#WeekendWarrior | + PCH PHOTOS

Our honeymoon earlier this month sparked something in Jonathan & I that had been put to rest with all the hubbub of the wedding, school, buying a new house, & all that life stuff.  What awakened within us both, was our intense sense of adventure, & a "Why aren't we doing this more often?!" outlook.

Honeymooning | THE PACIFIC YOST HIGHWAY

As we're not the average couple, our honeymoon was far from average.  Besides the fact that I actually conversed with my mom & friends via text on occasion (blasphemy!), we also decided to rent a campervan from Escape Campervans in Los Angeles & trek our way up Highway 1, aka the Pacific Coast Highway, now known as the Pacific Yost Highway - as that's our last name - see what we did there?

Monday's Memories | ROAD TRIPPING & THANKS GIVING

Giving thanks is something I try to do every day.  Incorporating gratitude into my daily life is essential for happiness & success.  I find that the more grateful, & the less competitive I am, the more I can be truly happy.  Happiness without being irked by little things like everyday comparisons.

Seeing so many people travel so often sometimes leads me to a jealousy I never knew I had.  For me, Thanksgiving means road tripping.  The past two years, the two I've spent with Jonathan, have been road trip Thanksgivings.

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Friday's Finds | WIT & DELIGHT

Throughout the week, I tend to collect stories, items, & little pieces of info that I find particularly delightful - sometimes witty.  I decided that on Friday's I'll share some of my favorites with the world.

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THE WRITTEN WORD | Passing Thoughts

SOURCE?

Is it any coincidence that every since article on MindBodyGreen's daily roundup for today was spot on something I needed to read?  I don't think that has ever happened before.  I also can't remember when I first began to lose interest in the fine art of writing my soul out.  That is what this blog was originally started for - way back when in the land of 2009.  An era of greatness amongst bloggers.  Those who started then, have grown into stardom - well, blogger stadom, anyway.  That isn't saying much, but it is saying that unlike myself, they are resilient.  What happened to my resilience, my tenacity, my will to move forward, to write every day no matter what stood in my way?

TUNES | Mountain Man

Aside from the great outdoors, I have many other passions - one of these being music.

For me, music serves as a soundtrack to my life.  I listen to a lot of folksy stuff like First Aid Kit, The Staves, Fleet Foxes, The Head & The Heart, Of Monsters & Men, Avett Brothers, & Bowerbirds - but I also like a lot of music that doesn't fit that genre.  I also love finding smaller, lesser known artists that have that little something.  This is what I'll be sharing here on Tuesdays - not the bands you know or the songs you love, but the little guys.  So, here's Mountain Man, harmonizing like the sirens of mythology.

Day Hike 1. | HORSE MEADOWS

Now that I've officially "come out" as a college drop out, I'll have plenty of time to get back into the outdoors world: hiking, camping, fishing, climbing, even doing yoga for maintenance.  Having a solid base of knowledge from doing this my entire life is helpful, but also having friends around that are interested in coming along with me makes this journey so much more fun than I'd ever think it could be.  

For my first hike since rebooting, my mom & I went on a short hike up to Horse Meadows from the South Fork Trail Head in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. This was an easy 3.2 mile hike, nearing & passing 7,000ft elevation.  Getting used to hiking at this altitude will be the best way to train since most of the hiking we do is past 7,000ft at some point.  

WELCOME TO 29 // "It opens at the close"

In three days I will have been 29 for almost a month now.  It's not 30, it's not 21, it's not 18.  There's nothing particularly special about turning 29 besides the fact that it will officially be my last year as a 20-something.  Another perspective is that Jonathan turned 33 today, happy birthday, Husband!  

Yesterday was a huge day for me as a semi-fresh 29 year old.  I made a HUGE life choice that will affect my future forever, & I couldn't be more happy, excited, pumped, filled with kinetic energy that is just aching to explode.  With this decision I have some big BIG plans, & some major life shifts that will make 29 a pretty epic year.  So, instead of looking back at 28, I've decided to move forward, plan well for now & forever, & to share what's going on.

"Mawage" // THAT JUST HAPPENED

10/11/14 - Jonathan Yost & I got married.  Yep, that just happened.  My fella because my mister.  

To document this splendid occasion on a perfect Autumnal Saturday in the mountains of Big Bear City, CA, our friend Casey Curry took these amazing photos. (Give his link a look - he's kind of a big deal).

 

NURTURED BY NATURE // "Said Destination"

THE BEGINNING // JUST DO IT

For the longest time I felt like I wasn't going anywhere, fast.  I was in a hurry for life, but didn't know why.  I was stuck in a rut.  But that is the past.  Instead of dwelling, like I have before.  Instead of writing out my concerns, my fears, my thoughts on where this should go - I'm just going to DO.

Nike's got some sense in that one.

Just do it.

FOOD, & THE BEGINNING

It's not that I hate myself when I eat bad foods, it's just that I get highly disappointed.  I'm supposed to be on some super last-month-till-the-wedding-detox or something.  This is what society has taught me, & for some damn reason, I believed them.

In opposition to this ideal, my body has gone on strike - gaining more weight than I ever have before.  I've lost my drive to work out, I've lost my energy.  I always used to work out at least some - at least yoga.  Now I seem to be trying harder than ever to put good food into my gullet, while not moving a damn muscle.

My Pinterest food board, "savory," is loaded with yummy recipes utilizing fresh ingredients.  So why on earth have I not taken advantage of this plethora of knowledge concerning the age-old question, "What's for dinner?"

Is it because I am no longer under the watchful, ever-concerned, never-tactful eyes of my mother?  Is there some part of me that is craving body-freedom?  Some part of me that wants full & complete independence from the hold I have on being "just like my mother."

ENGAGEMENT, SHOOT

These photos were taken months ago, in the heart of my last term at a junior college. I was inactive, overly-stressed, always tired, but filled with love & longing. I wanted so badly to be done with that school, to get ready for the wedding, to figure out what I was actually going to do with my life.  I was in a hurry for something, not knowing what it was.

THE THING ABOUT WRITING

Deep breaths, now - in & out, & out & in.  Repeat.  Smile.  Laugh.  Look presentable.  Be friendly, kind, honest, bearable.  Have charm, charisma.  Act like everything is going just fine because shit if it always is - or isn't.  Use proper grammar, spelling, syntax, alliteration, humor.  Write to an audience.  But fuck if I haven't already ruined that last rule with this entire mess.

You see, the thing about writing is - there is no right or wrong way.  Nobody is going to ever teach you how to write.  If you are an enchanting verbal story teller, you'll probably write one helluva novel with the help of some fine editors.  If you're great at details, maybe you'll create a land, a place for people to get away.  If facts are your thing, perhaps you should become a reporter, a columnist, a journalist - an honest one.

The thing about writing is that every time you try, you are making yourself better.  You're opening worlds of possibilities through fluid thoughts of words on paper (or screen), that fill peoples minds with more imagination than they could have ever thought - while simultaneously invoking an endless stream of imaginative powers.  While writing, you are tapping into a well of knowledge you never knew existed.  The words stream from your thoughts like a babbling brook - babbling, bubbling, blunder of the mind.

BEING OF LIGHT

Because in the end, it's not about what you major in.  It's about what you take from what you've learned.  It's about finding your infinity and making your passion your life.

In the end, it's about what you do with what you know.

You have to take the good, the bad, the outright boring, & turn it into something brilliant.  Because nobody else will.  You can't rely on anybody else to turn your thoughts into words, to turn your dreams into actions.

Right here, right now - at this very moment - you are infinite.

Because in the end, you better jump off that train.  You better wake up.  Otherwise, one day you'll realize that you've been riding a train that takes you nowhere.  Unless you jump off, unless you wake up, you'll be stuck in an endless cycle of the mundane.  Wake up.

This is the infinite lightness of being.

You are an infinite being of light.

HIKE LOCAL

My favorite local getaway is the San Bernardino National Forest.  The woods there are expansive, & it's close enough that I don't even have to jump on a freeway to get there from Redlands!  Fresh air always does me good, especially if I hadn't traveled anywhere for a while.  Road trips, even plane trips, & camping trips are my favorite - but a good old fashioned hike in the woods on the weekend will always rejuvenate me for week ahead.

Our favorite place to hike in the forest is on the South Fork Meadows trailhead.  For now, we've been doing short hikes to Horse Meadows - the first significant marker of a completed hike - but eventually my mom & I would like to get to where we can hike to the summit in a day!  I love taking the dogs with us, though - so for now we're sticking to the easy day hikes.  Turbo doesn't do very well with long lengths, but he won't stop pulling once he smells that we're heading back.  Gozer is like an energizer bunny & just LOVES to go for a hike, as you'll see ahead.

MUSIC MONDAY // FIRST AID KIT - STAY GOLD

It's a rare, yet beautiful mind that appreciates the soulful music of First Aid Kit.  I cannot tell you when I first began listening to these two Swedish sisters sing, & I'll never look back.  Poetic, philosophical, free-spirited, & cool, these two put the spirit of the West into the tonality of the North.  With dreamlike wonder, their newest album speaks to the vagabond in all of us.  I am so stoked to grab this one up on vinyl & play it on repeat!  Take a look at their trailer for Stay Gold, & check out some tour dates & Soundcloud snippets over at Pitchfork.



Growing up listening to a fair amount of classic rock & bluegrass, I came to love the likes of John Denver, Joni Mitchell, & even Bob Dylan - if not for his voice, for his poetry.  Music has always been such a strong driving force in my life - inspiring, soothing, hyping, & comforting.

Lately music has even stemmed a sort of artistic revival in me.  I've been writing more, trying to draw whenever I can, & even thinking of how I can make this blog something real again.  Enough pondering, it's time to DO this.

Welcome to my Boardwalk To Eden!