Snow-Dragons

When we first moved to Maryland one of my most common questions to people was "Do we get snow in the winter?" I would get a range of answers to "Yes, feet of snow!" to "barley any snow." Last winter we went pretty much the entire season without a true snowfall (or what this Colorado-native would call a snowfall). So I will probably still be dreaming of a white Christmas, because it looks Mother Nature isn't going to provide one. I know Colorado just received some snow, but before you start saying "if you wanted a white Christmas move back to Colorado" (ha, caught you didn't I). I will kindly remind you that I had plenty of snow-less Christmases in Colorado. Especially growing up in the deserty-Grand Valley. But when it did snow, no matter how little we always made the best of it.

When we were little we would go sledding on the "sledding hill." I would usually be too scared to actually go down the hill until my brother, brother or cousin offered to ride down with me... and even then I was a little scared. But eventually the fear wore off and I would gleefully ride to the bottom and then hike back up the hill, over and over until finally I was either too tired or too cold to make the trip again. Of course as the years went by the sledding hill became smaller and smaller and soon we moved on to hooking up the sledding disk behind the four-wheeler. One of us would drive and the other would hold on for dear-life as we bounced over the ruts in the field. We would have snowball fights, make snow-angels and generally live in the cold, wet snow whenever it visited our farm. Eventually our Carhart overalls and coats, and gloves would become soaked completely through and we would trudge back into the house and line up the coats, gloves and boots in front of the heater to dry.

Because snow was a fleeting occurrence on the farm it always held a certain amount of magic for me. There is something almost mystical about walking out into a snowy night. It is so quiet and peaceful, leaving you with the feeling that just about anything could happen. When I was a little girl my Mother would tell me stories of Snow-Dragons as we walked along the roads. She would point to the hills of snow that built up in the fields and say "Look! There is a snow-dragon sleeping, we have to be very quiet so we don't wake him!" Of course this thrilled and terrified me as a child; I was always on the lookout for sleeping snow-dragons. Even as an adult I find myself spotting them in the snowy landscapes. Maybe we will be blessed with snow this year and I will spot some Maryland snow-dragons.

Family

I went home for Thanksgiving to see my family, friends and Colorado. I was able to go for a hike, play with my adorable nephews, talk with my sister and spend time with my parents. I also was able to spend a little time with an Uncle and his wife that I hardly knew as a child. It wasn't that they didn't want to be there, they just thought they weren't wanted there; and my Mom thought that they didn't want to be there. And thus they weren't there. It is a odd story of what they accepted, and what we as people accept, as a reality. There is a lot of "I thought", "I assumed", "they said" and "I never thought about it" in the story. I find it interesting that we as people so readily accept the reality people build us, instead of building our own. Regardless it was a joy to discover an Uncle and Aunt during my trip.

My sister, Grandma and I

My other joy was to spend some precious time with my beautiful Grandma. My Grandmother has Alzheimer's and is in the very late stages. She is currently living in a special Alzheimer's wing of a nursing home. She had a couple of exceptional days while I was there which was such a blessing. I also saw her on a couple of the bad days, but I wouldn't have traded them for the world. My Grandma has taught me a lot about life, and even through this horrible disease she has taught me more: focus on the positive. When we visited with my Grandma we were constantly telling the happiest stories we could think of; those stories were what allowed her to smile and laugh in between the tears.

No one is perfect, and no one's family is perfect; but when we focus on the positive everything is easier to accept and allows us to see the good in every experience, even the really hard ones.

One Year in Maryland

It is hard to believe we have lived in Maryland for a little over a year now. After surviving the humidity of the summer I can now say that I really do love this state. It has such a nice blend of everything: South & North, Rural & Urban, Hiking & Water Activities, Ocean & Land and Culture & History. I have learned a lot about different cultures and sub-cultures while living here. I have also learned a great deal about myself and my own perceived notions about other people and cultures. When I first moved here I was so intimated by all of the different types of people. I was so afraid I would upset them by something I would say or do. I have since learned that a smile is always universal and you will almost always  get a smile back in return. Compassion and kindness are such simple things to give, and yet people hold on to them as if they were of short supply. I believe in trying to be the change in the world. Opening the door for someone, helping them lift something, letting a car in traffic, etc: such small things and yet they create such a big ripple. That has been one of my favorite things about living here, seeing that ripple. My second favorite thing about living here is all of the hiking. The trails, even through the summer, remain fairly unused. I love hiking in Colorado but sometimes with the two dogs we spent more time on the side of the trail letting people pass then actually hiking. Here in Maryland we can let Bella and Wyatt off the leash and not worry about running into other people. Bella loves "playing wild dog" in the woods. She will slip into stealth-mode running through the trees and bushes looking for squirrels to terrify. Wyatt usually stays on the trail with us, however he is usually behind us basking in all of the smells. It is funny the places life takes you. I would have never thought I would fall in love with Maryland and yet after a year here I can say that it is true; Maryland is truly a hidden, misunderstood, gem of the United States.

Happy Birthday Bella!

The day we adopted Bella

It is hard to believe that today our Bella dog turns four.  She has been such a blessing to our little family; acting  as guardian, nanny, play-mate and loyal companion. When we  moved back to Colorado in 2008 we knew we wanted to get  another dog for a variety of reasons. First, was for a  play companion for Wyatt, who is 100% terrier with a ton  of energy. Second, was so we could get a bigger dog for  running, hiking and "big dog activities". We also knew we  wanted to adopt a dog. We visited Max Fund and couple of  other places. It was heartbreaking to see all of those  amazing dogs without families. We fell in love with a lot  of dogs but were extremely concerned for Wyatt's safety  since the majority of them were full grown and Wyatt is  only a 25 lbs. So we left with sad hearts thinking we  would never find a dog to adopt, that is until we stumbled  upon Life-Line Puppy rescue; which is a no-kill rescue  that saves puppies from all around the Mountain Region. We  were able to take Wyatt with us to meet the puppies. We  met a few puppies that took right to us but not to Wyatt;  which was a problem we wanted a puppy that would bond to  all of us. We were about to leave when Jeremy and Wyatt  spotted this little black puppy huddled in the corner with  a small little Daschund puppy. "We have to see her." And  the rest is kind of history. She snuggled right up to  Jeremy and I and most importantly to Wyatt as well.

These two have been inseparable

since the day they met.

We aren't sure exactly what happened to Bella in her first  11-12 weeks on this earth, but it left her a terrified  puppy. She was scared of everything. The first week she  refused to be anywhere but either by Wyatt's side or on my  lap. She was terrified of Jeremy, sudden movement, other  dogs and other people. We began to take her to a weekly  puppy socialization class. Asking people to pet her and  feed her treats. Telling them that it was okay if their  dogs tried to play with her, even if she acted like her  world might end. This training helped her to see what the  world wasn't a terrifying place that she was safe and that  she was bigger and stronger than she thought she was. As  she grew it was almost comical to see her "hide" behind  Wyatt; but eventually she learned to take cues from Wyatt  and she began to love being outside and going to the dog  parks.

Bella is on look-out 

duty in this picture.

Beautiful Bella

It took her about 2 weeks to realize that Jeremy was a  good guy. They have been best of friends ever since. We  jokingly call Bella "Officer Bella". She has taken on a  guardian role for me and Wyatt. She is always on alert,  always clears the apartment first, warns of suspicious  behavior (even when sometimes it isn't that suspicious)  and comes to Wyatt's aid when he needs her. When Jeremy is  home you can almost see her switch to off-duty. If you  could ask her Bella would probably say that she loves  "pack" adventures above any other regular adventure; these  adventures must include Wyatt, Jeremy and I and usually  involve hiking, swimming, ball chasing and more. You can  almost feel her enthusiasm on days that we are all  together. Can't say I blame her, our pack is pretty  special and Bella helps keep it that way.

Take me out to the ballgame...

We were able to catch our first Orioles game today. Camden Yards is a beautiful ballpark and we lucked out with nice weather. We also were able to get great seats we were in Row 3 on the first base side. It was a great day at the ballpark.

Baltimore Harbor

Babe Ruth Statue, he grew up in Baltimore.

Stadium

View from our seats!

Blackberries

Our daily hiking grounds surprised the dogs and I with blackberries! And lots of blackberries. Seriously they are everywhere on the trail. I don't pick them, I rather leave them for all of the furry, forest animals to eat. However, a lot of people do pick them. There is an older couple that braves the ticks and thorns all the way into the thicket to pick the berries. Each to their own I guess.

Blackberries!

You can't tell from the picture but this whole area is blackberry bush.

I remember stealing berries from my parents berry bush garden. I think we had 5-10 bushes, my favorite where the raspberries. My siblings and I were probably around 7 at the time. When you are 7 you think you are the sneakiest person ever to grace the earth... okay well I did anyways. The three of us would sneak in between the bushes and snack away on the berries. I remember my Dad would walk by (surely hearing us all giggle) and say "looks like the little bear cubs got into the berries again." So these blackberries along the trail can't help but to make me smile and remember those "little bear clubs" back in Colorado.

Chesapeake Bay

One of our favorite Pack Adventures is the visit to the Chesapeake Bay. There is a free little dog beach right  past the Bay Bridge. It is truly a treasure. It was one of  the first places we visited when we first moved here and  we stumbled upon it as it is kind of a "locals only" type  of spot. The dogs get to be off leash, swim and be their crazy selves. This summer the water has been nice for swimming... or has it?

San Francisco Bay (A) vs Chesapeake Bay (B)

First, a short introduction to the mightily Chesapeake Bay. The  Bay is almost 3 times the size of the San Francisco Bay,  and trust me it is hard to believe until you see it. It is  a nice mix of lake meets ocean. The salinity (salt  content) of the bay is a unique mix and thus makes the  perfect place for crabs and other creatures. In some parts  of the bay (for example our little beach) the water quite  shallow, almost waist deep for miles; making it perfect  for swimming, sailing, kayaking, wind-surfing and more.

Now to my confession. I am scared of fish, yes all fish.  Scared probably isn't the right word they just give me the  ibby-jibbies... creepy little non-mammals. I don't mind  seeing fish, I think they are actually quite beautiful but  touching them or being in the same water as them gives me  goose bumps (seriously I have goose bumps!) Well the Bay  happens to be home for quite a few creepy little critters  (can you call fish a critter?). Of course you have the  Maryland Blue Crabs, you also have something called  horseshoe crab. It looks like it came out of the Mesozoic  Era. They wash up on the beach right around October... and  our dogs LOVE them. Roll on them, eat them... EWE. In the  summer you have bait fish that wash up on shore. The dogs  find them a special delicacy. There is also washed up sea  weed which really feels like slime. Unfortunately, there  is also some trash. But that isn't all. On Monday Jeremy  went to the Bay and discovered it also holds Jellyfish.  Most of the Jellyfish will result in a minor sting, much  like a bee sting. However in the winter there are Lion  Mane jellyfish, and they can be deadly.

Washed up Horseshoe Crab

Stinger Jellyfish

Lion's Mane Jellyfish

So as you can imagine on most of our pack adventures I am  the ball-thrower or the ear-scratcher who happily stays on  the beach. Every once in the while I will summon up my  courage, close my eyes and go for a quick little dip...  but not for long. I can only deny reality for so long. All of this being said, it is hard to beat a day on the beach.

Where you can usually find me on our little beach.

The Conroys go to Washington DC

United States Capitol

Back in December Jeremy and I made our first trip down to DC. It has been one of many surreal trips that I have taken since moving to Maryland. I never thought I would visit Washington DC. It wasn't that I didn't want to visit it, it just wasn't high on my priority list and I figured I would never make it there. So after exiting the train station and walking a couple of blocks we saw our first glimpse of the United States Capitol; it was kind of a shock. "Oh we are really in DC." We walked the entire National Mall that day and saw pretty much all of the monuments, even though it was a cold day. My top two favorites, which if you know me shouldn't come as a surprise, were the Library of Congress buildings and the Roosevelt Monument. Of course the Lincoln Monument was amazing as well and the War Memorials definitely made you stop and think. The Korean War Memorial had me in tears. Being the Nation's Capital everything is beautiful. One other highlight of this trip was seeing the Declaration of Independence, we had a hard time finding where it was housed... but it was worth all of the effort to see the original. Since this trip we have been working on visiting the museums in detail. Though they are huge! It took us almost 4 hours to go through half of 1 floor of the National Museum of American History! Luckily the museums don't charge admission, we will definitely be visiting them again soon.

Korean War Memorial

To ceiling of one of the Library of Congress buildings

Lincoln Memorial

My guy with the Washington Monument in the background. 

White House

Roosevelt Memorial. This sculpture reminded us of
Wyatt so I had to get a picture with him.

San Diego!

In April my sister and I took a girl's weekend to San Diego. We had a blast! We visitied the Gas Lamp District the first night and had some super yummy Mexican food. Baltimore, much like most of the east coast, is a little bit of a Mexican food wasteland... so it was nice to have a taste of home.

 

mmmm... Mexican Food

My beautiful Sister being silly in the Gas Lamp District

  

The second day we went to SeaWorld. We watched pretty much all of the shows. Of course we saw the Orcas, Sea Lions and Dolphins (which by the way are much bigger than I thought they would be, kind of creepy)... but we also saw a Bulga Whale. It was like watching an angel in the water. Now I see why Sailors thought they were Mermaids, they are utterly enchanting (unlike the aforementioned Dolphins).

Beautiful Orca

Me waiting for the One Ocean show to start. 

Angelic Bulga Whale

The third day we went to the San Diego Zoo. EVERYONE says that you need two days to see it because it is soooo big. We saw all of it in a day. It was a nice zoo, but I like Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado better.

Entrance to San Diego Zoo

Secretary bird. He is 3ft tall... SO awesome!

Since the zoo didn't take a full day we had an extra day on our hands. So we went on a Harbor Tour in which we saw "real" sea lions, the Navy Base, a bunch of Navy ships (which we already know I nothing about, but they were cool) and more. We also toured USS Midway which is a retired air-craft carrier. Our Grandfather served in the Navy in WWII and he would have been in this type of ship. It was neat to see all of it and imagine what it would have been like to be him back when he served.

View of the Navy Base from the Harbor Tour, that is a Navy Patrol boat.

"Real" Sea Lions hanging out on the bait traps

Deck of the USS Midway

The Brig on the USS Midway. My Grandpa was quite the trouble
maker in his youth and ended up in the brig at least once.

Even though our feet hurt we still had some time left so we went to Balboa Park; which was beautiful and what I always envisioned California looking like.

Balboa Park

Very intricate architecture elements... breathtaking. 

To me, this is what I always assumed sunny California looked like.

In the end it was an AMAZING vacation and it was wonderful to spend it with my best-friend and sister!

Flying!

Back in April I had the opportunity to take a vacation with my Sister in San Diego, CA. We had a blast visiting the San Diego Zoo, Sea World and Balboa Park, I will have to write a separate post about that. As this post is dedicated to how I got there, FLYING!

When I was a little girl I was TERRIFIED of heights, and a long laundry list of other things. I would plead with my parents to not go over 16 road hill,  which is truly just a hill, as I knew my parents would  lose control and send us off the "edge" to our doom. I remember my telling my parents "two hands on the wheel...  TWO HANDS ON THE WHEEL!" I loved (still love) camping in the mountains but I am surprised my family didn't leave me on the roadside with my over-dramatic fear of crashing off  the edge. I can remember almost exactly when I overcame my fear of heights. Camp Red Cloud, eighth-grade, repelling.  I was terrified, we hiked up what seemed like a mountain and then were calmly told that we were going to repel down it. I am sure the instructors saw my terrified eyes searching for the quickest route to the trail and back to safety... and thus I was called to go first. Shaking and near-tears. I reluctantly hung myself over the edge and climbed over the lip. At first I was super tentative, then  I had to get over an indent in the cliff at which I had to  jump a little. This resulted in having me land face-first into the wall of the cliff. At first I thought I was going to die, right there hung up there like a Christmas ornament. But then the adrenaline kicked in and the rest of the repel went much too fast. I was hooked.

My plane! Yes, I was the crazy
lady taking pictures in the airport.

Since about that time I have wanted to fly, both literally and in a plane, but hadn't had the opportunity. Jeremy had always planned on flying with me. But that wasn't in the cards and thus I made my first trip solo. I was more than excited about the idea. I was also nervous I would miss the flight, but it turned out I was super early and had time to be bored and wander the BWI airport. I sat next to a lovely older couple who were flying to San Diego for a 2 week long Hawaiian cruise. The woman was originally from Russia; her first flight was more than 12 hours long. My first flight was 5 1/2 hours long and it felt like it would never end. We hit quite a bit of turbulence, flying over and through clouds. I was giddy staring out the window. Needless to say it was a fun experience. However it is true, the second time you fly (aka the flight home) doesn't hold the same novelty. Regardless it was wonderful to check flying off my list of things to do.

Sailabration!

Baltimore recently celebrated the war of 1812 bicentennial with their Sailabration! Did you know that the Star Spangled Banner was written at Fort McHenry right here in Baltimore? I sure didn’t until we moved here. Anyways, over 40 tall ships and Navy vessels converged in Baltimore along with the Blue Angels. Since I work downtown right off the water I had the privilege of seeing some of these ships sail into (and out) of the harbor and watching the Blue Angels practice for two days. However since they were giving free tours of active duty Navy ships from around the world we couldn’t help but make a special trip into Baltimore. I knew the city was packed, but we went on a Saturday and packed grew to overflowing.  Since part of my job is to market people to come to Baltimore I couldn't have been more thrilled. However on a much more selfish side, I couldn't have been more annoyed. I am not a people person, especially when you are in mobs of people. As Jeremy says "Put Teresa in a crowd of 10 or more people and she is guaranteed to get annoyed by someone." However my parents raised me right and I behaved myself and we made it to the Navy Ships. I’ll admit; I know nothing about ships... not a thing. So all I can really say is that they were big! And that it was neat to see the dressed ships with our servicemen and women in their bests. We visited a Destroyer and a carrier-type ship... not an air-craft carrier but it’s job is to carry more land type vehicles or something like that... yep you can tell I learned a lot. I was distracted a majority of the time by Blue Angels flying above us, they are more of my style. It was super exciting to watch the Blue Angels fly above the ships, while we were on the ships! Way to go Navy! All in all it was an exciting event and we were glad we got to be a part of it.

Brazilian Tall Ship. There were ships from
all over the world: Canada, Japan, Brazil  and more

The Blue Angels!

I think this is the carrier-type Navy ship

we toured... but I'm not sure.

Since I forgot our camera, these images courtesy of Star-Spangled 200, see more pics at  https://www.facebook.com/starspangled200

Making a mark on Baltimore

A view of  one of "my" sign in the Inner Harbor 

To my one reader, sorry for the delay in blog posts. The last couple of months have gone by so quickly that it feels like we just moved here to Maryland. After five months of freelancing, hiking, stressing and looking for a job. I was offered a position at Meyer Jabara Hotels as their Production Manager/Online Marketing Manager. Meyer Jabara Hotels is a hotel management company with 21 different properties. My responsibility is to design, manage, code and create any marketing (print, web, flash, email, outdoor, etc) for those 21 properties. I am their only designer and at times I really miss my NBM days of working with a team of other designers. But overall the job has been a blast.

MJ's has three Baltimore properties called Harbor Magic Hotels, because they don't have a parent brand, such as Hilton, associated to them I end up doing a lot of marketing for them. When I accepted the job I didn't really think that I would be doing any signage for the hotels. Turns out I was wrong. Thus if you happen to walk around the Inner Harbor or Fells Point you will see my signs. They aren’t the most exciting signs, but it is neat to think that they will be there years from now and that I created them and had them installed. Because MJ is a hotel group I work in a hotel, right in the back office. It is interesting to get a first-hand look at all of the moving pieces of a hotel. I am always afraid a guest will ask me a question or need service when I walk out of the back office, because at the end of the day I don't have any operation knowledge of the hotel. Thus far it has only happened once and the front desk quickly came to my rescue.

The hotel I work out of is the brick building on the right.

The hotel I work at right now is right in the middle of Baltimore's Fells Point. It sits right next to the Harbor. When it is foggy I can hear the Navy Ships’ fog horns. One of their perks is that they have a parking lot that we can use whenever we come into Baltimore. This saves a lot on parking and has helped us explore the city. One of my favorite things about my commute home is smelling the bread from the H&M bakery. It instantly comforts my soul and reminds me of all of the good, simply things in life.