Yup... you read that correctly we have now lived in Colorado for 3 years. To say it has been an adventure is an understatement. The amount we have grown, learned, and seen in 3 years has been amazing! It hasn't always been easy but we are always grateful for all the experiences.
This past year has been particularly challenging, as it has been for everyone, but it has also taught us many things. Last fall the kids started at a new school as we had moved again before the school year to the Denver Metro area. We were excited about the new opportunities that came with living in a city, something we hadn't done in over 13 years. I was especially excited about the opportunity to teach yoga in more places and to build and grow my business. All of these were flying along in the fall. We were so grateful to have family visit us and to be able to travel. Both Tim and I were surprised by how much we were enjoying living in the city. The Denver area is so close to the mountains that we never felt very far away.
As winter came we were determined to enjoy as many ski days as possible and were grateful for both kids being able to attend ski school. It meant waking up at 5:30 am on a Saturday to fight the traffic but those first turns on our skis made it all worth it. Our family's resilience and determination were being tested and I felt like we were getting straight A's :) By the end of February, we had our first ski days as a family of four (Olivia under her own power) and our hearts were bursting with what the rest of the winter would bring.
You all know what happened next...COVID hit. Like everyone else, we were not prepared for the changes that would start to occur over the next few months. We were optimistic about the opportunity for more family time. Tim had been traveling almost every week and now he was going to be home every day with us. The kids transition relatively well into remote learning and I was able to flex my teaching skills. We learned so much about how little we actually needed and what we could live with and without.
The kids and I started spending hours outside and we loved all the exploring we were doing. As school ended we continued to explore Colorado both hiking and camping. One of our goals the first year we moved was to explore more of Colorado and to take advantage of what the state has to offer. Until this past summer, our travel had been relatively limited in our minds. The push came when we realized that we were not going to be able to travel to Canada during our summer break as we had for the past 12 years. My heart broke at the thought of not getting to the cottage and the lake. The very place that molded my love of the outdoors. But resilience is one of our core family values and we decided to take advantage of being in Colorado and explore! This was a summer for the memory books for sure. The kids ask often when the next camping trip will be!!
The fall has been a big transition for us. We decided that the kids would go back to in-person learning and that would give me more time to teach yoga during the day. This plan was ticking along until we got the news that while our Visa is in the renewal process I am unable to get paid for work (for how long we are unsure). To say I was shocked is an understatement, I was devastated. I have worked so hard to build my yoga business over the past year and I was back on track to be expanding again this fall. But again we are resilient and we will get through this too.
I have been in awe of our kids. They are learning, growing, and thriving in the face of adversity. I look to them for optimism and strength each day. If you asked them what they thought of the last year I am sure they would only tell you all the amazing things we have done as a family.
If it was easy then everyone would be doing it. We are hopeful that we will have everything in order to travel to Canada in December but as with everything in the last year...we will cross that bridge when we come to it!
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