Project 365: Day 158

Today, history was made.... no, it's not the history that Michael Phelps won a record 19 Olympic medals - although that was quite impressive - it was that for the first time in over 5 years, we left a Rockies game EARLY!

Even after the Josh Rutledge hit a three-run homer to bring the score 6-5 (Cardinals winning) he still let us leave at the bottom of the 6th to come home and watch some real athletes (of course I'm talking about the US Olympic team! Go Michael Phelps and Women's Gymnastics Team Finals!!!) and it's a good thing because as I write this the Rockies are now down 11-5. Geeze Louise guys!

On the bright side, the pitiful Rockies game gave me a chance to play with all the fun features on my new camera!

color swap feature - pretty cool!

Project 365: Day 157

We've had good luck with awesome sweet corn all summer long here in Colorado... until now. Tonight's dinner left much to be desired, but o well - you can't win them all.

Project 365: Day 156

What did we do today??

Watched the Olympics!! U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!!!!

Project 365: Day 155

Saturday night baseball game (watching the Rockies lose is getting old...) followed by Olympics viewing and karaoke-singing at El Charrito.

Three nights in a row of Karaoke!? I think I'm in heaven!!

Project 365: Day 154

THE OLYMPICS HAVE STARTED!!!!!!!!

I am so excited for the Olympics, I can barely contain myself! Friday night we had a little Olympic Opening Ceremony party to celebrate this momentous occasion and then capped off the evening with a second night in a row of Armida's Karaoke!

Jen and the DJ rocking out to Ain't No Mountain High Enough. Good times!

Project 365: Day 153

This is the last week before Nick has to go back to school (the summer FLEW by!) so his co-workers (the new Mrs. and Mr. McDonald) invited some of us over for a little pool party / BBQ on Thursday evening. We had a great time and shared a couple brewskis in the pool.

The evening concluded with Carly Rae YouTube parodies and Nick and I stopping by Armida's for a late-night Karaoke - I'm Like a Bird!!!

Project 365: Day 152

You know it's time to buy a new camera when.....

yea that's right, after several months I finally broke down and replaced the camera that I purchased to replace this camera. I accidentally didn't buy the same one as before, which I'm a little bummed about (I got a PowerShot A4000 when what I really wanted was the PowerShot ELPH300) but now the question is how lazy am I to drive my butt all the way back to Best Buy to swap it out..... hmmm..

Either way, our Olympus served us well for the last 3 1/2 years and it actually still works, but it was time for a new one!

Project 365: Day 151

Holy molly, I am pooped! Thankfully Nick let me veg on the couch while he cooked chicken Kiev (courtesy of Ginger and Omaha Steaks) and rice pilaf with peppers and tomatoes. We ate it on the couch while watching Pawn Stars and it was amazing.

Project 365: Day 150

Allie's last night in the D-town and we had an impromptu girls night for a little trying-on-the-dress party! My wedding dress arrived about a month ago, and I decided to wait until Allie was in town to try it on for the first time. Aimee, Robyn, Jessie, Kebi, and Ashley came too and after my dress's debut we enjoyed good food, cheap wine, and a little celebration for all of our July birthdays.

I was touched at the end of the evening when my MOH and BM (maid of honor and brides maid) embraced in a good-bye hug at the end of the evening. I'm so excited to have them both in my wedding!!!!

 
 

Project 365: Day 149

After an amazing breakfast (courtesy of my grill-master fiance) of bacon, eggs, peppers, and mushrooms, we were ready to hit the road. We headed to Hanging Lake for a short (but steep) 2.4 mile hike.

Due to a ridiculous chain of events, we ended up spending the night in a hotel in Glenwood springs and enjoyed a FABULOUS dinner at The Pullman. We capped off the night watching the season finale of The Bachelorette and slept like babies. What a great weekend for a visit by my sissy!

Project 365: Day 148

Sunrise in the mountains and Allie is off for a solo-morning walk in the woods...

It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day in the mountains and we spent the morning lounging around the camp site enjoying the cool mountain air and early bird views

Afterwards, we headed down to the river for some tubing. We had two epic floats down the river for a total of over 4 hours and 22 people on the water. It was an absolutely amazing day followed by libations and laughter well into the night!

Project 365: Day 147

Finally, my FIRST camping trip of the summer! We trucked it alllll the way out to Dotsero, Colorado for a kick-butt camping site perched high above the Colorado River.  After a crazy morning of working, shopping, packing, and driving, we managed to make it up to the mountains in time to enjoy the evening in the open air.

Followed by some merriment around our propane lanterns (since the fire ban was still in effect). We had a blast!!

Project 365: Day 146

Today I worked while Allie visited the Cigna office in Denver. Hopefully one day she'll get a job here and come live w/ me! but for now, we're just enjoying the visit. For a late birthday dinner, we went to Little India followed by Yogurt Land - couldn't imagine a better meal!

Project 365: Day 145

Allie is here!!!!!!!!

YAY for a long weekend w/ my lil' sissy! Hopefully one day soon she'll live out here with me. I miss her too much!!! As soon as she got to town, I took her to Yoga (she's gotta get into it if she's gonna live out here w/ all the hippies) and then we went to Red Rocks to see Steve Martin and Emmylou Harris.

Project 365: Day 144

it's a whaaaa???

Show and tell for the EPR division at the Rocky Mountain Conference.

Project 365: Day 143

It rained practically ALL day in the mountains with periods of some pretty serious hail. And can you believe it - on July 16th - it snowed on top of the mountain!!! meanwhile it's 90+ degrees in Denver. Crazy stuff!

Project 365: Day 142

Had breakfast with my fiance before he went on a hike with Kyle and I spent the day listening to scientific talks. Fortunately, I was done before 4pm and had some time to relax with Nick on a nice walk on the Vail Pass Bike Trail that goes right through Copper.

Project 365: Day 141

Saturday night baseball game (Rockies lost to the Phillies). 6pm game and by 10:00 we were on the road to Copper Mountain for the Rocky Mountain Solid State NMR Conference... can't think of any other way I'd rather spend my Saturday night. Oh yeah... other than hanging out with Kebi's crew, Jessie's crew, Ashley's crew, or going to El Charrito with Nick to sing Karaoke, orrrrr just sleeping in my own bed. 

This has been a long summer! Let's be honest though, four days in the mountains for work, I can't complain.

Project 365: Day 140

got home from Boston at 10pm.... less than 24 hours before I leave again, so there's no need to unpack...

Project 365: Day 139

Full day of a demo and then dinner with my customer and a colleague... I love Legal Seafood!!

Project 365: Day 138

So I'm leavin' on a jet plane....

Back in Boston for a customer demo. I'll be home on Friday night just in time to head up to the mountains for a conference on Saturday morning. For now, though, I'm just enjoying the view...

Project 365: Day 137

After a full day of work, Nick and I headed south of the city to meet with a potential photographer for our wedding. He happened to know that we were close to a mini golf course so we grabbed dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and then headed over for a round of golf.

Life has been absolutely CRAZY this summer and this was just what I needed: to spend some QT with Nick and relax before my next business trip. 

It reminded me of a mini golf outing we had in Taiwan actually. We hadn't been there very long and were feeling the stress of the transition when nick surprised me by finding a mini golf course in Taichung and taking me out for the afternoon. He always seems to know when I need a little time-out. It was a good day. 

Project 365: Day 136

Just a regular old Monday... me and the fiance tag-teamed a steak fajita dinner and enjoyed the evening out on the balcony. Summer breeze makes me feel fine....

Project 365: Day 135

Spent the day with Doug and Ingrid and their little one Lou. He's ALMOST cute enough for me to consider producing one of these things myself one day....

almost....

Project 365: Day 134

After a long day of doing absolutely nothing, Nick and I headed out for a little date. We started the night at Sketch (because I was craving cheese and sangria) and then checked out a new brewery in town TRVE on South Broadway. (It's actually "True" but they are using an old style font that looks like a V).

The beer was actually pretty good. I got a "salted wheat" which I have never had before and it really did have a little salty taste to it. It was light and smooth and unique and I would definitely drink it again.

Aside from that, Nick and I had a couple issues with the place. First of all, they only had 3 beers on tap which was a bit limited in our (humble?) opinions, a brew pub should have at least 5 beers on tap. And second they're a metal bar. Like heavy metal music - as in death metal music all the time. I'm definitely not a big fan of metal and it shouldn't be a surprise if the mass appeal is lacking a bit. A metal brew pub is a niche market to say the least, but if it can survive anywhere, I guess it's SoBo.

BUT their name!? TRVE? Ok, I don't think I can get on board with that little detail. If it's pronounced "True" then spell it that way! The bartender said that it's a V but it's actually a U but they're using this old school font, like carving stone tablets old, yada yada yada.... BUT that is a font issue my friends - so when it's listed in Google Maps or in the news paper in Times New Roman...it should be a "U" so people know how to pronounce your name!

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see whether or not the place flourishes, but considering the yummy wheat beer and the convenient location... we'll probably be back.

Project 365: Day 133

Homeward bound....

Project 365: Day 132

B3 in full effect

Project 365: Day 131

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

 Straight chillin'.

Fourth of July doesn't get much better than this!


if tomorrow all the things were gone, i'd worked for all my life.....

Project 365: Day 130

We spent the afternoon on the most amazing disc golf course in the world.

This is aimee mid-put (see her disc in about to go into the basket?).

Later in the evening, Aimee's parents rented a pontoon boat for us to have a little sunset cruise on what is absolutely the most beautiful lake I have ever seen.

We finished the night by watching the full moon rise over the marina and the mountains  - amazing day.

Project 365: Day 129

On the road again... after a full day of work Kev and I boarded a plane headed to Tahoe for a celebration of Aimee's teaching certificate and new job.  I'm spending the week here (working remotely) and relaxing.  We got to town just in time for a delicious dinner of homemade pizza and spent the evening enjoying eachother's company. Jess came from California and Aimee's cousin Kylie came from Chicago too. It's going to be a great week!!!! 
we took four pictures together and they pretty much all turned out like this one... that's ok good times were being had by all!!!

Project 365: Day 128

ok..... after visiting family in Pittsburgh, family visiting us in Colorado, a trip to Chicago and then a wedding... we were pooped on Sunday. I have to admit... we didn't do a d*mn thing the whole day and I didn't lift a finger looking for my camera!

so ok, everyone's not perfect but here's another picture from the ball game to make up for it.

Hehehe!