Sunny And 98F

This day has been kind of nuts. I'm sipping my "doppio" right now at Satellite on Montgomery. I really want to come up with a clever nick-name for Satellite that makes fun of it for being exactly like Starbucks. Seriously, it's a total rip off, but I'm down to support the kinda local chain. Goodness, the sizes are "Tall", "Grande" and "Mucho Grande". They pulled me some good shots though. I'm okay with that. 

So it's week two back home. I feel like my head is somewhere else. I'm in the clouds. Reality hasn't settled. I'm not Zo. I don't have any free time. I don't feel alive. I feel like i'm in a blur. I know I'm just adjusting...again. I'm ready this time though. I'm ready to be a Burqe(enya)o again. Or am I a Santa Fean? I think I'm just a New Mexican. Although, I may be Indian, or Mediterranean, or maybe Middle Eastern. I'm not sure. I'm a bit confusing. 

The coffee shop is hard work. It's has been fun leaning though. We're learning all sorts of things...life lessons. It's great. I really hope our product is top notch. I want to learn how to pull the perfect shot on our machine. Today some crazy guy came in for a cup of coffee. He said he collapsed in the street last night and almost had a heart attack. I don't think coffee is a good choice for him. We're ready to be in our groove. We don't have much money now, we aren't making much money right now, but I'm optimistic. I think we'll be okay. I'm moonlighting now delivering pizza pies for Papa John's, and Lindsey is considering a job at the moment as well. I told her she should be a server at Buffalo Wild Wings... I was j/k though. Ha!

 

Bean Sync

I wish I could find my data cable for my camera. We have a bunch of great photos that we've taken in the past week or so. Moving back to Albuquerque has been a bit stressful, but nothing we can't handle. We don't have our own place yet. At the moment we are staying with Steve and Sue, Lindsey's parents. I am so grateful for their hospitality while we try to get on our feet again. We are starting this new project of a coffee shop. We are so excited to see the opportunity of our creativity and love of coffee come to life. We are working hard on things, and I imagine that we will have to continue to work hard before we see any benefit. We are working out of an already existing deli, so right now we are focusing on rearranging things to be coffee shop friendly. Today we are going to Savers and Thrift Town to see if we see any comfy vintage chairs. We want our space to be inviting and warm...  We want people to hang out and surf the internet. I'm really excited to see where this road takes us.

For the rest of our day we have a few plans. I suggested we head up to the top of the mountain (Sandia Peak) and just hang out for a sec and check out the scenery and enjoy the cool weather...but that's up in the air. (lol) We also want to hang out with Lindsey's brother Ryan and watch Book of Eli. Maybe he'll even let us take a dip in his apartment pool. 

I'm so grateful for the weather we have had too. It's been fairly warm during the day. A few days we even had some higher humidity readings. (Lindsey and I were like, "I thought we left Missouri?") But the humidity dropped and now it's really pleasant. At night it's been cooling off to a nice temperature. I love the relief we get at night in Albuquerque...

So I'm excited about today. I wish I could post some photos in this blog.  I'll dig though some boxes and find our camera cable soon. Now I'm going to stop typing.

PBR and Missouri Heat

Right now it's 91F with a heat index of 99F. Moberly is mega hot right now, and I don't mean spring break MTV '99 hot, I mean... Whatever. It's hot. This morning a young child was mowing our lawn on a giant Missouri grass cutting machine. I've never seen such a small human operating such a large machine. I guess that's how they do it here in Missouri though. It was kind of nuts. I took a picture of him and his buddy doing landscaping work. I wonder how much they were getting paid?

So yeah, this was interesting. I told you he was a small kid!

But we're almost out of Missouri. It's been a mega long lonely 7 months for me. I'm surrounded by people everywhere and only one person went out of his way to include me...Justin. Thank you Justin, you Buffalo man. You're awesome! Missouri, Missouri, Missouri...I'm numb to you. I'm on my way back to my land. Lol. The land of Zohan. Burque Town. Down that I-40 road, I'll be there. I can't wait to hike those mountains! I'm going to take thousands of photos and never take NM for granted ever again.

... So we're packing. All of our stuff is in boxes by our door waiting to be hauled out into the Uhaul trailer.

My brothers Ramon and Juan are coming up with two of their friends to help us get back home. Oh and Floofer is helping us out too! Here he is all tired...

Here's another weird thing; Michelle our landlord has been showing our apartment to people while we're still here. It's cool with us I guess, but it's just supper wierd. Today a mother and her two children came in and started examinging our apartment. They were looking in our closet and checking out our bathroom. It was weird. All Michelle does is call us and leaves a voicemail then she comes and shows the apartment. Strange... Well, I'm going to get back to my PBR and my conversation about Panama with my lovely Lindsey. I hope we get some crazy weather before we leave, but no Tornados. Well, maybe a tornado, but not one that destroys our town or our stuff.

Si Señor, CoMo No

Oh money's a funny thing! haha! Well, it's not funny, but it's fun to track. Every week at Starbucks I get a percentage of the tips we receive. This is what I made here at my stay at the Starbucks on 9th & Elm in Columbia, MO. I decided to graph it and find the average and total amount that I made in tips.  It's a really low amount and it probably barely paid for my gas to and from Columbia from Moberly. It helped though!  Click on the screen shot to see a higher resolution image... But seriously, who cares anyway?

Show Me...Thunderstorms!!

Today was my last day opening at the Starbucks. I can't say I'm going to miss waking up at 4am and driving 35 miles. And although I am extremely tired right now, I am content in my day. I am drinking a cup of Starbucks VIA that I did not pay for and I'm thinking about what I want to make for dinner. I might make some rice...I am cooking some black eyed peas right now. I'm not sure. This month has been difficult financially. One would think that on two incomes Lindsey and I could live okay in Moberly, MO. I mean I though so. When somebody mentions mid-Missouri you don't think about the ridiculously high cost of living. Nope. It's not expensive to live out here... So why do we have no money? I think it may be our poor decisions. Whatever. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I just know we need to learn how to manage our money.

Stress...

Life doesn't always have to be stressful. This month could very easily become overwhelming. We have to come up with a bit of money. We are already behind. We are moving at the end of this month back to Albuquerque. There's good news though. We'll be close to our families again. I'm thankful for Missouri. Oh it was an experience. I can't even develop an opinion right now about Missouri. It's something else. There is a lot of beauty in this state.

It's so weird, there are yucca plants everywhere in Columbia. They are all in full bloom too. When I drive down Ridgeline on my way home I see dozens of them in full bloom. It's like those plants were placed there as a reminder...well not really. I think maybe people on the Santa Fe Trail may have brought with them seeds from the yucca plant and tales of magical adventures and lowriders. Umm..maybe just enchiladas recipes and yucca seeds. I don't know. But there are a lot of yucca plants in Columbia.

I'm excited to get back home. Missouri has forced me to appreciate home more. I'm happy for that. I'm also happy for the people I've met here. The Bales, The Pentlands, The Starbucks. They are all blessings in my life. People who I have taught me things in the past six months.

I want to do so many things when I get back home. I want to be more active in life. I want to go to a show at least once a week. I want to spend a good portion of my day outdoors. I want to start a Netflix account and watch tons of movies. ...I want to check out Mars Hill church. Oh and snowboarding. I'm going snowboarding this winter. I'm going to Taos. I don't want to get one of those new New Mexico plates. At first I thought they were cool, but after I saw them on cars I think they're lame. My opinion may change.

Mmmm...the gravy calls, Missouri. I love you...

Some Song

This is a song by Relient K that I really like.

"Yesterday was not quite what it could've been As were most of all the days before. But I swear today with every breath I'm breathing in. I'll be trying to make it so much more// Cause it seems I get so hung up on. The history of what's gone wrong. That the hope of a new day is sometimes hards to see. But I'm finally catching on to it. Yeah the past is just a conduit. And the light there at the end is where I'll be// Cause I'm on the up and up. I'm on the up and up. And I haven't given up. Given up on what. I know I'm capable of. Yeah I'm on the up and up. Yeah there's nothing left to prove. Cause I'm just trying to be. A
better version of me. For you// To be prosperous would not require much of me. You see, contentment is all that it entails. To be content with were I am, and getting where I need to be. And moving past the past where I have failed // For you never cease to supply. Me with what I need for a good life. So when I'm down I'll hold my head up high. Cause you're the reason why, yeah you're why"


http://www.google.com/search?q=relient+k+up+and+up&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a

NM, MO...

I would really like to have a Marble IPA right now. I can't though. So I'm just going to think about NM. I'm really excited to see all of my friends in NM. I'm going to be there soon. It seems like I was gone forever, but I was only gone for six months. Missouri has shown me its beauty while I've been here though. Missouri is green. It's really green. Grass just grows, and I knew that before I moved here. I know sprinklers are uncommon here. Thunderstorms are powerful here. Thunderstorms are powerful in New Mexico too, but they aren't as common. Sometimes I wonder what Albuquerque and New Mexico would be like if we received 10-20 more inches of rain each year. Grass would be green on the way from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. Some of the ugliest parts of New Mexico would be quite nice. Places like Belen would be a bit nicer. The Rio Grande would be a mighty flowing river. The Sandia's would be even greener and more lush than they already are. I think if New Mexico received 20 more inches of rain per year then the population would be double what it is now. I don't know why I think about these things, it's pointless. New Mexico is what it is. I don't think a climate change will happen for New Mexico in my life time. I could just imagine Missouri if it received 20 inches less rain than it gets now. It seems like it would be a much worse off place than New Mexico is now. So I guess I don't feel so bad. I can't wait to get home though. It's going to be nice to see some mountains.