Sunday, August 25, 2013

Camping and Summit

This weekend Jay and I headed up to the mountains for yet another weekend of camping! The fab MM joined us again, and newbies (not to camping but to our camp group) Brandy and Drew!  It was a gorgeous weekend and a beautiful campsite.


We headed up to the Guanella Pass area again.  We had hiked up near Mt. Bierstadt last time (a 14er) but didn't make it to the top. This time Jay thought it would be cool to try to make it to the top. 14,000 feet is incredibly high.  Did we make it? Yes. Yes we did.
I have heard from so many people how awesome getting to the top of a 14er is.  We got up there. And honestly? I wasn't exhilarated. Excited. Or really remotely happy. Getting up there sucked. It was a constant push the whole way.  I don't mind physically pushing myself. I like challenges.  This one though, sucked. Totally.  Once we got up there we didn't even get to stop to enjoy it because we had to hustle off the peak to avoid the swiftly incoming storm.  We got snowed on, snowed on at the top. Ugh. As we headed down the side of the mountain the rain started. This made every step slippery. Which I learned first hand when I got to slip and slide in the mud down the side of the mountain. Ugh.  Getting up to 14,060 feet is sucky. Going down is just as bad! Don't let the "it's all down hill from here" visual fool you. It's hard. Add in rain, thunder and wind. Ugh. Lets just say Jay and I won't be doing that again anytime soon. I did not enjoy that hike at all!
There were some pretty views:
this is the last part heading to the summit. All boulders
looking over at Mt. Evans (engagement spot!)
looking down from the top
check out the wall of rain coming towards us
The happiest we were on the hike was when we were done. I have never dropped the F bomb as many times on a hike as I did that day. Luckily we got to head back to our pretty campsite and friends and yummy food. 
I took a minute this morning to take a picture of the view from inside our tent. 
This is what makes camping so soothing to my soul.

Color Me

Last weekend, Jay and I completed a 5k, along with a bunch of our friends. It was the Color Me Rad Run!  It ended up being a crazy hot day...but we all had a blast and ALL six of us finished together. We started out clean...and ended up as a very, very colorful bunch!!
We WILL be doing this again next year!!!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Life changing weekend

This weekend was literally life changing. Yes, I mean it literally. How, you ask?

JAY AND I ARE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!

Yes, really. And I couldn't be happier. Here are the details of how it went down...

Saturday, Jay had specifically asked that I don't go to dance class (tough request!) He had mentioned that he wanted to take a drive up to Mt. Evans, which is something we've done almost every year since we started dating.  So, not an unusual plan to make. So after a morning garage sale and before an evening BBQ, we headed up to the top if Mt. Evans. 
14,260 feet is gorgeous 
The above panorama was taken right at the spot where Jay proposed.  Jay grabbed a random passerby to take a picture of us. 2 pictures in and Jay moved away from me. When I turned to ask him what he was doing...he was down on one knee!  I immediately knew what was happening, and barely managed to answer his, "will you marry me?" With an audible yes through my tears.  Who knew a proposal would be so emotional?!  The gentleman who was taking pictures for us slid over to capture the very end on video.  Not the question, but the tears and joy after.  The comments on the video are pretty funny and you can hear clapping from the surrounding people. We received congratulations from a lot of strangers! Well before any of our family or friends knew...
I cried some more, and we hopped back in the truck to head down the mountain. But not before stopping at the beautiful Summit Lake for a couple engagement shots! Selfies of course... 
The day was perfect. For many reasons. Jay explained that one of the main reasons that he chose Mt. Evans to propose was that it can easily be seen from Denver. So no matter what, we can look up at the mountain and remember what happened! That and Mt. Evans overlooks Denver. Our city, where we met and fell in love... Awwww! 



As we headed down the mountain, I relived the whole scene again in my head...cried some more. But managed to take the obligatory "ring" shot.
I think it's gorgeous. Jay went with a white sapphire set in a vintage style setting. It is EXACTLY the style of ring I've been lusting after on Pinterest. So he did a perfect job. 
As soon as we were within cellphone service range again, we started calling our family and texting some of my out-of-town friends.  The BBQ that night was a perfect opportunity to share with some of my close friends before posting it for the world on Facebook.

We haven't picked a date yet, but we are thinking around October,November or December of 2014.  Part of me wants to just elope next month and be married to Jay. But we both want our family and close friends to celebrate with us. But....time may tell! :)
I also found out that August 10 is my paternal grandparent's anniversary date! Well done, Jay, well done! :)

Can't believe I get to call Jay my fiancé, I am looking forward to calling him my husband. :)

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Camping adventures continue...

This weekend was another foray into the beautiful mountains! We had an actual campsite this time, no hail and only slightly less rain. The weather was perfect but the evenings were pretty chilly!  On Saturday, we headed up to Guanella Pass summit and hiked up towards Mt. Bierstadt.  It's one of Colorado's many 14ers (peaks over 14,000 feet).  We didn't actually summit, but we got about 3/4 of the way up before the thunderstorm rolled in. Hearing thunder at 13,000 feet gives you a different reaction... Get off the mountain! So we turned around and headed back to the cars and eventually back to camp for food, relaxation and for most...naps. The rain moved in and we settled in to camp for the night.  We packed up this morning and headed home... It was 48 degrees when we left and it was 92 when we reached home! Ugh. All in all, another great weekend of camping! Pictures...
our campsite


sunset

most of the group before our hike

Mt. Bierstadt trail (the easiest part)

Jay crosses the stream 

gorgeous view looking back at the trailhead

Mt. Bierstadt summit in the background


heading back down :(


watching the storm clouds

my relaxation spot! 


gorgeous sunset after the storm

beautiful view this morning