Month: July 2015

Who says you can’t go home?

This past weekend I made my first trek back ‘home’ to Ohio since I moved to Nashville.  Before I moved, one of my mentors told me that I shouldn’t go back to Ohio the first month after I moved.  I needed to acclimate to my new home-I needed to connect here.  I listened.  It was painful.  But I made it.  After week 6 I packed up Monster and made the drive to see my fur-mily…

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Remy…busted…
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Maia, the matriarch
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Ruger
Josie wasn't as happy to see me.
Josie wasn’t as happy to see me as I had hoped

‘Home’ for the rest of the Hoskright clan is currently Yellow Springs, OH.  In the nearly 7 years I’ve been with Michael, I haven’t done two things everyone who goes to Yellow Springs HAS TO DO-mini golf at Young’s, and see the actual yellow spring-this weekend we changed that.

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Young’s Jersey Dairy-Yellow Springs, OH

My last day in town we headed to Glen Helen Nature Preserve.  Voila, I give you the orange yellow spring.  Due to the iron content in the water, the rocks are stained a vivid orange/yellow hue.

The Yellow Spring-Glen Hellen Nature Preserve
The Yellow Spring-Glen Helen Nature Preserve

The Glen is beautiful, and I can’t believe I went so long without actually seeing it.  We ventured there right before I needed to head back to Nashville, so while I didn’t see much, what I did see was spectacular.

IMG_5427IMG_5419IMG_5425IMG_5429IMG_5421Afterwards we grabbed a little lunch snack at Current Cuisine, a cute deli/gourmet grocery in the heart of Yellow Springs.  It was the perfect end to a much too short trip home.

who doesn't like a little root beer from time to time
who doesn’t like a little root beer from time to time

Like all weekends, it wasn’t long enough.  6 weeks down, at least 46 more to go.

-K

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It’s July already, and I’ve been in Nashville for just under a month.  The hardest thing about being here by far is the fact that I’m away from my family and the rest of my fur-babies.  I’ve never lived alone, or in an apartment for that matter, so this has been a huge adjustment.  I have realized that I suck at grocery shopping, cooking for one person isn’t fun, and I really was the one who left all the cabinets open (sorry, Michael!).  Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and forget where I am.  Sometimes I come home and still expect my dogs to greet me at the door.  Now, it’s just me and Monster, holding down the [Nashville] fort.

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Monster in the city

This past weekend was the 4th of July.  Michael was able to come down from Ohio, America had a birthday, and we spent the long weekend exploring some of the great things this city has to offer.

Unfortunately, the weather didn’t exactly cooperate and we didn’t make it downtown for the fireworks, but Sunday was beautiful and we headed to Edwin Warner Park.  With this beautiful park only being a 30 minute drive from where I live, I will definitely be a frequent visitor.

We had no agenda, which was perfect.  We walked through the woods and up/down the hills (giant hills? mini-mountains? mini, forest-covered mountains? Tennessee, your terrain confuses me…) and just enjoyed being outside.  And it was gorgeous.

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And we’re off…
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These little guys are everywhere

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Doesn’t this look like it came straight out of FernGully?

The trail we followed was 2.5 miles.  It had rained beforehand so it was a little slippery, and given this wasn’t a planned excursion Michael didn’t have the best footwear, but we were both so glad we went.  We took our time and enjoyed our surroundings.  It was a great way to spend a few hours on a slow, lazy Sunday.

Oh, and apparently the secret to making a good ‘sangria’ is not really knowing what the hell you’re doing.  IMG_5228

I took a bottle of white wine (Yellowtail), poured it into a pitcher, and added: citrus (orange, lemon and lime-all sans peel and cut into pieces), 2 apples-diced, and a peach-diced. I let everything get friendly for 3 hours in the fridge, then removed the citrus because holy bitterness and added 3 Tbsp sugar.  When I was ready to serve, I added some club soda and a splash of cranberry.  I was happy.

All in all, it was a great weekend.  I wish it was longer but with Independence Day, the great outdoors and a little vino, you can’t really complain.

-K

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