Kansas City

I've really been snoozing on updating what we've been up to.  It is funny how returning to the midwest made me feel like I slipped into a bit of a foggy coma.  Like the collective conciousness of complacency drifted slowly through my body, taking over, in my first few weeks in the suburbs of Overland Park, Kansas.  By December, I was starting to ask myself, 'did that really just happen? Did we just uproot our entire lives and go to Costa Rica for 3 months?...that was crazy...was that crazy?'

Coming back to this secure and comfortable place, I would say, yes, that was crazy.  It was letting go of everything we knew and trusting completely in the universe.  I felt like I was being carried along a wafting breeze reflecting on those weeks before we left.  And I took my 2 year old daughter with me...and arguably innocent bystander.  But you know who benefited the most from that experience and who had the best time out of the three of us?  Amara.  Patrick a close second (island life fits him oh so well, and he loved surfing).  What about mama Holly, the adventure catalyst?  All I can say is, there's no place like home for a deeply rooted Capricorn.  From Kansas, to boot.

So speaking of home, we've recently settled into a place in Kansas City, Missouri.  Place of my birth, area of my turbulent teenage years, I knew moving to KC would present some personal challenges I'd have to move through.  There have been a few emotional ups and downs (when is there not, for me??) but I have to say I am really enjoying it here.  Especially after moving our little family to Costa Rica, I realized that we can really be anywhere as long as we have each other.  I freaking love Lawrence.  I miss it.  I miss our house.  I miss my amazing friends.  But exploring new places and meeting new people here is really fun.  You have to work harder to find your niches (which is a good challenge for me, otherwise I might not leave my house).

We live in an awesome neighborhood right behind 39th St... which is like our own personal little Mass. St.  I can walk to my new favorite coffee shop/vegan bakery Mud Pie, which, by the way, has an awesome kid's room.  Roanoke Park is a block away and has beautiful limestone (I think) cliffs and lots of space to play.  Across from the park is a small, but super charming community center offering a toddler play gym, yoga classes, and pottery classes.  Amara and I took the bus to the Central Library downtown last week for storytime...10am on Tuesdays for any interested mamas! And the Reading Reptile in Brookside has a really cute music class for little ones on Wednesday mornings.  Amazingly, I haven't hit up any of the mommy and me yoga classes yet, but there are a couple offered around: Yoga Patch in Waldo and Bell Yoga Studio here in midtown.  So these are all my new favorite mom haunts.

I've been spending most of my time (like 90%) with Amara, establishing a daily and weekly rhythm.  There are so many fun things to do with little ones in this city.  The real selling point for me, though, is that we live in a place where we can walk and take the bus easily and frequently.  Kansas City is one of those cities that relies heavily on driving, and it was really important to us to find a neighborhood in which we could continue our easily-walkable Lawrence lifestyle.  Not to mention all the crazy walking we did in Costa Rica. 

I'm also doing a little teaching at City of Fountains School, a Waldorf-inspired homeschool enrichment program.  I guide a group of about 6 or 7 girls aged 7 to 12 through some singing and voice exercises and handwork.  We're making a loom right now.  The school also has a kindergarten and parent-toddler class.  They all meet once a week, on Fridays.

So that's about all I can say for these winter months.  We're looking foward to the Spring Equinox and Amara's 3rd birthday.  She wants orange lollipops, orange balloons, and an orange cake if anyone's wondering.  And she wants to paint her room orange.