Yes, I live here.

Today was the day.

Today I woke up and fully realized that...I live in Colorado.  For the first time.  My new adventure is now my new reality.  I love it.  I love making new friends and exploring new places. People are really great about inviting you to do stuff here. I saw the movie The Vow with some new friends this weekend...so good.  Made me in a super lovey-dovey-sappy-girly mood after though.  Weird how movies do that.  And on Monday I hung out with my friend from college who lives here and had fun watching The Bachelor and Gossip Girl (don't judge me) with her. I am blessed to have her here and be able to catch up again! And yesterday for Valentines Day I went with another new girl friend to watch one of my high school classmates play ECHL hockey! It ended up being a really fun game to watch and it was fun to get to know her a little more.   We laughed a lot.  And I needed that :)

I stood in the wrong line at the DMV the other day (getting my CO license!) for 20 minutes.  Whoops.  Guess I should have paid less attention to the world's strangest couple (seriously) and more attention to the sign that specified which line was for what. Also, I had an identity crisis.  When filling out the info for the license, the lady looks at me and goes, "Blonde hair, green eyes?" Um....no, brown hair, brown eyes.  We compromised on hazel eyes.  But really, I think the water here is making my hair lighter.  Or maybe it was because 90% of the people in the DMV that day were Hispanic or African American. Or maybe she saw me wait in the wrong line and just assumed.....
Either way, don't worry, I'm legally still a brunette.  

Yes, I love all the new little adventures.  But at the same time, of course I miss the familiar.  I miss being able to call up my best friend that knows everything about me and ask last minute if she wants to go shopping or just hang out and talk about everything and nothing at the same time.  I miss coming home to my roomie where anything we do, whether its sitting on the couch watching t.v., or trying out experiments for her youth group and laughing so hard we can't breathe....we always have fun and just enjoy each other's company. I miss all my other friends that all have other unique things that I love and miss about them. I miss the lakes of Minnesota.  I miss my church.  I miss the familiar.

All of these emotions were hitting me on the drive to work this morning.

But then...when I thought today was going to be a struggle to get through....I honestly had one of the best days yet at my new job.  Nothing super significant happened, it was actually pretty uneventful. But through various small things I was completely affirmed that this is exactly where I am supposed to be right now. I love that.  I honestly don't know how people who don't have faith can get through big life changes.

Although she probably didn't realize it, last week my friend Emily came to visit at such a perfect time.  I've been here long enough to be able to know some cool places to show her, but all of this realization of being so far from home was starting to really hit me.  It was nice to have some familiarity come to my new reality and showing her how beautiful this state is made me proud to call this my new home.

We actually did a lot in the few days she was here.  From checking out some of the touristy mountain towns to going to a Gopher/Pioneer hockey game and temporarily kidnapping someone (True story...).

   Emily in Loveland. Look a lake!

 

On the road to Estes Park.

We're not in Minnesota anymore!! Garden of the gods in Colorado Springs.

Hey Emily, thanks for coming and letting me have an excuse to pretend like I was on vacation, too!

In other news...this weekend my parents are coming to....*drumroll please...* HELP ME BUY A NEW CAR!!! Well, a new SUV to be exact.  I'm pumped.  However I'm freaked out about having a car payment...and actually sad to part with my little silver Grand Am.  I will never forget the past 9 years we spent together.  It's not you...well, actually yes it is you.

 I bought a vacuum last week.  That was big news in the...Kirsten & Quincy household.  He still loves Colorado too, by the way.  He runs on his little wheel like there is no tomorrow.  He's training with me for the half marathon this spring too.  Ok, not really but at this point I bet he could beat me.  I gotta get back in the training mode here pretty soon.  Official training starts the end of this month, bah! That's a good thing, though.  My snack stash at work is getting the best of me lately. It really is an impressive array of snacks though, I must admit. 

Anyway, that's all for now.  But I'll leave you with this.  There is a little card sitting on our break room table at work with a picture of a little girl from a Latin American country with a huge smile on her face, with this verse written below it: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer".  That verse has really reminded me these past few weeks on the simple yet profound way to get through both the ups and downs of life.

Joyful in hope.  Patient in affliction.  Faithful in prayer.

Amen.