Let's talk about February.
February used to be like that person in your life that you tolerate and put up with just because you have no other choice. But since moving back to Colorado, February is now just as great as any other month of the year. So congratulations February! You are back in my good graces!
And here is why...
Even though we had snowy days
and yes, even some out of character FREEZING days
Most of those typically February type days still had this...
Blue skies and sunshine.
And we even managed some sunny and WARM days.
In fact one day we went out to Roxborough State Park to hike and we didn't even really need jackets!
I can't get enough of these three faces!!!
We love Roxborough State Park!
We celebrated Valentines Day in true childhood fashion, and I got myself into trouble by setting a new precedent by making this cool valentines day box for Cadence as well as some awesome treats!
But these festivities do make February all that much more fun!
Justin asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate Valentines day. I told him there was nothing I wanted more than to go to the grand opening of the new Trade Joe's opening in Colorado (just 2 few miles from my home)! This has been one thing I have had a hard time living without since leaving MA! Yeah for Trader Joe's! And Double yeah for a new TJ's so close to my house!
We also celebrated by going to the restaurant we went to for our very first Valentines Day we were together. Glad it tasted as great as I remember it!
Somewhere along the way I noticed this gorgeous girl living in our house!
Her awesomeness never ceases to amaze me. She is the most delightful, friendly, forgiving, social, and exuberant child ever! But could she stop growing please?
Cadence picked up on some guitar pretty quickly.
She is truly good at whatever she does. Sometimes I wonder how she will ever decide what to do with herself since she really could do anything she sets her mind to!
I got out on some fun runs and was able to see some coyotes on the trail.
I love that I can be running just a few miles from my home and feel like I'm out in the "wild" somewhere! These trails are awesome!
And so is my new KPop Hair do....
For Christmas Sage had wanted ice skating lessons so we spent each Saturday watching her get better and better! She's loved every moment out on that rink.
But I think it's safe to say that the highlight of February was when Gramma Gina and Uncle Nick came to visit!
We always create great memories, and the mile high city makes it easy to fill our time with fun, outdoors, and sunshine!
We had great walks on the Highline Canal trail
Played around at Red Rocks Amphitheater
And the best part of this photo above is the shadow of that little photographer!
We took them down to our favorite zoo in Colorado Springs.
And I think we may have converted Nick's favorite animal from penguins to giraffes! How can you resist loving this!?
It was a gorgeous day at the zoo and just perfect in so many ways.
Then we made the drive up the mountain to the Sun Tower. This was worth the drive!
If only all of our phones/cameras hadn't died while we were up there! It was spectacular! At least I captured a few before technology failed us.
All amidst the fun and great times of February, I must admit we were constantly fighting through a haze of stress and turmoil. Justin continued to struggle to find a job. He had many interviews and made it to the final cut of many of those. But things were just not happening for us.
Then at the end of February as our visit with Gina and Nick was coming to an end I got riddled from all angles with bad news. It felt like everything was falling apart. Through all these days of struggle I held on to hope and positivity. I allowed myself to be strong in the midst of the trials by focusing on the good and all I had to be grateful for. This worked. It truly did. We were happy. But there does come a time when no amount of positivity can change your realities and it was at this point at the end of February that those realities threatened to take us down!
I remember sitting on the couch and feeling so trapped in these situations that the only option I had was to just cry.
At some point in these last months - during the physical therapy on my knee - I became a bit upset and frustrated with life and with God. How was I supposed to cope with all I had in front of me when I had lost the most helpful means of coping - running? I quickly realized the biggest thing wrong with that thought process: Running shouldn't be my most effective way of coping with life. That is supposed to be God's job.
It took me some time, even after that realization, to work my way back into allowing God to be my number one source of comfort and strength.
But here at the end of February as things fell apart, I fully acknowledge that there was nothing short of God's hand that could help us.
When we left Boston a year earlier I remember comparing our leap of faith in leaving MA for CO, to jumping out of an airplane. I knew we would have to free-fall for a bit and just hoped and prayed that God would open the parachute before we crashed into the ground. We had been free-falling for a lot longer than I anticipated and in the light of new trials that ground was dangerously and speedily approaching.
But crying can only last for so long, and thus heartfelt prayer and fasting as well as a continuation of faith is what we were left to rely on.
And on we went right into March...
