On June 1st, exactly five years after our very first date, John and I said “I do.”  It was a pretty perfect day.  This is one of my favorite shots, taken by my very talented Aunt, of our intimate ceremony.  It also happened to be beautiful.  But the best part was sharing it with my best friend.  And he looked so handsome, too!

Then … time seemed to just zoom on by.  We jetted to Colorado for a relaxing five-day stay at an incredible resort (Kessler Canyon) followed by the Aspen Food & Wine Classic.  And then … well, I broke my foot.

It was a very long last day in Colorado.  And July … it’s felt pretty long, too!

Denver was pretty neat ~ we were only there for a day, but we walked around the LoDo district (despite the heat wave from PA following us to CO and it being in the 90s every day!) and enjoyed dinner at a fantastic restaurant in an area called Larimer Square.  I wish we could recreate the atmosphere of that area in Philly ~ the streets were lined with outdoor dining, beautiful flower arrangements, wrought iron fencing and the entire block was strung with lights.  So gorgeous.  In addition, we have both decided that while our entire honeymoon was a culinary delight, dinner at Tag was our favorite.  Probably because our server was fantastic, the wine was delish and every plate that came out was beautiful and had amazing flavor.  It was a perfect start to the honeymoon.

We also had an amazing stay at The Oxford Hotel ~ incredibly beautiful rooms, rugs in the elevator letting you know the day of the week (so charming!) and a complimentary bottle of champagne with chocolate covered pretzels.  So wonderful!

Kessler Canyon was a four plus hour drive from Denver, and as we approached it, I think we were both curious as to what we would encounter when we arrived.  But it was a little piece of heaven tucked in a valley between mountain ranges and the hospitality was overwhelming, as was everything else.  Every morning began with coffee by an outdoor fireplace looking out over the ‘lake’ (John would like to say for the record that it was a pond, not a lake) and each day was full of fun things to do (shooting range, ATV rides up 2000 feet from the valley on switch back curves, hammocks, canoeing, hot tubs … basically whatever took your fancy!).  We met some really great people and had a really relaxing time.

I took a ton of pictures on the drive from Denver to DeBeque.  Hard to pic a good one.  But the mountains were all stunning! A couple more from Kessler … although these are all from my phone (not the nifty new Nikon 3100 that we bought right before the trip … and still haven’t downloaded!).

The last day of our time at Kessler there ware so few guests, we all got to eat in the kitchen.  So much fun!

The last pic was actually the last pic we took at Kessler being goofy on the back porch ~ we did see a bear the first day, though!

Another two hours in the car to Aspen, and thankfully, the temperature dropped significantly (whew!).  We got to our digs in downtown Aspen, and after some confusion about our trade packets for the event, had all our goodies and were set for the fun to begin the next morning.  We took full advantage of the in-ground hot tub right outside our front door, and the gorgeous pool.  I wish I’d taken pictures …. maybe next year!

Since the Food & Wine Classic was ah.may.zing, I’m going to wait until tomorrow and really try to share as much as possible.

Until then … I have avoided this blog since I got home, not because I didn’t have things to share, but because I wasn’t in a very good frame of mind.  I felt as though I’d lost my way here … and I couldn’t find it because I couldn’t (and still can’t) get around very easily.  It has been exhausting and frustrating and a number of other descriptive words.  I am lucky to have a man willing to take care of me on every level ~ and those boundaries have certainly been tested since June 15th (the breaking of the foot day).  It has been easy to get discouraged, easy to feel listless and lost, easy to get mad, feel sad and basically pity myself.  Coming off the difficult and challenging diagnosis of MS this year, breaking my foot just felt like the last nail in the coffin.  Could it get any worse?  I felt as though I’d lost my will to stay positive.

But as I have (valiantly/) tried to remind myself recently … it’s always darkest before the dawn.  And time will keep on ticking, and eventually things will be easier, and I will be capable of doing more.  It’s hard to remember that when your dog is ringing the bell to go outside to potty and you can’t take her … or you want to take a shower but you don’t have the strength to get in and out by yourself … or a cup of coffee would taste wonderful, but you have no way to transport it to an area where you can actually sit down and drink it.  But having these difficulties has also made me more aware of the fact that we all – whether we mean to or not – take so many things for granted.  And while I know a time will come when I too will once again take the ability to sleep on my right side for granted (something I have not been able to do in weeks … ) I know that for a few moments, I will be grateful for the little things that have come back to me.

Until tomorrow.  xo.