Phases

Justin and I go through some very interesting phases. I should be more specific. These phases we go through are usually interest and hobby-based. Not only are these phases often short lived, but they are expensive, making it a hard-to-swallow waste. 

1. Cycling. When Justin moved to Santa Barbara to go to UCSB, he bought a hybrid bike for transportation purposes. He sold his car and this bike became his primary source of transportation. Before he bought the hybrid, he did a lot of research. Research required us to frequent different bike shops all over the Inland Empire. Before I knew it, he was looking into buying a second bike. I became highly influenced and in a need to keep up and participate, I talked my dad into buying me a road bike for Christmas. Going in to Bicycle Bob's, I had a particular bike in mind. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for Bicycle Bob's, they did not have that model available. I ended up purchasing the upgraded model. It wasn't long before Justin purchased an even better road bike than mine. Our new cycling interest not only required bikes, but required all of the necessary accessories. Jerseys, socks, shoes, spandex, more riding gear, tools and gloves. You name it, we bought it. Then came the dealer installed roof rack for my car, Peppy.  For those who are wondering if we have really given up on cycling.. we removed the roof rack!
2. Go. an ancient board game, played by only the very intelligent. Justin saw it somewhere, and we rushed down to Game Seeker and bought the board and the playing pieces. We got home, I took out the black and white pieces and lined them up on the board to make a smiley face and a heart. Haven't seen the board since.
3. Telescope. This is a recent phase, and to be honest I am not really a part of this interest. Justin has been talking about buying his seven year old brother, Ethan, a telescope for Christmas. A month before Christmas, I saw a telescope on sale at Costco and called Justin in excitement. I suggested that we could buy the Costco telescope for Ethan, but when he dismissed it entirely, I knew that this telescope was not really for Ethan. Once the telescope was purchased, he began his usual "going all out" behavior. During Christmas break, Justin sat outside night after night, in the freezing cold looking through [Ethan's] telescope. Hopefully Ethan and Reesa are using it, but if not, I hope Reesa is enjoying her new decorative telescope piece!
4. Board Games? I cannot confidently predict our current board game collection to be a phase, but such an outcome would not surprise me. Check back in a few months!