life on the Left coAst
a pair of buckeyes head westWhat a Year It’s Been!
You may recall, you loyal few, that March 5 is a rather important day in the history of we, T & K, here on the left coast. Granted that, yes, it’s my birthday. Big whoop. More importantly, it’s the day that I proposed to Kristen! That’s right, nearly to the hour (give or take a few) this time last year, I was clutching on to that ring for dear life, just waiting to get going on that hike so I could get down on one knee and ask her already. My palms sweat just recalling those last few hours! Had I planned more accordingly, I would have also worn head gear (she hit me, but I’m past that – clearly), but all-in-all, it went just as planned. It was a beautiful day, a good hike and she – of all things – SAID YES!!! Woohoo! There were even passersby that caught a few photos for us. It’s true: I’m the luckiest.
And a LOT has happened in the last year. For starters, I have to say, engagement is pretty fun. You spend the first few months just wrapping your tongue around the words “my fiance” rather than “my girlfriend” and then once you’ve mastered that, you get into planning things you never once thought about (at least I hadn’t). For example, there are details such as linen colors on which you’re asked your opinion. Now, I consider myself a fairly creative, detail-oriented person. At least I used to. But that fact that I didn’t realize chairs go well beyond “they’re what you sit in” makes me feel rather … what’s the word … “stupid.” Yeah, that works: stupid. Trust me, I have received many a blank “seriously?” stare from Kristen these past few months. Luckily, she’s taken me in stride and with a smile and hasn’t openly questioned her sanity for loving me in my presence. If she’s voiced concerns to you, please keep this to yourself. I prefer the bliss of ignorance. There are other details I’m not mentioning because Kristen very wisely realized my capabilities and assigned tasks to me that she knew I could handle – like save-the-dates, invitation design and buying stamps. All jokes aside though, she’s doing a great job of handling all of this (and me) and I’m really looking forward to that day, just 149 days from now, when she’ll give me the second part to my birthday present: “I do.”
And from there, time quickly passes by like my 20′s as we look forward to many more years to come. I figure I’ve planned this pretty well so far. I’m already bald, so she knows what she’s going to be staring at in the years to come (plus or minus a few wrinkles), and I’m only one year away from what I predict to be a rather wicked bout of “oh shit, I’m 30!” that will probably last a couple weeks at minimum. Don’t worry – I won’t buy a red convertible and/or hair implants until I’m at least … I dunno … 35.
Sending warm thoughts from the west!
-The Birthday Boy/Luckiest Man on Earth-
The Travis & Kristen “Update Letter”
You know those really fun “what in the hell happened this year” update letters that you get from dutiful friends and loved ones you rarely talk to but still care very much about? You know the kind – they’re fun and comprehensive and they make you feel like a slug for a) not sending out holiday cards and b) not updating anyone outside of your immediate circle on what you’re actually doing with your life? Yeah, those. Well, I (Travis) decided that I’d take all of Alisha’s guilt-ridden facebook messages about not updating our blog at least once a month (who does that?!) and sum up 2009 like one of those holiday update letters. That oughta last us a solid month – maybe through mid-February, right? Okay, maybe not, but here it goes anyway. “My summation of 2009” by Travis Gates.
So as it turns out, 2009 was a pretty big year. I’m not really one to brag, but if you’re even remotely interested in what we’re up to, there’s some seriously news-worthy stuff that happened in 2009.
Let’s see then – what actually did happen in 2009?
Oh! Kristen got her Master of Art in Urban Planning after two years of very hard work at UCLA. Woot woot! Talk about your big achievements. The woman boggles my mind. And my mom (Nancy) retired from her teaching career at Perrysburg High School. Woot woot for Momma Gates, too! A very deserved and hard-earned retirement to say the least. So score one big one for both of those lovely ladies in 2009!
Then, of course there was the proposal on March 5. That’s significant for obvious reasons. There’s also the fact that she actually said yes. So score one for me in 2009. (I’m shooting for a repeat “yes/I do” in 2010 at the wedding, by the way, so I’ll keep you posted on that one.) And that rather large “yes” sparked quite the chain reaction of wedding planning, of which I’ve done very little other than offer up my opinion and watch Kristen make that little cartoon dust tornado around herself like the Tazmanian Devil as she has literally nailed down every loose end with a solid six months to spare.
In addition to our wedding planning, we also had the pleasure of being a part of several other weddings. Between the two of us, Kristen and I returned home to Ohio for four different weddings in 2009. Congratulations are owed to the new Mike & Libby Stark, Ryan & Lauren Dorff, CJ & Tara Szlag and Kristin & Mike Boland! May 2009 be the first year of a lifetime together!
Weddings and planning stuff aside, what else happened in 2009?
Oh – there’s work! How could I forget about work? Kristen made great progress at her job with the Hollywood Community Studio, including the grand opening of her office on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. And as she helped make the world a better place, I worked in the entertainment industry and tried to undo everything she worked so hard on. I kid. But sometimes it feels that way when you live with someone that does truly meaningful work. Again, I’m digressing. I was very fortunate to land a gig on a great show and worked the entire year on Dinosaur Train (currently airing on PBS Kids – please check it out).
Okay, so that buttoned up work.
There were a few “firsts” in 2009 for each of us as well (besides the whole engagement thing, of course). Kristen got her first taste at shooting a gun. And since that’s an experience she is in absolutely no rush to replicate, I guess I’ll be enjoying that hobby solo. But we both got into yoga a bit more, so that’s something we’ve been enjoying together. I also tried acupuncture for the first time and have been enjoying “qi highs” as of late (yes it’s legal). And while Kristen has been practicing on her new digital piano quite a bit, she gave me guitar lessons for my birthday. So I’ve been torturing the neighbors with that off and on since March. We’ve also gotten into camping more with a trip to the dessert a few months back and more in the works for 2010. Hikes around the LA area have also been part of our regular weekend routines as we’ve found some really great trails just minutes from our place. I also started doing “Crossfit” this year, which has been a wake-up call to every muscle I thought had disappeared in the last decade. All in all, it appears that we’ve taken some steps to be more active in the last year. So score another one there, right?! Let’s see … anything else that’s noteworthy?
I could completely digress into my “best and worst of” film critiques from 2009. Or I could provide you my running commentary on the decline of personal driving ability in the LA area. Book reviews? Music? Hm. I think I’ll avoid those endless pits of my opinion and end with this:
2009 was a great year. One for the books and blogs alike. Looking back, it was probably one of the greatest years I’ve enjoyed as my journey continues. But there are always things left undone and unseen and so, with that, we have another year ahead. Another decade, in fact. So here’s to making the most of 2010 having learned and experienced so much in 2009! Happy journeying everyone!
Chuckwalla!
One of the coolest parts of LA that many Angelinos conveniently tend to forget is that just outside of our city limits lies the total antithesis of LA. Clear air. Small towns (really small). Cows. Clear air.
We had the pleasure of joining our friends, Eric and Katie, and their friends, Ryan and Erin, on a camping trip in Anza-Borrego State Park this past weekend. Anza-Borrego is actually the largest state park in California (no small feat) and is home to more rocks than I could even fathom existed in the desert. Big rocks. Granite rocks. And aside from the rather jagged one that was lodged under my sleeping bag, we enjoyed every one of them.
Originally, I deemed the trip “Chuckwalla Hunt ‘09” because Chuckwalla are quite possibly the coolest-named desert creature ever. Check ‘em out – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuckwalla. I secretly wanted to find one and raise him (or her) as our own. We could even name it Charlie the Chuckwalla. Cool, right? But seeing as Kristen only sort of shared my enthusiasm for searching out lizards, I resolved to let it be a desert camping trip with friends. And that it was. Perfect solitude in clear, non-city air where the biggest challenge aside from rock hopping was which flavor of Dorito we were going to munch on. (Cool Ranch it is!)
Hopefully you’ve all had the chance to just “be” and enjoy some serenity of your own. If not, come on out to Anza-Borrego!
