Thrive!

I wrote this in January, 2013 ~ 

So much of my life in recent years has been very good. We moved from the city to the mountains about a year and a half ago, making for some very significant lifestyle changes, which is tough, but you grow when you adapt to a new way of living. We’ve been blessed with a beautiful granddaughter, and are awaiting our second grandchild in April of 2013, and that is amazing! In other areas, like my weight, my energy levels, and my career, there has just been frustration and drought. I have waited, wondered, and even doubted if change would occur. This period of inactivity has given me a lot of time to sit back and really think about everything.

I started journaling a few years ago, and I have been learning how vital it is to ‘be still and know He is God’ (Psalm 46:10). He asked me if I trust Him, and I do. It has been a valuable time, and now I believe I am ready to move on. I am tired of living in the desert (figuratively speaking) and am very much ready for restoration, growth, and abundance. I am eager to grow, learn, see desires of my heart fulfilled, see dreams come true, and truly enjoy life. I know that He plants and cultivates desires in each of our hearts and He is more than happy to fulfill those desires. When he gives me dreams and desires, I believe He intends to fulfill them. Which of those dreams, I do not know, but I’m ready to discover what He has in store for me.

What characteristics would I have to possess in order to lose weight,  gain the energy to work or return to school (or both), plus take care of my home and family, as well as participate in various activities like cycling and hiking. I came up with the suggested list of 20 or so words. I won’t share those, but out of that 20, a few really jumped out at me:

- confidence

- new

- healthy

- flourish

- thrive

I absolutely love the words flourish and thrive.

The definitions of these two words are almost identical, and they are synonyms for each other.

Flourish:

- to be in a vigourous state; thrive

- to be successful; prosper

Thrive:

- to grow or develop vigorously; flourish

- to prosper; be fortunate or successful

Both signify growth, health, fullness, progress, strength, newness, abundance, etc. THIS is who I want to become. I want to THRIVE!

An experiment for 2013

I have done the whole resolution/goal thing for several years, and have not seen change or renewal in the practice of making resolutions. Therefore, I have decided I need to do something completely new and different. I am going to be joining in on the "My One Word" project (http://myoneword.org/), which was started by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen. The book they've written, "My One Word" just came out in December 2012 and I have just started reading that. I will choosing just one word, focusing on that word and seeing how God work through that one word to bring about change and renewal in my life. To allow Him to bring about His good plans for my life in the upcoming year. 

This means ditching the laundry list of "to-do's" and "don't do's". I do still plan on making it to the gym, eating a healthy diet, looking for a job, etc., but my focus will not be on those things directly. The aim of the "My One Word" project is to "help you get in a specific position and remain there long enough - dependent on God - for some internal work to be done by Him". The change I want and need in my life is not change I can bring about myself. Only God can do that. By focusing on a word that represents a characteristic I want to see in my life, or the person I want to start becoming, the change will happen. 

Moving to the mountains!

A year ago, I would never have guessed that we'd be buying a home in the mountains. We are moving up over the Memorial Day weekend!

We started looking at homes up in the Evergreen/Conifer area late last summer. My husband has always wanted to live in the mountains, and he finally got me to feel enthusiastic about it as well. I was born and raised in Denver, and spent many happy hours hiking with my family in places like Rocky Mountain National Park (which has always been one of my favorite places), so I absolutely love the mountains better than anywhere else. I used to think that it would be more challenging, and more inconvenient to live out of the city, but I am now looking forward to life "up the hill". 

There are so many ups and downs to house-hunting. You find a house you love, but the neighbor's yard looks like a dump. Then you find a house on a nice amount of acreage, but the home isn't nice (and you think of the years ahead working on it). Many variables exist in finding the right home - the right amount of the right kind of land, the right neighborhood, the size of the house, the layout of the house, etc. But it was pleasant to drive around up in the mountains during the fall, which is my favorite time of year...

On the road near Conifer.

We found a lovely home in November, right before Thanksgiving, which I loved immediately. It just felt like home the moment I walked in the door. I wanted to buy it immediately. My husband, on the other hand, wasn't as excited about it. So we kept looking...

We found another home we really liked and got fairly serious about it right around Christmastime. It was almost the right house (a bit small in some aspects and not the "perfect" layout), the property of 1.5 acres was beautiful with lovely aspen, and the neighborhood was great. The home sold before we could make a decision about making an offer, and I felt sad. It wasn't to be ours, so we kept looking....

We looked and looked, and nothing was right. In March, we went back to that home we'd walked through in November (the one I loved immediately!). I loved it even more the second time through. David, though still not loving it a lot, decided it was worth thinking about more seriously, but wanted to keep looking...

In late March we walked through a home that we had found online and actually liked it quite a bit, but it really only had two bedrooms, and we wanted at least three (the listing said three, but the third was a small room under the roof with a slanted ceiling and no windows). The kitchen was gorgeous, but you can't buy a house based on the kitchen alone. It was also on property that sloped a lot, and had a rather steep driveway. We thought about it, but we just couldn't see how to deal with it's shortcomings. So ~ in April we finally walked through the other house for a third time. This time we took the whole family, and everyone loved it! David admitted that he was hooked on it, too, so we stopped looking and made an offer!

We love it, and it feels like home! It's a 4 bedroom home on 2 acres, has a lovely view, a beautiful deck and a sun room! It's convenient to Conifer, Evergreen, and the metro area. We are set to close on May 27 and start moving in on May 29!

Our view, looking south from the deck. 

Sadness...

The end of April marks the six month date of losing our precious little pomeranian, Gidget. She became ill quite suddenly, and we were very sad at her passing. 

My sweet little girl. 

We adopted her in 1999 from the veterinary clinic I was working at. She would have been 12 years old this month.

Becoming a grandmother...

...is the most wonderful thing in the world! Our sweet little granddaughter was born on January 17, 2011. She is amazing, of course! She is so tiny - weighing 6#, 4.5 oz. 

Early Fall at Cherry Creek State Park

I love the arrival of fall.  The cooler temperatures have finally come, and we most definitely we have nice chilly mornings and evenings.  The cottonwoods along the creeks and lake-sides are starting to turn their glorious shades of gold and make a nice contrast to the browns of the meadows and the still-green leaves on some of the other trees.  These photos are all taken at Cherry Creek State Park, which is surrounded by the metro Denver area.  It's a favorite place to walk and get away from the busyness of city life.  

A beautiful day for sailing.

More Colors of Autumn...Guanella Pass

These photos are from our trip over Guanella pass in September of 2008.  This is one of my very favorite drives any time of year - except winter! We usually start our drive up at Georgetown to go over the pass, coming down to meet US Highway 285 and back down to Denver.

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This is the top of Guanella Pass, and it is gorgeous up here!  Looking towards the east you see Mt. Evans, Mt. Bierstadt and "The Sawtooth".  We took a short hike down to the lake, but it was pretty chilly, so we didn't stay up here too long that day. It even looks cold in the photos!

After enjoying our chilly walk at the summit of the pass, we continued our drive down to 285 and back home ~ 

There are even some pretty reds to enjoy!