u/Icy-Mess-860

I typed out a whole lot and realized I was rambling too much. Going to try and keep it short and sweet.

TLDR: I've been with my bf about nine months, he is a wild land firefighter, I have a really hard time with his job--we are also currently long distance for fire season. Any tips?

Really I don't even know how to sort out what exactly it is I am feeling, I just feel my heart drop into my stomach sometimes when he talks about certain things. I want to figure out how to talk to him about this, but he loves his job so much (and I love that he loves it! I just wish I didn't feel so weird? Anxious? Maybe jealous even--it's a cool af job) and we only get to actually FT once every like two weeks so I am hesitant to use that time to bring up what will surely be an ongoing conversation when I just wanna be having a nice time talking to my bf. I don't want to make it his responsibility to make me feel better but I am having such a hard time even figuring out what exactly I'm feeling! The distance adds a whole additional layer of complexity to my feelings, our ability to communicate (and coregulate!), and uncertainty about the future. Any advice or words of encouragement are appreciated!

I am specifically looking for volunteering opportunities that require some physical labor, like working outdoors removing invasive plant species or doing barn work or splitting wood or something--I spend forty hours a week at a computer and feel like I'm going crazy. I've looked into some horse rescues around here but they are requiring references to be allowed to volunteer or are an hour+ away.

I have been working out more and trying to generally be more healthy, but I am feeling the effect in my joints (specifically my knees--dislocated one last summer and it's never really been the same for either leg due to over compensating and all that. I am also hypermobile so my joints are just destined to fail) and wanting a supplement to support my joints, I know many people recommend collagen but I am vegetarian. I am also curious about creatine for body recomp efforts--anything to support muscle growth basically beyond just protein powder.

I'm curious as well about preworkout type supplements, I tend to workout in the evening so I'm worried that this would mess with my sleep but I am also wanting to push harder. Any advice is appreciated!

Basically what the title says, is the track by all the athletic fields open for members of the public to use and if so, is there a spot I can see the hours it is open? Is it usually very busy? I want to attempt to be a runner this summer

I am really wanting to spend more time outdoors this summer and in nature, but can't really get myself up north as often as I'd like so I'm looking for things closer to home beyond Belle Isle and Rouge Park. I would ideally like to only be driving an hour or so and am mostly looking for good water access to paddleboard on but would also like to do some trails (anything at all with any level of elevation or strenuous terrain would be amazing!! I miss hiking mountains...) I know about the lakes down by Pinkney area but am curious where else people like to go for quick day outings.

I recently bleached my hair for the first time (done at a salon, she used a gloss as well, unclear to me what that is exactly...) and want to keep my hair as healthy/healthy looking as possible without spending a ton of money. I currently use Native brand products and had been switching between the scalp detox shampoo and the volumizing shampoo and then a moisturizing conditioner, but my stylist recommended looking into color safe stuff as well as like a hydrating mask or something. If it makes a difference at all my hair is past shoulder length but not quite past my chest (I'm a couple inches away from mermaid hair) and it's pretty wavy and I got more high lights than a full bleaching.

I am planning on a float down the river this weekend and wondering if anyone has gone recently and can speak to how quickly the river is going and how deep the water may be, we are thinking of going from the Dexter Huron Metropark to Delhi and wondering how long that might take or if there are other routes suggested? I do think it would be fun to get out closer to downtown (like the Arb perhaps?) but am unsure where a good starting spot would be for that. I think ideally we'd like to be on the water for around threeish hours.

Basically the title, what jobs have y'all ended up in once deciding to be done with this?

Interested in science and open to going back to school (already have BS) really appreciate the physicality and camaraderie of this job but want a better balance with other life elements.

I am planning a solo trip to stop at a number of spots over two days, coming from Klamath Falls area and then going to Portland to visit some friends before I fly back to the midwest. This is my rough plan at the moment.

Sunset Bay State Park (see the beach, soak up a little sun hopefully, maybe an easy hike?)

Oregon Dunes (hike)

Sea Lion Caves (see the sea lions, duh)

Rockaway Beach (tidepools, hike)

I am really just hoping to see some cool nature and that the fresh sea air will heal me like a sickly child in a Victorian novel, so I'm curious if there are any must see spots along the way I missed? I've done Newport a couple times and Cannon Beach so I'm okay missing those.

I am going to be solo camping around Oregon in a couple weeks after visiting my LDR bf (thus the potential for me being emotional) and want something a bit meaty to read. If I hadn't already read both of these titles I would probably bring East of Eden or the Overstory, but I want something new to engage with. I'm open to any genre but gravitate towards literary fiction, historic fiction, and classics. Ideally I'd like a book that is pretty long as I don't want to finish reading it out in the woods and then be stranded bookless!

I had a Ninja blender off of FB marketplace I was content with, but the individual smoothie cups (which accounts for about 90% of my blender usage) had these annoying little silicone pieces at the bottom which were impossible to clean and get back in so now the cups are leaky and I don't trust that all the nastiness has been properly cleaned. I looked into just getting replacement cups but Ninja no longer makes this specific blender and does not have interchangeable cups so now I am on the prowl for a new blender that will last a long long time. It needs to either come with individual cups or have them sold as an add on for a reasonable price, ideally nothing huge as I have limited counter space, and I don't need a bunch of bells and whistles (like I said I basically use it for smoothies and not much else, and the few other blending needs I have can be met by my immersion blender or a food processor.)

I have started going to pilates twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays (the only days the studio offers classes that fit with my schedule) and am trying to build out the rest of my week around that. I was thinking something like this

S: Rest

M: Pilates

T: Lift

W: Pilates

Th: Run

F: Lift

Sat: Run?

I tend to do yoga most nights but more focused on deep stretching than strength. I know ideally there would be more rest days but when I get in routine of working out it does make me feel so much better to do something every day--since this is pretty varied activity would it be okay? I'm also just starting out running and lifting so I wouldn't be pushing super hard. I would probably do an upper/lower split for lifting, and on Sundays as long as the weather is nice I usually end up playing basketball or roller blading or something else active, so this routine would be more a guideline than anything I just wonder if it's too much?

We have been dating for about six months, the first five were in person. We met from an app and initially neither of us were looking for something long term but then things just felt so good and right and we said 'I love you' and all that and realized this should be something more than a fling. He is a seasonal worker on the west coast (we're in the US) and I live in the midwest, he grew up in a suburb of the city I live in and was there with his mom while he was here for the winter.

When we were talking about if we wanted to long distance or just call it, he expressed that being back here felt bad for his mental health and he didn't really want to live here again. I understand that, but there were also compounding factors at play (he was working nights, which will obviously fuck up anyone's sleep/eating/physical activity which as we all know directly relates to mental health) and his seasonal job is with a bunch of friends he has become quite close to and involves a lot of physical activity and being outdoors and feeling very Purposeful (basically my thesis is he would be depressed in the off season no matter what given these conditions, the city/state he was in have nothing to do with it). Of course, I didn't say quite all that since I didn't want to minimize his feelings or experiences, but I think that it is worth taking into consideration.

I love my city. I have lived here for two years and previously lived on the west coast for about three years and went to school in another state/region, there is nowhere I feel more like myself than the city I live in now. I have a huge friend group (that he ended up being really friendly with/would easily be able to meaningfully integrate into) that feels like a sitcom type setup--most of us live within a few blocks of each other and we pop in for shared meals or movie nights or whatever else, and any time we go out anywhere we are bound to bump into one of our reoccurring characters/supporting cast. His family lives in the state and he has a few friends from high school/undergrad in the state as well.

As it currently stands, he is on his seasonal job right now and will be until about October, and then coming back through the end of the holiday season, and that was very conscientiously how far out we had planned since when we tried to talk about it further it turned into a ten years out "well when my parents start needing support" type discussion which felt unproductive. He is looking at going back to school in the next few years and there is a program in my state that fits pretty well with what he wants to do and would be cheaper since he has in state residency here, but he's looking at out of state programs too.

I wish I wasn't thinking about this as much as I am but I can't stop chasing it around in my head. If I felt like he could give me everything else I need to be happy I would be willing to move, but that's not a fair expectation to put on anyone. I am also aware that the bliss of my lifestyle will not last forever and eventually people will start having babies and moving out of the city (for all the amazing things we have, good schools is not one of them). I truly believe that if he tried being here for a year (or longer than just the horribly depressing sunless winter living as a nocturnal beast--six months) he would feel better about it but I can't make that choice for him. On top of all of this is the fact that we haven't been together that long and there's no way of knowing what the future holds, but I am also concerned about my personal timeline for marriage and babies (which I obviously can't entirely control, but I can have some say in) and don't want to waste time with someone who I won't be able to compromise with but I can also see a whole life for us together if this can be figured out, and I know this doesn't need to be figured out right now but it's taking up so much space in my head I want to find a way to feel okay about it.

Honestly I don't know what type of guidance or advice I need, even just typing this out has made me feel better just to express stuff, but if anyone has been in a similar spot and figured it out with a happy ending let me know!

I'm looking for more community events on the East Side (specifically for the summer, but on going) but having a tough time finding things. Lots going on closer to Downtown but beyond Eastern Market I am not seeing a whole lot, where should I look?