Joyful Living

Happy Summer to everyone! I frequently like to share stuff from podcasts that really blow me away and this week is kind of a morbid-sounding topic. Death. I probably reacted the same way you are when I saw that topic. What blew me away is how contemplating the inevitability of death can make us appreciate life more fully.

We don’t really know if this will be the last blog post I write, or that you read. So why not write the best blog post I can? Why not enjoy every word of it? Why not take that attitude into everything we do in life? Death brings focus. Life is precious. Time is precious. Enjoy it.

On a personal note, I will admit that there were several years where I didn’t appreciate how short life is. My health was crap. My passion nonexistent. Around my 43rd birthday, I asked myself, “Is this it? Is this what you want?” After listening to that podcast, I think the magic key was being truly aware of my mortality for the first time, maybe ever. I started looking for the good life everywhere and it was right in front of me. It’s all around us. I’ve been a happy person most of my life, but I’m grateful for those few years of struggle because I think they really cemented how I want to live the rest of my life.

In the past month, we traveled to Florida to visit Courtney’s family and friends. They were terrifically kind and generous while we there and it was a lot of fun. Shortly after we got home, her cousin and second cousins visited here and we got to visit with them. It was fun for me to meet them, and I could tell it was really special for Courtney to see them again.

Last weekend we took a hike in Boulder. It got a little hot (and steep) for Bindi (Courtney’s dog), so we didn’t complete the full hike, but we still got some amazing views of the front range.

Back home, I feel like progress has kept up at the house. I can’t remember where we left off on house updates, but the house is “dried in” and plumbing and HVAC are well underway.

I did have one crazy picture of the framers, who are apparently not afraid of heights at all. I really appreciated getting to know the framers a little while they worked on the house and I’m sad they are off to their next project. I’m grateful for all the hard work they did to help rebuild my house.

There is still a big mound of dirt on the lot behind my house, so this is the best rear-view picture I have at the moment. I met my neighbor that lives in the house on the left of that picture when I was taking it. They purchased that house about a month before the fire. Their house is finished and they moved in already!

Here is view of the front of the house.

I’m not sure the exact schedule, but on the exterior, some cedar siding will be going on the entry and office, the stone will be getting slapped on the chimney, the garage door will be installed, the roof will start, and the front porch will get built. We’re juggling a lot of balls right now. Well, Ben, my builder, is juggling a lot of balls, as well as building his own house about a block away.

I hope you had a great weekend and 4th of July!