We're Back!

I left this food challenge to raft down the Colorado River. I expected to return and write a blogpost detailing what it was like to be away from civilization for 21 days, how I faced some of my biggest fears, and how we were able to eat like gods and goddesses even on day #21. Instead, I returned home and was exhausted. The first mission was to unpack all of the gear and attempt to wash the red silt from everything the river encountered (and that would be every tiny little thing if I would have been on one of the many rafts that flipped......but luckily I have my own personal expert oarsman who kept me safe and the boat upright all 226 miles).

I was then anxious to have my parents over for dinner to show off the 442 breathtaking pictures of our trip. In retrospect, I am so thankful this was one of my top priorities because it is one of the last happy memories I will have of my dad. Life got crazy after that. The following weekend, when I was in Corvallis cleaning the red silt from the boats my dad was diagnosed with pneumonia. Less than 24 hours later his spirit left the world. I have no words to describe this event. Only feelings, alternating between numbness and painful sadness.

In the midst of all of this, due to financial reasons, I needed to get a job. I was lucky enough to get my dream job in a very short period of time. I feel extremely grateful for my employment, as I know this economy has not been kind to many. I am now a Child and Family Therapist working towards my LCSW.

And then the holidays. These went better than expected considering the hole in all of our hearts. I was thankful to have my sister, mom, and Ryan to celebrate with and also cry together.

Most recently we held the celebration of my dad's life. Complete with all our close friends and family, jazz music, wine, Native American drumming, etc. etc. etc. I would like to proudly say that my family has the best friends in all of the world. Seriously. They have given us the strength to keep breathing, walking, and hoping. They made me eat, laugh, and sleep, even when I thought these daily tasks were impossible. Best of all, they made my dad's celebration perfect. The whole event encapsulated his life exactly like he would have wanted it. And I feel so proud to be my father's daughter.

Now my life has finally slowed down. Sure, other things have happened these past few months that I am choosing to leave out for a variety of reasons, but I think you get the point that I have barely been able to keep up, much less write a blog. But now I think Ryan and I are finally ready to finish the challenge we set out to complete. I am happy it's 2011 because I am hopeful
it will be kind and bring about some positive things.....I don't know what these things will be, but I guess that is part of the excitement of this crazy rollercoaster ride. I keep telling myself that the only constant thing in life is change (my daily mantra lately). So, with that, here is our first change- Rule #25: Eat your colors. For this rule we are going to try and eat as many colors as possible each meal. I am telling Ryan that we should eat four colors minimum. He has already called dibs on our oranges......oh boyfriend. :)

Below are a few very select cooking pictures from the Colorado trip. If you want to see more check out Ryan's facebook album.