Halloween continued...

...on Halloween night! Funny how that works! Part of my dance family - Courtnay, Rob and Hannah - plan out a huge Haunted House every year for Halloween. Its not actually inside their house... but in the yard/front porch/garage. This year, Courtnay convinced Jay and I to help out. Sure, why not?!

It was awesome. Seriously. Awesome. Jay and I were in the O.R. The crazy operating room. Jay was the surgeon and I was the patient. It was pretty much blood + Jay yelling and screaming + beer cans everywhere = hilarity for some / pure fear for others.
The rest of the house was cool as well. Zombies, possessed children, escaped mental patients, hanging man, man with chainsaw, creepy clowns on roller skates... and so much more.  I can't wait to do it again next year! Thanks for including us!

creepy clown children

does he stay behind bars?



bloody surgeon!

me as the patient!

mental patient!

The one day a year you get to be someone else...

Halloween!!!! How I love getting dressed up for Halloween.  I count myself lucky that I have a boyfriend who enjoys it as well... and friends that do too!! Its a guarantee that there is always a Halloween party every year... and everyone dresses up for it!  This year, a group of us were planning to do a really awesome group costume... sadly one friend had to go out of town (but next year, its totally ON!)

Every year... I also struggle with the ridiculous-ness of women's costumes. Because obviously... the less clothes the better? I do not adhere to this idea at all. Don't get me wrong, I like to look good... but some of the costumes out there... eh?

This year, Jay and I decided to do a couples costume. I have never done a couples costume before... so just coming up with the ideas for us was a lot of fun. We ran through quite the gambit of ideas.... some of which I will tuck away for another year. This year, the decision was made to go as:

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf!  Jay was a little bit suave and I was a little bit rocker.  It worked for both of us, and we really enjoyed the costumes!!

Heather was a Ring Master!

My handsome wolf

Bahaha! Angry Birds!!

Rock Paper Scissors :)

 All in all, another great year for Halloween! Can't wait until next year!!!

Surprise...snow!!

About a week ago... Denver was kissed with its first hint of snow.  Sorry, it would have been more appropriate to say first "storm" of snow. It was 80 degrees on two days before the big storm... so almost as soon as the snow fell it melted.  The snow that stuck took awhile to accumulate, but when it did it brought down trees such all over the area.

Luckily, Jay and I were spared from the tree falling... but it didn't stop me from enjoying the beautiful first snowfall!

the walk to work

beautiful snow in downtown Denver!

the leaves were still turning colors

Scary faces in the night

So... for the first time in.... years, I carved a pumpkin! Really, Heather, Jay and I carved pumpkins... a little pumpkin carving party, if you will. It was so much. More fun than I remember it being as a kid. Maybe... because now I had the strength to actually cut all the way through the pumpkin?  Maybe because hot wings and onion rings were involved? Maybe because it was just a lot of fun...
We had picked these fabu pumpkins when we went to Miller Farms over the weekend. We each got busy sketching out faces and ideas... and all made some scary jack 'o' lanterns!  Let me just say now... that I should probably practice carving or something before next year. Because both Jay and Heather put my pumpkin to shame.

pumpkin guts

 The tough part of pumpkin carving? Still scooping out all the goopy insides. After a while I got bored with it and decided to get on with my carving.

Gah!

 Jay was serious when he sketched out his pumpkin. Look at that thing!

Jay and Heather working hard

 Apparently, the one MAJOR thing we forgot about the whole pumpkin carving extravaganza?  Candles. Stupid candles. So Jay scoured the house looking for anything we could stick inside and light. We found 1 really old, red pillar candle and two birthday candles. #3 and #2. Random, I know.

My scary face...with the #2 candle

Heather's creepy face with the #3

Jay's freaky face with the red pillar candle


They all turned out really good. But... like I said, I need to take some carving lessons or something before next year.

Fall Adventures

We've had some beautiful weather here in Colorado. Very un-October like weather. Temps in the 70s and 80s. Weird! However... since we've had such nice weather... Jay and I and Heather decided to take full advantage of it on Sunday. By going to a farm! Say what, you say?  Yes, a farm.  Miller Farms, to be exact.  I heard about this place from a co-worker of mine. Apparently, its a place where you can pick your own vegetables. Hmmm....? Jay and I had already discussed (at length) the idea of going pumpkin picking. Heather has been all about doing anything "American" since she returned. So the three of us made a trek to the boonies of Colorado... to pick vegetables.
It was AWESOME!!!! I wish we had known about this place over the summer. It is truly a foodie heaven. F-R-E-S-H produce. That you pick yourself! You pay $15.00 per person, which covers the bouncy balloon, corn maze, pumpkin, the tractor ride out to the fields and up to 5 grocery bags per person of whatever you pick. So off we went!

onions!

We got the option to pick...onions (red, yellow and white), cabbage, green beans, carrots, red potatoes, sweet corn, and pie pumpkins!  The onions were pretty easy to pick, just pry them out of the ground since they were half uncovered anyway. We skipped over cabbage and Heather and Jay went to town picking green beans. I got the job of getting the carrots...which isn't nearly as easy as Bugs Bunny makes it out to be. The potatoes were pretty easy since they had a little tractor thing that pulled them out of the ground for you.  The pumpkins were also easy, but you had to be careful not to get carried away. They were small and so easy to grab!  The corn was my favorite part. We picked the ears right off the stalk, wandering up and down the rows of corn. It would have been easy to get totally lost. The best part about the corn...it was so sweet we shucked a couple ears right there on the tractor and nibbled away on the raw ears. Yum!

picking sweet corn right from the stalks!

chose not to get any cabbage...

corn!!

pumpkins!

our loot! 2 people's effort yields a lot of veggies!

Heather had her own wagon!

sweet corn for dinner

We got boatloads of onions and potatoes. I will be learning/making French Onion soup in the near future. I am also planning to make a slow cooker stew this week to use up some of the carrots, onions and potatoes. The corn is oh, so, sweet... and I am planning corn bread and possibly corn chowder as well!! Lots of cooking in my future... but it will be great with such fresh veggies!

The right colors...

the wrong team.  Thats how I felt on Sunday when Jay and I headed to a Broncos game.  It was the last of his birthday presents, so I felt like I should be a good sport and cheer for his team. We were both decked out in Blue and Orange (I might have left my Bears socks on)...and we headed to Sports Authority Field at Mile High.  Thankfully all the snow was gone and it turned out to be a pleasant day!

we were pretty high up!

The seats were pretty high up, but we were right at the 40yd line, so it was good viewing for sure.

I kept hoping that the field would magically turn to Bears...but to no avail.  It was still a very fun and exciting game!

During half-time, they held a tribute to Breast Cancer survivors.  A few women's stories were shared... and it brought tears to my eyes. It was really, very touching and great to see.

pink balloons released

The day cooled off while the game heated up. It ended with the Broncos losing (terrific effort made!)... but it was a great Sunday to spend watching football.

Got my competitive juices flowin'

Dance. I haven't talked about it much... mostly because there hasn't been a ton to talk about, and partially because I was hoping that I would have something exciting to post about soon. Which I do. Today.
I haven't competed since April (a month or more before I broke my foot) and hadn't been too keen to test the competitive waters in September when Longs Peak feis rolled around. However... due to the amazing teaching skills of my friend Mary (soon to be TCRG? fingers crossed!!)....some serious ass getting kicked in class and diligent private lessons... I felt ready to hit the competitive stage again for Octoberfeis. I opted to only compete in my hardshoe dances, that way I didn't feel too stressed out and because all my hardshoe was in Novice.
Octoberfeis. Ironically enough, it fell on the same weekend as the Great American Beer Festival. Which I attended/volunteered for. So... when Saturday afternoon came for class... I felt like poop. I didn't think I was dancing well... and was not looking forward to competing.  Mary kicked my butt a little and told me to snap out of it and own my dances.
So... Sunday morning... I headed back to the competitive stage. And totally rocked it.
 



I still have things to work on... but coming back from a broken foot and placing my Treble Jigs and Hornpipes? Felt GREAT! My Treble Jigs moved into Prizewinner... sadly there were not enough people to move my Hornpipes. But still. I. Felt. Great. And it was fantastic to be competing again. Looking forward to the next feis!!

Beer, baby, Beer.

I love when September rolls around. Not only is the start of my favorite season... but it also means cooler temperatures, brilliant colors, and BEER. Yes, I associate beer with fall. If you lived in Denver and were a beer lover, you would too. Why? Four words...
Great. American. Beer. Festival.
Seriously. Imagine a convention hall packed with tables. Each table has beer on it. From different regions of the US. 2400 different types of beer. Bliss doesn't even begin to describe it.
GABF is a great event...made even greater when Heather and I decided to volunteer to pour beer 3 festivals ago. We had no idea what to expect, what we were in for... or how utterly AWESOME it was.
Let me sum it up for you.... by being a Brew Crew volunteer you:
get in FREE
pour beer
taste beer

meet people
free Brew Crew shirt and
drink beer...lots and lots of beer. FOR FREE. Enough said.  Also... at our first GABF as Brew Crew, I met Jay. Two whole years already. Obviously, GABF now holds a special place in both Jay's and my hearts.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

 The beautiful Miss Stacey joined us again this year (last year was her first, and now she's hooked!) And... my mom joined the Brew Crew as well. She seemed to have a total blast, and I am pretty sure the brewers wanted to take her home with them.

Brew Crew newbie!

She's back!!!

This is typical Heather and I

Stace and Jay!

my girls and I. Love these two!

Sadly... beer fest has ended for another year.... see you next year GABF!

A house divided

I am a Chicago girl. Born and bred. I spent the first 6 years of my life in the city...and even once we left the city for the suburbs, there were lots of visits to the city.  I have been in Denver for almost 10 years now. I love it and don't have plans to return to the Windy City any time soon (except for vacations, of course)
That being said, I have a few Chicago teams that I still cheer for. Like...the Cubbies! And... Da Bears! Bear down Chicago Bears
I bring this up since football season has started back up. And when you live with an avid football fan, as I now find myself doing, you can't help but be more vocal about your love for the Bears! Luckily, I have a wonderful and understanding boyfriend... and he gives me gifts that are perfect for the Chicago girl....

Bears Jersey!!! 

Recently, Jay surprised me with the 1940's throwback jersey... the one I have been wanting since I saw the team play in them last October! 

So now, I sit here on this beautiful Sunday afternoon and get to watch my Bears play. To add to my awesome jersey... I have my super sweet Bears socks as well!!

sweet Bears socks!

So what does this all mean for the non-Bears fan in my life?  Well, luckily he is very understanding... and his team (the Denver Broncos) share similar colors. Blue and Orange. So...in order to make sure Jay didn't feel left out on football days, I whipped up a little something so we can both share our love of our favorite teams. (please forgive the shoddy quality pictures, thats what happens when you rely only on your phone)

Broncos

Bears

So why am I showing you pictures of Broncos and Bears print? Because...I made a fleece tie blanket! I have seen a couple of these in friends' homes...but had never tried to make one myself. So... I decided that since Jay and I had a split household that what we needed was a Bears/Broncos blanket.

one side Bears the other side Broncos!

Now...everyone can be happy! :) At least until the Bears and Broncos play each other. Then we might have to fight over which side of the blanket is on the outside!

A house of orange and blue!