The Summer I Never Saw Coming

As the realization that I go back to work on Wednesday starts to set in, I've found myself dwelling quite a bit on what transpired this summer.  The past two months are a bit difficult for me to put into words, especially since I rarely get so honest on this blog.  I'm going to give it my best shot. 

Back at the beginning of summer I made a summer bucket list of things I wanted to have done before summer was finished.  The bucket list included:

- Go to Waterworld and/or Elitches

- Climb two 14,000 mountains

- Take a road trip

- Finish at least one book each month

- Go swimming in a lake 

- Build a fire

I found my bucket list this week and got kind of depressed.  My summer is nearly over and I have done ZERO of those things.  I haven't taken the time or effort to follow my self-determined ideal summer plans.  

But looking back on this summer, I have discovered more about myself than I have in years.  This was the summer of doing things that scare me.  On the literal level, I jumped out of a plane and hoped I didn't die.  I didn't.  I went into the ocean and attempted some new sports, all with a debilitating fear of sharks.  And again, I didn't die.  

Most of all, this was the summer of facing the fears that I carry around within me.  You know, the really scary things.  Randomly, I decided to reach out to an ex-boyfriend who had really hurt my heart, and realized that time truly heals all things.  I finally had a difficult conversation with an old friend, and felt the weight of years of misunderstandings lifted from my shoulders.  Without preparation or preamble, I just let the past go.  And it didn't kill me. 

And last week, I faced my biggest fear to date - saying goodbye to DC.  Somewhere deep down, I have always felt guilty for leaving DC after college for a life in Denver.  I've beat myself up for not dreaming of a high powered job in DC, like so many others.  All my life, I've been at the front of the pack in terms of academics and international experiences.  Somewhere deep deep deep down, I have never forgiven myself for leaving everything DC has to offer and pursuing a common life in a Western town.  I have started to see myself as less unique in the past few years as I settle down with a dog and 401k.  But something happened to me during my trip to DC last week.  I was surrounded with young, bright professionals who have dynamic jobs and travel opportunities - but all I really wanted was to go home.  I didn't feel an infectious energy like I had in the past.  The kind of energy that had always got under my skin and worked its way into my brain, reminding me that I don't have clearance for any important upcoming press conferences or legislative meetings or international aid program launches.  What's wrong with me? I mean, even my parents met as nonprofit workers in DC! But this time, something changed in me unexpectedly.  And as I sat on the metro, surrounded by young professionals - who I am sure were staring at my outfit and wondering how I could possibly convert that hemline from daytime to nighttime - I realized that while thriving in DC is a big dream for so many people, leaving DC was the right choice for me.  It's ok to love DC, but not belong there.  Where I live doesn't define my potential, and I can always get back to being the incredibly successful and unique person that I always thought I was before I left DC.  I might not work somewhere cool like USAID, but I know that professionally I'm needed and wanted and important every.single.day. - which is pretty damn awesome.  I know that I am an exceptional leader and I need to figure out exactly what that means in Denver.  I never expected to process this during my summer, but I have, and I survived. 

So, I haven't accomplished one single thing from my original summer bucket list.  However, I have accomplished EVERY SINGLE ONE of the things on this bucket list!

- Build a neighborhood community of dog lovers, which pretty much is the best thing ever

- Buy a new car

- Start Bear in agility classes

- Run a triathlon (next week)

- Ask out a guy I'd been eyeing

- Go skydiving

- Attempt to paddle board and surf

- See all the friends I love

- Bury the past

- Allow myself to not want to live in DC

It wasn't the original bucket list, but side-by-side the original bucket list looks pretty traditional and mundane.  That's probably why I didn't do any of those things.  Apparently, I was craving a scarier summer.  But I attacked the things that scared me most, and guess what - it didn't kill me.  In fact, I loved it.

I Went Sky-y-y-diving!

There is no such thing as a traditional trip to visit Nadia, because Nadia is not a traditional friend.  She loves to question me, challenge me, and never takes no for an answer.  For some reason, I always find myself partaking in dangerous athletic activities when we are together.  The scars down my body reflect my many outdoor adventures with the Brouillette family - and no one will ever forget the time Nadia smacked me in the head with her paddle while rafting some pretty precarious rapids. 

During a conversation about our bucket lists*, I mentioned that I've always wanted to go skydiving.  It was music to Nadia's ears.  Within 24 hours, I was being belted into a harness by my petit-sized skydiving instructor, Dustin Swagger (legal name). 

*Quick aside about bucket lists.  I have always thought the term referred to actual buckets that cute old people carried around the nursing home that were full of  trinkets of their life experiences.  When I heard that a bucket list is a list of things to do before you "kick the bucket", I was horrified.  What a downer! I'm sticking with my darling old people and their buckets. 

So, I went skydiving with Dustin.  When I questioned the fact that I didn't go through any training beforehand Dustin explained that no one ever remembers that training once they leap out of a plane at 13,000 feet, so he skipped it.  Awesome, I thought. 

When I say that I went skydiving with Dustin, I really mean that my hair and I went skydiving with Dustin.  

True, wearing a hairnet could have been a good idea for me, but then we would never have got these pictures!  Thanks for being a sport, Dustin.  

Here's to things that challenge you, experiences that you'll never get over, and friends who won't take no for an answer. 

Here's a video of the jump too!

VTS 01 1 from Emily Broyles on Vimeo.

Goodbye Old Friend

Last week I had to say goodbye to a very close friend of mine.  My Subaru.  

The Subaru was my high school car and I drove it for 12 years.  I learned to drive stick on this car when I was 15.  I would never just go out looking to replace my darling car, but the Subaru was starting to show its age.  It had a tendency to die while I was driving it at high speeds.  And the air conditioning and defrost were gone. The car shook like crazy when I decelerated, which hinted to me that there might be issues with the brakes.  The radiator just broke. 

And then there was, of course, the lasting damage to the body work from where my charming ex-boyfriend shot up my car during college.  

Needless to say, there was some pressure on me to find a little something safer and more comfortable.  Which I'm pretty sure is any other car. 

I found Eloise very quickly.  I saw her online and Jeff helped me buy her the next day.  They say true love happens that way sometimes.  Eloise is a 2011 Ford Escape.  White.  With a manual transmission.  Apparently it is really rare to find an Escape with a manual transmission, so I feel extra lucky.  This car is a beauty and reminds me of how fun driving can be.  Plus, Bear seems to enjoy a smoother drive - he doesn't get jerked out of his seat anymore, which is nice. 

I'm not going to lie, I cried when I heard that my best bet was to trade in my Subaru that day.  I hadn't had any time to say goodbye!  But the $500 the dealership was offering me was probably the best I would get.  Ironically, I bought the Subaru from my parents for $500 in college.  Deal!

So, goodbye dear Subaru.  My companion from ages 15-27.  We've seen a lot.  You drove me cross country to college in DC - twice.  You carried home Christmas trees, and one time we had to use wine bottles to scrape the ice off your tires.  You brought home both Marley and baby Bear Broyles.  You drove me to my interview at Aurora West.  We explored Moab and Arkansas and Kansas.  You were the scene of some first kisses - and last kisses.  Fights and screams and complete breakdowns.  Your tape deck and rubbed off radio buttons never left me down.  So yes, goodbye old friend. 

But can I say HELLO beautiful Eloise!?  Here's to the next 12 years of my driving career!

I'm learning that change is a good thing.  A little bittersweet at times, but definitely a good thing. 

Cirque Du Swim

While in Vegas, one must see a show.  After hearing resounding reviews, Jo, Tom and I decided on Absinthe.  Absinthe is a smaller production, with only ten rows of seats in the round.  The lady who sold us the tickets asked us nicely if we were "easily offended" - which would be to put it mildly.  This is definitely an adult show.  It has crazy cirque du soleil-like acts, raunchy humor, and unexpected-ness around every turn.  Including a topless woman who put her entire body inside a balloon.  We loved it.  Like, a lot. 

So, after witnessing some incredible acrobatic moves in the show...

Jo and I felt really empowered to prove that we could also be acrobats.  The results speak for themselves: Yes. Yes, we truly can do anything we dream of.

Once we mastered these moves, we dabbled in the world of synchronized swimming:

I would like to extend an extra special thank you to Tom Lucas, our synchronized swimming sponsor.  He not only provided invaluable feedback, but he tolerated two adult women screaming at him from the middle of the Wynn Encore luxury pool (it WAS closing time...): "TOM GET THE CAMERA! OMG TOM DID YOU GET A REALLY GOOD PICTURE OF OUR LAST MOVE? IT FELT REALLY GOOD, DID IT LOOK REALLY GOOD?  SHOULD WE DO IT ONE MORE TIME JUST TO MAKE SURE IT LOOKED GOOD ON CAMERA? NO? OK, LET'S DO IT AGAIN ANYWAY." 

Tom, what a joy it was spending these days with you and your sharp English wit.

My dearest Joanna, synchronized swimming is not possible with only one aqua-strian.  I will forever rest my nose plugs and flippers until we can once again be reunited in our truest setting.  A public pool.  

I miss you already. 

Carmen Came To Vegas

For those of you who haven't met her, Carmen is my drunk alter ego.  She is a distant relative of Coco, if you have ever had the joy of meeting Coco.  Carmen shares few personality traits with Emily, which is why we refer to her in the 3rd person. 

You may remember hearing reference to the birth of Carmen in my post "Hello, My Name is Carmen".  If not, I will give you a quick synopsis.  A man in a bar told me once that I resembled Carmen Sandiego because I was wearing a red coat and had brown hair.  At the time, I took this to be quite offensive and I made a scene in the bar, made all my group leave immediately.  The next day, I realized that Carmen had been born...and she can be a bit dramatic.

I'm not a big drinker, so Carmen doesn't come out that often.  But when she does, she is extremely friendly, super sassy and also unnecessarily rude at random moments.  She's not outrageous, but she does things that Emily would never do. True to her namesake, Carmen has made recent international and national appearances in Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Washington, DC...and now, Las Vegas. 

On Wednesday evening, Tom, Jo and I saw the show Absinthe at Ceasar's Palace.  It was fantastic.  And to really get into the mood, Jo and I enjoyed some tequila and vodka before the show. 

At some point during the show Carmen emerged.  I know this because I heard her loudly cat calling the hot Asian man in the show (with Jo's encouragement, mind you). After the show, we meandered over to the Paris hotel, where we found that vodka red bulls were on sale.  Carmen is all about a sale, so we couldn't pass that up.  However, we didn't really feel like hanging out at the Paris, so we concocted a plan to sneak out of the hotel with our fresh drinks in hand.  Jo and Carmen were super proud of their successful sneakiness.

On the walk home, Carmen created the very popular "Guess My Accent" game, in which she approaches random people on the street late at night and asks them to speak a few sentences.  Did I say she approaches people?  I mean, she stands directly in their way until they agree to talk to her.  Then, Tom, Jo and Carmen try to guess where that person is from.  It was a huge success.  We got accents from Bosnia, Dubai, Utah and Minnesota.  

The night ended back at our hotel in the casino where Carmen aggressively trolled the 3:30am crowd for eligible bachelors, and Jo unwittingly started talking to a pair of prostitutes.  

Jo: "These girls I'm talking to are so nice!  They live and work here in Vegas and they really like my dress.  For some reason they are just arriving at the bar at 3:30am to talk to these guys.  How nice."

Carmen: "Yeah, uh huh.  Ok.  So this guy over here from Kentucky seems nice, but I can tell he still lives at home with his parents.  He didn't tell me that or anything, but I can just guess. I just blew him off, so we have to hide now."

Jo: "Carmen, he can still hear you. He's about 6 inches away." 

Carmen: "Totes."

After about 12 drinks, 2 baskets of onion rings, and some practice acrobatic moves for Tom, we found our beds.  And can you believe it, I did not manage to stomach a drop of alcohol again all trip?  

And when Tom tried for round two of "Guess My Accent" the next day, I was way, way too shy for that business...until Carmen's next trip. 

12 Years Later...Vegas!

Happy 12 Year Anniversary to my best friend for life, Joanna Claire Noble Lucas.  Turns out these two ruffians first met 12 years ago on a bus in NYC. 

I was lucky enough to join Jo and her new hubby Tom on the final leg of their journey through the Wild West.  We met up for 4 days in Las Vegas!

Tom and Jo picked me up from the Las Vegas airport after being lost for about an hour, although they had a GPS speaking English to them.  I learned really quickly that British people are easily entertained.  Tom immediately took it upon himself to wipe the car windows at the gas station, while Jo watched avidly from inside the car.  Apparently, the small kindness of a squeegee and bucket of gross luke-warm water has escaped the Europeans. 

After Tom cleaned the car, but before returning said car, we drove over to check out the Hoover Dam.  It is enormous, very beautiful, and extremely hot and windy.  Some nerdy engineers in my party wanted to learn the sciency and mathy bits of the dam, which proved mildly interesting to even a muggle like me. 

Our downtime in Vegas was pretty awesome over the next few days.  We got introduced to our king suites at the Encore Wynn hotel.  I don't know if I can adequately put into words how much I loved this suite.  And the fact that it was super cheap because we were staying mid-week.  When I described it to my mother, she responded that I would need to pick up a man to keep me company in that suite.  Don't worry, I reminded her that I'm no hussy. And that it's awkward for her to encourage promiscuity. 

We enjoyed the pools, toured the strip, visited all the hotels, devoured some delectable cuisine and...

...we saw Macklemore chilling in the casino at our hotel.  Macklemore!  As in this guy:

I immediately went into shock.  I hid behind Jo and kept peaking around her to stare at him.  I am a super duper monster of a fan.  But I didn't know what to do!  So while other people were asking him for pictures, I just hyperventilated and cowered behind a slot machine.  Once I got up to my room, I held my head in my hands and felt like a first class idiot. The entire situation was not helped by the fact that Tom and Jo couldn't properly remember his name and continued to call him Mackleroy.  

For the rest of our trip, whenever we walked through the casino we would refer to it as "The Scene of the Crime".  Perhaps it was this timidity in me that encouraged Carmen to make an appearance the following night...

85 Reasons I Love Gramma

June 8th was Gramma's 85th birthday. 

For those of us who know and love her, we feel infinitely grateful to have her in our lives. 

To honor this incredible lady, I put together 85 reasons why I love her.  

She’s had the same hairstyle for 65 years

She really loves tuna salad

I know that she would get me out of jail

She drinks whiskey

She makes a great hotel roommate; she always stays quiet until I want to wake up

She was the First Lady of Littleton

She always waits until drunk Katie leaves to laugh at her

She always reassures me that someone is out there for me

Sometimes at night she runs the red light on Mississippi and Colorado

One time her husband accidentally shot a moose and she helped him cover it up

She can get any stain out

She always waits downstairs for me to drive up when I’m coming over

She has a 6^th sense on betting on horses

She is a great host

She allows us to ask her dumb and obvious questions about golf

She knows every employee at “her Kings”

She has at least one picture of every member of the family up in her house

She’s visited me at every school I’ve attended (elementary, middle, high, college, study abroad in England)

She comes to everything we invite her to

She tolerates our dogs

She would never trust her important mail to her apartment mailbox

She is a great shopping companion

She yells “SUSAN!” when my mom gets out of line

She is a safe and competent driver

She cried laughing at the idea of Katie having twins

Her church has a donkey on Palm Sunday

Everyone at the post office knows her

She loved showing off her snow village to my dog

Takes on leadership positions (VP of her condo board, deacon at church and organizer of high school reunions)

She has great style and loves colorful clothes

She has heels that she only wears on special occasions

She doesn’t need a cell phone.  Or voicemail.

She still recognizes my voice over the phone

When the whole family is fighting at the dinner table, she pretends she doesn’t notice

She switches between her glasses and sunglasses without ever misplacing either pair

She always has a spare Kleenex or chapstick

She loves candy too

She tells me that sometimes when a pillow is hard, it’s as hard as “two rocks”

She always tells me that I look good in shoes

If she doesn’t like what I’m wearing, she will say “I just don’t like that too well”

She rocks a robe like none other

She is always down for an action movie

She is never late

She loves her kids

She brags about her grandkids and great-grandkids to anyone who’ll listen

She never draws attention to herself

She always provides her own drinks

She makes awesome potatoes and coffee cake

As a child, she always let me choose between the hard and soft pillows when I stayed over

She uses hats as decorative art

She answers my NCIS questions for me

She was a loyal wife

She likes some foods, but they don’t like her back (cantaloupe, onions)

She calls me baby doll  

She loves my dad a lot

She gossips

She has worked so many different jobs

She taught me how to pack using tissue paper layers

She follows sports more closely than anyone I know

She lets me look through all her old pictures

She has started giving away all her possessions

She understands the necessity of wearing clear nail polish all the time

She’s travelled the world

She is so supportive of everyone’s interests

She still keeps in touch with her high school friends

She is financially responsible

She loves Colorado as much as I do

She shows me off when I come to her church

She is a staple of Old Littleton

If she doesn’t like the food she’s been served, she doesn’t say anything

She has helped me get through airport security faster

She is never jealous

She loves gambling

I’ve never heard her say a mean word about her husband

She always remembers everyone’s birthday

She lets Bear and Marley run up and down her hallways

She remembers my friends and asks me about them

She sends me a Hallmark card for every single holiday

One time she threw the car keys into the mailbox

She always has a reason to call and gets right to it

Through her eyes, I’ve come to see Denver through the decades

She is a celebrity in Lenola, Italy

She is always willing to share a pop with me

She attends everyone’s performances, concerts, presentations, slide shows, lectures and events with a smile on her face and nothing but kind words.  She is the definition of a loving and supportive grandmother.