Adventures in Colorado

In May, Mom and I traveled to Colorado for a few celebrations with my cousin's family. We had such a good time seeing family members and hanging out for a birthday and then a First Communion.

Since we didn't let the family know that we were staying through Monday for some strange reason, we were left with a Monday without family and without plans (since they had to work).

So Mom and I decided to take a trip up into the mountains and see some fun tourist-y stuff. Without a lot of time and since both of us wanted to see the scenery, we bought a package tour on Grey Line for the morning. It worked out great!

 

The first stop on the tour was up in the mountains, to Red Rocks. This is an amphitheater from the 1930s that has hosted concerts and other presentations since then. In the mornings, lots of locals come to work on the rows and rows that have been built into the side of the mountain.

It was such a beautiful morning to be outside, I can totally understand why these locals wanted to work out in the sunshine!

 

After we spent a bit of time enjoying Red Rocks, it was time to set off for the next stop.

This is postcard point, or something like that. All the postcards in the Denver area that have the mountain range on them were supposedly taken from this overpass on the way out of town. Not sure how true that is but my goodness, it is pretty!

The next stop on the trip was Buffalo's Bill grave.

Buffalo Bill had a simply amazing life story. He had such grand adventures! There's a museum at this site that documents everything he had accomplished and then some. His grave is on Lookout Mountain along with his wife, in Golden, CO. It's a gorgeous view.

It's awesome to note that there is also a fake buffalo on the grounds, but like the signs says, we couldn't get on it. :(

You can see all of Denver and the suburbs from up there.

That was the last of the big stops on the Grey Line tour, so they took us back to the mall where we had started. Since Mom and I had a few more hours to kill before our flight left Denver, we did some quick googling of other fun things to do in the area.

We found out that Hammonds Candy Factory gives free tours frequently! Done and done.

 This is a family-owned candy company (until very recently) that's been making candy canes and other yummy things since the early 1920s.

They make everything by hand in this factory and it shows. They give samples at the end of the tour and it is quite good!

Of course, you finish the tour by entering a gift shop. There were so many sweets to try it was almost impossible to choose! We ended up with some truffles for the flight home, and of course some of their famous candy canes for the family we were going home to.

I love trying out little local gems when we travel. Going around Denver with my mom for the day was so much fun - I hope I can vacation with her again sometime soon!

The 2014 Directive - July

I'm working along with a few other bloggers on these directives along with Jessica from Kate and Trudy. More info on the Directive is here.






During the month of June, I was focused on my Rosetta Stone and learning French. It went pretty well and I'm happy to say I've completed a few of the lessons! When asked, I can also say a few short sentences and I'm starting to learn about animals and personal pronouns. We are on our way to learning a new language!

For the month of July, I want to focus on relaxing. There's so much going on with the summer schedules and busy events at work so when I come home, I just want to enjoy a chapter or two of Game of Thrones and learn French on my iPad. That combined with all the things that go along with owning a house and being a human being in this world and that's a bunch of stuff.

So this month, I'm going to allow myself to read when I want, scrapbook when I want, or whatever seems to float my boat. This is after I've completed the top items on my to do list every day, though. That was a directive from earlier in the year and really did help clear out that list!

“The Blessing of the Lord Be Upon You”

May you always feel as close to Jesus as you do today,

May you always count on Him to gently guide your way,

May you always trust in God to answer every prayer,

May you always feel Him blessing you with His loving care.

 

******

Last month, Mom and I were in Denver for a long weekend to see my cousin’s oldest daughter take her First Communion. She’s such a sweetie and was so happy to have the family there for the celebration. I also got to celebrate the birthday of her younger sister and my goddaughter. Mom and I also took a tour around Denver on Monday because we had a late flight. It was a lovely weekend away with family!

The 2014 Directive - June

I'm working along with a few other bloggers on these directives along with Jessica from Kate and Trudy. More info on the Directive is here.

 

I know I say this every month, but I cannot believe it’s June already. The year is almost half over! Time flies when you’re having fun. :)

For this month, I’m going to focus on the French.

Husband has been telling me for years that I need to learn French. He speaks it fluently and we’ve always said that when the time comes, we are going to raise our children bilingually. With his job, there is also the possibility of a rotation in another office in another country. The first one he would be eligible for would be in Paris, maybe as early as next year but more likely 2016. For us to pick up and move to France, wow. What an adventure! Husband has lived in France and had a few opportunities to study abroad during undergrad and law school. I’ve only visited France and Spain on short trips so the idea of moving is crazy to me.

But as I’m a planner, I’ve got to get my ducks in a row. If we are going to live in France in the next few years, I’ve got to be able to speak the language! So, I ordered Rosetta Stone and I’ve gone through the first lesson today. It’s actually really fun, which surprised me!

So this month, I’m going to do a lesson per day to get me going on this new language!

Merci, dudes! What’s on your agenda for this month?

The 2014 Directive–May Wrap Up

It’s the end of May and I haven’t had a soda since last month. It’s actually surprisingly easy to do, until this past week when I started craving soda.

It hasn’t helped me lose any weight since I haven’t been really following a diet the past few weeks but still, I think I’m feeling better. I haven’t given up caffeine but not having soda has made me feel like I’ve accomplished something this month.

With the next month, I think I’ll continue without the soda and come up with another goal to focus on.

How is your month wrapping up?

Adventures in House Tours, part three

The first two parts of the tour of the first floor are here and here.

The second floor of our house is what they call a half story – it’s set into the attic and into the dormers of the house which you can see from the front. It’s a neat way to get more bedrooms upstairs and get all your space. I had no idea that these types of houses existed when we started looking but we are so glad we found it!

Walking up the stairs, there’s a landing at the top that leads to three bedrooms and a full bath. Hubs has his office to the right…

 

Straight ahead from the stairs is my craft room and office. It takes up a majority of the back of the house and looks out onto the backyard. With the built in shelving, it is perfect for my crafting supplies and wedding biz stuff.

The full bathroom upstairs is decorated with a celestial theme with a bit of Disney thrown in for good luck.

The final room upstairs is the guest bedroom, which still needs some decorating help. You can see from a few of these pictures the dormer that both the guest bedroom and Hubs’ office has at the front of the house. It’s just perfect for a place to sit and relax. It’s one of the best places in the house!

We absolutely love our new home! We have already replaced a bunch of things that aren’t quite to our liking and started updating things that need some work, like the patio doors and the landscaping. It’s crazy to think that we’re heading into the summer and about to celebrate one year in our home. Time flies when you’re a homeowner!

The 2014 Directive–May

I'm working along with a few other bloggers on these directives along with Jessica from Kate and Trudy. More info on the Directive is here.










So April just flew by, didn't it? I managed to get three things done from my master to do list - I organized under the sink and a few other things that I can't remember but I know I did!

May is almost half gone and I'm just now updating my directive. But since the beginning of the month, I haven't had any soda. I used to have at least diet one per day but with this month's directive, I'm going to focus on giving up all soda, regardless of regular or diet. I  have also started putting in at least 45 minutes on the treadmill each morning and both of these things together are making me feel really good.

Here's to going a full month without soda! Notice I didn't say caffeine - that I'm still getting through my daily coffee. Not sure if I'll ever be able to give that one up!

What's on your agenda for May?