Blake & I have been back in Colorado for seven months now. We drove back from Orange County with all of our possesions in our tiny Jeep. After visiting for a few weeks in August we decided it was best for our relationship, families, and finances if we left the beach and came back to the mountains. We've lived away from home for three years now. I feel like it was exaclty what we needed. In some ways it may feel like we took a step back with spending money on living the day to day in an expensive beach town, or traveling the way did, or working jobs that could barely keep us afloat. But we gained so much more then what money could ever buy us. Individually we saw things we needed to see, worked where we needed to, made friends with people who pushed us forward and challenged us, worked for people we'd never want to be like, and experienced different ways of life and people then what Monument has to offer.
I was so scared to move back home, to get stuck in a rut of the same things. There's not too much to do in this small mountain town, but that's not what makes home "home." The routines we got into while in New Mexico & California will stay with us always. Our lives changed in those three years, so being back home will never be the "same." I see our town & community differently now. I am thankful for the things I took for granted. I pursue more then I thought I ever could growing up here. We are blessed to have family and a strong friend base right here.
The biggest change we have been going through is growing a little baby! We found out the week after we officially moved back that we would be expecting our first in May. I can't believe the timing of how everything worked out. When we were living in California we knew there was a chance we could get pregnant. I strongly felt I didn't want to move home right away if we did, I didn't want moving home to be because of baby and me to possiibly be upset about that. When we were home in August I unknowingly got pregnant and that's when we made the choice to move back home. Leaving California and saying goodbye was a decision Blake & I made on our own, for ourselves and our relationship.
Over the last six months I couldn't be more grateful to be around family and friends with the support I never knew I needed during this time. We are living with Blake's brother, Travis & his wife, Danielle, and their two precious babies! It's been the greatest blessing to spend time with this family while we are thinking about our own little family. We missed the births of Blake's nephew and neice, so being able to watch them and live with them now is so rewarding. My parents both still live in Monument, and my two youngest siblings are just down the street from us. One of my brothers will soon be attending college in Santa Fe, NM, and my other brother will hopefully be moving back up to Monument soon! Blake's parents own the local Mexican restaurant here in town where we work with Travis & Danielle, so we are always around family.
Moving back home we knew we'd want to spread the word about what California has on every corner - JUICE! Blake & I are into juicing veggies & fruits daily. Blake worked at a few juice bars while we were in Orange County, and fell in love with the business and what it has to offer the people of the community. We check out juice bars wherever and whenever we can, and have discussed and re-discussed how we would like to start up something here in town. There's not a single juice bar in Monument, which could make our endevour a hit or miss. Thanks to Blake's Dad for being a smart business man and supportive of Blake's dream, we will be opeing up a juice spot through the restarurant here shortly! I'm so excited for Blake to be doing something he fully supports and wants to share with his family, friends, and community. Our other baby will be this new business! Come check us out if you're in town!!
I like this picture because no one but Blake's brother & sister-in-law, knew we were pregnant. I think we found out the day before this picture was taken. We were visiting Blake's Grandma and then went to dinner. It was so hard not to say anything but I was only five weeks pregnant.
We stayed in Durango, CO for a reggae show. It was special not just because we have good memories of Durango but because we got to be by ourselves, do something we both love, drive through the mountains we had been missing, and talk about future family things.
Summer Harley rides to the top of Pikes Peak.
Summer runs at the reservoir.
I love this picture with my best friend Lauren, her baby Luke, and her twin sister, Lee, with her baby Brody. Lauren was visiting from Georgia and I got to tell her that when Luke turns one in May, I'd be having a baby of my own. We hadn't announced our pregnancy yet, which made this picture that much more special to me, that I was able to share this news with my friends.
Our announcement photo on Halloween.
Hi Baby!
Blake & I's favorite date nights; seeing bands at awesome venues all around Colorado.
Blake's nephew, Cash, three years old.
Morris Christmas card, 2014. In this picture, there are four grandbabies for Mary & Shawn; Cash and Marley, my baby bump, and Danielle's tiny baby bump - she's due with their third in July!
My two awesome siblings, Bella & Anthony, on my 27th birthday.
My brother, Matt & his gf, Stacie, on New Year's Day, running a 10k with Blake.
20 weeks, around Christmas 2014.
24 weeks.
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I started a health page on Facebook & Instagram called An Herbal Perspective soon after Blake & I changed our lifestyle habits towards vegan. I had friends & family asking what we ate and why we were doing it. The best way to keep people informed is through social media, so there it was. I post inspirations, articles, recipes, and my own pictures of the juices, smoothies, breakfast, and dinners we make or order while we are out as motivation for my friends & family to choose a healthier option daily. I am really enjoying keeping up with this page because it keeps me accountable & it inspires me to do better and be more creative with the options vegans have in this world. It's not an easy journey, but it is doable as long as you are willing and have an open mind to the different things that are available to us other then what the media & large companies show us.
One of the conversations Blake & I had when we decided to eliminate animal products and try to have low amounts of fat was to prepare my body for a baby. We started this in April 2013, and went off birth control in December of that year. Being pregnant now, and remaining fully vegan I can say that I am so thankful for a supportive partner who cares deeply about our health as well as how we set our kid up for having limited health issues in the future. My first trimester was rough, but I never had animal products. As I hit my second trimester I was feeling much better and have had a juice six or seven days a week since. I eat a large salad every day and take in as much carbs as possible. Yes, I get a lot of questions and debates for protein and what's "best" for the baby, but I know what I believe and what works for me and my baby. I know what's in the foods that is the typical American diet and as much as I'd like to burn down every fast food joint, factory farm, and huge cooporation who makes billions off of feeding us poison and torturing animals, I can't change any of it. So I can do what's best for me and my body and hope that I can be an example to future generations.
The juice bar Blake & I are starting has a lot to do with our future set up as a family as well as suppling nutrition to our community.
Blake's niece, Marley, is one awesome eater. She wants smoothies, juices, salads, and sushi whenever we are having it.
The journeys I have been on have shown me that life can change in a second. Whether you are home, alone in a new town, renting, owning, travelling, or growing a family you should always be seeking for something more, something greater. Because there is something more, something greater around each corner! Everything in this life is here to teach us lessons and show us the beauty of free choice.
No matter what you are doing,
Dream Big Ride Far!
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