Here, in the now

Posted on by JC Rizk

“The distance is nothing when one has a motive.”

Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice

Last week, I watched the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice {the only acceptable one to watch} as I was organizing. True, character Elizabeth Bennet is talking about actual distance in the quote above, but for me, I was energized by the thought of an organized house and I have exciting news! We finished organizing our clothes, kids’ toys, and books! Books are always emotional for me, but I am improving; I tend to borrow from the library and friends now, so I try to only purchase books that are my absolute favorites that I will reread.

Book for May, last book read, and current book!

Watching Pride and Prejudice this week inspired me in more ways than one; next month — my birth month — I am going to reread this classic! I still have my copy from when I was in high school. I fell in love with the story and with Jane Austen then: what humor and modern thinking for a woman in that time period. I also still have notes written in the margin I wrote back at the age of fifteen! I cannot wait to see what I wrote then and if any of my thoughts changed over the years. Happy birthday to me!

I meant to post this last week, but as you can see, I am back in the clutter of our home and life gets really distracting because there are what seem like a thousand items on my “to-do” list regarding organizing and simplifying our home. I am so excited to get my list done: once this happens, I will be able to relax and make more time for what I enjoy. Now, you may be thinking, ‘once you finish these projects, there will be more‘ and you are correct. However, if we can really live more simply, there will be less chaos in the house, and I will be able to focus, at that point, on just important daily events: time with family and friends, time to write, and time for self-care {reading, personal writing, trying new recipes for the family, exercise, meditation, etc.}.

This past weekend, I took a break from organizing since Hubby and I were in Colorado for several days {first trip away from the babies since Lulu was born!} to hike and see a concert at Red Rocks {absolutely amazing — more on this trip next post}. Now that we returned, I am continuing by posting more extraneous items for sale and rearranging our family room. It is amazingly fun to see my vision for the house come to life.

Hubby and I decided to do a week of salad dinners, since our weekend away was filled with fun, generous, and very filling eats. The salad pictured here is inspired by @nocrumbsleft and was absolutely delectable! Also, extremely easy, which I appreciate, since I put this together after we the kids went to bed. Continuously grateful for simple, healthy, and delicious meals.

Speaking of self care… in addition to trying something new for dinner this week, I finished The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman on the plane ride out to Colorado — can you say remarkable?! Loved it and will definitely review it in my book post at the end of the month. Cannot wait to talk about it! I just started The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley last night, but am already pretty enthralled with the characters, and only a handful of chapters into it so far. Will keep you up-to-date and maybe will even have time to finish before the month is over — is that too optimistic? We shall see!

What about you? What motivates you right now? I would love to hear from you!

Question: To ski, or not to ski?

Posted on by JC Rizk

Whoa! Two posts in one week? Unbelievable! As promised, I am back with information about where we skied and our thoughts on each resort. These reviews are from both my husband and me; bear that in mind when reading, because we have vastly different skiing abilities and viewpoints on the locations we skied.

A little background on both of us and our skiing abilities… I skied for the first time during college and then did not ski again until my husband took me, about three years ago. I’ve skied at Seven Springs in Pennsylvania, Jackson Hole {Wyoming}, and now at several resorts in Utah. I am not sure the exact number, but I have maybe a total of 15 days skiing under my belt. That is the extent of my resort knowledge: I love to view the scenery, take pictures along the way, and I am a green/blue slope skier {maybe a double blue on a good day, but only one or two runs of that a day}.

On the other hand, my husband grew up skiing in Vermont and probably could not begin to count the number of days he spent skiing. He can ski double blacks and back country and enjoys doing so, which is terrifying to me. He’s skied out West, East coast, Japan, and Europe — and loves to challenge himself with the toughest terrain! He is extremely experienced and it seems as easy as breathing to him.

Alta Ski Resort: Alta was the ski resort we skied most together. It is also where Hubby introduced Bird to her first skiing experience. Seeing their happiness when skiing together made my heart soar!

My Review: I thought that Alta was a good course for beginners. There were some areas, especially on the greens that were almost flat. However, there were plenty of places where my hubby could pop off into the woods and many harder slopes as well, but they seemed easier than some of the other mountains and I felt I could practice these slopes with confidence. My rating: ⛷⛷⛷⛷/5

Hubby Review: There was some of the best snow on this mountain that I’ve ever seen. Alta is a kinder mountain than Snowbird, with easier access to back country. Alta truly has a ski resort feel, although the jokes about snowboarders {snowboarders are not allowed} get old fast. ⛷⛷⛷⛷/5

Brighton Ski Resort: We only skied here once, on our last ski date together before leaving Utah. Unfortunately, as we began the day, Hubby realized that a pin was broken on his ski, so he had to tread lightly {my style}. That being said, we were here on a blue bird day and the views were phenomenal.

My Review: This was definitely a smaller resort and had a funky set up for the ski lifts, including one that you could only get to by skiing on flat land right next to the parking lot, but overall, was awesome! Again, this is a resort where I felt comfortable with the amount of space I had; I think these slopes (blue) were a bit harder, but I felt a lot of confidence with the room I had to go faster than I would have at other resorts. My review: ⛷⛷⛷⛷/5

Hubby Review: This is an old school ski resort with beautiful views. Brighton is on the smaller side, but a local hidden gem. ⛷⛷⛷/5

Deer Valley Ski Resort: This was by far our favorite resort in the area. The mountain itself was huge with tons of options for slopes to ski. The staff here was friendly and went out of their way to help with any questions you had or to provide their favorite slopes.

My Review: I think these slopes are probably on the easier side {greens/blues, as compared to some of the other resorts mentioned here} and I even felt comfortable skiing on some of the double blues. The views were gorgeous and the mountain was so large that no matter how many people you skied with, it felt spacious. ⛷⛷⛷⛷⛷/5

Hubby Review: Deer Valley is a groomer paradise with scenic skiing. This location has the quintessential upscale ski resort feel. ⛷⛷⛷⛷/5

Snowbird Ski Resort: Hubby skied here several times, and skied here previously. You can ski through this really neat tunnel in the mountain from Alta into Snowbird Mineral Basin area. The tunnel was really cool and showed the history of the people who built it and who first worked on the mountain. I only had one experience at Snowbird on a day that, despite the clarity in the first picture, had very low visibility. We went with our friends, visitors from back home, who are also avid skiers, and as a group, we had a lot of fun!

My Review: We skied here after a ton of powder dropped and there were a lot of people on the mountain. The slopes on this side of the mountain were definitely harder than at other resorts, plus Hubby accidentally sent us down a Black Diamond, which knocked the wind and confidence out of me a bit. Due to this experience, I would have to say this was my least favorite place to ski, but I know that Hubby really enjoys it and I would definitely try it again! ⛷⛷/5

Hubby Review: Snowbird is the place to push the limits, with advanced terrain and incredible snow. This is some of the most challenging skiing I ever attempted, but once completed it is truly rewarding. At Snowbird, you are surrounded by high level skiers and great views. ⛷⛷⛷⛷⛷/5

Solitude Ski Resort: No picture for this resort as only Hubby skied here with a friend of ours. Hubby says this is another hidden gem; it is a smaller resort with great back country and the next best thing to Little Cottonwood Canyon {where Snowbird and Alta ski resorts are located}. Rating: ⛷⛷⛷/5

Overall, we absolutely adored our time skiing in Utah, and our adventure in Utah in general. We will definitely return and check out these slopes, and maybe some news ones, in the future.

Where is your favorite place to travel? To ski?Stay tuned for more adventures and more thoughts du jour!

A little bit of this and that…

Posted on by JC Rizk

As promised, I am back to writing posts on a regular basis! I am feeling a bit scattered at the moment and I think this post reflects that, but I am all about being honest with my current status in real life, so here goes!

Flowers from a neighbor, iced mocha, and a quiet nap time to read outside — perfection!

I am excited to say that I finally finished The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel. I am sad to say this took me about two months for a book that is less than two hundred pages, but I struggled to focus on the material, because it seemed overwhelming at times. Over this past weekend, we began to see the start of amazing spring weather and I am glad I was able to take some time and literally smell the flowers. I sat outside on our bench during the kids’ nap time and knocked out a good portion of the book as well as soaking in the fresh air and sunshine. Currently, I am struggling to stay focused when I am indoors because our organization is in full swing and the chaos makes me feel chaotic. Does anyone else ever feel like that?

Our bedroom is full of clothes we are sorting, as well as baby items to sell — utter chaos! When watching the Netflix special Tidying Up with Marie Kondo everyone had their clothes organized within a week – a week?! Confused about how that gets done so quickly, but grateful that we are able to take our time. I am trying to get one area done at a time, as suggested in the reading and Netflix special, but I am waiting for Hubby to finish sorting his clothes, so I can fold everything and figure out where it all belongs. Until then, I am trying to make some time for self care, since I slipped up with that big time since we came back home. Too many projects for me to think about; a lot of things I can start, but not quite finish — chaos continues!

As mentioned back when we were in Utah, one goal for this year is to really push myself to make time for the things I enjoy and that help me relax: reading, yoga, running, cooking, writing, etc. So far that usually entails mama and baby play dates with the neighbors and their kids, which I absolutely love and it’s been divine to come back to my mama tribe! Now to make some individual time for the things I enjoy. I started this past week with doing some minimal meal planning, including the frittata pictured above. This is actually a Whole 30 recipe, which we are not doing at the moment, but I like to mix the recipes into our every day meal planning, because they are delicious. This one is extremely simple, too, which I always love!

Remember how I said it’s been a bit chaotic around here? Well, Bird’s birthday was about three weeks ago and I only just made her cupcakes this week! Even typing that makes me laugh — at least she is only two and does not know that this treat arrived late — she was just grateful for a cupcake. I love this recipe that I grabbed off Pinterest; Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Cream cheese icing. YUM! We made these last year for Bird’s birthday too and since then they became my favorite cupcake to make and devour. Thank you to Baker by Nature for this recipe!

Lots more to talk about, which means many more posts coming your way — next one should be about our skiing in Utah. I will do a book review post at the end of the month — good news! I’m starting a new fiction book today, so I should be able to read through that much quicker than my last and will hopefully have more than three books to write about for the past two months! I also just started ordering some clothes from StitchFix {since my wardrobe is pretty much non-existent after the Marie Kondo organization}. Working on finding clothes that I absolutely love and that bring me joy, so I will be posting about this experience soon too!

Until then, let me know, what would you like to hear about? Family? Organization? Books? Travel? Food? Something else? Would love your input!

Home, Sweet Home

Posted on by JC Rizk

Welcome, April! No, this is no April Fool’s joke, I am finally back to writing! Between the trip back to the east coast, trying to unpack, Bird turning two {as well as fighting a double ear infection}, and just trying to get settled back home, it’s been about three weeks since I last checked in. Never fear, I hope to write several posts this week, so stay tuned!

I am happy and relieved to say that we survived our journey back home. Our original plan was to drive from Utah to Florida, then home to Maryland after visiting the abuelos. The universe had other plans.

Day one, we woke up to several inches of snow on the ground in Utah and the weather called for snow along our route. ‘Okay,’ we thought, ‘no problem. We can drive in snow.’ The problem started in Wyoming, where we saw signs that Interstate 80 was closed and we could only make it as far as Rock Springs. Mind you, we saw this at a rest stop that was past Rock Springs, but quickly learned that we had to turn back. Our Google maps and Waze started acting wonky, not updating with road closures, so we quickly stopped at a local gas station and grabbed a physical map, to check our options. Really there was only one option that would take us from I-80 to Colorado, without returning all the way to Utah, assuming we could grab the southern route of I-70 or I-40 at that point. We found a route that I thought was a main road, which it may be, but was also a dirt road… covered in snow… with blowing wind and more snow. The road less traveled, right? There probably was amazing scenery along this deserted dirt road, but with the wind and snow, we could not take full advantage of said view. After an hour and a half, we finally found civilization again only to find out that both I-40 and I-70 were closed for the night. We found a hotel close to the exit and ordered ourselves some pizza.

The universe threw us another loop when my snuggle/bed buddy, Bird, began throwing up around 11 that night. This was her first real stomach sickness and I was ill-prepared; the sickness continued about every hour to half an hour throughout the night. After the second time changing the sheets {thank you to the kind and understanding hotel staff}, I was able to get her to the trash can, to her pleas of “No, phank you” because all she wanted to do was lay down and sleep. Talk about heart break! We took it easy the next morning, also known as Day Two, and by late morning, she kept down some nourishment and seemed herself again, albeit tired. We also learned that the roads were re-opening and we headed out!

Just outside Steamboat Springs, Colorado

We drove through Colorado, Kansas, and since the kids were absolute champs {not sleeping much during the night helped Bird sleep during the car ride}, we decided to go as far as we could, and got as far as Missouri… and then the stomach bug/food poisoning hit Hubby. We stopped at a hotel, around 3:30 in the morning, unpacked the bare essentials, transferred the kids into their beds, and caught a couple hours of sleep. We took it easy again this morning to figure out how Hubby would recover and let Bird run around in the yard outside the hotel. At this point, we felt the screaming urge to return home, not share a potential bug with the abuelos or extend our drive any longer, and get everyone as rested as possible. We made the call to head straight for Maryland, rather than detour to Florida.

We left in the late morning and this day, day three, we traveled until we arrived in Ohio. We then made the final trek home on day four and were grateful for relatively uneventful days! Despite my love of planning and all the research I previously completed to plan this drive, I ended up canceling every one of our hotel reservations. This trip was a terrific reminder that despite all the preparation, you never know what life has in store and to appreciate the journey.

Truck, trailer, killer sunset: Kansas

We luckily were all feeling better by the time we returned home; this was about two weeks ago now. Last week, we began unpacking, which is still ongoing to be honest. I have little motivation to put things “away” because part of me thinks that it is silly to unpack things only to roust them again so soon. Organization started this past weekend: we are trying the Marie Kondo KonMari organization method — I’ve been watching her Netflix special to encourage our progress! Despite the chaos of organizing and unpacking at the same time, we came home to a limited toy selection and my kids completely do not notice! This is lovely and reiterates my need for a reorganization of all our items, which is motivational as well.

Now that we are a bit more settled, I promise to write weekly and I plan to write a couple more posts this week to make up for the last few weeks. Keep tuned in for my next couple of posts: one will be about skiing in Utah {from both my perspective and Hubby’s} and one will be about our organization progress!

Are you in the process of Spring cleaning or organizing? Do you have any travel stories? Look forward to hearing from you!