Oktoberfest...in Nebraska

Every year, the Denver and District Pipe Band (in all of its former names) has traveled to Sidney, NE for their Oktoberfest.  And as often as I can and am invited, I go with as part of the Irish dance corps!  Its always a fun time and highly entertaining.  This year Jay came with for the first time. :) The whole weekend is a mix of dancing, dancing, dancing and some beer.  We have a show on Friday night, a parade on Saturday morning, a small show for the local senior center, another show for the dancers in the afternoon and the final night show on Saturday night. Whew! Now for the picture show...

 

GABF 2015

I can't believe its already October. Where did this year go?  Last year, Jay and I were in a frenzy of last minute prep for our wedding. This year... not so much :)

Anywhoooo....

GABF (Great American Beer Festival - for those uninitiated folks) happened. And of course, it was awesome.  Its crazy to think that 6 years ago, at my very first GABF as a volunteer, I met Jay.  SIX YEARS.  Ahhh... anyway, it was a couple weekends ago. And of course, Jay and I were there to pour!

This year we poured for Gravity Brewlab out of Miami, FL.  The brewers were there and were awesome!! They were really excited about their beers and didn't mind answering any and all questions we had.  It certainly didn't hurt that their beers were DELICIOUS. Ahhh, I love beer.

And again... I cannot wait until next year!

Celebratin' Vegas stylz

A few weeks ago, my awesome hubby celebrated his 40th birthday. 40!!  So crazy.  Anyway, in order to celebrate such a big number, he and I and a couple of his friends went to Vegas. What better place to ring in a 40th birthday?

We spent most of our days at the pool, drinking and soaking up the sun.  But we managed to tear ourselves away for a few moments to walk around the Strip, eat some tasty food and see some sights!

Chicago Lakes hike

I am a bit behind on things around here, but let me see if I can catch up!  A few weeks ago, Jay and I went for another really long, really beautiful, totally awesome.  We went up towards Mt. Evans and did the Chicago Lakes hike.  Online information told us the length of the hike was 9 miles.  Other information said 12 miles. We went for it anyway.

 The hike started at Echo Lake.  It was beautiful when we started!

 The trail was easy to follow and led us through some really cool scenery

 The leaves has even already started changing at that point!

The end of the hike was just behind me!

 We stopped to eat for lunch before heading back to the start. This was the beautiful lunch spot

As we headed back to the trailhead, we kept our eyes on the clouds that were rolling in.  Storms are pretty common in the mountains, which is why hikes are best started in the early mornings.  I made sure to stop and get some pictures on the way back... and we even stopped at the creek so I could soak my sore, tired feet!

bliss

We hustled the last 2 miles back to the trailhead. Both of us could see the dark clouds building and couldn't believe how many people were just starting off on their hike!  A few minutes away from the truck, it started to rain.  By the time we got back to Echo Lake, the weather looked like this:

But... weather aside, it was a lovely hike and the longest one we've done so far!

the good stuff

The past week has presented some pretty rough challenges for me.  However, I refuse to dwell on them and I will not let those things take away from the good stuff thats been happening!  The good stuff meaning....
Stacey came for a visit! She flew in on Thursday and stays until next week. Jay picked her up at the airport and stayed with us the first night. And so... I surprised her with a visit from Julie and baby Nora! (Ok, Nora is not so baby anymore, she'll be one soon!) Jay left us girls to play pool for the night... and it was amazing.  Julie, Stacey and I used to spend a lot of time together.  Having them over for dinner and time to catch up was - PERFECTION. I've missed us all together and hearing them laugh and share stories and the comfort we all have around each other was just soothing to me.
Nora, of course, entertained us with her antics.  She's grown so much! I can't believe it was a year ago that I went to visit her and Julie in the hospital.  The nurse then thought Julie and I were sisters, so Julie calls me Aunt Em to Nora. And thats how it will stay!

Nora and I took selfies - she's blowing a kiss to the camera!

Nora was not having any of this, but I love it! 

Over the weekend, Jay and I headed up to Fort Collins to visit his step-brother Ezra and his girlfriend Ewa. Ezra usually lives in Germany, but has a place up in Ft. Collins.  It was great to spend so much quality time with him! And Ewa is amazing, she and I hit it off right away!  Also, I love seeing Jay spend time with family - its too bad Ezra lives so far away.

Good things happening to help stay positive! And there is so much more to look forward to! I have more time planned with Stacey, an upcoming zoo trip with Julie and Nora and possibly another dinner out with Ezra and Ewa.  Can't wait!

The mountains called to us

A couple weekends ago, Jay and I headed up for some camping.  We went to the same area that we went our first weekend camping... but actually made it to the Lost Park campground!  And wow... I am so glad we did. That campsite was beautiful.  Waaaay off the beaten path and quiet.

Our view from the campsite was spectacular...see?

 

There is something so refreshing about being outside with the fire and absolutely no modern noises.

We slept in a bit the next day and made breakfast.  The campsite is at a starting point for some great backpacking trails (who knew!) and so we decided to head out for a hike in the late morning.  Jay and I hike with the idea of time... hike out for so many hours, hike back for the same.  Weather depending, of course.  So off we went!! 4 1/2 hours later we made it back to camp.  We had hiked 11 miles. ELEVEN! Which made sense why my feet were sore and I made Jay stop so I could soak my feet.
Some pictures from the hike:

soaking the tired feets

Sunday morning came leisurely for us as well.  We slept in, made breakfast and ended up sitting around reading for a few hours.  It was incredibly difficult to pack up and leave the site.  We eventually did and made it home in the early afternoon. We will definitely going back!!