The Break-Up

It has been a ridiculous amount of time since I have written an update.  I had actually forgotten about the photos that I am going to share with you until a friend mentioned that she wanted to start a blog for herself about her new move.  After encouraging her and sharing my own blog I realized that I had been neglecting it on purpose.  For the most part this is because shortly after leaving Colorado I didn't actually want to address the fact that I had left to come back south.  I guess when you are walking away from something that you have such a huge LOVE for, it is hard to come to terms.  Even though I made the decision to leave for various reasons, I liken my leaving Colorado to a very painful break-up that I had complete control over yet went through with it anyway. 

I hold such a reverence for anything and everything in "the West."  I especially hold a special place in my heart for Aspen, as it is almost a religious experience for me every time I am able to go there.  So when I ran across these pictures, although they may not look like much, I completely couldn't keep myself together.  There are not many things that I cry for, but I cried like a 2 year old for Colorado today. 

I realized today that even though I am super homesick for Colorado and my heart hurts every time I think about what I left, I am now closer to my family and friends just like I needed them to be.  After knowing what I missed (and needed) in Mississippi, I could never jump in the car and leave again unless a family member or friend were by my side!  Though my "break-up" with Colorado is still pretty raw, I am so thankful to have my wonderful memories, pictures, and my blog posts to reminisce about my amazing adventure to the West.  I really can't wait to get back to visit.  I hope this finds you all well and if my Colorado family is reading, I think about you daily and miss you all soooo much!  :)

Revised Two Month Update of My Life :)

So apparently blogging is something I need to put in my planner! 

I have tons to update you on so hold tight and I hope you have a while :)

Here are some pictures of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals + Me, Kayla, and Lindsey from like two months ago!

Grace would appreciate these.

I love these girls!

In the past two months A LOT has happened.  I am still loving my job and my friends in the West, my little fur ball is growing up, I am missing my Southern friends tremendously, and I have had a couple of adventures to tell you about. 

First thing's first: My very bestest friend/sister came to stay a whole week with me in Denver!  Landrey arrived on Saturday, March 12!  I picked up her up from the airport and brought her to my house.  I was so excited to see her when I met her at the baggage claim that I cried like a 2 year old.  I also ran full speed down the luggage claim area (Southwest Aisles 6-9) while screaming and flailing my arms.  Landrey says she cried too but she has always been the strong one so I don't really believe her.  And I probably embarrassed her ;) 

The LOVE of my life!

That week was definitely my best week since I have been out here.  I didn't even let little Landrey rest for a second because after we got home I immediately brought her to Red Rocks amphitheater, took her to all of my favorite restaurants and shops, and we spent about 4 days in Aspen.  It was a week full of firsts as Landrey had never been past Texas and had never seen the Rocky Mountains.  She had also never skiied before so I was excited to bring her out on the slopes.  We spent more time posing and modeling in our ski clothes than we did on our skis...But that's what happens when she and I get together.  We drink a little too much wine and act like fools.  When we suited up and got ready to go poor Landrey was terrified but she did really well for her first time on skis!  We took pictures of us on our skis outside of the house and then we decided that we'd rather hang out in the village and eat at The Stew Pot :)



Pinions... My favorite restaurant



The whole time we were in Aspen was like a dream.  I love going and doing with Landrey because she is up for anything and everything.  We shopped, ate out at ridiculously expensive restaurants, laid in the bed all day, drank a little too much wine, watched like 4 movies and RELAXED.  It was the best Spring Break I've ever had.  I showed her most of my favorite places to go and do in Aspen- especially those that I loved as a child.  When we got back to Denver we took it easy because she was leaving in the next few days and I'm pretty sure both of us were super broke.  The first night back in Denver our wonderful friends Whitney and Allie dropped in and stayed with us on their way to Jackson Hole.  I almost wanted to drag Landrey and hop on their bandwagon but it was great getting to see and visit with Whitney!  She is hilarious.  When I dropped Landrey off at the airport I had a mental breakdown- I miss her SO much.  Life just isn't as much fun without her. 

After Landrey left things kind of slowed down and I tried to get back into my normal routine.  It was definitely lonely that first night without company!  One good thing of several good things I can say of moving out here is that it has actually brought me closer to my friends and family.  I talk to them more often, for longer periods of time, and it has made me realize truly how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life... Especially when I only see them a couple of times in 7 months! 

A huge downside to the month of March was that Kayla moved home.  She left two days ago and I miss her so much it hurts.  She was my right arm woman in this big adventure.  She was missing her family, friends, and boyfriend Josh  and decided to trek it back to Mississippi with her new puppy, Penny, in tow.  I am happy for her as I know she has wanted to be home for some time now... But she definitely took some of my heart back home with her.  

A huge positive in the past few months is that I took up working out every single day with a trainer and on my own and I LOVE it.  It is the best stress reliever and I have never felt better.  I can honestly say I have really only missed one day out of the past two months.  The gym that I joined is super nice, never crowded, and right near where I live on Lincoln.  It is something that I picked up out here that I will never drop.  It is truly addicting. 

And now for the biggest/saddest/happiest news EVER...

BIG:  I have decided to return to graduate school to get my Masters.  SAD:  I gave my two weeks notice at my work yesterday and it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  You wouldn't think that it would be but I agonized over it so much that it literally made me sick.  I cried so much that my face feels like I have been punched and I'm pretty sure that I'm out tears for a good while.  I have never been so sad to leave somewhere and so excited to go somewhere at the same time.  The people that I work with are unlike any people that I have ever met.  I really think leaving here will be harder than when I left Mississippi.  As for where I am going, that has yet to be decided.  I have a couple of places in mind but I don't want to make any hurried decisions.  HAPPY:  What this does mean though is that I will be coming back closer to home, although I won't be spending the next few years in Mississippi... I will be within a decent driving distance.  This means so many things for me.  I miss my family and friends terribly and I am super excited to be closer to them and super excited to be going somewhere new, alone, and still have that adventurous independence that I can't seem to live without. 

I will always be a lost soul and never know exactly where I want to be or who I want to be, but at least my wandering will have purpose while I'm back at school :)  And, I can also take advantage of the newfound (Well, revitalized) relationships that I have rekindled with the people I have known my whole life. 

So that is my life in a very small nutshell for the past two months.  And I know that tons more has happened but I suck at remembering stuff so if I think of anything I will add it!

I love you!  And I will see you in a couple of weeks! 

Fly by February....

This month marks 6 months since I have moved from home and made a new life in the wild, wild west!  That is almost crazy for me to even think about.  I feel like it was yesterday that I drove into town in that perfect 70 degree sunny weather for my "really extended after college vacation"... And now I have to get up at 6AM for work!  

This month has been a slow one and an almost unbearable one thanks to the terrible weather that we have had lately.  I still have an undying love for the snow that falls quietly outside my window... But driving in it is a whole different story.  In fact, I have been late to work 3 days in the past week!  I am still learning to navigate my way around in it and I have even let up on my lead foot driving (and replaced it with road rage) when the roads are covered in snow and ice.  

A few tidbits of February:

Kayla and I tried our first fondue restaurant this month.  Danny works at Le Chateau downtown and we decided to surprise him at work one night.  He waited on us and let us order from the happy hour menu (Thank you, Danny!) and brought us plenty of food!  

My favorite part of dinner...

I'm pretty sure I ate a seriously unhealthy amount of cheese fondue this night!

I finally went and picked up my sweet little kitten, Violet!  On the 28th I drove to Santa Fe, NM  and stayed the night in order to pick her up the next morning in Albuquerque.  When I finally got there Friday night I was exhausted and stopped to stay at the Lodge at Santa Fe.  It was recommended to me by my boss and it was a wonderful hotel.  The next morning I grabbed breakfast to go and drove another hour or so.  Once I finally had her I was so happy and her blue eyes were beautiful!  I drove about 7 hours back home to Denver that day and she and I both were so tired we could hardly think straight.  It turns out that she is the perfect companion for me.  She is the sweetest, most loving animal I have ever had.  She loves to cuddle and sleeps right next to me every night.  She loves quality time too, as evidenced by her attempts to sabotage my blog writing tonight.  She gets a little sassy and jealous when I am paying too much attention to my computer and phone!  She is a fluffy butterball that's for sure.

This is what happens when I write to you!

And this is what happens when she finally gives up! :)

This month I have also fit a little skiing in.  It takes a bit of planning to get a ski trip together, especially on a weekend.  It requires waking up at like 6AM to even make it to the resorts at a decent hour.  It's worth every minute of it.  This past weekend Kayla and some of our new friends went to Keystone.  Seeing as we all love sleep we decided not to get going until 9AM...And then we didn't get to the mountain until almost 1 o'clock.  Which left us about two hours or less to ski and it took us about 5 hours to get back home.  We spent quite a lot of time in the car but next time I will most definitely give up my sleep for a little more mountain time!

I am very much looking forward to Spring in the mountains and am trying to plan my next trip home for a visit because I am 'sho missing my mama and could use a little delta destruction in my life!  I have lots of making up to do after being sick at Christmas... Not to mention I need a little humidity in my life as well!  I have also been pondering what exactly I'm going to do when my lease goes up in June and I haven't gotten very far with that..  I did get far enough to know that I would like to go back to school and get my MBA like I should have already done.. But only time will tell and I'm too indecisive to ever make decisions that are so far away!

Oh yeah.. Kayla and I are going to see Grace Potter this Friday and I will have an unfortunate amount of pictures for you all to see after that!  She is amazing. 

I love you guys!