To Make Love Stay

Are You Still Reading Here?

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 01:19:00 +0000

Hi friends. I noticed a few people followed this blog on Bloglovin', so I just wanted to remind you that I mostly blog on my new-ish blog The Desert Dandelion.

But you can follow here if you want, for nostalgia's sake. I'll probably never delete it.

A Fresh Start with a New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 20:53:00 +0000

Note: I meant for this post to go out tomorrow but it went out, a few people saw it, and then I reverted it to draft which kind of ruined the whole element of surprise thing. So here it is! Also, sorry for cluttering up your feed with 3 posts in one day...I know that's kind of annoying.

I've been trying out the new blog for the last few days and I've decided officially to switch to it.

I'm going to keep To Make Love Stay up because the idea of deleting it makes me super sad, but I will be writing primarily on the new blog.

So if you have any interest in following our shenanigans, please update your readers to reflect the following new blog address because I'd love to see you all there:

The Desert Dandelion

Please be patient with me as I get it to a decent place design-wise.

Thanks guys!

We Ate Lunch in a Ruin

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 17:14:00 +0000

Our last hike in Ireland was definitely my favorite, for reasons other than the fact that it was the one time we didn't get rained on.

Rob and I drove about two hours to a town outside of Dingle called Feohanagh (don't ask me how to pronounce it, I just know the 'gh' is pronounced in a sort of guttural way) to hike along the cliffs there and up to a tower ruin. It was hard to find because we were told about it by our B&B host and a book on local hikes he had; plus we weren't totally sure it was actually a sanctioned hike because one of the instructions was "cross the wire fence," as in "climb over the fence because it's someone's property and there's no gate. Also, dead sheep."

The views were spectacular and I think I ended up taking around 200 photos that were mostly duplicates of one another. I didn't even have to edit them all that much in Photoshop because the colors were that brilliant. Sadly Photobucket is annoying and I can't seem to upload all the photos I'd like, so I'll share some more when we get home.

We made it to the ruin and had a quick lunch because the wind was pretty bananas. Luckily we made it down despite almost twisting my ankle a million times and stepping on far too much sheep poop (or "shoop").

Today we're mellowing out and checking out the town a bit more so we're well-rested for our long-ass trip tomorrow. We even found a bridge built in the 11th century that's still standing, isn't that crazy? It's called "The Cromwell Bridge," so-named from the Irish word for "mustache," not named for Oliver Cromwell like you might think. I think "mustache" is appropriate, personally.

Anyway we are sad to leave, but all vacations must end I suppose. And we are so, so excited to see our goofy little beastie again because we miss the hell out of her. I hope you guys have enjoyed these Ireland posts almost as much as we enjoyed the actual trip.

OMG LINKS SRSLY

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 14:04:00 +0000

How wine corks are made. (via Liz)

Liberal bullying: Privilege-checking and semantics-scolding as Internet sport. Very interesting viewpoint.

I absolutely loved Sarah's post on participating.

Maine's Marriage Hero. I've known Katie and Harlan--who we all call Gramp--for my entire life, so I was pretty proud to see his efforts toward marriage equality recognized (especially because the writer had to travel all the way from New York into the middle of nowhere).

16 Ways I Blew My Marriage. I don't really agree with all of these but the writer made some very good points. (via Justine)

Missouri pastor's fiery speech against equal rights for homosexuals has stunning twist ending. LOVE this. Make sure to watch until the end.

A Dutch historian used 300 WWII negatives at a flea market to create these gorgeous double-exposures with modern-day photographs of the same locations. Beautiful and moving. (via my gross brother-in-law on the Facebooks)

60 Tiny Love Stories. (via Suzy)

20 People Who Got Owned on Facebook. (via Suzy)

Love this collection of British and American terms. Suzy and I discussed this at length during our Skype conversation a few weeks ago. Also, we've heard many of them here in Ireland. Isn't it interesting how one language can have so many differences among countries/regions?

Carved Book Landscapes.

And now in the I WANT TO GO TO THERE SERIES: 10 Baths with a View.

How to dress as some of 2012's popular memes this Halloween.

Castles, Hiking, Shopping and Fog

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:44:00 +0000

First off, thank you everyone for your thoughts and perspectives on my last post, you're all amazing.

I figured I'd share with you what we've been up to the last few days. So if you're bored with my trip diary summaries, you should go ahead and skip this because MORE IRELAND.

The day after our Frodo-hike we decided to take a mellow day to chill out. We drove to Killarney (in Irish "Cill Airne," neat eh?) to check out Ross Castle, because you can't come to this part of the world without seeing some fucking castles. It was pretty neat but we didn't tour the inside because it cost money (like 4 or 5 euro bro!) and also you couldn't take photos inside.

As a side note, did you know that the spiral staircases in castle turrets were designed specifically to give advantage to right-handed sword-wielders in the event that a swordfight happened to be take place down the stairs? I didn't even know that kind of elegant fighting down the stairs was a thing.

After that we walked around the town and did a little bit of our Christmas shopping. Killarney is a good-sized town with lots of neato stores and things, so we had a good time exploring. I tried to find an Irish wool sweater but they all made me look boxy and weird. Sad times. We ate lunch back here (Irish lamb stew again, what what?) and had a late dinner at a lovely bar where we thought we'd find live music but didn't. Instead we found hot chocolate with Bailey's, which totally made up for the disappointment. Then, like most nights on vacation or otherwise, we watched 30 Rock on Netflix and fell quickly asleep. Well, I stayed up and worked on my new blog to see how I like it before publicizing it, but then fell asleep.

On Friday we did our longest hike yet up a mountain whose name in Irish Gaelic (Mangerton) means "The Deceiver," which was appropriate because every time we thought we'd reached the summit there was yet ANOTHER summit to climb. It was exhausting. It was also a little sad because when we got to the summit, the view looked like this:

FOG. FOG FOG FOGGY FOG. In Ireland's defense, it wasn't rain (that came later), but it was so thick that we could not see any of the (surely gorgeous) scenery below. I know hiking isn't all about the end result, but still, it was a bummer. I was pretty excited, therefore, when the fog started to lift on our way down and we saw some pretty Ireland scenery. We also got some pretty fabulous photos of us and we're pretty cute.

We're gearing up for our last few days in Ireland and as of now we don't really have anything planned until we drive to Dublin on Monday. Though I love Ireland and could easily see moving here (for realsies guys) I'm ready to be home with our beast in our own bed with our own brands of jelly and juice and bread.

I Didn't Get to Meet Frodo.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:22:00 +0000

So titled because I'm pretty sure we hiked in the Shire the other day.

We woke up the other morning knowing ~~two~~ three things: (1) Irish food can really wreak havoc on your stomach (I'm guessing because of all the meat and carbs?) (2) We wanted to go hiking and (3) We should leave early in the day so we could avoid the inevitable afternoon rain.

One of the B&B's caretakers, Brendan, told us to check out a hike that is incidentally located on a working farm. The hike, about two hours or so in length, actually takes you above a waterfall and makes for some gorgeous scenery-viewing. We noticed the rain moving in but figured since it was morning and the rain has generally stuck to the afternoon we'd be fine.

We made the drive to the park, which was as crazy as any drive in Ireland we've gone through so far (seriously, people drive so fast on these tiny-ass roads). The hike was indeed located on a working farm, which was evidenced by the fact that there were sheep everywhere. Like, hundreds of sheep. Maybe a thousand, I don't know.

Quick aside: the sheep all appeared to have spraypaint on their neck area. Does anyone know why a farmer would possibly wish to color his sheep with spraypaint?

Anyway luckily we were smart enough to dress in head-to-toe rain gear because it literally rained the entire time. I managed to find a few dry spells for photos, but generally just solid fucking rain. For some reason I, queen of whining while hiking, didn't really find cause to engage in my usual whining. I mean if I'm hiking in Ireland it stands to reason I'm probably going to get rained on, and I knew that I had a hot shower and a nap in a warm bed waiting for me afterward. BEST FEELING EVER.

I guess I'll let the photos speak for themselves; it really was a gorgeous hike and we kept making comments about how closely it resembled the scenery from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, including the little white sheep-dots we saw from above (and up close, jeez!)

IRELAND, am I right?

Also, and this is a random thing to tack onto a blog post: I'm thinking of quitting my blog (not deleting it though!) and starting fresh on a new blog. I feel sort of stagnant here and I think I'd like a new beginning. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic, if you don't mind.

The Irish Adventure Continues (Green and Photo Heavy)

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Well friends, I know really you just want to see photos of Ireland, but bear with me for a bit while I tell you what our last few days have been filled with. If you'd like to, you're welcome to skip past the wall of text and just admire the green insanity that is the land of Eire. I promise I won't judge you or write blog posts about how sad I feel.

On Sunday morning we ate breakfast and drove to Southern Ireland. The drive was lovely, albeit a bit foggy which I guess is sort of par for the course here. We arrived in the town we're staying in for the next week and knew already that our trip was only going to get better; the town has a small population of 1700 (much more our scene, as previously indicated) and a lovely downtown that is reminiscent of New England in all the best ways (or I guess New England is reminiscent of Ireland, really, since it was first).

We checked into our B&B, which is run by a really sweet couple and an adorable little beastie named Kim. We really love it and they've been so incredibly helpful already. After relaxing for a bit, we headed downtown to grab some dinner. Rob really tapped into his Irish roots and ordered a Guinness (duh) and shepard's pie, while I had a screwdriver with some traditional Irish lamb stew.

As an aside, I'm pretty sure that my ancestors were rolling in their graves because of the screwdriver I drank, but in my defense it's the celiac disease that they passed on to me that prohibits me from drinking more Irishy drinks like whiskey or beer.

The next day we had breakfast at the B&B which I guess makes sense. The caretaker made Rob a traditional Irish breakfast (eggs, sausage, bacon, black and white puddings, and tomato) and made me a mini version of that thing because I guess the puddings contain along with dried blood cereal or some other gluten product. It was amazing, truly, but intensely filling and we were feeling it all goddamn day. We spent all day walking around town, taking photos and of course lots of naps, and watching Netflix because we are on vacation and lounging around is awesome. We also had blue skies and sun that day which apparently makes us very lucky indeed.

We also saw an old abandoned abbey and cemetery near our B&B, and if you know me at all you know I love morbid shit like that so of course we had to stop for photos. Erin, my dear, this particular spot reminded me of you and your abandoned house explorations.

That night we ate more yummy food and had some drinks while listening to some Irish traditional music. And taking goofy photos.

Also on Tuesday we saw "the Druid's Circle," which is a 3000-year-old rock circle presumably created by the Druids or some other collection of pagans. The signage wasn't completely clear on why the pagans moved these rocks from like, 50 miles away to set them in a circle, but most of it seems to point it being a place to keep track of time/seasons by the sun and moon, or maybe a ceremonial site. Essentially it's just a circle of heavy rocks with a bigger, flatter rock in the middle, but it was still a pretty spiritual site when you think about how those rocks got there and the potential purposes they held (Rob's educated guess was sacrifice). In the US we don't have much that is 3000 years old and still standing, at least to my knowledge, so this was a pretty cool sight for us. Also, SO MUCH GREEN.

Oh god, guys, I really didn't mean for this post to be this long. I seriously culled them down to just the basics for this post--I have approximately 8000 other pictures of the same shit. If you're thinking "Jesus, Caitlin, split it into a few posts next time," then you have something in common with the voice in my head and maybe I'll listen better for the next post.

Anyway I hope you are enjoying the green hallucination that is Ireland through my eyes. We're having so much more fun here than we had in Dublin--with every trip we take we become more and more convinced that city living (or apparently even city visiting) just isn't for us. Give us small-town living any day of the week.

I commented back to all of you I think, but I just wanted to thank you for the sweet words on my last post. I love having friends that live in the computer.

On Trying Not to Stagnate

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:06:00 +0000

Isn't it interesting how you can feel so inspired and on solid ground, then almost as quickly find yourself once again in a rut?

This is so stupid, but I lost a few followers recently and, as Rob said, "you're stressing far too much about your blog." I don't know about you, friends, but I take that shit personally and imagine all the things people must be thinking or saying about what I write or how badly I do it or what I could do better.

I could turn this into your typical I-only-blog-for-me-who-cares-what-you-think post, but like me you guys have read tens of thousands of them and thus I shall spare you.

In a lot of ways I feel like I want to take what I write to the next level and I have no idea what the hell that means or how to go about fixing it. Every time I write I feel like I run into a wall in turns of quality and competence, a wall I can't seem to circumvent. As a result I settle for mediocre content that isn't thoughtful or interesting because it's easier than trying to identify what could be improved and then, you know, doing that thing (case in point, I suppose).

I don't necessarily want to monetize the blog or write professionally, at least at this point, but writing is something that I genuinely enjoy doing. I'd like to actually improve at something I do for once rather than stagnating again for fear of failure as I've done many times. Stagnating is, after all, much easier than actually trying.

Anyway there are my ramblings about writing for the night, and I thank you for listening to them.

As a side note, I'm thinking of sharing the short story I just wrote (eee!) here. I personally have mixed feelings about fiction on blogs, so I'm eager to hear your honest opinions regarding whether you'd have any interest in reading it or not.

Finally, for those of you wondering, our day today was much better and I will share it with you soon. Still no luggage though.

Ireland Kicked Our Asses (and Not in a Good Way)

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 23:30:00 +0000

Well friends, I am writing to you today from Dublin, Ireland at 12:36am. And today was really rough. I'm going to apologize preemptively in case I sound like I'm whining in this post. I also am going to apologize for this post not sounding particular coherent.

The trip started out with me oversleeping a bit, which I've never done on an important wake-up day. We got out in record time though and had an uneventful drive to Denver. I'll go ahead and fast forward through air travel because that's universally boring and also soul-crushing, so I'll just say that we landed in Dublin at 5 a.m. or so.

The first discovery we had was that Logan Airport had fucked up our luggage transfer and our baggage won't be arriving until tomorrow. That bag had a lot of our warm clothes and my nice camera. This isn't a huge deal--at least as far as I assume right now--but at 5am I had absolutely no patience for it.

When we picked up the rental car we found out that apparently Ireland is one of 3 countries in the world which doesn't allow you to transfer your own car insurance to a rental, meaning the price of our car was just about doubled because we had to buy some half-baked insurance.

We drove to the hotel and, as a side note, Rob did really well driving on the left side of the road. It's a good thing he was responsible for driving because I almost lost it just watching him. Anyway we couldn't check into the hotel until 3pm so we had breakfast and decided to check out Dublin via the train (keep in mind at this point we hadn't slept in any significant way since we'd woken up at 2am the previous morning).

After waiting for the train outside in the rain, we ended up in Dublin where it--you guessed it--rained even more. My feet were numb because my warmer shoes were in our lost luggage and BIG SURPRISE I guess that Chuck Taylors don't work in a rain-heavy city. Prety much everything in Dublin was closed because it was Sunday morning, so we walked around fruitlessly in the rain and cold. Neither Rob nor I are big city people, so hanging out in an urban environment is totally exhausting for us and this was no exception, especially since we were exhausted, hungry, wet and cold. We trudged our way back to the train station, where we waited for an hour in (GASP) the rain. When we got back to the hotel our room was still not ready, so we spent two hours sleeping in the car before we finally checked in and totally fucking crashed for like 6 hours. Then I had yogurt and rice cakes for dinner.

Before we finally got to our room we were both feeling incredibly discouraged but somehow closer to one another even despite (or perhaps because of) the annoyances we dealt with today. I said repeatedly that I didn't care if the whole vacation was horrible because having Robbie with me genuinely made it all okay.

Now that we've slept and eaten and dried off and are snuggling in bed watching Hulu and Netflix together, we're excited for the next leg of our trip in a much smaller town which I think will be much closer to "our scene." Vacations can't all go according to plan, but really, how boring would it be if they did?

I hope you all had a great weekend, and thanks as always for your super-sweet comments.

This Week & Heading Out

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 03:10:00 +0000

I started writing this post earlier today and bam, the power went out. Of course we'd have our first 3-hour-long power outage the one day we need to wash and dry all of our clothes in preparation for packing. Hopefully it isn't a sign of how the trip will go from here, RIGHT?!

Well I made it back from Boston in one piece, except for the fact that I might've broken my neck trying to sleep on the plane. Funny story: since I've spent so much time on planes, I've actually developed the ability to sleep through my neck thrashing and falling around. Instead of waking up I wake up after an hour or so in a lot of neck pain. Fun trade off, right? I also believe that I've accidentally leaned my head on my seat-neighbor's shoulder before, and leaned my entire torso into the aisle as well.

Needless to say, I bought a fancy-pants neck pillow for our transcontinental flight tomorrow. Unfortunately it's a children's neck pillow (as evidenced by its swirly butterfly pattern) but I'm hoping it'll do the trick even despite my massive head.

In Boston I taught a couple of classes on, well, building classes actually. They went well other than the fact that one of the participants gave me a "good" instead of an "excellent" on my evaluation and as my fellow perfectionists can attest, it was a bit hard for me to swallow. Pretty crazy, I know, but thaaaat's Caitlin!

The awesome thing about going to Boston though, of course, was seeing and staying with my sister Megan. We had a few drinks (as usual) and also got to have a really yummy Indian food lunch with some clients (one really great aspect of our jobs).

We leave for the Denver airport tomorrow morning bright and early (like seriously, 2:30am early). From Denver we fly to Boston and then, finally, to Dublin. We spent all day today packing and shopping to prepare. I'm hoping everything goes smoothly because or else I might totally lose it.

But no matter what happens, we're heading off to Ireland for 9 days and it's so fucking awesome that that's happening, I can hardly even tell you. I can't wait to experience such an amazing place with my favorite person in the whole world.

I'm sure I'll be around here during our trip because I doubt I'll be able to resist posting all the photos I'll be taking. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and be thinking of me shivering in rainy 50-degree Ireland weather!

Links 'n Things

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:41:00 +0000

A Foolproof Guide to a Happy Marriage. I just love Lindy West.

27 Reasons Why a Billion People Should Not Be Allowed to use Facebook.

Princess Vader goes to Disney World. (via Meg!)

9 Ways People Used Radium Before We Understood the Risks. How crazy this is, huh? Makes me wonder what sort of shit we bombard ourselves with now that might turn out to be fatal.

Celebrities and their Musician Doppelgängers.

I Hate Breast Cancer "Awareness" Month.

Hard truths from cats. (via Meg!)

Things You Stop Caring About After You've Fallen in Love. (via Amanda)

5 Things Only You are Judging About Yourself. (via Amanda)

America: 50 States in 50 Photos. (via Nova)

Portraits before and after death. Rob and I talk a lot about the Western obsession with making the dead look "alive" in really ridiculous ways (like makeup they never would've worn in real life, etc.) rather than accepting death for what it is. We've agreed that we won't allow that to happen to whichever of us dies first. (via Nova) Also did I ever tell you guys that I considered becoming a mortician?

Check out this no-sew Ewok costume! Judah is so adorable.

19 Stars in the Throes of Death. Real stars, not celebrities.

If TV Titles were Honest.

The Art of Clean Up.

6 Songs Used to Torture and Intimidate.

Real Life vs. Video Games.

I love this list of the 13 Ugliest Phones of the Mobile Era. I think I had the Ericsson when I was in Russia.

19 Regional Words All Americans Should Adopt Immediately.

Apparently it isn't true that T. rex could only see things that were moving.

How awesome is this: a 100-million-year-old spider attack frozen in time.

Bits and Pieces from the Start of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 22:44:00 +0000

1. I may not be around much for the next few days as I'm off to Boston to teach a few classes for work. Just like I do every single time I'm about to travel and teach, I've been panicking with increasing intensity every day. Really wish I could get over that. I'm convinced that though I've never (knockonwoodknockonwood) had a class go too far south, this next time will be that first time that happens and everyone will jeer at me and chase me through the streets, I guess. So be thinking of me, please. Despite that bit of stress, I am excited to see my sister who I'll be staying, eating and drinking with.

2. The day after I get back from Boston Rob and I are flying to Ireland so you know. That's a thing. IRELAND, guys. I'm bringing my computer so I may find some time to do some blogging throughout the trip. I'm pretty sure I'll take at least 7 million photos, and you guys will get to enjoy every single second of it.

3. I realized that I didn't share some of the photos from our hike in Taos this weekend. Want to know something weird? Once, for about a half second, I thought we were hiking back in Maine. Then I realized that I couldn't breathe and was dizzy from the air thinness. Regardless, it was gorgeous.

4. Last night we headed up to Albuquerque for tattoos, drinks, and of course, the Chang. Rob chose this tattoo after reading the story "The Rocket Man" by Ray Bradbury, which so perfectly depicts a lot of what Rob and I have both gone through emotionally throughout his various frightening jobs. Gina captured the essence of what he wanted so well, even I can't stop staring at it.

Drawn and tattooed by Gina Scarkino (@gscarkino on Instagram) at Star Tattoo in Albuquerque, NM.

5. When we get back from Ireland we're hoping to go back to Roswell (I know, I know...Amie really wanted to go despite hearing from me how much I hated it), check out a local hot spring/spa, and eventually drive back home to Maine. Rob, Cypress and I will be there for a month or so around the holidays which should be fun I think.

6. Only my husband would have a job that allowed us to return to Maine during the one absolute worst time to be in Maine.

7. Does anyone else feel like a poseur when you wear something "out of the ordinary"? Like that everyone is thinking that you can't pull it off, just like you are? I bought some red jeans the other day and I feel exactly like that every time I've worn them (I had the same problem with knee-high boots and red lipstick). I felt at once ridiculous and also kind of cool in this outfit yesterday:

I also might kind of look 12.

Anyway I hope you all have a lovely week and I can't fucking wait to share Ireland with you.

My Fall Reading List

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 17:26:00 +0000

Yes, I'm still reading this book and yes, our living room/closet/etc. is kind of messy.

You guys, I have been working on this compilation of Bradbury stories for months now. Just admitting it makes me realize how rarely I read these days, which in turn makes me want to make more time for reading, then I get sleepy from stressing so much and just want to take a nap.

Anyway I figured I'd share with you some of the books in my "To Read" pile. It keeps getting bigger and I'm hoping the guilt will motivate me to read blogs less and read books more.

1. Rez Life by David Treuer. Written by a Native American (Ojibwe) novelist, this is a memoir that focuses on the author's childhood and life on the Leech Lake Reservation in Northern Minnesota. I found this at the one non-chain bookstore in Santa Fe, and bought it because I realized that I know close to nothing about life on reservations or life as a Native American is the modern-day United States. Plus I love memoirs.

2. Loud in the House of Myself by Stacy Pershall. This is another memoir recommended to me by my therapist because the author is (apparently) anxious/depressed and high-strung and tattooed and quirky, which reminded her of me. I'm pretty excited about this one actually.

3. The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang. Can you tell I like nonfiction? I got caught in the Wikipedia rabbit hole one day and started reading about the Nanking Massacre. I don't know about you all, but I had never learned anything about this horrifying period in Chinese history and reading about it totally fucking shocked me. I found this book at the aforementioned Santa Fe bookstore and felt like I should probably educate myself on it.

4. Death's Acre by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson. This book is about the "Body Farm", a partially outdoor forensic science laboratory that's mostly comprised of rotting bodies. Scientists working at the "farm" use the bodies to study decomposition and the effects of various climates/environments on human flesh. Is it weird that I kind of want to visit it?

5. Room by Emma Donoghue. My only fiction book on the list! My sister Megan recommended this to me (and I believe it was recommended to her by our mother). I believe it's about a kidnapping victim told from the perspective of the son she had with her kidnapper, but I don't know much else about it other than Megan really enjoyed it.

The last two are eBooks which don't make for nice photos.

What are you guys reading this fall?

You know...

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 02:14:00 +0000

...that feeling where you hiked 8 total miles, huffing and puffing the whole way because you're out of shape, ate a PB&J sandwich at about 10,000 feet above sea level, laughed and joked with your handsome husband and awesome friend while your legs shook in fatigue, awkwardly peed in the woods, failed handsomely at peeing in the woods, felt triumphant when you made it to the top of the trail and then to the bottom again, tried to go to the bathroom at a gas station but couldn't because someone apparently "wrecked it," sang songs and took a bunch of pictures on the ride back, and came home to eat steaks and and laugh at nothing and sleep because you actually feel physically tired instead of just mentally stressed like you usually do?

And then you realized how special days like this are and chose to share them in an admittedly semi-nauseating blog post?

That's me.

Happy Saturday!

Friday Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:48:00 +0000

I know I complain about this a lot, but is it weird that 97.5% of my blog posts have been "random shit we're doing" type posts rather than something with an actual theme? I just enjoy writing these more.

What are you guys up to this weekend? Tonight Robbie and I are visiting some friends for dinner and RiffTrax. Having adult friends for the win!

On Saturday we're planning on hiking in Taos, a ski town about an hour and a half from here. The aspens are hitting their peak so it should make for some lovely photos WHICH I'M SURE I'LL SHARE WITH YOU GUYS because what else is a blog for right?

On Sunday we're taking a trip to Albuquerque so Rob can get tattooed and so I can stuff my face with P.F. Chang's and martinis. Should be a rollicking good time.

It's been really weird getting used to having Rob around all the time again. It feels like summer was years and years ago, especially since I haven't seen Natalie in a month and I haven't seen Lindsey in weeks. I find myself vacillating between distancing myself emotionally and being extra-clingy, which luckily he's pretty used to. This is one of the many reasons I'm happy I married the bastard.

Last night we hung out outside for hours in front of a roaring fire in our fire pit, along with pumpkiny s'mores, new Mumford & Sons and Green Day music, great company, and spiked cider. I just love sitting outside with my favorite person, gazing out over our "new" hometown and enjoying each other's presence. SO LOVEY AND RIDICULOUS.

Wow, guys, this was SUPER BORING. I'm coming down off of a super tweaky Monster energy high and can barely get my thoughts in line...I hope you guys still love me.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Thoughts on Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 01:20:00 +0000

I am really, really excited it's fall.

...and I'm not going to wax nostalgic about how the crisp fall air reminds me of open carriage rides with my parents who then made us pumpkin-spiced tuna fruit tarts while we watched old episodes of "All in the Family."

No, instead I'm going to talk about how it's the one time of year where I find cold air acceptable and, indeed, preferable to the hot sunnery of summer. And also about butternut squash soup and hats and jackets and new television shows.

And especially fucking Pumpkin Butter from Trader Joe's. Which I have eaten plain obviously, on toast with cream cheese, and with a chocolate bar. AND TONIGHT WE ARE PUTTING IT ON S'MORES. Rob can thank me for that stroke of genius.

When people ask me what my favorite season is, I usually say summer. Because summer is awesome and sunny and awesome. But seasons are like music genres--summer is pop music, fun to listen to and dance to but mostly an indulgence. Fall is classic rock, like CCR or the Rolling Stones. Not always great for a night of wild partying, sure, but it's got soul and never fails to make you feel absolutely fucking awesome.

No, I don't care that I've said "awesome" about 70 times already in this post.

Spring is obviously easy listening, along the lines of Frank Sinatra. Winter, of course, is Christmas music until December 26th, after which it's mostly a 5-month long funeral dirge.

Pardon my tortured metaphor.

Anyway, there are few pleasures more...pleasurable? I guess?...than sitting on a patio, no bugs, cool air, a sunset, pumpkin-spiced s'mores, favorite person by my side, and a crackling fire. Or huddling inside with Robbie's woobie (Army poncho, so warm) drinking hot cocoa while a cold rain falls outside.

Fall, you can come to my house and into my bed any time.

Dog Stuff, Spiders, Netflix, and Other Randomness

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:00:00 +0000

I know this is such a blogging cliche, but does anyone else feel like this month is already going by at light speed?

This week has already been pretty full over here at chez Roblin. It's been so amazing having him home to run errands and make decisions (mostly pertaining to Cypress), and to act as eye-candy while I work at home.

We've been running into issues with Cypress and her daycare(s) lately, and yes, I'm about to write at length about where I choose to board my dog when we aren't home. Back in Maine she had an amazing facility that worked perfectly for her style of doggery and that had affordable daycare and overnight boarding. We assumed when we came to New Mexico she'd just as easily fit into a new place, but sadly we were wrong. The one facility that worked for us price-wise took a bit for her to get used to, and even when she finally did acclimate, we couldn't afford to actually board her there for longer visits ($25 a day for daycare, $65 a night for boarding! Welcome to fucking Santa Fe). We found a place that had cheaper boarding, but after going a few times Cypress started showing clear signs of anxiety even after she came home.

So this week we had to start all the hell over again with even more expensive places. You know what's funny about checking out new dog boarding facilities? You find that it's actually better to find people who can't communicate effectively with humans because chances are it means they're great with dogs.

CASE IN POINT

We were at the vet the other day (MORE CYPRESS STUFF) and I saw a massive spider web with a black widow in it on the outside of the waiting room window. I've been terrified of seeing one and I'm sort of convinced that there are several living underneath our cluttered bed. Since this one was on the other side of the window I could spend more time appreciating the beauty of it rather than hyperventilating and/or vomiting. If you'd like to appreciate the beauty of a black widow (or induce hyperventilation and/or phobia) click here and tell me how nice I am for not posting it here without warning you.

Also this week Netflix decided to take a turn for the awesome by adding Season 6 of "30 Rock," a SyFy miniseries called "The Tin Man," and the entire one season of "Freaks and Geeks." This all makes working from home even more awesome, especially because I pretty much finished up all the episodes of "X-Files" that really matter and I've seen every available episode of "30 Rock" at least 16 times.

Want to see something adorable? Cypress has dug herself a little "den" in our dirt-yard and every time we hang on the patio she lays down in it (always spinning around 3 times to scare away snakes first, of course).

Finally, Rob informed me that I forgot to share with you some out of context quotes we wrote down from our Grand Canyon trip:

"You should never assume you don't need to bring a machete."

"Holy Jesus on a stick!"

"I'm not drunk, I'm just drinking."

Have a lovely week, melon farmers!

Links Links Links

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The moral case for sex before marriage. I loved this article and it made me want to write a whole blog post about my feelings on the topic.

I am so happy that Sarah is blogging again.

The Baby-Sitters Club: Where Are They Now?

Can You Make it Through This Post without Wanting to be in Fifth Grade Again? (via Kaelah) - How did we not know how good we had it?

The teenager audio test. I could hear the sound, can you?

My dog: the paradox.

Disappearing mothers. (via Nova)

Since I'm trying out pole dancing, Sara recommended this news story to me - Pole Dancing for Jesus. I can't even.

The Broken Plate might be my new favorite Etsy shop. Anyone want to buy me some of those porcelain "brass" knuckles?

From my ma, a huge list of time wasters on the web. You're welcome!

The worst page on the internet. (via Tanya on Facebook)

The Khan Academy: Learn Almost Anything for Free (in particular Math, Economics, and History).

Have you ever wondered if Hogwarts is all in Harry's head?

A Cancer Patient's Best Friend. Heart = melted. (via my ma on Facebook)

Loved this SNL skit: G.O.B. Tampons.

11 Abandoned American Hospitals and Asylums "Open" for Exploration.

Our Weekend in the Grand Canyon (Yep, Lots of Photos)

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:12:00 +0000

Well, not in the Grand Canyon but nearby.

This past weekend we decided to make the 6-hour trek from Santa Fe to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Our original plan was to go to the North Rim, which is less developed and thus less crowded, but due to Amie's new work schedule we didn't really have the time to drive all the way up there since it's an extra 200 miles or so. This time around we had to settle for the more tourist-y side.

The drive down was actually pretty awesome. Rob's back has been a lot better in the car for some unknown reason so he's been able to drive without a ton of pain. Since driving causes an inappropriate level of stress for me, this works out really well for us. COMPROMISE. Also, driving 6 hours in the Southwest is so much easier than driving the same distance on the East Coast--the speed limit is 75 the entire way and the road is mostly straight--so the ride really wasn't as awful as I'd feared.

We got to the park and got our camping site all set up. We managed to find a "corner lot" so to speak so we had tons of room and were positioned far away from the old people in RVs, which meant we could talk loud and drink and listen to music without fear of bothering anyone else.

Soon afterward we drove to one of the scenic viewpoints so that Amie and Robbie could actually see the Canyon since neither of them had before. I know this probably makes me into a super nerd but I think I was actually more excited than I was the first time I saw it, just because I was anxious to see their reactions. We spent the rest of the day checking out the different spots, throwing rocks over the edge to see how long it took to hear them land, and doing a lot of general oohing and aahing. I took a lot of photos, too, as you can see (and the first photo of Amie is a great photographic portrayal of her initial reaction to the Canyon itself).

That night we had mac and cheese and hot dogs by the fire, and a few drinks of course. Pretty typical.

Also, I did a sexy dance, which Rob wanted to capture and I decided to share with you.

At around 9 or so we decided to go back to the rim and see how the Canyon was at night without the huge throngs of people cluttering everything up. It was seriously gorgeous and, dare I say, almost spiritual. I kept thinking about how crazy it is that the sun rises and sets on the Canyon every single fucking day without a single thought about whether I'm there staring slack-jawed at it or not. I felt so insignificant and in such awe of our world and my tiny place in it, and yes, even atheists can be rendered speechless by how beautiful nature can be.

As we stood there, I decided to play with my camera settings a bit and see what my camera could do taking photos at night. The pictures below were taken at this time (around 9pm on Saturday night) with no light whatsoever except an almost-full moon. I haven't made any changes to these editing-wise except for a little bit of brightening on the first one.

Crazy, huh? It looks like midday!

Anyway Rob wanted to make sure I added that he did, in fact, pee over the side of the Grand Canyon while I wasn't looking. He was pretty proud of himself.

We returned to the campsite and enjoyed the fire and each other's company. We got a little crazy with the photography settings.

We all slept very well snuggled in our sleeping bags, and in the morning Amie was kind enough to make us some amazing breakfast sandwiches to start our day. We went back to the Canyon to say goodbye and made our way back home.

So there you have it, a recap of my third time to the Grand Canyon. We really had so much fun as a trio and I'm hoping we can take a longer, less crowded trip at some point.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

What We've Been Up To (With Some Random Photos)

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:18:00 +0000

Can I just say how much I love periods when I feel super engaged with blogging? So much better than the periodic lows where I think I'd find it easier to cut off my own arm than come up with a decent blog post.

Our week has been pretty eventful. I'm slowly developing bronchitis, which I can thank Rob and his crew for, but happily it hasn't slowed us down too much. Stupid lungs.

Robbie's last day of work was Wednesday, which means NO MORE FUCKING FIRE SEASON and it's awesome. It's so nice having him home, and not worrying about when he's going to leave again. I feel like I distance myself a bit though--a nasty habit left over from...well, you know, all the other fucking times he's had jobs that have him away from home. We're quickly getting back into a routine, and soon we'll be in Ireland so you know.

After his last day of work we went out to celebrate the boys getting laid off for the winter. which was a lot of fun since I hadn't met most of them before. I'm always terrified that I'm making a complete idiot out of myself around new people, especially men for some reason. At the risk of sounding like a total party animal because let's face it, I totally am, I can't remember the last time I drank that much. Hotshots are a bad influence in the party department. Couple that with the burgeoning bronchitis and I felt pretty rough the next morning, but the boys got us thrown out of a Santa Fe bar on a weekday so I'd say it was worth it.

In other news, my friend Heather invited me to go to a pole dancing class this week and I am super fucking excited about it. I've never done anything like this before and if I can get over my fear of failing at everything instantly I think it'll be a lot of fun. SEXY SEXY FUN.

I literally just stared at the screen for like five minutes trying to figure out how to end this post, and that's just sad, so here it is. End.

Frequently Asked Questions: Celiac Disease

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000

For those of you who don't already know, I was diagnosed with celiac disease about 2 1/2 years ago. I get a lot of questions about it so I figured I'd share some of those questions (and my answers) here.

1. What is celiac disease?
Thanks for asking! Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the consumption of gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye) causes damage to the lining (villi) of the the upper intestine. Villi are finger-like extensions in the intestine that absorb nutrients, so without them people who have undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease are at risk for other nutritional deficiencies and related illnesses. There is no cure for celiac disease except to follow a very strict gluten-free diet.

2. How did you find out you had celiac disease?
I remember having stomach problems for years and finally brought it up to my doctor, who ran a full blood panel including celiac disease. The blood test was positive, so I had to go to a gastroenterologist to get my intestine checked through an endoscope. This test was also positive for celiac disease, so after a gluten-filled meal at Ruby Tuesday I started on a gluten-free diet.

3. How did you get celiac disease?
Typically you have a genetic predisposition to celiac disease--there's no gene for it per se, but the tendency is there and can be "turned on" by any number of factors. No one else in my family has celiac disease but I do have a genetic predisposition toward it; according to a DNA test Rob bought for me for my birthday, I had a 1.2% chance of developing celiac disease (in comparison to the average Northern European female's chances of 0.7%).

4. What can't you eat?
Pasta, bread, cookies, crackers and wheat cereals are the biggest, most recognizable ones. Some processed foods have "hidden" gluten so I've had to learn which names to watch out for.

5. What can you eat?
If it comes from the ground and isn't wheat, then I can eat it. Potatoes, rice, rice-based pasta, quinoa, fruits, vegetables, chocolate, and most candy with the exception of Twix, Kit Kat, or regular Milky Ways. All meats are okay assuming they haven't been treated with a wheat-based preservative (like some cured meats) or marinated in something containing flour to thicken it. I can eat French fries if they are cooked in clean frying medium without breaded items.

6. Can you eat white bread?
No. It's still bread. (side note: I get this question far more often than you'd imagine.)

7. What can you drink?
Most drinks are fine, including alcoholic ones. I can drink vodka as it's usually so far distilled that the gluten is at an undetectable level (at least that's what I've been told). I can't drink beer (though I never drank it before) or whiskey.

8. Is it hard to eat gluten-free?
No, at least once you get a lot of practice at it. And even if it was hard, I don't have much of a choice. There are lots of gluten-free "substitute" foods that have worked just fine for me, and it's forced me to be much more aware of what I'm putting into my body in general.

9. If I couldn't eat cookies/pizza/bread/pasta/crackers I'd kill myself.
Well if I had your face I'd kill myself. See how obnoxious that is? Celiac disease is not something I chose, it was something I was born with. I will never get rid of it and it's not that big a damn deal. I think that if a doctor told you that you could give up Oreos or put yourself at risk for cancer you'd probably make the same choice I did.

10. I have a family history of celiac disease/have celiac disease symptoms but I'd just rather not know.
That's absolutely your right as it is your body. One thing I want to clarify, however, is that celiac disease is not the same as a gluten intolerance. If you have a gluten intolerance, you can eat gluten without physically damaging your intestine. If you eat gluten and have celiac disease you put yourself at risk for infertility and miscarriages, colon cancer, rectal cancer, diabetes, anemia, nutritional deficiencies and early death from other causes. For me personally pizza, bread and other yummy bread-y things aren't worth any of that.

10. Can you eat at restaurants?
Yes, but I generally have to be very careful and know exactly which questions to ask to avoid cross-contamination with gluten-containing foods. The only times I've gotten sick from gluten after my diagnosis were at restaurants so I am very careful.

11. Does Rob eat gluten-free too?
Not completely. We don't make two dinners or anything so he does eat gluten-free meals, but we do have bread and cereal in the house and because of this take a lot of extra precautions. For example, we usually have separate jars of peanut butter, butter, cream cheese, etc. so that he can use them on his bread without worrying about getting bread crumbs on whatever I eat. We also have separate toasters for this reason. He's also learned to wipe down the counter/stove after making something and if he's using a condiment I use a lot to not touch it to his bread/tortilla so I can use it after him.

11. I'm gluten-free and I make all my own food which is so much better than gluten-free substitutes and ipso facto I am better than other gluten-free people who don't make their own food.
Congratulations, you have won the gluten-free people contest. I'm going to keep eating premade gluten-free substitutes because they are easy, I am healthy, and I don't have the time and ability to cook.

If you have any other questions for me or for my intestines, or if you are a gluten-free eater who has other questions you'd like to add, please feel free to share in the comments.

Freewriting about Life, with Pictures!

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000

I feel like I say this at least once a quarter, but I have been finding myself increasingly more limited by my inability to come up with interesting blog topics. I am positively itching to write every day but for some reason I come up empty every time I sit down to actually do the deed, so to speak. My general solution for this problem, as you guys know, is the wonderful act of freewriting.

Last weekend Robbie, Cypress and I went on a hike in the Santa Fe ski basin with Heather, her husband Seth, and their beastie, Bingley. The drive up was gorgeous--if I ignored the red rock I could actually imagine I was in Maine, or at least Pennsylvania. Turns out as you get higher shit just gets greener. The highlight of the trip was that we got to see the tiny bit of foliage in New Mexico that actually changes color, which is comprised almost entirely of aspens. It's hard for me to get too excited about it, since it's only one color rather than the myriad of fall colors you see in Maine, but it's better than staring at junipers all day hoping they'll magically turn into maples.

That last one is probably my favorite. It was really cute to see Robbie and Seth walk ahead with their beasts.

Heather took this photo of me, Robbie, and Bingley on our way down the mountain. I liked it so much that I made it my new Facebook timeline photo.

This weekend we're planning on taking Amie to the Grand Canyon to do a wee bit of sightseeing and maybe if Rob's up for it some light camping. If you missed my first Grand Canyon go-around, don't worry, I'll take about as many photos this time I'm sure. I think I'm most excited about seeing Amie's face when we actually get there; having only ever lived in Maine she hasn't really seen anything much like the beauty of the Southwest, and I'm pretty sure the Grand Canyon will totally blow her away. Rob will be pretty amazed too, but it'll come out more as, "Yeah, it's nice," so not as much payout on the whole anticipation thing.

Emotionally I've been feeling a bit off. I guess restless is the word. I talk to Rob about really wanting a second dog and I feel oddly passionate about it, even though I suspect it's largely because I'm bored and itchy and ready for something new now that he's home again. I feel like sometimes my mind reacts to things in ways I can't ever really predict or understand because it's all happening from my subconscious. Hopefully it'll fade soon because we have some pretty damn exciting things on the horizon (Ireland, mostly).

I've also been napping a lot, because I've been sleepy for some reason and let's face it, napping is awesome. Also Rob went to the dentist and was told that he is "blessed" with naturally great teeth. Except that his remaining bottom wisdom tooth is somehow wrapped around a nerve and has "hooks" on it, whatever the fuck that means, and I'm pretty sure he's an X-Man. OH THE MUNDANITY.

Hope you guys are having a wonderful week so far.

Links (Reprise)

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 20:35:00 +0000

Oil paintings on pennies. (via Liz)

A man experiences (a realistic simulation of) childbirth. (via my ma on Facebook)

A Love Story in 22 Pictures. This was absolutely beautiful, I totally teared up.

Some awesome Facebook Timeline cover photos. (via Cassandra)

How to explain different TV shows to different people.

Sad Impersonators.

How to tell if you're at a hipster wedding.

Lucille Bluth and Mitt Romney meet in this amazing Tumblr.

So dorky but I REALLY want to try this.

I shared this a year ago but it's great--a photography project called Created Equal.

Artist Takes Different Drug Every Day and Draws His Self-Portrait. (via Amie on Facebook)

Musicians' Portraits Made of Their Own CDs.

I kind of want this inspiration pad. Anyone want to buy it for me?

Awesome author quote posters.

Free eBooks.

Gross, Comfortable Love

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000

I'll go ahead and issue what the kids call a "trigger warning" here--if you don't like open, frank discussions about bodily functions it might behoove you to move on to the next blog in your reader right now. I promise I won't be hurt.

I read an article on xoJane a week or so ago entitled "How Gross Are You Around Your Significant Other" which is basically about exactly what you'd expect it to be about. I left a pretty honest comment about just how gross Rob and I are around each other and got a surprisingly high number of Disqus "likes," which by the way I think qualifies me for a Nobel Peace Prize, or something.

Anyway, some of the other comments showed me just how (apparently) strange it is for ladies to be full-on gross in front of their significant others. It surprised me because after almost 10 years together Rob and I are pretty damn open.

And since I have absolutely no shame, I figured I'd share the magic with you guys as well. I've already lost 3 followers this week so why not go for gold, right?

Here we are:

1. Rob and I have both peed the bed while the other was sleeping in it on two separate occasions. Mine was less forgivable because it was mostly due to drunkenness.

2. When Rob was in the Army I used to help him pop his foot blisters.

3. Before I got diagnosed with celiac disease I had some pretty awful stomach aches and some pretty terrible gas. Rob has experienced second-hand quite a few man-sized farts from me and somehow still wants to be married to me.

4. We both pee with the door open. Just happens that way.

5. Because my husband's choice in jobs, I have often hugged him while he is wearing clothes that have not been laundered in a month or more.

6. Also because of my husband's choice in jobs, he finds himself eating a lot of MREs, which means a pretty disgusting transition period to regular food when he comes home.

7. I was put on a new medication recently that caused me to have, erm, stomach issues. We had to run errands one day and I basically "wrecked" about 5 bathrooms around town. Then described it to him in detail.

Alright ladies, spill it. Just how gross are you around your significant other?

Patio Nights and Other Things

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000

So for those of you who haven't followed Rob's ridiculous trip home on Twitter or Facebook, suffice it to say he made it home around midday on Thursday and it was just magical. I'm always amazed at how easily we reacclimate to living together again no matter how long it's been since we last saw each other. Guess that's why I married the bastard, eh?

Anyway on Thursday night Rob, Amie and I all relaxed on the patio, listening to music and talking about anything and everything and having a few drinks together. It was nice to just be with my husband and enjoy his presence, something I've been unable to do for far too long now. We're so happy to finally get back to our version of normal.

I felt sort of "inspired" to take some photos while we were relaxing--none of Robbie because he hates having his picture taken, but just some neat detail shots of the different things we were looking at as we chatted and drank and laughed. I don't know if I emphasize enough how happy I am to have him home but let me tell you, I'm pretty damn happy.

Yesterday Rob and I went out to eat at our favorite restaurant for lunch and spent the day enjoying our time together in between my work. He has today off but has to go back tomorrow for a few days to clean everything up before the season ends. I can't wait until he's officially mine again.

We also made steak and corn last night for dinner. Jeezy creezy you guys, my dad taught me the perfect way to make a juicy, rare steak and I have been cooking the hell out of it. If you guys are interested I'll share it here because it is shockingly easy, far easier than any other way I've seen to cook a steak.

Well that's all that's going on right now. Life's back to normal and it feels great. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and forgive this rather random post.