Year in Review

I began 2014 with a conversation with my landlord.  Went something like this....good morning.  Jonny will be in town tomorrow night.
Me, "Oh, that is good news.  I am sure that I will see you and Janelle then for drinks at some point."
Him, "I think so, too.  Have a great day and see you tomorrow."
At no point in the conversation did he mention that he planned on renovating his house which meant he would level mine.  I found that out at dinner, the next night, with Jonny.  I was shocked and my landlord goes, I told you this yesterday morning....no, I am pretty sure that I would have remembered that tidbit of information.  I saw him, drinking coffee, with me, doing laundry.  There was no wine involved.  And believe me, I would have remembered the I am going to level your house conversation had it happened.
Regardless. it was a sign that my time in AZ had ended.  That I should relocate and I had a few options in mind.  Bend, Oregon; Paso Robles, California or Santa Fe.  Bend would be much closer to two of my sisters and has a vibrant vibe and an awesome craft beer scene.  Plus, I knew a few people that lived there that could potentially help me with employment.  Paso Robles is wine country which I love.  I love that it is smaller than Napa and not as elitist.  However, the cost of living is challenging there and I didn't have a person that I could lean on for employment or rental places.  Santa Fe has amazing restaurants and I had visited, frequently, while living in Denver.  I have a friend, Melody, that I have known since 2003 or 04.  
Everything led to Santa Fe--job, casita, close proximity to Denver.  I moved and have experienced the loveliness of small town life for the past 8 months.   I love the food factor and will continue to do that.  I think I live on breakfast burritos (or try to) and green chile.  Absolutely love green chile.  Still it is small and I have griped about that and the lack of yoga in Santa Fe.  Today, was another example of crappy music and how agitated I get.  However, today when I left the class after the instructor played the hare krishna cover of Royals, I ran into the owner of the studio.  She asked me if I had left due to it being too much.  Keep in mind--I wasn't sweating or red faced.  I told her the truth.  That I hated the song selection and the current song made me crazy.  She seemed surprised that I would leave because of that.  If only she knew how much the song selection affects everyone.  I am just tired of attempting to tune it out.  If the class sucks, I am no longer forcing myself to finish it.
I digress.  It's been an interesting year of starting over and adjusting.  I think I enjoy the start over factor immensely.  I like it and then appreciate visiting previous cities and spending time with friends I made while in that particular city.  I have recognized how much I had while living in AZ in the past 8 months too.  I miss my family there.  Thankfully, I managed two quick trips to visit friends in July and then, again, in December.
Quickly, I started 2014 by heading to Denver in January.  I felt a trip to see the Goddess and Sara Jo was a necessity.  February brought a trip to Santa Fe where I met my future manager and explored the foodie factor with Shari and Melody.  Of course, we soaked at Ojo, too.
I drove to Santa Fe twice in April before relocating there.  Sara Jo met me one of trips to help me find a rental property.  She truly is the apartment whisperer.  Two of my favorite rentals have been found by her.
May was mostly spent here trying to figure out the town and maneuver the job.  I road tripped it to Denver three weeks later to see friends and do yoga.  Already at that point, I knew I wasn't in love with the yoga scene here.  In July, I met Sara Jo, Lindsay and Sara's friend to run the Napa Half marathon.  Amazing destination race.  The weather was ideal and who doesn't love Napa/Sonoma?  A few weeks later, I flew to Phoenix for more yoga and a reminder of how hot it is in August.  I saw a few friends and started thinking about yoga certification for myself.
August/September I lived, breathed, slept work.  That was the only option inspite of the fact that I was dreaming of a trip.  I booked my trip to the Bahamas for October and chose to celebrate my birthday that way this year.  It was amazing.  I managed to enjoy another country as well.
In November, I drove to Denver to see friends.  I miss that but being in Santa Fe means I am about 5 hours from Denver.  I can get my fix in a few days trip.  It snowed which I was not in love with.  But, I managed to enjoy some amazing food, go to Izba and hit one yoga class.  I was lame in that department.
December I chose to fly to AZ, solely for the purpose of doing yoga.  By this point, I was struggling in Santa Fe and in desperate need of a vinyasa fix.  I wish I could express to people here how wonderful the yoga community in Phoenix is.  Or that the reason I enjoy listening to hip hop while doing vinyasa flow is that the movement is tied to the beat of the music.  Listening to folk music or cover music (think smashing pumpkins cover of landslide) is not inspiring when doing a flow class.  It leads to agitation for many people.  Not just me.  I guess the best thing to come out of this experience is that I am ready to get certified, stop complaining and do it myself.  There have been a few days where I have chosen to practice at my house instead of being angry in a class where the music is super lame.
So, I moved, started over, reestablished ties to Denver and Phoenix and traveled abroad.  It's been an epic year.  I am excited for 2015 and what it will bring.  More celebration, food and wine (obviously).  I will recall the food factor of 2014 hopefully tomorrow. It's been lovely.