Home is...?

Home is where the heart is.

Home is where the house is.

Home is where the Army takes us.

Home is where you dance in your underwear.

Home is where the Wifi connects automatically.

Home is where...

This past week I have been home in Minnesota visiting my parents. I've been thinking a lot about what home means... and for me it's a tricky concept. There are all sorts of sayings and descriptions of what and where home is, but it's really not that simple is it? 

"Where is home?"

"There are a few..."

"Yeah, Yeah, but... where is home?"

"They're all home"

"????"

I was born and raised in Maplewood, MN. For 18 years of my life, there was no question that Minnesota was home. Then I moved to Charleston, SC for college. Soon after Charleston felt like "home". My job, belongings, friends, everything except my family was there. I'd even argue that my "heart" was in Charleston. I quickly adopted the deep south way of life. Minnesota was still home, but Charleston was too. 

After graduating, for no reason in particular I moved to Charlotte, NC. Soon, Charlotte felt much more like home than Charleston ever had. I was an established adult with a full time job, lots of friends, a car that I purchased and paid for myself, and my very own health insurance (exciting right....?). Two years after moving, I met Peter. Most of his family is in Charlotte which added to the feeling of home-ness. 

4 years after moving to Charlotte I decided to move to New York. Not only to be closer to 

West Point but because... it's freaking NEW YORK! Now New York feels more like home than any of the previously mentioned cities. So here comes the real conundrum... 

Where the heck is home?! 

In the past week I have said both of these things, "I'm going home to Minnesota." Then, " I'm going home to New York." In the past month I've also said, " I'm trying to get home to Charlotte soon." I"m fairly positive that in the next 6 months I'll be adding Alabama to my list of "places that feel like home". So my answer, although not profound is a slight variation 

"Home" is all the places your heart may be. 

It's okay to call more than one place home... right?

So Much To See and Do!

So as you may have read I will be moving to Alabama this summer. Why you ask? Because my boyfriend of 4 years is in the Army, and that's where he's headed.

When Peter found out he branched Aviation in November, I was ecstatic but still not sure if I would go with him or remain here in NY. Life is great here. I love my friends and am absolutely in love with my job, and just wasn't sure if I was ready to leave. After months of discussion, and many pros and cons lists, I decided I was ready to make the move. So when Peter found out his report date a few weeks ago I felt a bit more like this...

So the move is happening. We don't have an exact date yet, but it's happening and I am very excited about it. Before meeting Peter I had made 2 large moves on my own. The first from MN to Charleston, SC and the second from Charleston, SC to Charlotte, NC. After meeting Peter and graduating with my M.Ed I thought, " NYC?! Heck Yes!" So I packed up once again and drove a large truck from NC all the way to the Big Apple by my lonesome. I like the process of moving, but this time around am a bit concerned about the culture shock of leaving NYC and moving to rural AL ... more on that later.

 In the meantime my desire to explore New York City has gone into overdrive. I have so much left to see and not much time to do it. For me, step one for just about anything is to make a list. So I've revamped my NYC To-Do List from this summer. It's a hefty list but I am confident I can make it happen.

I will keep everyone updated on the moving situation as well as my upcoming adventures in the city. It's going to be a very exciting and busy few months.

NYC To-Do List

Astoria Beer Garden

Ride my bike down the Bronx River Path

Visit the Guggenheim

Explore the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on my bike

See the Montauk Lighthouse

Bike around (not literally) on Staten Island

Complete a 5-borough Bike ride

Explore Pelham Bay Park

Relax at Far Rockaway Beach

Explore Astoria
Explore Central Park above 86th St. 

Take the Staten Island Ferry

Run the steps in Morningside Park

Visit Washington DC

Bike to the North Fork of Long Island

Do more exploring in Fort Tryon Park

Visit Green Acre Park

Visit the Cloister Museum

Go to a race at the Belmont

Visit the Titanic Memorial

Visit the African Burial Grounds

Visit Brooklyn Brewery

Go to the Brooklyn Flea Market

Go to a taping of The Daily Show or the Colbert Report

Go to a Speakeasy Bar

Bike around Red Hook Piers

See more Broadway or Off-Broadway shows

Do more Walking Tours with Nan (Brain Droppings)

Visit Watkins Glen

Try Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Try the Trapeze

Bike from Westhampton to Montauk

Drink at McSorleys 

Explore Roosevelt Island

Ride the Roosevelt Island Tram

Explore Governor's Island

Explore Greenwood Cemetery

Bike the Manhattan Greenway Loop

Visit Grant's Tomb

Mountain Biking

See Kaaterskill Falls

Explore St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Bike to 2 different beaches in 1 weekend

Bike from my house to the Rockaways

Summit Mt. Taurus

Hike Breakneck Ridge and not break my neck

Explore all the Central Park sites

The Blog is O'Changin...

As you may have noticed, I have been AWOL from this blog since August. It was because...well... I didn't feel like I did anything exciting. When I first started this blog my hope was that it would not include my personal life but would be more a documentation of my NY adventures. Also, somewhere that people looking for cheap and/or free things to do in the city could go for reviews, of sort. Well, that was fun and dandy until... 

BUM...BUM...BUM 

I decided to move to Alabama. 

What?! Huh?! Why?! WHEN?! Ugh, ALABAMA?! How will you blog about adventures in NYC from Alabama Yes, I have heard these from my NYC friends many times now (except maybe the last one), but the answer is one that includes explaining my personal life... *gulp*

So I've chosen to make a change. This blog will continue to include my NYC adventures but will also include stories about or related to:

1. My life as a Preschool & Special Ed Teacher
2. Being an Army Girlfriend (and the impending move to Alabama)
3. Triumphs and Trials of being a Minnesotan (obviously a riveting topic...)
4. Anything else I decide to include from my semi chaotic life.

This blog just reached a new level of chaos, but I look forward to documenting my trials, tribulations, and continuing adventures. 

The good news is that I did complete a few items from my To-Do list in the past few months. I will put up pictures and details in later posts but for now, I leave you with this...

I work at a science based preschool in Brooklyn. We have lots of pets, including rats. Then, we bought the rat a leash... it was hilarious.  

Cheers to a new and improved excitement for blogging! 

In an Effort to Stay Distracted

West Point

So when I first started this blog, I was hoping to keep my personal life out of it. Well I'm breaking that rule today...

My boyfriend (of 3 years) is in the Army at West Point. I have been spoiled the past few summers in that I've had 3-5 whole consecutive weeks with him each year in-between his trainings. This summer, I'll be lucky to get a weekend, which is why I created a very extensive Summer To Do List.

I've spoken to many other girlfriends, fiancés, and wives that each have their own strategy in dealing with long distance, and those trainings/deployments where you have no communication at all. Everyone has their own strategy but the only one that has consistently worked for me is getting involved in activities where I can't use my phone/computer anyway! It keeps me busy and prevents me from constantly looking at my phone and/or staring at my computer screen wishing I could talk with the guy.

Peter is "in the field" for the next couple weeks, so I get very little (a few texts) to no communication with him. So yesterday and today I hopped on my bike to keep myself distracted! I also get to cross TWO things off my Summer To-Do list. Yesterday I rode to Coney Island and enjoyed a few hours of utter relaxation, other than constantly looking back and checking on my triple locked bike. Then today I biked to the Rockaways!

Summer To-Do List
Bike from Westhampton to Montauk
Visit Washington DC
Try Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Gorgeous Greenway dead-ends into Coney Island

Explore Governor's Island
Explore Roosevelt Island
See Kaaterskill Falls
Bike from my house to the Rockaways
Visit the NY Botanical Gardens
Bike the Manhattan Greenway Loop
Bike to 2 different beaches in 1 weekend
Explore St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Visit Grant's Tomb
Run the steps in Morningside Park
Try the Trapeze
Explore Greenwood Cemetery
Summit Mt. Taurus
Hike Breakneck Ridge and not break my neck
Explore all the Central Park sites

Greenway covered in sand

The ride to the Rockaways was a total of 30.5 miles (check out the route here). Although I didn't make it all the way to Far Rockaway like I originally planned, I did go all the way to Breezy Point before being turned around by some security guards :( . It was quite the adventure especially since I forgot to tape my pre-printed directions to my bike...

I ran into quite a bit of lingering damage from Hurricane Sandy. It's so easy to forget what a horrible storm it truly was, especially for those of us who were barely affected. There were abandoned homes, large debris, damaged roadways, and there was sand EVERYWHERE. Once I got onto the island there was no grass at all, all the yards were made of sand. The road was also covered, and a section of the greenway had turned into dunes. My right shoulder is bruised from carrying my not-so-light mountain bike 1/4 mile over the sand (calf workout...check!). Today and Yesterdays adventures were a great distraction, a much needed reality check, a fantastic workout, Oh and they were FREE!! Now I'll keep myself distracted the rest of the day by cleaning up all the sand that my bike and I trekked into the apartment, oops!

As close as I could get to the water while still
having a clear view of my bike at Coney Island

Manhattan in the distance on the Marine Parkway Bridge

Sunburn Season

Every year around this time, no matter what state I'm living in... I enter into what I refer to as, "Sunburn Season". It's that odd time between Winter and Spring where it's still sort of chilly so you never think to wear sunscreen... and it takes a few burns before you get back into the habit of applying sunscreen. I've acquired some pretty impressive and awkward tan lines this 'season" including a 4 inch chunk of my leg that was exposed by my 3/4 length leggings on a hike. Oh, and better yet, the backs of my hands are a few shades darker than the rest of my arms. SUPER sexy!

This Saturday I headed up to West Point to see some special people (one in particular) and to watch some baseball (GO #13!!). It was nice out... I wore a dress (VERY unlike me). Well long story short, I have very randomly placed patches of sunburn, mostly on the right side of my body. My right shoulder, right side of my face, the inside of my left knee and calf, and the top of my left foot. Now first off, if anyone can pull off ridiculous looking sunburn, it's me (splotchy and fabulous!) That being said the burn on the top of my foot is really holding me back! I tried to slide into some running shoes today but that was a serious FAIL! I may be forced to ride my bike to work in flip flops...

This week will be an odd one at work. I have Wednesday off since I'm working Saturday and was really hoping to get some adventures in. Like finally attending this Wednesday pick-up soccer league I've had my eyes on. Since flip flops are a challenge to put on at this point, I'm assuming soccer cleats will be a no go.

Fingers crossed that the foot burn subsides by Wednesday, and Cheers to a happy and short "Sunburn Season". Maybe one of these years I'll learn my lesson BEFORE the first burn.