Olde Town Arvada

Our pup loooooooves to wake up early and we think it's just the cutest thing.  No, that's a gigantic lie.  It's quite annoying, but she gets us out of bed and doesn't let us waste any daylight during the weekends which we can't help but be thankful for.

Saturday, at 8am, we set out to a local coffee shop & bakery in Olde Town Arvada.  It's a charming little area, filled with people who hold open doors and wave hello. 

Afterward we walked down each street and took in the sights of Olde Town.  Unfortunately the waving people were absent... it was 8am after all. 

Once upon a time

... there was a race for Story Book characters from all over the land.

And two who showed up for the affair in princess nightgowns because they had no idea the costume potential among these characters.  They decided quickly that they should come better prepared next year for the looks they received were ghastly.

But the girls didn't mind because they matched and had on fun socks and thought their costumes were awesome.

They made friends with 3 little pigs and decided to take on the scavenger hunt together, a super group of 5.  They ran and ran and ran! 

And enjoyed games and riddles that led them to clues all over town.

The scenery was beautiful too! What a fun way to explore Denver.

Three hours and 8 tasks later, it was time to say goodbye to their new friends.  Everyone had the best time and are already planning a reunion.

Until next year...

On our screen lately...

We quit cable!  I was inspired by this post and after talking to Ryan about all the outdoor fun we would be having this spring/summer, it was a pretty easy decision.  Though, if Ryan was living all by himself, he probably wouldn't even have a tv!  It was easy to sway him, so we quit a few months ago, and are doing A-okay.  Especially with Netflix, because it's awesome and has so many documentaries streaming!  And other great things like Portlandia, The Office, and The Wonder Years.  So, for the days we're not outside playing, I like to sit and relax and watch a flick.  Here are a couple we enjoyed lately:
  

Man on Wire - I'm scared of heights and ledges, so this documentary was pretty much the ultimate for me.  An inspiring tale of a Frenchman who devoted his life to tight roping.  When he heard word of the World Trade Center being built in New York in the late 60s, he set his goal to one day walk across the two towers.  I had a mix of emotions watching this, not only for the tight roper and the danger alongside, but also watching the footage of men building and working on the World Trade Center.  

For the Bible Tells Me So - This documentary follows 5 families and how they handle the realization of having a gay child.  It puts bible stories and versus in perspective (i.e. Sodom and Gomorrah) and relates the context to the time period it was written.  Truly an interesting and touching film.

      

Any Netflix shows/movies/documentaries I need to watch??  My queue is getting low!

Down & Derby

Last week my friend Beth asked if I wanted to go to a roller disco with her and a few friends on Friday night.  Obviously, I said YES!  How could I miss such an event?

Beth is a derby girl and had the appropriate shorts and tall striped socks for all of us to wear.  Though, Katy showed up with a full on 70s jumpsuit and afro.  Ah-mazing.  And her hubby had a button-up and bell bottoms.  The attire among the crowd followed suit -- either shorts and tall socks or 70s outfits.

I remembered quickly how long it had been since I put roller skates on my feet: TWENTY YEARS.  That's right, I was about 7 when I last roller skated and then Santa brought me roller blades and it was all about inline skates from there. 

It was a little (a lot) tricky at first.

But by the end of the night, I was dance-skating like the rest of them!

For fun, I took a little video while skating... I was living in the danger zone for about 30 seconds (though I never fell!). 

I mean, check out those outfits. 

The video looks like we're all crawling along, but everyone was skating pretty fast.. while dancing.  Impressive.  And the soul train music was bopping all night long.  

Such a fun filled night with this lady!  

Currently...

(via)

attempting to // start running again with Zia.  She's thrilled. 

excited about // roller-disco tonight!  Photos to come of course. 

listening to // Of Monsters And Men a lot.

loving // new turban headbands from Dottie Adele.  Super cute, ya'll.

hating // that there is never enough time in the day to get everything done.  So lately I've been staying up way too late and going to work so very tired.  I've longed a bit for my college self again!  We were invincible back then. 

looking forward to // Bon Iver at Red Rocks this summer (pre-sale tickets purchased!)

reading // Little bee by Chris Cleave.  So far, so very good.

stumbled upon // double dutch dog.

watching // Downton Abbey - Season Two.  Things are getting wild. 

spending time // outdoors, laying on the grass, just soaking it all in. Mmm...

Rockies Game

So. Many. People.

Me - SUPER excited.  Ryan - Mildly excited.  That pretty much sums us up.

Beautiful views.  And check out the popcorn seller, he was awesome.

Ryan, and a friend sitting behind, both caught free t-shirts. You know the ones they shoot from a launcher that are always x-large?  Well, Ryan's was an XL and our friends was a S.

 My first Colorado Rockies baseball game was a total blast:  I ate bad (good) food, bought a Rockies T, sang "take me out to the ball game", cheered and booed, and had an all around fabulous night. 

Spring Cleaning

This weekend I spent a lot of time spring cleaning...

The apartment mostly, with its unorganized kitchen pantry, and the bare patio which now has pretty new flowers and a strawberry plant(!), even the bathroom got a new bright-colored shower curtain.  I was all over the place.

We had a rainy Sunday in Denver, which was a perfect excuse to stay in stretchy pants all day long, while watching documentaries on Netflix and playing around with the bloggy layout.  Springtime was definitely on my mind; when I finished I saw the burst of color that formed on the screen and I liked it. 

TGIF

Two of my favorites:

Texts from Hillary (sadly, it's come to an end)

Handmade Ryan Gosling (one of the many "hey girl" memes)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Purchased

Welcome to our home, little turntable.

When we lived in Oklahoma City, we spent a lot of time at the Pyle house; growing, crafting, or wedding planning (Joey did officiate for us after all).  It was our meeting ground, always comfortable in that lived in kind of way and always filled with music.  The sound of a record player doesn't take me back to my childhood, it takes me back to that house with our great friends where we talked about life and God and the future.

Ah, we miss them so.

I hope to fill our apartment with some great tunes just the same; there's something about a record player that makes me happy, really really happy.

In the kitchen: pinterest success stories

Left to right: creamy spring pasta, strawberry and cream muffins, breakfast muffins, roasted cabbage with lemon, vegetable tian, spinach salad, eggplant with goat cheese, cake batter bars, and vegetarian hot pot.

I haven't shared many recipes on the blog lately, even though we've been cooking so much at home.  My Pinterest board is full of delicious-looking foods (that I can't wait to try myself), but I thought I would share only the success stories -- the recipes that we actually made and enjoyed!

PS  We eat the eggplant and goat cheese dish about once a week, it's so good.  

Camping in Fruita, Colorado

We went camping in the desert this weekend.  What an experience!  I brought my hammock and no coat.  And quickly learned there are no "real" trees in the desert (at least, ones that are tall enough for hammock laying) and you always need a coat. The temperatures were below freezing at night.  Below freezing!  Zia and I instantly became best friends inside my sleeping bag.

Everyone went mountain biking, so I took a few long hikes, read a book and started a new one (Kindle is the best), napped, snacked, and then taught everyone a new card game when they finished up riding. You all need to buy Monopoly Deal, it's such a fun, quick game and I've been teaching it to anyone who will play with me. 

Car camping is really the best; you can cram as much stuff in your car as possible. So I brought a real pillow, chairs and a table (for cards, of course), and foooood!  We ate like kings, it was great. 

Sunday night we made our way back to Denver, completely covered in dirt and utterly exhausted.  Two great signs of a very fun weekend.

Weekend Parking

My friend Jo and her beau just got a new lab puppy, Oz, and he is pretty much the cutest ever.  He is very much in the floppy, awkward, puppy stage where everything is hilarious to us and annoying to her.  Puppies are so hard!  It's true.  But a day at the park was sure to wear this little guy out, so we all basked in 80 degree sunshine while Oz ate sticks, crawled all over us, and stuck his face in my camera lens.  Ugh, adorable.