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.

Omaha

A couple weekends ago, Dave and I ventured out to Omaha with three kids stuffed in the back of our little car. Considering how packed we were, it was a great drive out there. We were meeting with my oldest sister, Danielle, half way to Detroit, to drop off her kiddos. Lucky for us, my other sister, Becky, only lives 4 hours away from Omaha so we decided to turn this little trip into a mini famiily reunion. It honestly was one of the highlights of my summer.

Becky had the great idea to pack everyone (minus Bryce, since he hid during this picture) on one hotel bed and take a picture. I'm actually extremely glad she made us take this picture since it turned out to be my favorite! haha  

We decided to go to a safari park. We weren't exactly sure what to expect but it turned out to be really fun! The only downfall was the heat.

Aubrey and Bryce, hanging out in the a/c'd car after playing with some animals and walking around the trails.

Of course, the picture with my handsome hubby! :)

We made sure the hotel had a pool so that we could cool off and have some free fun! I'm pretty sure the kids got in the pool three times in the one full day we were all there.

I have decided the Mariah is going to find a career involving animals. She loves them so much and is extremely good with all kinds.

This isn't my favorite picture but I'm happy to have a fun picture with my older, funloving, silly sister!

I'm grateful to have a family that I can have fun with and enjoy spending time with.

B-day Shooting

For Mariah's 12th b-day, we decided to take the kids to the shooting range (yes, with their mothers permission). They were so excited and Uncle Dave was excited to teach them!

We went shooting for about 3 hours and lost track of time. We ended up getting McDonalds for dinner since we still had a 45 minute drive home. I say it was well worth it though.  

They were all so proud of their targets. They took them home and I'm pretty sure each one of them got at least one bullseye!

Dave and I got to play a bit... we can't go all the way out there and not have some shooting time ourselves... lol

Fun at the Station

This summer, we had the pleasure of having my nieces and nephew come to Colorado for a month! They did so many fun things this summer. I kicked off my time with them, by taking them to the fire station to visit Uncle Dave. He gave them a tour of the truck and station, and they got to play with some of the "toys".

BirchBox

I've never been a very girl girl, although a few of you might not agree. I hardly do my makeup, I've never plucked my eyebrows, I prefer t-shirts and jeans, and a haircut is one my least favorite things to do. I've never been into any sort of beauty product BUT I have discovered something called a Birch Box that is slowly making me a believer in all those expensive products. I'd never spend $60 on a facewash/lotion system but I do love samples of these things, which brings me to the Birch Box! Birch Box (birchbox.com) is a company that has stock of name brand beauty products. You sign up, and you are put on a waiting list. It took two weeks for me to be plucked from the list but I've been assured that no matter how long the wait, everyone will be selected in time. They can't approve everyone all at once since the demand is high. You pay $10 a month (yes, at first I thought this was high) for 5 or 6 random (the only downfall is that you can't choose the exact ones you get) samples of these products. At first, I though, this is such a rip off but one of my friends got her first box and along with several items, she got a perfume that was 1/4 size of the normal size $80 perfume. This means her 1/4 size was a $20 value. That payed for the box alone! She obviously had other samples that included nail polish, face exfoliater, some yummy teas, etc. I was still a little sceptical but decided that since I could cancel at any time, I would sign up. I got my first box this weekend, with a nice size perfume, a nail polish, face wash, face lotion, face exfoliator (smells just like pumpkin :) ), and few other things I can't think of at the moment. I'm sure Birch Box has to make some kind of profit seeing at they can probably buy these samples at a very small price but for me, this is a deal and I really love it! It's like getting your favorite magazine each month! Anyway, I thought this was post worthy since I was so impressed!

Long Weekend of Fun

This past weekend, Dave and I decided to take Friday and Monday off, to give ourselves a much needed weekend off! I wish we could do this every week but of course, it wouldn't be so special if that were the case! ha ha

We started off the weekend with a much anticipated movie, The Hunger Games. Dave and I read the book (and are finishing the series currently) and were very excited to watch the Movie to see how close it translated. I have to admit, I'm always a bit disappointed in movies that were made from books, because it would take a ten hour movie to translate every little detail, but this one followed the book pretty well! We were happy with the result. After the movie, we decided to do a little shopping at Kohl's and due to clearance racks (he he) we came out with an entirely new bathroom decor/towel set, and new dishware. We've been meaning to get new dishware, seeing as we have to hand wash everything we use on a daily basis, and the glass plates and bowls we had were severely chipped. We opted for some durable, plastic ware that is actually very nice and I love the design. Plus, the are much easier to clean!

One of the days turned into a 20 miles run for Dave (while I enjoyed some reading/nap time he he) and a trip to the Manitou Springs Arcades. For those of you who have never been to these Arcades, you are missing out! Manitou Springs is a well known tourist town about thirty minutes from home. There are a lot of unique shops, the famious Pike Peak Incline is housed here, and of course the Arcades. The Arcades consist of several small buildings with old and new games. $20 will easily last Dave and I well over an hour. We could probably do it with $10 if we tried hard enough. The best part of the Arcades is the Penny Arcade. There are a ton of vintage games ranging from one cent to twenty cents. Many are from the early 1900's! After our fun at the Arcades, we went to one of our favorite Mexica restaurants and finished the night off with a movie at home.

One of the Days we just stayed home watching episodes of Storm Chasers. ha ha! My husband is obsessed with this show at the moment. Basically, it's a bunch of guys who chase tornados to collect data or on camera for an Imax film (more on this a little later).

We also made it up to Denver one day, which, for me, was one of the highlights of the weekend! We rarely go to Denver unless we are just passing through. We went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and spent 3 1/2 hours there. It was ironic that the same Imax film that was being made on the show Storm Chasers, just happened to be at the museum the day we went. We had to see it! he he I'm pretty sure we saw almost all the exibits in the museum before heading to dinner at Pasta Jays and then home to watch Footloose and do a load of laundry for the remaining work week.

Dave and I really needed some time away from the normal stresses of life and I this this was just the thing! I enjoyed the solo time with my husband and I felt very spoiled to have him all to myself!

Annual Ski Trip

Every year, my family meets up with a few of our best family friends and take an annual ski trip. We split the cost of a cabin, eat tons of junk food, ski our hearts out, play games and laugh until our bellies hurt. This trip always ends too quickly!

Dad and Josh getting ready for our first day of Skiing.
One of my best friend's goofy husband. He always has a smily on his face and that hat totally matched is personality! Unfortunately, this was the only day he could ski due to a dislocated shoulder that later happened during a crash (aka yard sale).

Thats my handsome hubby! I married such a cool guy!

That same day Albert hurt his shoulder, Josh also had a yard sale and hurt his shoulder. This trip truly was one of injuries.

I just threw this in because I think he's so cute!

Here's a small glimps into our snacking habits over the weekend.

haha, I just love this picture.

haha This is always my favorite part of our trips. We play games and tell stories until we are exhausted and finally all crash for the next day of skiing. We played a few games of "catch the m&m in your mouth when I chuck it in the air".

The hot tub is seriously the best thing after a day of skiing!

There is also a lot of lounge time during these trips. Trust me, it's needed!

And more games...

I can't wait for next year. We should start planning... *cough* DAD *cough*