Aqualover

I love water.  It comforts me and makes me feel relaxed.  I prefer lakes (I don’t know why though, I have never been to a lake before) over oceans but I’ll take whatever body of water you want to throw at me.  I’m a Pisces through and through, so this really isn’t much of a shock.

I had a great childhood and for me, part of that is due to being exposed to water all the time.  My parents belonged to “the club”, you know a country club with golfers and serious people dressed in polos and spiked saddle shoes with tassels.  That club had a pool and I would get dropped off for the day to swim and chill.

Then my parents got a pool for our very own! Yeah it was an above-ground pool that was only 4ft deep and you couldn’t do laps but it was a POOL! And it was fun! And there was water!!  We had the pool for several years before it become a bit too much to handle and it was sold to someone else.  That was okay though because the dad of my best friend at the time had a pool and we would swim there a lot.

I also had to take swimming in high school and that was the only time I hated swimming.  If you had swimming in the morning that meant you spent the rest of the day smelling like chlorine, being exhausted, and let’s not even mention the hair and make-up offenses.

Once out of high school my exposure to water became basically non-existent.  I had a brief vacation to the beach the summer leading into my sophomore year of college and this was my first ever trip to the beach!  Yes for real.  My family didn’t do vacations and I didn’t live close to a beach by any means, therefore no exposure to beach life at all.  Me and three of my close friends hit the beach and it was awesome.  We had a blast and while I might not be in touch with those people anymore, I have those memories that will always put a smile on my face.

That was my last exposure to water.  I haven’t swam since.  That was 14 years ago.

Scott and I have never swam together or been in water together aside from a hot tub which I do not count.  In fact there are a lot of things that Scott and I have never done as a couple but that is another post for another time.

Swimming only briefly crossed my mind at different periods of time but it wasn’t something I longed for.  If I saw pictures of water scenes, it would cause me to exhale a deep sigh and long for such a view to call my own.  The need to touch it and physically be there did not enter my thoughts.

I would hate to imagine that this was because I was unhappy with life during this time and with myself but I think that is exactly what it is related to.  When we lived in North Carolina (yes and we never once went to the beach or islands. Crazy!) I was miserable.  Literally miserable.  I couldn’t find work and North Carolina life was not for us at all.  At this point is when my weight really started to creep up and pile on.  It had been accumulating before NC, but that was due to plain old overeating and nothing to do with stresses.  North Carolina caused my weight to skyrocket.

North Carolina was miserable and to cope I cooked.  This is how I filled the void.  Not great healthy awesome stuff like now, but a lot of stuffs inspired by Paula Deen and that’s just not good for anyone’s waistline.

Flash forward to present day Andrea and her life. While I am not, career-wise, where I want to be, I am trying to strive to make changes in that direction.  I am, however, a lot happier here.  This is the longest Scott and I have ever lived in one place.  Ohio is not our “forever home” but it’s home right now and will be for some time to come.  We have put down roots and made connections here.  We have friends and things we love to do.  We have a home that we love and are trying to fix up.

We are a lot healthier now and just really happy with the moment.

This summer, at my healthiest and happiest, my desire for water has reawakened something fierce.  It is all I think about and I all want.  I want to swim and swim and swim.  I want the rain to pour down over my face.  I want to visit a lake and become reconnected with the earth and water again.  I long for this.  My desire to touch water and to swim is extremely strong and I feel like if I don’t acknowledge and honor that, I will be incomplete.

I’m not quite sure how to go about solving my new dilemma.  Joining a gym really isn’t an expense I want to tack on each month but I would be willing to do it if I had someone to go with in the mornings (Scott).

What I really want is nature.  I would love for us to be able to find a cabin to rent, pack up Rocks and the car and take a summer vacation.  Someplace we can pack lunches and head to the water for the afternoon.  Or go hiking and find a nice place for a cool dip.  Someplace that is dog friendly and all required clothing should be able to air dry quickly.

Do you swim or even like the water?  Do you prefer ocean or lake water?  Do you take summer vacations?

11 thoughts on “Aqualover

  1. best of luck with the dilemma; I don’t have too many words of wisdom for you. I am all about water too! it’s a unique compound right?
    Have a great weekend,
    Katherine

  2. I’m just delighted to hear that you’re happier and healthier this summer, what a wonderful thing! :)

    I completely understand your need for water … I am a water baby too! (I’m a Cancer.) I grew up relatively close to the beach (my grandma’s and my aunt’s houses were blocks away), we belonged to a pool club, and I spent every summer of my childhood in and around water.

    I’ve now lived in NYC for more than 25 years, and though water is sometimes hard to come by here, its by no means impossible. We spend a lot of weekends at the local beaches, I live close to the river, and I swim several times of week at a local pool. I love it and could not live without it!

    I must be in water, so I totally understand your need. I hope you can connect with the water and nature soon. :)

  3. I am not where I want to be career wise either. Ugh, I want to be so badly! I used to swim like a fish…now, I just don’t like it. I don’t know why. I think I lost it somewhere. I grew up going to the ocean and my husband grew up on a lake. It’s weird, but I prefer a pool out of all of it. In the lake, the fish bite me. I get freaked out by what I can’t see in the ocean. I am such a sissy! I am so longing to go on a summer vacation, but it looks like there will not be one again this year. Maybe if I get a job some time in the next year, we will be fortunate enough to afford to take our family somewhere to just relax! I hope you have a great weekend!

  4. What a pretty post! I’m not quite the aqualover that you are, but it mostly has to do with my hair and makeup ;) Sounds like you need a vacation on a houseboat. You would LOVE it!

  5. Heather says:

    I can totally see the difference between your blog from when you lived in NC and now. You are way more active in the community. Way more.

    And I hate the water. LOL But I don’t really like being outside anyhow. ;)

    there must be lakes in Ohio (or a neighbouring state?) that you can rent a cabin on. *think*

  6. Heidi says:

    I like to swim, but mostly in pools (except for tris). I worry about the water quality in lakes, but I grew up swimming in Lake Erie, and I survived. :) I just prefer to be able to see the bottom of the body of water in which I swim.

    You should go up to Alum Creek State Park in Delaware. There is a good-sized beach and lots of water.

  7. I love the water too. (Which is why Andy and I travel to Hawaii so often!) We have no plans when we go to Kauai other than swimming, snorkeling, lounging and hiking. It makes me happier than anything else in the world being in the ocean. The water in California doesn’t compare. It’s super cold and dusty from all the sand.

    I definitely suggest a trip to the water. It’s great for the soul.

  8. I am happy that you feel so much better in OH! Are there not any lakes there? I think you would really like it here. I live in Lake County and there are lakes every which way you turn! We just found another by our house and rode our bikes around a bit of it. I would love to wake up every day and see the water!

    In the summer we go to my parent’s cabin on the Mississippi and spent time boating and at the beach. Maybe you would like something like that!

  9. I love to swim, as you know. You and Scott are more than welcome to come and check out the pool at Lifetime.

    I prefer my water to be chlorinated to the point that it will probably give me cancer someday. I want it to kill anything that other people might leave in there.

  10. I am an ocean lover. I grew up in Queens, and we would go to the ocean every Sunday. The whole family would pack up in the summer for the day, and stay until everyone else went home, and then we played kickball in the sand. I love cool ocean water with high waves.

    My kids have been to the ocean, but they also enjoy going to Deer Creek nearby. I’m a little put off, but I think it’s because of all the goose poop on the sand.

    We do have a pool though, that we will get into. It’s taking longer to clean this year, but it’s a pleasant way to end the day with a cool dip on a hot day. It was also good to send the kids outside so they didn’t spend all of their time inside when it was really hot.

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