December Delights

I have no proof, but I am willing to bet, that whoever makes the schedule for Justin's job has a slightly mean sense of humor. Not only this year, but last year as well, we were sent to some seriously cold areas of the country for winter. Last year, we were in Iowa and this year we are in Colorado. I can just imagine them sitting in their warm office laughing at us as we literally shiver in our boots. Haha! On a serious note, we are here in Longmont, Colorado, just north of Denver. We arrived the for the month of December and we will continue to be here at this point, through January. There have been some seriously cold days here. It is not only us who are having to adjust to the weather. The puppies are quite cold as well. We have one pup, Roper, who loves the snow and runs and leaps into the snow piles as much as possible. Then our other pup, Garth, wants absolutely nothing to do with being outside. He does not like the cold, he does not like the snow, and he does not like to be in the cold snow. They are adjusting though, and so are we.

It is extremely beautiful here! And though the town is quaint, it has everything we need to enjoy ourselves. We found a pizza place on Main Street called Rosalee's Pizzeria. Eating here is a must. Not only is the food delicious and reasonably priced, but the environment is so cool. The place is very tiny and people will wait for over an hour every night just to eat there. We also found a little painting place called Crackpots. It is a place where you can pick out the pottery pieces you would like and sit and paint. Justin and I went for a date night one Saturday night and had so much fun. We painted way too many things, but we couldn't help ourselves!

As many of you know, we announced that we are having a baby! We are extremely excited to bring a new little Belcher into the family. When Justin started this program, we literally thought that all the people who had kids in this program were insane. As the months pass and this lifestyle becomes a way a life you realize, that though it does seem insane, that insanity is our new normal. So, we are joining those other insane people and embracing our crazy normal! We can't wait to meet our little one the first week of July!

Before we know it is was already Christmas! My parents flew up for the weekend. We got to show them around the town, as well as do a little exploring. On Friday, we drove over to Estes Park, CO. That town is so cute. It deserves to be on a postcard. We walked around the little snow covered town and enjoyed the  sights and the stores. We also stumbled upon the Historic Stanley Hotel. (That is where Dumb and Dumber and The Shining were both filmed.) The hotel is filled with so much history and apparently ghosts! After touring around, we grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and headed back to Longmont.

Christmas came and went way too quickly, as did the time with my family. The hardest part of Justin having this job is never knowing when is going to be the next time that you get to see your family or your friends again. Dropping my parents off at the airport is like dropping off a little piece of my heart.

Southern Sensations

We made it back to the south. Though I must say our time was quite brief. But, in the four weeks we were in Charleston, South Carolina, we were able to have some fun and work with some incredible people.

Justin was partnered up with another IM at this location. They were expecting mass chaos. When we arrived, the restaurant was filled with so many loving people who welcomed all of us into their store. They were kind and loving and so eager to learn.

Justin and I spent some time seeing the sights around the area. We drove over to Folly Beach one evening just before sunset and walked the beach. It was too chilly for swimming and laying out, but perfect for a walk. And depending on which one of us you ask, our first date was spent walking along the beach.

What is the point of visiting Charleston if you don't stop by a few sights of The Notebook? Exactly, none! We took a Sunday afternoon tour of Boone Hall Plantation. The Avenue of the Oaks was breathtakingly beautiful! The house was Allie's summer vacation home from the movie. I was slightly disappointed to know that the house was built quite recently in comparison to the plantation. We also got to see the water where Noah and Allie went swimming! The plantation also included 9 original slave cabins and the wedding site of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.

Thanksgiving was excellent! Thanks to the amazing supervisor at our hotel she upgrade both of the rooms we had booked to two bed room suites so all of our family could stay together! We were so grateful! Jesse, my parents, and my aunt and uncle were all able to travel to us for the holiday. We combined both of the kitchen tables into one room and made one large dining room table.

The day after Thanksgiving, we took a downtown historic carriage ride on the waterfront. We had so much fun and got to see so many beautiful houses. Our tour guide also told us that the first shot of the Civil War was by accident. Apparently a sneezed caused a soldier to fire the first shot, and hence started the Civil War. Crazy!

We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to stall so that we could all try a seafood restaurant that is supposed to be the best in all of Charleston. Online it said that people started lining up at 4:30 outside of the building just so that they could get in before they ran out of food. We figured that it must be good if people were lining up that early. No one in our group was impressed with the food, though the sunset was pretty.

Sunday, it was just us and our parents. And though we had planned every single minute of the time our family would be in town, we somehow forgot to take into account that the Sunday after Thanksgiving the interstates would be packed! Of course, we didn't realize the crisis until we were in the car for over an hour and began to pull across the bridge where we could see nothing except for unending miles of traffic at a complete standstill. At this point, it was too late, so we proceeded to Savannah, Georgia.

My Dad's face pretty much sums up the car ride.

We also wanted to go to Paula Deen's Lady and Sons Restaurant, and now we have. The food was okay. Nothing to rave about, but we got to check it off our bucket list!

We also did a bit of exploring the water front and took some pictures by the Forsyth Park Fountain.

By now you should know that where there are traveling Belchers, chaos is sure to follow. About a mile down the road, after we had left the park, Mom decides she wanted to show me a picture on her phone. Her phone was nowhere to be found. So, Justin whipped the car around and floored it back to the park. He let my dad, his dad, and myself out of the car on the opposite side of the park, so we could get to the place where mom and been sitting earlier. I went dashing across the park and get to the spot where she had been. I started questioning everyone around the area. There was a family who had seen a man take the phone. I thought, "Great that's it. The phone is gone." I darted around the corner, looking for the man that they had described, and there he was, holding Mom's phone. Before I could even ask him for the phone, he realized what I was there for and handed it back. He had been in the process of calling my Dad's cell to see if he could return it. Just when you begin to think the world is becoming void of good people, you find a good Samaritan.

The time with our family passed way too quickly. Before we knew it everyone had gone home, and we were left in our empty hotel room packing for our next adventure.