No place like home.

Sometimes there is no place like home! That goes for both aspects of how I am feeling at the moment. There is no place like Colorado, where I have so many friends, family and just happy memories. There is also nothing like sleeping in your own bed, even if that bed happens to be almost a thousand miles away from where you grew up. It’s good to be back in Iowa.
My trip back to Colorado was definitely needed, and I must say I had quite a few fun adventures while I was there to boot. The drive out was a great time; it’s nice to have a friend along to make the 13 hour commute entertaining. Between some great conversation, music, and episodes of the Office on the Ipod, it was a quick and fun trip. The drive was highlighted by an amazing sunset that I managed to snap a photo of while doing about 85 down the freeway. I love digital cameras.
The second night I was back the youth program at Mountain View put on their annual Live Nativity Scene. Because of the snow (I’ll cover that later) I wasn’t able to spend any more time with the youth group, so this was my only chance to see them all. It was fun for me to get to stop in and say hi to many of the youth. I really do miss being a part of that group on a weekly basis, but I really do enjoy the occasions I have to drop in a say hello. I also question whether I will ever get used to seeing a live camel on church grounds, but I digress.
I had heard that Colorado might get some snow when I was there, but I really didn’t expect quite as much as we got. I have a history of experiencing blizzards when I get together with my friend Angie, so I guess I should have known we were going to get hammered when she called me Wednesday morning with the plea that I was the only friend she had crazy enough to try and get her to the airport to see her dad in Ohio for Christmas. Sure enough, I was crazy enough to try. The normally hour long drive to the airport turned into about a 2 hour drive on the way out with the road to the airport being a complete and total mess. It was about all I could do to stay on the road. Being that her flight was still on when I dropped her off, I decided to drive back home before the roads became too bad. Turning off my phone to save the battery in case I did need the phone on the drive back, I of course missed her calling to say that her flight got cancelled about 5 minutes after I left the airport. She managed to find a different way home, but I feel bad leaving her behind like that. As it was the drive doubled on the way home as it took me over four hours to make it. I found out when I finally got to my friends hotel, er I mean house, that about ten minutes after I made it to the interstate they had closed it behind me. I had to stop twice in the middle of the packed interstate to clear all the ice off my wipers on the way home, but that’s ok because traffic was pretty much at a standstill with it being impossible to tell where the lanes were. It was one adventure I will not soon forget. Overall, this storm dropped about two and a half feet of the white stuff on the Front Range.
On the twenty third, I drove up to Colorado Springs to celebrate Christmas with my Dad’s family. I have always loved having Christmas at my Grandma’s house. Tradition on this side of the family is a basic free for all which really fits my personality. Take forty people, enough snack style food to feed twice that many, and put it in a house that fits only about half that many and you have Christmas at Grandma’s. This year was a truly great year as almost everybody was there. Of her 11 grandchildren, 10 made it; that makes for a truly joyful time, and a happy Grandma. For me the highlight was being able to see my brother who after missing his first flight, made it in from Spokane, Washington. He may be the craziest person I ever meet, but you gotta love the kid. (I will pay someday for calling him that).
My trip back home wasn’t all just for pleasure though. I did get some work done while I was out there as well. Following Christmas as my Dad’s, I met with a pastor at Boulder First Pres for my psych evaluation. I didn’t hear anything that was really unexpected at this time, but it was nice having somebody complete an evaluation that seemed positive toward what I’m trying to accomplish. I know ministry is always going to present challenges, but more and more experiences I have seem to indicate that others think I may have the traits to serve me well at this endeavor. I also was able to meet with the session of Mountain View during the second major snowstorm to hit when I was there. After sitting through probably the most contentious session meeting I have ever attended (budget issues), they asked me a few questions and recommended me unanimously to Presbytery to be enrolled as a Candidate for ministry (from the Inquirer status). I will meet with that committee in May.
Being snowed in so much while I was in Loveland; we spent a lot of time stuck indoors playing video games. I don’t spend a lot of time doing this normally, but its great fun occasionally. It’s even more fun when you have no chance of going anywhere unless you can take a few hours to dig your car out, and the house you are at has no TV setup. It was relaxing to spend upwards of eight hours playing football on the PS2.
The last fun thing I was able to do was attend the Denver Nuggets basketball game on the 31st with Joe, Dave and his girlfriend. I had part of a ten game package last year, and I really have missed being able to hang out with friends at the Pepsi Center this year. It was a chance to watch AI play in Denver, and even though they lost I loved going. It was a tough sports night in Denver, as both the Nuggets and Broncos lost. Losing was put into perspective quickly the next morning though with the murder of one of the Broncos players over New Years. It really made me feel a bit guilty about being upset about the simple loss of a football game.
Like I said it was quite the trip home to Colorado. Like I said, it’s good to be home here in Iowa.