Colorado for New Year's

James and I just got back from celebrating the New Year with my family and our friends out in Colorado Springs. It was a rather unusual vacation for us, in that we really didn't do much. Part of the problem was that we still hadn't quite bounced back from our long trip out to California for Christmas, and had a hard time finding the motivation and energy to go out and do a whole lot. (I didn't take any pictures at all while we were there - which is very uncharacteristic!) But I think it was also a subconscious choice to focus more on relaxing and spending quality time with people rather than cramming our schedule full of brief engagements.

Some of the hilights of the trip include having long conversations about life and faith with a few special friends - Amy Drown, Dave and Claire Thorpe, Jeremiah Johnson and Becca Lauffenberger. Most of those people were involved in our wedding because they are very near and dear to our hearts. I also got a decent haircut for the first time in months, which I very much enjoyed. Finally, James and I got to go back to First Pres, visit Seekers, and eat out at some of our favorite restaurants - all of which were a pleasant trip down memory lane.

One of the most exciting things about the trip for me, though, was getting to see how much my brother Nate has grown and matured spiritually in the last year. On New Year's Day, James and I went with my mom to meet up with Nate as he returned from the Urbana Missions Conference in St. Louis. Technically the conference is for college-aged students, but Nate and another high school senior got to go with the college group, and absolutely loved it. It was kind of mind-blowing for me to sit at the dinner table that night and have a full 20-minute conversation with my brother about his spiritual convictions following this conference. I also heard nothing but great things about him from our old college friends. It was just strange to hear Dave Thorpe go on about how my little brother is "one of the coolest people ever" and "totally solid [in his faith]", etc. It's like he's a completely different person than the quiet, kind of reckless, and not quite thoughtful boy I grew up with... But I'm excited about it because it gives me great hope for his future and I look forward to many more conversations about the incredible things God is doing in his life.

It was just a quick trip, and I'm thankful to be back home in sunny Phoenix. But I am so glad we went because all of those conversations we had with friends were so refreshing and inspiring. Both James and I feel like we were significantly fed (in the spiritual sense) and have been writing, reading, and talking more than ever in preparation for the new things God's got in store for us in the coming months. Be prepared, because I have a feeling there will be many blogs this month!