Colorado Girl in a Tennessee World

“He was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all.” Richard Bach, Jonathon Livingston Seagull Today it has been exactly one year since my Grandpa passed away. There, I got that out of the way. When it comes to my grandpa, I have so many thoughts and emotions and I have a hard time writing them out because it is easy for me to get overwhelmed with all of the memories and emotions. So, I am just going to wing it.  Grandpa and me on my wedding day. He was sure proud. My grandpa has been a rather large part of my life. Growing up in Denver, CO with my family, we lived about a 4 hour drive from my grandparents. They lived in Grand Junction, CO and my grandma still does. I spent much of my childhood driving with my mom and other siblings across the Rocky Mountains to visit Junction. That was what we did. All of our family vacations were to Junction to see our other family. I remember when I was probably 7 or 8 and I got t...

"Pain demands to be felt." -John Green- Whew. So many heavy and sad things have happened in the last few weeks. Hurricane Harvey leaves destruction in its wake down in Houston and other areas and displaces millions of people leaving thousands without homes and worldly goods to call their own. Not to mention it took many lives. We barely have time to catch our breaths and Hurricane Irma is headed for a different part of the country. I guess the positive thing through Harvey is that it made people take Irma very seriously and thousands of lives were saved because of it. And this is just natural disasters. I will not get into the political turmoil in too great a depth because it's just a road that I can't stomach at this exact moment. On a personal scale, these last few weeks have been horrible for many people that I know or who are friends of friends or acquaintances. I am going to list some of the suffering that just me or my immediate family and friends have been ...

Today is an important day. Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to read. Reading has been a huge part of my life since I was a little girl. I can remember sitting in my sister's room at night while my mom sat in a wooden rocking chair and read to us before bed. "Winnie the Pooh," "The Chronicles of Narnia," and "Little house on the Prairie" are just a few things I remember. My mom instilled in all of her kids a love of reading. I started reading chapter books on my own when I was in Elementary school and I have found many "friends" in the literary world ever since. I started reading Harry Potter in high school. And the rest, as they say, is history. Today is the day that Harry and Ginny Potter drop their kids off at the Hogwarts Express and Albus Severus Potter starts his journey at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (Spoiler alert for those who have not read the Harry Potter Books. Also, if you haven't read the H...