Yes, I'm still here!

Wow, it's been a reeeeally long time since I've posted anything here!

Part of it is due to just being crazy busy for the last few months, and part has been that there has been so much to process internally that I haven't been brave enough to write about here. I don't know that I'll write too much about it now, but at least I can get caught up a bit!

In many ways, life is really good. I grow to love Durango more and more every day! Even though I grew up in a large city, I never loved it. I was always longing to have lots of space around me. And I always felt a need to connect to the earth... not in a political, environmental activist way... but actually getting my hands in the dirt! Yeah, I'm a gardener... Actually, my family has teased me on occasion about being "the farmer in the family". And now that I live on acreage with a huge garden, a 20-tree orchard, and SIX dogs(!)... I think the "Farmgirl" label fits better than it ever has! In fact, I found a mug the other day with "Farmgirl" on it, and I just had to spend the $6.95 to get it! It now sits proudly on my kitchen counter.

There's also a part of me that has always loved the "wild west". I probably first was aware of it in my early teens when my family took a car vacation through the Rockies, and I felt the "romance" of the West. And now that I'm here, I long to "get lost" on hikes in the mountains, learn to fly fish, ride horses, finally learn to ski, learn to fiddle, learn to kayak, hike the Colorado Trail (6 weeks in the great outdoors!)... and the list goes on!

It dawned on me a couple weeks ago that I've been living here for a year & a half now, and I've been so busy trying to get my business off the ground that I haven't done any of the great stuff that there is to do here! Crazy! So I started by asking a friend for suggestions on day hikes that would get me to secluded areas near water, where I could just "BE". I went on one of those hikes this past weekend, and it took all of my willpower to make my legs carry me back down to my car when it was time to go. I didn't want to leave! The quiet was so beautiful that I didn't even want to open my mouth to speak to my dog. Yeah, I'll be going back there again... Actually, my goal is to go on at least one day hike each week through the summer. Can't wait to experience all of these places that my friends are telling me about!

Professionally, things are going basically well. The down side is that when you have your own business, typically normal setbacks can hit you pretty hard. I have had several financial setbacks in the last few months, and it's taking its toll on me. On the other hand, I am seeing some good growth in other areas. I've started a couple of new programs that are really taking off, and it's very exciting to watch them grow! It's also exhausting! People have told me that you'll work harder running your own business than you have ever worked before... and they're RIGHT! I believed those people "in theory", but now I know it as a fact of my everyday life!

This is why I need the day hikes... :-)

The other major thing that has been affected by my work schedule is the progress on my adoption (or I should say, lack of progress). It is still very definitely in my plans for the near future, but just not quite as "near" as I had originally hoped. I feel very strongly that I need to get my business really solid before I'm able to support a child - not only financially, but with my time and energy too. I just don't want to bring a child into a home where they have to be in daycare all day long, and then have an exhausted mommy who has no energy at the end of the day because she has to work morning til night to make ends meet.

Time to get some shuteye... thanks for catching up with me!

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