The Pursuit of Happiness

Patriotic? Yes, also so happens to be in my head constantly... I may or may not be responsible for about 4,000 of those 9 million views. I can most definitely claim number 9,077,220.

Anyway, although I don't make that big a deal out of celebrating the fourth of July, I love it. I have lived in Maine, Tennessee, Montana and now Oregon. I like that I have moved around a bit and really know different locations in this great country. (This country sure has a lot of different landscapes and climates... that's for you lofus). I have truly loved each place I have lived and thought that they each were beautiful in their own ways. I have always felt hugely lucky to be an American. Yesterday, I thought about where I was last year on independence day.

I went to my man's family reunion in Michigan. I had never been to Michigan before.  Likewise to ME, TN, and MT, it was a beautiful place. His mom and dad are high school sweethearts from Detroit and it was special to see their family history. I had just gotten engaged. I was thinking about my new life with my new man and moving to a new place. I got into grad school and we had just sold our house in Montana. It was an exciting time for me. Then I thought about the year before.

It was a girlfriend's wedding weekend extravaganza. What a fantastic group of girls. I had just decided to end my first marriage. It felt so wonderful to be surrounded with special girlfriends and be a part of this beautiful experience. I never remember being sad or scared. Just excited about how different my future would now be from what I had been sadly resigned to only months before. Anything was possible and that felt very exhilarating. Then I thought about the year before.

In Utah, visiting friends. Meeting new baby. Hiking in Zion. These friends are spread out far across the country now (and then too, although in different places). The year before it was one of these ladies' weddings, although this is cheating because it wasn't on the fourth, but it was pretty damn close to that.

Before this I can't remember.... But now here's what I did this year:

Being a Mainer at heart (hey. it's the way life should be!), I convinced my man to go blueberry picking.

My man and I have different pickin styles. Those who know me can guess which bucket is his and which is mine.... We picked almost 4 pounds.

Then I was feeling a mite domestic.

Recipe for filling from digthischick. I had to change the crust to make it vegan and it was the first time I have made a crust with Crisco.

So tsps and TBs are quite different! I am a kind of haphazard cooker anyway... it turned out fine. What's more American then pie? I should have went all out and made apple pie, but the rhubarb at farmer's market looked so good. After dinner, we went to check out the fireworks. First time in ages (see above) that I had attempted to take in an actual city firework display.

All this reminiscing. So the short story is that my pursuit of happiness has been maybe more windy (not full of wind, but full of winds pronounced like what you do to a watch....) than others, but it's bringing me to the right place. My best friend said to me the other day, something to the extent of "doesn't it feel like things are just in place for you? Like for a couple years there you were on this weird, wrong track, but now everything is in its right place?" And she is right. Everything in it's right place.
I can't wait to see where I'll be next year.