Emotions.

Today, there was snow on the ground when I woke up. Not something I was expecting to see.

But, as my friend Kim pointed out to me, despite the snow, it smelled like spring.

It did. I huffed the smell as deeply as I could. I lovelovelove the smell of spring.

Then, I decided maybe I shouldn't complain about the snow because after this spring, I'm not sure when I will see snow again because in a little more than 4 months we'll be moving to Texas. And Texas, I hear, doesn't usually get snow. Especially in San Antonio.
Then I got to thinking about how they won't have mountains in Texas either. Ugh. I will miss mountains. Who knew I needed them so much? Or that I'd fall in love with them so completely.
And besides the mountains, we have a lovely life here with wonderful people and a routine we love. Plus, I know my way around town! I like the library district and the Y. I have a fantastic book club. I have friends that I love and know me so well that sometimes we don't even need words to communicate. They can just raise an eyebrow and I know they're thinking that I may be a bigger nerd than they originally thought, but they still love me. They'll just mock me for a while before reminding me that they still love me despite my dorkiness. Oh, and there are also the mountains. Have I mentioned them yet?
So many thoughts run through my mind when I think about moving to Texas. And I know I'm going to cry like a baby when we move. I've already warned Evan. Elisabeth was relieved when I said that because she said she knows she's going to cry too. And that's ok. It's ok to prepare ourselves for how sad we will be when we move because this place will have been home for over two years when we move. We're happy here.
But, there is a lot waiting for us in Texas. My sister Terra is waiting patiently for us to move. She is so excited to see her nieces on a regular basis in a way she hasn't been able to in 6 years. There are new libraries for us to visit, new parks and trails for us to explore. New schools, restaurants, stores, museums, and YMCAs to visit.

We're excited and impatient and nervous and scared and just a whole jumble of emotions about this upcoming move.

All emotions that are a part of an adventure, which is what this all still is to us.

Hippie Festival a Bust :(

This past Saturday, I found a "festival" in Woodland Park that I wanted to go to. It was called the Holistic Health & Metaphysical Fair, which should have told me right there that Evan would hate it, but I wanted to try something new. We'd never been to Woodland Park, so it was an excuse to go. Omg, it was so lame. First off, if there are only 12 vendors in a tiny little room inside, that is NOT a festival. They had rocks and candles and aura readings and other things that made Evan want to beat every person up in his sight line. Thankfully, military and their families were free, so it didn't matter that we were in and out in 10 minutes. Evan kept mumbling, "damn hippies" the rest of the day. Sorry, Evan.

However, right across the street was an awesome dinosaur museum. Elisabeth was psyched about getting to go and it turned out to be really interesting. It made up for the hippie festival, I was told later. :)





Evan and his beautiful dinosaur magnetic masterpiece.
That dinosaur is going to eat my baby!

The tour was the best part. Despite the lady's droning, oddly northernish accented voice that made me want to scratch her eyeballs out, she was a vat of information. She took all the questions with lots of patience. Also, that bone she's holding is a real one and not a replica and we all got to touch it!!!!!!!
Poor Julala passed out half way through. :(
Not a dinosaur, but some sort of pre-elephant animal. It was part of the darwin exhibit. It was neat-o.

These pictures were taken in the car on the way back down the mountain. Woodland Park is 8,500 ft. up, which is quite high, if you ask me.