Rachel Drum, and a little Goo, too

July 5th was special for me.  Drew and I went to the Arboretum in the afternoon.  I have a special connection there because when Drew and I were dating, Drew would always take me to the Arboretum to be together, my kind of guy, I thought to myself.  It is hard to NOT feel romantic in the thick masses of colorful shaped life that inhabit the ground.  It's really worth seeing in July!  Here are a few pics:

 I loved this...here was scene I hadn't seen since the last time I was there. Cabbage patch dolls reinacting an old nursery rhyme..The Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe.  Brilliant..my favorite is the chimney hugging the baby.  Life doesn't get any better, even life in a shoe!

They also had this animal topiary thing going on, and a vegetable garden thriving quite well.  I wonder who eats these vegetables...it would be a shame for it to go to waste...

Being a tomboy as a kid, I used to do the yuck face from flowers and anything pink, because I knew those were symbols of feminity, and I knew I didn't need them/didn't care about being girly to be happy.   But alas, I emit my appreciation and wonder for flowers, now.  They are really something other-worldly...I love to see flowers in all their stages too, from sprout to wither.  Wilting flowers are just as interesting to me, because of when and how they choose to wilt. I'm not much more interested in gardening, and realize the value in actually educating myself on identifying different kinds of flowers.

Well what do you know, I wear a lot of pink now, too, whereas in my teen years, it was all black, browns, olives, deep purples. It's still in brainstorm stage, but soon I'd like to add a fashion section to the site, cuz it's fun, and I have a lot to show!

Yesterday, Drew and I signed our lease for next year!  This feels really good considering we were cutting it close in terms of leaving time to find a place before our current lease expires in late July.  So yeah, we will be moving in a month!.............to Urbana.  Okay, not as big of a shift as I was prepared to make, but it's okay.  I think it's the best option for us right now.  I have good work at Vineyard, and Drew is going to try and finish up school.  All we can really do is live in the moment, even though give the illusion of planning, controlling our future, etc...it's really just making the most informed decisions that you can that day, and going from there.

SO, our new place is on E Green Street in Urbana, we are totally siked cuz it's in a dream location for our lifestyles right now.  I do love my current abode in Champaign, but it's just that these days, everything we're doing with our time is in Urbana.  Not having a car and all..it can be more difficult.  So, get this, we can walk to the 3 main grocery stores we go to, less than 5 minutes for two of them!  And one is 24hours.  We are also 5 minutes away from the Farmer's Market.  Our apartment is on the bus route, as in it stops right in front of our complex.  We can walk 5 minutes to the Common Ground Co-op for volunteering...we can walk to the Urbana Free Library...not that I use libraries much anymore with this whole internet thang.

AND, I can walk to Cardinal Fitness gym in Lincoln Square!  It's not much, just machines, and some floor space, but that is enough!  It's definitely better than nothing, and during the winter I want to seek out the exercise actively and regularly cuz exercising outside is not an option.  Membership is only like $20/month there...soo cheap. We are essentially in downtown Urbana, which, okay, is all of one street long, but it's got a nice atmosphere to experience, and some places such as The Cinema Gallery, Mirabelle bakery, and Courier Cafe.  We are also close to Zipcar, incase we do ever need to drive somewhere.

Here are some pictures of our new habitat

The only thing I'm not siked about is that it's on the first floor.  I hope it can be warm enough in the winter.  I am also sad that the apt doesn't allow pets.  I really wanted to get a kitten..but also realize what a luxury it is, and maybe we should continue the whole paying back the loan thing.  I am so glad I went in overdrive in looking for places at the beginning of June though, cuz only a few days after I reserved it, there was like NOTHING of equal goodness on craigslist!  We are really fortunate to have found what we did. 

We will miss the awesomeness of our current place, and will miss being close to our small group and downtown Champaign, but in all I'm excited for the change.

By the way, I like to think of my "home" as all the places I have lived or even spent way too much time in.  Columbia Maryland will always be my original home, but now I have more than one home.  That's how I like to think of it.

So...we are moving in mid July!  If you have any cardboard boxes....send them our way!!

Well here it goes, my first real post. I have put a lot of pressure on myself to create this perfect identity for myself on my website. I know it ain't right, but I do it anyway, kind of like sayin "ain't." The whole being hard on myself fits with my personality, so at least I'm consistent. I'm not perfect, but I know I have interesting stuff to share!

A good piece of advice I have heard about blogging is to write it for yourself, not for others. Surprisingly, that really helps me. I think I am usually so inclined to please, and yield to others, and compliment what someone else leads, but that doesn't really work in a blog, so that might explain my blinking cursor syndrome. Haha, that is my new mod name for writer's block. Why is it called block anyway?

Story time: Today marks the first day in 10 years that I successfully biked to work! The last time I was able to bike to work was when I was a lifeguard in Columbia, Maryland. I love biking for fun and exercise, but just got out of the habit when I moved to Cincinnati. Moving to Cincinnati got me out of a lot of habits actually, and got me into a lot of new ones. Biking in Cinci would have been a difficult art form for me anyway, with all the extreme hills (feeling like mountains) to tackle.

I finally got my bike from Maryland back last summer, but after only the second time riding it, crashed and badly sprained my foot, gimping me for much of the rest of the warm weather season in Champaign. Then, by the time I was better, I got all emotionally pumped up about riding again..I got my bike clothes on, had a route to travel in mind, I skipped downstairs, only to find it, with one wheel!

Someone stole the back wheel, UGH!

The only part that wasn't locked up, great. What a bummer. Anyway, I finally got it replaced and intend to make it my regular habit again, as much as I can. Bike riding pluses: Exercise, Fun, Better for the environment, Cheap, annnd...it takes me half the amount of time it takes to ride the bus! 15 minutes as opposed to 30-45min is prrretty significant in the land of everyday commute. I have so much warm weather to look forward to!

::twiiiinngg:: That's the sound you hear when there's warm weather:)

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