Thursday, January 24, 2013

Moving forward...

After nearly two months without a post, I thought it was a good time for a life update. I just got back to Colorado a week ago after a month in CT with family.

Since Thanksgiving quite a bit has happened.

I graduated college at the end of December. Although I am not officially "walking" until May, I am done with all of my classes (yay!). It was easier for my family to travel out to Colorado in the Spring, so I decided to postpone my graduation ceremony until then. It will be great to have all of them out here at the beginning of May for some fun. They have only visited once, and I truly can't wait to show them more of the reasons why I love it here.

My amazing and beautiful Grandma passed away on January 4th after battling cancer for nearly six months. This was a very hard time, as my family is extremely close and my Grandma has been so present in my life since I was born. Every summer I would spend weeks down at her beach house in Rhode Island, and celebrate my birthday (4th of July) with family there. I have incredible memories with her that I will cherish forever. She taught me to always believe in myself, share love with others, and smile even through the hard times. My life will never be the same without her, but I plan to practice what she taught me everyday, and find comfort in knowing she is watching over me always.

Twelve grandkids+ Papa celebrating my Grandma's life. 

I spent the past month in Connecticut- I always go home for the holidays, and I stayed longer to be with family through my Grandma's passing. Through difficult times in life, you really gain a greater appreciation for loved ones, and the past few weeks have been a testament to this. It was a bag of emotions: happiness when reflecting on our times with my Grandma, sadness realizing that there won't be more times together, comfort knowing she is no longer in pain, anger that we don't have more time etc. As my uncle put it, "There are four steps of grieving: sorrow, denial, anger and depression." I am definitely experiencing all of these, and as I come across photos, cards, gifts and other trinkets in my apartment, I am constantly reminded of her. I feel so blessed and lucky to have had such an amazing women in my life.

Things have been going well since I got back to Colorado. Training is going really well and I am doing some freelance writing for Competitor magazine and Triathlete magazine, as well as babysitting for a few families in Boulder. I like to stay busy!

Overall, I am in a good place. I have amazing people around me everyday in the Apex triathlon crew, a supportive coach who believes in me, a family that loves me, and friends who make me happy and encourage me to have fun and embrace life. I don't really know what lays ahead for me in life, but I think that is part of the fun. Life is an adventure and I plan to wake up everyday with an optimistic attitude, work hard towards my goals, and smile. 2013 is going to be great.

:)

Jessica