For my birthday this year, I took a day trip down to Colorado Springs to explore and take on the Manitou Incline. It’s located in Manitou Springs and gains 2,000 feet of elevation from start to finish. It’s a total of 2,768 steps and one tough workout. Most people want to go out for a nice dinner or spend time with their families. Not me, I wanted to challenge myself and climb some stairs. My day started at 4 am because my reservation for the Manitou Incline was at 6:30 am, and I wanted to see the Garden of the Gods before tackling the incline.

May marked the end of the spring semester and the start of summer break. Bring on the fun! The last few months have mainly been focused on both work and school, so it’s been nice to get out of my routine. In May, I went hiking with one of my friends to Staunton State Park. It’s about a thirty-minute drive from Denver. We spent most of the day hiking through the mountains and before heading home grabbed a bite to eat. Hiking is something I love doing, but haven’t done a lot of lately. When I live in Kansas City there weren’t a lot of nearby hiking spots. If you wanted to get out and good for a good hike you had to drive out a few hours to do so. May was also a month of self-reflection.

April marked my final month of the spring semester. I was hard at work on my final projects and meet with an academic advisor to plan for the fall semester. I turned in my last assignment on May 10th. It marked the end of the semester and the start of summer break. My first semester had its ups and downs, but I made it through it. There were days that I wanted to throw in the towel, and I was beyond tired and overwhelmed. Coming home late from work, then staying up late to study and work on assignments was exhausting. I graduated back in 2012 with my associate degree. I had always wanted to go back to school, but I kept putting it off. When I decided to go back, I was nervous. It had been years since I wrote an easy or took a quiz.

Well, I thought spring was right around the corner. It started to warm up in the Denver metro, and I had swapped out my coat for a jacket. One thing people keep telling me about Colorado is that the weather is unpredictable. One day it can be clear skies and in the 70s and the next below freezing and snowing. In March we got hit with a winter storm the days leading up to it the warm had been nice. It had been warm and sunny out, but the temperature started to drop and the forecast was calling for 4-6 feet of snow.

My job ended up shutting down for the weekend, so I ended up with a three-day weekend. Which allowed me to rest and get ahead on some of my school work. Since skiing and snowboarding are apart of Colorado life. I’d catch glimpses of people skiing down the sidewalks. Now I’m no stranger to snow, but that was a first for me. I’ve never been skiing, but it’s something I’d like to try. It looks like a lot of fun and a good way to get around during a snowstorm.

I’ve been in Denver for almost two months now, and it’s starting to get into the swing of things. I’m still doing well in school and learning a lot in both classes. I also started a new job that I’m enjoying. I’m finally unpacked and got my apartment together. It’s nice to not having boxes all over the place. Up until now, I’ve been feeling out of place. I couldn’t find half my stuff, I didn’t know my way around the city, and wasn’t on track with stuff. Now that I’m all moved in settled, things are starting to fall into place and I’m not as stressed out. In February, I enjoyed a great solo Valentine’s Day and experienced some of the downsides of living in the city. I also made plans for March.