Norteño polka with a side of honey

If you're 35 and married but childless, apparently it's a good time to take up new hobbies. Here's what's filled my free time in the last few months:

New hobby #1: Learning to play the accordion
Last Christmas I asked Bret for an accordion. Thinking that it'd be something I could save to learn one day when I retire, I figured it would fit well into the lineup of my other hobbies that have a tendency to be taken up by old people (read: quilting).

It was a hair-brained idea and I never thought there'd actually be any follow through. But in true Husband-of-the-Year fashion, Bret busted out some mad gifting skills and found one on sale in Fort Collins. One "sick" day off from work turned into a secret purchase that became my massive Christmas surprise.

BEHOLD: my vintage Italian-made Camerano 120-button piano accordion with mother of pearl inlays and original leather shoulder straps. Ain't she a beaut?!

It's the best Christmas gift I've received in recent memory. And probably ever for that matter. 

[The vodka we drank in celebration was also pretty good.]

I thought it'd be easy to find lessons locally but turns out that not a whole lot of people know how/have any interest in learning to play the accordion. Instead I've turned to a teach yourself accordion lesson book that I got at Guitar Center and resort to finding weird stuff on Google Play Music for inspiration.

Right now I can play a pretty rockin' version of "Kum-bay-ya" and "Michael Row the Boat Ashore." Next up is learning how to play "C'mon Eileen" and "White Wedding"...you're welcome in advance ;)

Accordion fun facts that I've learned in the meantime:

• Pretty much every continent has adapted the accordion into existing cultural music traditions.
• It's a reed instrument!
• The buttons on the left hand are called standard bass buttons and are arranged in a circle of fifths. A single button plays a chord.
• You can get pretty buff playing the accordion. Mine weighs about 35lbs so these wimpy shoulders appreciate the workout!

New hobby #2: Becoming a backyard beekeeper

Back in 2012 when I was living in San Francisco I bought a Groupon to go to an urban beekeeping workshop. Not sure what possessed me to do that -- apparently it's the "cool" thing to do nowadays -- and obviously I didn't learn jack. From what I do remember it did solidify in my brain that: a) bees are pretty friggin' cool and b) there are plenty of opportunities to raise them no matter where you live.

Now that I got a home of my own, a blank canvas for a backyard, and live in a town that encourages apiary hobbyists, I've decided to start a hive this summer. $400 and tons of library books later, I'm ready to pick up my "nuc" (a small starter nucleus of bees that's been created from an existing hive) next week. Let the games begin!

In case you're wondering, here's what goes into starting backyard beekeeping as a hobby:

Step 1: Cut a hole in a box.
[Just kidding. Hey, I had to work in a reference to that song]

Step 1a: Read up on what it takes to keep bees.
Apparently there's a whole sub-culture out there of beekeepers and tons of resources. I've joined the Southeast Wyoming Beekeepers Association and plan to do the Beginner Beekeeping meetings for the summer.

Step 2: Figure out if you can afford it.
No joke, I've already spent $425 and counting on getting things set up. Just $75 on materials to build my own hive -- it would've been upwards of $300 if the hive building workshop organizer hadn't donated a crapload of materials. Plus $150 for the moon suit, veil, gloves, smoker, pellets, frames, and more. The nuc itself set me back $200.

Check out this exceptionally well-constructed Langstroth bee mansion!

Step 3: Make sure it's legal where you live.
Cheyenne is remarkably easygoing about keeping bees in city limits. You can have up to 5 hives per person per household. And unlike the backyard chickens ordinance, you don't have to ask your neighbors for permission!

My apiary registration is on this map here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=11syvafHgjSsV8Hxc2ocCfGf-uG0&ll=41.14796409225097%2C-104.82537299011233&z=14

Step 4: Finish the goddamn greenhouse already and get on with the backyard landscaping so the bees have a proper place to set up shop.
Yes, it's been over a year that we've worked on the greenhouse. And no, we haven't planted anything yet. But we're. So. Close! And the bees will have their own spot under the cottonwood where it's nice and shaded.

Bret should be proud. This is one solid year-round greenhouse.

That's all for now. More updates on apiary and musical adventures to come!

Tensleep’s Crafty Cure for the Travel Weary

(Link to original post here)

I should preface this by saying that an in-depth description of the travels leading up to this adventure in Ten Sleep will come at a later time. For now, let’s cut to the chase:

Ten Sleep Brewing Company really knows how to a brew a good beer.

Wondering how I arrived at that conclusion?

Let’s just say that yes, just like thousands of hipsters from the Front Range, I’m a BIG fan of craft beer (sans the hipster part). I’m a REALLY BIG fan of craft beer. So much so that I can add three consecutive Great American Beer Festivals to my list of “Cool Beer Events that I’ve Been To (and You Probably Haven’t).”

Needless to say, it’s always been my imbibement of choice and I go out of my way to check out a new establishment when I’m going about my travels. Luckily I’ve got friends who are of the same craft beer persuasion.

You can imagine that this was just the case just after a backpacking trip in the Bighorn Mountains over the Fourth of July weekend.


Nothing beats a beer unless you get bull balls to go with it. We’re SO happy we’re off the mountain in this picture!

All we could think about during the 40+ mile trip was how good a beer would taste after we were done. Around every bend on the trail we would mention something like, “Dang, it sure would be nice to sip on a tasty brew after we’re done hiking,” or later in the evening, “If only we had a cold one to go with this campfire…”

The cravings got bad. Really bad — even to the point where we were brainstorming how to manufacture a lightweight beer so that backpackers could pack it into the back country (read: Alka-Seltzer and freeze-dried beer crystals, mayhaps? I digress…).

Anyway, by the time we got off the mountain we were more than ready for a cold brew. Enter: Ten Sleep Brewing Company! Holy cow, was this place a sight for sore eyes. We quickly commandeered a spot at a picnic table under some Russian olive trees. The spot was shaded, our moods were good, and the pitchers were cheap.



Since we happened to arrive there during a big climbing festival (Ten Sleep is pretty popular for avid climbers), there was a hefty crowd inside the barn-turned-brewery. Having A/C would’ve been great but sitting outside was fine by us.



Couldn’t have asked for a more satisfying couple of hours of beer bliss before hitting the road back to Cheyenne. If you get a chance to stop by Ten Sleep, I highly recommend making a stop at this brewery!

Where the Wild West runs rampant

If you’ve ever wondered if time travel is possible, look no further. Buffalo, Wyoming holds a secret key to the past that only the wayward traveler gets to experience. This town is where the Wild West runs rampant — you can feel yourself step back in time the minute you step foot on Main Street.

To get there, be sure not to blink too fast while driving past it on I-25 because you just might miss it. It seems to be quite content resting in the shadow of its ritzier, big sister city Sheridan, Wyoming (just 36 miles to the north). The wide open spaces in front of and behind you will surely make you think you’re in the middle of nowhere. But that’s just the thing — you’re not in the middle of nowhere. You’re right at the base of the Bighorn Mountains and you have access to some of the best outdoor recreation in the entire state of Wyoming.

Buffalo’s “off-the-beaten-track” allure keeps the “on-the-beaten track” tourists at bay. It makes more room for those of us who want room to breathe and a whole new kind of experience that you can only find in Wyoming. I'm just fine keeping it that way.

Our most recent stay in Buffalo was a Friday night layover before embarking on a backpacking trip to Cloud Peak Wilderness. We wanted to show our out-of-towner friends from California what quintessential Wyoming is like without all the touristy hullaballoo. Boy, did we deliver.

The real coup-de-grace of our time in Buffalo was enjoying the evening at the Occidental Hotel and Saloon. Forget the Old West you’ve come to know from Hollywood. This was a remnant of the real thing.

I bet in the Old Timey days people drank just as much whiskey as these two.

I wish I could say we stayed at the hotel but alas, summer is peak season so the prices were astronomical. Instead, we made our way to the saloon portion of the Occidental and put a pretty good dent in our trip budget with a helluva bar tab. But it was worth it.

My favorite thing about the Occidental (other than the lady bartender who's just as drunk as her patrons) is that the whole thing is fully restored to its Old West glory. Walking through the front doors is like being transported back in time — you can almost hear the player piano and smell the whiskey in the air. There are even gunshot holes still in the walls from the days when the West really was “wild.”

Aside from the booze, the best part of our visit to the saloon was the the Bittercreek Band. These guys play every Friday and Saturday night and are every bit as good as a professional band from Nashville. There’s never a cover and you can drink/eat yourself into a coma if you really want. And the local residents really know how to dance so it's worth the watching.

People know how to get down and boogie in Buffalo.

All in all, the experience was a good reminder as to why we ditched the hullaballo of California for the down home goodness of Wyoming. I look forward to heading back to beautiful Buffalo again someday. Maybe next time we can get a taste of the “Bordello” room at the hotel and cap it off with a T-bone steak at the Virginian.

If music be the food of love, play on

I've started my hand at writing for a local travel blog with the intent of it lighting a fire under my ass to write more for this one. Not sure how long I'll keep up with it but we shall see! So if you notice a slight change in tone to some of these posts, don't worry. I may add back in some of the flair (read: expletives) from my usual style of writing. For now, here goes contribution #1 that was published on the Wyoming In Motion web magazine a few days ago...


With a well-established live music scene just south of us in Colorado, Wyoming is starting to develop its own brand of music for those in search of something fresh and markedly different. There are several well-trafficked events throughout the summer (see Wyoming Public Radio's 2017 lineup here). There is so much music to choose from and so few weekends to fit them all in, so this year I'll have the fortune of sampling from some of the state's lesser known festivals. I'm setting up in hopes of getting up-close and personal to some amazing artists from near and far -- and hopefully right in our backyard.


The Roaming Buffalo Music Festival in Casper (coming up August 12-13) is one of my targets this year. Bret and I stumbled across the inaugural festival in 2015 on a whim. After hearing that some of our favorite musicians were playing there, we packed up the car and the dogs last minute and ventured up to Casper to see just how easy it would be to crash a two-day music festival. We were surprised to find that the Roaming Buffalo was way more accessible than we had thought. It has a strong draw of talented musicians from a wide spectrum of genres including bluegrass, folk and americana. Moreover, it was easy to get to, the acoustics were great, and we ended up having such a great time that we vowed to go back if they decided to keep it going.

This year I'm happy to report that the emerging music scene is alive and well in the heart of Wyoming. Just like what we found in 2015, Casper is popping with new kinds of music venues. If you're tired of the usual 80's cover band in some dingy dive bar you can be rest assured there are pretty neat options off the beaten path in Casper.

One such place is the Keg and Cork, an Irish pub in East Casper. From the looks of it you wouldn't think they'd be a good venue for live music. Surprisingly, there's an entire outdoor stage setup in the back complete with two-level seating.

In June the Keg and Cork hosted a heckuva lineup as a "teaser" for this year's upcoming Roaming Buffalo Music Festival. We were drawn there to see the headliner who is a musician that came out to play at the festival in 2015 and absolutely killed it. (check out Joseph Huber. He's originally from Milwaukee who was first branded as "insurgent underground country and bluegrass" but has eventually evolved to have a sound unique and all his own. He usually plays throughout the country for pretty affordable ticket prices.)

It was a great show. Not only were we able to see Joseph Huber perform for free, we were easily able to get front row seats to enjoy the view. The Keg and Cork has a pretty widely ranged menu lined to the brim with the full spectrum of food, beer, wine, whiskey and cocktails. Needless to say, we ended the night fat and happy (the Moscow mules are robust as they come -- I highly recommend them as long as you're ok putting your driver's license down as a deposit for the copper mug). All in all, it was a great Friday night and I'm looking forward to more music later this summer...

Home is where the endless source of projects is

Oh bliggity blog, I haven't forgotten about you! There's a multitude of mental notes for topics and perspectives that I've come up with over the last year and a half. I even sat down and drafted a half-baked post sometime last May, but I never got around to publishing it. That's not to say there isn't much to talk about though. More appropriately, where do I begin?!

The last time I wrote on this blog it was about acquiring things, material and immaterial alike. The biggest acquisition since then has been a spouse. Now that life has settled down quite a bit, I'm feeling at ease with the ball-and-chain known as "Mr. Beth." It's been a very welcome transition to married life and I feel solidly at home being at his side as his wife.

Well, he sure cleaned up nicely! <3

Nowadays, things have taken a different turn. The big stuff of late is mainly focused on the purchase and fixing-up of our first home -- a darling Craftsman-style abode built in 1921 and located in the Lakeside District near downtown Cheyenne. Conveniently, it's smack-dab between a hospital and a cemetery, so rest assured you don't have to travel far if you're feeling sick or are on your way to go greet God. Take your pick!

Over the last year it's been fun navigating through the trenches of home ownership. Maybe it's more appropriate to refer to it as an endless supply of home projects -- ones that you wish you could pay someone to do for you but since you have a tight budget and things aren't going to ease up anytime soon, you end up just doing it yourself. 

Luckily my other half has considerable expertise in carpentry so he really pulls his weight in getting stuff done efficiently and getting it done right. I love him for that! I, on the other hand, am not a fan of big DIY projects unless there's some sort of aesthetics-improving component to it. Don't ask me to fix something unless I can sit back and say "yeah, that was worth the all trouble after all because I can actually see the results." 

So when we re-did the hardwood floors ourselves before fully moving in, it was a great lesson on how important it is to not cut corners because you'll be so glad you did things right when you're finished. This was probably only the second time the floors have ever been redone since the house was built (!). Needless to say, we found a plethora of nasty s&*% stuck in between the walls and floorboards. But man, oh man, did it feel nice to see the sparkle of the floors once all was said and done.

 

There's only one way those floors were gonna get sanded, and I sure as hell wasn't going to take charge of it!

Oh, the things you find hidden between the floorboards...like pennies and hair ties and years of pet hair/dust accumulation.

But all-in-all, I do absolutely love those shiny (like-)new floors! And so does Mattie :) 

I promise this blog won't turn into a DIY home renovations site. I do have to share one more fun tidbit to share that came from a house project: when we were painting our walls, we also uncovered a lot of history about this house. Like the terrible drywall job in the dining room (don't ask). And also the original wallpaper that was buried deep below layers -- and years -- of paint in the master bedroom: 

The vintage pattern is so cool!

How neat would it be to somehow go back in time and see what the house was originally like when it was first inhabited almost 100 years ago?! What kind of decorations did they have? How did they handle the cold winters with those drafty, old-timey windows? What was the kitchen like before refrigerators were invented? How often did they have to stoke the boiler with coal over the course of a day?

Either way, there have been plenty of owners over the years and I'm sure each one of them loved this house just as much (or more) as we do. Oh, the stories they could tell!  But for now we at least have bits and pieces of their stories hidden underneath the layers inside this house that we now call "home." I'm excited to see what else will be in store as we start to tackle other things. For now, it's been really fun!

On the acquisition of "things"

It's been 8 months since I last wrote something. My how things have changed!

The old proverb "a rolling stone gathers no moss" has particular poignancy here. Over the last few years I've written about -- what I can now call in retrospect -- incidents of incredible growth and soul searching...plus a lot of moving around. Literally.

Now I can proudly say that the journey that I set out on is complete. Well, more in the sense that now I plan to stay put in one place for a bit, so that concept of "home" is a little more concrete. That journey hasn't actually ended though. It's just begun!

This time there are a few more things that were acquired along the way.

The first? Well, one obvious item of note would be a partner in crime. For life. Some would call it a fiancé but the pretentiousness of that word doesn't quite apply to Bret nor to me (if you know us, you'd agree). It's not because of the implied "transitional-term-for-a-committed-relationship-that's-now-to-become-a-life-sentence" sort of thing. No way! It's the fact that nothing comes close to describing this beautiful journey that started out solo and happened to wind up with that needle in a haystack of a person who somehow, unexpectedly, appreciates all the good, bad and ugly of who I am, no questions asked. It's sooooo good. And I had no idea it'd be this fun.

Who couldn't love this spazoid?

Another thing acquired? A job. A dream job, actually. There really are such things. Yes, it really does take hard work and patience and knowing the right people at the right time. I did it and I'm so thankful for all of the muck and uncertainty in between because it made it all worth it. To quote a previous rambling from a few years past, "It's not the destination but the journey... right?"

What else has been acquired? Things. Like, I mean, actual, physical, paid-for things. For so long I've been a big proponent of purging one's life of clothes, knick-knacks, books, furniture, leases, anything that's representative of the things that tie you down. A lot of people in their 20s would agree with that, I think. But now that a job and partner and place to call home are more defined (hello, 30s!), all of a sudden I find that these "things" aren't actually all that bad. They're just a function of where you are in life. They don't have to define who you are. And they can easily be cast off for the next impromptu brewery road trip from the back of a truck someday. Maybe next time there'll be kids and a camper in tow. :) 

One thing that's worth bitching about is something I didn't mean to acquire as of late: an emergency room bill to the tune of $1,200+ after dropping Bret's lizard cage on my knee. It happened the night we arrived from Portland to move Bret into our new home in Cheyenne. Seven measly stitches spelled multiple bills that I'm still paying off, even under the umbrella of supposed health insurance. Go figure. 

Screw you, Cigna! Your insurance plans don't cover shit!

And finally...I'm so proud to say I've acquired much-needed reconnections with the ones who matter in life. The friends and family who -- like the quote I used when starting this blog -- make up the bricks and build the shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go. I'll admit that the transition to Cheyenne has been a bit lonely (more so before Bret quit his job and moved out here to be with me). But leading up to it all I had the chance to reconnect with good friends who mean the world to me. One goes as far back as high school. I've also had the chance to spend good quality time with my dear family. Not to mention chances to see close friends from college and others from the days in California who also escaped the San Francisco nonsense. 

These are people who've made every ounce of the journey worth it. I'm so thankful to continue to have them surround me with love and laughter. Without them, life wouldn't be nearly as sweet! 

This girl and I go all the way back to Student Council our freshman year of high school.

Who would've thought that Rotary would connect us in San Francisco and ultimately wind us up in the Buckhorn Bar in Laramie, WY?

My sister from another mother who happens to speak some Mexican.

The reason why I am here in this world.

There are no words for how much this woman means to me. You are my soulmate, Liz!

My brother, in his element.

The love of my life.

Let's just say working with this guy has made it all...interesting.

The first (and only) food blog post

When the "f"unemployed mind searches for things with which to amuse itself, I'll admit: cooking and baking have become an obsession as of late. There's something supremely satisfying about figuring out budget friendly recipes that don't get repetitive.

My proudest concoction? Homemade chicken stock from leftover rotisserie chicken bones and winter vegetables. I've used it for chicken noodle soup as well as a base for a delicious chicken and dumpling recipe. It keeps for up to a week in the refrigerator and 6 months in the freezer. Luckily my domestic counterpart has been a willing royal food tester of sorts because he'll eat pretty much anything. The compliments are abound in this household even if it isn't Food Network worthy!

That said, I've made it a point to try cooking and eating in the style specific to the region for each place I've called home. I won't list all of my explorations because many of them haven't turned out to be blog-worthy. The following are a couple of highlights from the last 10-ish years. The take home? Diets are for noobs!

Wyoming

If you are under the impression that the square state is a winter-laden wasteland not worth exploring (thanks to what you see while driving through on I-80), believe you me that when harvest comes, the bounty is plentiful! We have a consistent record of harvesting a crapload of chokecherries, rhubarb, and apples from the family ranch and transforming them into this:

Not to mention, where else can you walk 5 minutes down the river to catch this (I'm referring to the fish, not the handsome Californian cowboy in the raincoat-turned-inside out):

And turn it into this?

I LOVE THIS WILD AND WONDERFUL STATE!

Santa Barbara, CA

I didn't really capture cooking photos during my two year stint in Santa Barbara. There was plenty of seafood and bar grub while I was there, but I'd have to say that this was my most favorite culinary moment during grad school. Who can so no to 31 tacos and bean burritos from Taco Bell for their 31st birthday?

San Francisco, CA

Again, not many photos of my culinary endeavors during the six years that I lived here, save for drunken bar photos and a few moments from birthday parties thanks to Facebook archives. This gem is from my 20-something'th birthday when I hosted a shrimp boil to celebrate Mardis Gras season. Not really San Francisco-themed but the giant gold horse and life sized Barbie head are as close as it gets to capturing the SF weirdness.

Vancouver, WA

If you EVER want to enjoy oysters the right way, you should move to the Pacific Northwest. I can't say enough good things about the seafood out here! The coast is extremely accessible even from janky ol' Vancouver and it's very easy to find fresh seafood within an hour or two by car.

Bret and I spent our anniversary weekend at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park which is a little over halfway down the coast of Oregon. Lord almighty did we enjoy what we found at Clausen Oysters, just north of Coos Bay. We scouted a spot on the most expansive beach I've ever seen and barbecued the s&#% outta two dozen oysters. Best memory of our move to the Northwest to-date!

Epilogue:

By now you probably realize that this post is very hypocritical of me to write. I absolutely can't stand food-centric social media anything. Be it food pictures, cocktail close-ups, restaurant check-ins, food blog entries,* recipe shares...they're all a pet peeve of mine.

This mostly stems from the fact that you can't physically imbibe in digital culinary crafts so what's the point? It's all one big "F you" to the senses. Plus each post contributes to a growing case of FOMO that this girl is seriously trying to get over now that I'm home alone most days and subject to a major budget. Either way, I promise that this will be the only time I write about food. At least for the time being.

*One exception: my friend's food-turned-adventure-and-travel blog does a good job of keeping FOMO at bay. It even gave me a great idea for this year's Christmas presents to friends and family!