You Can't Beat the Views

I've been caught up in workout land for the past three or four days, so haven't been blogging on this site. Let me just say, as an aside, I haven't worked this hard in years. This P90X thing is kicking my behind. Yesterday was 90 minutes of Yoga (supposed to be an easier day). I did poses that I didn't even know my body was capable of doing. And if I could figure out how, I think I would do yoga everyday. Even in the midst of two boys yelling at each other and even bonking each other on the head with toys, I managed to reach a semi-peaceful state of mind.

On to other news. There have been a lot of discussions with friends and with my husband recently about the "perfect place." What is the perfect place to live? Why do we make the choices that we do? We've chosen Colorado for the amazing quality of life: the skiing, the 300 days of sunshine a year, the fact that our kids can grow up climbing rocks and seeing elk every day. The list goes on and on.

When we're really honest though, we didn't choose Colorado for the social life. 90 percent of our friends and family live in the Midwest. That's not to say that we haven't made friends (even some pretty good ones) since moving to Colorado. But if we were really choosing a place to have an active social life and daily heartfelt connections with our dearest friends, it wouldn't be Colorado.

So, every so often, we question. Is this the right place? Would we be happier somewhere closer to our dearest friends. But then I have a day like today. There are moments that come out of the blue when I'm driving down the road, and the place in which I live literally takes my breath away. This is what I see when I look out my living room window in the morning. No houses, no road noise. Just a couple of horses snorting around looking for some fresh wintertime grass.

And this is what I see when I visit our public library:

Yes, those are elk. That little sign that you see on the right side of the photo is the "Welcome to the Evergreen Library" sign. That sidewalk ramp that mama elk is tromping up is the very same sidewalk ramp that I will use to get into the library.

And this is the view from the playground where my kids will go to elementary school.

What more can I say? Colorado (especially where we live) is big and bold and beautiful. It makes me feel alive. Like I can breathe a little easier and step a little lighter. My spirit is rejuvenated daily by our surroundings. Even though some days, I'd like my spirits rejuvenated by my best friends living just down the road, I know that will come with time. For now, we're in the "perfect" place - mentally, as well as geographically.