Just Be

My sister sent me an article this week on tips for better sleep. There were a total of five reasons that may cause crappy sleep. However, of these five, I can really only remember two because the others didn't really apply to me. I don't have the article and can't find a link to it, otherwise I would have loved to share it with you.

The first tip that applied to me is avoiding spicy foods. Apparently, the spice can give you heartburn (which I've never, ever had) and cause your body temperature to rise. Um, I'm pretty sure my blood is 5% Cholula. I put it on everything. Salad, soup, cottage cheese, tortillas, sandwiches, eggs, you get the point. I'm still unclear how exactly this causing sleeping issues but avoid spicy foods?! HA!

The second is alcohol, or as the article wrote "The Nightcap". I think a nightcap is what I'm going to call every adult beverage I consume because it just makes it sound so refined and grown up. When someone comes over, regardless the time of day, I'll open the fridge, grab a beer and ask, "Nightcap?" Also, I wish there was a beer called "Highball" because ordering a highball is so much fun. The universe has banned me from drinking hard alcohol to protect myself and those around me that I know and love so I can never order a highball. I've just now decided nightcap and highball are two of my favorite words.

Nightcap?

I'm really getting off track with this. I promise there is a point to this post. Over the last three years, I have had problems with sleeping. I either have crazy, vivid dreams/nightmares or just wake up at some ungodly hour and stay awake while my mind races. There is rarely a night where I sleep the whole night through and when I do, I feel like doing cartwheels down the hallway on my way to the bathroom for my morning pee. (Did the visual make you laugh too?)

Last night was no exception. I woke up around 2:30 AM and my mind instantly fired up. I convinced myself I needed to move back to Utah. Everyone I love is there and living life without me. The mountains are cradling the city, almost protecting it. I miss that protection. I know what restaurants I love and what to order there, I know the best venues to see shows, I know what areas to avoid driving and at what times. I KNOW Salt Lake. I eventually drifted back to sleep until my alarm shook me awake this morning. My first thought this morning was my mind's adventures last night.

Am I moving back to Salt Lake? Not anytime soon. Eventually? Maybe. I'm visiting in May so maybe that will satisfy my craving. Why the hell can't I shake this whole not having a goal thing and just be? I am a week away from moving into my own little place on the eastside of Austin and out of Cedar Park. (Thank goddesses) I even got a FREE bike so that I can start attending the social rides and zip over to downtown whenever I feel like it. Heather, take this time of being single, having no obligations, and getting the opportunity to reinvent yourself into whatever you want while you have it! You are 28 years old and not getting any younger. JUST BE!

Something 'bout the country

I grew up in a small town in Eastern Utah surrounded by plateaus and cow pies. I lived on the Old Wellington Road. Twice a year I'd get woken up around 5 AM by a cropper dusting the corn field right across the road from the double wide I lived in. This sounds like a movie but it's my reality.

Growing up I was SO embarrassed that I lived in a double wide. I did all I could to prevent new people from knowing where I lived because I hated it so much. Even when I moved to the city, I never intended on bringing anyone home in fear of having to pull up to that house. I'm a literal red neck and I live in a double wide. Please shoot me now.  

Now that I'm older I have no reservations about what it was. We had a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs (regardless if they were a few sizes too big), and got to travel so much when we were kids.  If I were my Mom at my age I'd have an 8 year old, a 4 year old, and own my own business out of my house that I started and ran by myself. Wow. All I have is a 6 year old dog with a constipation problem. Thank you Mom! You rock.

Something that I've always thought was funny is that everyone always wanted to hang out at my house growing up. I could never understand why. I didn't have a trampoline, I didn't have the newest video game technology, I didn't have fancy things or clothes. I'm pretty sure my sister and I had more generic things than name brand. We even had the generic Aladdin movie which is even better than Disney's version. Suck it Walt. But for whatever reason, people flocked to our house. People have told me because it just felt like home which I can understand. My mom had a way of decorating things to where it just felt like...home. There really isn't another word. Hopefully I adopted that trait from her and my kids will have the same experience.

When I moved to the city, I thought I'd never look back. Never again would I have to slow down to 15 MPH to wait to get around a tractor taking up my side of the road. Never again would I have to worry that the biggest thing happening in town was the county fair or International Days. I was moving to the city and something big would be happening all the time!

Now that I've been gone for 8+ years, to be honest, I miss it. I don't miss the town I grew up in. I probably could never settle down there because of all the drama and gossip but another small town? Even the one where my grandparents still reside, I could see myself buying a house there and settling for a slower life style someday. Maybe not today, next year, or even the next 10 years but damn it, there's just something 'bout a small town. Boys are truly raised as men, people may be nosey but they're real, and the scenery is to die for. You can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl.