? 🙂 wow every 4 month is intense-daaang! we will have to check out Terry Pratchett-thanks for the recommendation Heather!
Paula Howley
December 21, 2013 at 9:06 pm
Roller Coasters are the bomb. My family is pretty serious about them. we go to Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio every so often- this is the best amusement park in North America, maybe the world. they have the tallest coaster in the world and I have been on it. Scary and awesome. My brother took his wife there for their honeymoon. told ya we’re hardcore.
2. My whole family needed glasses except me and I was always kind of cocky about it. Now that my body is falling apart, I started needing glasses around 41, 42. I still just buy them from the drug store. A friend of mine told me that when your eyes first start to go, you need a new prescription frequently so I don’t relish the thought of shelling out all that cash over and over. (eyes aren’t covered in our health care- neither are teeth. Weird, eh?
3. I just ‘read’ a really good but heartbreaking read- it’s a freebie called “Tecumseh, A Chronicle of the Last Great Leader of His People” I got it off Librivox which is all free read-aloud books.
I LOVE your new dress even though it hurts my eyes to look at it!
chelsea
December 23, 2013 at 8:29 am
wow Paula-you weren’t kidding, some seriously hardcore coasters over yonder! that’s also pretty sweet that you didn’t need glasses until recently but also crappy that eyes and teeth aren’t covered in insurance-that seems like basic necessities reminds me i have to figure out our dang insurance! thanks for the book recommendation and still liking my dress even if it hurts your eyes Paula! 🙂
Victor
December 23, 2013 at 7:54 am
Roller coasters used to be lots of fun when I was younger. Now — not so much. 🙂
I got my first set of glasses when I began college. I got rid of them by having Lasik surgery on one eye. I have been delighted with the results!
Road music or books: anything by Ekhart Tolle (awesome teacher); some funky free music at http://www.djsteveboy.com/groovelectric.html. Steve Boyett makes them available for free download and the tracks are long and quite energetic. Excellent for long trips. I hope you like them!
chelsea
December 23, 2013 at 8:31 am
ohhhh i am anxiously awaiting the day when i have Lasik surgery-it’s a dream of mine and glad to hear it works well! thanks so much for the link and recommendations Victor-much appreciated for our long road trip ahead!!