Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Time.


Today, my youngest niece started kindergarten. It seems like yesterday, it was the summer I was living in San Diego and working at the Sheraton and Khloe was born. So often children wish their youth away, I know I did at times. They can't wait to get out on their own so they can start "doing whatever they want." (quote from Khloe Everett last week) But, then you get to an age when you realize that time goes by faster and faster every year...can you tell I am approaching another birthday?

When I reflect on this last year I can't believe how fast it has gone. Bryant and I are just over a week away from our one year anniversary. This time last year, we were planning all of the last minute wedding details and welcoming family and friends to town.

This year has been an absolute adventure. We went to Italy and Croatia for our honeymoon, road tripped to Washington for Christmas and played hard in Colorado this the rest of the time. I love being married, and I especially love being married to Bryant. I feel so blessed to have met such an amazing man who daily reminds me of how exciting life can be.

So, as I embark on my 27th year, I am grateful for where I am in life right now, for where I have been, and for where Bryant and I will go together...

Monday, August 18, 2008

Crested Butte or Bust 2008!







Bryant and I had an incredible weekend hiking to Crested Butte from Aspen with a group of friends. Despite discouraging weather early Saturday morning, we were blessed with an incredible day. It was absolutely perfect.

We met at 6:00am and drove together to the Maroon Bells trail head, about 20 minutes outside of Aspen. We loaded up our gear and headed out of the parking lot around 7:00am with high hopes, but the weather looked pretty gloomy. About 100 yards out of the parking lot, the lightening was so close, you could feel the electriciy in the air and the thunder rattled into your bones. We decided to wait it out for a little bit. On our way back to the shelter, the hail pounded our heads and backs. We waiting about 20 minutes until we had a window of opportunity and gave it a second chance. By 7:30 we were on our way! About 1/2 mile into the hike the hail started pounding us again, so we took shelter under a big tree. After this storm let up, not a single drop of hail or rain fall the rest of the day. It was really amazing.

We hiked through some of the most incredible country I have ever seen. From Crater Lake to the exposed saddle on top of West Maroon, the views were spectacular. This was by far the most amazing scenery I have even seen on a hike.

The wildflowers deserve their own paragraph. Due to the huge snowpack we had last winter, the ground is still pretty soggy in areas, but the wildflowers are absolutely incredible! We were surrounded by meadows of color almost the entire hike.

Emily Garaffa (who is preggers) offered to pick us up at the trailhead on the Crested Butte side. We made the 45 minute drive into town and found our little Victorian house in town. I found this house on www.vrbo.com, which is my new favorite site for vacation rentals. It was very quaint and only 1 block from downtown Crested Butte.

Sunday we walked around the farmer's market in CB and made the 3 hour trip home.

We had such an incredible weekend. You can enjoy our pictures by clicking on our picture gallery on the right.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Squeaky Clean

I was walking to the post office yesterday and stopped by Bryant's office to say hi to him and Mali. As I walked into the office, Mali came out from under his desk, covered in dirt and filth. We had company coming in from Chicago, so I took her to Barking Beauties, 2 doors down from Bryant's office. These are pictures of how beautiful she looked when she was finished. Squeaky Clean.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Cleaning Up and Cleaning Out...

This weekend wasn't as adventurous as most, although Thursday night I went to see Mama Mia with my good friends Emily and Lindsay. It was such a great movie! I think it is the Grease of our generation.

Friday night Bryant and I stayed in, and on Saturday we woke up and went into Aspen. I walked the farmer's market, while Bryant worked out at the gym. I found the cutest swim suit for our trip to Hawaii in October. I was walking Mali along the Cooper Street Mall and looked in the Helly Hansen window. Mind you, as many women will probably agree, swimsuit shopping can be absolute torture, a reminder of every single frappocino, and scoop of icecream you indulged in and shouldn't have. I spotted this great red bikini with white stitching. I went it and realized it was the last one in the store. I thought for sure it would be a size xxs or xxl since it was so cute. I looked at the tag, and it was my size, however, my scepticism still rose as swimsuit sizing is far from universal. I went into the dressing room with low hopes of it fitting. However, not only did it fit, but it felt like it looked great (I needed a second opinion). I got home and tried it on for BR, and low and behold, he loves it! YIPPY! That was far less painful than I ever imagined!

Saturday evening we went to Trev and Amy's for spaghetti dinner. It is always nice to go down and hang out with my munchkins.

Sunday, we woke up early and Bryant went on a bike ride, and Mali and I went for a run. We went to church and then down to Glenwood for an adventure at Target and the Vitamin Cottage. My eyes have been opened to the world of organic products. My family will probably protest this new finding, but I have been reading a lot about what we blindly put into and onto our bodies. So, if you look in our shower, you will find organic hair products, soaps and lotions. The next step is to get natural/organic makeup and moisturizer. It is a big challenge to rotate through all of our old stuff and replace it with the new, but we are almost there.

I read a great book this weekend, but hesitate to share the title as it could be considered inappropriate or worse, completely misinterpreted...I will give it a shot with an explanation...it is called Skinny Bitch. I know what you are thinking, "why would anyone EVER read a book with that title?" Well, I promise you I have not become a shallow narcissist. A girl at work read it and thought I would enjoy what the authors had to say...and I did. They admit in the book that the title was a mere attempt to sell books, and they did. It is a NYT #1 Bestseller.

It basically explains the function of the body and it's reaction to certain foods. I am not going vegetarian, but I am going to try to lay off dairy for a while...especially since cheese is a major staple in my diet. No cheese or any dairy for 30 days. Yesterday was day 1, and it was pretty easy. Surprisingly the stores around here have amazing alternatives. I will keep you posted on my progress/regress on this adventure. If you have read any of my previous posts, you know my natropathic doctor recommended that I avoid cheese anyway.

I forgot to mention that Bryant and I also cleaned out almost all of the closets in the house. When we moved in, we "cleaned" and "organized" by shoving everything we didn't want to deal with in a closet. So, in an effort to actually settle into our house we cleaned.

We have friends coming in from Chicago today. Big D and Caryn Blanke and their new baby boy, Daniel. We are really looking forward to spending time with them.

Until the next adventure,

B