For the past month I have been living out of a suit case and jet setting all over the country. For the first time in four weeks, I slept in my own bed, drove my own car and am finally catching my breath. I am not quite sure what time zone I am in or what day it is. Needless to say that past four weeks have been a blur. The past four weeks have been a fabulous experience; I have met great people and seen some new country.
Denver --> Charlotte --> Final Destination: Slippery Rock, PA!
My first week on the road started in Slippery Rock, PA. I have never been to PA before, but was pleasantly surprised by how pretty the state was. Very green and surrounded by hills. Slippery Rock itself was a small town, full of grocery stores that I have never heard of. Opening day of the session started on an incredibly hot and humid day and I turned into the awkward sweaty person, because I am simply not used to it. Thank goodness that PA thought it was being funny by starting my week with one hot, humid day and the rest of the week was Colorado weather.
I had a fantastic staff and met some wonderful people.
And lucky me, we shared the campus that week with a cheer camp. Yep.....100 cheerleaders. I felt like I was in a cheerleading movie. They were all dressed the same, cheered every where they went and even had spirit sticks. I didn't realize that spirit sticks were actually a real thing in the cheerleading world. But it is!
This session also brought a piece of northwest Iowa with it. One of my coaches was an old classmate from Northwestern College. It was nice to share some meals with him and reminisce about the college days and where our lives had taken us.
I loved Pennsylvania and hope to return some day.
Slippery Rock, PA--> Five hour drive to Baltimore --> rush to make a flight to Atlanta
After a crazy rush to get to the airport and jump on a flight to Atlanta, I was relieved to land. We landed in Atlanta late at night, and within in one hour of being in Atlanta broke a handle on my luggage, broke the strap on my bag and managed to get lost trying to find the Emory University. This should have been my first indication that this week was going to be a struggle. I had a couple of days off before the session started, so I figured I should explore Atlanta a bit. Let me rephrase that....get lost in Atlanta and find random places. I ended up exploring the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial site and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. I also took a wrong turn getting back to the dorm and ended up driving into a gated area with a sign saying "Primate research facility". Later found out that it was a guarded research facility where they do research on primates who have Alzheimers. This facility is heavily guarded with men and guns. This quickly cured my curiosity to go back and try see the monkeys! Monkey's who probably need to be reminded that they are monkeys.
My week in Atlanta started with very hot and humid weather, with a director that was violently ill and being wheeled off the airplane in a wheelchair cause he was so sick. The rest of the week followed suit. Parents are frustrating. Trying to do everything by myself is exhausting. People who offer little encouragement during the week were my God send. It amazes me how every parent of an athlete thinks that their child is the next big thing, and they are going to be winning division 1 scholarships, even as their child is in the hospital due to an injury. Really mom and dad?!?!
I closed up the Atlanta session, jumped on a flight to Texas only to open up a session the very next day.
Jumped on a flight from Atlanta to Charlotte--> slight delay in flight means a quick jog to the next flight--> Land in Dallas/Fort Worth
I landed in DFW exhausted. I had to be ready to open the next session at 9 am the next morning. I moved into a dorm room and there was a massive bug on the floor. After murdering the dang thing with my shoe, I called my dad to let him know I had made it. The funny thing about Dad's is that they always know how you are REALLY feeling. So I proceeded to cry on the phone to my dad, since I had such a rough week prior and was down right exhausted. That night met the fabulous staff I would be working with, tried to navigate my way around Denton, TX and managed to get myself lost, even with a person in the car with a GPS. Yep...talk about a great first impression! Had to make a "not so quick" quick trip to Wal Mart where I met a lovely 1o year old girl who felt to need to share every family secret she had. Yep...it was pretty hilarious. I found my PGC groove in Texas. I finally felt like I was in a rhythm of the week. What a relief after coming off a terrible week. I was sad to leave Texas and the wonderful people and coach's there. I had the chance to reunite with some PGC friends before heading off to Connecticut.
Waiting in the Dallas Love airport for 8 hours --> Being relieved to be flying Southwest-->o Fly from Dallas to Birmingham --> Birmingham to Nashville --> Nashville to Hartford, CT.
Upon landing in CT, I soon found out that my rental car would have to wait until the next day. So I ended up with a 30 min (supposed to be 20 min) taxi ride with a creepy driver. At one point, this driver rolled up the windows and locked me in the cab and stated "don't worry about it." Dear taxi cab driver.....you just locked me in the car and took away my next best option of escaping if you turn out to be a crazy murder....I AM GOING TO WORRY A LITTLE BIT!
Finally making it to Univ. of Hartford, I got into my dorms. Straight up creepy! The next morning I went to pick up my rental car and took a little side trip to New London, CT, which is on the coast. It was the first time that I have every seen the Atlantic ocean, so I had to go. I was later informed that it isn't really the ocean, but a sound. Which clearly, I didn't care. I am from CO, a land locked state. Its all the same to me. I found the beach and felt like I had landed in an episode of the Jersey Shore. I put my feet in the water for a few minutes, took the pictures, walked on the beach and then it was off to start picking my staff up from the airport.
The session went great, and it amazed me how different people were on the east coast. I was reminded this week how grateful I am for good people. And how a simple show of grattitude can change everything.
The CT session came to a close, and I was heading home for a week break.
Hartford flight delayed 2 hours, while sitting on the runway watching "The Last Song" --> Land in Chicago to find our connecting flight delayed for 2 hours--> Massive rain storm hits and closes the airport--> every single hotel by the airport is booked--> Find a taxi to an airport 20 mins away, while driving through flooded roads --> Finally end up in a hotel
As you can see we had a few complications getting back to Colorado. A massive rain storm hit Chicago and flooded many of the main roads, shutting down the airport as well. We couldn't get out until the later the next night. We were lucky enough to catch an earlier flight. I have never been so happy to walk out the doors of DIA to my CO mountain. My CO air that doesn't have a hint of humidity to it.
So here I am...beyond jet lagged...reflecting on my past four weeks. I have seen beautiful country and met some wonderful people. I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to travel for the summer.
I found a quote that says, "true adventure and discovery comes from seeing new places with new eyes." I think I want to change that, cause true adventure and discovery comes from seeing new and familiar places with new eyes.
I feel like I have gotten new eyes. I see myself and situations through a new set of eyes that changes my perspective. I have been blessed by the people that have come in and out of my life for the last four weeks, and my new eyes are allowing me to see the small, seemingly insignificant, contributions they have made and how they are NOT insignificant or small at all. My new eyes allowing me to see myself not only as I am, but what I am stretching into being.
Seeing that my failures are only failures if I allow them to change me. But learning that if I am going to fail, to fail fast, to fail often and to fail forward (meaning that I must use my failures as a catalyst for growth).
Needless to say, its been quite a four weeks. I am exhausted and energized all at the same time. I am ready to meet my world with my new eyes head on, but am anxious too.
So that is where I have been....and where I am going.
Away we go....away I go!
"I am more and more convinced that our happiness or unhappiness depends more on the way we meet the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves.
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