One minute of Floating Above it All

This is a selfie I posted on Facebook.  What would compel a girl like me to post a selfie I did in fact take of myself in a bathroom -- note the shower rod -- on Facebook?  This picture was especially special because it was taken about 30 minutes before the next picture and 30 minutes after I woke up. 

And why is that I woke up at 4:00 a.m.?  So I could potentially get my patients up in one of these: 

Turns out the winds were squirrely and therefore we could not take the patients up in the air.  Except for one -- who weaseled his way up into a balloon.  My supervisor for the day thought she'd give me a chance to understand what was going on in the air -- so I weaseled my way into the air as well!! Lucky me right?

For about one minute -- I found myself floating up, up, up and away... and it was very normal feeling.  To be on the ground and then floating above the ground: it was like nothing changed -- no fear or anxiety -- just grounded to floating in the blink of an eye!  .... Until I was unkindly pulled back down to Earth, by the rope that had tethered our balloon the entire time.

I'm starting to see this as a metaphor for my summer -- I've been flying high for a few short months in the beautiful state of Colorado -- and I'll very shortly be pulled back down to a jobless, directionless reality! 

I guess the only thing to do is enjoy the rest of this ride!! 

Three Reasons Why Life Isn't That Bad

Remember my last post -- the one where I was hating on one of God's most abundant creations? Although, I'm actually really not a tree fan, I usually can find in my heart to give them a break and not write blog-posts about my deep-rooted (get it?) loathing.  The problem on Thursday was I was lonely and crying AND I got pulled over a dumb reason, so all my frustration and sadness came out in one tree-hating post.  So today.. one week later, I'm feeling a lot better and I'm excited to fill you in on recent events!

I've made quite a few friends down here in the great state of CO, so it's been fun getting out and doing fun things with them.   Things like:

An early morning hiking adventure!

   I use the term hiking adventure loosely.  Apparently walking through trees can be considered hiking in these parts.  WITH THAT SAID it was a nice walk through some nice trees with some beautiful vistas like the one above.  Apparently the legit hikes around here are only 14-ers (which I think means it takes 14 hours?), so I'm gonna have to get in shape real soon to do some real hiking!  ... we'll see if that one happens. ever.
   One funny thing: that some of the rocks were tagged with spray paint.  Like somebody needed to mark their territory all the way out here. What a waste of spray paint, am-I-right?

Disclaimer: the hike was easy, but I wanted to look intense -- hence the poses. 

Bonus of easy hiking: looking like a million bucks when you want to take a photo of yourself! :)

A late night Rockies game:

I accidentally talked too much while we were watching said game, but I always like going to sporting events in person for the experience! So it was worth it to me -- probably not for the people sitting near me that had to hear me talking, talking, talking.  But it's always nice to see the Rockies win.  It feels rewards after years and years of listening to static-y, barely-there, radio announcers talk about Rockies games to see that this team is worth something, at least sometimes.

That we won!!

And going to the Cheesecake Factory --- only for cheese cake! With this sweet girl who is also one of the four lucky people who I call my BEST friends!

Isn't she great?

Stacey came for the weekend.  Literally. She flew in Saturday and left Sunday.  We made the most of it-- getting some fancy brunch, buying matching cardigans that look smashing on both of us, and Stacey meeting all my best friends down here! It was soooooooooooooooooooooo much fun to show her around and show all my friendy-friends down here what cool people I know.  She's the best!

So while life does have it's ups and downs --- I am doing great overall down here in the Centennial State! (ha ha ha -- lamest state nick-name ever am-I-right? It's got NOTHING on Wyoming -- please read that with no sarcasm, because I would much rather be the Equality State than the Centennial State, blech.)

5 Reasons Trees Are the Worst

1. They block the view. 
• For instance, say you wanted to see the fireworks on the Fourth of July, you can hear them all around you, but for some reason you can't see anything. One word: trees.
• Or maybe you had a great view as a child outside your bedroom window, and your dad decides to plant a tree.  And you can no longer see anything. But leaves.
2. They hide things.
• Like moose when you are hiking or rapists when you are running.
3. They fall over and hurt people.
• During storms and hurricanes and at summer camps.
• And during the season finale of the show "Providence" that one time.
4. They add to peoples list of worries:
• Am I killing a tree if I write this note to my best friend? 
• Am I wasting a tree's life by making confetti for my favorite un-officialy holiday?
• There is already too much to worry about people -- don't let trees get to you.
5. They burn down.
• Which adds to forest fires, and houses burning down, and sadness everywhere. 

Good thing they provide oxygen, or I would be totally over this whole tree thing.

Happy Independence Day