Two are Better than One

Having a partner in life expands one's horizons. For instance, last Saturday Bryan and I went (thanks Lee!) to Boettcher Concert Hall for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra's performance of, among other pieces, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The Colorado Chorus was featured too, and the whole thing was just amazing. There's something about 200 voices in perfect harmony that removes me from reality for a few minutes. Then afterwards we stopped by our friends Dorian, Jenny, and Alex's house to watch the big UFC event - Lesnar vs. Velasquez. I had just paid off the 29 cents I owed Dorian for losing a bet during the last UFC fight...and then promptly incurred the same debt when I picked the loser Saturday night. I don't know why we started betting 29 cents (I'm really not a big gambler) on the matches, but we do.

My whole point in all that is to say having a partner is great - I never would have started watching UFC fights were it not for Bryan. For that matter, I probably wouldn't have become such a loyal Broncos fan (sorry Dad); helped shovel a ton of river rock into, then back out of the back of a U-Haul; played one-on-one basketball at the park in the middle of a 100+ degree August day; attempted (key word being attempted) to do pull-ups; or learned how to back a boat into the water (which is really quite simple - back up and make sure to stop before your tailpipe gets flooded). I'm not sure what Bryan would insert here - maybe that were it not for me, he wouldn't know just how important having a different pair of shoes for each outfit is? Or that some people actually do sleep past 6:00 am when the alarm is off. Or that tears mean hug me and that washing the dishes means I'll hug you.

There's other good stuff too...the fact that there's someone else looking out for you. And that when a decision comes up, there's someone to make it with...someone who has the best interests of you as a couple at heart. Someone to make you smile...who can be strong when you're not. Who gets excited about upcoming adventures and laughs over good memories with you. Who feels your pain but reminds you of the truth regardless. Someone who helps you grow - not so much by telling you how to improve (although that does happen some:), but rather by engaging in situations where your weaknesses raise their ugly heads enough for you to identify them...and then loving you regardless while you work them out. Someone who holds your hand. Who supports you even when they don't completely understand. Who reminds you that you are valuable and special and needed. Really, just someone who's there...even when they're miles away, you know they're there - you can feel it.

I've been incredibly blessed to find most of those things in my family and a few friends throughout the years. Thank you - I hope I've told you all in some (however inadequate) way how much you have, and continue, to mean to me. But Bryan - you alone are responsible for the UFC part...and for that, and all the other things I just mentioned, I want to say thanks. You're asleep in Nashville right now, but thank you for being my husband. I love you.

Progression of the Leaves

The trees on our street have been putting on a beatiful show the past week + with a colorful array of bright red and golden yellow leaves. Our tree resisted until a day or two ago, when it started turning. Then it got rather windy yesterday...

Our neighbor's tree lost its leaves:

This resulted in a wonderfully crunchy lawn covering for us (not them). I happen to like the leaves, but not everyone else in the house does, so I was planing to rake them up later this week:

Last night I woke up several times from from the howling wind that literally shook the house. I am not a big fan of overly windy days, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the wind had taken care of my chore for me...this was our yard this morning (and our tree, which withheld):

So where did all the leaves go?

The wind deposited them very neatly right on top of my flowerbed:

It's supposed to drop below freezing tonight, so I'm just going to leave (no pun intended) them there and hope they insulate the flowers. It's supposed to be back in the 70's in a few days, so I'm not ready to bid the bright blooms good-bye yet!

At least I didn't wake up to this today, like those up in the mountains did. Good start for the ski season:

Ugg and Wooohooo!

After a fairly productive morning, I was getting ready to leave for my long overdue piano lesson and to run a bunch of errands, grocery shop, etc. In my haste, I dropped my phone (for the millionth time) on the floor, and was dismayed to see the track ball and its cover/ring go flying. I managed to stick them back in, and took off. 20 minutes down the road I realized my rings were sitting on the bathroom counter where I set them to put lotion on. We had people coming in the house while I was gone today, so I turned around and hurried back. Rings on hand, I started out again.

After a good lesson, I went to my first errand - a return. All was well until the cashier asked for my credit card to put the refund on and I couldn't find my wallet. My wallet is always in my purse. Always. I panicked slightly, accepted a store credit instead, and went out to search my car to no avail. Unable to complete the rest of my errands, I hightailed it home to look there...only to almost run into a police check point. In the middle of the afternoon - what? Since my license was in my who-knows-where wallet, I took a side street over to the next major road, avoiding a pathetic explanation to the lawmen. This turned out to be a slight disaster as there was serious road work underway. Well, let's just say there were a lot of cones and reduced lanes and guys in hard hats standing around. 1.5 hours later I finally made it home, but couldn't find my wallet anywhere. The blasted thing did finally turn up in the back corner of my trunk under a towel. I have no idea how it got there...and could have ended up finishing my errands after all...

Meanwhile, I picked my phone up from the counter to head back out again (still didn't have groceries), and noticed the track ball covering was gone. Meaning the track ball now falls out unless I lay my phone flat or hold it in with my finger while talking. Thank goodness for speaker phone...

So I pulled out of the garage yet again, and a few miles down the road came to a complete standstill (spilling water on myself in the process) until a stalled car could be dragged out of the single lane it was blocking. I finally get almost to the store parking lot before realizing my grocery list was still where I threw it on the kitchen counter during one of my earlier frantic searches through my purse for my wallet. At this point, I gave up, had dinner with my friend Brea, and went home to spend almost 2 hours on a conference call for my Marketing Management group project (which means I missed talking to Bryan who's in Nashville). What a day.

On a happier note:

• Gina managed to get her next training scheduled in Denver in two weeks, so I get a real live date with her on my birthday
• Charlie is talking about coming out to go skiing (sorry, boarding)
• My husband has been making me even more proud than usual lately
• The holidays are coming and that means time with family
• Speaking of which, I am blessed to have people that I love and that love me. Awesomeness
• I really like our small group and the people in it
• My economics class is half over
• If I hurry, I can get to bed before midnight tonight
• The grocery store will (likely) still have food tomorrow and be happy to see my credit card
• I am still thrilled with our new paint job

I could go on, but I'm getting tired. Night all!

The Campus in the Air

Last weekend Bryan and I visited Taylor at Fort Lewis College in Durango. It happened to be Homecoming weekend, so we got to participate in all the fun! Thanks to cheap flights on Frontier, we arrived in Durango Friday evening in time to grab some pizza at Beau Jo's (yum!) and make it to the parade. Downtown Durango is super cute - little shops and a railroad...surrounded by mountains in the background. The weekend's theme was Blast from the Past, so we got to see lots of hippies and a few authentic Indians in the parade.

Then we met up with Taylor at her house, had spaghetti and banana bread, and met some of the football players. AND laughed our heads off when Taylor pranked Bryan and one of the football players. The player used it as motivation for his 97-yard touchdown run the next day...Bryan just got wet : ) The last activity for the day was the bonfire, which was enormous...and felt good in the cool air.

Saturday morning we went to breakfast with Taylor, then headed to campus (which happens to set on top of a mountain - or maybe a big hill - all by itself...pretty cool view). As co-captain of the dance team, Taylor had to paint some chairs...after supervising for a while, Bryan and I checked out the tailgate party and enjoyed some great views. The Skyhawks lost in the 4th quarter, but it was a great trip and we enjoyed both Taylor and Durango.

Right before take-off, Bryan informed me that if the propellor came off, I would be cut in half.

Taylor leads the crew in turning maroon thrift store chairs into white dance team chairs.

It really is a pretty campus...on top of a hill with the mountains all around!

Fall color from the edge of the campus. I like the one red tree by the church :)

Thoughts from a Movie

I was pleased the other night to find Never Been Kissed on our list of recorded movies, and even more pleased when Bryan generously agreed to watch it with me. As I was still not feeling well and my stuffy head begat a fuzzy brain, I was planning to zone out to the Drew Barrymore chick flick. My plans were somewhat foiled though, when I found myself thinking (darn) about the plot - a 25-year-old undercover reporter who enrolls in high school for a story, and in the process relives past nightmares and makes a few changes.

Nevermind that I can't - if I could, would I want to go back to high school? Or college, for that matter. Are there things I would change? And though I imagine myself much more enlightened and mature at the ripe old age of 28-soon-to-be-29, am I really that much different or better equipped to alter the course of those years?

I suppose I wouldn't change anything because it all melded together to shape me into me. But still, I like to think that if I had a re-do with what I know now, I would have reached out and opened up more instead of hiding behind my insecurities. I would have gone out and had fun or tried new things more instead of staying busy "earning" my worth. I might have worked a little less and played a little more. Perhaps even saved a little less and spent a little more (and yes, I realize how fortunate I am to be in a position to say that). Probably invested more time and effort into lasting friendships. Appreciated and participated in my family to a greater extent. Spent more energy on the things that truly made me beautiful instead of wishing I would be voted prom queen.

Don't get me wrong - I am incredibly thankful for the mostly positive experiences I had in high school and college. Many wonderful people and opportunities came into my life during that period. But how would it have been different if I had truly grasped "way" back then the concept of grace. Of being so utterly, intrinsically loved and valued that I never ever have to prove myself to anyone (including me). Of being seen as beautiful and therefore having something beautiful to offer that the world needs.

I probably knew these things then, but often didn't internalize them enough to let them take much effect. But as Bryan commented, you can't go back and alter history, but you know them now. So how does that change things? Yes, I know them now. But do I? As I ponder this, I conclude that yes, I do. I have spent the past few years learning (or perhaps it's more accurate to say that God has spent the last few years teaching me) to ingrain these truths in my head so I will believe them even when I don't always feel them. Because trust me, there are many times I don't feel like I have any beauty to offer anyone or like I have to keep trying harder to be worthy of...who knows - you name it and I've probably felt it. But in those times, I now have a bank of truths from which I can pull. Statements I have come to truly believe, that allow me to (eventually, if not always immediately) dispell the ugly insecurities and fears that inevitably rise up. I often can't help how I feel about something. But I do get to choose what I allow my mind to focus on - what thoughts I feed myself. And those beliefs which become thoughts greatly impact my attitudes and actions.

So if I were able to hop into a little time machine and go re-do certain parts of my life would anything be different? Maybe, because I am now more equipped with the truth. And the truth changes everything. But maybe not, because in order to keep growing us, it seems that when one thing is finally learned, God gives us another to work on. Or presents us with opportunities to practice which usually don't go perfectly for a while. Or in my experience, both. But I suppose that is part of what keeps us close to God - knowing what we need, but not quite being able to do it without Him. And given His success rate, abundant resources, and unfailing love for us, I'd say that's not a bad place to be.

Change the past? Nah. Grow more, internalize the truth, and love better (including myself) moving forward? That is my prayer.

Educate Yourself

I just spent the last 3 + hours researching the issues that will appear on the Colorado ballot in November. Since Election Day always falls on or near my birthday, I decided to give myself the gift of being informed about our propositions and amendments so I could cast my vote intelligently. What I felt, up until about 10 minutes ago, was that I was actually getting dumber with each webpage or blog I read.

The Colorado Blue Book (state ballot information booklet mailed to all registered voters) actually did a decent job of stating the facts and giving a fairly unbiased "for" and "against" argument. But that, in my mind, was part of the confusion. As in the rest of life, political facts alone don't necessarily tell the whole story; and almost anything can sound really good or terribly bad, depending on the "facts" presented or withheld. Not to mention the tone used or endorsers featured.

So I read my little Blue Book and noted how I planned to vote. Then I went online and started researching to confirm those plans. A lot of what I found was highly charged opinions based on emotion that while understandable (in some cases), weren't based on sound reasoning. And while I do tend to feel and thus emote deeply, I think that decisions impacting the future of our country, our lives, and our children should be based on something more solid. By all means, feel strongly, yes! But do some research and back your position up with facts that support what you feel and believe. Because I found that (shocking) the media likes to play on our emotions with highly charged headlines that don't really tell the whole story.

Every election has its hot topics. This year Colorado's is a group of two state amendments and one proposition regarding taxes, fees, and government spending. My request to each of you is do a little digging and find out what the issues actually are. What does "reduce taxes" really mean to you and your community? One of the gifts of living in this country is that you get to voice your opinion. Another is the right and freedom to obtain vast information and research. Practice both wisely.

I finally came to a conclusion about how I'm going to vote in November. Ironically, after all my research, I ended up sticking with what I had previously decided. However, I now feel like I know why I'm voting the way I'm going to, and could explain that to someone. And thus ends my soapbox spiel. I don't do that too much (anymore:), but it's my blog so I guess I'm allowed every once in a while.

Flowers...Revived!

This post is for Mom, who told me how to revive our ailing front yard flowers. Bryan dug a flower bed this spring, and we planted a variety of things (the majority of which were petunias this year) this summer. They stopped blooming for a while, but thanks to Mom they're now back at it. I love their cheerful colors and the touch of beauty they add to the rest of the yard that Bryan takes such good care of.

October Begins

Friday night Bryan and I got some sushi for dinner (yes Charlie, the same place you and I went:) and then stayed up way past our bedtime to see The Social Network. The (mostly negative) portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg (the founder of Facebook) made me stop for a few seconds and hope that a movie, or book, or any sort of recounting of my life would be at least slightly more positive than his. It also reminded me that perception and interpretation can drastically change the impact of a situation from one person to the next.

Quite the opposite from Mark, I was also remembering Grandma Audrey this weekend and what an overwhelmingly positive impact her life has had on so many people. Grandma - you were one cool lady, and I hope to be more like you someday.

Saturday morning we ran a 5k for kidney disease awareness (sponsored by DaVita) in Stapleton Central Park (a long cry from "the" Central Park, but not bad considering it used to be an airport parking lot). We showed up with the intention of doing the walk part, but decided to run. One of Bryan's co-workers finished in 17 minutes. We did not. But it was a beautiful day and it actually felt good to run...which might be the only time those words come out of my mouth. Turkey Trot - here we come! : )

Yesterday after church we watched the Broncos finally get the football in the end zone and pull out a victory, then went to our first small group in the evening. Two couples were gone, but I think there are 10-11 couples total. We are the only ones without kids, but we're excited to get to know some people in our area/around our age and everyone seems really nice. We'll be getting to know a couple "in-depth" each time (we meet every other Sunday), and going through the Hearing from God book this fall. So excited to find some community!