Life Update

I had hoped to be able to write more on our blog after the first of the new year, however, that just hasn't happened yet! To be honest, Scott and I have found ways to fill up our new free time together. In the last few weeks we have filled up every weekend by trying to cross things off our every so long and growing "To Do" List. Who knew planning your life took so much time! :-)

After the first of the year Scott and I got really excited about our future. Not that we haven't been excited about until now, but we finally feel like we are at the point where we can start planning our next chapter. With school behind me, we are looking forward to our wedding, being married, buying a house and kids....hopefully in that order and not all at once! ;-) Since both of us are not from Colorado, neither one of us knows any of the surrounding towns and communities. I only know the Boulder and Fort Collins areas well, the rest of the Front Range is much of a mystery. So, after talking about the fact that neither one of us knows much about our options for a community to call "Home" one day, we have decided to take the time and go "Community" hunting. It's much like "House" hunting, but on a slightly larger scale. We figured, if we find a place we'd like to live one day, it might be easier to look for a house when that time comes.

So, we have been actively looking for the past couple of weeks at our options. We have both decided that most likely we will both be working in or around the Denver area for the next however many years, which helps and doesn't when it comes to looking for a place to settle down. Denver is a big place with lots of suburbs surrounding it. We have both agreed that raising our future children in the city isn't something we want to do. So that leaves us with the 'burbs! It's not my first choice....oh come on, does that really surprise you? Mrs. Architect here doesn't want live in a development that has the houses so close together and everyone's house looks the same it's just painted a different shade of bage? But, I will do it for the safety and better life style for my family! Besides, newer developments have much better architecture then the ones built in the 80's and 90's!

Okay, so a couple of weekends ago Scott and I headed straight East about 20 miles from where we currently live. We ended up in a town call Brighton. Friends of ours just bought a house there this summer, so we are slightly familiar with their neighborhood. We drove around and around...without a map...and eventually found the town. As much as we love where Jake and Melissa live, the actual town of Brighton didn't excite us. We headed home deciding to keep looking, but to revisit the neighborhood in the next year as they were starting construction on a new retail area which often leads to more development.

The following weekend we decided to head South West about 35 miles from here. At work I was given a project to research the town of Littleton and everything I read about it made me love it more and more. So, our next stop was Littleton, CO. Now, this town of roughly 45,000 people impressed us. It felt like home in the sense that besides the 360 view of the mountains, we could have easily been in Iowa, which is a nice feeling. The town has a ton of open space, multiple lakes, great schools and friendly people. We found a local pizza place to eat at for lunch and decided that we should keep Littleton on our short list.

So far, we have enjoyed our weekend adventures to different towns around the area. Maybe it's been the 50+ degree weather or the sun shine or just the excitement of our future together, or maybe a little bit of all that has made this a great experience. We aren't done yet! There's still plenty of neighborhoods for us to explore. I'll keep you posted as we continue our adventures.

The rest of our time has been spent thinking about wedding stuff. I can't believe it's 4 months away!!!! It just doesn't seem possible! I feel like we still have so much to do....yet, when I look at my list I realize how much we already have done. We will be busy these next couple of months getting the rest of the stuff accomplished, but so far, I am confident we won't have to be panicking the week before the wedding....at least that's what I'm praying for. :-)

The rest of my time has been spent looking and applying for jobs. My current internship ends in May, so the pressure is on to find something else before then. I am still praying that a job in an architecture firm opens up, however, I am being realistic in that fact that I am applying for other jobs. I'll work 3 jobs if I need to....but it would be nice to find something full time with benefits. Hopefully something good will come up soon. :-) I feel like that is the missing part in my life right now. I would like to know I have a steady, full time job by the time we get married. I can't imagine what it will be like to have us both working full time jobs!!!??? I will have to say though, that this experience has been very humbling. It has made me look at the big picture of life and realize that I (and we) are not as bad off as others. I have a roof over my head, food in the refrigerator, gas (barely) in my car and I do have a job I can go to every day. Scott and I may not have extra money to go shopping, buy a new flat screen TV or go on a vacation, but we have managed to save a lot of money for our wedding, pay every bill on time and still treat ourselves to Chinese take out once in a while. This situation has allowed us both to realize that we can live on (almost) nothing and still be happy. It's not the ideal situation, nor is it one that I'd like to stay in forever, but we've shown ourselves that we can make it through and come out the other side happy and still madly in love with each other. And for that, I have to thank God for showing us that we can get through anything as long as we have each other.

Well that's all for now. I should get to bed so that a new day can start tomorrow! I hope you are all staying warm, safe and healthy. We think about you all often and wish we could see everyone more!

Miss you all!

Love,
Heather

Happy New Year!

With 2009 behind us, we are in highest spirits around here! 2010 (twenty-ten is how we say it here in the Ludwig/Greenfield residence) has already been better then the whole year of 2009 was! 2009 was a tough year, probably the toughest year yet! But, I am happy to report that Scott and I (and our family and friends) managed to make it through!

However, the year did end well for us! Scott and I spent our first Christmas together here in Colorado. We decided not to travel over the holiday this year to save money, and it's a good thing we decided to stay put given the harsh weather that hit all over the country over Christmas...had we tried to travel we may have had to spend Christmas in a hotel somewhere in Nebraska! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Fort Collins at my Mom's house. We all enjoyed our time together! It was a quite weekend, but just what we all needed! We ate a ton of food, watched movies and relaxed. New Years Eve was just as quite. Again, trying to save money, Scott and I decided to forgo the wild and crazy Denver New Years Eve scene. Instead, we went over to our friend Stephanie's house and hung out with her and her two little boys. We ate a great dinner, played yatzee and watched the ball drop in New York City from the comfort of Stephanie's couch.

And with that, we began what will be one of the best years of our lives! I know that is a big statement, but how can it not be one of the greatest years? Scott and I are getting married in 5 months!!! I think that right there proves that this will be a great year! :-) Now that the holidays are over and I am finally finished with grad school, we can devote the next 5 months to our upcoming wedding! I just ordered my bridesmaid's dresses yesterday, bought the programs for our wedding ceremony and have started finalizing the menu with the caterer. With all this free time I have now, I am in full "wedding mode"! :-) I love that I can now focus entirely on our wedding and enjoy the next 5 months! I know this time is going to fly by and then it will all be over, so I am going to make a point to enjoy every minute of it. I have really enjoyed having my Mom close by so that she can be a part of the planning and excitement too. It just wouldn't have been the same if she was still in Iowa and I was left to do this all my by myself. Who would have gone dress shopping with me? Or gone to Michaels and spent hours in the wedding section (folks, there are only 2 isles dedicated to weddings in the entire store...and yes, we tend to spend hours there...only a Mom would do that for her daughter!) and David's Bridal 100 times with me? Or gone to all those bridal showers? I have to think it was destiny that she moved out here just 4 months before I got engaged.

There are still plenty of things on my "Wedding To Do" list! But I look forward to checking them off one by one in the next few months!

Love,
Heather