Tis' The Season For a New Red K&N Air Filter

Goodbye Black and worn out K&N filter. You have done all you could do. Many cleanings and oil treatments and you never let me down even when it was pouring down rain and I forgot my rain sock. I want to thank you for the 56,000 miles you gave me. Peace out!

HD Screaming Eagle Heavy Breather w/K&N filter

Hello brand new K&N filter. I forgot how sexy you look in red. I know you will be good to me for another 50 plus thousand miles! 

The removal and install was super easy. If you actually look at my old filter you can see the chrome backing plate where the clamp is has been removed. Well, I did not remove it, it actually fell off. I still have it, but all the glue in the world that I had around the house just never held it back in place. Nonetheless, it is good to have a new filter back on so Nomad can breathe cleaner again. Here is a quick video put together by my Google Movie Collections, I love how it just takes an experience and pops a video out for you to share.

 

Pope Francis in Philly, The City of Brotherly Love

Well Pope Francis has come and gone. Even as non-Catholics, he reminded us here in the USA that family is everything. Family is the key to happiness, success and virtue.

Photo shared from catholicmedianetwork.org

It is a bit a difficult to connect to this statement when many I know, include myself came from very broken family structures. There sometimes is no fixing or mending, but merely trying to figure out ways to start new ones. However, in the end when family is damaged, all involved are broken. This bond is among the hardest to mend.

Many outsiders may judge, because perhaps they came from that strong perfect structure that the Pope spoke of. Maybe they just never seen or felt what broken means or what it even looks like. It is real, and it is a daily struggle. We all write our futures by our actions, but sometimes our futures are altered by the actions of others. Perhaps this is part of "everything happens for a reason". I don't know. In the end, I truly feel that a broken family structure is the worst pain and anxiety that many in the world carry with them each and every single day.

So, if you took anything from the Pope this weekend, take away the idea of freeing your mind from judgement. There is no need for you to judge and add more stress and anxiety to folks that already suffer from their own struggles inside. Let's love and respect one another the same way we would want to be treated. Let us refocus on the definition of family, as we all know it is not always blood relations.

Life After Wedding Planning

For those of you reading this blog, yes, I survived wedding planning. First off, I have to say, cheers to other ladies that made it through. Heck, big cheers to the fellas as well, because we all know "mom's" like to take over. Cool and thoughtful of them, but damn right stressful.

I honestly have to say, after you sit down and reflect on the experience it really was one of the most anxiety driven experiences of my life. None of it brought on by myself or my partner. All of it brought on by others. We understood is was all in good nature, but honestly it was a nightmare. People are freaking crazy about wedding planning and it does not need to be so crazy.

Many nights I sat with my fiance questioning the idea of marriage and how nothing but stress has come of this. Many nights he and I spoke of how we need to try to stay positive and how this may just be another test from the powers that be. Many nights he just wanted to call the whole thing off, just because of the level of stress it was on both of us. Sure we could have eloped, but think about that for a minute. A wedding day with no one to party with. I could not imagine that one bit, even though I am the type of person that will make friends anywhere and everywhere. The wedding went on as planned, even though jumping off a bridge was more attractive than planning this event.

From people laughing at you because you choose not to have Bridesmaids or Groomsmen. To folks asking about center pieces, that one ever really pays attention to. To wasting money on flowers that do nothing but make people sneeze. To invites and thank you cards that people just open up and then through away in the trash. I am an earth day born child. Waste is not in my vocabulary. Sitting through listening to people laughing at the ideas I had really was a stressful thing to do. In the end, I was getting married not them. Somehow, the roles change and you get bumped off the curb. Standing your ground seems to make tension, however, it was the best thing I did. I was just sick of it all and so was my fiance.

Fast forward to the wedding day, which turned out to be the most amazing day of my life. Not something this car wrenching, bike wrenching chic would say. At the end of the whole ordeal, we had many of guests thank us for having such a relaxed and chill wedding. A wedding that did not require them to wear suits/fancy dresses, a wedding that did not have assigned sitting, a wedding that more of a house party and forced you to talk to people you have never seen before in your life. Well that was the type of day it was and that in the end was what my husband and I were trying to accomplish.

When they say the person you are going to marry creeps up on you and love smacks you in the face when you least expect it, they are not joking. Luke and I met a friends BBQ, however I was so intoxicated I do not recall ever saying much to him. Our first date however, was one of the nicest days I can remember. From that day on EVERYTHING changed.

Once you wake up the next morning, married, you think to yourself "holy shit, yesterday went by so so so fast"! Your then fiance, now "husband", try saying that ten times fast half hung over, boy is it an eye opener. Trust me I tried it! I think I got right after a gallon of coffee and 4 Advil! He was pretty much doing the same thing, all I could hear is "wifey", I have a "wifey". Those words never sounded so good. So to wrap this up, Cheers! to the couples that survived wedding planning. Life after it, is pretty damn good! Minus the damn thank you cards, "ain't nobody got time for that!"