Colorado: Part 2

On Monday morning, we headed towards Salida with a stop in Cañon City. Tyler had never been to the Royal Gorge, so I knew he needed to see it. We decided to take the train through it, though. This would be an adventure for both of us.

C A Ñ O N  C I T Y

Henry loves trains right now, and he says, “Shoo, shoo,” so of course I took a few pics to send to my mom to show him. It was a beautiful morning for a train ride. The train depot is several miles from the Royal Gorge bridge and activity area. We rode west along the Arkansas River and into the gorge.

We splurged a little extra on the “Vista Dome” car and I’m so glad we did! The windows allowed us to see so much more, and we were on the upper level of the train.

The train also had a couple of open cars so you could go outside. We opted for that when we got to the bridge.

As we were headed back towards the train depot, we passed lots of rafters. I thought it looked like so much fun! Our server said that this stretch of the river had a class 5 rapids, and you had to be at least 18 years old to raft this part of the river.

Once we got back, we went to lunch. We were trying to decide whether or not to spend the money to go across the bridge. We decided to look on our All Trails app to see what kind of hiking we could do in the area. It was very hot that day—95° or something, but we found a trail and decided to try it. I’m so glad we did! The views were absolutely stunning (and free)!

If you look closely, you can see the lunch train to the left of the river.

The hike was worth saving the extra money. If you’ve never been over the bridge, I say go. But Tyler doesn’t like heights all that much, and he didn’t feel like he was missing out. If you’ve done the bridge and gondola, then go for the hike (or do both)!

S A L I D A

After our hike, we drove on into Salida, which was about an hour away. We got checked into our hotel early, and then headed into their “downtown” area. We ate supper at the cutest little pizza joint. They had the best gluten free crust I’ve ever had!

The next day, we rented an off-road jeep. This was something Tyler wanted to do, and to be quite honest, I wasn’t excited about it. BUT this was our trip and I was up for the adventure.

They gave us an atlas, showed us some places we could go, and let us go off on an adventure.

Most of our travels were on gravel road. I thought to myself, “This isn’t that bad.” But we hadn’t gotten to the crazy part of the road yet. Ha! It ended up taking us 2 hours to go 7 miles. It was dusty and bumpy and hilarious. And we had a great time!

On the way up Marshall Pass.

O’Haver Lake

On the other side of the pass, and on the way back to Salida, we stopped in the tiny town of Sargents at the only restaurant in town. I had the best salad and we completed our meal with their homemade ice cream.

If you’re ever in Sargents, stop by! You won’t be disappointed.

We did stop at a waterfall on the way back to Salida. It was gorgeous. Once we returned to Salida, we headed over to Crested Butte. But more on that in the next post.

10 Year Anniversary Trip: Colorado

We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on July 30th. How in the world have we already been married that long? It seems like just yesterday we had our wedding. Then we blinked and here we are.

When we started planning our 10 year anniversary, we were gonna go big. We had planned an Alaskan cruise in the summer so we could see the glaciers on a balcony room. But alas, COVID19 hit, and cruises were suspended. And while they are somewhat back in business, it was too late, and we weren’t qualified to go anyway. So we started looking for something else. The US offers so many options when it comes to travel, and one thing on my bucket list is to go to Glacier National Park. So we started planning that trip, but there were NO places to stay during our dates. We really couldn’t believe it. Plans kept falling through, and we finally just decided to go to Colorado. We love Colorado. We’ve been there many, many times. But this time we decided to do things we’ve never done before.

We once again planned the trip solely on credit card points—we’d been saving them ever since our Europe trip. We booked our flights, and a week before we were to leave, we got Covid. Womp, womp. The trip was postponed. But we got flight credit, and instead of having to fly out of Tulsa, we could fly out of our local airport for even cheaper. Yay!

Traveling while leaving the kid at home was different for us. It was like packing for 3 people instead of just 2, but we did it. This is the first trip that we’ve ever left him for that long. I was a little nervous to leave him, but I fully trusted both sets of grandparents to rock the babysitting gig. I’m so grateful that we didn’t have to worry about them.

Tyler had never been to Colorado in the summer (other than when he traveled to the Denver office for work—and that does not even count). So we decided to make a road trip of it (after we flew to Denver).

Flying was exactly the same with the exception of now having to wear a mask. But all other regulations were just that. We flew out of our little local airport and directly into Denver.

C O L O R A D O  S P R I N G S

The view outside the front door of our hotel on Sunday morning.

We drove down to Colorado Springs from Denver, after stopping for a very late lunch. We checked into our hotel since we stayed up by the Air Force base. Then we decided to head down to Garden of the Gods. I was surprised at how hot it was in Denver and Colorado Springs. I was hoping for cooler weather, but at least we didn’t have much humidity.

On Sunday morning, we got up and headed to Pike’s Peak. I’ve been up Pike’s Peak several times, but every time, my dad or someone else was driving. I didn’t really want that stress on us, as I knew that we would be driving a lot later. So we decided to take the newly revamped Cog Railway up.

For reference, Colorado Springs sits at approximately 6,000 feet above sea level, and Pike’s Peak is over 14,000 feet. It was a climb. It took about an hour to get up to the top, and we had 40 minutes to look around. They just built a brand new visitors center up there, which was nice! It was rather chilly, and I’m glad Tyler and I packed our “Switzerland coats” for this excursion.

The trip down was a little longer than the ride up, and gratefully so. I did not want to be rolling down the tracks at a high speed. Haha. At this point in the trip, the ascent to that elevation really affected me. My head was pounding, and while I had already consumed over 60 oz of water by 10 am, it did absolutely nothing for me. My head hurt so bad that I thought I was going to throw up. I couldn’t really even tell Tyler what I wanted for lunch. I just wanted to go lay in bed.

He was gracious about it, and I did just that for the rest of the day. I felt better after a little nap, but my head was still pounding. I will say, this was the only headache I had on the entire trip, but it was sure a doozy.

Monday, I got up feeling a lot better and we headed onto Cañon City. But I’ll share more about that in the next blog entry.

A Shift in Winds

Before I was a mom, I had several hobbies I liked to do. I enjoyed writing, reading, and crafts. Then health and fitness entered my life, and I became consumed by that world...honestly, it wasn't a bad thing, because it did become a passion of mine. I have learned how to help myself in my diagnoses. But somewhere along the way, I just became wrapped up in that world.

Then I became a mom and life hasn't been the same. I still love doing those things, but it's been difficult to juggle any of those things while raising an active little boy. However, I did learn how to listen to audiobooks while driving and taking walks. So I'm hoping that I can continue to squeeze my other hobbies in as well.

This past winter, I put my coaching business aside and focused on myself. But I was fatigued after doing the simplest of tasks. It was all I could do to make lunch and then sit on the couch for two hours afterward while Henry took a nap. So I went to the doctor and in May I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's, an autoimmune disease of the thyroid.

It's now almost September and I am just now starting to feel like myself once again. It seems that every September, I desire some sort of shift in my life. And here I am. I'm still not coaching full-time (and 100% okay with that), and I'm trying to figure out what I can do. I want to write...I know I used to blog every day, and I haven't sat down to write in forever. I want to craft. I bought a Cricut last year on Black Friday and while I've used it some, I want to learn how to use it more.

So...how does one find time to do all the things she wants to do? HA! I know my number one priority in this season is my family. But if I can find time to do the other things, too, I would love that. If I do continue to blog here, what should I write about? I often feel like I have nothing to share. If I craft, what do I make? I'm sure time will tell and I will come up with things to write about and to make.

But if you're a mama, how did you find time to do something for yourself each day? Even if it was only for an hour?

Growth in Motherhood

 

We are doing a study on the pressures that moms face in my Mom’s Connection group. And to be honest, I didn’t feel any of those pressures in the way they were meant. So I was really struggling with the study. I don’t say that to sound conceited...because believe me, I have so many other issues. 😂 But as I was digging, I found that I do feel some pressure.

I have a self-imposed pressure to do it all, meaning I feel that pressure from myself, not an outside influence. But I don’t mean do all the things and have all the roles. I just mean that I feel like I have to be mom to Henry all of the time and I am not supposed to ask for help.

I feel that it is my job to be mom (it is), and the only person I can ask for help from is my husband. 😬 But allow me to give some background.

In 2011, we were married. Tyler finished school and just a few short months later landed a job that took us to OKC for 3 months, and then onto STL for 4 years. He then moved positions which moved us back to OKC for another 4.5 years. The closest we’ve been to our family was 3 hours, but for the majority of our marriage we’ve lived 5 hours away. Short enough to visit frequently, but not short enough to ask them for help when I desperately needed it (flood of 2015, flood of 2019, postpartum depression/newborn life, pandemic, etc).

I had to learn to do things myself. I was already independent, so this wasn’t difficult for me. But when we moved back to OKC in 2016, the Lord has impressed upon me the idea that community was important. It is. He created us for community. I was just learning this and leaning into it when March 2020 hit. Then we were isolated even more than we already were.

When we moved back home to Missouri, I recognized that I struggled with this, as my husband has lovingly pointed out. He has texted my mom numerous times to ask for her help, but I struggle with it. I just feel like since Henry is my son, I need to be in charge of him.

I often worry that he is way too much to handle for others who aren’t used to him. He is always on the go until he lays down for the night. I always have to keep an eye on him because he is always getting into things he shouldn’t be. But the Lord gave me a picture this week.

The reason why I struggled with Granny’s death so hard? Because I loved her and she loved me. I loved going to her house and she loved having me there. Despite my Grandpa’s, “Beth Elaine, quit blowing bubbles in your milk,” instructions in his stern voice, they did love me (and my brothers). And I want that for Henry.

So I have to allow people to help me. Henry is a joy, and when others get to experience his joy, it’s the best for everyone. Henry will know his grandparents and his grandparents will know him. It’s okay to ask for help. Because when we do, and we can get away for even just a couple of hours, we feel refreshed. At least I do.

We were made for community...and the blessing is that others can help us. But we also get to be a blessing to others as well. I am still learning these important lessons the Lord has taught me, as it filters into motherhood. I want to lean into Him and draw from His strength when I feel weak. I want to allow Him to speak life into me. I want Him to continue teaching me, but I want to be moldable so that He can grow me in the likeness of Christ.

Our Mom’s Connection coordinator said this yesterday, “As my child grows through these stages, I have to grow, too.” I was blessed by that. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m in a constant state of growth. Growth is painful and difficult, but it’s worth it. It’s for my good and His glory.

2021: Connect

2020 showed us all a lot of things.  One of the things it showed our family was the importance of family and how being closer to them would be a good thing. So we moved.

When I was planning my wedding, I joined this community on The Knot. There were too many trolls, and Instagram was new, so we moved over there. A couple years later, I found a group of blogging women when I joined the blogging world. I wanted to share what I was learning as a young wife, and I wanted to connect with others.  But I was challenged one year to pick "one little word." I have loved doing this year after year, and I've tried to share below what each of my words word for the year. I think I missed a few years of writing about them, but they have been transformative for me. Now, most people have moved on from blogging, but I've picked it back up, simply because writing is cathartic for me, and I'm really starting to hate facebook.

2013: Grace

2014: Be

2015: Brave

2016: Trust

2017: Abide

2018: Release

2019: Surrender

2020: Rooted

As I started thinking about a word for the new year, I kept thinking of how much I needed a social media break. So I took it. I jumped back into Instagram (slowly), but haven't really made my way back to Facebook yet. During my break, I realized just how often I took pictures to post or share. I realized how often I look to others for acceptance or affirmation. I realized how little I knew some of the people I was following. I realized how often I picked up my phone.

This year, I want it to be about connection. I want to truly know the people I surround myself with and those I follow on social media. I want to connect with others without someone thinking I have an ulterior motive. I want to live more outside the world wide web. I want to connect with my family. I want to connect with the Lord.

So for 2021, I choose CONNECT as my word. What is your word?