Last year around this time I wrote this blog entry to explain a bit about my trips away each year. This year I’m going to go a tiny bit further. God is teaching me that He put this event in my life for a reason, and it wasn’t to hide it away and never speak of it. But I also learned this trip that I can’t ask too much of myself too soon. So consider this a baby step.

This quote was something I came across a number of years ago, although I forget where from. And it is where the whole idea for trips away kind of came from – or perhaps at least how I justified them.
“The world will not stop and our true God ordained ministries will not end when we take the time to let God make us healthier and better equipped.”

Every trip seems to end up having a theme. And this year’s theme came from the ending of Charles Dickens’ short story The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain where essentially a man sells his soul to the devil in order to forget everything bad that’s ever happened to him. But another character says this to him:

“…May I tell you why it seems to me a good thing for us, to remember wrong that has been done to us?” Milly says.
“Yes,” Redlaw answers her.
“That we may forgive it….And if, if your memory should one day be restored as we will hope and pray it may be, would it not be a blessing to you to recall at once a wrong and its forgiveness?”

It struck me as I read that a few weeks ago, What if that is a part of what God wants from this whole experience? Please don’t misunderstand my thought process here, but what if I would truly begin to remember, and that I might be able to one day remember the event and then instantly remember my forgiveness of the wrong done to me. Perhaps I am to even take it a step further and not only remember my forgiveness of the wrong done to me but in the same thought remember God’s forgiveness of me and how much He has done for me. Then it follows that each memory of the event would trigger even more memories of God’s faithfulness, and then, in a way, the entire thing would become a way that causes God to be glorified. Again, please don’t misunderstand my thought process. But when you grow up as a child reciting the Westminster Catechism saying that my chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” and then something like this happens, you start to wonder how it all fits in. But maybe little Milly under the hand and pen of Charles Dickens hit on something. There is a way to glorify God in all of this, and it starts by remembering and forgiving.

Anyways, that is just a taste of what God was speaking to me about these few days away. But here is a little peek at our trip in pictures.

Last May we bought a terrific LivingSocial deal for 3 days/2 nights at a hotel in Breckenridge, Colorado.

It was a beautiful area, and the room was nice and spacious.

 
Luna was very excited to be there!

The view from our porch on Day 1 and then Day 2.

The Double Tree hotels are famous for their “warm cookie upon arrival” and we each got one when we checked in. They were super yummy but you sure do need a glass a milk to dunk them in! Here is the cookie, and then Andrew took a bite out of his so it would match the picture on the bag.

Here we are, finally all settled in and about to go walk around the town.

We found Main Street, and a lot of cute shops, museums, and restaurants.

The scenery was beautiful too – even without any snow on the slopes!

In this picture I am on a mission. The ONE bookstore on Main Street was closing because the owner is retiring and it was just a bunch of almost empty shelves. Our phone maps told us of another bookstore just off of Main Street, and I was determined to find it and spend some quality time there writing and reading (thus the reason my purse is so jam-packed!).

But alas, there was no bookstore. It was just a weird coffee shop. So we headed back to Main Street and spent that quality time writing and reading in Starbucks.

When I needed a break from my writing, we did some shopping

I have wanted a pair of Toms shoes for a very long time. Most of the unique styles are only available online though, and I don’t buy shoes online because they never fit my feet. But when we saw a store that sold them, I went in to try them on and fell in love with them. They’re great, and super comfy. Even the plain colored ones were very nice – and now they’ve expanded to a lot of different styles. If you don’t know about the mission of Toms products, you can read about it here.

I’ve also been very interested in the legend of Kokopelli, the Indian flute player, ever since I was 8 years old and started playing the flute. I found a great little shop that was having a grand opening sale and found this double sided Kokopelli necklace that I LOVE.

There may have been no bookstores in Breckenridge, but we found an adorable little library. We had to walk a mile to get there, but it was worth it. My wonderful husband let me sit there as long as I wanted, people watching, writing, and reading.

It was probably my favorite place of the entire trip.

This was Luna’s favorite place the entire trip – under the table in our hotel room.

She also liked being on the porch when we left the door open.

On the drive back home we passed this beautiful lake and then this weird little building with antlers all over it!

And then we passed a sign – my husband’s worst nightmare – for ANOTHER library! This time in the town of Frisco, Colorado. My super extra wonderful husband said that this trip was all about me and what I needed/wanted to do, so we turned off the main road in an attempt to find an extrememly well hidden library. He let me stay at this one too, reading and writing as long as I wanted.

So that was my Trip Away 2012.  Let me leave you with one last quote that God brought continually to mind these last couple of days.  This one is from Corrie ten Boom:
“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”

I remembered.  I wrote.  I forgave.  To God be the glory.

A few years ago I got it in my head that I wanted to complete a triathlon – don’t ask me why.  It was just one of those “bucket list” things.  2 summers ago I started training for a tri with a group at my gym, and since then it has been a LONG journey to get to where I am today – A TRIATHLETE!  There were a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of setbacks, but I have finally done it.  This race today was my last chance to do one this year.  The Tri season here in Colorado doesn’t last past September because October often is too cold and snowy.  If I wanted to do one this year, it had to be today’s or I would have to wait until next summer.  I’ve maintained motivation for 2 years, but I didn’t think I could keep it up another year – especially with all the physical setbacks I have had this season.

Not long after I found this tri I found out I had to have gall bladder surgery, and I knew that I would be cutting it close.  So, on my very first meeting with my surgeon I told him about the race and asked him if it would be safe for me to try to compete in it.  He said that basically it would be safe for me to complete it,  but not to consider myself a serious contender.  I would not be able to train much in the couple of weeks post-surgery and pre-race, but that the race itself was well within the date of safety – it was just a matter of how I felt.

I felt like doing a triathlon. 

I didn’t train much, and what training I did just showed me how slow I’d have to go (I was anticipating to walk the entire 5k for example), but I was determined.  And today, crossing that finish line and knowing I was a triathlete, made it all worth it.  Here are A LOT of pictures about my day.  My wonderful hubby came to support me and took pictures at every point he was allowed to be at.

(Speaking of which, we forgot the memory card for the camera – I had left it in the computer from the last time I uploaded pictures.  So that wonderful hubby of mine did a little race of his own to the closest walmart while I was setting up my transition area! !)

We were told to get to the race site one hour before our start time.  My start time (based on my anticipated swim time) was 7:28 am.  We had to park at a different building though and walk over, which I was nervous about, so we got there in plenty of time.  Yesterday I attended a First Timers Pre-Race meeting and a seasoned triathlete explained everything we needed to know about what would happen throughout the day, what to expect, and how to prepare.  For example, he talked about setting up your transition area and showed us how he sets up his.  Here is mine:
 

My bike is hooked to a bar by its handlebars – you can’t really see that.  Then I have a towel laid out next to it with everything I’ll need for transitions.  My shammy towel, my sunglasses, my mirror that attaches to my sunglasses, tissues, extra water bottles, hat, etc.

First up was the swim!  450 meters, and it was set up so that we snaked down the entire length of the pool, swimming width wise (the width was 25 meters) 18 lengths. We’d swim down one length, duck under the lane line, and then swim back, then duck under, then swim down, over and over.  Then when we got to the end of the pool, we’d pull ourselves out and race out the door!

   
You can see me at the end of the line in the 3rd picture – gray/white swimsuit, white cap. We were all being sent out in 10 second increments.

   

 

I passed about 4 people in the swim, but we all got caught up in a bottleneck at the end.

Next came the first transition – swim to bike!  Out the door into the FREEZING COLD in my suit.  I had to dry off a tiny bit, put on clothes on top of my suit (my choice), put my shoes on, put my helmet on and buckle it, then grab my bike and run for the bike exit! That orange thing around my ankle was my timing chip. 

   

Next was a 13 mile bike ride. Obviously, Andrew couldn’t come on that, but he caught pictures of me arriving back! There was an enthusiastic half-naked body builder flexing his muscles to show me which way to go – thus the funny smile.  I wonder why Andrew didn’t get a picture of that?!

 

Next was the second transition – bike to run.  I had to re-set my bike on the bar, take off my helmet, pin my number to the front of my shirt, grab my hat and water bottle, and set off through the run exit.

       

And then I was off on a 5k!  I ended up running a little bit of it, taking walking breaks.  It is hard mentally to just walk fast when so many people around you are running.  But my body and incision sites felt good enough to run some, so the run portion ended up taking me only a little over 40 minutes, which was much better than I was expecting. 

I made it!!

Here I am at home, showing off my body markings.  The guy at the first timers meeting said to NOT wash off the body markings, and then tomorrow wear a shirt with sleeves that showed at least the bottom number.  Then when people ask why you have numbers on your arms you can say, “Oh that? I did a triathlon yesterday.”

And finally, they gave us shirts!  I was told once to never wear a shirt for a race you didn’t actually do – so now I have one of my very own that I HAVE done, and I’m incredibly proud of it!

And interesting side note from the race – there were two paraplegics competing and it was cool to watch them.  Andrew got a couple pictures of their bikes.

 

And then finally, just some other pictures from the day.

Overall I just had so much fun, and I’m so proud that I finally met a personal goal I’ve had for a long time.  I’m addicted now and I can’t wait to do another one!  Once this soreness wears off that is…

My husband’s work schedule recently changed and I’m finding myself home alone more than I’m used to.  To fill those lonely hours, I have been getting very crafty!  Here is a sampling of some of the stuff I’ve been working on!

Of course, I made the super cute crocheted bunny that you can read about in my previous post

I also found an adorable little stamping, scrapbooking, and paper crafts store not too far from my home and I have been taking classes there! My first class was called Tags Tags Tags! and we made all these cute tags.

                              

My second class was called Stamping 101 – so we learned all the basic techniques and all kinds of stuff about different types of inks and stamps and when to use what.  It was very interesting.  Then we made these cards using those different techniques.  We wrote the descriptions on the back so that when we are making our own projects and want to have a certain look, we can use these as references to remember what to do.

But by far my biggest project has been my very first QUILT!!  Years ago I went with my mom to a quilt show (I mostly agreed to go to spend time with my sister and see my super cute nephew).  At the time, I was NOT into quilting.  My mom has quilted for a very long time, but our tastes are very different, and I never had any interest in making those kinds of quilts.  But this quilt show really opened my eyes!  There were so many styles!  Cute quilts, and modern quilts, and crazy quilts, and quilts that told stories.  I was fascinated.  I came home with a kit that day – a kit for a summery flip/flop quilt.  I had intended to make it into my bedspread.  But, also at that time I was committed to doing ONE project at a time and not starting a new one until the previous one was finished.  I had a series of cross-stitch pieces I was making, so the quilt had to wait.

One day, in an effort to break me of this One Project At A Time slogan I had, a quilting friend came over and she and my mom helped me cut out all the pieces for the main quilt top. It required some hand stitched applique, so I started making those.  But everything else had to be machine sewn and I didn’t have a machine yet. Fast forward a LONG TIME and I was getting married and moving, so we got me a super cute absolutely tiny little wee sewing machine.  It is adorable.  And just the right size to fit in the tiny little apartment Andrew and I would be having.

Before I made the quilt though I had to practice a lot on the machine because I was new at it and I didn’t want to make mistakes on my quilt.  Finally the time came when I felt comfortable enough using it AND I have all this time alone now, so out came the quilt.  I cut all the sashing for all the blocks and sewed them on.  Here is an example:

You can see the hand sewn applique in that picture too.  Then when I had all the blocks done, I put them all together in different ways until I found color combinations I liked.  Then I sewed all the blocks into 4 rows, and then all 4 rows together.  I did all that in one day!  I can’t believe it!

Look at that!  I still have to do the inner and outer borders, and then obviously the back, but this is such a huge accomplishment for me that I feel the need to show it off a little now!

But I now understand the addiction of quilting and I can’t wait to get this one finished and then start on the next 3 quilt kits I have waiting for me!