Holiday traditions

/ Laurel / Leave a comment

Living away from my hometown has made me appreciate and miss our traditions. Specifically, I miss the food! I believe it is safe to say that New Mexicans eat posole during the holidays. What is posole you ask? Let me explain.

Posole can be described as a soup, with the ingredients varying depending on the person (or family) you are speaking with. However, it will have hominy. Hominy is a food that’s made of maize kernels. IF your local store has a Hispanic population, you might find hominy in a section with other Hispanic foods. It will probably be in a can. If you have a larger Hispanic population, there will be other options (frozen, for instance). Continue reading →

Officially in the Christmas spirit

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I am so ready and excited for Christmas! I have caught the Christmas spirit this year. Plus, I bought a really good gift for my husband and I can’t wait to see him open his present.

Work has been hectic this past month. People are really stressed out! One guest couldn’t find ornaments in the color he wanted and he was almost in tears when he asked me for help. Another customer actually started crying in the store when she found out we were out of the fake tree she wanted. We sold her the display (which we technically don’t do for another week). I’m not going to share my encounters with jerks, but the encounters did occur. Continue reading →

My first batch of holiday cookies

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This time of year calls for a cookie making party! My friend and I used to make sugar cookies every December. We would cut out shapes of trees, snowmen, stars, and the classic circle. Then we would decorate the cookies with her son and he would make cookies for Santa.

Our cookie making plan would take a couple days, as we would start when she would get out of work in the evening. We would make the dough and bake probably around 4 batches or so. I remember we would always be so tired by the end of the day. We would have to make coffee or eat the cookies to have more energy. One year it felt like we made hundreds of cookies. Continue reading →

Ski time

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Ski season has arrived! People are really excited about this winter because many places are supposed to see above average precipitation. This will really come in handy for those places that are in severe droughts. Bring on the precip.

Before thanksgiving, my friends and I started getting our gear ready by doing the one thing that means ski season is here. Wax party! No that doesn’t mean we all went out and got bikini waxes. That means we all got together and waxed our skis/snowboards for our first outing on snow.

The first waxing party is always full of excitement. People show off their new setups and talk about weather forecasts and new terrain. We all pray for powder days. Continue reading →

How to get there

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City life is fast paced and never stops. If you need a break, I can tell you where to get away from it all. I’ll tell you where you can have a break without being in the middle of no where and enjoy some of the best local food around.

Drive north until you enter a valley that’s pink and brown, with hints of green and a gorgeous blue sky. You will feel a sense of calm as you enter the valley. The business of the city disappears and standing before you is a sense of relaxation. There is nothing to do today that can’t be done tomorrow. So enjoy the sunset.

You’ll start to enter the small town and see clues of a big city, but it never forms. There’s local fast food and hardware stores, plus amazing restaurants and remnants of businesses. Get some donuts if your interested. But that’s not where these directions lead. Continue reading →

Here’s to another classic Thanksgiving Day post

/ Laurel / Leave a comment

It’s time for Thanksgiving here in the United States. For many people that means good food, family and football. Not in my case, as I live far away from family and will be working. However, I managed to bake myself a pumpkin pie and will be enjoying that before I head out to work. It’s not Thanksgiving if there is no pumpkin pie. I am a little sad that I am not with my family celebrating, but work calls and bills need to be paid.

Normally I would call this Turkey Day, but this year Thanksgiving is about much more than food. This is probably only because I am not having a Thanksgiving feast (for the second year in a row). My Thanksgiving feast is pumpkin pie and a sandwich. I’m not looking for sympathy, I’m just reminding people that not everyone has a “typical” holiday. Mine involves work and that’s how it goes in this industry.

As the holiday asks, it’s time to look at your life and remember what you are thankful for. Here is my list, although it could be much larger. Continue reading →

Why Legally Blonde is one of my favorite movies

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Look, I don’t take like too seriously. Why should I stress about X or Y when I could be enjoying a cup of hot cocoa with my family? I live my life one day at a time and try not to get caught up in the busyness of this world. I also learned a long time ago not to let other people’s opinion of me change how I feel about myself. I live my life the way I want to. I am my own person.

This is why Legally Blonde is one of my favorite movies. If you are not familiar with the movie, do a quick internet search. I’ll be here… Continue reading →

Coffee date

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If we were having coffee, I would ask your opinion on my wardrobe. I really have no idea how to dress sometimes. Work is easy when you are limited to khakis and workout clothes are easy, but dressing up…not so much. Oh how much easier my mornings would be if I had Cher’s closet (from the movie Clueless, but I’m sure the singer has a great closet too!).

If we were having coffee, we would talk about our future and how we still don’t know where the time went. Winter is here already? But I was just starting to get a tan in the summer sun.

If we were having coffee, you would tell me all about your amazing vacation to the Bahamas and I would ask if you had your “bahamian glow.” You would tell me about how you told everyone it was your 21st birthday…even though we’re much closer to age 30. We plan a beach vacation once my life gets back on track.

If we were having coffee, I would ask you what the heck I should do next. I’m at a turning point in my career and have three paths. I have no idea what to choose. Now remember, I’m a real life Charlie Brown so there is little to no chance of any path working out the way I plan. Remember how living in the middle of no where went? Yeah, wrong decision. We both agree that it’s better I live in the city again. Basically, the path I choose will not go how I envision it, so I have to choose wisely.

If we were having coffee, we would sit in the coffee shop and people watch. Then laugh about the time a family had the most difficult time ordering coffee. They were a mess and all over the place. The best part about it was that it was normal for the family and they had no idea that they were basically a walking tornado. We would talk about how we are glad to not be at the point in our lives yet.

If we were having coffee, we would decide to go on our vacation to the beach in three years. We decided my life would be back on track by then. Only time will tell. I think we’ll be okay if we just talk about it for the next ten years. That’s enough time to save for an epic vacation to the beach.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you how I changed my alarm to the song Conga, by Gloria Estefan so I can start my day with a party this month. One morning the song scared me so I shot my arms up into the air while shaking. My husband thought I was dancing! hahaha

Oh, the perils of mountain biking

/ Laurel / 11 Comments

Yesterday, I read a post by Joan about her lumbar spine and it inspired me to write about my injury. I fell off my mountain bike this summer and have been recovering. I have a shoulder and neck injury which results in my attendance at physical therapy.

Recently I was downhill mountain biking and was feeling really good about my flow. I was in the moment. Those runs are one of my favorite reasons to mountain bike. I was clearing all the jumps and picking up speed. Yes, I’m finally getting faster.

Continue reading →

No, you don’t have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

/ Laurel / 2 Comments

To whom it may concern:

Yes, things need to be done a certain way. The table has to be cleaned and the chairs straightened. Clothes must be organized by color. I understand aesthetics and organization. But when you go so far as to say, “I have OCD,” jokingly…you need to stop.

No, you don’t have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. You don’t wash your hands over and over again even after your hands start bleeding. You don’t wash your hair three times instead of one because the number three is luckier than the number one. You don’t have to start getting ready all over again because you missed a step. You don’t count tiles on your floor because it’s more important than eating.

Continue reading →