Skiing in Park City, UT

Ryan took a man trip to visit some friends living in Park City.  Between brewery tours and distillery tours, they seem to have found some time for skiing.  And these were the awesome shots he got!  He should steal the camera from me more often. 

I wasn't worried about the DSLR out and about in the snow at all.  Ha!

Some Things Never Change

...and I'm quite okay with that!

Like preference of hangouts while spending time in Tulsa.  We only had 1 night with friends before the race in OKC and the overall consensus was McNellies, a pub in downtown Tulsa that has been our place of choice for many years.  Maybe it's the familiarity, but we always end up here, and always have a great time.

Another thing I've found that hasn't changed much  is our gang of friends.  I've known most of these friends since middle school and feel blessed that we still make time to get together.  Another great night in good ol' Oklahoma.    

The Open Road

The open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself. -William Least Heat Moon (William Trogdon)

A Girls' Trip to Buena Vista, CO

We had such a great time exploring Colorado this past weekend for our 4th annual girls' trip. Valerie and Julie flew in on Thursday evening and easy enough, the rest of us already live here!  Each year we alternate between exploring a new city and going to "home towns", so this year we chose Colorful Colorado. 

Our first stop on Friday morning was the Colorado hot springs at Mount Princeton.  The resort had 2 large regulated pools, 1 a little warmer than the other that we enjoyed for a few hours.  And my favorite part, actually sitting in the Colorado River where the hot springs met the very cold water to create the perfect temperature.   The resort was beautiful, but soon after we had to hit the road and find our cabin near Buena Vista.  

... with this amazing view.  **jaws dropped**

Saturday was our "adventure day" with river rafting and zip lining.  Both of which I can't wait to do again!

We rafted the Arkansas River and even though it was low, the rapids were quite an exhilarating ride.  Our guide taught us the terms he would soon be yelling out as we go through the rapids and had enough confidence in our group to take different routes than the bigger group took. We made it through without flipping our raft, falling into the river, or loosing an ore, all of which we saw happen with the other groups.  Go team!

After lunch we hopped on a bus to arrive at our zip lining spot, over a canyon, very high in the air.  Whew.  After gearing up with harnesses and helmets, learning how to steer and stop with our hand, we set out for the first line to practice.  The first one I did with my eyes closed, because I was terrified, but the second - the seventh line was so much fun with a beautiful view of the canyon and river below that I soon wasn't scared at all.  Quite proud of all the girl's this day, it was a push out of our comfort zones and everyone had such a fun time.

Our last day we made a big breakfast and took a hike on the Colorado Trail around Twin Lakes.  Then, sadly, had to hit the road back to Denver to say our goodbyes. 

Already looking forward to the next trip!

Anniversary Celebrations

I went a little crazy with Instagram this weekend, so instead of camera shots of our wedding anniversary celebrations in Fort Collins, here is a tiny picture mash-up of all the things that we ate/drank/explored/enjoyed instead!

Left to right: Ryan and I grabbing a bite at Coopersmiths (a recommendations from the guys at New Belgium), a card break from eating at the Taste of Fort Collins, enjoying a drink at Beau Jo's, bloody mary at Snooze, the line for brunch which was totally worth the wait, samplers at Equinox brewing, morning sun from our lovely room at the Armstrong, lattes at Mugs, and an appropriate mug o' plants.  

Christmas in Oklahoma

Holy hiatus!  I pretty much unplugged for 2 weeks and it was nothing less than amazing.  Though I missed "documenting" (as I tell my friends while I'm snapping a thousand photos) on the blog and reading all about your holidays too, it was a nice break.

And now I have a whole lot of catching up to do... get ready.

A few photos from our time in Oklahoma:

You just can't beat an Oklahoma sunset, they are beautiful.  Always.

Zia's favorite part about Christmas?  Ripping up all the wrapping and tissue paper. 

McNellie's is a long-running tradition with my friends; we always get together for a drink on Christmas night.

Fluffy sky's on our way to my Gran's

And homeward bound.

I was in true relax-mode, because these are the only photos I took from the trip!  Our time in Oklahoma was filled with family and friends and road trip adventures.  (Adventures = watching Crazy, Stupid, Love multiple times in the car).

Thanksgiving in Oklahoma

11 hours in the car, with 4 adults, 3 dogs, 2 mountain bikes, 5 duffel bags, 4 iPhone's, 1 book.. and a partridge in a pear tree.

   

The trip was a complete whirlwind, but one filled to the brim with family & friends, black Friday shopping, car games, hugs & kisses, football, movies, and family dinners.  It was more than we could've hoped for (well, minus a bit of car trouble).  

We made it back to Denver around 10pm, dropped our bags at the door, and crashed.  Possibly from our extended food coma, I'm not sure.  It was such a great trip.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!

Welcome, Autumn

You're my favorite of all.  

(photos from New York, 2009)

our (labor free) weekend

We spent the long weekend in Taos, NM soaking up the sun, biking around town, eating so much food (preferably smothered in green chili), sitting in the hot springs, exploring the Rio Grande Gorge, and visiting the oldest pueblo community. 

The boys went mountain biking one day, while I hiked the same trail with the pups.  A storm rolled in quickly, so fast that I turned myself around and started running back to the car.  I was a little scared, and so glad I decided to turn around.  The boys came riding down the mountain just as I made it to the car and the HAIL came pouring down.  Whew! 

Taos was a fun little Labor Day getaway.