I first fell in love with coffee as a young child, the rich scent filled our home every morning as my dad brewed his freshly ground French Roast. As a preteen I forced myself to drink that sweet nectar of life by adding bag upon bag of sugar and way too much cream to dilute it to a concoction of fat and crystalized cancer with a splash of caffeine. Upon the start of high school I was introduced to Starbucks Frappuccinos, basically the same thing as before except it was blended with hydrogenated oils and ice, and as my high school career came to a close I slowly moved away from the liquid sugar that is a frappuccino and onto caramel macchiatos and mochas. It wasn't until I graduated from high school that I finally graduated to sugarless coffee with just a splash of skim milk (I was watching my figure, you see) and from there uprooted myself and moved to the coffee capital of the country: Seattle. (I also like to think of Seattle as the love capital because it is where I met two of the loves of my life: Lacey Shaver and her brother, aka, my husband). In Seatown I found my love for coffee to continuously grow stronger and I came into my own: triple tall americano black. Oh that warm, earthy taste of a fresh pulled espresso shot and hot water. Since then I probably consume much more coffee than necessary and I'm convinced it partially has to do with me being a Christian. Instead of going out and partying (which I was very good at unfortunately for a time) I nestle into one of my favorite spots in town with a
big huge americano, my laptop for writing and a book, for good measure of course.
I currently work at Montana Coffee Traders, the local
monopoly coffee roastery in Northwestern Montana. While this may seem like a dream job for an avid coffee drinker such as myself (let's be honest, it is) it also just feeds my addiction. To coffee? Good question, but no, to sugar. I am one of the bakers and when the sweet smell of freshly baked goods comes pouring out of the oven into my nostrils what am I supposed to do? The free coffee makes it all worth it.
Segue
On of my favorite men in this world, my Father, recently made the trek from sunny Southern California to cold, mountainous Montana. Contrary to popular belief, the weather here really isn't that bad, especially compared to the midwest. But isn't Montana in the midwest?? Um no, look at a map people. Anywhoosies, as we gorged ourselves on too much coffee, too much food and too much sweets, I thought to myself: yolo, I'm eating everyting!! Just kidding, who still says yolo? I thought to myself that I truly am blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world and be surrounded with such heartwarming, wonderful people. My dad was probably thinking the same thing...about California, especially after the blizzard of a snowstorm we were caught in on top of Big Mountain. Half way through the day snowboarding I found myself toppled over on the side of a mountain, about to fall into the abyss of powder, drenched in the snow that had melted through my clothes and blind from my crappy $5 kids goggles. If you've never skiied the Fish I would highly recommend it, just check the snow report first.
Segue numero dos
The beach, oh how I long for the hot sand under my bare feet, the salt water that transforms my hair into
frizzy, itchy knots luscious, beachy waves and the cold water on my sunburt face. I suppose living on Whitefish Lake will have to do though ;)
