New House, New Job & Other Life Updates!

 I did not do our usual New Year/Virtual Christmas card blog post, and somehow it is already halfway through April?? So this may be a long post, but isn't that typical for me/us by now? A big part of why we missed that post is likely due to the many big life changes that were occurring at that time! Back when I wrote our last blog post Jeremiah and I were in the thick of trying to decide what our next steps were as far as whether to stay in CO and buy a home here or whether it was our time to move back to AZ. It was all-consuming weighing our options and playing through both scenarios and ultimately it boiled down to Jeremiah and I both felt that our time in CO was just not over! We felt like if we chose to make the move back to AZ right now, Colorado just would not have been complete for us! It is hard to get too much more specific than that because so much of it was just feeling, but we finally came to that decision and decided to start making steps toward buying a home here in CO. All the while gauging how these more concrete steps were feeling and sure enough it was feeling right for both of us right now and in mid-December we put an offer on a home in Highlands Ranch, CO! And our first offer was accepted!! We were very cautious in our expectations because as everyone knows right now the housing market is crazy, but we were so excited when we found out it was accepted! We were out at Oregano's, our all-time favorite restaurant with Jeremiah's coworkers when we found out which was a really fun place to celebrate! We only saw about 10 houses in person prior to putting in this offer and this house was definitely a stand out to both of us. We were feeling discouraged by a lot of what we saw in our budget, but when we saw this one it almost felt too good to be true! We saw it on a Thursday evening, placed the offer later that night, and found out the following night at about 7 pm that it was accepted! Then it was a whirlwind of next steps: inspection, signing papers, appraisal, etc. Overall everything went really smoothly and before we knew it we had our move-in date of January 17th! We were very fortunate that the apartment we were in had a very flexible move-out date so that wasn't a big issue for us. The night we got the keys we did a little "camp out" at the house. We brought our air mattress, ordered pizza, and loaded a movie to watch on our iPad. It has not been about 3 months of being home-owners and I still catch myself thinking, is this place really ours?? We officially moved in to our house the week after we got the keys with the help of 6 of our friends and it was a very smooth process! Many hands make light work as they say, and that definitely felt true for us! We had prepared pretty well packing up, but the final move of furniture and boxes into the truck and then unloading at our new house went really quickly with all of the help! It was definitely bitter sweet moving out of our apartment that we had been in the last 4.5 years, and when we did the finally clean up and returning the keys we walked around our complex in the loop that we've walked hundreds of times to reminisce on our favorite memories and experiences from our time there! It was the first place we have lived in together (excluding J's grandparents house for the first month after marriage before moving to CO) so it was the first place we really established ourselves together! As I said we have now been in our new house for about 3 months and are filling it up slowly but surely and making it our own! The house is 3 bed/2 bath with a 2-car garage and unfinished basement so there is definitely more space than what we had previously! Highlands Ranch is basically on the opposite end of Denver from where we were in Westminster before. But this location makes a lot more sense now in relation to our workplaces! We each have about 15/20 minute commutes which is much better than Jeremiah's previously 45-50 min commute! Church and our small group is still way up north, but that is only 1-2 times a week versus every day for work. And speaking of work, one of our other big changes was that I got a new job! You may be thinking, didn't she just start a new job? And yes, kind of! I was only in this past job for about 11 months, but I quickly realized that it was just not the right fit for me. It was more research heavy than I anticipated and pulled me out of patient care quite a bit, so I was really missing full-time patient care which is what I became a PT for! It was a big struggle for me because I was feeling like the longer I was in that job the more I was losing so many of my hands-on skills and worried that I wouldn't even be able to find another job. I also was struggling with what setting would be best for me. I talked with a mentor from PT school, shadowed a friend of mine in her setting, and talked with other PT friends about my thoughts, and ended up interviewing at Swedish Medical Center for an Inpatient Acute PT position. My friend, Mel, was instrumental in helping me get the interview and now we get to be coworkers! On my birthday I got the official job offer which was extra special! And I was in Beaver Creek with family as I always am on my birthday, so it was a double bonus that they could celebrate with me! More on that trip later. Swedish is a Level 1 Trauma Center here in Denver and as an inpatient acute PT I get to work with patients hospitalized for all sorts of conditions! So far I have seen patients on Ortho, Neuro, General Surgery, Cardiology, the ED... And at about my 6 month mark I will start to get involved in the ICU which I am simultaneously nervous and excited for! This job has been a huge positive shift for me. Since graduating PT school I had been struggling with finding the right fit and feeling a little lost in my career! But so far in this new job I have a lot of great PTs and OTs that I am surrounded by and am doing a lot of learning every day and get to work with so many patients in a challenging setting. It is also a great fit as far as hours and expectations go! I am loving it! 

Saying goodbye to our apartment!

Celebratory Pizookie from Oregano's!

Our house!!

Accepting the keys

Jeremiah continues to really enjoy his job as well, which if we are being honest, was another big pull to stay in Denver! He has wonderful coworkers that I get along with really well also which is a bonus! They really value him at Stryker and as I have said before, I think he is the best employee anyone could ever want - totally not biased at all of course. For the better part of a year he has been working on a project with his team that was a brand new idea that he brought to the table basically to make one of their processes more efficient and consistent. Just a few weeks ago he was finally able to demo the project to the larger team and some higher ups and it went very well, and they were very complimentary, so that was exciting! It is really fun to hear him talk about his work and his goals there and for him to be supported through it! 

Some other highlights since the end of October include hosting Madeline and Parker for their special 8-year-old CO trip! When Paisley turned 8 she got to spend a weekend with us by herself here in CO and we did all sorts of fun activities. So Parker has been talking about it since her trip and we figured this had to become a tradition! Since Madeline and Parker are just two days apart and really great friends it made sense to host them together. We went to Hammond's candies, Little Man, did Minute to Win It games, hiked, went to a trampoline place, made pretzels, and played a ton of Slamwich. We packed the weekend full! We have a little while until Luke turns 8... Who knows what we will be up to by then and whether he will want to come alone or with Preston! In which case Luke would have to wait until he was nearly 9. We shall see if the tradition continues! 

Also in November we hosted Jeremiah's mom for a quick weekend which was really nice, quality time with her! 

                                      

The week of Thanksgiving Jeremiah and I went on a week-long road trip through Utah/Northern AZ! We went to Page, AZ first to visit Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, followed by Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and then up to Salt Lake City to explore a new city! Well I had been there previously, but pretty minimal memories of it. All of these sites/national parks were incredible. When we visited Bryce Canyon it was especially quiet which made me like it even more than Zion I think! I'm not sure though, because in Zion we did the Narrows hike which was really cool and unique. And there is just nothing like Antelope Canyon. Truly a fascinating natural phenomenon! Jeremiah and I stayed in Airbnbs along the way, except for one night camping in Zion! We both love road trips, national parks, and exploring new cities so this was just about the perfect trip for us! We had an amazing time! Oh and we were in SLC for Thanksgiving and found a restaurant that did a traditional Thanksgiving meal along with some unique offerings as well so that was kind of fun! The delicious meal without the clean-up, but the trade-off is no leftovers! 

As I mentioned above, the first weekend in December is always the annual Beaver Creek trip which is always a highlight of my year and a great kick off to ski season! 

We headed to AZ for a full week for Christmas (my last job had very nice time-off if you couldn't tell) as well! Per usual we filled it with lots of quality family time both mine and Jeremiah's, some of our favorite Christmas traditions, street hockey, celebrating Preston's birthday, time with Tommy and Emily... All the best!

Fast forward after we moved in the beginning of the year our first guests were my mom and sisters, and my youngest niece Mae in the first weekend in March. It was so fun to have them and to be able to host them comfortably in our home! It was pretty cold weather that weekend so we hunkered down for most of the weekend, talked a lot, had a nice dinner out at Linger while Jeremiah watched Mae, and just enjoyed a lazy weekend together! 

And then of course our CO winter wouldn't be complete without ski days! 

I originally had all of our Italy trip in lengthy detail on this blog post as well, but I decided to put them in two separate posts otherwise it would be the longest post EVER. So I will wrap up here with an attachment to a little video Jeremiah and I put together of our year last year! Thanks for reading and please feel free to continue reading on my next post to hear all about Italy! 

Classic H & J

Another beautiful Colorado summer has come and gone and somehow we are well on our way through Fall already - Jeremiah’s favorite season! Per usual we have done our very best to take advantage of the beautiful weather and mountains this summer and beginning of fall. But first, rewinding a bit, we kicked off summer with a trip to AZ over memorial day weekend! It was a blast and as it always is on our trips to AZ, packed full. I helped put on my sister Emily’s bridal shower and bachelorette party, and managed to squeeze in some other family and friends time. The bridal shower was actually held in the same place mine was, but this time fit to Emily's style including all family china and glasses to be more eco-friendly, some simple games/activities, and delicious food! One fun/unique thing is that all of us had our mothers-in-law present at the shower and my sister-in-law had her mom, so it was one big family gathering! The bachelorette party was a blast and complete with a stay at an Airbnb in Scottsdale, a cocktail-making class, dinner at Culinary Dropout, and plenty of pool/hot tub time. I think Emily really enjoyed it as well, which is the main thing! She even used one of the cocktails from our class as a signature drink at their wedding. 

This summer’s adventures consisted of our first CO backpacking experience with Mount of the Holy Cross 14er. We hiked in 3 miles, camped, and hiked 3 miles more to the summit the next day and 6 miles all the way out also on the second day. We had a pretty sweet set-up complete with hammock and camping chairs despite backpacking in. Only downer was a ton of mosquitoes at the campsite, but other than that it was an awesome experience! We also hiked Gray’s and Torrey’s peaks to complete a nice sounding 14 14ers. We had previously done Gray’s peak but due to weather had to descend before being able to double summit. This time it was still pretty unpleasantly cold, windy weather, but not bad enough to keep us from double summiting! We also did another little camping weekend and hike down near Woodland Park in Colorado Springs, which was simple and fun. And another gorgeous alpine lake hike near Arapaho Pass that was shockingly quiet and the clouds were hanging really low so it felt like you were kind of hiking through them. So that was another really great hiking day. 

Also back in May and June two not so pleasant things happened… One, I had to have a small surgery - a gum graft. Does not sound pleasant but was actually way easier than I expected! Hopefully I don’t have to have any more, but it seems like there may be a small genetic tie and be somewhat a function of the orthodontics I’ve had. But glad it wasn’t bad, and at least now I know a good periodontist in Denver! The second was that my car was stolen. Yep, you heard that right! My whole car was stolen out of our apartment complex parking lot sometime between 8 pm on Sunday night and 7 am Monday morning. My parents were in town which was really helpful to navigate the situation with their guidance, but it was certainly not fun! The car did show up 3 days later abandoned after being in some sort of accident, and it was unfortunately counted as a total loss by insurance. So insurance gave us an estimate that we did not like as it was extremely low, so we had to go to battle with them, ended up getting a decent amount more money for a new car. And then shortly after that we went and bought a new car! We got the same type of car, a Kia Sorento, but got a little bit newer (2019) with fewer miles on it so it made it feel a little more worthwhile, if you can call it that. We also bought one of those bars that locks into the steering wheel when you are not using the car in the hopes that that would slow someone down enough to make them think twice about stealing this! Also I just have to say, the car was locked and nothing was visible inside of it, sooo it was just some very bad luck. 

The new car! 

So many memories with my old car... It was a sad (and abrupt) goodbye!

As I briefly mentioned there my parents came to town for a long weekend and it was so great to have them as always! They introduced us to pickle ball and we went to TopGolf! We also tried a great restaurant called Cart Driver while they were in town. We had been wanting to try it for awhile and I'm glad we did! 

In July we did another quick weekend road trip to Kansas to visit Jeremiah’s grandparents, and aunt and uncle, while his mom and cousin also were in town! The weather that weekend was awesome so we pretty much spent the whole weekend outside just catching up and then jet skiing on a nearby lake as well! 

In September was Emily and Bobby’s wedding! They got engaged back in the beginning of 2021 and decided to get married in Upstate NY near where I am originally from and where most of our extended family still live. The venue itself was in Skaneateles, NY surrounded by big green trees and fields, perfectly quiet and beautiful weather. It was just a gorgeous, happy weekend! We kicked it off with a cousins’ dinner in Rochester, stopped by my grandma’s apartment to see her finally after a year and a half, followed by a trip to the zoo for me and golfing with the boys for Jeremiah… We also mini golfed, ate hot dogs, pizza, and ice cream, among other treats! The rehearsal was smooth followed by a delicious and beautiful rehearsal brunch at an old inn in Skaneateles. My whole family stayed in a big Airbnb and despite the chaos it was so much fun to have us all under one roof and really special the night before the wedding to stay up late all catching up and talking after the kids went to bed. I cherish those moments so much, and to have a few opportunities like that in one weekend was just the best. Though since I am one of the ones without kids yet perhaps my brother or sister with kids has a different perspective on being in one house all weekend… So on the wedding day we got ready right in the Airbnb which just felt really casual and relaxed which was awesome! We did nails, hair, and makeup and suddenly it was time to get in the car and go to the venue! My brother-in-law George officiated and did an awesome job of making it both funny and heartfelt and Emily and Bobby shared personalized vows which were really beautiful. Emily of course looked absolutely beautiful too! We haven’t seen the professional photos yet, but I can’t wait! All 6 nieces and nephews were in the wedding and all did great! Mae, the littlest, was a little restless and took some bribing, but overall she did awesome. The reception was a ton of fun, dancing, speeches, catching up with family and friends, and some delicious apple desserts deserve a shout out as well! Jeremiah’s family was even able to make it out to NY for the wedding so that was nice to have them there. We got brunch with them the next day so we were able to catch up with them too! The days after the wedding we went to my Aunt and Uncle’s lake house, which just always makes the summer feel complete. We also went to a celebration of life for my Great Uncle Jack, and enjoyed apple cider and apple cider donuts at Kelly’s Apple Farm. YUM! It was definitely a highlight of the year, and I highly recommend if you have never been to the Finger Lakes Region of NY to make a point to visit some day! 

Family Run!

No official wedding photos yet!

Can he get any cuter??

To kick off fall we did a quick road trip into Aspen where we hiked for our second time to the Maroon Bells. The drive in to Aspen is gorgeous on Independence Pass where you really feel immersed in the fall colors. And then of course the Maroon Bells are a gorgeous backdrop to the fall colors as well. On the car ride we even got pumpkin chai teas from Starbucks to really complete the fall feel! After wandering through the town of Aspen just a bit we headed out to find a campsite just off of the Colorado River near Gypsum, CO. It was a great impromptu campsite and the stars that night were probably the best either of us had ever seen! The following Sunday morning we drove in to Beaver Creek Resort and hiked to Beaver Lake which we had also previously done, but this time, with (what else?) fall colors! 

The Dwights visited for a quick weekend in the beginning of October. We drove down to Manitou Springs with them and explored the town, wandering in and out of shops, went to a delicious brewery for dinner, and watched the Muppets Haunted Mansion! Since they/we are a Disney-loving family and know that particular ride so well it was fun to see what the Muppets did with it. Also of note, I somehow convinced them to try my favorite Vegan dessert place? And they actually liked it?? It’s hard not to like a blizzard-type dessert though… Jeremiah and Nathan of course snuck in some time for video games as well and we all had plenty of great conversation together, even if it was a quick weekend!

Just last weekend we worked out the time to do a 4-day trip to Ouray and Telluride in Southwest Colorado. The San Juan mountain range is absolutely gorgeous and was made even more so by the fact that it was snow-dusted just in time for us to visit! We stayed in Ouray and visited Telluride. Though they are physically close it does take an hour to get between the two because of how the towns are situated among the mountains. So we did two hikes in Telluride one day, both to waterfalls, and one hike between the two towns the following day to a beautiful alpine lake. The hikes were a little slow going because of the recent snow, but well worth it, and because it was kind of off-season, the trails were very quiet as well which is always nice! The rest of that weekend we enjoyed just wandering the towns, went to natural hot springs, and had a nice time just relaxing off of work!

Something very exciting that is coming up next year is a trip to Italy in March/April 2022! We booked flights for that trip (and travel insurance), a couple of months ago and we are sooo excited. We are going with our best friends Tommy and Emily so planning is well underway and we are just really hoping that it can happen smoothly despite never quite knowing what might happen with Covid. So, perhaps, cautiously optimistic I will say. It has already been 6 years since we went to Europe last so we cannot wait to get back there for 2 weeks in Italy! Maybe we will try to write a post for each town we visit kind of like we did on our last trip, but we will see… 

Other events of note include Avery brewery for our anniversary dinner, a day of golfing for my anniversary gift to Jeremiah, a Rockies game, face timing and virtual chocolate tasting with Scott and Liz who moved to Grand Rapids, MI back in February, picnic and games in the park with our friends Lexy and Jared and Mel and Mason, and a fun night of food and drinks with Jeremiah’s coworkers at a food hall near his work. 

Other things we have been up to include lots and lots of football watching (Go Cardinals! Go Devils!), regular Facetiming with Tommy and Emily, many a small group meeting, volunteering at church in the preschool for me and as a buddy for a boy with Autism for Jeremiah, puzzles, tv shows, and working through the Marvel movies in chronological order (though we are only 4 in, soo…). 

In between our fun and adventures of course there is work, but really no big updates on that front! Jeremiah loves his job and coworkers at Stryker, and having recently met many of his coworkers I understand why! And I am working at University of Colorado which has been going well for me. In fact, I am at a training currently in Richmond, VA as part of my job which is kind of exciting traveling for work! Never thought I would be doing that! 

Jeremiah and I are so thankful for so many opportunities to travel, enjoy fun activities right near our home, spend time with friends and family, and just really try to treasure the present. We have so many fun things on the horizon, which you can always read about on here... approximately 6 months after they actually take place! 

Probably the hardest puzzle I've ever done right here...

I decided to switch things up and got bangs at my last haircut!

Random, but tried this beer slushy at a local brewery! It was definitely more of a fruit smoothie than beer, which is the way I would prefer it! 

My sister found this old photo of my Grandma Warren and we all thought it was so crazy how much it looks like me!! I had no idea I looked so much like her. I wonder if non-family members see the similarities...

K-Love Live on the Rocks at Red Rocks Amphitheater! 

We have had fun periodically making these fancy charcuterie boards and Jeremiah topped this one of by putting our Kombuchas on ice to feel even fancier!

We both got new skis!! I haven't had new skis since... Junior high maybe? Early high school? I can't remember but I'm excited. 

A random selfie with Parker and Luke!