Next up: Puerto Vallarta Pride!

I am sitting here at a hotel bar tonight, in Grand Junction, CO of all places. I don't normally frequent hotels in my own town, but tonight the incredibly talented Shea Bramer is singing at The Doubletree... and well, Shea is awesome, Shea has a GREAT voice, and...I needed to eat.

Sitting here sipping a "Tequila in Fashion" (tequila, mezcal, bitters, Demerara syrup and orange oil) thinking I might as well get a jump start on the tequila consumption.

I leave for the airport at 4:30a tomorrow and will be beachside by ~1p if all goes according to plan. Suitcase is packed, overly...and camera is ready to go.

It's been a busy week getting a security system set up at home, the garden self-sustaining for the upcoming travels, normal work, a loan closing, several Community Food Bank meetings, a few Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association meetings...and just trying to settle into life. I've been walking to the office, lunch or dinner, coffee shops, Good Judy's. So much of my life is on Main St. How fun is that?

I had the most amazing coffee with Amy. We aren't sure how or why we connect the way that we do, or why it's just started now, but the conversations are so powerful. She's a light and an inspiration. Thank you Amy, for sharing and also being vulnerable.

The cats absolutely know I am leaving. They cuddle a bit more. They meow more. They follow me around and are both at the door every time I walk in. It happens when I pull out the suitcase...

The cats normally just hang out and are indifferent to life, but pull out that suitcase and it's all meows on deck. They officially turn 16 on on Memorial Day. At least that's their gotcha date and the day I celebrate their birthday.

Work continues to be ok. I ran thru some year-to-date numbers and it's definitely down significantly. It's not so fun financially but also thankful to have resources to sustain. I am obviously out having all sorts of fun, unapologetically...but I have had to make some shifts to make sure life is sustainable thru the end of the year and the completion on the 7 continents. It's all going to be good!

I dont have a ton planned for my 9 nights in Puerto Vallarta. A Sunday Brunch hosted by drag queens, a Pink Party dinner hosted by the one and only Shangela, and a hotel switch midweek as I booked my travels too late on a busy Pride weekend to stay in the same place the entire time. I can't wait to experience a Pride Parade surrounded by 300,000+ spectators.

Next week, I get to work from the beach, and without a bunch of time zone changes to worry about. That's a plus. I'll be hoping and looking forward to several additional clients offers get accepted. Nothing would make me happier to help their achieve their dreams while I am living mine.

I am living my dream. The struggle is realizing and accepting that I matter. I deserve to be loved. I can believe in hope. I can believe in myself. I can believe that I can also do better. I can believe in others... just like Ted Lasso said.

(If you haven't watched the video clip that I posted on my Facebook page, the link is below, but read it, watch it. It's where I am at. You talkin to me Ted?

You know what I wanna mess with? The belief that I matter, you know? Regardless of what I do or don’t achieve. Or the belief that we all deserve to be loved, whether we’ve been hurt or maybe we’ve hurt someone else. Or what about the belief of hope? Yeah? That’s what I wanna mess with. Believing that things can get better. That I can get better. That we will get better. To believe in yourself. To believe in one another. That’s fundamental to being alive. -Ted Lasso

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aze06ki_GIU

I keep on going back to a simple question, with a lot of implications. A few weeks back, Charles asked me if I believed in love.

I hope I do. I believe I can.

I think that's enough. Rip the bandaid off. Throw myself out there (thank you Stella), surround yourself with people that celebrate you. And away I go...

-Cole from Colorado.