A Lovely Life

There is no special occasion...his birthday is in July (a fact that has made this Christmas baby VERY jealous for the last 28 years)...it's not a holiday. Nope. This is a response/shout out to the guy who has been posting all of these incredibly lovely things about me on social media. They not only make me blush and a little embarrassed, but they've kept me going. Thomas is my not-so-little brother. I say that because although he's about 4.5 years younger than I, he stands 7 feet tall and is one of very few people in this world who make me feel small - on so many levels. He calls me his not-so-big-sister and I love it. It's our thing. Lots of things are "our thing"...I guess that's what happens when you share half your DNA with another person. From the moment he was born that kid knew how to capture a room. Full of life and spunk (often to our detriment)...can't tell you the amount of shit that kid destroyed as a toddler. He knew no strangers and m

This weekend I got the keys to my apartment. The one I mentioned before that will be the first apartment I've had as an adult with exactly zero help from anyone...no rent hook ups from buddies or the need for roommates. After getting said keys and doing a quick walk through, I'm really REALLY missing those hookups. I knew before coming out here that the rental and housing market in Denver sucks. I was fully prepared for the sticker shock and unavailability and wait lists that were all coming my way. So when I looked at this place (the 8th apartment I looked at in one day), I felt the need to say, "yes". It was the most affordable, best laid out, biggest place in a decent and convenient area. You should have seen some of the places I looked at! I also knew if I waited, I'd probably loose it and would be back at square one in my search.  I'm going to complain here, so move on to the next paragraph if you want positivity and sunshine: the place isn't gre

The first time I came to Colorado was in the Summer of 2010. I have this awesome memory of standing at the base of Maroon Bells in Aspen watching the sunset and being in awe of how stunningly, breathtakingly beautiful this place was. I was this small creature in this vast space and I was in love. Colorado has a way of doing that...making me feel small and almost insignificant in the grand scheme of things. And that's no easy feat since I'm no tiny person! Today marks 3 months since arriving in Colorado. 3 months since I left Georgia, my friends and everything that was comfortable for me to start another chapter in this little book of Helen. It has been exactly what I expected: amazing and scary and lonely and sad and invigorating and liberating and frustrating.  I knew moving here would force me into being alone. At times, that loneliness is crushing. And it hits at the weirdest times. Like, driving in the car cursing the fact that they don't make "slush"