Can't we all just be nice and accept eachother for our differences?

it is a particularly turbulent time in our society right now, what with all the fighting and siding with gun rights and gay marriage. I am not here to voice an opinion on either of these topics, mostly because neither of these topics affect me personally. However, I will voice my opinion and thoughts on what I see happening around me, and it makes me sick. I am so saddened by my fellow Christians showing such ugly sides by openly expressing such hatred. It makes me especially sad that this is happening right now during this Holy Week. The last few days and the next 3 days to come, I choose to reflect on Christ and how He suffered the death that I deserve to die, and he did it because he loves me. During this Easter season, my thoughts are focused on my own actions, and searching my own heart, I want to live out my Christian lifestyle by simply living in a way that reflects Christ's love. I am not God, and I am not the Judge. Therefore, I choose to live in a way that is accepting of my fellow friends, neighbors, and strangers in such a way that they will feel nothing but loved and welcomed by me. I am not here to "teach someone a lesson" or try to "prove the Bible to anyone." I feel that we are all put here on this earth to praise God, and the reality is that we are all given free will. I am sure I am going to have a lot of people disagree with me on this, and that's quite okay. I am not looking to start an argument or a debate.  I am not saying that I am right, as I very well might be very wrong in this way of thinking....but all I know for sure, is that Christ loves everyone, and he died for everyone that they may be forgiven. I open my door to anyone, regardless of your sexual orientation and ideas on other political things. I feel that by forcing Bible scriptures at people, is only going to turn people away from the One that we should be bringing people toward. Because we are all sinners, just in different ways.  If Christians really want to witness to people, then how about try by doing it in acts of Love and kindness, instead of judgmental acts of hate. that's all I have to say about that..

:)

The Canyonlands Half Marathon 2013

Last weekend I had such a wonderful time with some friends as we took a great little road trip to Moab, UT to run the Canyonlands Half Marathon. Last fall my friend, Kali, asked me to join her husband Matt and her to run the race with them. This has been one of the half marathons on my bucketlist of events for quite a while, so I jumped at the opportunity! We registered for the lottery and before I was ready, race day was here :)  

 
This is the first half marathon I have run since July 2011. I had a few other events since then, including the marathon, rky mt. relay, and a few smaller races, but I was feeling a little empty in the half department. I hate to admit after those other two big events, I had been feeling a little burned out with running and was a little scared to get back into it after those silly hip and knee problems of last year. So I was a little frustrated with myself this time around when I wasn't excited and motivated as I always was before my other races. I held back on my training runs, and I would skip the occasional 5 miler if I felt the slightest twinge in my knee, or first little bit of soreness in my hip. I skipped out on my last 11 mile run because it was snowing outside, and I made excuses and didn't want to slip and fall, and I didn't want to put in those miles on the treadmill. I think I let my fear of injury dictate a little too much of this whole thing. So needless to say, I was nervous about the outcome of this race when it came down to the morning of the event, but I was also ready to see if I still had it in me.


Friday morning Matt and Kali picked me up and we were on our way. We loaded up the Subaru {like a few good Colorado kids} and were on our way to Utah. I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful drive along I-70 west, up and over the mountains of Colorado and into the desert of Utah. We took the scenic highway through the Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. I was in awe of the beautiful landscape of the mesas and canyons carved out by years of the elements.

welcome to the glorious canyonlands

We got to Moab and picked up our race packets. We met Matt's parents for a big pre-race pasta dinner and went for a nice little drive through the beautiful landscape afterward.

 

We tucked in for an early night and were up and at 'em early the next day. We got loaded up on coffee and were shuttled up into the canyons. The race didn't start until 10am but given that 4000 people had to be shuttled up to the start, we sat around for a couple hours until the race began. Finally it was go time.

me and Kali before the race

The first few miles I was feeling great as I was settling into my pace. I was so relieved to be running without any issues, and I felt like I could run forever. I was definitely out of shape because of my poor training, but I enjoyed every minute of this race for many reasons:

• I was out of town with great friends having a wonderful time
• I was running with 4000 people, and remembering why I loved it so much
• the path was so beautiful and I was inspired & in awe the entire way
• even when it started to hurt, it was a reminder that nothing is ever easy, but it is always worth it to push yourself to get to where you want to be.

I was mere meters from the finish line and I heard my name being called out by Kali's parents and they were just what I needed to be encouraged! I waved back and powered through to the finish. 02:11:29 was my official time, and although it was one of my slower half marathon times, I was proud and happy of my victory.  Also, I was super excited to be along for the ride my friend, as she ran her first half marathon. It was awesome to be able to be there and celebrate her big event.

we finished!

After the race, Kali's and Matt's parents took us out to lunch and we celebrated our victories. We drove back to Grand Junction and stayed with Kali's parents. We enjoyed dinner and even a little shopping, but it was early to bed for these tired kids....Too bad our twitchy and achy muscles had a different agenda for a restless night...

After a fantastic breakfast-spread and goodbyes it was back on the road to Denver. It was such a wonderful and fun weekend, and I felt so blessed to get to share it with Kali and Matt. It was so nice to be surrounded by family (even it it wasn't my own ;) and feel like a kid again. It truly was like a flahsback to elementary school slumber parties at Kali's. Dede was in such mommy mode, serving us cookies and milk after the race and a huge pancake breakfast the next day. It was so nice and comforting. Who know's, maybe in 30 years I'll be serving up cookies and milk to some little/grown up girls who after twenty-something years of friendship, still remain friends and try new things together :)

Life is good.
 

Baby Sister all grown up!

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of taking engagement photos of Sister and Justin.

Okay, first of all, can I just say, how in the world is it possible that my sweet little baby sister is all grown up and old enough to be getting married?? I can hardly believe it myself. But ready or not, the wedding of the year will be happening in six-months time & my sweet little sis will become a Mrs.

Laurie & Justin have been dating for seven years. SEVEN! [sigh] I suppose it was bound to happen sometime, right? I was honored to put my amateur photography skills to work in Fort Collins, and take a couple shots of the cute couple. Here are a few of my favorites :)

 

  

  

  

  

Well, here is the grown-up girl. She may be this stunning super model now, and one day we will be wrinkly old ladies; but in my head and in my heart she will always be this cute little munchkin. Love you, sissy.

Sisters, 20 years later! :)

 -just me and my thoughts.

blessings&love.

Chile Chile Chile [Part III]

To Pucon, we go!

Lago Villarica. Almost to Pucon!

We arrived in Pucon on Christmas day. We found our lovely little hotel and got settled in for the night (and yes, it was a thousand times better than the one before). We took a little rest, and wandered around the town for a bit. Pucon is such a beautiful and picturesque little mountain town! It reminded me of somewhere back home in the mountains, only there were a million more trees, and volcanoes in the distance. Lake Villarica was just to the west, and the town was perfectly nestled in the hills, with hydrangeas in every color as far as the eye could see!  It was cool and rainy when we got into town, but we were excited to learn that the next few days would be dry and warm! That night, we drove to the thermal pools for a little Christmas relaxation. Maybe it was a combination of our tired bodies, the cold air outside with the hot air inside, and the smell of sandalwood filling the air, but it was such a magical place! The hot indoor pools welcomed us and we relaxed next to the wood-burning fireplace. There were also outdoor pools, which were lovely to sit and listen to the frogs croaking in a nearby pond. When our bodies were pruny, we drove back to town and discovered that our favorite little restaurant, Cassi's, was conveniently located a block from our hotel! We enjoyed our takeout Christmas meal of pizza {**Made with heart of palm--I'd never had that before, and OMG you guys, I have been missing out on heart of palm my whole life!!!}, quinoa salad, chocolate cake, and a lovely local bottle of wine.

Our new hotel was a major upgrade from the last!

Driving to the thermal pools at sunset

We saw these cute little lambs!

But apparently, they did not want their photo taken! They all got up and stood with their butts toward us, haha!

Inside the thermals

aren't we so cute with our little swimcaps?

 

Happy girls on Christmas night

The next morning, Glory Hallelujah, Sunshine!!! Megan and I went for a lovely little run around the lake's edge, and after breakfast, we set out to see what kind of adventures we could find. We decided on doing the famous volcano hike, and a canopy zip line tour! I had never done a zip line before, and it was SO FUN!! I really enjoyed it! It was a canopy tour, with several runs of cables. I loved every second of soaring through the trees and over a river. I tend to get a nervous giggle, and it sometimes takes over.... So I'm pretty sure I was giggling like a weirdo on each and every cable run. The thrill of just simply zipping through the air and waiting to be stopped by a tree on the other end was as fun as you can imagine :) The only disappointment I had, was that the duration of the adventure wasn't nearly as long as we were led to believe.

The final zip line

I dominated that zip line.

Cuties.

 As soon as we got back into town, we grabbed some dinner and went to Patagonia Adventures to collect our gear for our big hike the next morning. We were a very random group of people: the three of us girls, a family from Brazil (who looked more like Russians, so we called them the Russian Portuguese Brazilians) and a brother & sister from Georgia. We were all getting sized for shoes and pants, when in walked in a couple of beautiful and tall men, who were so striking, Megan decided that they had to be from Argentina.  One of them was the definition of tall dark and handsome, with the most beautiful olive skin tone and short dark hair, while the other was just as handsome but had long, shaggy blondish hair. They sat on a bench on the opposite side of the room, and I couldn’t help but stare. Obviously these good looking guys were so out of my league, I wouldn’t even think about trying to talk to one of them….so I just sat and stared, and admired them from across the room.

Volcan Villarica

We finished up our gear check and headed back to our hotel for a good night sleep. It was early to rise, and I must admit, I was a little nervous for this hike up the volcano. We packed our lunches and had a quick breakfast, and were out the door to meet up with our group. We loaded up the van, and before I knew it, we were at the base of the trail of our beautiful volcano. And so began our hike.....

Getting started!

It's starting to get real.

We put on our first layers, and headed up the mountain. For the first section of the hike we actually had to take the ski lift up to the ice trail. At that point, we got assembled with our ice picks and crampons. And started walking up, up, up. I was getting used to the weight of the pack, and the crampons on my feet, and feeling good and fit. Afterall, I've hiked up a mountain a time or two :)

Our first rest break. That's Argentina over there to the far right!

Up, up and up!

We stopped for our first break, and the guide (I'm so sad I can't remember his name) pointed out the different landscapes over the horizon, and said "That over there is Argentina!" I gushed and exclaimed that I would really love to visit Argentina sometime, and he said very matter of factly, "Well, those two guys at the back of the group are from Argentina....make friends with them, maybe they'll take you." (*We knew it!) I laughed it off, but then at the next break, he called over to one of them and asked, "Hey, when are you guys going home? She wants to go with you!" as he pointed at me.
The blonde one smiled and said, "Domingo."
"Did you hear that? They are leaving Sunday".
I blushed and laughed, and said, "Oh, if only I were staying longer, but I leave tomorrow". Shoot!! By our third break, after a longer rest and a bite to eat, it was apparent that we were getting close to summit. The air was thinning out, and you could faintly feel the burn of the sulfur burning in the back of your nose. The hike was becoming increasingly more difficult as far as the ice was concerned. At this point, we began to lose people in our group, who couldn't continue any further. We were on the glacier by this time, and the snow was very hard; and I am not gonna lie I was pretty terrified myself. As far as difficulty was concerned, I have definitely been on much more physically challenging hikes in the mountains here in Colorado, but the element of the ice and wind was completely throwing me off! At one point, we were walking on a ledge of ice, and it felt like it was so steep, that one false step or gust of wind, and I was going to fall right of the edge of this darn volcano! But thank goodness that part did not last long, and low and behold, to the disbelief of my very own eyes, I was on top of a [MF] volcano!!! It was so beautiful and surreal, I can't even describe it! The burn of the sulfur in the air was very distinct, almost like pepper spray. But the sights of both the smoke rising out of the crater, and the views all around were simply breathtaking! (I guess for more than one reason, haha) We gawked around for while, amazed that just a few hours before, we were in town where the rest of the people were walking around in shorts and t-shirts, and here we were on a glacier covered volcano. Dang. It is by far the most awesome thing I've ever done. {I liked it better than running a marathon.}

"Harry, We've reached the top!"

[Most of] Our Group at the top!

Feeling on top of the world!

Steam coming out of the crater

Woah. I can't believe I'm staring down a crater of a volcano!

It was getting colder, so we finished up our lunch, and put on the rest of our snow gear, and prepared for the part I was dreading the most.....coming down. Oy.
This was the second time I was terrified, and for sure thought I was going to die. We didn't have very far down to walk to the flat spot, but oh my goodness, I think my blood pressure was sky high, and I was sweating bullets. Thankfully our guide, Diego, was kind enough to hold my hand and help me down those several meters of torture! haha.  I didn't even care, and I wasn't even one bit embarrassed as I was clearly being mocked by a couple other guides leading their group up the mountain, that I was being taken down like a child by our guide. I'm sure Diego was less than impressed with me, and at the very least, super annoyed, but I was beyond grateful!!!! So once we reached the flat spot, I'm thinking to myself, oh dear lord, this is going to be a long hike down.... But we were instructed to take off our crampons, and put on this diaper-like thing made out of snow pants material, and we strapped on a little plastic round sled to ourselves, and we sled the whole way down! At first, I was thinking, you have to be joking... But one by one in a single file line, we actually sled the entire way down and it was the funnest thing I've ever done! It put all my winter days of sledding and tubing to shame! Unfortunately we weren't able to take pictures of this, so you'll just have to take my word for it. But it was awesome.  Once we got to dry land, it was just a little bit of a hike back down to our van, and we were peeling off our sweaty layers of snow gear. I looked around and somehow I had gotten a bit separated from Megan and Andrea, and found myself walking next to the blonde Argentinian. He was even more beautiful up close! He introduced himself as Gerardo, and we struck up a conversation, (broken English, and broken Spanish). He told me he and his friend were from Mendoza, and were on holiday in Chile. When I asked what he did for work, he informed me that he worked on his family's vineyard. You've got to be kidding me.... and that his friend, Javier, worked at a different vineyard. Of course. I mean, come on! What do you even say to that?! "Um, hi, I'm Vanessa, and I am a dental hygienist from Colorado and this is my first time out of the country by myself...." I felt like I was wayyyy out of my playing field. LOL. But Gerardo was very nice, almost even shy, and for some reason, he seemed a bit interested. He invited me and my two girlfriends over to their cabin that evening for a BBQ. We absolutely accepted the invitation, and I was secretly giddy the whole van ride back to the Patagonia Adventures office.

Wow. We were just at the top of that beautiful thing.

We were all greeted back at the office to a lovely spread of snacks; pastries, cookies, crackers, coffee, juice, and beer. We all sat around the table and toasted with a beer. I don't know if it was dehydration, exhaustion, lack of real food, or a combination of all of the above, but I was feeling pretty good after that one beer. We all chatted and laughed, and made friends with one another. Our guide Diego, also accepted the invitation to the asada at Javier and Gerardo's cabana. The guys gave us directions to their cabana, and we promised to meet them about 9pm. We got up to leave, and in typical South American fashion, we kiss-kissed one another on each cheek with a "chau", and I don't even know how this happened...perhaps it was the buzz from the beer... but I had every intention of saying, "Mucho Gusto" and instead what came out was, "Me gusta" as I was kissing Gerardo's cheek. Oh my god. Did that really just happen?! I just told the really hot guy from Argentina "I like you?! You did not just say that. In terrible Spanish, no less... I'm sure I turned a million shades of red, but tried to blame it on my poor language barrier. Oh dear. Hahahaha. At least I can laugh at myself!! (In fact, I'm laughing again right now by myself, as I'm recalling this minor embarrassment..... :)

So the girls and I returned to our hotel for a quick rest before we drove out to the thermal pools again for one last night of relaxation. This was just what the doctor ordered. We enjoyed soaking our bones in the warm pools, but somehow they had lost their magic from the first night we went....perhaps it was because the sun was out, and there were a lot of little kids around. Oh well, we enjoyed it nonetheless. We drove back into town for a quick stop at the market for something to take to the asada. What do you bring to a party hosted by men who make their own wine?? We settled upon beer and baked goods :) We showered and changed, and essentially I was transformed from the sweaty rough lookin thing from earlier in the day, to a somewhat more put-together me. We called a cab and found our way.

We arrived at their cabana and were warmly welcomed. Javier was in charge of the grill, and he had a variety of beef, pork, and lamb....basically Megan's (vegetarian) worst nightmare. He also made pimiento (I think that's what he called them) which was a red bell pepper cut in half, with an egg dropped inside and cooked on the grill. It was so simple and delicious! We ate and drank several glasses/bottles of wine from each of their wineries. We chatted and laughed and continued to get to know one another. It was very interesting to watch these men become more outgoing. At first, they seemed so very shy, almost stand-offish. At the beginning of the evening, they mostly spoke in Spanish, stating they didn't know English very well, but as the night progressed, I was amazed at how well they each really did speak English, and how much more relaxed and chatty they got! It was fun learning and teaching eachother different things from our languages and cultures. As with any good party, I'm never really quite sure how and when it happens, but the next thing I knew, we had progressed from wine to mixed drinks....and the party continued into the night.

Argentine spread

Wine from Javier's winery

My new friend, Javier. Salud!

Gerardo, Me, Javier. Dang, I'm a lucky girl!

Megan and Andrea gettin the party started!

The progression of our night: 1.Private wine with no label (from Gerardo's winery)  2.Champagne  3.Mixed drinks. Uh oh....

I was loving every minute of this company, and I was dreading the thought that the very next day, or rather, within the next few hours, I would be leaving to go back to Colorado. I was having the time of my life in South America, with great friends and beautiful men, how could I leave this?! It was a lovely dream, one in which I never wanted to wake from. But that didn't stop time and reality. At 3:00 am, the night had come to an end. We said goodbye's with promises to visit our respective countries,  called our cab and went back to our hotel in a drunken state of bliss. I could do this my whole life, I thought as I drifted off into one last South American slumber.

I was lucky if I got a full three hours of sleep before I had to be up the next morning for the longest day of my life. {Not exaggerating.} Like the 'responsible' adult I was at that time, I still had to pack the contents of my exploded belongings into two carry on bags and my suitcase. Oy. Thank goodness my makeup was actually still kind of decent looking from the night before, so I didn't even bother with getting ready. I shoved everything as best as I could into my bags. We ate breakfast together one last time, and I hugged Andrea goodbye (with a promise to come visit her in New Zealand), and before I was ready for it all to end Megan and I were on the road to Temuco. It was about an hour and a half drive to the airport. I was fighting off the waves of nausea from the adult beverages consumed mere hours before the drive. When we got to the teeny tiny airport, Megan waited with me until I got checked in and ready to board. I hugged her goodbye, and tried to keep it together, but my tears betrayed me. I was overcome with the sadness of leaving not only such a wonderful holiday, but also, leaving a girl who has become such a wonderful and loving friend. Everything she has done for me from the kindness of her heart, is something that does not go unnoticed, or taken for granted with me. I hugged her tightly, and wiped away my tears as we said one last chau-chau. I pulled it together, and waited for my plane to take off, and continue the last part of my journey alone.

The flight to Santiago was short, about 2 hours. It was the most spectacular view the entire way, traveling parallel above the Andes. At first, I was stunned and excited as I saw the volcano that I had summited 24 hours ago, from an aerial view, only to realize; no, there are lots of volcanoes everywhere!! I mean, it should go without saying, as southern Chile is called the Ring of Fire for a reason; but having never seen anything like it before, it was a completely unreal thing to observe one after another....after another. There was even an active one, that you could see the smoke pouring out of, off in the distance! I was intrigued and had my nose glued to the tiny window the entire way!! So much for a nap.

I could not get enough of the view outside my window!!

Wow! I got the bird's-eye view of smoke rising out of that volcano!

Alas, I was back in Santiago. I wasn't very thrilled to be here, as I didn't have the fondest of memories from the last time...but I had a new attitude, a new sense of empowerment, and heck, almost an entirely new grasp on the language! I was feeling like the HBIC.

I had a 9 hour layover (YUCK!) and I had every intention of going out and exploring the city for a bit. My plan was to check my bags, (I had a lot more stuff than I came with...and I couldn't be lugging 3 bags all around the city...) and then take a cab downtown. I was really excited about this! But it never happened. First of all, believe it or not, it took me an hour just to find the main terminal in the airport, from the domestic area I had flown into [I also may or may not have had a Starbucks break during that time for one last cafe con leche]. I remembered that Megan had pointed out to me, that a.) Chile is very lacking in the way of directional signs, and b.) if you ask a Chilean directions, they will just tell you somewhere to go, even if they really don't know the answer! And I found out first hand, that both of those are very true. You would think, that there would be signs in the domestic terminal, on how to get to the main terminal. I was searching and searching, but the only signs I saw were to baggage claim and the exit. I really wanted to be able to find this on my own, so I literally walked from one end to the other, and covered all three levels of the airport, trying to find my way. I finally conceded and asked for directions. Well, it took me asking 2 different people before I was able to find my way. (Turns out, I had to go through the baggage claim exit and go into a different elevator to get to the main terminal.) So an hour later, I found where I needed to be. At that point, I was trying to find the American Airline's station to get info on checking my bags. I asked a man, and he pointed in a general direction. Well, it was, of course the wrong direction. Ugh. So I walked back the other way, and asked someone more official looking. My bubble was busted. The reason I couldn't find the American Airlines station, was because it didn't exist until 3 hours before flight departure. I had a 10:50pm flight. So much to my dismay, I was forced to sit and wait. and wait. and wait. I tried to make the most of it by seeking out a comfy corner in the one cafe' that was available, but I could only manage to stay there for so long. Unfortunately, there was no comfortable place to go in the main terminal, all the seating, restaurants, and bars were on the other side of security. So I managed to squeeze in the corner of a small waiting area, with all my stuff and take the most uncomfortable nap of my life. I think I got an hour or two of shut eye. After hours of people watching and practicing my Spanish with neighboring people, I finally made it to the ticket counter, passed through security (and had all my booze confiscated....seriously) and found out that in order to take alcohol out of the county, it had to be purchased at the duty-free shop. So I bought one last souvenir of Chilean wine, and finally I was on board. It was by the good grace of God, I had a window seat with no neighbor on the long flight home! I took some sleeping pills, sprawled out, and was out for the count! We arrived in Dallas about 6:30 the next morning, and I felt like a pro going through customs and immigration this time :) But I was so out of it. I had no idea what day it was, what time it was, and I even answered in Spanish with the man at the customs line looked at my ticket and asked if Denver was my final destination. It was almost a very surreal thing to be back in the US. I made it to my next gate, only to find that our flight was delayed....3 Hours!!! This was my worst nightmare! I have a bad habit of over committing myself, and that afternoon I had a wedding to get home to! I already had a very small window of time to make it to the wedding of my dear friends Alison and Nick, and this flight delay was definitely making me sweat.

As soon as my feet were back on Denver soil, I hopped in a cab: 1:00pm Saturday. I had exactly an hour and a half to make it home, shower, change, and drive to Colorado Springs to make it to a 4:00 wedding. I arrived at 3:55. Whew! At that point, I think my body was running off of pure adrenaline because I had been going basically 34hours worth of time through 4 airports, 3 airplanes, and 2 countries topped off with a 60 mile drive at the end, off of a few hours of crappy napping anywhere my little head could rest! I was ready to be in a sleep coma!

I felt like those last few hours of my first day back were an out of body experience. Wasn't it just the day before, that I was ice-hiking up a volcano, and drinking wine with friends from Argentina and New Zealand? And then suddenly I found myself on New Years Eve and back in a place where nothing's changed. I have to say, I wasn't very thrilled about being back, and I was longing to be back in the place where time moved slowly, the days had 16 hours of daylight, and life was more about the experiences than the materialistic things. I got caught up on some sleep over the next few days and quickly settled back into my normal routine.  I've been home for a month now, and as I reflect back on this amazing adventure, I feel so much happiness and accomplishment, but most of all, appreciation.

I am already dreaming about my next international trip! I am so immensely blessed to be able to go and experience life in such a big way. I have such a happy heart, and I know that bigger and better things are in store for my little self. I have such a renewed sense of excitement and zeal for this life, and I've been happier than I've been in ages. I love this life and the people in it. Thank you all for supporting me, and being interested in my stories of travel and life. It encourages me to keep on keepin on. Unfortunately for me, it's January 31st...and I have to wait until next year to get my 2 weeks paid vacation days....haha. So until then, let the daydreaming and planning continue! And friends, that means that you have a year to save and plan too.....if anyone wants to tag along on my next trip, I can tell you already. It's gonna be awesome.