Colorado!

As I write this I am breathing a HUGE sigh of satisfaction. I had the most wonderful, fulfilling time in Colorado. I was there to help celebrate one of my best friends, Emily, wedding. It was so wonderful to see the wide open spaces, the splendid Rockie Mountains and while the altitude change kicked my butt this time, it didn't deter from the beauty that the mountains had to offer. Navigating through the Denver Airport is not my favorite thing. The thing is HUGE and I forgot about the trains you have to take to get to different terminals. Although, I must admit it brought back fun memories of riding those trains when I was younger with Emily while her mom waited on my flight. We were never gone too long and I always made my flights. ;)

It is a funny thing being reunited with a childhood friend. You feel liberated almost, like you've been given the green light to go ahead and be silly, goofy little girls again. When you have known someone for over 25 years, there are not many secrets between the two of you. And the ease at which the time spent together is one to admire. That kind of freedom in friendship is so wonderfully treasured. How a glance at one another and a memory comes flooding back and before you know it the two of you are dying laughing! There is a comfort in that, a sisterhood of sorts. I miss living so close to her. She is like family. :)

I had such a blast at the Bachelorette party, I was worried b/c it was to start right after my flight got in and I wasn't sure I was going to like the other bridesmaids. But I loved them, they made me feel so at home. One I had met when I came out there to visit Emily when we were in High School and again after graduation from Beauty School. So it was good to see her again. The night started out with a small party in the hotel room. Heather, a bridesmaid, was able to get her hands on a lot of beautiful silver jewelry that was going to get pitched. All still with tags! So we saved them and had a free for all, first come first serve. We all got glamed up and hit the town! We had dinner on a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Denver skyline, then went to an improv comedy club. I can't remember the name! THEN went in search of some dancing!!! I absolutely LOVE to dance and as soon as we heard that bass we were instantly at the door ready to go in! We had so much fun inside. It was a techno club, the best downtown Denver could do as far as dance clubs are concerned. Was a little hard to dance to but we quickly got the hang of it! Then there was no stopping us! Well except to get some water and fresh air! After that, I am ashamed to say that the 8 block walk back to the hotel through downtown I made w/o my shoes. My feet were in agony! Thats what cheap, but cute, Target shoes will do to you. When we got back to the room my feet were black and I washed them right away and crashed into bed. I had been up for almost 24 hours at this point. I had needed a night out BAD and partied hard. And I slept hard.

The next day we went to Colorado Springs, where I took about a 2-3 hour nap. And was still tired. The pace at Emily's apartment was awesome. Sleep and watch movies. With an occasional errand. It was awesome. I caught up on SO much lost sleep. About 2 years and 4 months lost sleep ;). I treasure that time. It felt so familiar to just be lounging watching movies with Emily. We used to do that all the time when we were younger. Then after about 3 days like that, we headed back to Denver for the wedding festivities to begin!

The wedding was beautiful, I was surprised to say, coming from FL, that the weather was hot! Less humidity which was nice, but it was hot! Her colors were sky blue and eggplant. Very beautiful. The ceremony went great, I was of course, escorted by a 6' 10" giant. Who was very nice I might add. But we looked ridiculous! It is funny to see us in pictures now. The reception was fun, I was really nervous before giving my toast, but it went very well, and I even had some cheering and clapping during it. THEN, and I am not sure if I should put this on here or not, but after my speech I gave Emily a hug then, Timothy, Emily's new husband, leaned over to give me a hug and as I was leaning in to his hug, by boob popped out of my strapless bridesmaid dress! I recovered quickly and I think only one couple at the first table noticed. And they left pretty quickly after the dinner so no harm no foul. I won't ever see them again. So then came more dancing! It was so much fun and felt so good to be able to get out there and just let go and get more of that pent up energy out! Dancing is very therapeutic to me. So it was very fun, then like all good things it was time to go back to the room so I could get at least some sleep before my flight back to reality.

Getting back was bittersweet, I was glad to get back to my baby, but I found myself in quite a funk. Getting to taste that freedom of just being me was amazing and I was sad to leave it. I know that getting to lay around all day watching movies with your best friend is not reality, but I was sad and depressed nonetheless. All the things that bug me about living in FL were just more apparent like the lack of healthy eating options. I know Colorado is ranked the #1 healthiest state and it was so refreshing to see hardly any fast food restaurants. I loved getting to eat at some of my fav. deli places like Jimmy Johns and Einstein Bros Bagels. I only really saw one McDonalds and was happy about that. I loved the beauty of the rolling hills, of being able to actually see around you. FL is so flat. Now, I love the beach and all the sunshine, but I am a mid-west girl at heart. I loved watching all the active people. There was constantly a stream of runners, joggers, hikers and moms running with strollers. I love how the weather was nice enough to do that mid-day, and the lack of humidity was awesome! I would love to live there someday.

Well, now that I have been back for a week I am remembering how much I love my life here. Andy and I love our jobs, our friends are AMAZING and our church is wonderful. If I could move our jobs, church and friends there I would. But, I still like the convenience of the beach being so close and Jacksonville is growing on me. So all in all it was a very nice vacation. One I will treasure forever!

~Tracey

I am going to attempt to upload some pics from the Bachelorette Party! I don't think it worked :(