First off, I'm sorry to those of you who check our blog on a regular basis. The last time I wrote, we were in Tulsa, which was over a month ago now. I started to feel bad when I'd come to this site to check others' blog and I'd see our counter in the top left corner continue to rise. I imagined people coming to the site hoping to see something new and being disappointed instead. I'm sorry to our dedicated viewers for not writing sooner. But honestly, our lives haven't been very exciting lately. Well... maybe that's just an excuse.
Shortly after our last entry, we went to Colorado to see Rebs' dad and step-mom. We hadn't seen them in about a year and a half. We got to run on some open space trails. Rebs fell off her bike when we went riding one day because anything that doesn't get sunlight in the Winter doesn't seem to melt. We had a couple upper 50 degree days and there was still ice on the ground. She walked away with a bruise by her hip, but was okay otherwise. She vowed not to follow me onto ice anymore.
I got my injury when we went skiing a couple weeks into our trip. Rebs' dad knows a lot of people and was able to get a nice condo for us up in Frisco that we stayed at for 5 nights. The skiing was amazing. I love snowboarding, though my body is becoming more fragile than it used to be in high school and college. We got to ski at Keystone, Vail, and Beaver Creek, the latter two I had never been to before. I think I liked Beaver Creek the best. At the base in the morning, they would send out cooks from the kitchen with a silver platter loaded with hot, steaming chocolate chip cookies. I guess it's a good way to make people appreciate paying an arm and a leg to ski there.
The lowlight was probably the fact that I got a concussion on our last day of skiing. It's funny because I had been in the terrain park sliding on rails and going of jumps, riding switch a little bit. I'd even been on the Men's Downhill slope, part of which was a sheet of ice. But when I injured myself, I was actually just cruising down a blue with my brother-in-law Brandon. I must've hit a small patch of snow that had been piled up over the day, and before I knew it, I was on my stomach looking uphill. A lady came by to give me my had and goggles, which had fallen off when I hit my head. I said thanks and reassured her that I was okay, and I honestly felt normal at that moment.
So Brandon and I rode a little slower down to the bottom of the mountain. We decided it was a good time to be finished, even though it was only about 3:15, On the shuttle on the way home my mind started feeling a little foggy. I couldn't remember what day of the week it was (not that I would have known without a concussion). When we got our stuff loaded in the car and were on our way, I remember feeling more and more light headed. I would be sitting, looking out the window and everything would start to white out. So when I knew something wasn't right, I told Brandon that if I passed our he should take me to the hospital. I blacked out about 5 minutes later, and then woke up and proceeded to projectile vomit all over the car the Butterfinger Brandon had given me earlier. We got to the hospital and I was still pretty out of it, but decided to walk with Brandon into the E.R. anyway. As we walked in, the lady graciously asked which one of us was here for the concussion. I guess she didn't see the vomit on my shirt. They put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me back to a room, where I sat for a while. Then Rebs came in. This is the second time Rebs has had to come visit me in the E.R. It's not the greatest, but is an incredible relief to hold the one you love in your arms and know they're still alive. I got a CAT-scan and they said I had no internal bleeding and could go, but just to monitor my recovery. Everything turned out okay. Next time, I think I'll wear a helmet.
I forgot to mention earlier that we had our first Greyhound experience on the way to and from Denver. It was humbling, embarrassing, and testing of our patience. If you've never ridden Greyhound, I recommend it, but only once. When we first got on in Tulsa, we didn't know what we'd gotten ourselves into. Rebs quietly started crying in the seat next to me. She felt scared. There were some pretty scary people around us. One guy at a stop in Oklahoma City had a t-shirt on it that said "INMATE''. I didn't see it, but why would anyone joke about that? Why would someone wear a shirt like that if they hadn't been one.
Part of me really liked the experience because after talking to some of the people around us, I realized that they were very much like me. People seem a lot scarier if you don't talk to them. I said I was embarrassed earlier. That was because I was on the bus with a nice, warm coat, a laptop computer, a digital camera, and an ipod. And sitting across the aisle was a lady wearing thrift store clothes and all the clothes to her name in a backpack on the floor by her feet. Walking among the impoverished is much different than caring for them from behind a barrier. It's much more real. So in that sense, I don't regret it. For Rebecca's sake, I regret putting her in a situation that she felt unsafe in.
If you've been able to make it this far with us, you're pretty much caught up. We spent a little time in Altus, OK with Rebs's best friend Gabby, and a couple days with Brandi and Cass (my sis and bro-in-law) in their new house. Their kids are so fun. We've been in Fayetteville with her mom now for a few days. But the biggest thing is that we're officially flying out of the country in 3 days. 
It's possible that the next time you hear from us that we'll be on the other side of the world. We got to see many of you while we were here and we feel so blessed to have gotten to do that. How many people get to spend 3 and a half months traveling and catching up with friends and family in person. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for. And it's because of you all that we will always call America our home. I don't think I could live overseas for the rest of my life. So until we see you again, find us on Skype or Facebook or just send us an email. In that sense, we're really not that far away.
