Step by Step

As one who now lives life without a car, I have discovered my preferred mode of transportation, particularly in the winter, is my feet. Don't get me wrong, the bus is fantastic. Staying warm for long distances and getting to read a good book while I travel? Yes please. And I still love my bicycle. I love the option to go faster and travel light. But when I climb a hill on foot, I don't get out of breath. And I do live at the top of Capitol Hill (my neighborhood gets it name for a reason!) When I walk, the cold wind does not whip at my face and my ears with bitter force, screaming at me to "be a normal person and get a car!" And when I carry my groceries by foot I do not fear the bags getting caught in the wheel spokes and turning me over into the path of a coming vehicle :)

Now walking everywhere is not always the most ideal form of transportation. Some places are just too far. Sometimes I just don't have time. Sometimes I need to purchase more than I can carry. And sometimes it's still just too cold outside. Walking takes effort and prior planning. I can't "quick run" to the store to pick up something I forgot, unless I'm willing to go to Tony's Market and pay a little more than I would at King Soopers. I am appreciative of my friends with cars who help me out when I need it, and appreciative of eGo CarShare, my "peace of mind" for when I just need to get somewhere with a car.

But some days, walking gives me the greatest joy. I notice the berries on the bush and the detail on the old historic building. I get to enjoy the early morning sunshine on my way to church. I feel fresh and alive rather than stuck in a steel trap rolling down the road, able to ignore the beauty and humanity that abounds on the sidewalks of town. And I never have to worry about downtown parking!

And sometimes, when I walk I take a new path and find neat gems, like this-

my newest time waster

www.mylifeisaverage.com

So funny. Love it.


Check it out.

Once every 6 months?

Well folks, life stays steady in Denver. Job is going well. A lot of new employees at the hotel, which makes things interesting...I've been getting involved in some of the training and taking more of a leadership role, since having been there for a year I have gained quite a bit of seniority!

Life has been teaching me a lot about relationships through the past year in Denver. Without the school relationships to build friendships from, I've been learning the value of making the most of small conversations, and planning coffee dates! I think I took all the "hanging out" time in college for granted. I am so grateful to have a church community to be connected with and to find friends through. I just can't imagine myself finding lasting friendships through the bar scene! I still have a lot to learn about what it means to build a true community, but we take baby steps, and that is how we learn. My current goals are to get beneath the surface level in every conversation by truly listening and asking relevant questions. I knew some friends at Calvin who were fabulous at that... I want to learn from their example!

I'm going to visit friends and family in the Midwest next weekend. Stoked to finally meet my brother's girlfriend! And to see my cousin in his high school production of Beauty and the Beast :)

I don't come on here very often anymore, but i got a new camera, and took lots of pictures the past few days :) a few of my favs:

State Capitol-
My favorite place, the Denver Public Library -



Me, the photog -


P.S. I'm gonna try to get back into this... let's see what happens...

"epic"

It is very rare with my job that I actually get a Saturday off, so when that occurred this past weekend I definitely made the most of it!

First off, I hiked my very first 2 14ers. For those of you not hip with the Colorado lingo, a 14er is a mountain that is higher than 14,000 feet above sea level. There are 58 14ers in Colorado. I hiked Grays and Torres, 2 14ers that are connected by a small saddle in between them. The hike went well. I went with Joel Baker, a friend from Calvin, and his older sister Ginni who moved out to Denver with my sister Sara. Ginni and Joel are both much faster hikers than I am, but since the trail was crowded, I did not feel "left behind". They would pause and wait for me at intervals on the way up too! The day was, as one of our fellow hikers put it, "epic". Not a cloud in the sky, the weather was perfect. I felt good after the hike - the altitude made my heart beat faster and faster as I climbed, and the way down was WAY longer than I felt it should be, but I'm so proud of myself for this accomplishment!

After the hike we stopped at Beau Jos for some great Colorado pizza. When I got back to Denver I was exhausted, but had a message that my sister and her fiancee were going to meet my brother and his friends for dinner. My brother had been in Denver from Chicago for about a week and I hadn't seen him yet, so I took a quick shower and met them. Turns out my brother's friend had an extra ticket to the Cubs/Rockies game that night, so I ended up joining them. What a great game it was! It was the only good Cubs game of the series, and it definitely made up for the horrible baseball that the Cubs had played while I was at the game Friday night. (Nothing can easily make up for Sunday and Monday's horrible games, but at least I wasn't sitting through them at the field.) The game Saturday was made all the more fun by the abundance of Cubs fans in the seats. At the end of the game we were able to sing "Hey Chicago, whadda say, the Cubs are gonna win today. Go Cubs go!" at the top of our lungs. It was such a great Cubs moment! Cubs fans are some of my favorite people ever :)

Now this week the family has begun arriving in town. My sister Sara gets married on Saturday here in Denver. Good times!

Life is an adventure (and an exciting one at that!)

I'm getting better these days at making life about more than just work. I do enjoy my work, but 40 hours a week should not define your whole life! I have fallen into a constant schedule the past few weeks. I've been working the 3-11 shift, but I've been getting better at waking up at 9 or 10 to get the day started before I have to go to work! Though without many friends who are free on weekday mornings, I have done some exploring without going too far from home :) My roommate Rachel and I both bought summer passes to Elitch Gardens, the downtown amusement and water park, so we've been there 3 times already! It's nice to just go for a few hours before or after work. Last Saturday morning was free day at the Denver Art Museum, so Rachel and I went there for the morning! Then at church Sunday I ran into my college friend Joel Baker. He's in Denver for the month of August and unemployed, so last night I called him and we ended up going for a bike ride on the Platte River trail this morning! It's so nice to have such a productive and enjoyable day even before I have to get going to work! Ginni, Joel, and I all went out for lunch after our bike ride. Even when I can't hang out at night, there are still people I can spend my days with, and it's nice to find more of those people!

I am looking forward to having my family in town for my sister's wedding in a week and a half. That will definitely keep me busy! Sara and I get together to do wedding things (make invitations, programs, etc.) usually about one morning a week. Just one more way to stay busy, and it's nice to have the time with my sister too! The summer is just going by so quickly. I can't believe it's August already. Luckily, I may get to hike a 14er yet... Joel and Ginni are planning a trip sometime soon - maybe this Saturday? I hope so! This will be my first Saturday off in a long time, and what a great way that would be to spend it! Also this weekend - Cubs game Friday night at Coors Field! Whoo hoo - I can't wait!

Excerpt from a letter to a friend

"In church last week I started thinking about my true purpose on this earth. I think I want to create true community on this earth, but that can take so many forms! It can mean literally designing communities by becoming an urban planner, or it can mean living simply in an intentional community, or it can mean moving to another country to be part of empowering others to make their own communities sustainable. And who knows - maybe over the course of my life I'll end up doing all these things."

But the question remains...where do I begin?

I am happy in Denver. I love my job at the hotel, I love my new roommates in my new apartment from which I walk to work, I love playing on the church softball team and living in a city which I can walk, bike, or bus anywhere I need to go. I love Rockies games at Coors Field. I love the sunshine and the sight of the mountains. I would love to get into those mountains more frequently! I am ok with the fact that I signed a year-long lease in April. I am content to be where I am for the next year. I don't know what the future will bring, but for now, that is ok. The one thing I do know - I will be in GR in June, at least from the 22nd through the 26th. I do hope to see everyone who is there. And for those of you in the Chicago area (Natalie and Josho?), June 20-21 are yours! So, family and friends - lets get together!

Working things

In case you didn't know yet, I have a job! I am working at the Burnsley All-Suite Hotel in downtown Denver. I work the front desk as well as an occasional shift as a bell hop. At the front desk I check guests in and out as well as taking room service orders, making reservations, chatting with people who walk by, and being an all around resource person for guests (including being a concierge). As the bell hop, my duties include driving guests around in our complimentary shuttle and delivering room service orders. I really love my job. It's currently only part time, but I am hoping for it to become a full time job in the next few months, and that is a strong possibility.

I also held an internship for the last two weeks, but that's over now...let me tell you the story. I got this internship at the Colorado Division of Housing. I am looking at urban planning as a possibility of where I want to go next in my life. The Colorado Division of Housing does not do urban planning specifically, but since they are involved in the urban development field and I have a friend who works there, I thought I would give it a shot. Unfortunately, the internship was not working out very well - the conditions were frustrating in that there was not enough space in the office for me to have a desk/computer/phone on a regular basis (they started hiring right after I started), and, although things were starting to improve in terms of my discovering what exactly I was supposed to be doing there, it was overall a difficult situation. I was dreading going in everyday and felt that it could not continue in that vein. Luckily, my supervisor recognized the frustrations and realized that at this time it was not feasible for me to be in an internship that I was not benefitting from. He realzied this without my having to bring it up, which was really nice for me! I got out of a frustrating situation and saved face! He said he may call in 2-3 weeks if he can get a work station set up for me, but if the hotel job does give me more hours then I will not be accepting the offer. We'll just have to see what happens if and when the offer comes again. I would still like to consider urban planning, but there must be a better way to go about it...

Oh, and p.s., the engagements continue! My sister Sara and her fiancee John will be getting married on August 15, my friends Sarah and Joey will be getting married October 3, and my friends Jeremy and Laura are not far behind! Congrats to all of these couples on your engagements!