I've Moved!

The gypsy blog has moved! It will now live on  my business website, www.heartlandgypsy.com

The direct link to the blog is: http://www.heartlandgypsy.com/blog

Hope to see you over there!

The £1/minute umbrella

No, I didn’t rent an umbrella! Though in London a by-the-minute umbrella rental service might not be a bad idea... *scribbles “umbrella rental service” on post-it*

There are many dead giveaways that you are a tourist in London – large maps, selfie sticks, blindingly white new tennis shoes. Most of these I try to avoid but there is one purchase I was determined to make even though it screams, “I’m a tourist!” – a Union Jack umbrella. Inspired by #manwiththeunionjackumbrella on Instagram (his profile is here, check it out! https://www.instagram.com/mumhad1ofthose/) whose amazing photos often feature a prominent Union Jack umbrella (brolly), I was determined to take some shots of my own.

The scene was a dreary, chilly, day in February. After circling a few blocks near Westminster Abby to find a roadside souvenir stand (why is it that those stands seem to be on every street corner when you aren’t looking for them?) I gleefully handed over my £5 note in exchange for a cheery Union Jack brolly. Let the artistic shots begin!

One pro of dreary, chilly, February days in London is a marked decrease in throngs of tourists, so we navigated to a fairly empty spot by Westminster Abby. We each snapped a few photos and decided to head to another location.

Cue large gust of wind that promptly blows Union Jack brolly inside out.

I can fix this. *flattens brolly against the ground with one hand in effort to flip it back. Can’t use two hands because other hand is holding coffee. No, of course not Starbucks, come on…*

Handle detaches from brolly.

I can fix this. *places coffee on ground and attempts to re-insert silver handle in to brolly top*

Fourteen more pieces immediately detach from brolly. Pieces are now scattered on the ground and the fabric hangs loose like red, white, and blue bat wings.

I can fix this. *gathers brolly pieces and tries to fit them together like Tetris while travel buddy laughs (unhelpfully) nearby*

I can’t fix this. *hangs head in defeat*

I can get my money back! *looks at deflated brolly and pieces on the ground*

I won’t get my money back. But I WILL buy a new (and better) brolly. And I did! This new and improved Union Jack brolly cost a whopping $8 and it is still fully intact. (It is also still nestled safely in its brolly holder. Stay tuned for updates.)

The whole experience lasted 5 minutes at most! £1 for each minute of use. But the laughter and the memories are priceless.

Right?

Unpause.

(Is that a word?)

I changed my mind. After a hiatus from blogging I've come to realize that I miss writing for the sake of nothing more than emptying my thoughts on to paper (screen?) which you may then feel free to use for your enjoyment/amusement/annoyance.

So here it is, folks! This has no direction and I make no promises, so set your expectations low, be prepared to see a disturbing number of photos of my cat, and join me on the road to my next adventures!

Disclaimer: Not my cat. 

pause.

When I used to tell people about my blog I would usually get the same questions. Who reads it? Probably only my Mom, (buh duh tssss). How often do you update it? About once or twice a week. (I was always proud of this one)! How do you keep it up? Well, I enjoy it, it’s FUN to me!

With the big move to NE something has switched. It’s not that I don’t have things to write about or that I no longer enjoy writing or taking photos, I definitely do, but taking the time to blog post has become more difficult for me. I have this nagging feeling that I should be posting and I feel guilty when I think about how long it’s been since my last update.

Should my blog be a source of guilt?

How bout no, Scott. (*read in Dr. Evil’s voice)

So, I’m hitting pause. Not Stop and not Delete. What is here will continue to live here (after all I do love going back and re-reading – it’s like reading my diary!), but I’m pausing for a while. Will I start this back up again? Probably. When? When it feels right. When I’m EXCITED to do it again and when I look forward to posting. That day will come, trust me, and I’ll let my trusty followers (Mom) know when it does. I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seats :)

So until then,

Much love from the Heartland!

 

Birthdays and Bearcats

Wishing the happiest of birthdays to my friend Edum! If we can survive middle school AND 2013 together there is nothing we can't handle. And happy birthday to my lovely Katie, who's twindles turn one today! Yes it is technically the babies birthdays, but YOU deserve the celebration :)

And to top off a weekend full of festivities, I got to spend Saturday in Kansas City with dear friends from college whom I haven't seen in far too long. Great times all around!

Hiking season has begun! (again) (in Nebraska this time)

One of the things I miss most about Denver is not actually Denver at all - it is all of the outdoor fun that comes with being right next to the mountains. Sooooo why not replicate that back home, right? Thanks to a NE State Park pass that Mom and Dad got me for Christmas I have no excuse not to go exploring in my home state. So my lovely friend Ashley and I set out for an adventure to Platte River State Park on Saturday!

Old habits die hard and it was great to launch back in to "mountain mode". Granted, I didn't need the hat and gloves I brought in case of altitude weather changes, we didn't really need to leave early in the a.m. to avoid the storms that always roll in after noon, and we didn't need all of the sandwiches/apples/water/Clif Bars that were safely packed in my CamelBak...

But it was great!!

I do have to say I was a bit disappointed with the information desk at the Visitor's Center - when I asked for hiking trail recommendations I was told by a lady behind the desk, "ummmm, I don't know. I really don't do those things." (Oh, I'm sorry, I thought maybe you could provide some information, I seem to have been mistaken!) Someone else was able to give us a few tips but warned us that the trail was "really difficult" and "really long". How long is long?  "Well over a 1/2 mile."

Don't worry, lady. We packed food. We're here all day. 

Still a great first hike for the season, and thanks, Ash, for braving the adventure with me!!

Not quite the waterfall I was picturing, but a waterfall nonetheless!

 Not the Rockies, but Nebraska sure does have its own beauty

 Ash is the best navigator!

 Awesome view from the observation tower

HOLY WIND, BATMAN!

 Much anticipated self-timer shot. In a tepee :)

Looking forward to adventures to come! Much love from the Heartland!

Easter in Estes (v 20.14)

We all had such a great time in Estes Park last year for Easter that we decided to go again! This time I was in on the 8+ hour drive out to CO, but it was worth it. First time back to CO since the big move home, and yup, I miss the mountains a TON! Family + mountains = awesome Easter weekend :)

Roller skating fun at the Y! Abby-Gab skates moved like the road runner's legs - good thing Lori was there to hold her up!

 A date 30+ years in the making...

 We hiked to Bear Lake! At least we think it is under there somewhere... Turns out there was still 5+ feet of snow in Rocky Mountain National Park. Brr.

 Ella was carefully documenting everything we saw

 A mountain boy and his mountain dog

Awesome sunrise from the cabin porch on Easter morning!

... and on the drive home we managed to track down Santiago's burritos at a gas station in Ft. Morgan. We bought their entire stock. And I don't regret a single burrito :)

Denver Meets O-Town

Last weekend was bittersweet for me - my bestest girls from Denver, Sarah and Ilana came to visit O-town for the weekend! While we had a BLAST, I was also reminded of just how much I miss them and our daily antics together. The sweet greatly outweighed the bitter, though, and I am truly blessed to have found such wonderful ladies that I know will remain lifelong friends, regardless of the highway hours that separate us.

These lovelies are truly part of my family! They were gracious enough to spend time with my extended family at a 80th birthday at my parent's house, and I'm pretty sure my entire family wants to adopt them (and kick me out?), but I can't really blame them...

We had a wonderful weekend exploring E-town and O-town, and it was fun to play tour guide in my own city. Having been back only a few months there are quite a few places we visited that either weren't in existence last time I lived here, or it had been so long since I visited that it may as well have been my first time.

 Denver meets O-town! We had to check out the breweries in Benson, of course.

 You can buy anything in the Old Market!

Checking out a new brewery in the Old Market. We found the cutest tasters in all the land!

A lovely day for a walk across the bridge to Iowa...

Forging friendships across the Iowa/Nebraska border - the Jews and the Germans may now live in harmony

 

Thanks SO MUCH for coming to visit, ladies! It means so much that you would come to see where I've ended up, and next time, I'm coming to CO! We do lack mountains here...

 

Much love from the heartland!