Summertime Fun

I don't even know where to begin this time as we have had a lot go on this past week. First a big congrats to my husband for taking the bar exam!! Now we play the waiting game until Oct to find out if he passed or not. With Reid taking the bar this week, my days were all messed up. Wednesday was his last day of testing so we went out to celebrate. Weird going out on a Wednesday so my mind was telling me it was Friday.

When the weekend finally arrived we had lots of fun plans. Saturday we went to the Colorado Rapids vs Seattle Sounders soccer game. We wore our bright green proud and helped cheer Seattle on to a victory!

Wearing our Sounders gear proudly as we cheer at Dicks Sporting Goods Park

Sunday we went out and explored more of Colorado. We set out for the Arapho National Forest near Mt Evans. Mt Evans is one of Colorado's mountains that is above 14,000 feet and what is most popular about this mountain is you can take a road to the top. It is suppose to be the highest paved road in America. But be warned if you are afraid of heights, I do not recommend the drive up. I am very much afraid of heights so this part of the trip was not fun for me. If heights are fine with you then this is one drive I would recommend.

Well Reid and I aren't the drive to the top of mountain people, so we parked just below the summit and did some off-trail exploring, away from the crowds. Sometimes this is the best way to see nature because it is untouched. On this trip we saw our first wildlife, a couple deer and a herd of mountain goats. Overall it was a great trip and we made it out just as the thunder began. Gotta love the afternoon thunderstorms!

Reid and I at the summit of Epaulet Mountain

Me with Mt Bierstadt (left) in the background. This was the first 14er I climbed when we moved here

Doggie Alarm

The last few days my dog Snyder had decided when it's time for me to get up and take him outside. I'm hoping this ends soon because I enjoy a little extra sleep on the weekends and the last 40 min before my actual alarm goes off on the weekdays.

This is the look I get in the mornings except he is on my side of the bed and not the foot of the bed. If I happen to be looking in his direction I'll even get a lick in the face. I'll wait a few minutes before paying attention to him and I can just hear his tail wagging back and forth, like he is so excited to be waking me up. "What a meatball," is a common phrase around our house.

It's a good thing we think he is so stinkin' cute..

Sad Day Friday

First I must say how incredibly sad it is for the victims and their families of the theater shooting in Aurora, CO. I'm half-way thankful the shooter was caught and for once we can hear what these people are thinking before they carry out these horrible acts of violence.

Second, I had to take my computer to the repair shop last week and just found out today it is a goner, well unless I want to pay 400 or so to fix it. And I do not so it's back to the unreliable desktop for a while.

But I will end on a positive note...my friend Harry, whom I've know since kindergarten, entered a contest with his friend Adam for a chance to sing the National Anthem at a Kansas City Chiefs football game. They made the final 5 and are currently in first place. If you want to help them win, you can vote at this link. I have six E-mails I'm entering daily to help them win!

Hope your Friday is better than mine...

Irish For A Weekend

This past weekend we had a friend come to town for the Colorado Irish Festival, but before we get to the festival, we took some time to explore Denver and the mountains near Boulder.

While Reid was busy studying for the bar, I took our friend out to downtown Denver. We stopped by the Bronco's stadium (even though I'm a Chief's fan), and then walked around from Elitch Gardens to Coors Field. Having lived in Denver for a couple months now, I'd never been into downtown so it was nice to go explore. After our day of exploring we met up with Reid and went to dinner at the Tavern Uptown. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. They have a big, secluded patio that even allows dogs! Perfect place to spend a Colorado evening.

The next day we drove west of Boulder to the Indian Peak Wilderness area. Even though the Websites warned this was a populated area, we didn't quite realize what we were getting ourselves into. But we soon discovered why everyone goes to this place...it was gorgeous! We went on a hike past Long Lake to Lake Isabelle then a bit further to Isabelle Glacier. Colorado outdoors never let you down.

And now to the reason for our friends visit, the Colorado Irish Festival. Reid and I are waiting for the day when we can take a trip to Ireland, so we took the opportunity to get a sneak peek at this festival. My favorite part of the festival was the music. The Elders were the main performers for the night and we instantly decided we needed a CD. Gotta love the Irish music.

Only a week and a half left until Reid takes the bar exam. I can't wait for this week to be over with, and for the studying from law school and the bar exam to be put behind us, for good!

Elliptical Mania

Fitness is a very important thing in my life and I just realized I don't post much about it at all. As some of you may know, Reid and I took on the challenge of P90X, Insanity, and Insanity the Asylum. We love these programs and continue to pop in a disc for a workout. But for those days where I want something different, or just a reason to get out of the house, I found a great elliptical interval workout I thought I'd share. I've done this a couple times now and my legs always feel like jello when I'm walking back to the house.

http://www.fitsugar.com/Cardio-Workout-Elliptical-Intervals-6926664

My fitness goals are to always do at least 30min a day of a workout. If I have an extra strenuous week, I may even thrown in a rest day :) My fitness motto for getting me through the last 5-10 minutes is inspired by Jillian Michaels when she was on the Biggest Loser. While I can't remember her exact words, her voice is still in the back of my head telling me to push harder, push through the pain because that is how you get stronger and improve.

Me with my free t-shirt I got for submitting my P90X results to teambeachbody.com If you are interested in seeing our transformations from P90X, you can check out my post "Workout Buddies" from October 2011

My New Obsession: Photobooks

Now don't go jumping to conclusions with the title because I still love scrapbooking the old fashion way, but scrapbooks are just too bulky to lay out on the coffee table. So in come photobooks to save the day!! I snag up these Groupons or Living Socials deals whenever I can because someone, somewhere can always appreciate a photobook. Here are a few I have made recently (sorry the first two you'll just have to copy and paste into a new window)...

Wedding/Honeymoon - http://www.mypublisher.com/landing/email/cn/index/eml/raye.tara%40hotmail.com?e=OHm3Q8zJl3QSt0yYKkDpl_vEPmsAJ78s&showForm=true

Tara and Reid's Hiking Adventures - http://www.mypublisher.com/landing/email/cn/index/eml/raye.tara%40hotmail.com?e=OHm3Q8zJl3RVRWGKtoVChnoJYHqVAtWZ&showForm=true

The Jennings Family (post-wedding to present day) - http://app.picaboo.com/WebView/Project.aspx?clientID=9f57f3c7f93b430e2b5b6bd32abe489c&version=245346&siteID=ViaPreview

Well we haven't been up to much lately. Reid is in the final weeks of studying for the bar exam so it's crunch time. We were uneventful for the 4th of July. Since Colorado banned most of their fireworks shows, you either had to go to a sporting event or brave the crowds at the handful of cities who still put a show on. We opted to relax at home and play some cards on the patio.

Hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday and weekend. Happy Monday!

 

Baby Steps in Taking a Hobby to the Next Level

So lately I've been thinking of how I can get back into the design world! I have a degree in Mass Communications, with an emphasis in Print Journalism and I am always so happy when I get the task to make a graduation invitation, church logo, or just scrapbooking my life. In an ideal world I would love to go back to school to get a certificate in graphic design or some sort of print production, more or less for a confidence boost. While this won't be happening anytime soon, I'll spend my time reading about techniques that I can one day incorporate into a design business and creating my own "practice projects" here and there.

I've been pondering what I would one day call my design business (I hate the word business as I in vision this more as a hobby I might get paid for), but here is what I've settled on:

my design name and authenticated stamp for work

title of my blog which will include prior work, design techniques, my inspiration and more

signature

What do you think? My husband Reid helped me make the final decision on name and font to use. While I still have a long ways to go, I'm glad I finally have a concept to roll with when the day comes that I bring this to life.

New Outdoor Adventures

While we couldn't venture very far from home this weekend, the great thing about Colorado is there are so many great places right out your back door! Sunday evening we headed to Ken Caryl Valley, about 15min from our house, to do some mountain biking in South Valley Park. I had so much fun and can't wait to go out again.

 

I'm excited for a day off this week to celebrate the 4th, however celebrations in Colorado will be a bit different this year thanks to the dry weather and wildfires. About 3/4 of the fireworks shows across the state have been cancelled :( We'll have to find somewhere close, or may just stay at home to avoid the chaos of people flocking to the few shows still around.

Happy Monday!!