Marriage Vacation

Vacation is fun... this is something I learned this weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado! Michael and I took a long weekend and drove a mere hour and a half into the mountains and spent the entire weekend together enjoying a mountain/ski-town that neither one of us had ever been to.
It was fabulous! We were able to go because of the blessing of extra money in the bank account, so we were able to let loose and just enjoy each other's company while surrounded by God's beautiful creation.
We ate yummy food, drank yummy beer (yes, I found a beer I like!), and ate delicious organic Swiss chocolate fondue. What more could you ask for?
It was a great time to focus on us and really continue to connect as a married couple. We were able to smooth out a few kinks that had cropped up...
I wish we had the money to get away at least once a month, but alas, that is not possible. But we will definitely have to have nights like we did where we enjoy each other's company, talk about how we're feeling, and just be together without anything or anyone else distracting us.
And if you've never been to Breck, I would highly recommend it... well, I can't say anything about how it is in high ski season, but the off season is a great time to relax and hang with the locals! (Oh, and it's hit or miss about how much snow is present to go snowshoeing... we missed...)

Autumn Needs to Last Longer Than Spring

Here comes Autumn! The temperature is definitely changing and I spotted a few Aspen trees starting to change color... I know that the first day of fall is actually Sept. 22 (okay, I didn't know that; I had to look it up), but the weather sure isn't acting like summer. On Friday and today, it is dreary, overcast, and chilly with the slight sprinkle of rain. But then again, this weekend was a cloudless weekend with highs in the 70s... so there you go.
I love fall! I am not a fan of extremely hot weather, so when I can wear a light coat/sweatshirt and be perfectly warm, that's ideal! The rain is annoying, though (at least while I'm walking to and from work). Hopefully the 60 and 70 degree weather can last a while and we can enjoy fall in all of it's glory, unlike our Spring this year; or should I say, lack thereof (for those of you who don't live in Colorado, the weather went like this: cold, cold, HOT, even HOTTER... no in-between warm weather of spring).
I can't wait to take a drive around the mountains to admire the Aspens... it's going to be glorious!

Why Oh Why Did the DNC Have to be Here?

I'm already sick and tired of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). I wouldn't mind at all if I didn't
1) work downtown
2) live right off of Speer Blvd.
3) people didn't treat the DNC and the protesters like the end of the world (ie riots, teargas, people throwing mailboxes into cars [no joke, they removed all drop-boxes from the street because of the fear that people would pick them up and throw them... come on, people!])
It's already crazy! Michael and I missed church yesterday because of traffic issues caused by the streets closing down! We sat at the same light for 15 minutes watching cars drive into the middle of the intersection (even though they could see traffic wasn't going anywhere), and people making U-turns to go south on Speer... Oh, and did I mention the next light was broken and not turning green? Oh yeah, that was loads of fun. And all the roads being turned into one lane? That was fun too! By the time we would have made it though both intersections, we would have gotten to church halfway through the sermon! Michael was yelling at all the people on the sidewalk and the other cars "GO HOME!" I feel the exact same way!
It was Sunday, nothing was even really going on, and people are already acting like idiots and there were people already arrested last night... ugh! And I have to be downtown to work. We have the option to go home at noon and work from home, but I have the issue of the fact that my whole job is to be AT WORK! I can't answer the phones from home! I can't transfer calls from my cell phone! I'm stuck here till my boss says I can go home (that is, if everyone else goes home... please! everyone go home so I can too!!!) That didn't sound too desperate, did it? Well, it'll give me a lot of time to... uh... read/write blogs and mess around doing nothing... hopefully someone finds something for me to do-- not likely, but possible!
Be thankful if you are not in Denver, Colorado this week! Watch the coverage from your living room, away from the chaos and overreactions! This madness needs to end!
[Oh, and I have to just state my feelings about the protesters-- they're really dumb! No one even knows why they're here or what they're protesting for! I do know that there is a group protesting for peace, even though Democrats tend to be anti-war... I just don't get some people...]

Camping in the Poudre Canyon

We went camping this last weekend with my family (including Michael, obviously, and my sister's roommate) and it was AWESOME! I finally got my fill of camping for the year (the dime-sized bug bites are a strong motivator to not do it again for a while...) We went up to the Poudre Canyon (that probably wins the contest for stupidest/most-to-make-you-laugh names of a river/canyon) which is just west of Fort Collins. The weirdest part is that I went to school in Fort Collins for 4 years and NEVER went up the Poudre! But I finally got to experience it, and it was absolutely gorgeous!
It rained off and on, which was annoying; not just because it limits what activities you can do, but also we've spent the summer in record heat (something like 25 straight days of over 90 degree weather) and no rain... until the week of us going camping... it's a family curse! And you think I'm joking...
We got to see 3 moose on a little excursion we went on up the canyon. None of us younger people had ever seen one, so it was really exciting! I must say, moose are very weird-looking!
We also did a little treasure-hunting while we were up there. There is an activity called geocaching where you get the coordinates of a hidden cache and go on a hunt for it. There are thousands, all over the world! We picked two to do and it was so much fun. On the first one, we learned that it's important to read the whole description, as well as the hint to find it properly. We got the wrong coordinates (not our fault) and went on a hike along the Poudre for about a 1/2 mile until we realized it was back where we started-- except that it was a beautiful hike, it was a bit annoying-- and the actual finding of the cache was a bit disappointing... Oh well. The next one we found was much more fun and a beautiful hike as well! If you have a gps reader, I highly suggest you get involved! It's so much fun!
We also got to experiencing high centering our car on a rock that took the muscles of 4-5 other guys with my dad and Michael to get it off.
But the food was DELICIOUS! I don't eat eggs, don't ask why, but we had some our first morning and they were some of the best eggs I've ever had! We had a seafood bake for lunch and steak and potatoes over the fire for dinner. Yeah, as you can tell, we do what Michael calls "gourmet camping." We had to have the chicken salad sandwiches for dinner the first night cuz it was raining too hard to get a fire started (and it was way too late by the time it stopped to even think about starting that kind of meal). Camping food tastes way better than if you were to have the exact same thing at home. We were all trying to figure out why that is, but all we could really come up with was that we were outside, it was cooked over a fire, and it just does taste better! Oh, and I forgot the sourdough pancakes the last morning....mmmmm pancakes are one of my favorite foods! I usually eat 3 of them, but that morning I had 5 (maybe 6) and 2 pieces of bacon! Boy was it good!
And last but not least, the shower after camping.... nothing comes even close to the feeling of getting clean after being in the mountains for 3 days and no shower! It's heavenly!

Walking to Work

It's rain/snowing here (so I guess you could say it's snaining...) and being inside is great! However, I would much rather be at home in bed, watching a movie than being at work when it's this kind of weather. I walk to work every morning which is wonderful (not only for the exercise and the sights, but it saves a bundle on gas)! This morning, however, was a bit on the dreary, unmotivating side.
When I walk to work, I walk over what is called "The Pedestrian Bridge." A clever name since that is exacly what it is. It's a bridge over highway I-25 that makes it super-easy to walk to downtown. The path eventually crosses over a river, which is absolutely gorgeous! The plants around it this morning, being so wet and green, were breathtaking! Unfortunately, because of the cold and the rain, there weren't as many people to gawk at... and since it's still gonna be cold at lunch time, I won't be able to eat my sandwich and people watch during my lunch break either. And let me tell you, people-watching on 16th Street Mall is probably my new favorite past-time! There are so many different and unique people who walk around out there! So besides being able to sit outside to eat when it's nice out, I also get to answer the question, "who will I see today?"

Snowshoeing Expedition

Michael and I went snowshoeing for the first time this last weekend. It was a BLAST! We got snowshoes through a friend and drove my dad's Forester up to Idaho Springs. We found the trail our friend told us about, struggled to attach the shoes to our boots, and headed off into the snow-covered wilderness. It was an awesome experience, not just for the company, but for the views and sights that we saw. We were somewhere that, without snowshoes (or cross-country skis) you could never get to. The trees were glistening with snow and the scenery was breath-taking. It was like a little eye-present from God, showing us His beautiful creation in the mountains, even though it was the middle of winter. I love hiking, so now being able to "hike" in the winter makes enjoying the Rocky Mountains even better! So I would suggest that if anyone has ever wanted to go snowshoeing, they should definitely try it out-- it's WAY cheaper than skiing/snowboarding (rentals cost at most $12) and it can be done almost anywhere-- you don't have to drive all the way up to a resort to spend a bucket of money just to go! It's hard to imagine not living right next door to the mountains!

Denver Here I Come!

I have written quite a few blogs about moving to London... well, that's not gonna happen for a while. God finally placed a peace on my heart about not going right away. I still have the desire to go, so after Michael and I are married for a couple years (and he finishes school), we'll re-evaluate our situation. In the meantime, I have made the decision to move down to Denver, CO. It's about an hour and a half south of Fort Collins, where I currently reside. I will graduate on December 15th and move home with my parents. I love my parents, so it hopefully wont be too bad! Also, Michael is already in Denver at least 3 days out of the week, and there are a LOT more work opportunities for me down there!

We have had to make the difficult decision to leave Fort Collins, our friends, and our church. But God is taking us on a journey that requires sacrifice and obedience-- and we want to be as aligned with God's will as we possibly can. We have already been talking about how we will take the ideals and callings that we have learned about and heard from God to our new surroundings. We want to continue to be missional to those around us, to live in a community where we can connect with as many people as possible, and to find a church that will continue to help us grow and connect. We also want a church that encourages their attendees to go out and reach their communities.

Well, for Easter this last year, Michael and I went with my dad (it was snowing really hard so my mom decided to stay home and sit by the fire) to the church they attend. We absolutely loved it! So we have started attending that church and have begun to get connected there. We joined the young marrieds group at the church, because once we're married we're no longer single (so we can't join that group) and we wont be in college (can't join that group either). There are a lot of groups, but we see it as an opportunity to get to know even more people! The young marrieds group has actually been a real blessing to us. We read this book called "Why Marriages Succeed or Fail" by John Gottman. I would highly recommend it for anyone, no matter how long or short they've been together. It has amazing insight and helps couples realize parts of themselves and their marriage, and most importantly how they fight, and helps couples fix those problems. The group and the book have been very good for us as we are trying to learn and grow as much as possible before we tie the knot. Hearing couples talk about the struggles they have, what they fight about, how they deal with difficult issues, and being real with one another has been more beneficial than we could have ever imagined. We have also found other Christian friends. Both Michael and I have struggled with having friends, so having a place where we can connect with others who are in a similar situation in life is very exciting! We're by far the youngest people there and the only engaged couple ;-) Thankfully the leaders of the group were more than willing to let us join the group as an engaged couple!
We are excited to start the next phase of our lives and see where God takes us and see who He sends along in our lives. There will be more updates as moving actually happens (I'm trying to pack and take stuff home early so I don't have a recreation of what happened this summer!) and when the wedding gets closer! So now I gotta go find a job... what fun!

60 or 70 degrees-- is that too much to ask?

I'm cold. I'm freezing cold, to be exact. It's been below freezing for about a month straight! I have no body fat for insulation so I cannot naturally keep my body warm as it is. When it gets below freezing, you can always pick me out of a crowd because I'm the one completely bundled up from head to toe for the frigid winter air! I'm tired of the snow and I'm tired of the cold. I used to love snow. I used to want it to snow. Not any more. We've had 3 feet of snow for about a month now and it's not going away any time soon... ugh! It just needs to warm up enough to melt all of the snow AND ice away! I want my lovely, cool Colorado back-- I don't live in Michigan, so why is the weather acting like it? I've never been more eager for summer to come around (which I will then whine about it being too hot... vicious cycle!)! Okay, I'm done for now. I feel a lot better having gotten that off my chest! (And yes, that is my car. It was buried under all that snow! No fun!)