Old friends, new lives

 

Yesterday, a few of my old friends got together, with their families, and had a picnic. It's amazing how things change so quickly! We snapped a few pictures and I wish I could find pictures of us from 8 years ago and compare but they lost in my storage room somewhere!

 

We are missing a couple husbands but we managed to get all the kids and moms to pose!

 

All of us girls

 

Chelsea and Riley

 

Leah and Lily

 

Greg, Tamara and Corbin

 

Riley and Corbin who are future husband and wife!

 

I just realized that I didn't manage to get a picture of Sarah and Zander! :( Oops, I thought I had gotten all the mom/child pictures. They are in the group picture at least!

 

Anyway, it was really nice to catch up and see how life has changed for everyone! I hope it's not so long next time I see them all!

Beautiful Baby Riley's Blessing

Last weekend, Dave and I had the pleasure of seeing one of my best friends daughters blessing. One of her grandmothers made her dress and it was so beautiful! I've stolen most of these pictures from Chelsea's blog but I wanted to share with people who read my blog, and know Chelseas family so they can see her beautiful daughter on this special day!

 

 



That dress was definitely made with love! 

 

 

Her is Riley with her parents, Chelsea and Albert, and one set of grandparents, Kelly and Terry!

 

 

And the Guse family all together! 

 

 

Mom and Daughter :)

 

 

Grandma, Mom, and daughter/granddaughter!

 

 

My Mom and brother met us there for the specail day.

 

 

I love holding this little girl so much! 

 

It was a wonderful day and we were grateful to be there!

four years isn't the long...

Four years truly isn't that long when you look at the big picture but in those four years, a lot has happened. We've bought our first home, bought and paid off our first car (and purchased a second), grown from hammy-down couches and tv's to new modern coziness and electronics. We've formed a budget we can handle, changed careers and the goals within them, and decided that it's ok if we don't have kids and it's ok if we do. The day will come when we feel swayed one way or the other and until then, the pressure doesn't have to be there.

September 13th was our four year anniversary and I'll admit, this isn't exactly where I thought I would be today. Speaking from a 17 year old, senior in high school's mind set, I would have thought that I would be just getting engaged, and not sure where I want to be in a career since I preferred to be a stay at home mom. As for today, I'm grateful that I've had David by my side through these last few years. We've done some major learning and growing together and I'm so glad things didn't turn out the way I had planned while in high school. Instead, I've married my best friend, who laughs and loves with me. He works hard for our family and has a passion for so many things. He doesn't mind watching my Hallmark movies with me and doesn't make fun of me when I cry during them. :)  I've been lucky to find him and for him to choose me to spend his life with. I am truly blessed!

We weren't exactly sure what was wanted to do to celebrate but we had a few extra dollars to spend this year so we decided to get a nice hotel in Denver and enjoy a day at Waterworld. This was a couple weekends before our actual anniversary but it was so worth it! We went to Waterworld on the last weekend it was opened, hoping to not have too many lines. I think we lucked out though because first I found half priced tickets on Craigslist. Then when we got there, the parking lot wasn't half full. We road about every ride before lunch and even left early due to some rain. When we got to the hotel, we found this awesome little suite with a full kitchen, living room and bedroom waiting for us. We really lucked out and got a great deal. Dinner that night and some relaxing together completed our weekend.

Our actual anniversary day was still fun in itself. I worked that morning, and got off early to have a date night with Dave. He planned a dinner out and glowgolf at the mall. We were like little kids at golf since there was no one else there, and we had so much fun.

All in all, this was a great anniversary and I think we are going to plan something big for number five!

Races

I'm extremely behind on the things I've wanted to blog about this summer! Oops!

 

A few months ago, Dave and I signed up for back to back weekend races. The first was a 5k mud run that a few of my co-workers completed with Dave and I. We didn't keep track of our time and just had fun! We were 100% covered in mud by the end, but this is the one picture I have of J'Mae, myself and Dave after one of the first obstacles. The paint on our faces made for some really funny sunburns later on, but I'd say it was worth it! We will be signing up for at least one of these next year!

 

 This was Dave after he had been sprayed off! lol

 

We also did a Color Run. Those of you who have never heard of these, you must try it before you knock it! Basically, it's a 5k race where you must wear a white shirt, and there a 4 or 5 "color stations" where they throw colored chalk at you. It sounds a bit cheesy but these are extremely popular all over the country and being the first year they had one in Colorado Springs, there were at last a thousand racers that day.

 

I was extremely proud of myself, completing the race in just under 36 minutes. Now, this isn't truly that great of a pace (just under a 12 min mile) but this was the first race I  had ever truly competed in and timed myself. We will be doing this one again next year!

 

Dave is an ultra-marathoner, and a measly 5k isn't a challenge but he stood (ran) by my side the whole time, cheering me on and I'm grateful for him.