Awareness is the Answer

The small batch of trip pics can be found here.

I've returned from our giant, Southwest loop. It was great. We went down to Venice for one wild night with the locals. On Sunday, day 2 of the trip, we headed out late in the day to Las Vegas where we stayed for the night. I had never been to Vegas, so even though we were completely exhausted when we arrived, we left our glamorous Hotel 6 to check out the food situation at MGM Grand. I felt like the walking dead as we scoured for food, which turned out to be extraordinarily hard to come by after midnight. We went "home" to bed after eating some pretty crappy fare and woke up and hit the road immediately. We then spent the next 6 nights in Boulder with these beautiful women and their fantastic partners. We filled the week with various things, very little of which I broke out my camera for, so words will have to do. Some highlights include: a four-mile run with the dogs including a coyote encounter; the best breakfast I've had in months, complete with a spanning view of the Rockies; and back-to-back speeding tickets for each of us in NV on the way home. And that's where I am now: home. For one more night, that is.

On Saturday I am heading off to Cazadero, CA for a six night meditation retreat with Lauren, my friend and neighbor. Until this week I was feeling very...hesitant about going on this trip. The majority of the experience will be in silence and will include hours of meditation starting at 6:30 a.m. everyday. I had (and still have, to a lesser degree) serious fears about spending so many days in a regimented environment away from all the comforts of home. Once again I will be away from my bed, my husband, my dog, my food, the Internet, cell-phone reception and all my other personal methods of distraction. But, that is the very point of the experience. It is time to step back and observe myself. I am as ready for it now as I ever could be. Over the past few years, with the help of some very important friends (and one incredible husband), I know that awareness is the key to everything that is important. I am so excited.



On a different note, it's time that I admit that writing has temporarily shifted to the back seat in my life. I am taking a more active role in exploring what is out there and less of a reflective mode on here. I am going with the flow. Cliché as it may be, it really is funny how life has a way of taking us places we never imagined.

Stay tuned and thank you for reading.