So yeah, about last week...5 down. 3 to go.

So the pictures turned out to be in kind of weird spots...odd...anyway quick explanations: Top-Me and Jenny at the park last week. 2nd-Me and Henry about to go trailblazing. 3rd-Jenna and the pig at the ranch where we started off on our horse adventure. Bottom-Jenna, Me, Kara, and Keri taking a photo-op before trapsing through the mountains on horseback. So there ya go.

A belated and much overdue Colorado Update…

Ok, wow soooo much happened last week that I feel like my life is completely different than the last time I posted an update. Things have been pretty busy here (shocker) and with the wonderful visit by my parents, I’ve had no time really to update. Ok, so here are some highlights of the past week and some things I’ve learned…I’ll try to keep this in chronological order. :-)

Last Saturday 3 of my friends here (Kara, Keri, and Jenna) and I went horseback riding in the Pike’s Peak National Park. And when I say in the park, I mean through the mountains. The family who owns the horses we rode also have a lot of other animals on their property. Within 30 minutes we encountered a little pig, some chickens, sheep, goats, horses (obviously) and bison. These people are for real. As far as the sights go, I tried to take pictures from atop my trusty horse Henry, but none do justice to really how high we were, or how steep our descent was, our how loud the thunder was, or how close the lightning seemed to be. I was pretty pensive throughout the whole thing; one might call it ‘nonconversational.’ With one hand I gripped Henry’s reins to point him in the right direction and with the other hand I clung to my saddle for dear life—so to speak. In short, the view was beautiful, the company was excellent, and the memories were marvelous. I totally recommend going horseback riding through the Rocky Mountains. Just make sure you don’t mind being a bit sore in strange regions the next day…

In other news, my sister Ashli got engaged to Matt Arbo in Nashville on Saturday. And can I just say that I should get some sort of credit for this match? Ashli and Matt met at the Drowsy Poet coffee shop after the Cool Hand Luke concert last fall. After the show I desperately wanted to go to the Daily Grind and Ashli vehemently desired Drowsy. Being the cool younger sister that I am, I conceded to her wishes, and BOOM. Wouldn’t you know she meets her future husband there. Anyway, Ashli was completely surprised by Matt’s proposal over lunch at the Opryland Hotel. Mashli (as my friends and I affectionately call them) are super-excited and looking to get married either in December or May(ish). Masel tov.

Sunday a group of us headed up to Denver to do some shopping and take in the sights and smells of ‘Casa Bonita.’ Denver is a very cool city; I recommend it for a visit as well. They have a cool outdoor mall where I had much success with late summer sales. Casa Bonita is this huge restaurant/entertainment experience in Denver. Unfortunately we were seated where we couldn’t see much, but we did see a couple of cliff divers and a gun show. Lots of little kiddos everywhere. It was fun.

Monday was 4th of July and as a national holiday I definitely decided it merited a crazy late sleep in. I really had no choice as I was up until 3ish the night before (thanks buddy ;-) Monday night we went to Applebee’s for dinner and then went to Memorial Park for the fireworks show. 4th of July is definitely summer’s epitome, and I love it. There’s something about the idea of Independence Day that is really romantic to me…I can’t quite put my finger on it either…

This week in class we have been covering topics that have definitely begun to hit a lot closer to home. We’ve studied parents and child discipline (the raging controversy right now is to spank or not to spank), children and self-esteem, teen issues, and singles and dating. Lots and lots of dialogue began this week among the students regarding what is biblical in these areas and what our own opinions are. As far as parenting goes it seems that it boils down to being close to your children. Loving, consistent discipline is definitely key, but above all parents must have relationships with their kids. Teens will never open up to parents about issues in high school if parents weren’t willing to listen to their thoughts (however ‘unimportant’) when they were third graders. So yeah…tuck that advice away somewhere… Also, on the day that we discussed self-esteem we did an exercise where we spoke truth into the lives of our friends by telling them 5 positive characteristics about themselves and then listening to what our friends had to say about us. I got the privilege of being in a group with my friends Jenny and Josh. Nothing brings joy to my soul quite like encouraging others and pointing out where God has blessed them. Jenny is very perceptive and one of the most insightful college students I’ve ever met. And Josh has a deep passion for Christ that proves to simply inspire me and spur me on. I am blessed to know both of these people and I hope that I will stay in contact with them for many years to come.

I feel like such a general overview of the week barely scratches the surface of where I am in my thoughts and life really. God is taking me to a new place on my journey, and I’m excited about that. I just hope I remember all that I’m learning once this glorious summer comes to a close…