Wow, it has been over a month since my last blog and quite a bit sure has happened in that time. First of all, we moved which has caused part of the problem, the laptop box seems to be missing. We moved down to Indian Hills, a small town of about 1280 people. We live in a house at the end of a dead end, hidden in the trees and tucked back far enough to feel like we still have our own little piece of land, about 3 acres. It's great, we love the location of it and down the road, we will love the house. Currently it is still in a bit of craziness with boxes and crates over taking most of the house. I will say, it wasn't the best time for a move, due to the huge work event I had the next weekend, but we'll get it all unpacked and situated and eventually, we will have our dream mountain home, which is thrilling. I'm sure there will be plenty more on that, but for now, the reason I started writing today.
I got home from one of the craziest, most amazing weekends I've had in a long time, perhaps even ever. It was the 2014 State Summer Games in Colorado and I was in charge. Now, of course, there is NO way I could have done it alone, so there was a great committee of people to work with, but well, at the end of the day, the event is my main focus of my job...and it was great. It was not without crazy amounts of work, some bumps and mistakes, a million things learned, but that should have all been covered when the lap top was missing, for now, I want to reflect on the weekend.
It was busy, we got there on Thursday and the majority of the time that was spent in Grand Junction was spent on the go, setting things up, solving problem, taking things down, and answering questions. I had little time to talk to Sean, who is usually more helpful than even I know on trips like this. He was also busy taking care of my little man at home, so I know he was busy as well. He is great for me to talk to, bounce ideas off of, ways to handle things...but he wasn't around and I was on my own, so to speak.
Things got rolling and I can go through the boring details of all of it, but I'll just touch on the highlights and end with the great feelings that came from everything. Athletes started to arrive on Friday for some pizza and a movie, we ran into a few issues, but nothing that wasn't fixable. Saturday was the big day, Opening Ceremonies would kick off the games. I was out and about finalizing a few things, but I made myself stop and take a minute to remember why I spent countless hours being upset about this or that or the other thing. There were many times during all of the planning that I just wanted to give up, things just stacked up against me higher and higher...I knew I'd never quit, I knew it would all work out, the light at the end of the tunnel just seemed to far away. But that morning, as I high fived athletes as they were getting ready to get in the parade, as I watched the torch go around (and of course, teared up), and I saw the cauldron get lit, everything vanished and all that mattered was the moment I was in and the event ahead.
Most of the conclusions I came to happened when I got home today. Someone I missed that Sean and Liam were in town and I drove home as fast as I could to see them, only to find out they weren't there. So I sat down on our front porch, I sat in silence for the first time in days (other than sleeping of course) and I just let my mind and body rest. Maybe it was breathing in the mountain air, or the few minutes of quiet I had, whatever it was, I was overcome with emotion. I thought about every aspect of the weekend, the issues leading up to it, the hard work while there, the final wrap up talks with people I needed to wrap things up with and my emotions overtook me. I had tears streaming down my face, but not tears of sadness, tears of pure joy - a joy I hadn't felt in a long time, a joy that came from the satisfaction of the amazing weekend.
And I wish I had been able to record all my thoughts at that point, I wish I could recall all of them now, but I will just have to do the best I can. See, I had some struggles in getting ready for the games and I wasn't looking forward to it, I knew it'd be good, but I wanted it to be great and I wasn't sure we'd be able to make that happen. Before I left, I decided to change my thinking, I decided that no matter what, I wasn't going to NOT enjoy Summer Games, I love Summer Games and this was going to be no exception. As we went through the weekend, it was more and more apparent to me, how much hard work it was going to take by everyone involved. And as we went through the weekend, I experienced so much, I was so thrilled to see the games kicked off, I was so upset about a few coach interactions. I cried one night, not even sure why, just overcome with emotion after a high stress situation. I laughed, a lot...I formed relationships with people that can only come from working events like this. I talked even more with some of those people to ensure those relationships continue on the best terms possible. I smiled and loved watching our athletes. I learned how I best deal with certain situations, I discovered the people I can count on when I need it. I am pretty positive that my heart grew 3 sizes with all the joy that athletes experienced. I grew professionally and personally far more than I expected. I left feeling amazing, feeling like I can do anything, feeling like we can work to make these games a place everyone wants to be.
And I'm sure I'll get knocked down from this high at some point, but for now, I will just ride it as long and as far as I can. I will NEVER forget my first Summer Games at SOCO and it has changed me in the best possible ways.
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