Dragon Boat Festival

Saturday afternoon we went to the Dragon Boat Festival near Sloan's Lake with a few friends and pretty much had the best day ever.

Let me explain...

We ate some ridiculously good food.  

Our group of 7 all ordered a plethora of eats, from kabobs to desserts, basil strawberry tea, and this Vietnamese slaw, which I devoured in about 5 seconds.  Amazing. 

There was shade everywhere.

And for such a hot day in the intense sun, these shade canopies let us stay just a little bit longer.  If you got lucky, you found a canopy with a built in mister.  Yes. 

Breakdancers.

I sat at this tent for 2 hours and learned so much: you don't yell "get it girl", you say "oooooooooh" when someone does something cool.  I danced in my seat more than I probably should've.  The dancers started laughing during their performances.  You should play it cool, because these kids were cool.  I had a crush on the boy in the front, what a cutie.  And lastly, I want to take a break dancing class.  Stat. 

We got to row on the dragon boats!

Our group asked at the beginning of the day if we could go out and race on the boats.  The volunteer said teams have been formed for months and that everything is set.  So sad.  

My friend Ashley saw this group of concerned looking people in matching T-shirts and asked if everything was okay.  Wellllllll, half their team didn't show up!  So we jumped up and down and said WE CAN ROW!.  So, we threw on extra large t-shirts, grabbed a paddle, and went out on the boat.  

The team taught us their chant, how to row, where to sit, and before we knew it, we were racing down the lake.  We lost, but who cares, we were on a boat!

See, best day ever.

Summer Playlist

(via)

Summer is in full swing; lounging by the pool, sitting on the porch with a cool glass of iced tea, outdoor concerts, picnic blankets on the grass, group gatherings.. it all makes me smile real big.  Even though it's blazzing hot outside, the summer is always one to remember. 

My music preferences change with the seasons and the summer mix tends to be the most "un-Kendra-like" because I'm one to mostly enjoy chill, acoustic music.  But summer really calls for upbeat, don't you think?

(Okay, I threw in a slower song, but I can't help but enjoy this Kanye cover by The Fray.)

Karaoke Goodbyes

Just weeks after moving to Colorado, I was invited to a Book Club, and greeted by so many welcoming faces.  Besides all the books we've been reading and discussing, I've really enjoyed getting to know the women as well.  They are fantastic.

Sadly, we're loosing Robyn in the next month to Florida's oranges and ocean side.

Last night we celebrated.  With karaoke. 

Robyn and her 2 friends kicked off the party with Cee Lo.

And Beth brought the house down with a little Jackson 5.

Robyn, you will be greatly missed!

Gone Fishin'

That's where I've been for the past few days!

My parents came into town for a long weekend of fun in Denver.  We did all sorts of things, mostly a lot of eating, which is truly the best part of a vacation.  But we also went fishing, something I hadn't done in 5 years?  Maybe 6? Oh, it was fun.  My daddio was totally in his element, fishing shirt and all.

Life lately, according to my iPhone

Left to right:  red, white and blue scooters spotted on the 4th of July, scene of a quiet evening, "you rang?", dinner at Rio Grande, inspired to purchase Instant Love from this video, the first doughnut shop I found since moving, new life in our apartment, group bike ride (the new penguin horn makes me smile uncontrollably), and a beautiful purple sunset.

These little snapshots are almost always my favorite.  They take minimal thought, just a quick click on the iPhone, but somehow develop such a unique story.  I love it. Hello, my name is Kendra and I'm addicted to Instagram. 

Let's be friends: @my_simple_story

Film on the Rocks

We went to see Bridesmaids at Red Rocks on Tuesday night with many other women living in the Denver area.  Okay, a few guys too, but mostly ladies.  And it was awesome. 

There was lots of clapping and cheering.  And people dressed in bridesmaid dresses (of course!).

So the movie screen shot was a little inappropriate for the bloggy (so I sort of blacked it out), but check out that view of the city!   Isn't it incredible?!

Film on the Rocks is totally worth the $12 ticket.  The venue never dissapoints.

And then, we climbed another 14er

Just a week ago, I climbed my first 14,000+  foot mountain.  And before I knew it, we were going up another!

Meet Mount Sherman.  He was a rocky fool.

A storm rolled in just as Beth and I were about to summit -- the boys had already  made it to the top and we knew we had to hustle.

We pushed and pushed and pushed to finally make it to the top, took ONE group photo (this is not acceptable for me), and hauled back down.  Ryan was really worried about the storm and told the group to walk as fast as we could, without falling down the rocks of course.

It rained on us a lot and Zia had to get a free ride in Ryan's jacket because she was so cold, but we all made it back safe and sound.

More of the Great Outdoors

... I realized this morning just how much this blog has evolved since we moved to Colorado. And with those changes, I'm sure a few followers are probably bored to death with all the outdoors-y photos, lack of crafty projects, or kitchen creations.  But I've always wanted to stay true to myself through blogging, and well, this is sort of what I do with my extra time now.  And I'm pretty darn happy.  Thanks for following along on this new journey with me!

Without further ado, here are a few photos from the weekend:

We got in a great hike on Friday before the storms rolled in for the weekend.

Zia is OBSESSED with chipmunks -- obsessed as in, capturing these little guys  must happen or life is amiss.  

My friend Josh visited us this weekend for a mountainous escape from Phoenix.  He and Zia were best buddies.  This is also one of my favorite pictures of all time.  Pure Joy!

Rainy days ahead. 

 Our campsite for the weekend.  The rain put us right to sleep.

On our screen lately...

As much as it might look like we're out and about all of the time, we really do relax at home quite a bit.  We're the family that eats dinner around the TV, gasp I know.  We always cook dinner together, so that's our time to catch up on our day, then when it's time to eat, we pick a show to watch for the rest of the evening. 

Lately we've been glued to the Olympic Trials, I can't wait for the real deal in just a few weeks.  Each commercial makes me tear up too, they are so inspiring! 

Every Monday a few of us girls get together to watch The Bachelorette.  We're all on edge wondering who Emily is going to choose as her fiance!  (I personally thought Arie was going to take it home, but Jef and Sean are both creeping into the lead, in which I'm A-okay.)

On Netflix we're in Season 3 of Friday Night Lights and just started Parenthood, both really great shows.  The latest documentaries I've enjoyed are The Business of Being Born and Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey, both inspiring in their own ways.  We're not talking about having kids any time soon, but the documentary about home births was very interesting.  And Being Elmo is just a great, feel good story of a boy who had a dream that he worked hard to make into a reality. 
 
What are you watching?  Any recommendations for us?

Roller Derby

Roller Derby is awesome, guys. 

It's a physical game, chalked full of strategy and quick decisions.  The teams are made up of women of all ages and sizes and they are seriously rocking it out there.  I got to meet some of the nicest people; the whole derby community feels warm and welcoming.

I had such a great night!

Thanks for taking me to my first bout, Beth!  Cheers!

Atop

WE MADE IT.

So much work to snap a photo of this land marker!

The adrenaline kicked in and we all hauled up to the top of this mountain.  And right as we reached the top, it started snowing.

Best PB& J, ever. Seriously though.

We worked really hard to get to the top, so pictures of our accomplishment were in order. And just look at the views.

A huge accomplishment for me and honestly I don't think I could've climbed the mountain without our little group. They were my cheerleaders and much needed comic relief and I truly had the best day.