August has just about done me in...

I know I haven't been very good at writing but moving is haaaaaaard. I mean for that to be read in the most whiniest voice possible. I know it's a first-world problem: "I have too much stuff." Wah-wah. Now that you know I realize it's not a real problem in the grand scheme of things I'm going to continue on with my whining. It was horrible- ask my parents. They helped and they know. However, the end goal is worth it...I hope. :) 

I was scrambling around trying to pack everything and stumbled upon Chuck as seen below. I seriously wanted to "Freaky Friday" my way into her body for the remainder of the move.

                                              

Anywho, we've had a busy August. The first weekend we rode the Amtrak to Glenwood for a weekend stay at the Hotel Colorado. We brought my parents along to, in a sense, introduce them to Glenwood since they hadn't really ever spent much time there. Our Amtrak/hotel package included a day at the hot springs so we enjoyed that a couple times and spent the rest of the time exploring. We enjoyed the history of the hotel including no air conditioning and the fact that our shower was haunted. No matter what we did with the knobs, someone else determined what temperature the water would be each second. We also very much enjoyed the outdoor courtyard where we would retreat for cocktails before dinner.

                          

The second weekend of August, we camped with my parents at the Mollie B. campground outside of Basalt, on the Ruedi reservoir. We had a nice spot near the water that also came with neighbors who would leave their 10-12 year old boys alone while they went fishing all day. Some of the activities those boys engaged in to entertain themselves were: repeatedly yelling obscene things at the top of their lungs and grabbing the ax to either swing it around their heads or repeatedly chop the ground. Noooo thank you. We decided to go explore so Brian grabbed his GPS to find some hikes in the area. He said something along the lines of, "We're going to walk to a lake and walk around." This walk ended up being an 8.4 mile backcountry climb up 2,700 feet to an alpine lake at around 12,000 feet. AND, when we finally got to the lake we were greeted with thunder and lightning so we booked our little fannies out of there to avoid becoming Mother Nature's fried dinner. All that work for 2 minutes of relishing in our accomplishment. The saddest part is that I can't even remember the name of the lake at this point in time. Humph. It was still amazingly beautiful and gave us a sense of accomplishment. Needless to say, my parents were not prepared for this event. In fact, they didn't bring much food or water, thinking they'd be back in an hour or two...6 hours later we made it back to our car. 

The lake we worked so hard to glimpse for a few moments

My parents, the troopers. Almost there!

My happy place. ~sigh~

On our way back from camping, I dropped Brian off at our new loft in Glenwood so he'd be ready to start work on that Wednesday. I spent the night before heading back on Monday and it certainly made everything feel so much more real. I think that's what sent me into the downward spiral that caused my last post (Brian read that post and told me he thought to himself, "OK, she's lost it"). Once we got all our stuff and pets into the loft, I felt much better. I think it really was just hard for me to be mentally living in two places. I couldn't commit to one because I was tied to both. Since the move I've been spending my time in the loft, unpacking. That is, unpacking LOTS OF STUFF. 

Sans stuff (look at Stella's face- don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?)

After the invasion. Pretty painful.

I put these in the laundry room to help me smile through all the feelings of  "this will never get done".

The fun part has been finding cats randomly throughout my day. It's like my own personal verson of

Where's Waldo?

I did have a job interview the first Monday I was here. I think I've blocked it out- I was so tired from the move and so frazzled by everything I have no idea if it was a good interview. Well, now I know it wasn't because I didn't get the job. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging but in my past experience, if I've interviewed for a job I've gotten it. I've just been blessed that way and I know that. However, that made it a  harder pill to swallow when I got the call that they offered it to someone else. It was my turn to experience that kind of rejection and I get it. I can't go my whole life and get every job I interview for. It's not normal and it's a good growing experience for every adult to have. It still sucks though because I was really excited about that position and now I feel utterly lost as to what to do or where to look. I'm expending a lot of energy journaling and reminding myself to trust God. 

I know it sounds silly and it's not something I normally pay much attention to but I've been reading the local paper every morning and it ends with horoscopes on the last page so I've been reading mine and they are really kind of speaking to me. The other day it said, "Your best self is seldom born of a perfectly comfortable environment. The ideal circumstance may be ideal precisely because rising above it is required." I've been pretty down about not getting that job; trying to analyze everything I can remember saying, trying to figure out what it was that made them not want to consider me and I think I needed to be reminded that it's okay and the more uncomfortable this situation gets, the more I will grow, learn, and be thankful for it down the road. ~sigh~ On the bright side, I'm mostly enjoying being a homemaker aside from the guilt of not having a job and the fact that I'm feeling somewhat isolated... :)

Anyway, we freaking live in Glenwood Springs! That's awesome.