Project 365: Day 189

PHISH dude!!!!

Labor Day weekend kicked off with a great Phish show at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The evening began with a little pre-show BBQ at Nate's house featuring mac n cheese, jalapeno corn bread, and some amazing BBQ ribs, all courtesy of Mr. Kevin Price.  A little tailgate in the parking lot....

 Followed by a pep talk from Nate and we were ready to rock!

Good times were had by all!

Project 365: Day 188

It's just a RazzelBerry Day!!!!!

I love summer berries!!! YAY for the long weekend ahead of us!!!!! So excited for Phish and Phriends!!!!!

Project 365: Day 187

I know I've shown this "view" before, but what a beautiful sunset!

I was in a super rush to cook dinner after Lamar's class because we only had one hour to cook, eat, and shower before meeting a potential wedding DJ (can't wait to be done interviewing vendors!!). I didn't even notice the sky until Nick pointed it out. Sometimes it's important to stop and smell the sunsets :-)

Project 365: Day 186

Earlier this summer Nick and I started working with a personal trainer down at the Y to hone our boxing skills. (Turns out thanks to Billy Blanks and TaeBo, I'm kind of a badass - although I do have some pretty bad habbits that I need to break, also thanks to my many hours spent with Billy)

Kenny is our coach and he's basically awesome. At first glance he's not the most threatening guy (actually he's REALLY friendly!) but don't be fooled ladies and gentlemen - if he really wanted to he could knock you out!  I'm pretty sure he could take Nick and I down simultaneously with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back, hehe.

Thankfully, he's not that kind of guy and we are having a blast working with him. Last night we focused on foot work and self defense. Biggest lesson of the night - think outside the box.

Here's Kenny and Nick posing for my picture of the day :-)

Project 365: Day 185

HAPPY 34th ANNIVERSARY TO MOMMA AND POPPA STEINLE!!!!

Monday was the last day with my parents in town AND also their 34th wedding anniversary.  It's pretty amazing! They've actually been together for 42 years - if you can believe that!!?  I'm so lucky to have such amazing parents who are still in love after all these years. I can only hope that Nick and I are as happy and healthy as they are when we've been together for 34 years!

Project 365: Day 184

Sunday was the big event we'd all been waiting for - Mavis Staples and Bonnie Rait at Red Rocks!!!

Last year my parents and Aimee's mom were out for Steve Miller at Red Rocks - which was fabulous - and this year Aimee's dad joined us too!  Aimee and I are working on an evil plan to make our parents best friends so that they'll all move out here!! I think it's working!

The concert was awesome and it was great to have the whole crew together. What a fun-filled weekend!!!

Project 365: Day 183

After the most lazy day ever, we met up with Aimee and her parents for dinner and a show at the Mayan Theater (yay for cocktails at a movie theater!). It kind of reminds me of the Fargo Theater except way cooler because it's in Colorado and not North Dakota :-)

Aimee's mom was super awesome and gave me my first wedding shower gift - a cutting board and set of nice kitchen knives!!! i'm so excited to cut some sh*t up this week!!!!!

Project 365: Post 182

My parents are in town!!!

Nick and I took them to William's and Graham's speakeasy for dinner and drinks on Friday night. The place was super cool because you walk into a little book seller's store front and then ask for a table and they take you behind the book shelf to the "secret" restaurant and bar area. They had lots of old fashioned cocktails on the menu (my dad got a Rob Roy and Nick got a New Old Fashioned) which was pretty cool! Some of them we're pretty good (my mom's Moscow Mule was fabulous) some were pretty bad (my dad said my Smokey Mountain drink tasted like an old sock!).  All in all, though, we had a nice little evening.

After my parents went to their hotel, we met up with Aimee and Kev for a Buck Hunter double date! Good times were had by all!

Project 365:Day 181

TURKEY IS IN TOWN!!!

After literally trying for 13 pictures to get a decent shot of Jess and I we gave up. This will just have to do. I was sooooo excited to see my little Turk last night. I miss her so much. I can't wait until she moves into our spare bedroom! (a girl can dream).

Yay for an awesome girls night at Aimee's house with lots of goodies including Bruschetta, Brussels sprout and kale salad, assorted cheeses, pasta salad, Parmesan green beans, quinoa cups, and wine (of course!). It was amazing!!!

Project 365: Day 180

The Sock Bun makes it's first public appearance (on my head)

My customer emailed me at 10am to remind me that we had lunch - I totally forgot and didn't have time to wash and coif my hair, so I threw a sock in it! I thought it turned out pretty cute :-)

Project 356: Day 179

Ahhh the city sky line from our balcony, with the cars whizzing by the streets below.

Quite different from where we lived in Taiwan!

And our building managers think this neighborhood is loud! I would love to see their reaction to the garbage truck driving by on Saturday morning playing Fleur de Lis!

Project 365: Day 178

ok... you caught me.... I didn't take a picture today. Work was busy, I was cranky... nothing happened. It just didn't come together for me. SO I decided to take my favorite picture of the entire summer (that I did not personally take) and put it up here. Because... well in 28 years it's the best picture we've ever had of our family.

I promise I'll do a better job this week (and in the future) of making an effort to find something in life that is interesting to look at. Really this project is about being mindful throughout every day that interesting and beautiful things are surrounding us all the time and all we have to do is open our eyes and take notice. Taking a picture of it every day is just a way to force yourself to look for it. I'll be the first to admit I've been a bit slacking (and unoriginal) in that regard, so back to the project. Tomorrow is a new day. Today we enjoy this picture from Kristi Telnov Photography.

Call Me Maybe

So Call Me Maybe.... 

Project 365: Day 177

I got a new pair of glasses!

but I didn't put any make up on all day long so i couldn't take a picture of me actually wearing them, hehe. This will have to do for now!

Project 365: Day 176

Pontoon boat on Grand Lake!

Jessie and Robyn organized a 3-hour pontoon boat trip around Grand Lake yesterday and it was amazing! We plan to make it a yearly affair from here on out. I can't believe we've never been up there before. (it's pretty close to where we're getting married, actually!)

The weather was perfect, blue sky and smiles all around. Grand Lake is almost as beautiful as Lake Tahoe - it's surrounded by mountains on most sides and the scenery was just amazing.

 Ashley fell in! oops!!

LOVE the mountains! I think if we ever had enough money to get a second place, we would seriously consider a house on Grand Lake - it's pretty amazing. Future summer vacation spot? I think so!!

Project 365: Day 175

Lazy Friday night at home w/ the finace!

Project 365: day 174

Thursday night I landed around dinner time and Aimee and Kev just happened to give us a call right as we were deciding what to do for dinner. The four of us had a little double date at Fontana Sushi on Alameda and Pearl. YUMMMMY!

Project 365: Day 173

Forgot to take my camera out and about with me today, so this was all I could muster in my hotel room...

an apple a day.....

Project 365: Day 172

Just walking through the University of Minnesota's campus today...

I have to admit, I went to bed pretty pissed at myself last night. I had a 7am flight today from Des Moines to Minnesota, but instead of staying in Des Moines, I booked a hotel in Ames. I had to wake up at 4am to drive an hour to the airport (wish I knew Minneapolis is only a three hour drive from Ames!) and then had three rapid-fire meetings as soon as i landed in Minneapolis - one of which I felt completely unprepared for.  On top of that, my meetings for tomorrow were cancelled and I'm not going home until Thursday. The icing on the cake was that I didn't get my first cup of coffee until 2pm (after all my meetings) so I was dragging to say the least. This is just not my week.

But all went well, life goes on, and on my way to my car this afternoon I came across this pretty little flower. Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses.

Project 365: Day 171

Visiting Iowa State... check out the sculpture in the biochemistry building - I think it's some sort of mother-nature figure holding up two sides of a DNA molecule... cool :-)

Project 365: Day 170

Saturday hike with my boo!

 lots and lots of aspens... got me so excited about the aspen grove that we're getting married in!!

After the hike we went to the movies and were SERIOUSLY disturbed by the RIDICULOUS size of the concessions these days.... this is what is wrong with this country! (not to mention the $12 profit margin on them!)

Project 365: Day 169

Seriously Denver!? What kind of art is this? It's seriously disturbing.

Project 365: Day 168

Friday night we got together one last Friday for Olympics viewing at our place and spent the last hour of the evening at the piano bar next door enjoying a 2-for-1 happy hour and some great sing-alongs!

 Picture of the day - Nick is smiling in a picture! Yay

me and my olympic-watching-buddy Jackie!

Project 365: Day 167

Nothing in life makes me more grateful to work for Bruker than seeing a steel building. Praise the Lord that I am lucky enough to have a job that I do not dread every single day. Thank God that I no longer cry on my lunch breaks.  And thank Nick for sticking with me through my most miserable period in life and still wanting to marry me!

Project 365: Day 166

6-hour drive from Ames, Iowa to Chicago, IL with stops in Mt. Vernon, IA and DeKalb, IL along the way.  Took this shot while I was driving down the road in Iowa, just thinking about my fiance....not a bad view!

Project 365: Day 165

Busy day in Iowa - customers all day from 9:30am to 7:15pm - but i caught a nice sunset on my way back to my hotel:

Back on the road tomorrow with 6 hours in the car as I head to Chicago for the night. Hopefully I'll find something worth photographing along the way :-)

Project 365: Day 164

Ahhhh, Ames, Iowa. Back on the road for work and I have to say, today wasn't too bad. Flight to Iowa, one meeting, and I was at my hotel in time to find a local yoga studio and take a class.

I've been trying to do this more and more these days (I've taken yoga in Omaha, Nebraska and Burlington, Massachusetts this summer as well).  Sometimes when I'm on the road going from hotel to hotel, always eating Starbucks oatmeal for breakfast and Subway for lunch, and dinner alone (all unless I'm with customers, of course), I start to feel a bit like a robot.  Yoga helps me to feel a little less alone on the road, a little more relaxed, and a little more.... human. So it's good. I'm going to try REALLY hard to get up for the 6am class tomorrow, but that's a 5am class in my timezone, so we'll see....

Project 365: Day 163 (Crayon Art)

Another pinning day with my bestie Aimee!!

Melted crayon art is all over pinterst these days and yesterday I saw some in real life when I visited Katie's apartment. I was inspired by Katie's crayon art, so Aimee and I decided to "Pin" today and take on this project ourselves.

All we needed was a box of crayons, a hair dryer, and a canvas. Aimee brought over some paint, magazines, and Modge Podge for some mixed-media fun. 

Turns out, crayon art is actually really easy. All you have to do is hold the hair dryer up to the crayon and let it happen.

I chose a razzelberry pallet and ended up with a pretty nifty piece of art:

I had so much fun, I kept going and made a matching pair. After I was done with them, I did a watercolor wash over the whole thing - to give it a bit of depth. (Thanks to the great direction of my personal art teacher!)

I think they're pretty cool!

Project 365: Day 162

Pool Side at Ashley's place!

Project 365: Day 161

Friday night Olympics-viewing party! U-S-A, U-S-A!!!

Followed by Armida's Karaoke and a (might I say) rousing rendition of "Proud to be an American"

dedicated to Missy Franklin, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Gabby Douglas!