A Celebration of Love and Good Friends

A long time ago, in a city that is warm and bright, I met a girl named Mallory. Then, right then, a friendship was born. Mallory and I bonded over a 6-mile run, in the toasty month of August, to Sunrise Mountain and back. That day we talked about pretty much everything, really anything that could keep our feet moving and help us back to water and air-conditioning.

We must have been the strangest runners of all time. From the costumes we would wear (like wings and swords and who knows what else), to our arguments over if the poop we saw on the trail came from a horse or a dog. From the most sincere glee at getting five whole dollars on our long cross country trips and then spending that entire five dollars on candy (and really scaring everyone else on the bus with the added sugar in our veins).

I can pinpoint some of my very best high school memories to Mallory. She was a gem of a friend. One of those friends that you can just count on, you know?

So when Mallory announced her engagement, it was a no-brainer that we were going to celebrate her marriage with her. And a celebration it was! She looked absolutely beautiful. I think most of it was due to the utter joy she was emulating. She was just so happy.

What topped it off was that I got to spend it with Jacquelynn, another great friend from high school. We took my camera and left our significant others and became those obnoxious people who act like they're photographers at wedding but really aren't. And what kills me, really kills me, is that I didn't even get a pictures with Mallory, actually not even one of her. Sometimes I just fail at things. But here are the fruits of our labors. It was so beautiful and so like Mallory that we pretty much oohhed and awwed over everything.

And the way the light filtered through the trees and made everything glow just topped it off. It was so nice to celebrate Mallory's big day with her. We are so thrilled that she found the man of her dreams that she will spend forever with. It makes me ever so grateful that I found my forever too. Here's to true love and being together forever.

A grand time in Winter Park.

When we moved to Colorado we became instantly more popular. All of the sudden a lot of people wanted to come visit us, I guess Boise, Idaho never really sounded all that cool. Of course we are never ones to turn away a good visitor. So we were very pleased when my dear sister, Tenille, and her husband, Ben decided to come be apart of our Colorado journey. I think they were pretty excited to come north a little bit, considering that that particular weekend was supposed to reach 118 in Arizona, which should be illegal.

Before they had journeyed our way they did some serious research as to what activities to participate in in this part of the country, and I think right when Ben stumbled along Trestle Bike Park in Winter Park, Colorado he was entirely sold. This place is a mountain biker's heaven. Seriously. You take a lift up the mountain and then you ride down. And repeat. And yes, that kind of takes the workout of the mountain biking experience, but since Tenille and I took the lift up, then hiked down, I can't really say much, since that is just about the same thing :)

While the boys frolicked around the mountain Tenille and I signed up for the "Adventure Pass" that included all sorts of adventurous things such as: a rock wall, a trampoline thing, a bounce house (shaped as a snow cat), a maze (that I could almost see over), an alpine slide, and lots of other things that the kids 8 and under were super excited about. And we used that adventure pass to the fullest, well almost. Since Tenille is expecting a little one in August she watched me and all of the other little adventurers have a grand time. But, she told me not to worry, because I fit in just fine.

You can obviously see that the boys tore it up. They looked so intense in all of their gear and when Brandon did that stare off into the distance face I felt like I was witnessing a real life professional. Which he pretty much is :) 

We loved having our family up here and loved that we could explore with them and hope that more people follow in their footsteps, hint hint :)

Camping (take two) featuring the delightful town of Moab, Utah.

Remember just not too long ago when I gave you a very helpful and nice list that focuses on some of the major faux paus of camping/campers that I actually got to experience first hand? And it was so sad and pathetic that I am pretty sure all ten of my faithful readers were almost feeling sorry for us while also laughing at our misery. I realized that we needed to redeem ourselves and that we were not going to let that little tent get the better of us.

We chose Moab, Utah to be our area of success and the night before departure (which is I suppose is pretty similar to last time) we booked a two night stay at a cozy KOA campground. Equipped with community bathrooms and everything a KOA can offer (which really isn't much). We decided that cooking and camping wasn't really our thang so I purchased four Chobani yogurts, enough snacks to get us through a natural disaster, and of course some s'more stuff. Then left the good town of Moab to furnish all our other eats. And it did, and oh my goodness that was such a better idea than cooking our own dang food.

Now, I am not going to pretend like we became expert campers over a couple of weeks, because that is a lie. We still had our one mistake or two or three. One being that we left at four in the afternoon for a destination that was six hours away, which after a good two hours in traffic, became an eight-hour drive and a midnight arrival, that I am sure made all of our neighbors very happy. Especially since we did indeed blow up our two twin air mattresses using the inverter in the car, which also included two glaring headlights that illuminated our neighbors tent. To the foreigners from Europe who camped by us, who bought all of their camping gear at the Walmart just for this special trip, we are so very sorry. We American's really are not that rude.

But, it was such a pleasant trip. Aside from the dust storm the next night that had me feeling like I was at the beach due to the extraction of sand from my ears, teeth, and basically everywhere else that I got to complete the next morning.

We visited Arches National Park which is a must see in this lifetime. And I know for most people this is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but you just gotta go. The way the red red rock hits the brilliant blue sky is kind of magical and leaves you staring breathless for some time. You don't see that everyday folks. And those arches. Geological wonders that you need to see and stand under in person.

As you can see, I chose to camouflage for the entire trip. I also tried to capture as many Brandon staring at the arches in amazement pictures as possible because he just loves that so ;) But being up on those fins and gazing across the horizon at this land of red and rock makes for a "I am never going to forget this" kind of time. Which, I hope I never do.

You know you're a novice camper when...

1. You decide to go camping that very same day and set out driving with the idea that yes, you will find a spot, and it will be B-E-A-U-TIFUL, and cheap, and wonderful, and everything a camping sport should be, on the very first weekend of the summer. (The expectations of camping gives me a good chuckle every now and then.)

2. You bring two full size twin air mattresses and fill them up using the inverter in your car.

3. The only entertainment you can find is gathering up pine needles for a fire and then taking pictures of the said person gathering pine needles.

4. You buy a tarp for your tent that is positively too small.

5. You forget that you're in the mountains, and it's May, and that is it still FREEZING at night.
6. You also forget gloves, a warm hat, and a personal size heater that can keep you warm at night. And realize that once away from the fire, you are screwed.

7. You forget that animals, such as coyotes, do live in the wild. And yes, they do howl, and it starts at 2 in the AM and ends at sunrise.
8. You forget that tents don't have blinds, so when it becomes light at 5 in the AM, you wake up. And you realize you are still freezing.
9. At the 5 AM wake up call, you throw everything back in your car. EVERYTHING. You skip the sleeping bag roll-up, the air mattress roll-up, and they go in as is.
10. You make breakfast because you feel like you should, using the pans from your fully furnished apartment, that are not yours, because hey, you don't really care what happens to them. But, in the end the eggs and bacon are pretty inedible.

11. You drive away at 8 in the AM, when at the same time the lady in the trailer next to you ambles out looking all warm and cozy with a cup of something hot and calls out, "stay longer next time!" And you say yes, but there is NO way there is going to be a next time.

And that's what a novice camper does. And although at the time it seemed pretty wretched, looking back, it brings a nice laugh. Have a fun weekend! 

When you start to explore Colorado.

I think the teacher in me has rubbed off into various areas of my life. For example, we wanted to go on a fun weekend trip and I created a totally awesome PowerPoint to show all of the different places we could go. A real PowerPoint guys, with handcrafted designs and links and pictures and videos and everything that makes a really great PowerPoint.
Anyways, the PowerPoint did its job and we chose to trek our way up to the Vail area.

It is so pretty there.
So pretty.
The way the aspens litter the mountains and work their way through the pines like they have a place to be and they are going to get there if it is the last thing they do. It kind of takes your breath away.

We hiked and biked and walked through the little towns and just had such a nice time. We also stayed in a 4 star hotel that did not have air conditioning. I repeat, did not. I think Brandon was in total shock when we entered the room and it was a good 80 degrees. Actually, he probably is still in shock. He made sure to clarify with the man at the desk that this hotel really did not have AC, the attendant informed Brandon that that was obviously what windows were for. Well, duh.

Also, have you ever hiked in the mountains of Colorado? It is not that easy. I mean it's super pretty, but just not that easy. Especially when the hikes you choose literally go straight up. Like so straight that when we came to rocks in the trail I had to use my hands because my short little legs couldn't make it over the rocks in one step. (That seriously made me sound like a midget and even though I had to clarify to some of my students that although I am on the shorter side I am not a midget, 5 feet over here folks). And then imagine doing that for like oh, 2 miles. And gaining serious elevation. Seriously, is 1,500 feet in 2 miles even legal? I don't think so.

Hopefully I am not painting a bleak picture in your mind, because it was very fun. I just love these weekend trips with my hubby. Here are some pictures to prove its beauty and its wonderfulness :)

Now, stay tuned for our next weekend adventure. Because oh my goodness, it was a serious adventure. Like the use of tents and everything :)