Colorado or Bust

Are you familiar with the Anne of Green Gables series of books? If not, and especially if you are a girl, I strongly suggest becoming familiar with these books. For those of you that are not familiar with the books, they follow the life and adventures of an orphan named Anne Shirley. I could go on and on and on about these books (and how I was certain that I would find and marry Gilbert Blythe someday), but the point of this post is to explain one relationship in particular that I found on the pages of this series. Fairly soon after arriving in Green Gables, Anne is introduced to Diana Barry. They become fast friends. Diana understands Anne better than anyone. They declare that they are "kindred spirits." The whole point of this is to tell you that I found a kindred spirit this summer. I didn't know I was lacking a kindred spirit, as I treasure and appreciate all of my friends so much. However, the moment I met Shannon Sheppard, I knew that she was someone I would know forever. This whole post is not meant to be about Shannon, but I am so thankful to have her in my life now, that I just had to share that to start. How did I meet Shannon? Well, her husband, Keith, and I went to college together. We stayed in touch a little bit after college, but really got back in touch more recently because of Facebook. Keith thought Shannon and I might have a lot to talk about since we are both teachers. So, we started corresponding online. We all talked a lot about me visiting them, so, at the end of June, I flew out to Grand Junction, Colorado. They live in a smaller town east of Grand Junction, called Fruita. I was a tad nervous when I got off the plane because I hadn't seen Keith since college and I had never met Shannon in person. I have no other explanation besides the "kindred spirit" thing to explain how Shannon and I got along. I immediately felt at-ease and the longer I spent with her, the easier it was. We laugh at the same things, we like a lot of the same things, and I felt like I had known her my whole life. I had so much fun while visiting them. Their two boys, Keigen and Kolby, are absolute charmers, as you can see from the pictures! Colorado is a beautiful place and I look forward to the next time I get to head out to see all the beautiful scenery, and, more importantly, spend time with such dear friends.

Shannon took me up to see Twin Peaks Bible Camp, where they spend the month of July. (Pictured above) Their entire family helps run the camp.

They took me to Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was absolutely breathtaking!

On my last day, they took me on a drive through the Colorado National Monument. It was simply gorgeous.