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Monday, June 16, 2014

Open A New Door



My husband had a special birthday recently, and since my birthday is only ten days after his, we decided to have a combination birthday celebration with our children and grandchildren. If you notice, the candles say "127." That is the sum of both our ages, plus one extra year added for good luck! I think you'd agree we have lived long and happy lives, and we are grateful for each and every year. One thing for sure, now that my husband is approaching retirement, we are looking forward to opening another new door on life, and we are excited about more changes ahead on the horizon!


  
Most of my regular readers know that we already made a big transition in our lives, a year and a half ago, when we moved from living at sea level in New York City...


... to 6,200 feet altitude in a suburb in the foothills of Denver, Colorado!

We made the decision to move so that we could live closer to our children and grandchildren that had settled in Colorado. It was hard work to leave our hometown, the house we lived in for thirty-six years, and to say goodbye to good friends. But it is a decision we have not regretted. We have enjoyed having more family times together and the joy of watching our young grandchildren grow.  We also knew there would be many other benefits to our move.


We have been enjoying walking and biking the many miles of trails in our community...


...as well as taking hikes to see the glorious vistas in Rocky Mountain National Park.


We've participated in winter activities in the Rocky Mountains...


...as well as enjoying swimming close to home in the community pool in the summer.

 All of these activities are making my husband and me healthier and happier! 



Now that we've fully settled into our new Colorado home, I am looking forward to my husband's upcoming retirement and the anticipation of traveling to many new places, both in the United States and around the world, in the upcoming years ahead. My husband and I love new vistas, adventures and learning new things, and travel fulfills all those desires.
If you were able to open a new door to reinventing your life, what would you choose to do? I'd love to read your answer in my comments!






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22 comments:

  1. Happy B-Day to you both Pat and Happy Travels:@)

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  2. Pat, happy Birthday to you and your hubby! I just love the scenic views around your Denver home.. Have a happy week!

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  3. Oh wow!! What a great pic of you and hubby and your beautiful grandkids!! And what a journey you've had - you've travelled so far and will carry on travelling! The world is truly your oyster! Wishing you a great birthday and happy soon to be retirement for hubby too! Take care
    x

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  4. I know the two of you will live your retirement days well! How great to look forward to more travels in the future and many stamps in your passports!

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  5. What fun you will have! Reinvent my life? What a foreign concept, yet I have done so a few times in the past. It won't involve travel. I leave that to the adventurous like you and your beloved and pray that you take lots of photos. Your grands are so cute and growing like crazy.

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  6. Great shots of your birthday party and of the Rockies.

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  7. Birthday greetings to the two of you! Hiking in Colorado exposes one to so much beauty.

    Reinvention? That's something to think about.

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  8. Wow! Beautiful pictures!

    Happy birthday to you and your husband. Enjoy!

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  9. Happy Birthday to both of you! You have moved to a very beautiful place.

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  10. Happy Birthday to you and your husband, Pat! Hope you have many wonderful new adventures together.

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  11. Happy birthday to you both! That must have been a shock-to-your-system type of move. NYC to Colorado. Yikes. Colorado is a beautiful place. We've visited a couple times and have only visited NYC once. :-) So nice to be closer to family, isn't it. Makes the move worthwhile. All the best to you as you become a true Coloradan? (What are they called?)

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  12. I will add my wish of happy birthday to you, too. Your photos of the mountains are stunning, especially love the one with the animal in it. If I could, I'd love to travel. So many places I've never been to. We have been discovering local beauty in our mountains. They are all so different, but beautiful. You should visit Utah, too.

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  13. You are so blessed to be living such a wonderful life, Pat... I've enjoyed you in NY and now in CO.... Such different areas --but you make the most of both places... Hope you two can travel more in the future....

    If a new door were to open for us, I'm sure our choice would be to do more traveling also --to more far-away places.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  14. Happy Birthday to both of you. I love your photos and following your life from NYC to CO and look forward to your travels. I hope they include Australia.

    I can't think of a way to reinvent myself. I am pretty happy with my past adventures and my life at the moment. I would like to travel even more but hubby is slowing down. However, I am dragging him off to USA in November.

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  15. Happy Birthday to you and your hubby, Pat.
    It seems that reinvention at this stage of life involves a good attitude and, perhaps, an open mind. You both seem to have what it takes for successful re-inventing.

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  16. sorry I did not visit you for a long time, I got involved in Facebook and writing that I missed out a lot of blogging. Happy birthday to both of u.

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  17. That was a huge decision, moving from New York to Colorado. It looks like it was definitely the right one for you! I hope you enjoy every minute of your retirement - in those surroundings and near your grandchildren, how could you not??

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  18. That was a huge decision, moving from New York to Colorado. It looks like it was definitely the right one for you! I hope you enjoy every minute of your retirement - in those surroundings and near your grandchildren, how could you not??

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  19. Hi, Pat! So nice to catch up with you after our travels! We go back a few days ago after a wonderful time with family and days out & about. :o) Happy birthday belated--to you & Vinny too! LOVE that top photos of you both with your grands! So happy you're still loving the "new" life in CO, and looking forward to new adventures on the horizon--very exciting! If I could open a new door, it would be to move back to the US. Financially that is not really possible for us right now, but we think about it as something in the years to come. I wish we could now. I miss my family. And as my parents age and all our time here is limited... well... I think about it a lot. :o) Happy Summer Days ((HUGS))

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  20. Belated happy birthday to both of you - what a great way to celebrate!

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  21. How wonderful to have such a special birthday celebration!

    Who of us at one time or another wouldn't want to "open a new door?"

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  22. What an original idea, to add your years to those of your husband and what a perfect couple you are, linked even in your birthdays, you're really 'one plus one' !

    Let me say that you're such a beautiful person, so enthusiastic about life, original, witty ... in one word simply wonderful !
    Thank you for your friendship xox
    Dany

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