LEED

I've been stalling... I've admitted it to myself. I am GREAT and giving other people kicks in the ass to get moving towards a goal, a passion. I often say I have a lot of likes but no true LOVE.

That's kind of not true. I don't have a true love in the sense of 1 specific professional job ie a doctor.

But I DO love outdoors. Nature. Smart Building... being out of an office and doing things with my own two hands.

I'm biting the bullet and getting the LEED GA certificate, if i can find a way to make it work.
If nothing else, this is a profession and field that I know I would be able to find work in in Oregon, NO PROBLEM.

And who knows.. I still want my land with my LEED buildings. I'd like to get my AP certification, and if it means I need to create my own project to do it, then bring it on.

*gulp*

Making Memories

Some friends and folks have been sharing their travels and pictures around the nets... and it got me thinking.

I have led a vastly different life than a lot of the people I grew up with.

I'm financially independent and have been for a while.

I've spent more time single than in a relationship over the last 8 years, by choice. I'm picky and I know it... and independent as hell. I don't *need* a guy in my life in order to call myself happy.

I've also not had a huge circle of friends. Once I left AZ, they all but disappeared except for an occasional facebook update, and visits when I'm in AZ. Everyone gets busy and its understandably harder to pack up a new family of 4 than it is one person.

In all this time.. I've done so much. seen so much. learned so much. And most of my significant memories and moments have had no witness but my own heart. Some pictures I was looking at today were of a couple and their baby son. They were in Europe traveling.. but I was more captivated by the unposed family portraits. I've never had that experience in a quality sense, of really seeing new places with someone and being able to both hold the same memories together.

Its not quite the same retelling the stories upon my return. My fear is always.. what happens if I forget? All of these things have shaped me so much. With out someone to trigger my memory.... will these things just fade away? I've tried to write as much as I can in hopes that maybe that will help. Or that pictures can tell a story better than a thousand words.

But a picture can't always capture a feel. It can't capture the music of the wind blowing through the trees and the sun sizzling off the sand... and the smell of rain still lingering in the air.

Summer Storms

It has been the year for them - I've been alternately excited to see lightning/hear thunder, but then also losing sleep from fear of power outages, oppressive humidity, and LOUD storms that wake this deaf person up in the middle of the night.

This time in 2 weeks, Sam will be in Chicago. BIG yay. LDR can be really tough at times, but on the flip side it makes you appreciate your time together. He'll be here for 3 weeks which I prefer because 2-3 days just isn't enough.

chicago, cheapskate style

When my friend was here for the last week, I think we did pretty darn good getting stuff for cheap/discounts. A quick rundown:

Free Admission:

Museum of Science and Industry = savings of $30 ($15 x 2)

Field Museum = savings of $30 (1 x 30)

Discounted Admission

BlueMan Group = savings of $70 (1/2 price tickets x 2)

Hancock/Boat Tour Combo Tickets = savings of $30 ($15 savings for each package x 2)

So far just right there we saved $160. Yikes!! It made it a lot easier to not feel guilty about a cubs game at full price or eating out to watch the World Cup games a couple times.

All in all a great week and I got to see a few places I had not been before either.

Blue Man Group

So ... I finally got to see Blue Man Group AND not break the bank while doing it. Yay!

It was fun! I was a little dissapointed there was not as much drumming as I had been led to believe. I saw the show with my old pit instructor so it was doubly awesome to have another drumline geek watching it with me. He explained their current show actually is 2 shows merged together. That would explain why it was not just drumming, but also more the interactive/Comedy/Entertainment bits.

Now to get back to the "real" week with work this week and hopefully a Cubs game either Tuesday or Wednesday! Go Cubs!

Face In Space!

So I just submitted a picture to be included in the ST -133 launch on September 16.


My face will be going into Space for the aliens to drool over. Its just THAT good! :p

Happy Tuesday.

Autonomy

The day you embrace your own... and respect others right to theirs, is the day I have come to believe that you have hope in successful relationships. This means taking people exactly as they are.. without secret agendas to "fix them up" to meet your requirements. It means realizing no one owns anyone else. Your choices are your own... you do not automatically gain rights to make decisions for anyone else. Sometimes rediscovering connections and relationships later in life means that you can take an initial chemistry/spark and add life experiences to that. You just might find that something you enjoyed but didn't pursue is now exactly what you would have asked for if given the chance. Kinda funny how that works.

No relationship will ever be perfect. But I am more than happy to find myself in one that while not perfect, both individuals are under no disillusions. We are both working on things that increase our self sufficiency, independence, and ability to embrace the things that are most important in our lives.

We have very similar priorities and I love waking up each day and finding someone else able to enjoy the small things with me. Someone else who recognizes the steps I've taken in the last couple years and not only understands the journey, but actually finds it one of my most attractive features. THAT, my friends, is what makes me happier than anything. That I am embraced for the things that make me unique and different and ME.

Anticipation

Yesterday was a horrendous evening for me.

I have been pushing on an adrenaline high for the previous 3 weeks, first from a visit to see my lovely love and then a week in Cali doing some side work. The side work continued when I got back to Chicago as I compiled my findings for the final report, which got handed in Monday. Or so I thought.

Tuesday I get an email saying half the slides were missing. Never a good sign, and I know I should have checked it myself (heck, why else did I cc myself on the email) but in any case, I had to scramble to get my hands back on my laptop quickly and get that resolved.

So when I got home yesterday, all that momentum that had been pushing pushing for all this time has depleted. I had a weather migraine from the storms moving in, no appetite, and severe sleep deprivation.

Its amazing how much difference a day can make. Today... I found out Neverwhere was extended 4 weeks - I had a fantastic time at the show earlier this month, and can't wake to take Sam with me. That's the other half of the fantastic day.. I get to spend some quality time with my guy while he comes to visit in July - even to the point of getting to say Happy Birthday and make a Carrot Cake.

So much better way to end the evening.. and a cute shot because I don't often get to do these kinds of things. Us at my fav Tempe restaurant Phoenicia.

I'm an auntie!

Tyler Fox was born today...

Congrats Kyle and Kayla.. and kiss your sleep goodbye :)

Things happen for a reason

Sometimes I wonder what good can come out of some situations in our lives.

For one in particular, it seemed like the heartache that is all over the beginning of this blog was not worth the gain.

I'm reminded I'm wrong. I have gained a 2nd family because of crossing paths with people, and even if I am no longer attached to the person who made the initial encounter possible, they still consider me part of the family and welcome me with open arms.


These are the kinds of folks I'm proud to call my chosen family.

Decompressing

This week has been a whirlwind... lots of things, lots of emotions, lots of decisions.

Things have happened in the last two weeks that if you had asked me 2 months ago I'd see myself in this situation, I would have not an inkling. I'm being purposely vague for now because I don't want to jinx myself and because I sometimes need privacy even from myself to figure things out in the quiet spaces.

But all that being said... I have smiled more in the last 2 weeks than I have in months. I have rediscovered just how much I enjoy the field that I was actively in with my college education. I have had to have the guts to believe in my own skills enough to take a GIANT chance. That may or may not pan out... but at this point I really don't care. Just the experience to be through this last week has brought a lot of clarity to things in ways that make this month seem like a complete full circle to the year 2005.

When I look at what has made me the happiest over the last decade, its not money. Its not graduating college.

It's spending an afternoon on the porch making homemade ice cream.

Its walking in the middle of the forest and laughing because you can.

Its looking someone straight in the eyes and feeling a connection that years only strengthen, and not diminish.

Its trailing your fingers in the water while floating in the sun.

It's being in the moment.

Mexico 2010

These were some of my favorite parts of the Mexico Trip this year. There was a donkey track that took you from Cuzama into the brush/hacienda to 3 different Cenotes, where you could swim for as long as you wanted, then they would take you to the next one.

As you can see from the picture, taken from the top of the cenote entrance, the water was crystal clear, nice and semi warm, and there were roots growing in from the ground above.

This is the picture of the second cenote we hit, which was my favorite.

Back in the Groove

Before the beaches start charging tokens for the summer, I got my walking groove back on yesterday.


Absolutely cool but gorgeous weather... I love the color of the water and the sand in this picture.



For the rest of the pictures from this walk, check out my Picasa : http://picasaweb.google.com/amyfox/EvanstonAndAround?feat=directlink

Heading Back!

My parents surprised me with a ticket and doggy sitting yesterday. I'm headed back to the Valley just in time to wish my sister good luck and congrats for graduating from ASU, and now moving to Africa.

I think I found it

I've been one of the many having an exisential crisis over employment, where to live, how to live, what the hell am I doing with my life. Am I doing what I enjoy?

I moved from Arizona because I could not stand the overpopulation of the Phoenix valley, and the detrimental affects on my health. Even after all my travels and spending time in other places... I have always had a favorite spot for the high desert. It is like nothing else you will ever experience in your life.

I am not happy working in the non profit world and not tangibly feeling the difference I'm supposedly making. I can't sit in a desk for 40 hours a week. I want to do things with my hands, engage with people, teach them things.

I want to live within my own footprint and be surrounded by things that just stop and make you go WOW.

I think I want to live here: http://www.arcosanti.org/

I have always loved this place... I am not quite sure how this would all work. But this place is the fusion of my journey over the last 10 years - being involved in non profit, urban planning, sustainability, teaching, enjoyment of nature.