1. I found my lifelong friend - and I watched her marry the man of her dreams - and I cried. Hard. I've always heard that a girl has one friend that lasts a lifetime, I'm pretty sure I've found mine.
2. I'm not ready to move "home"....to my Kentucky home, that is. The peace I felt coming off the plane into DEN was indescribable. Our time here is not yet up.
So, in a nutshell that was my trip. Now, I'm back in CO enjoying the humidity of 10%, planning backpacking trips, buying climbing gear (rope, quickdraws, slings, etc), raising money for my walk, going to the Mile High Music Festival, and drinking a Fat Tire. Life is good.
Well, life will be better when Mike is home from camp and my evenings can get back to "normal". Life is never perfect, right?
I had the most fabulous day today (actually the entire month of July has been fabulous). First, here is how it ended - with a 6.5 trail walk/run through Flatirons Vista Park.
Today was record heat in the Denver area, but you wouldn't guess it. The dry air makes it feel like 90 instead of 95 and once that sun goes beyond those lovely Rocky Mountains, things cool down quickly. I am not exactly sure if the summer months make up for the 9 1/2 months of winter, but it's close enough for me. Before taking this marvelous trail, I met Michael in Boulder to give him some key items he left at the house before heading up to camp (i.e. underwear, pants, and a sleeping big...all of which are pretty necessary at camp, agreed?) we grabbed a bite to eat, talked about camp, then he headed up into the mountains, and I headed down. I then spent almost 2 hours hiking myself back into these "flatirons". By the time I was finished, and the dogs were finally tired, I turned around to see the sun setting beyond those mountains.
There were several dozen sun rays shooting out as the sun sank low below the mountain. I often think of those "rays" as a gift from the Lord, kind of like a rainbow (I have a story about that in a minute). I picture his face then the rays of sunshine beaming so bright from something even brighter. I couldn't capture a picture of this particular one, but hopefully you know what I'm talking about. A particular song popped into my head with these lyrics:
All who are thirsty
And all who are weak
Come to the fountain
Dip your heart in the stream of life
Let the pain and the sorrow
Be washed away
In the waves of His mercy
As deep cries out to deep, we sing
Come, Lord Jesus, come
Come, Lord Jesus, come
At that very moment, all I could think about is just asking my God to come into my life. To wash all of my pain and sorrrow away and truly dip my heart into his streams of life. The breeze began to start blowing past my body - yes, come Holy Spirit, please, I need You. So, for a few moments I truly let myself enjoy the Lord invading my body and then, with what words I could muster I said, "thanks." Words completely escaped me and as I watched the sun set beyond the mountains, and the sun rays fading, I thought to myself, "this is exactly where I need to be right now. Why would I ever leave the peace and presence of the Lord?" You know me, always looking for something more - but truly - our lives are so at peace with our surroundings it is kind of scary.
I always pictured myself moving home, made plans to move home, wanted our children to be raised at "home". But, where is "home" anyway? Granted I have a pretty amazing farm and immediate family in Winchester, but does that make it "home"? Or is home now where Mike and I have made it? I made my sister a pillow one time that said, "Home is where the Horse is." Is that true? Oh boy. I'm going to have to chew on this thought for a while...what do you think? Do I have a misconception as to what exactly "home" is? What do YOU consider home?
I am going to Winchester next Tuesday for my best friend's wedding. I cannot belive the summer is going by this fast! We recently had Nashville friends in town for a few days and in a couple days my brother in law is coming up to spend 2 wks in Colorful Colorado! Life never ends, does it?
Here is a picture of a rainbow - one that appeard to my fellow 3-day walker Debbie and I right after we finished walking 11 miles in 3 hours. What a promise, right? So if this is what we saw on our way HOME from the walk, here is what we saw as we were leaving her driveway:
AHH! This is NOT a lawn ornament! This is a live, wild, elk sitting munching on someone's front lawn! WTC! Can you belive this? Look at the rack on this thing (ha! That's what she said). Unbelieveable, truly, it is.
So, tell me what home is for you. Do you have an elk in your front yard? Even as a lawn ornament? My dogs are snoring they are sleeping so hard, I think I might follow in their footsteps.
Okay, because I'm feeling so generous with my words/blogging today (or maybe I feel guilty) I'm bringing back a video that I'm sure we've all seen, but can still laugh at, none the less. Enjoy!
So, I bought this awesome game on my iPhone called Angry Birds - and this one liiiiitle game has consumed my time and blogging has seemed to take the back burner. Okay, not really. Although, I did buy that game on my phone, and it is pretty awesome to play while laying in a hammock in the Rocky Mountains, but it doesn't excuse my hiatus from blogging. So much has gone on - you know what that means! A TOP TEN! yeah yeah. Don't get too excited now, there is more to come this week. Here is a list of the 10 lessons I've learned within the past week:
10. Don't charge over the old runners while weaving your way through thousands of other people while trying to get to the water station. Oh, and try to catch the marshmallows neighbors are throwing at mile marker 2.22. Say hi to Dr. Oz as you pass him being interviewed on TV and enjoy that cold Mich Ultra beer after completing 6.2 miles in less than an hour.
*The Bolder Boulder was Ah-mazing! I will do it again next year, hopefully dragging along my reluctant husband. So entertaining - tons of amazing costumes, bands, food, and interesting people that are passing you while you say "how are they running faster than me????". Oh, and I placed 15,818 in probably a 54,000 field. Gender field: 5570 out of 26494 - I suppose that's decent.
9. Working Sundays are the pits, but it's totally worth it on Friday when you realize that it truly is Friday and not Saturday and bam! you automatically have one extra day added on to your weekend. Sa-weet! Worked a Sunday, again, today. Sucked, but I know come Friday - totally worth it.
8. Dancing hippies involved in dancing at shows at Red Rocks don't mind sharing their space. Josh, Beth, Mike and myself shimmied (well, I shimmied, I don't know about the rest of the crew) down closer and closer to the front and poof! Soon our view was like this:
Look at that John Butler cutie! Take a look at the video at the bottom - rockin'! I think Red Rocks might be, no, I'm pretty sure it's my favorite venue EVER to watch a show. You know you want to see a show here, just do it. We got tix to see David Gray & Ray LaMontagne at the end of August, you still have time to buy some plane tickets and high tail it out here!
7. Dreams really can come true! I was driving home from work one day early last week and dreaming in my head, "I could really dig an Ale8 right now. How awesome it would be to have some Ale8s sitting on my front porch when I get home." Of course, Ale8s only appear when you BUY them. Then, like a weird deja vu, I see a UPS truck pull out of our subdivision. My heart skipped a beat; Could it be? I slowly pull up to the driveway, and I'm not kidding folks, there, on my front porch were two beautiful, brown, cardboard boxes. Beauty only a case of A Late One could bring. And so, I just want to thank my mother for making my dreams come true, thanks mom!
6. Marriages are happy when husbands are happy. And my husband is happy, so there!
5. Friends that let friends home share music off their computer must be true friends. True friends put together composters for friends. They also leave a case of local beer in the fridge and some other yummy treats when they leave. Oh! And they introduce you to a TV show on FOX called Glee - AND give you the entire run down of the first season so you can watch the finale and know exactly what's going on. Thanks Josh and Beth Graham for being such good friends. Please come and visit again, soon.
4. Dogs that get locked in the Gaga Pit can't get out.
3. When it rains on a tin roof of a cabin you are sleeping in, instant joy warms your heart and sleep ensues for hours. Then, when you wake up and it's still raining you say, "Guess I'll just sleep more, not much to do outside today." This is especially memorable when you have a dog that is scared of thunderstorms and a dog that is spoiled up on the bed taking in the same noises. Although for some reason they don't find them near as relaxing. Has someone marketed that sound in a sound machine?
2. Raising money makes me feel sleezy - but good non-profit companies like Boys and Girls Club and Susan G. Komen for the Cure make me happy. Only 75 more days until my walk - I have to continue to raise money, but I just hate being pesty!
1.
That list is in no particular order, only by which I could remember what exactly has transpired in the past week. Mom and Dad Skaggs are arriving in the Mile High City on Thursday....a weekend of The Buckhorn Exchange, fly fishing, Rockies Game, shopping and showing my parents our life here in CO will bring another top ten list to the surface in a week, I'm sure. May the Lord continue to bless your life, send amazing friends and family your way, and may you give thanks daily for the many blessings. I know I don't do that enough. Love Wins!
Seriously, ya'll, Colorado has so many dogs. The metro Denver area has 177,000 alone. I noticed a lot on my run today through our neighborhood.
Just thought you might find that interesting. It was 96 degrees here today....and I loved every moment of it. I mowed, washed my car, went to Home Depot, ran, and enjoyed sweating. For once.
Know what else is interesting? My brown thumb is turning green! I bought an orchid at least 5wks ago and its still going stong - so I bought another one today. I love them. I bought a couple annuals for our front porch and......a composter! It needs to be put together but Mike and I are excited about decreasing our trash/waste even more. We now have maybe one bag of trash/wk, but I'm looking to cut that down with the use of our composter.
I'm also VERY disturbed by this oil leak. I don't get politicky, in fact, I tell Mike on a regular basis I don't want to talk politics. This is mostly because I truly feel as if there is no one in politics whom I can trust. But, this oil leak has really made me wonder about our dependence on oil and the push to start developing other sources. I actually felt guilty filling up my car today...thinking all this oil that I'm paying for is gushing into the ocean killing habitat, animals, and destroying the ecosystem for many years to come. It just seems weird. Maybe Mike and I can start developing our own biofuel. Maybe the Colorado "way" has rubbed off on me; what I mean is that I have become so much more aware of the little things like: where your food comes from (and the importance of buying local), what a food co-op is and how it works, the importance of eating healthy and exercising, and keeping the beauty of CO intact by recycling/composting. Good things, of course, things that I would encourage you to investigate! Farmers Markets should be in full force by now!
And speaking of very Colorado, this is Gates Camp. I'm packing my Eagle's Nest hammock with me this weekend as I head up there so that I can read my book and enjoy the scenery and quiet. Dogs are coming too, hopefully they won't find any unfriendly wild creatures. God's Holy Spirit truly speaks to me through nature and I can't wait to spend my weekends enjoying the presence of Christ.
Bolder Boulder time on Monday. I'll post pictures.....wish me luck!
Mikey and I celebrated 2 years of wedded bliss this weekend by driving to Grand Junction, CO (through much snow and rain across the mountains). Grand Junction is on the other side of the rockies and it's quite the desert. It's about 1,000 feet lower in elevation than what we are living at now, so it's much warmer and drier; the perfect place for vineyards! We tasted about 4 of the 24 wineries and came home with 5 bottles of wine! It was so much fun! Granted, it wasn't fun looking for a hotel room that would take 2 dogs when the local college, Mesa State, was hosting their graduation. But, we finally found one (thanks to an older couple that left because there was a "Mexican Dance" held in the Lounge part of the hotel that had the music up too loud) that was cheap enough even with 2 dogs. Here we are at Calson Wineries (our favorite!). I would definitely recommend the wine country of CO if you come to visit. It's about a 4hr drive.....scenic, of course, but totally worth it. I think we're gonna go back in September for their Wine Festival and they also have a peach festival, too! We're already planning another trip! Cheers!
I'm heading up to camp this weekend to see what life is like up about 3,000 feet. Plenty of room to roam for the dogs and apparently plenty of wildlife to view (Mike has spotted moose!). Just hope the wildlife and the dogs don't mix. Love my life right now, don't really have much else to say. I'm excited about the summer and what it brings - i.e. good friends, familly, concerts, and warm weather.
Well, if I can make it I am going to try to run in the Bolder Boulder with 50,000 other runners. Mike can't run with me b/c he has to work (booooo!) but he called me out that it was on my list of things to do this summer. So, I guess I'll do it alone...unless anyone out there wants to run it with me? It's only a 10K, but I'm so out of long distance running shape, I think I might struggle a bit. Are the weeks flying by for anyone else? I feel like the months are rolling by so quick! Before I know it, I'll be in Winchester for my best friend Sarah's wedding! AH! I could really handle a nice cold/slushie Ale8 out of a returnable bottle right about now, but I guess I'll have to stick with the Calson Winery Sweet Baby Red (a blush that tastes like White Zen). Seriously not as good, but I'll take it. I had to get a picture with the rustic horse....it reminded me of home.
How have your new year's resolutions been going? Forgot about them? Changed your life? Like I said, I have to keep myself accountable for them because this year I actually wrote them all down. Love you guys! Love Wins!
