Notes from me to you

Hello family and friends!!

I'm now writing to you live from a mile high and I am thrilled to report that all is going quite well in Denver!! I've been here for about 3 weeks and its been a blast! God has certainly been taking beautiful care of me, for which I'm ever so thankful.. and here to tell you all about it! :)

My first Sunday here, I walked to the Cathedral for mass. I received a phone call as I was walking there that brightened my day! It was my old roomie from B'more and our friend, Mulligan, calling on speakerphone to say hi! Totally brightened my night! Then, after mass had ended, I was getting up to leave when I heard my name!! Shocked, as you can imagine, seeing as though I don't really know anyone here, I looked up and saw Melissa, a girl I used to work with in MN! I did actually know that she was living here but we hadn't yet connected and I certainly didn't know she was Catholic and went to mass at the Cathedral! ha! We ended up finding a cute little bistro in the neighborhood and having some great food and wine, while catching up. It was such a wonderful surprise, because she's such a great girl! We had a fun night!

That following Thursday, the Daley's (the parents of my friend, Jill, from MN whom I'd recently spent a lot of time with) called me up to tell me they were in town and wanted to have dinner! So we met up and the food and wine were awesome but their company was the best! I just love them. So after not even having been in this new city for two weeks, I'd gotten to spend time with several people from MN that I adore. It was as though home came to me, like a mother, to get me comfortable and settled in, in my new home of Denver. Just awesome!

Along the lines of things to be thankful for, another leap of faith in apartment-renting has worked out beautifully! Not only is my new home apartment quaint, with wooden floors, a beautiful kitchen, patio, nice-size living room, eating area, etc.. :) its location is just what I was hoping for. I am, like I said, blocks from the Cathedral, as well as Whole Foods, a whole slew of cute restaurants, bars, coffee shops, museums, a YMCA, a yoga studio, and only a mile from work.. I think I've driven my car twice in the last week! I love it!! There are also a few parks nearby and one that has the perfect running path.

ah, see, after having been running 5 miles, I have decided to take this running thing to the next level :):) and run a half-marathon in January with my dear friend, Ingrid, who now lives in Albuquerque. Knowing that this was coming up, I knew I had to start up with the running as soon as I got here, and I must say that my body took a beating when I went on my first few runs up here! Its incredible what moving from sea level to the "mile high city" can mean for your heart and lungs! I watched my heart rate (on my wrist watch) soar into the 180's in a matter of seconds! I've probably only run about 25 miles since I've been here, I can already tell that my body is adjusting quickly.

I also joined a yoga studio nearby as a means of cross-training. The beginners classes I go to are in a "warm" environment so it isn't the "super hot" yoga, but I am drenched and exhausted when I leave. My body shakes and my muscles ache more than they ever have after a run, but it's awesome and in its own strange way, it actually is relaxing!

Joining me on this adventure of discovering Denver is my new friend, Robynn. :) Like myself, she is new in town and a nurse at the same hospital. We met during orientation and have been running (literally) around and having a blast since the day we met. We have a lot similar interests (faith, food, wine, beer, running, family, outdoors, etc) but have completely different paths/life-stories, so its been great getting to spend time with her. We've joined a couple of running/social groups together which means we've been on some good runs and met some really fun people.

Yes, so things really have been going quite well. I am liking work, enjoying the city and meeting great people. I was really excited to have some visitors during my first week and and look forward to hosting many more.. :):)

I hope this finds all of you doing well, and thanks again for checkin' in!

This is Laura, signing off..

until next time. Peace and Love.