Boston, Minnesota, and visitors from Washington!

Usually I love Mondays.  Not because I'm one of those overly-crazy-optimistic-always-happy people that also love mornings (well, I guess I sort of am...sometimes), but I love Mondays because it's my day off.  I can sleep in, get errands done, and do my long runs.  But today? Well, I will still do all of that...but I'm coming off of a two and a half week Travel-Family-Friends-Visitors high. 

First, I got to go to Boston and New Hampshire for a Caregiver Kit Build with work.  We set up the build at a boarding school in Concord, where it costs $50K to send your highschooler there per year.  So yes...it was a really nice campus.  The staff and students were so great.  And the actual event went super well. They built 4,000 Aids Caregiver Kits which are already on their way to Uganda.

Although the event was in Concord, NH, we got to spend some time in Boston as well.  We walked the Freedom Trail which was so fun.  However, I love hearing about history and seeing places, but I have a hard time grasping it..."Okay Kirsten...this is the ACTUAL house where Paul Revere lived.  Like.. right here." Maybe it would be easier for me to wrap my head around if there wasn't a Starbucks right across the street, and people driving SUVs past us. 

Faneuil Hall

Park where the Freedom Trail starts.

Although we were busy with the event and sightseeing, we also had a lot of down time.  I don't do so well with down time...so I went running.  There was a lake really close to our hotel and when I discovered that, my 3 mile run immediately became a 6 1/2 mile run.

I'm not sure if it was the fact that I was in a state with lots of trees and lakes again, or that I knew I was headed to MN two days after getting back from this trip...but I just ached to live by this type of scenery again.  I couldn't get enough of it. 

Waiting in the Boston airport after the event was weird, because I was going "home" to Colorado.  Looking at the gate monitor and seeing "DENVER-CO" made me feel like I should be going on a vacation, not home.  But I liked it.  I smiled...then tweeted about it. 

So then I was back in Colorado for a whole 2 days before flying out to MN for Easter.  Since that flight didn't leave until 3:30, I decided to work a halfday that morning.  Worst idea ever.  I was so hyper and giddy I could hardly do anything.  Max and Dave had to have been annoyed, I was even annoyed with myself.  Okay, no I wasn't.  But if I was someone else I would have been annoyed with me. 

So later that day...I got picked up from the airport in Minneapolis by this beautiful lady,

Roomies for life.  LOVE YOU!

Nicole (it's weird to type that...I always just say roomie.  So from now on, just know that roomie is Nicole)  picked me up and I got to see her AWESOME new apartment.  It really didn't help the fact that I miss living with her in general, but to have such a cool place to live in such a perfect location, too?  That's just mean. 

Sappy moment: Hard to explain, but hanging out with her and even just watching tv and eating cookies in her new apt made me feel more at "home" than I have for a long time. 

But guess what? She gets to come visit me in just a lil over a month! Maybe then my Denver home will feel more like home...even if only for a long weekend :)

Oh yeah, and I got a 7 mile run in around my FAVORITE lakes in Minneapolis. 
Man, I miss the lakes.

So then, Dani (aka Bestie) picked me up and we made the 5 hour drive north to our hometown for Easter! Best roadtrip buddy ever.  I honestly would have felt so sorry for anyone else who had been stuck in that car with us :)  I love our obnoxiousness. 

Love her.

Being in my hometown for Easter was awesome.  I would have said "home" for Easter, but my concept of home is so messed up now.  "Home" to me could be four different places.  Thief River Falls--where I grew up, Minneapolis--where I've lived for the past 5 years before moving, Spearfish--where my parents now live after retiring a year and a half ago, and Denver--where I've now lived for 4 months. So bizarre. 

But being in Thief River was good.  My parents made the 10 hour drive there as well, and we stay with our close family friends. I love that.  They have two girls who I've babysat since they were babies.  And my grandparents live in Thief so I got to see them and a whole bunch of cousins.  Gotta love that, too.

 Happy Easter!

The day I flew back to CO, I got to meet the youth group from Washington that had already been working hard on transforming our warehouse! They were SO much fun to have here this past week! I joined them after the workday on Thursday when they went and did some street ministry.  We handed out burritos and water bottles and prayed with the homeless.  I had never done anything like that before, and although I felt like I should be scared...I wasn't at all.  I really had that "peace" that I know only comes from God.  It was an amazing experience.  Heartbreaking, yes.  But we also saw some really cool things happen as well. 

And you should see our warehouse! I had no idea this much transformation could come in just one week.  It's incredible!! We still have some cleanup to do, but here's a glimpse of what they've done. 

 Day 2. Workin hard!

 Before putting the new flooring down, they all wrote Scripture verses on the cement,
which will always be there, right under our feet.  How cool is that?

 Child Sponsorship corner.  Also, you can kinda see the new flooring.

 I bet our hallway is better than your hallway :)

 Praise and worship to dedicate and redeclare this building as God's Temple!

Wow, just writing about all this makes me understand why I feel so wiped out today.  The last couple days the group was here I was low on sleep and was functioning purely on caffeine and adrenaline.  Also, I haven't ran in a week.  So this week is catch-up week.  My cousin and her boyfriend are coming to visit next week, but I'm sure by then I'll already be ready for new adventures!!

Life...is good :)