Visits

This isn't our first guest of 2019, but its the first one who was more then just an overnight pop-in. So happy that it was my lady love, my sister from another mister, my Babs.

We've been doing the long-distance bff thing basically since college, so we're pretty used to it now. That said... it was so damn good to have her here! I could hug her! She took my yoga classes! We stayed up too late every night, talking and just being together. 

I already talked about the concert which was just so much fun, but I think one of my favorite parts of her visit was watching my two best girls together. I just adore how they adore each other.

We also got to catch a movie together (for the first time in AGES! - The Intruder - so good, so intense), and we ate So. Much. Amazing. Food!

(Denver-ites - go to Watercourse! Its vegan, which I am not, but we all adored everything we ate, and absolutely plan to go back.) 

It was too quick by the time we dropped her off at the airport, which so many things I still wanted to show her, but it was an amazing visit. 💙

I absolutely cannot wait to have her back again!!

Wordless Wednesday {New Little Body Decorations}

 (These little cuties make me so happy!!)

Not Yet Summer, But Summer Break!

Friday was Gwen's last day of 3rd Grade.

(First day...)

It has been an amazing year of growth and changes for her (and us)!

(Last day!)

She was both excited and sad about her last day. She's made some great friends this year! We have some solid plans for the summer, and I think its going to be our smoothest one yet.

WOTE Take 3! {2019 Concert #2}

You might recall for Christmas 2017, Heather was gifted with a trip out here so we could go to the Lady Gaga concert together. Well... Christmas 2018 brought her another such surprise! This time for Walk off the Earth. It was my 3rd time seeing them, and her first! This was my second time seeing them with James as well!

We had beautiful weather, warm and clear.

More about the rest of her visit later, but for now I just want to tell you about the concert. It was her and I, James, and Trav came (but worked it). WOTE puts on such an amazing show, but this one was a little different as it was the biggest venue I'd seen them at, and it was the first show after Beard Guy died.

Red Rocks is such an amazing venue, and I'm so glad I got to watch Babs experience it for the first time!

The show was amazing... high energy fun!!

Sarah and Gianni even came up into the audience at one point... right in front of us!

Near the end, we all lit up blue hearts in memory of Beard Guy, which made me tear up, but the rest of the night was all dancing, singing, and laughs.

I cannot wait to (hopefully) do this again with my lady love!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday {Birthday Boy}

This handsome guy is 39 today, send him some birthday love. 

Gwenie and I are so damn lucky to have him!!

Mother's Day

A month or so ago, I lost my wedding ring, I thought for good! I had to take it off at the gym because I forgot my lifting gloves, and it fell out of my pocket. I was so upset. I looked everywhere and couldn’t find it. After a day or two I started looking at rings, and I settled on this gorgeous band with a tree design and little, tiny diamond stars. 🌲✨

The next day I went to the gym and there was my wedding band! Someone had found it (who knows where, or who!) and placed it on top of a machine for me. I was so glad to have my original wedding ring back! But... I was a little disappointed not to be getting that gorgeous new band! It was just so beautiful, and so me!

Well, Mother’s Day came and so did my gorgeous ring!

I'm so in love with it, and so grateful for Trav and Gwen for getting it for me. Now I can wear both, which is even better.

The timing was perfect too, since I got home from my Rocky Mountain trip on Mother's Day. I was greeted with this, with a lovely card by Gwenie, and Trav cooked me one of my favorite foods.

I hope that you felt loved, honored, and seen on Mother's Day... whether it was a beautiful day or a hard day for you. Know you have my love.

Into the Forest I Go...

This past weekend I got to head out of town with a girlfriend of mine, Elise, and up into the mountains. Its hard to believe, but this was really a first for me... a trip into the woods for a bit of nature time with just a friend and no child in tow!

We headed into Rocky Mountain National Park, another first for me, and it blew us away!

We got there Friday afternoon, got set up in our camping cabin, and headed to just take a spin around the park. Just a little hiking that day, but it was quite snowy, so just a mile or so felt like a lot more!

Saturday was our first real day in the park. We stopped so I could stamp my passport, and grab some other small things, then it was up into the park. We headed up, and up, and up, to 9500ft and the start of the Bear Lake Trail. We hiked about 4.5 miles round trip, over almost 4' of snow, gaining about 750ft!

It was so much fun... hard work, but gorgeous and so worth it!

I need to buy some YakTraxs, but I made do pretty damn well without. I did change my method of descent in a few extra steep/slick place... 😆

We then changed things completely, heading back down to the Meadows near Moraine Park, and took I think a combination of the Cub Lake Trail and something else! Ha! Whatever it was, it was absolutely gorgeous!!

This hike was easier, in that it stayed relatively "flat", and there was no snow! 

We met some friendly locals (don't worry we kept as much distance as possible!), as we hiked another 4-5 miles, bringing our day's total to around 10.

We headed into Estes Park for a little after that, just to check out the town, then it was back to cook some dinner over the fire and happily take off our hiking boots.

In true Colorado form, this lovely surprise swung in to grace us with its presence...

But it passed in about 15 minutes, and we were able to return to our fire and spend the rest of the evening outdoors.

Our last day we headed way further South in the Park, coming into the Wild Basin Ranger Station, and hiking about 5m round trip to Calypso Cascades, gaining 715 ft along the way.

It was such a beautiful end to our trip... the rushing waters, the evergreens, it all made us East Coast gals feel right at home.

After dropping Elise at the airport, it was time to head home and visit with my loves for a little bit before heading to teach.

Even with all these words, its hard to explain how much this trip meant to me, how gorgeous this park is, and how fulling this weekend was. We managed to get in some very diverse hikes, with some very Colorado weather (snow! hail! beautiful sun! insane winds!), and while I can't wait to go back, I'm so pleased with what we did.

Fingers crossed, Elise and I would love to make this an annual event; and I can't wait to take my family to this amazing National Park.