The Life of a Nomad: Experience the Unexpected

So it turns out that making, as in actually creating, sushi is quite a bit easier than I had originally thought. (Sadly, I do not have quite the respect I previously had for those intimidating and fierce looking Japanese guys at sushi restaurants….) Anyway last week (yes I know I should have written this 6 days ago….) a good friend of ours, Christin Booth (the gourmet chef and all around amazing person), agreed to put her skills to use in the service of teaching a group of us how to make sushi. Christin is also an expert at making a whole host of other things and yes, Natalie and I are blessed enough to partake in many of Christin’s creations. But I diverge…..

So on Saturday night Natalie and I, as well as a large host of our new friends (pictured below), gathered in the great room for the purpose of learning to make sushi. Just so you know, the great room is not located in mine and Natalie’s apartment. Seriously, our jobs are profitable but do you really think we can afford an apartment with an industrial size hood in the kitchen? Not likely. In reality, our apartment building (Lincoln Place) has a community room that comes fully equipped, conveniently, with a kitchen. A nice kitchen. With lots and lots of counter space. And, as it turns out, counter space is quite necessary when 15 people attempt to learn how to make sushi. Simultaneously.

Needless to say, although some individuals insist on ruining sushi by adding fish, Natalie and I, taking the higher ground of course, perfected the art of sushi making through using only fruits and vegetables. When I say Natalie and I, what I really mean is Natalie. Although I did make one batch of sushi roles, I inevitably fell into my familiar role as the agent of quality control. With our powers combined, we were able to make great sushi. (Although, with only a small amount of practice, Natalie worked me out of a job - with no complaints from me.)

To make everything even better, Christin sent the extra sushi rice home with Natalie and I. This of course lead to me eating primarily sushi for the next three days as Natalie worked through several thousand different combinations of seaweed, rice, and vegetables. I was, as you can no doubt imagine, immersed in a happy sushi bubble for days. The effects are just starting to wear off.

My happiness, and the untold levels of happiness distributed throughout the world (at least where sushi is involved), was a direct result of the great work of Christin Booth. So picture this. You gather a whole boatload of random, yet significant ingredients. Next, after driving to the teaching location, you attempt to teach a bunch of 20 somethings, with the average attention span that would rival most 2nd graders, the art of sushi making. After this instructional process, you get to enjoy sitting around watching them butcher your instructions. Did I mention that you had to get up at 4:00am to work your day job? This is more or less, with limited exaggerations, what our good friend Christin went through. To say that I am impressed and indebted to her is an understatement. So, if you ever run into Christin, give her a big hug and understand that you are in the presence of greatness.

I had an absolute blast just recently on a cruise with my mom, grandma, Aunt Lynette, Pat, Sandy, and Colleen. Hope you have had a chance to check out some of the fun pictures. We did so many different activities and went on all sorts of adventures. Some of the highlights include a Hoola-hoop competition, a Shuffle Board Tournament, winning several games of BINGO, casino-slot machine fun, Karaoke, YMCA with the Village People at the Disco, meeting the International Crew from over 60 different countries, post BINGO nap time, elegant evening dinners, Live Art Auctions, and Live Musical shows, Game Shows, and Comedic Relief. And that isn’t even everything we did!

I thought Loveland would seem boring after our Royal Caribbean cruise. However, we’ve been having our fun too! Just this past weekend Justin and I kept really busy. We volunteered for a work project at our church, volunteered at a local theater (The Rialto) and got to see the show for FREE. We also hosted a “Learn How to Make Sushi Night”, with over a dozen friends participating and our friend Christin, a Gourmet Chef taught us. Then Sunday we volunteered at Cafe Bleu, serving coffee in the new cafe, we also drove out to Greeley, CO that afternoon in search of the Hot Air Balloon Festival. By Sunday night we hung out with some friends at Phil and Sarah’s new house. Justin and I decided we were ready for our fun-filled busy weekend to end!

Feel free to call or email me with Cruise highlights.

Okay so their is no applesauce. I just like the way that “hair cuts and applesauce” sounds. Today, 10-10-07 is Lindsey’s Birthday. We are going out to eat sushi at Suehiro’s in Ft. Collins to celebrate with Lindsay and many other V.I.P.’s this evening.

However, yesterday Lindsey cut Justin and my hair. She also gave me low lights, with some red in it.

Also, this past weekend, Justin and I were able to assist in the construction of Cafe Bleu at Blue Sky our awesome church. God allowed us to have a blast while producing the cafe. We will also be serving as a part of the cafe ministry. So, I get to serve coffee at work and at church now! Hurray for caffeinated worship.

And some didn’t even need power tools. Go Phil (not my brother, but Phil from CA)!

Oh, and last Friday, Justin took the afternoon off and we went to Denver. We had a great time exploring the city.

As the evening rolled around we went to the Santa Fe district, where an Art Walk is hosted on the first Friday of every month. It’s just like Kalamazoo. Only the art is more compacted. The six city blocks are concentrated with ALL art galleries. It was quite an experience. You could walk out of one gallery with all oil paintings and walk just a few feet into the next door and find amazing pottery. We were able to meet a really cool artist named James Garnett ( www.jdgarnett.com ) . He has a really neat Asian look to the pottery (vases, coasters, etc.) that he creates.

In the last few weeks Justin and I have done some hiking. Including the Devils Backbone, which is only a two mile drive from our apartment.

We also went for a late afternoon/evening hike in the Rocky Mountains to Cub Lake. We heard it had nice fall colors. It wasn’t bad. Lots of Aspens turning bright yellow. But not like the bold reds and solid orange colors that appear in Michigan. However, walking to a vast mountain lake in the Rockies is nothing to complain about.

We savored every moment. Except for the last mile or so, because it was becoming dark and we wanted to return safely to our vehicle. Overall it was a really great experience. We enjoyed not being at Rocky Mountain National Park on a weekend, when it has tended to have a variety of people visiting. Instead, we were able to enjoy a hike all to ourselves. It was peaceful. God’s beauty was everywhere. And the smell as it cooled down into the evening, was that fresh, crisp, fall smell.

Hurray for Sushi and friends tonight!

Just thought I would let you all know that last week, that is a week ago today (02-Oct-2007) my brother (Jason) and my sister-in-law (Sheryl) successfully gave birth to their second daughter, Adaline Grace Moorea Boyd. Before you even ask, Grace and Moorea are considered middle names so, just to be clear, Adaline does not have two first names. And (also in response to the question I can practically hear you thinking ) I do believe that 4 names is quite weighty for such a small girl (6 pounds 3 ounces at birth). That being said, it has be brought to my attention that children do in fact grow. If that is the case (I have people looking into the validity of the concept as we speak), then I am sure that Adaline will grow splendidly into all of her beautiful names. And heck, Jason and Sheryl are happy, and as a result, so am I!

So I am not exactly what you would call a baseball fan. I tend to be bored, almost to the point of napping, at the mere thought of watching a baseball game on TV. However, ghttp://www.justinandnatalie.com/nomad/2007/10/04/the-missing-month-september-that-is/oing to a baseball game is a whole different story. Although I do not care for baseball, it does feel uniquely American to go to a ball park and take part in Americas most sleepy obsession. Of course, it helped that Natalie and I went to the Rockies game with a bunch of people, including Phil and Sarah, from BlueSky. The Rockies won the game and made it into the playoffs. Apparently that is important.

One of the more exciting things that occurred during the month of September is that Natalie chopped off a bunch of her hair. For those of you who are concerned, Natalie is not sporting the Natalie Portman V for Vendetta look, as that would be a bit scary. Natalie simply chopped several inches of her hair off so that most of her hair is about jaw length. I like it. Natalie likes. Everyone likes it.

In the middle of September Kevin and Debbie, Natalie’s parents, flew out to spend the weekend with us. While they were in town, we took a road trip through windy mountain roads to get to Aspen, Colorado where Natalie’s Uncle Fred and Aunt Paula have a home. The drive was beautiful, although quite lengthy, and I enjoyed Aspen (it was my first time). Having only briefly met Fred and Paula the day Natalie and I were married, it was nice to have the opportunity to re-meet each of them in a more low pressure setting.A word regarding dogs. For the most part I do not mind dogs. I usually like other peoples dogs but, when thinking about having a dog of my own, I am am not interested. Yogi however, may have ruined me. Not only was he cute, but he did not shed or bark, for the most part, and he was the perfect companion. To keep myself from getting a dog I had to do research (actually Natalie did it) about the cost of owning a dog. Dang, dogs are expensive! Alas, my recently acquired dream of owning a laberdoodle of my own now resides on the back burner (along with my dreams of owning a crotch-rocket, living in New Zealand, and never needing to use a Window Operation System).

While Kevin and Debbie were in town we decided, because spending 8 hours in the car the previous day did not seem like enough, to drive to Fort Collins for dinner. (They were not impressed, and lets be honest, I have a hard time faulting them on that one. Money Magazine voted Fort Collins the best place to raise a family in 2006 but I personally think they were paid off.) We also took a small side trip to Boulder. It was mine and Natalie’s first time in Boulder and I have no trouble telling you that I was very impressed. It reminded me of Kalamazoo. Only it was near the mountains. And it was quite a bit larger. And it was more established. All in all, we had a great time with Kevin and Debbie. It was a bit like a crazy whirlwind (we were tying to do a great deal of stuff in a small amount of time) but it was grand. Kevin and Debbie please, come back anytime. (Next time we will not spend nearly as much time driving around. I promise.)

Some time later, (do not ask me when the whole month has blended together like some type of primordial soup) we wandered up to Fort Collins to go on a brewery tour. I have never been on a brewery tour but I had heard it was educational. What we found was a huge drunken college festival where everyone appeared to be doing one or more of the following. (I assume they were all reading from the same script). Keep in mind that, in most cases, all individuals observed seemed to being accomplishing the following tasks in numerical order.

1. Dress as bizarre as possible. Suspenders, florescent colored wigs, fish netting etc.
2. Drink beer. In large quantities. On empty stomachs. In the hot sun.
3. Ride a bike.

In short, due to my large aversion to sticky, hot, drunk, crowds of people, we did not stay very long. Natalie however tracked down this bike and attempted to steal it. I had to forcefully pull her off the bike. I swear. The day was not a total bust however, because we ended up going to a different brewery and sampling a vast number of excellent micro-brews. (One of the days I am going to write a post about why I like micro brews).

Near the end of the month, Natalie and I also had the opportunity to help our friends, Phil and Sarah, move into their first home. Now I have moved a large amount of people in my time but this was the easiest move I have ever participated in.
The ease of this move could have to do with the amount of people who helped, or the highly organized way the move was managed. These however only contributed to the ease of the move. The real reason the move was a breeze was because Mike, the guy we go rock climbing with, brought a large flat bed truck and trailer. And life was good. So a big congratulations to Phil and Sarah on their first home. We hope that it is everything you want it to be.

Okay. I know that it has been over a month since either Natalie or I posted anything on this blog. As I am not Natalie I am only going to address, briefly, why I am a slacker. Here it goes. Are you ready? Basically I spend 40 - 50 hours a week sitting in front of a computer. I am not complaining about this (it is a great job and it pays the bills), rather I am attempting to point out that I spend a vast majority of time sitting stationary at a computer. When I am not working I like to do other things. (Yes, I am aware that reading is, in most cases, a stationary activity).

All of that to say, sometimes spending time at the computer when I am not at work makes me feel like I am still at work. This is why I have slacked off on the blogging. In the future, I will attempt, mostly because I want to remember this part of my life, to blog more frequently.

So far working at Starbucks is great! I love the people (coworkers and customers), the atmosphere (our location actually has a drive through with almost the highest traffic volume ever), we also have a really neat hang out multiple couch/lamp/cozy area, a bar to sit at (no alcohol served, only drugs, well caffeine), and it’s just a lot better than I ever could have imagined. We have all of our new Pumpkin Spice and Apple stuff for the fall already. It just came out on Tuesday. So, in addition to everything being new. All the pumpkin stuff is new to me also.

It’s much more complex and detailed than I ever could have imagined. So, when I don’t understand someone’s order, I kindly ask, “Could you please repeat that? I’m sure I missed something.”

THE FOLLOWING IS A TRUE STORY, SOMEONE ORDERED THIS DRINK TODAY:

They said, “I’d like a Iced Quad Venti Carmel Macchiato, with 4 pumps sugar free carmel, soy, no foam, 3 Splenda’s, no whip and extra carmel on top. Oh, with light ice and can you double cup that. My hand always gets too cold.”

And I say, “Yeah! Your Carmel Macchiato…lets just find a Sharpie and I can mark this cup here and….oh good a Sharpie. So, you want 2 cups. But only one drink. (every one smiles and chuckles). Now, you want what?”

This is when they choose to repeat it three times as quickly as the first time they stated their drink order, and I want to look at them and say ‘I drink it black, like my momma. What’s your problem.’ However I resist the temptation. And mark the cup to the best of my ability. CM for Carmel Macchiato, S (=soy), 4 Sgfr C, 3 spl, 4 (in the Shots box), lite ice, and I’m still marking their stupid cup. And grabing their second cup so their hand doesn’t freeze. WC with a line through it for no whip cream, and oh, yes, X C (Extra carmel on top). I’m not even sure if I marked the cup properly today.

My real problem is, that I am someday expected to be able to pick a cup that has been marked in the manner up and actually create the drink on the Expresso Bar. Overall, I am picking it up quicker than I thought I would. Who knows maybe someday Justin and I will own our own Coffee Shop. But for now, I’ve got to get it together and figure out how to make all of the fun, highly caffeinated, highly over priced drinks.

In addition, I am still loving the Farmer’s Market. Another plethora of fruit and vegetables. Again only $8. Wow!

In case you were wondering the zip-lock bag has fire roasted chile peppers. Sometimes they give these out for FREE. So, FREE chilies and 7 zucchini’s. Cantaloupe, Honey dew, a few squash, some beets, some red skin potatoes, and more, oh life is great!

And in case you were wondering. Justin and I went Rock Climbing this past Sunday with Mike, Virginia and our other new climbing buddies. I love climbing. And I’m a pretty good climber. (I’m humble too). It was my first time on rock mass that God naturally formed and not just a human manufactured wall with holds. Although the climbing technique, figure-8 follow through (a fancy knot), putting on a harness, and other technical basics are the same.

We also went to an awesome Baptism Party. Everyone brought food. This is our new friend Paul cooking

Carmalized Apple Chicken Pesto

in our kitchen. Well he made a separate dish of

Carmalized Apple Portabella Pesto

for us. I love the whole cooking in board shorts and flip flops concept! Paul is great and he works with me at Starbucks. But we originally met him through Blue Sky Church.

Needless to say, we have been loving Loveland. God has given us so many incredible surprises and so much excitement during our first month living here. And in a few weeks we have our first visitors, my mom and dad are flying out!

If you have known me for any amount of time, you know that I like cookies. A lot. When I say that I like cookies a lot, what I mean is this: if I was stranded on a deserted tropical island, I would rather have cookies than freedom. Okay? Right, so my good friend Bryan mailed Natalie and I a whole bunch of cookies. They arrived yesterday and I have been running around like a wacko ever since. To say that I was excited is a vast understatement. The cookies are amazing. I have not stopped smiling for the last 18 hours. Seriously. Thanks Bryan.

Last week, I embraced the whole Colorado way of living and went Rock Climbing. A group of individuals from our new Church, Blue Sky took me along. As I know nothing about Rock Climbing (I know a bit more now) and have exactly no rock climbing equipment, this was a good thing. Sadly, Natalie was working (she is working as a barista at Starbucks. We are both very excited) and she did not get to come. On the upside, we will be going rock climbing again so she will be able to come then. Just in case anyone out there was under the impression that rock climbing was easy, its not. At the same time it was a great deal of fun, and I was passingly good at it. (I did not break any bones and I made it to the top). I really enjoyed the whole idea of trying to do something that I did not know I was capable of doing. I also had the opportunity (while climbing) to reflect on the depth of the stubborn steak I inherited from my mother. (By the way mom, I was safe the whole time. I was clipped into a harness that was attached to a rope. The rope was attached at the top of the rock and a guy named Matt was belaying me from the bottom. Perfectly safe.) Having no climbing experience (not counting trees and such) it was unlikely that I would make it very far. Granted, I was only able to make it on the rock at all thanks to the encouragement and guidance of high quality individuals such as Mike (all of the climbing stuff was his. He is a very encouraging teacher), Matt (The guy who was belaying for me. He did not drop me. Thanks Matt), John, Kate, Ellie etc. All of that to say, I told myself I would make it to the top and I did…. despite the fact that many times on the rock I thought I was totally screwed. The next day, my arms were so sore I could barely make a fist… Me and my darn stubbornness… (grumble grumble grumble.)

For those of you penguin lovers out there (Debbers) Natalie and I finally had the opportunity to see the move Happy Feet. Of course, we could have rented it at any time but, luckily for us, the mall near us decided to have a family night. Although I did not really put all of the pieces together until we got there, a family night means that a whole bunch of kids and families show up to watch a movie on a large inflatable screen in the middle of a grassy quad. To say that we stood out is a bit of an understatement. Everything was proceeding nicely (I was kicked back in fuma talking to Bryan on the phone and silently laughing at all of the lesser mortals who did not have a super comfortable chair. (Thanks Bob and Lynette)) when this clown comes out of no where and kicks me out of my chair. All things considered it was a rather funny ordeal. Natalie of course made fast friends with the clown. Seriously. I think the clown might be coming over for dinner next week. I told her (the clown) that if she comes over she has to wear her clown shoes. No clown shoes, no dinner. In retrospect, I might have been a bit harsh.

Needless to say, the clown eventually got out of my chair (I guess she decided that she was getting paid to entertain the kids so she had better get on with it) and I was able to enjoy the movie. Good movie, although I felt that I was being run through the penguin version of most of the major political issues of the day. If you have seen Happy Feet, you know what I mean. If you have not, go watch it. Anyway, the next day, Nat and I took this great picture with some of the left over fun we obtain thanks to our new friend the clown.

In the effort to spend less time maintaining and developing a website, and more time posting content that Natalie and I really care about, I have decided to move the majority of three different projects (blogging, podcast, and publishing of poetry) on to this blog. As such, this blog will no longer simply contain stories of mine and Natalie’s lives as a nomads but it will also contain various other projects. I am not going to stop maintaining justinandnatalie.com but I am going to spend more time posting dynamic data here. In the long run, in case it matters, I thought you should know. If, at any time you want to view only topics that pertain to our podcast or poetry, or anything else for that matter, simply select one of the category links to the right.