The Colorado Chronicles

So, apparently I do blog barf... Oh well! :)

Last weekend, Chris, Jess and I left insanely early Friday morning and drove to Littleton, Colorado to meet Aubrey at the temple. We traveled with no incidents until we hit Vail - and suddenly there was literally a blizzard. We couldn't see much and the roads were bad. We were in my car (which I have all confidence in), but I was exceedingly grateful that Chris (whom I also have all confidence in) was driving, as I white-knuckled it in the back seat. I'm generally ok in the snow. I usually think it's really pretty, but if it's super heavy, it sometimes makes me feel sick from some weird form of claustrophobia/vertigo. That aside, we made it over the Loveland/Vail pass in about an hour, and drove into a beautifully blanketed Denver.

We changed and went into the temple. It brought indescribable peace and joy to be there, after a long stint away, with people that I loved. After the temple, we split up - girls went shopping in the mall, and Chris went visiting. After the mall, and after a couple getting-lost-detours, we made it to my cousin's house for dinner. It was so fun to see all of them again! Their kids had grown SO much, I just couldn't believe it. We women sat around and talked for awhile and had a wonderful time!

After enjoying some time with my cousins, we headed back to Aubrey's house to spend the night. We got comfy in our pj's and settled down for a movie - which Chris, Jess, and I promptly fell asleep during. :)

The next day was the BYU v. Air Force game - the "real" reason we came down, or at least the excuse we used! We slept in, then decked ourselves out in true blue and drove down to the Academy. Colorado is a beautiful place! The game was rad. We won (of course), and we got to take pictures of the team and with Cosmo afterward. I love going to away games at smaller stadiums. It's great fun! After the game we met up with our friend Laura and met her nephew's and six-day-old niece. Chris and Jess went to visit some of Chris' mission families, and Aubrey and I joined Laura at her ward activity. We all got in pretty late that night after dinner at Applebee's. Interestingly enough, as exhausted as we were we stayed up late making plans for Sunday and pranking the outnumbered boy in the party. :D

Sunday was an adventure all around. Chris had left early with the car to visit the last of his mission buddies, and it wasn't until hours later that I realized that my skirt and one shoe had gone with him - still in the trunk from the temple! At first the girls and I had decided I would be the investigator friend and go in jeans - then we managed to find a skirt and some shoes for me to wear. It was awesome! Chris felt pretty bad, even though he really had nothing to do with our morning adventure. We all met back at Aubrey's and had chili for lunch - Thanks Mama Peterson! Then, once again, we split up - Aubs and I to Greeley for a campus tour of University of Northern Colorado, and Chris and Jess to visit some of Jess' family.

We said our awesome good-byes at a gas station between Loveland and Greeley, and actually headed out at about 8:00 pm. We had fun sending Aubrey our traditional text updates - one of which, unfortunately included a certain someone receiving their first ticket from a grumpy Wyoming cop. Sad day! The stars were beautiful, the music great (thanks Chris!), and the company fabulous, if quiet. We took our turns driving and sleeping, and finally made it back home without incident at about 4:30 am after we'd all unloaded. And yes, yes I did go to school the next day (hence the staying at a friend's house in Heber the next night).

The trip was AMAZING! Relationships were repaired and strengthened, and my heart, at least, was comforted with regard to my work and all of the possibilities that truly are out there for me - the possibilities are glorious and endless. As I mentioned before, the timing was no accident - the trip held more for me than I ever anticipated, for which I am forever grateful.