Ohh the Latte

I love me some latte! Every time I go to Starbucks I am amazed at the excitement that fills my bones when I hear "Grande Decaf Vanilla Soy Latte for Lily at the bar!" I feel as though I have won the lottery when my drink is called. The contents of the cup and the general company I find myself with on such numerous occasions is a joyous moment each time.

My love for lattes has grown over the years. When I was a senior in college a Starbucks opened in Hilo, HI. A big day for such a small town! On my first visit I remember ordering a Vanilla Cream Frappuccino, the gateway to the endless world of coffee. I remember walking in, not feeling very confident and knowing next to nothing about what ordering a coffee drink was all about. So I didn't order coffee at all! Besides, it was far too overwhelming to have to make that many decisions about so many things that all end up in one cup in 5 seconds flat! A new friend Natalie was there at my first Starbucks experience and we talked together about the joy coffee and Starbucks could bring to little old Hilo.

Well, little did I know that I was walking down a path towards addiction. I soon graduated to coffee flavored Frappuccinos and then onto big kid drinks like Mochas and then my beloved Latte. I even aged in my coffee affections to take on the drip. But, alas, I am not old enough yet to handle black coffee, I need that cream and Splenda! As I drank more coffee, especially my first 2.5 years on Young Life staff I decided that sleep was over rated when there was coffee that was black as tar waiting for me every morning in the office. I would load that cup up with powdered creamer and some sugar and be on my exhausted way! I would get the shakes most days and pass it off as a worth while side effect because of needing constant energy to be with kids.

3 years after I started drinking coffee ferociously I decided I was going to take a week off from drinking it to try to clean my system out and get back to maybe 1 cup a day. Two days into my caffeine freedom, or so I thought, the worst headache of my life came on and didn't go away for a couple days. It was as though a vice was on my head slowly tightening itself around my brain patiently waiting for my head to explode. I was depressed and beat down, all from not having caffeine! So that's when I decided that I was through with this caffeine business!

It's been 2 and a half years since giving up caffeine and now something nes is happening. In the last 3 weeks I have had some caffeinated coffee drinks here and there and my stomach has decided to have a little Rumble in the Bronx every time I drink it. This is a sad day because there will be moments in Young Life when I am going to neeeeed caffeine and I have to way being tired or being sick. Oh the need for energy... Anyway, God bless decaf coffee, because the caffeine is no where near the addiction of the taste for me anymore. So here's to all of the people who love them some Starbucks, we are on the same train together!