02
Our Story, LLR
Here’s a shortened version of Our Story:
In 2011 shortly after Alex and his ex-wife formalized their divorce. Alex saw Jillian at a massage clinic where they both were working. Jillian was the new girl in town studying at the Rolf Institute to get certified as a Rolfer and Alex was the resident, Mr. Fixit. The front desk associates nicknamed him “The Dr”. They exchanged numbers and traded bodywork. Nothing unusual, many of the top therapists usually do that for self-care and to learn from each other.
After a few weeks, Jillian sent out a few texts asking for good local places to grab a drink and hear some music. Alex responded. He was at a high school graduation party for one of his athlete clients. He also worked on her mother who was dealing with the effects of the West Nile Virus. Jillian agreed to meet him on the northeast corner of Pearl and 10th street in Boulder, Colorado.
You can tell west from the east in Boulder by where the front-range mountains reside. The Rocky Mountains are to the west, overlooking Boulder Valley in the East. On a clear day, you can hike one of the Mount Sanitas trails, where hundreds of people get their steps in on a daily basis, and almost see Kansas. Yep, it ‘s that flat…ish. There are some rolling hills that add a little texture to the landscape, but nothing like the Rockies to get in the way.
Alex and Jillian met at the bench in front of the airy inside/out seating of Pasta Jays. Motioning across the street, Alex took Jillian to a cozy little wine bar, Cuvee. They sat and ordered their first glass in the two-seater table with a jazz trio playing in the background. How romantic! It wasn’t even a date. Just two colleagues out on the town after work for a happy hour. Ok, it was Saturday and it wasn’t officially happy hour, yet.
Jillian felt heard and at ease talking with Alex, so much so she felt comfortable to share her experience in the bodywork session she had the previous day.
Hours passed, and more great stories shared. A decision was put on the table; stay and have more wine or go to the restaurant turned dance club after 10 pm across the street.
Pro-tip: when you don’t want anyone to know you’ve been out the night before, get the palmar side of your wrist stamped, its easier to hide when the ink doesn’t completely wash off.
So Jillian is a professionally trained dancer, taught dance for a crazy number of years, graduated with a BFA from the University of Texas Austin, and most notably (to Alex’s delight), was a badass street performing queen of a breakdancing crew in San Francisco. Alex was Colombian. Not that it means anything, and feeds the stereotypes, but sometimes the stereotype is pretty close. Well, these two dancing fools dance battled each other and some other lucky souls trying to sneak between them. It was fun and a little blurry. Good thing Boulder is small, it was a time taxis still ruled the landscape.
Two weeks later at work, on a Wednesday morning, there was coffee, orange juice, and bagels at work (that usually translates staff meeting by the way), and Alex was notably absent. Midway through the meeting, Jillian got the text.
Days turned into weeks and weeks to months. 2011 turned into 2012, Alex and Jillian were inseparable. They road tripped to Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, all over Colorado, flew to Austin for the bat-less Batfest, Louisiana for the sausage party, Florida and that one trip to The Florida Keys. They frequently took Jillian’s furry friend, Sandy, along for adventures. Camping and getting rained out and hot springs, oh my!
2013, what a year! After years of preparation, savings and meeting Alex, she did it. Jillian graduated from the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration and elevated her vocation into facilitating people expressing their higher potential. All the while, working and sharing a private office space with Alex and Andrew Pollak in beautiful Boulder, CO.
2013 was the year, though it was two and a half years later than Jillian wanted and probably a few years before Alex would admit ever wanting to. They compromised and the three of them took the leap 3 years in and moved in together, at the Lucky House.
Together they tried to launch a business called Boulder Balance. It went very not far. Lessons were learned and not a lot of money was spent. They kept the joint Gmail because it was a great way to share information that was relevant to them as business partners.
They tried their hand at MLM with a very successful company. They even traveled to Vegas for Alex’s first time, with the company. Lessons were learned and money was invested. The takeaway, listen to your gut. We are people too, and we deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Alex and Jillian take a much stronger stance against racism and social equality.
However, the experience at the MLM company confirmed that Alex did indeed want to do bodywork and decided he was going to go to the Rolf Institute, just as Jillian had and they were going to do Boulder Balance right this time. Together again.
In 2014, during the time that he was compiling all the paperwork he needed to get together for enrollment at RISI, Alex was playing soccer with his Team Sparkfun. It was here that Alex took The Detour, and that lasted almost two years.
Jillian, on the other hand, began her certification process as a Biodynamic Cranial-sacral (BCT) therapist.
2016 snuck up on us and we moved into The Sky Condo at Lumine with Thistle Properties. Wow, that place was amazing! Astonishing views of the Colorado front range. This was a place you could see the weather creeping over the mountains, begin to drop at a distance and slowly engulf the city. And the sun! We barely needed the heat on because the sun was always scorching the place. Alex’s companion plants, on the other hand, needed protection from all the heat. It was so hot and Alex was still not used to the dry climate in Colorado. Even with his green thumb, Alex had a rough time growing his container garden.
However, he always managed to give life to some Cherry tomatoes & basil, Jillian’s favorite, and a few other plants. But nothing like their goal of owning many acres to “farm”. The gardening he did in Miami was way too easy in contrast; that humid environment made it so easy that even with the temperamental orchids, all he had to do was tie one to a tree on a good spot and off it went with little work. Perhaps his thumb wasn’t totally green, maybe it was a chill lime color?!
It was somewhere around this time that they decided they were going to try and do something meaningful that would change the course of their lives forever. They also decided to have a baby.
They were diligent and making sure their bodies were in good shape and they were mentally prepared to handle a pregnancy and child-rearing. They agreed that if they waited for that to happen they would soon be dead without an heir.
Jillian drank her teas, got her massages and continued her career as a Rolfer, delving further into Biodynamic Cranial-sacral (BCT) modality. Alex still played soccer, but quit the Solstice Center job and focused instead on his studies. Microbiology, chemistry; all the prerequisites he needed during his Detour. And about twice a week they did their best to hike to the top of Mount Sanitas, to keep the energy flowing and spirits high during those more difficult times of pregnancy.
While Alex was goofing around Front Range Community College taking classes and getting right-brained grades, Jillian completed her Biodynamic cranial-sacral training. She was certified and ready to go. What a feat!
In 2016, after a night of ceremonious contemplation, and a meditation while he waited for A tardy client, the course of Alex’s life was changed yet again. The detour was completed.
Armed with this information he finally submitted that application to the Rolf Institute.
To celebrate, Alex and Jillian went to Las Vegas, this time for realies. They synced up with Jillian’s old college buddy, the phenom Chris Staefe and his partner Tori, the Ninja Chef!
They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, however, we’re pretty sure our greatest relationship arose from our trip to Vegas.
Now that Jillian’s belly was growing, we saw it fit to move from the Sky Condo to the ground floor and the next 10 months were a blur.
While living at Lumine properties in Boulder we met some really great neighbors that have turned out to be great friends and we look forward to rebuilding this supportive community once again.
Little miss Kaiya Sofia was born, after 23 Hours of labor, on February 23rd, 2017. A nice little birthday present for Jillian; Yup, they have the same birthday, how cool is that?!
This little bundle of joy took us on our Second Family Road Trip, to Texas, to be closer to her maternal family in the growing community of Round Rock just north of Austin.
It is here that we find ourselves. Two months into Wedding Wellness and getting ready to launch LiveLoveRelax.com.
Join us as we uncover the hidden and not so hidden gems of Austin. We will take you with us on our travels across time zones, state lines, and passport stamps.
Our journey is one of discovery. Discover with us everything you need to live fully. Find new things to love wholeheartedly. And most importantly, discover the space you need to Relax along the way!
Welcome to your next most essential blog!
Alejandro, Jillian, and Kaiya Sofia