~as summer passes by us~

"Good Morning" to you my dear friends and family from far away along the western slopes of our home in Colorado.  The temperature is very cool this morning and although the thermometer says it is 72, the air doesn't feel that warm to me.  Just a little breeze coming off of Cerro Summit, making the windsocks all point towards the great state of Utah.  The sky is kinda cloud-filled right now, making me wonder if I'm going to be able to hang clothes out on the line later on today.  If putting laundry outside to dry is what it takes to bring moisture to this land of ours here, well then please hand me those clothes pins!  As we listen to the weather forecasts on television as of late, the mention of "dry thunderstorms" is often brought up.  You know I had never thought about that before back home in Kansas, yet out here a weather phenomenon like that seems extremely common.  With those dry thunderstorms comes lightning and plenty of it, further providing the fuel necessary to start another forest fire.  And so we wait~

This morning I am thinking about just how quickly the time here has gone and the fact that summer is for all intents and purposes, close to half over now.  So much has happened to me since I first moved here on the 24th day of May this year.  I have seen and learned so many new things, have felt a myriad of feelings about life, and have grown into a stronger person each day.  Some of the growing  (ok, ok, maybe just a little more than "some") has been a bit on the painful side, but as in everything in this life, it's the being shaped into who you are to become that ends up counting the most.   

So today, at the mid-way marker, I stop to give thanks for the experiences I have had thus far in a place far from home in Kansas.  I picked out six photos of some of the memorable moments here in Montrose thus far to share once again.  In spite of everything, because of everything I give a lot of thanks to the God above who continues to bless me no matter where I am at in this world.  Dear friends and family, may you enjoy the blessings of this life today as well.  Thank you for being there for me and for many others.  Life is indeed good~

How it all began~back in Hutchinson, Kansas on May 21, 2013 when we got married at school in front of all the students, staff, family and friends.  It was my "official" retirement day from teaching.  Oh boy and more on how that didn't work out later LOL.

Seeing a pile of snow still on the ground in mid-June as we drove up to the Grand Mesa, near Grand Junction.  Couldn't even imagine snow still being anywhere on the earth at that time of year.  Sooner than we might like, the winter snows will return and many of the paths that we drove on that Sunday afternoon will be closed to traffic.

I've gone bowling more times out here (4 in all) than I've gone in the last 38 years.  Mike is a great bowler and is on a league team throughout the winter.  I cannot even say that I am an  average bowler, except if average means 100 pins a game :)  No, I haven't had to use the "gutter guards" or even the cute little dinosaur shown in the photo.  Most of the time (98%) I have fun and that's what it is supposed to be about in the first place.  I haven't really allowed myself to have a lot of that thing called "fun" in my life and it feels good to finally do so from time to time.  PS/don't worry about ever having to look for my name on the roster of the Women's Pro-Bowling Circuit.  I'll just save you the time and say so right here and now.

It has taken a little time, this "blending of two households" project, but little by little we are emptying out boxes.  Each of us have found things that we forget were ours, been a little bit like having Christmas or something.  This past week has been a busy one around here by so doing.  

Just last evening we had the pleasant surprise of meeting Mike's cousin Becky (center of the photo)  here at home in Montrose. She and her husband and two friends stopped by on their motorcycles.  They are all from back home in Kansas (Great Bend) and are on vacation here in Colorado for a few days.  Becky and Mike have not seen one another in over 30 years and how wonderful it was for them to finally catch up with one another.  And in one of those ~the world is ever shrinking moments~after only about 5 minutes of conversation we discovered just how many people we knew between us.  Becky's brother-in-law works with my brother-in-law back in Hutchinson at the salt mine.  Becky's very good friend Sara Brubaker is my good friend as well.  Seeing them last night, all total strangers to me at first, was a gift from God and a real lift for my spirits and Mike's as well.  Nothing is coincidental in this life friends, nothing.

Kansas, my home state~I got to return home to visit for a short while a couple of weeks back and I remember how happy I felt when I saw the sign shortly before noon time that day.  I understood why people sometimes kneel down and "kiss the ground" when they arrive home after being gone for a long time.  It was great to see my family and friends again, to hold my cat, Oblio the Roundhead, to see my son and daughter's faces once more, to go through the drive thru at Bogey's and say "I'd like a medium diet-vanilla dr. pepper with extra ice, please", and to just be home.  The only problem was that once again, I'd left my heart back in Colorado.  Mike and I decided that the next journey back to Kansas would be done together and in just a few weeks, we are going back again for another visit.  I look forward to it with excitement and hope to be able to see lots of friends and family then.  

Well everyone, the clock on our wall here says it is time to get busy for this day.  Wherever you are, whatever you may be doing, whoever you may be with.....be safe and well, be at peace with life, no matter what.  Take care of yourselves and one another~Friends and family back in Reno and Sedgwick Counties of Kansas, see you very soon!