Saturday was a blast. Now I am not usually one up for socializing all day long, but this was an exception. I started the day by finally meeting my friend, Katie, in person for the first time, at Aviano Coffee, near the Cherry Creek Mall. First of all, that place is awesome. I love the atmosphere, and the coffee was excellent as well. Katie and I sat outside, as it was such an unusually warm and lovely day for January, and we talked about our lives. We're very close to the same age, and have fairly similar fundamentalist homeschooling backgrounds. I always worry that meetings like this will be awkward, but this wasn't. The conversation was easy and real. We wandered through some of the nearby shops, and I found myself surprisingly energized, rather than drained, as I usually am by social interactions.
I had been planning on going home after this, but Katie invited me to hang out with her and some friends in Littleton. Shockingly, this INTJ agreed. So I met Katie and her friends, Erica and Erin, at Larkburger. If you live in the Denver/Boulder/Ft. Collins area and haven't been to Larkburger...GO. Awesome burgers with gluten free options, at more or less Subway prices. And they use biodegradable plastic cups, which I LOVE. Anyway. We ate lunch and chatted about various things, and then all piled into Erin's car to go consignment shopping. These girls are a good influence on me, because as I attempted to talk myself out of buying some items (including brand-new, super Dauntless looking, authentic Coach tennis shoes for $25), they actually encouraged me to put it all back. Um. Really? I have never had anyone do that before! I need to hang out with these ladies more. I'll have more money. We went back to Erin's house for a while, and I found myself very comfortable with these girls. I also was thrilled to find out that all four of us are between the ages of 30 and 32. Friends in town my ACTUAL age! I do have Rowena and Mandi, but I'm so unused to having so many options for friends around my own age. It looks like we'll do some more hanging out in the future, and I can't wait to get to know them all better.
That evening, I braved Elsa's harsh winds to head down I-25 to Colorado Springs. Those wind gusts were moving my car all over the road! My friend C.J. is in the Army Reserves, and is spending a couple weeks at Fort Carson, just south of Colorado Springs. I'd only ever been on Wright Pat before, and that was as a kid. This place was HUGE! The guard at the gate scanned my driver's license and asked if I was just visiting. As I asked for directions to the barracks, a gust of wind slammed the poor guy right into the side of my car. Visions of soldiers being blown about in the air made me try to stifle my laughter. As I drove through the base, keeping an eye peeled for flying objects (a couple tumbleweeds attacked my car with angry determination...), I saw some pretty unusual sights. Ya know, like "tank crossing" signs. I don't usually see those in the civilian world. It was interesting.
I picked up C.J. and we went to eat at Chipotle. We had a good visit, but as the weather forecast was less than pleasant, I decided to head home early. Aside from nearly accidentally ending up on the NORAD mountain, we got back to base without incident, I dropped him off, and headed back home through freezing rain and snow.
After getting home, I thought about my day. How awesome it is that I have so many people in this area that I can fill my off days with doing things other than staying at home all the time. I didn't really mind being a loner so much, but staying at home all the time also didn't really challenge me, either. It kept me safely within my own comfort zone. But now I'm stepping out. Making new friends. Seeing new places. Doing new things. Stretching myself. Things are definitely on their way up, and I'm actively facilitating that. I will continue to facilitate that. And I love it.
I had been planning on going home after this, but Katie invited me to hang out with her and some friends in Littleton. Shockingly, this INTJ agreed. So I met Katie and her friends, Erica and Erin, at Larkburger. If you live in the Denver/Boulder/Ft. Collins area and haven't been to Larkburger...GO. Awesome burgers with gluten free options, at more or less Subway prices. And they use biodegradable plastic cups, which I LOVE. Anyway. We ate lunch and chatted about various things, and then all piled into Erin's car to go consignment shopping. These girls are a good influence on me, because as I attempted to talk myself out of buying some items (including brand-new, super Dauntless looking, authentic Coach tennis shoes for $25), they actually encouraged me to put it all back. Um. Really? I have never had anyone do that before! I need to hang out with these ladies more. I'll have more money. We went back to Erin's house for a while, and I found myself very comfortable with these girls. I also was thrilled to find out that all four of us are between the ages of 30 and 32. Friends in town my ACTUAL age! I do have Rowena and Mandi, but I'm so unused to having so many options for friends around my own age. It looks like we'll do some more hanging out in the future, and I can't wait to get to know them all better.
That evening, I braved Elsa's harsh winds to head down I-25 to Colorado Springs. Those wind gusts were moving my car all over the road! My friend C.J. is in the Army Reserves, and is spending a couple weeks at Fort Carson, just south of Colorado Springs. I'd only ever been on Wright Pat before, and that was as a kid. This place was HUGE! The guard at the gate scanned my driver's license and asked if I was just visiting. As I asked for directions to the barracks, a gust of wind slammed the poor guy right into the side of my car. Visions of soldiers being blown about in the air made me try to stifle my laughter. As I drove through the base, keeping an eye peeled for flying objects (a couple tumbleweeds attacked my car with angry determination...), I saw some pretty unusual sights. Ya know, like "tank crossing" signs. I don't usually see those in the civilian world. It was interesting.
I picked up C.J. and we went to eat at Chipotle. We had a good visit, but as the weather forecast was less than pleasant, I decided to head home early. Aside from nearly accidentally ending up on the NORAD mountain, we got back to base without incident, I dropped him off, and headed back home through freezing rain and snow.
After getting home, I thought about my day. How awesome it is that I have so many people in this area that I can fill my off days with doing things other than staying at home all the time. I didn't really mind being a loner so much, but staying at home all the time also didn't really challenge me, either. It kept me safely within my own comfort zone. But now I'm stepping out. Making new friends. Seeing new places. Doing new things. Stretching myself. Things are definitely on their way up, and I'm actively facilitating that. I will continue to facilitate that. And I love it.
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