Brandon's Birthday Blind Date

Near the beginning of our relationship, we started doing what we called "blind dates", where one person is blindfolded and the other gets to drag along the blindfolded one for a random adventure. Katie is especially good at these, both because she is super awesome and considerate as well as the fact she seems to have an endless supply of West Michigan insider information.. aka her former patients. And as you might expect, this year for my birthday she did not disappoint. She took me to Traverse City.

After just a little bit of headache due to 131
North being completely shut down, we arrived
at our first destination in Traverse City,
Right Brain Brewery.

I sorta guessed we were coming here once I
deduced we were heading up to Traverse City.
But it was still exciting.

Upon arrival we got a flight and a delicious
sandwich made with waffles instead of bread.

But then the real surprise of the day was that I
got to fulfill the bucket list item of getting my hair cut
at the Salon Saloon which is attached to the brewery.

The reason this is so special is because you're
allowed to bring in a drink while you get your hair cut.

Sporting my new fancy hair cut.

Next stop was The Filling Station.
A railroad themed pub put in an old train station.

They had a good variety of styles to try.

We tried the triple IPA and the bourbon porter.

Hanging out on a dock afterwards with my cool wife.

Here's the lake the dock overlooked.

We then drove up to the Leelanau State Park
which is at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula.

We explored the park a bit.

Lake Michigan

She is the coolest.

We also camped there. So we
 made a fire to cook dinner.

A view of both the old and the new light houses.

My best attempt at a pose from one our
favorite movies, Moonrise Kingdom.

Katie's "Moonrise Kingdom" pose.

"This is our land..."

The next morning during breakfast we
met a very friendly chipmunk. We
named him "Chocolate".

So friendly he basically wandered right up
to me and let me feed him a piece of
my banana.

And then on our way back home we
stopped by Traverse City's Moomer's Creamery
for some ice cream for lunch.

And that was my awesome birthday blind date. So all that to say, Katie is the best! Thanks mi amor for being so fantastic and making my birthday so special.

So how does it feel to be on sabbatical? --An Update

In June, I blogged about how it feels to be on sabbatical. I had only been on sabbatical for a few days at that point, so I promised an update at a later date. This is it. 

I still relish all the things about sabbatical that I mentioned in the previous post; they have still not grown old and usual for me. So, no I have not started to miss work, I do not fear or have any guilt that I may be using my time unwisely, and I have not become bored. 

I am far from bored. In fact, I am surprised at how quickly the time has passed and how busy I have been thus far. How is it already July? By this time, I would have expected Brandon and I to have binge watched an entire TV show or have become beach bums or at least had some more relaxed days. But, we've actually been busy. Very busy. 

Why have we been so busy? Looking back, I've realized that we've stayed busy even on sabbatical because of all the friends we have. Awesome friends. We've been to three weddings (two out of three required road trips), attended an out-of-town birthday party, went up North with friends for a weekend, hosted friends for some weekends, and have scheduled countless lunch and dinner dates over the past few weeks. Being on sabbatical makes ALL these activities and relationships possible. That's invaluable and a big part of what this sabbatical is about. 

And, I've realized that I've been able to do the other things I want too. In just one day, I hiked in Saugatuck Dunes, had lunch with a friend, worked on my banjo skills, prepped dinner for the next night, and went rock climbing that evening. And, I probably wondered where the day had gone. But, looking back, that's five major events! When I was working I would have had to choose just one of those activities! 

So, even if it's busy, it's a good busy, and it's on our terms...it's stuff we want to do. Would I have really wanted to binge watch a TV show or become a beach bum? No. That's not really my personality. I have a hard time sitting down (just ask Brandon). But, I do want balance in my life. 

Currently, for me, I think this sabbatical is going to be about finding balance that I can hopefully carry with me after this sabbatical is over. I don't know what's next for me and Brandon, but I hope to find a balance between work and play, activity and relaxation, and alone time and relationship-building time. 

So, those are my thoughts about a month and a half into sabbatical. I'll update again with more thoughts when they come! 

The End Is Here...

My beard and I had a lot of good times together, but since the sabbatical has started, it was time to say goodbye and move onto a new beard. Here are some pictures of some fun I had shaving it off along the way.

Just a bit of the mustache trimmed. I know
 it doesn't look like I did much, but hey,
this is scary... baby steps.

Starting to notice a bit more missing yet?

I just don't even know...
just because I could I guess.

The aftermath of such silliness.

Katie's contribution to the shave. But she
really did not like that mustache...

... so it was the next thing to go. 

And that's how I went out in public to go rock climbing.
(hence the shirt change)
But the shave must go on!

A little off the side.

And now a lot off the side.
Think I could pull this off as an everyday look?

I like to think of this as my beard "waving" one last goodbye.
And now the final stretch.

Shorter...

... and shorter...

... thinner...

... and thinner...

... until finally...

... it was gone.
The end is here. Sad day.

Katie and I are both sad to see the beard go, probably Katie even more than me. She now calls me "comic book Brandon". But hopefully I can get past this awkward beardless stage quickly. Here's to year full of beard-filled adventure! 

Cheers

The End Is Near...

As promised, I finally cut the beard off in honor of the start of our sabbatical so that I can grow it out again over the course of this next year. It was a sad, sad day. But before I did, my beard and I had one last bit of fun together before the departure.

One last jump on the trampoline together.

One last flip together.

One last smell of the flowers together.

One last snack together.

One last bit of mischief together.

Just kidding... or am I?...

And that was that. To see the shave, continue on to the next post. 

Katie's Happy Birthday

I love my birthday. I love that it's in the summer. I love that it's near the 4th of July. I love that it's a day that's just mine. I love that my husband feels compelled to treat me even more special than usual. I love that it's the start of a new year for me (Sorry, New Years. You mean little to me). I love that my husband is older and has already made it thru this new age, so it must be do-able. I hope that I always love my birthday and that I never despair of getting a year older like so many do. 

Yesterday was my birthday, which as you know from the above paragraph is special in itself. But, this year, it was even more special, because it was a sabbatical birthday! Unlike, my husband who's work thoughtfully spoils him by giving him the day off for his birthday, I have had to work on my birthday. Being on sabbatical, however, I had the day off! 

The day started off with me sleeping in as long as my body wanted. I always wake up hungry, so Brandon and I walked to my favorite breakfast place, The Biscuit. It is my favorite because we can walk to it from our house and because nearly everything on the menu is amazing. I try to get a new dish each time I go and I have only been disappointed once. As it was my birthday, Brandon let me pick food for myself and him, so I could try two things I wanted! I, of course, chose two sugary options, which he kindly helped me devour, even though he is more in favor of savory breakfasts. 

We let our stomachs rest after our walk home by lying on the couch and finishing Dollhouse, the TV show we've been working our way through for the past few months. After a good rest, we ran to the field near our house and practiced some soccer moves til we were good and sweaty. Brandon then made a delicious lunch/dinner for me of BLT sandwiches with his specialty candied bacon. And, as if that wasn't enough, he agreed to play Scrabble with me (which means he was agreeing to lose)! 

I can't sit still for long, so I then suggested another athletic outing. I had heard of a chain ferry in Saugatuck that you can take across the river and had been really wanting to try it. Even better, was that the ferry stopped near Mount Baldhead. I had been to Mount Baldhead before with my friend, Christie, and I felt Brandon too should experience the 282 steps to the top. And, since it was my birthday, he couldn't say "no" to the experience. So, we payed the dollar fare for the ferry and crossed the river in less than 5 minutes, which was every bit as fun as I had hoped. We then proceeded to go up all 282 steps...without stopping...not bad for a 28 year old and nearly 30 year old! We enjoyed what view we could through the heavily leaved trees and then took all the steps down again and returned to the ferry for the return trip into Saugatuck. It was great fun, and Brandon had fun too, he just can't admit to it. 

 On the Saugatuck Chain Ferry

Very excited about this adventure!  

 We made it up all 282 steps to the top of Mount Baldhead! 

282 steps

We ended the day by going to Salt of the Earth in Fennville. This is one of our favorite, special occasion restaurants. The farm to table food is so flavorful and filling that we never have room for dessert. So, we decided we should go once just for dessert, nothing else. Last night, we tried their famous homemade s'more which deviates from the traditional s'more, but preserves the key components. Think graham cracker cake with chocolate pudding sauce, smokey salted caramel sauce, and topped with a giant slab of homemade marshmallow--all toasted in a brick oven. It was a grand, sugar-filled experience and Brandon was happy the dessert was fork friendly in order to avoid a mustache-beard-marshmallow catastrophe. 

Giant, fancy homemade s'more

So, all that, in addition to several super nice birthday cards, calls, texts, and facebook messages was my 28th birthday! A very happy birthday, indeed!