The #Pursuit2014 of Happiness

I can't believe that it's already been about two weeks since I've been home from Colorado. In many ways I still feel like I'm still there. I learned so much about myself and those lessons have just flowed into my post-vacation life. I want to share the memories that I took away from my solo-vacation.

Most of you know that I did this vacation by myself which added a different aspect to this trip altogether. My first adventure was riding a city bus from downtown Colorado Springs back to my hotel. I'm used to catching flights or running to try to catch a train in a foreign country, but city buses are a different story! So on I went to the bus station, since taxis are expensive in Colorado Springs, found the bus I needed, (within 2 minutes of its departure) sat down and tried to relax after being up for 18 hours straight. And I did. Unexpectedly. I sat there on that city bus (for an hour) and read a book amongst the strong odor of legal pot (maybe that's why I was relaxed...lol) and let it sink in that I was on vacation. It's funny how it took an ordinary city bus to help me recognize that this vacation was the start of something special.

The next day, Thursday, was when I got the opportunity to go horseback riding through the Garden of the Gods!

Wow. Just wow! I will never forget the first moment I turned around in my saddle to say something to see what the view looked like behind me and it just literally took my breath away. The mountains were so majestic on the landscape and the clouds were cascading all around them and it was truly a moment of "wow." The group started making fun of me after the 1,000th "wow" haha!

Thursday was also the first night of the Boundless.org conference and they kicked things off with a singles mixer. I had never been to a mixer so I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't need to worry because Boundless.org made it so that it wasn't awkward and I met some great people! During the mixer, Lisa Anderson walked by the table I was at and I got so excited to actually see her that close! I tweeted later that night that I had a #fangirl moment when I saw her and she tweeted me back saying to introduce myself the next time I saw her! On Friday I ran up to her and told her I was the girl from Twitter who had the #fangirl moment and got this great picture with her!!

I have been reading Boundless.org and Lisa's articles since 2005 and meeting her was truly an honor since she has been a mentor to me for all of these years. Lisa closed out the conference on Saturday night by sharing her personal struggles as a single woman in her late 30's. She is an inspiration. It was refreshing to have someone be honest, raw and understand what it is like to be a single Christian in today's culture. Thank you, Lisa!

Later that same day I attended another seminar with four other Boundless.org bloggers. Before the conference I connected with Amy Kessler on Twitter and we hoped to get to meet each other in person. God is so good because I got to meet Amy! Turns out Amy and I have a lot in common including the fact that we went to the same internship program in Washington, D.C. just a year apart! She even shared a few blogging tips with me, too (thanks for reading my blog, Amy!). It was so great to meet her.

There is so much more I'd love to share but this post is long enough already... so I'll leave with the verse that my sister gave me before I left for my trip because it's so true: "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

I didn't go to Colorado with much of a plan but just to let the "chips fall where they may" and it was the trip of a lifetime. God was with me on the entire adventure and I felt His presence in the moments of uncertainty and when I was having "mountain top" experiences. Thank you to all who prayed for me while I was away, I appreciate the support so much.

Much love,
-A