Rewind to Thanksgiving

It is time for me to begin playing catch-up on all the time that has passed since my last blog. The past month or so has been pretty bleak and hard. I guess I should further specify that time frame as right after Thanksgiving to right before our trip back to Kansas for Christmas. Life has thrown me a couple curveballs that I never knew would be so hard to deal with. I didn't really feel like "myself," and certainly didn't want to pass along any negativeness to you all. I didn't want to blog about happy things during a time where I found so little to be happy about. Even though there were many bright spots that are most certainly deserving of a good blog.
I feel a lot better now. Maybe it's because my class is over and it got really crazy at the end, or because the stress of the holidays and travelling is behind us. Or maybe it's because things are a lot different now with my family and I am beginning to accept that; well most of it anyway. I am able to look back now and be thankful for the good things in my life. My husband was been amazingly supportive. There were a few nights where I couldn't stand to be around me...so I don't know how he did it! Also, forming new friendships and relying on old ones really held me up. It's great to have people around me who remind me that I'm not crazy for feeling the way I do sometimes.
Anyway, enough about all of that. I am being too vague and too specific at the same time. But just know that if I have seemed distant or unavailable lately, it's not because I don't value our relationship, it's just because I haven't been particularly enjoyable company for a while! :)
What I really intended with this post was to recap our wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I know, I know. I've been reading all of your blogs about Christmas and New Years. I'll get there too, but for now I'm rewinding a little...

I am lucky to have an awesome family who comes to my rescue on holidays when Matt has to work and my clingy self doesn't think she can handle a holiday "alone." I must also add that I am so appreciative that Matt is OK with me embarking on adventures with my family, even though it means I'm not there when he gets home from work for a couple of days.
Anyway, my dad and brother joined us in Colorado the day before Thanksgiving. They got here Wednesday evening and Brennan proceeded to trick me by calling my phone claiming that they were lost and in need of directions (from a street I had not even heard of), when in fact he was standing on the front porch!
We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday before Matt had to leave for work. I got pretty much everying cooked myself (besides the Turkey, which I ordered from Honey Baked), except the pumpkin pie and fresh veggies, which Brennan helped with. After the dishes were clean and the food was put up (and Matt was at work) we hopped on the light rail for a walk through Confluence Park downtown. Brennan and I had been there during the summer and were captivated by a live jazz festival as well as watching people and dogs alike wading in the river. Well needless to say, not much of that was happening in November and the park wasn't quite as charming as before. We did see a fox running toward us, which was really cool. You don't see many of those downtown...
Friday morning, we left Denver for a couple of days of mountain relaxation up near Estes Park. But first, we stopped in Fort Collins to see some family friends and the rennovations they are doing on their house. We had a nice lunch after looking over the house, and then headed up to our cabin.


The cabin is properly named "Solitude." There were a few other places nearby, but at this time of year, it was pretty quiet. My favorite part was the view of Long's Peak from the kitchen window. (Long's Peak is a 14'er, and it's next on my list of 14'ers to hike.) Below is a picture of the view that i loved. You can barely see the peak with all of the clouds!



To finish off Friday evening, we watched the movie "Knowing," which would have been a great semi-scary movie to watch up in a secluded cabin, if the TV hadn't been so small! You couldn't really get the real picture of what was happening. Fortunately for me, I had already seen in on our nice new 50" HDTV so I knew what was going on. :) Otherwise, I probably would have lost interest pretty fast.


Saturday, we ate a big breakfast in Estes Park at a little diner. It was fantastic food... I really do enjoy both breakfast and diner food when I let myself indulge so the combination was perfect. Plus, they had hazelnut coffee which is my absolute favorite. We were so stuffed after that and we felt like a little hike would do us well. We found a trail on the way back to the cabin which wasn't too strenuous, but it had some pretty views. Above, my dad and brother pose along the trail.

On the hike, we came across a beautiful buck. It didn't seem to mind us too much. It walked right up and across the trail behind us.



At one part of the trail when Brennan and I scrambled up some rocks, we could look right down to the highway! It creeped me out a little, so I didn't get too close to the edge. But I had to get a picture!



We continued spending the day driving around the countryside. We stopped to photograph this beautiful church with Longs Peak in the background. How awesome would it be to get married here! Or even just go to church every sunday in a place like this, with the beauty of nature all around you?



Another place we drove was to the town of Raymond, where my dad used to vacation as a kid. We were trying to find the place where they stayed, and also find some batteries for his camera when we stumbled across the "Raymond Store" where we were successful in getting some batteries. This store was run by a rather interesting man, who obviously loves the area he lives in. It was also evident that not many customers stop in at his store because he proceeded to tell us EVERYTHING under the sun about the Estes Park/Allenspark area and all of the trails, mountains and history of the area. It was nice to chat with him, but it definitely took some effort to get out of the store. :)
I enjoyed driving along Raymond Road. You would never know the town existed if you didn't drive it. The town is in a little crevace or canyon (that's the best way I can describe it) tucked between a mountain and the highway above. I love little hidden forgotten places like that!

More on our accomodations really quick. I have always wanted to stay in one of these A Frame style buildings. The light was amazing and the view out of the window was even better! I loved waking up in the mornings to see pine forest and mountains all around.



The inside of the building was cool too. The high ceilings were awesome. My dad's bedroom was up in that lofted area.

Another view of the outside...

It was sad to leave on Sunday morning, but Dad and Brennan needed to head back to Kansas and I was eager to get back to Matt and the dogs. I cooked a small breakfast of eggs and sausage before we left. I also took this picture of Brennan lurking around the cabin. :)

I am so glad we got to spend such a fun weekend up in the mountains. It's times like these that will be remembered for a long time to come!