Always cross the ocean.

Have you ever noticed that shopping malls have been McDonaldinized? I suppose they always have been.  But I had always just gone to the same few in MN so never really noticed it.
But really..

All malls are prettttty similar no matter what part of the country you're in.

You always have the Starbucks in the middle somewhere, a play area for kids, a Macy's on the corner, a food court, usually a movie theater attached, a bunch of escalators, a Claire's, and don't forget about that lovely bombardment of Abercrombie cologne that takes over the whole corridor near the store...and therefore always reminds you of that boy you dated in high school.

Well today I went shopping for a very specific item.  A dark purple dress that was nice enough to be a bridesmaid's dress.  Because that's what it will be.  I shopped for about 2 hours...and left empty-handed. I'm trying not to procrastinate on this one..but one sales associate told me, "Oh, but don't worry!!! Dark purple will be coming with the fall collection!!!" First of all, thank you for that heads up, sales lady! Second of all, you might want to chill on the caffeine, although I know that Starbucks is right outside your store. But okay. I guess I will wait for....the fall collection.

 But one thing I did realize today was that for me, going to a mall can either cure or cause a little homesickness.  Now, homesickness is not the right word...its more like, "I-miss-my-friends-and-the-familiar-things-I-was-used-to-and-all-the-memories-I-had-there."

That has gotten a TON better lately, but when I first moved here, going to a mall cured that a bit...because it felt like I WAS back at a familiar mall for a few hours.  But today I went to the mall being perfectly content...and left with a little longing for home again.

Sorry, that made me sound so depressed and dramatic.  I promise, I'm not.  It was just an interesting little observation, that of which has no significance to you whatsoever, I suppose.

Also, I DO get to go back to MN for ten days in September! To be in two weddings on back-to-back weekends (I love how that worked out).  And I'm crossing my fingers and praying REALLY hard that it works out for Josh to come with, too! (I wonder if God reads my blog? Just in case...please, please, please!!)

I figure if Josh can put up with me for a 15 hour car ride there, 10 days with me, my family and friends, including two weddings, and after all that....NOT buy a plane ticket outta there asap, and instead endure another 15 hours in the car with me back to CO......then he wins.  What does he win? I don't know.
Well, me, I guess.

Speaking of the boyfriend, he came here mid-July. We drove around the Rocky Mountain National park, played some mini-golf, went to church, watched a few movies, brought him to work with me, and ate way too many Sonic Slushies. It was perfect. *Sap, sap, sap*

The next weekend I climbed my first 14er (14,000 ft mtn).  It was pretty incredible. I met quite a few new people, as there were 23 of us that went.  I went through 3 bottles of water, 2 bandaids, 2 Cliff bars, and a peanut butter sandwich.  And I was sore for 3 full days.

  

THEN...a week later Josh had a great, last minute idea and that weekend I flew to to WA!

Spontaneity? Yes please.

His dad is the youth pastor at their church and the high schoolers had been camping at a lake all week, so I flew in and we joined them for the weekend! My parents were also driving from Spearfish, SD to my aunt's house in Oregon....so miracle of all miracles happened, and all 6 of us (Josh, his parents, me, my parents) were in the same state.  So...we of course had to meet for dinner (Red Robin! Yum!)--where Josh got to meet my parents for the first time, and our parents also got to meet! The dinner was full of lively conversations ...and my favorite sweet potato fries.

So now its Sunday night, and I'm sitting at home eating a bowl full of grapes.  Oh, exciting news..some of you know I don't have cable--not even the local fuzzy stations...well, I bought seasons of Modern Family and How I Met Your Mother on Amazon!  So now I can pretend I have tv! And actually sit on my couch! Because I never do! Because the WiFi I steal from my neighbor doesn't reach over there! So that's exciting.  Actually, its not really that exciting.  But when you put exclamation points at the end of your sentences, it seems more exciting.

Alright, I'm done now.

I'll leave you with my new favorite quote, that perfectly describes how I felt when I made the move to Colorado, and can be applied to almost any situation that causes you to go out of your comfort zone: "You can never cross the Ocean unless you have the Courage to lose sight of the Shore."

When you have the chance, always cross the ocean!!