One word: Dynamic. Two thousand eleven was perhaps one of the most intensely up-and-down years I think I've ever had. As always, it was a year of growth, a year of constant learning, a year of winning, and a year of losing. I achieved goals, I made new friends, reconnected with old friends, I traveled to so many new places, I fell in love, and I fell out of love. Although at times the lenses may have been foggy, and the lines may have been a bit blurred; I never lost sight of myself and my direction for my life. I grew another year older, (and hopefully wiser). But the roller-coaster of the ups and downs was exhausting, and I am so glad that that year is behind me.
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| Winter in Crested Butte at my fav. hangout :) |
It started out to be seemingly "my best year yet!" January 2011, was the beginning of a year with fresh hope and encouragement for settling into my maturing adult life. I was in love with so many things. I was in love with my lifestyle, I was in love with living in Colorado, I was in love with running, I was in love with my job, and I was in love with Erik Walker. Erik Walker. We began the year with the excitement of going deeper in our long distance relationship. I was jet setting off (what seemed like every weekend) to Texas, to be with the man who captured my heart. I was blissfully in love, and couldn't be happier. When one is in love, it is amazing how differently you truly view the world around you. Everything was perfect, I was motivated, I was optimistic, and I was full of life.
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| Erik and me in Texas |
In February, I made the most spontaneous trip of my life. I had a 4-day weekend in which I was supposed to be traveling to Texas to see Erik, but bad weather (and a minor fight) had prevented me from flying south. So, to be in the airport terminal with a packed suitcase and a credit card; what's a girl to do? I took advantage of a last-minute ticket change to visit one of my longest best-friend's Marianne and her boyfriend, Ryan, in Portland, Oregon. It was really one of the best vacations of my life! I fell in love with the quirky city, and the time spent with my friend was priceless....(tell that to my credit card, ha!)
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| I am LOVING Portland! |
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| Marianne in her city |
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| Mysterious Lake in Washington |
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Marianne and Ryan |
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| Beautiful waterfalls in the Washington Mts. |
It was also in February, that my friend Alexe Colson, had invited and convinced me to sign up to run the Chicago Marathon with her. That from that point on, the idea and practice of running 26.2 miles, pretty much consumed every action of my life for the next 8 months to come.
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| Spending the day in Manitou with Alex, my Argentinian BF :) |
In April, I turned 26. I was officially over the half-way mark of my twenties. I celebrated with close girlfriends in Denver, along with my new and fun, Argentinian boyfriend! {Erik and I had broken up for the first time by this point, as the distance issue became too much to handle.} It started out as a beautiful weekend. I rented a room at the Hyatt Downtown, and we wore cute little dresses to dinner and had drinks afterward. We were supposed to go to the Rockies game the next day on my birthday, but plans were ruined by a blizzard that decided to snow on my parade. It has snowed on my birthday every year for the last 5 years! I really hope for sunshine and hot weather on my next birthday, PLEASE :)
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| Birthday dinner with the girls! |
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| Happy 26th Birthday to ME! |
But summer was around the corner and on it's way. I was running my little tail off, doing race after race with Alison and new running friends, and soaking up every bit of the beautiful place of my backyard of Colorado. Weekends in Denver, Boulder, Crested Butte, and everywhere in between.
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| The Game with my girlfriends :) |
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| ZOOMA half marathon with my girls! |
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| I ran with Andy Baldwin, The Bachelor! |
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| About to get our float on! |
In June, I took a little weekend visit to Tulsa, OK for the first time, to visit Brandi and her boyfriend, Josh. I was pleasantly surprised at the lovely little city that is Tulsa. (Except for the awful heat and humidity that is The South, and the bane of my existence...ugh!) We spent the weekend laughing, shopping, and had an epic trip of "floating the river". Pretty much that means that we spent 8 hours getting drunk and blisteringly sunburned, with a caravan of twenty-something people with five, 8-man rafts, while floating downstream in some muddy Oklahoma river. Had I not reverted back to my college days of shot-gunning and beer bonging, I may have been able to actually remember the name of this mysterious muddy water.
The emotional roller-coaster of the Erik Walker Saga continued through-out the summer. After weeks and months of can't live with you - can't live without you, continued; he made the bold move and asked me to go on a week-long vacation to Hawaii with him and his family. I really should have known better than to go, but I was so desperate to make things work out between us, I signed myself up for what would be the most detrimental nightmare vacations of my life. Being stranded on an island with a person who turned out to be the most selfish and dis-respectful human being, was an experience that I never want to re-live. What should have been a romantic week in paradise was a torturous prison sentence. Finally, the escape did come, and I cried enough tears on the 8 hour flight back home, to fill the Pacific ocean to the brim. When my feet were back on Colorado soil, I was never so happy to have the reality check, and assurance that this is truly where I belong. Happy to report that never again, has a single tear fallen over that man, since somewhere over the ocean back in August.
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Sheer Beauty. Ko'Olina Beach, Hawaii |
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| Sea Turtle on the North Shore |
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Fresh Coconut on the North Shore |
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Paradise! The DOLE Pinapple Plantation |
When I was home from Hawaii, I busied myself more than ever, trying to focus on myself and my amazing life in Colorado and the awesome people in it. I spent the next few weeks and months re-exploring so many parts of my favorite places and things to do in my own back yard.
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Death Cab For Cutie with my BFF Alison at Red Rocks! |
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| Death Cab.....Ahhhhh. Dreamy. |
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| Garden of The Gods, CO Springs, CO |
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| The Manitou Cliff Dwellings |
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Deep inside the Cave of the Winds |
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| CB: my fav. little mountain town :) |
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| Brewary Tour with my girls! |
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| Colorado certainly does beer right. |
I also kept busy with fully submerging into the final weeks of training for the marathon. The excitement of traveling to Chicago was what fueled me. Running 15, 17, 20 mile-long runs and feeling the excitement of this monumental challenge that would come in October, kept my mind more than occupied.
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| Accomplished in Chicago |
My victory was complete, and I proved once again, that I could do anything I put my mind to...but then I fell off a cliff into a depression. All of a sudden I found myself alone, with nothing motivating to look forward to. I had no energy, no drive, and I began to have a negative outlook on life. The cold winter months, and long, dark days didn't help me out much. I stopped and took a long hard look at myself, and my life. Although I am more than beyond blessed with so many wonderful things in my life, I realized that I had been putting a lot of focus and energy on some of the wrong things in life. Thankfully I snapped out of it and have so many wonderful things to look forward to. I began to realize that I know now, more than ever, that Denver is where I belong. I have spent every weekend in the city for the last 3 months, and I am more than excited to be back in the city where I feel most alive, and most like myself. I hope to be moved back to the Mile High ASAP, but hopefully by Spring, 2012.
Christmas time was wonderful, having spent it with my amazing family, and wonderful friends. I have so many people in my life that words cannot express how grateful I am to have. I have people that truly love me for me, and they support me and stand by me. I am lucky to have the kind of people that have no problem telling me the truth and looking out for my best interests. Also, I am so very thankful that the Lord is always with me, looking out for me; even though I am not deserving, and am not always living for Him. I am thankful that His mercies are new every morning, and every day.
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| First snow of this winter :) |
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| Parade of Lights in Denver |
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| Diana, Me and Alison at Owens Christmas Cocktail party |
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| My sweet Lauren at my pre-NYE dinner |
Last night, I spent New Year's Eve with friends old and new, and we had a wonderful time celebrating, and saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new. Goodbye, 2011. All in all, you were pretty good to me, but I hope 2012 is even better! So many things already to look forward to!!! Until then, as my dad always says, "just keep on keepin on".
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| Audrey, Robyn, and Me. Happy 2012 |
Peace and love people.
Be kind to one another.
Don't that forget that the little things
that matter are the monumental stuff of a great life.
Happy New Year.
