Two weeks into the Colorado chapter of our journey, all of the M-words above pretty much sum up the life routine so far.

The broader Denver area is experiencing a moth infestation of biblical proportions. Between the shop vac, hand vac, and bare hands, at least 20,000 of the little agitators have met their maker in the past 12 days at the property we are at in Lafayette until July 1, when we move into our Boulder condo. It brings a new appreciation for the plagues of Moses’ time. We have also seen lots of mosquitos, rabbits, squirrels, and skunks!

In addition to the many critters, we noticed on our arrival that there are many more masks, and they are required to be worn in all stores, shops, and anywhere in public. Even the cool dudes at the motorcycle shop don them. There has been a great degree of mask adoption here. It’s also a good self-check of breath freshness!

We have been doing landscaping at the Choice House sober home locations. One large task has been applying a fresh layer of mulch to the landscape areas in need. A word of warning – some brands use more manure in the mix than others! That’s what we’ve learned searching for the sales. Two full truckloads so far, and more to go.

One of the daily pleasures of being at Jordan’s place is schmoozing with his two buddies – Kaia and Roman. Kaia is nearing the end of her mortal experience and calmly moves about with lots of resting. Roman, on the other hand, is a bundle of French Bulldog energy displaying very few of the refined rules of French etiquette, as he bolts for the doors and makes the funniest grunts, grrr’s and grumbles. They are at opposite ends of the dog life spectrum and remind us each day of the value of what lies in between, with each new day to use at our discretion.

During the downtime, we have joined Jordan for some dirt bike riding in the surrounding hills and mountains. For Jeff, it’s been a 30-yr restart and for Karen, a new love. Above all, just doing it together with Jordan has been a real treat.

We’re glad to report that the move from our Orem home went smoothly (except for a couple of minor backaches!). While we’re always thankful for precipitation in Utah, it was a HUGE blessing that the spring monsoons held off until AFTER we got everything out. We are now cozied up in our Sundance cottage for another week, while we finish organizing the storage unit and tie up some other loose ends. After that, it’s off to Boulder, Colorado. Our son Jordan lives there as director/co-owner of Choice House, a men’s addiction recovery center. We’ll be helping with several projects, including (but not limited to) business planning, moving furniture and setting up new men’s residences, gardening, selling/buying company vehicles, helping Jordan find and move to a new home, taking care of the pups, etc. When the weather breaks here, we will load the truck with some camping equipment to take to the men’s program. They do a lot of outdoor activities and will benefit from the extra stuff that we don’t use much anymore. For more info on Choice House, you can click here.

Jeff and I LOVE humanitarian service 💖, and hope to someday devote our life full-time to it. For the foreseeable future, Jeff will be very busy with his business consulting/CPA work. We’ve come up with an interim plan that will maximize our opportunities for career, travel, AND service. Since he is used to working from home most of the time, we’ve realized that “home” can be anywhere within 4 time zones and a 4-5 hr flight of CA, so he can still work and communicate with his clients there. That means anywhere Hawaii to the East Coast, and Canada down to Central America.

So…we’ve decided to embark on our mobile life/service adventure, moving from place to place 2-12 months in each location, for the next several years, until we’re ready to settle down again. We will embed ourselves and try to be useful in each community and congregation, then move on to the next place…kinda like Mister and Mary Poppins ☂️. We’ve started this website blog to share our journeys.

We’ve sold our Orem, UT home, sold most of our belongings, moved the rest into a storage unit, and will live in furnished short-term rentals. Our first stop is Boulder, CO beginning mid June, where we’ll help with a couple of big projects at an addiction recovery program there (Choice House). Other places on the shortlist are British Columbia and Hawaii. We are open to recommendations!

We’ll be back to visit regularly, as our grandchildren and most of our kids are in Utah. We hope to maintain and strengthen all of our friendships and family connections—near and far—during this time, as well as make some new friends and be of service in whatever ways we can.

We are forever thankful for the many wonderful neighbors we’ve been blessed to rub shoulders with (pre-Corona 😷) in Utah. Love you, one and all❣️