Currently - July '23

Hello July! When I look at the calendar, I can't believe you're here, but if I step outside of the cushy air conditioned confines of the house even for a few seconds, it's pretty clear you've arrived in full force.

Please stop by Jennifer's blog to see what she and others are up to currently.

Great Salt Lake

loving - being able to take multiple trips and catch up with good friends lately. We may not have a large social circle outside of my family in AZ, but it's much easier to visit friends who live on the West Coast. Added bonus that two of these trips got us out of the desert heat for a few days, which makes a big difference!

savoring - summer salads, sandwiches, and other easy meals. It's way too hot to turn on the oven, and boiling water for pasta or rice is about as much cooking as I want to do these days. I've been eating variations of the same sandwich for lunch for a couple of weeks now--turkey and cheese on sourdough w/ mayo, mustard, romaine, and some kind of pickles or tapenade. I'm calling it the Black Turtleneck after Steve Jobs' go-to outfit. 😂 

celebrating - Hoping that Keizo will be feeling back to normal (see last bullet at the end of the post) by his birthday on Friday. He even has the day the off of work, so it would be nice to be able to go out and do something.

remembering - as I stepped onto my yoga mat and started paying attention to my breathing yesterday, I remembered the outdoor yoga classes I went to last summer and how I much I enjoyed being outside and practicing in a group (mosquitos and all). It made me feel a bit nostalgic for the green grass, big leafy trees, and yes, even the humidity of a DC summer. 

trying - coffee, lots of different ways. Keizo has been getting very into coffee lately, watching a gazillion YouTube videos, acquiring new coffee making instruments, and getting serious about storing the whole beans in vacuum sealed containers (quite the departure from our large tins of the pre-ground Kirkland house blend we've been loyal to for years). I too have been learning some things along the way...maybe namely that I prefer ease and convenience of our boring old drip coffee maker over detailed experimentation. Also that espresso + milk drinks are a nice treat, but not something I want to have on a daily basis.

Best of May and June

• Las Vegas trip - Long weekend to meet up with friends and attend The Chicks concert. Stopped at the Hoover Dam and Clark County Museum (highly recommended) on the way, had a great time, but I came home with covid. Thankfully, Keizo stayed healthy and was my lifeline to the outside world even more than usual while I was housebound for almost 2 weeks. Finally leaving for dinner with my parents felt so good!
• Arrival of niece #2 - She arrived healthy a few days before her due date at the end of May. 
• Visit from DC friends - We got a surprise visit from two of our DC friends over Memorial Day weekend. We spent some time in downtown Phoenix, ate good food, took a day trip to Sedona, and hung out at my parents' pool. Super fun weekend; thanks for visiting O+S!
• Seattle trip - Our long anticipated trip to Seattle to celebrate Keizo's work award took place in the middle of June. I tagged along for the free lodging / breakfast and worked from my company's Seattle office for three days. I enjoyed being in an office again, and transportation planner that I am, kind of enjoyed the walk to the park-and-ride and bus trip to and from downtown each day. I also got to have a lovely dinner with my best friend from 3rd grade and meet up with a college friend for brunch at the end of the week. Keizo had 3 jam-packed days of activities, and while the end of the week did not turn out as planned and we came home a day early, the extra day was much appreciated, since five days later we were on our way to...
• Salt Lake City where we met up with my college roommate, her husband, and three sons (8, 5, and 1). We explored downtown a bit, went hiking, and dipped our toes into the Great Salt Lake. All in all, a very fun trip, but the dreaded covid hit again; this time Keizo came home with it and is not quite out of the woods yet, though thankfully is feeling better today than a few days ago.

Currently - April + May '23

I never got around to finishing the draft of April's post, so here's a two-fer for May! It was pretty much written in time for the first Wednesday of the month, but I just got around to adding the second image some 10 days later... You can check out other's posts on Jennifer's blog.

In early April, I was...

loving - the past two weekends where Keizo has had both Saturday and Sunday off from work. We tackled some things from the to-do list, had my parents over for dinner, found a new Asian grocery store, and more!

playing - This Surf Rock Sunshine playlist on Spotify for the beachy, everything's cool vibes. 

feeling - excited for some upcoming travel; a work + fun trip to Colorado next week and a fun trip to meet up with friends in Las Vegas in early May. The CO trip will be my first overnight work travel in many moons, and it's been 12 years (!!!) since our last trip to Vegas. 

needing - something to wear in Vegas? to bike more? to come up with some quarterly goals? <--all still true!

And now in early May, I'm...

loving - The flowering stalks on the aloes we rescued from someone's bulk trash pile shortly after we moved in. It's gratifying to see them thriving on our back patio, and very cool when a hummingbird comes by to take a drink.

picturing - Looking back at photos from the past 6 months the other day really showed how much has changed since our move. I can't believe we've been in AZ for almost 1/2 a year already, but seeing photos of our niece and how much she's changed since Christmas, plus other events etc. in early 2023 kind of blew my mind. Day to day, things can feel very much the same, but time if flying by!

craving - Working from an office a few days last week reiterated to me how much I've been missing it. I might need to look into co-working spaces or coffee shop options to help add a bit more variety to my workdays.

wishing - Sort of wishing I knew when niece #2 would arrive so I could tell our friends whether we will be camping with them over Memorial Day weekend or not. I don't want to miss either event! 

collecting - Still working on rebuilding the houseplant collection; happy to report most of them are doing pretty well, and hopefully the ones that I replanted to larger containers today will perk up in their new environments.

Best of March + April

• AZ Bike Summit - This was my first networking / conference-type event in AZ. Attendees were a mix of local government staff, consultants like me, and bicycle advocates. I got to meet a few people whose names I recognized from emails, and got out of the house for a change!
• Getting more things for the house / yard - I wonder what exactly I was referencing when I jotted this one down back in April. We did get a washer and dryer, so no more bringing our laundry over to my parent's house; and we have some new rugs brightening up the living room and back patio. 
• Aerobics class - My mom and I took a step aerobics class together my last year or two of high school. When I moved out for college, my dad started going with my mom. They're no longer regular attendees, but the instructor is still teaching, and I'm back in her class on Thursdays. The routine is largely the same, and there are even some of the same people in the class, which is pretty inspirational!
• Trip to Colorado - The trip was a very nice mix of solo / work time before Keizo joined for a few days of adventure. We had a great time, and I can't wait to go back.
• 1st pool hangout - After experiencing bit of snow in Colorado, the triple digit temperatures in Phoenix this week were a bit of a shock to the system. Brother's backyard pool to the rescue on Saturday, hopefully just the first of many dips this summer.

Currently - March '23

February is a short month anyway, but some quick burn projects at work and returning to a schedule where Keizo and I share just one day off together a week (and try to pack a lot in to that day), has made the month go by fast. In March, I'm looking forward to days continuing to get longer and maybe catching a Spring Training game. Please stop by Jennifer's blog to see what she and others have been up to "currently."

loving - The Apache Wash Trailhead, and views from the trails there (image above). It's only a 20 minute drive from our house, with hiking, biking, and spectacular views without a lot of effort. Both of my visits so far have been towards the end of the day, with gorgeous sunsets.

starting - I feel overdue to start a new a new knitting project, but I'm having a hard time picking a pattern I'm really excited about. At this point, I'm entering "letting perfect be the enemy of the good" territory and should just start something.  

finishing - We just finished watching "Full Time Wife Escapist," a Japanese dramedy on Netflix, which is much better than the oddly translated title. It focuses on gender roles, housework, and relationships, which might have felt heavy if the I hadn't found the characters so endearing. I thought the premise was interesting (though wholly predictable at times), and it definitely gave me some things to think about. 

trying - To decorate, find furniture, and figure out the style for almost every room in the house. It's part fun, part overwhelming. Everything is functional when it's just the two of us, but there aren't enough places to sit if we want to have anyone over! 

going - I need to finalize plans and make reservations soon, but we're looking at a trip to Denver, possibly Las Vegas, and going camping between now and the end of May.

Best of February

• Kitsune Brewing - We celebrated the end of Dry January with a visit to this new-ish brewery within walking distance of our house. They have a wide variety of beers on tap, including a sour that reminded me more of a carnival snow cone than of beer; probably more refreshing on a summer day than at this time of year. We will have to go back! 
• Mother / daughter time - Spending time with just my mom on two separate occasions recently - meeting up for lunch and a walk last Monday, and then getting haircuts together over the weekend. We started going to the same stylist when I was in high school, and my mom has gone to him ever since. It was fun to see him again, all get to chat together while he worked, and leave feeling lighter and refreshed. 
• Care package from Kumiko - Keizo's sister sent us a big box of snacks and other goodies from a Japan. Everything had a decidedly spring theme and the packaging / presentation is on such a different level than anything I've seen in the U.S. Arigatou Kumi-chan!

Currently - February '23

At the beginning of the week, I felt a little out of sorts when I realized the Currently link up / first Wednesday of the month was actually last week, and then yesterday I confused myself again by mentally skipping ahead to next weekend. Not sure what's going on with my internal calendar, but plenty of people, including our hostess Jennifer, have theirs together and posted on the first, so go have a look!

loving - All of the plants sprouting and growing new roots on the long windowsill above the kitchen sink. The plants are a mix of cuttings from my mom's and friend's houseplants; sprouts from a 'grow your own greens' kit we found on clearance while shopping for housewares; and some experimental food scrap cuttings. After losing all the remaining houseplants we could fit in the car to an overnight freeze on the drive to AZ, I love seeing this new growth and knowing I can keep plants alive again! 

feeling - Even though I've spent 8 years with the same company, I'm feeling a bit like a new hire these days, working in an entirely new geography and with many new people. It's exciting and fresh, but I miss my east coast colleagues!

posting - Nothing since last month's Currently post. I've started a draft post about our road trip from MD to AZ, but now that I'm back at work in front of a computer all day, I'm not sure when I'll get around to finishing it. 

receiving - We received our new AZ driver's licenses and license plate in the mail, so I guess we're official residents now. 

seeing - One of my best friends from high school for coffee last week. It had been several years since we'd gotten together, and it turns out we're neighbors! I thought we had moved into the same general area (Phoenix is big), but I was so happily surprised to learn that we're just a few streets away. 

Best of January

• Weekend trip to Las Cruces, NM - Keizo and I marked the end of our time off with a road trip to visit friends in Las Cruces. It was a nice change of scenery, and they took us hiking in the Organ Mountains and to White Sands National Park (pictured above). We got to return the favor a few weeks later when they were in Phoenix to pick up a new puppy!
• Moving in and getting back to a routine - Moving is certainly a hassle and a lot of work, but after looking at places for over a month and plenty of back and forth with our rental application, actually moving in meant all of that was behind us and marked the start of a new chapter for us. My parents came over a couple of times to help us get settled in, which was much appreciated (the perks of being close to family!), and we had a functional space set up in time for me to go back to work on January 16. 
• Playing hide and seek with our niece - The first weekend after we moved in, my brother, sister-in-law, and niece came over to see our new place and my niece enjoyed doing laps around our somewhat sparse furniture. That turned into playing hide and seek for the first time, which is she's still a big fan of a month+ later. It's so much fun to watch her toddle around to find us, see her her face light up when she spots us, and have her tell us who should go hide next. 

Currently - January '23

Happy Year of the Rabbit! I hope everyone's 2023 is getting off to a good start.

Jennifer at Overflowing with Thankfulness is continuing to host the Currently link-up this year, so please stop by and see what others are up to as well. 

loving - How our new year's cards (nengajo in Japanese) came out. Although I don't have a good record of all of them, I'm pretty sure this is the 13th year we've made them (it's definitely the 2nd rabbit design). I like the challenge of coming up with something we can hand make over and over again and I love to see them all spread out on the table while they dry. Writing a note on the back of all of them can be a bit of a chore, but I vowed to keep them pretty simple this year and was able to knock them all out on a rainy day.

resolving - For the third or fourth time, Keizo and I are doing "Dry January" as a way to reset from all of the indulgences of the holiday season. 

I've also started to outline some travel goals for the year, including going camping once per quarter, visiting Seattle and Denver, and making plans to see Keizo's family in Japan. Keizo was selected by his peers for an annual award at work, and the winners get a trip to Seattle. I'm hoping to tag along and visit friends. I'll be reporting to our Denver office for work, and I hope to get there in person at least once or twice to meet everyone, as well as explore the great outdoors that I've heard so much about in Colorado.

organizing - Next Monday is move-in day, and I'm thinking a good part of next week will be getting everything organized in our new place!

anticipating - Returning to work and establishing our routines in Arizona. 

eating - Our Christmas dinner was delicious with honey baked ham, my brother's mashed potatoes (I think his secret is equal parts butter/cream and potatoes), my sister in law's stuffing, and a yule log cake for dessert, made by yours truly. 

Best of 2022

Support - Having the finances and support from our family, employers, and co-workers to make a big life change and move from Maryland to Arizona. It means a lot.

Travel - In addition to our bike adventure and road trip west, other travel highlights included:

• Early April Cape Henlopen camping. We missed our camping buddies from the previous year, but it was still fun to go back just the two of us and explore a second time by bike. We also cooked our first Japanese food over the campfire - gyoza that we had pre-made and okonomiyaki.
• Summer getaway to the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania where it was 70-80 degrees and there were no mosquitos. Is it even summer if you're not sweating and itchy? 😆

Concerts - Closer to home, I very much enjoyed the two big outdoor concerts we went to: the Charm City Bluegrass Festival in Baltimore and the Jack Johnson concert at Merriweather. Perfect weather and great people watching at both (oh, and the music was good too)!

Creative Projects 

• Shibori - I had so much fun dying tea towels and onesies for gifts early in 2022. Never mind that Keizo's random designs often turned out better than my more carefully planned ones.
• Remade knit tank top - My first attempt in 2021 ended up being too wide and a bit short. The second attempt fits a bit better and it's a fun pattern to make - interesting without being too difficult, but I don't think the color / material I used is for me. Maybe I'll try it a third time with something different, or attempt one of the many vest patterns I've been saving to Pinterest lately. 
• Lego Christmas Village - I'm a little embarrassed by this one, but also rather proud of how it came out. Upon arriving at my parents' in late November, I had a powerful urge to get out all of the old Legos and build a Christmas Village. I covered nearly every square inch of the table, and the village included a train, park, general store, some high rise apartments, a restaurant, and giant tree. I kept getting more ideas as I worked on it, and easily lost track of time with all the pieces spread out on the floor around me. 
• Blog posts - 12 for 12 on Currently posts, and I'd like to continue the recaps of the previous month at the end of each one. 

By the numbers

• 36 books read (9 more than 2021)
• 1,180 total miles biked (sticking with what's on Garmin, which doesn't include any indoor miles, this is nearly 100 more than 2021)
• 153 times I did yoga/stretched 
• 185 days I met my daily step goal (which is just over half; hoping to improve on that this year!)

Pittsburgh to DC by Bike

Biking the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal from Pittsburgh to DC has been on our biking bucket list for a few years. At the end of October, after we said our goodbyes to our DC co-workers, we made it happen. We had incredible weather - highs in the 60s most days, only one morning of rain - and blissfully no issues along the way. 

Overview

To get to Pittsburgh, we rented a cargo van and drove straight to a friend's house to spend the night. In the morning, we returned the van, got the bikes loaded up, and biked through downtown Pittsburgh to the beginning of the Great Allegheny Passage trail in Point State Park, (complete with giant fountain and sports stadiums in the background. Mile 0 of the C&O Canal in Georgetown is considerably less grand; just a post hidden behind a boat house).

Left: Setting out from Pittsburgh on Sunday morning
Right: Arriving back in DC on Saturday afternoon

We averaged ~50 miles of riding per day; in PA on the Great Allegheny Passage, this meant we could stay in hotels/Air BnBs in towns for the first three nights. On the C&O Canal in MD, towns are 60-70 miles apart, so we tent camped for 2 nights and spent the last night of the trip in a historic lock house. Links to where we stayed, picked up food, and restaurants worth visiting are included at the end of the post.

Packing / Gear

Over the years, we've collected quite the arsenal of biking and camping gear. The only thing we purchased for this trip was our very own set of lightweight camping cookware, and now I think our collection is complete! We both rode steel frame touring bikes outfitted with racks for panniers, dynamo hubs to charge the lights, and flat pedals. My dynamo hub even has an adapter that charges phones!

Keizo rode with 4 panniers - 2 in the front (sleeping pads and jackets) and 2 in the back (food/camp kitchen and tent), and I had 2 giant panniers with our clothes and sleeping bags on the back of my bike. We each had roomy handle bar bags as well that held the map, snacks, sunglasses, gloves, etc. Insulated sleeping pads and tarps got strapped to the rear racks.

Setting out, it felt like we were carrying a lot of stuff and we were both curious to see if we had overpacked. At the end of the trip, the only things we hadn't used were some extra pairs of socks/underwear and most of the contents of the first aid kit (a very good thing not to need!)

While we used almost everything, certain things made daily appearances and worked as hard as we did:

• Spending that many hours on the saddle, the differences between a bargain pair of bike shorts and a nicer pair of bike shorts are quite noticeable. 
• Riding gloves. Necessary in the morning and late afternoon, as well as give a bit of extra padding on rougher surfaces.
• Buff. I wore a merino one in the mornings, as well as at night when we camped and it kept me nice and warm. Stays on better in the sleeping bag than a hat does.
• Layers. My base layer was bike shorts and a tank top; followed by a lightweight long sleeve shirt and leggings. My outwear included a packable down jacket and waterproof shell. I rode in pretty much every combination at different points of the trip - shorts and tank top on the warmest afternoons, and completely covered up in the cooler mornings and evenings.
• Our blue tarps came in handy the morning that it rained, as picnic table / bench covers, extra waterproofing under the tent, and as overnight bike covers.
• Extra velcro straps. Keizo has a bunch of these from work, and they got used a lot for attaching things like jackets and extra water on the outside of the panniers.

Riding / Camping

The first day from Pittsburgh to Connellsville was the was our longest. We rode the last hour or so in the dark, so coming around a corner and seeing the hotel straight ahead was a very welcome surprise. 

On the last day, I forgot to account for the 10 miles from mile 0 in Georgetown back to our house in Takoma Park, which made it our 2nd longest. It worked out fine and we got home just before dark, but I'd tried really hard to plan an easy last day.

Left: Last day on the GAP, heading downhill into Cumberland, MD
Right: First day on the C&O Canal, getting ready to leave Cumberland

For us, 50 miles/day on the C&O plus camping was a pretty good balance. It let us take our time in the mornings, have a mid-day break, and set up camp and start cooking before it got dark. If you don't want to camp, you'll need to do 60-70 miles/day on the C&O, which is not paved (but would be carrying less stuff than we did). As with lodging, the C&O Canal in general has fewer places to stop for food, especially along the eastern parts. Apart from one glorious takeout pizza dinner while we were camping, we relied on snacks and easy to cook (i.e. boil some water) meals like pasta with tuna, instant oatmeal, and tortillas with peanut butter. We also planned our days around a stop in a town for a big lunch, except for the last day when we closed out the trip with a gourmet pairing of Lunchables and mini-wine (bought the day before). We also ate a lot of trail mix and some Sour Patch Kids (instant energy) throughout the days of riding. 

C&O in the rain and along a stretch right next to the river

Camping just the two of us in somewhat isolated locations was right at the edge of my comfort zone as a city dweller, and I didn't sleep very well in the tent. During the day, the lack of other people on the trail was quite nice, but once the sun went down it felt a lot more remote. Setting up and taking down camp also sapped some mental and physical energy. With a multi-day trip under our belts, (we had previously only done one night bike camping trips), I totally get the benefits of credit card touring - what reasonable person wouldn't want less stuff to carry, a warm shower and a comfy bed at the end of the day!?! Regardless, I'm looking forward to our next bike touring adventure, whenever/where ever it might be! 

Stay

• Comfort Inn Connellsville (right on the trail)
• Rock Stop Air BnB (two blocks from the trail)
• 1840 Bruce House (uphill from the trail, but not too far. Easy walk back downtown for dinner/groceries)
• 15 Mile Creek Campground 
• Opequon Junction Hiker/Biker Campground
• Lockhouse 28

Eat

• Mitch's Fuel and Food, Confluence, PA
• Rock City Express, Rockwood, PA (cash only)
• Ristorante Ottaviani, Cumberland, MD (this was our splurge before 3 nights of camping started. I think we both devoured a whole pound of pasta each)
• Cafe Mark, Cumberland, MD (we're repeat customers here having stopped on previous camping trips)
• Buddylou's, Hancock, MD
• Tony's Pizza, Williamsport, MD (we got 2 small pizzas to-go and managed to put them on the bikes and bring them to our campsite for the night)
• Third Base, Williamsport, MD (beer to-go; cash only)
• Maria's Taqueria, Shepherdstown, WV (really good, very friendly owner)
• Beans in the Belfry, Brunswick, MD (didn't get to stop on this trip unfortunately)
• Corner Store, Brunswick, MD (the source of all our food the last 1.5 days; highlight was the wine in mini plastic bottles)
• White's Ferry Store & Grill, White's Ferry, MD (wasn't sure this was going to be open, but they had pretty good coffee!)

Currently - December '22

For what appears to be the first time ever, I am 12 for 12 with Currently posts this year! Just to be clear, this means there's one each month, not that they've all been posted in time for the link ups. 😜

And speaking of link ups, you can find a whole collection of Currently enthusiasts over at Jennifer's blog. Happy Reading!

Spotted in the lobby of The Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, AR

loving - I am definitely loving my extended break from work and being able to spend plenty of time with my parents and brother's family. We've been hiking, playing board games, doing jigsaw puzzles, and are gearing up for some marathon holiday baking sessions. Keizo and I had our first unsupervised playdate with our niece yesterday at the park and I may have had more fun than she did rolling acorns down the slide. 

Some days the lack of structure makes me feel bored or a little anxious, but then I think about how worn down I'd been feeling a few months ago and remind myself that rest is important and one of the big reasons I asked for personal leave in the first place. 

gifting - We're not great gift givers in my family. For one, we are very lucky to have more than we really need; two, some of us are pretty particular; and three, we don't tend to wait for special occasions to buy things for ourselves. I do enjoy wrapping presents though, and have already told my sister-in-law that I'd be happy to do hers!

wrapping - I haven't started gift wrapping any presents yet, but I am trying to wrap up Keizo's hand-knit gift (definitely not a surprise, since he's seen me working on it) by doing a few rows a day. I've finished up the 'pattern' so to speak, so now it's just a few more inches of plain ribbing and my least favorite part of sewing in all the loose ends. 

hoping -  that Keizo and I will find our own place to live by the end of the year. We've toured a few places and have sent some additional inquiries. Some rental prices seem to be coming down which is very nice to see and makes me wonder if we shouldn't rush into anything right now.  

attending - My entire social life these days revolves around family and holiday events, but Keizo and I have made plans to attend (and interact with some new people) an "Introduction to Mountain Biking" class next weekend.