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Check It Out – LifeReallyBlog.com

29 Apr

I bought my own blog domain! It is now officially LifeReallyBlog.com. 

But since I’m still using WordPress and it automatically redirects, you don’t *have* to update the URL in your bookmark, RSS manager, or whatever.

You can officially follow me on Bloglovin’ though!

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I thought I knew a decent amount about html code, blogging and redirects to buy my own domain and set it up, but apparently it is a little more complicated than adding line breaks to posts and inserting pre-made widgets. 😉 I did figure it out eventually with a little help from GoDaddy support and my brother, but man, it doesn’t make me want to ever change my blogging platform.

Anyway, if you’re interested or thinking about doing the same thing, I bought my domain through GoDaddy ($13/year for domain, $8/year for privacy), set up mapping through WordPress ($13/year), and set lifereallyblog.com as my primary domain. I had hoped to avoid the mapping fee through WordPress (since you can forward URLs through GoDaddy for free), but without it, my URL would either show up as specialkkluthe.wordpress.com still, or there would be no post-specific URLs displayed (it would always show lifereallyblog.com no matter what). So I figured, if I’m going to buy my own domain, I might as well do it right. So this little blogging hobby of mine will now cost me $34 a year.

But I feel so official, it’s worth it.

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Emma’s 1st Easter

26 Apr

Travis, Emma and I drove down to Rochester on Saturday after the Hot Chocolate race. My brother and sister-in-law were there when we arrived so we got to visit with them for a while. Then, Travis went to study, Chris and Meg went to her dad’s house, and the rest of us went out to pizza at a new place called Toppers. Yummy.

Sunday morning, we went to the 8 am service at my parents’ Lutheran church, ate breakfast in the fellowship hall and then hung out at home until it was time to eat again. 😉20140420_105758 20140420_104106 20140420_104106-MIXThe reality of how hard it is to get a good picture… I didn’t worry too much about it though, because we got professional pictures taken of Emma in her Easter dress during her 1-year photo shoot.

Travis unfortunately had to study for his PE test the whole day. He did break to eat lunch with us though, which was delicious. My mom made this dish called Pineapple Bread Bake to go with the ham and it was amazing.

After our lunch digested a bit, we ate angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert and then Travis packed up his stuff and headed up to the Cities, since his PE test was at 8:30 on Monday morning. The rest of us went over to my aunt and uncle’s house to see them, 3 of my cousins and their wives, and Emma’s second cousin Morgan, who is 19 months. She loved to give Emma hugs! They had fun ‘playing’ with each other.

1512297_735121823184809_7088956606253318788_nWhen it was (past) Emma’s naptime, we headed home. We tried carrying her carseat in while she was sleeping, but she woke up – dangit! Instead of fight her for a nap that late, I just kept her up and we all went on a walk around the cul-de-sac outside. Emma loves being outside. Then it was bedtime for little girls. My parents and I stayed up late marathon-watching Scandal on Netflix. That show is so bad, and so good at the same time.

Monday, Emma, my mom and I drove up to the Cities and met Travis at Olive Garden for lunch after his test. Freedom! He felt that the test had gone well – very challenging but he felt like he got enough questions correct to pass. I hope so! He won’t find out for a couple of months though.

Then Travis, Emma and I drove up to Nevis while my mom headed back down to Rochester. It was a good Easter, though weird since we didn’t see Travis much. Glad that test is over! And glad that I got this post up before a whole week had gone by.

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Race Recap: Hot Chocolate 15K

23 Apr

We drove down to the Cities from Nevis on Friday morning. Emma and I hung out at Aunt Cheryl’s house (where we were spending the night) until about Emma’s naptime and then we drove the 30 minutes or so to packet pickup. When Emma had had a decent nap, I put her in the stroller and off we went. The packet pickup was well organized and we were in and out in 10 minutes. I got suckered into buying some Real Time Pain Relief lotion since my knees had been bothering me so much.

It was windy and cold so we just got in the car and headed back to Blaine. I returned a shirt to Kohl’s and then we picked up Noodles & Co. for dinner. I got mac & cheese with chicken so that I could share with Emma. Travis’ aunt and uncle came over for dinner, which was fun. It took forever to get Emma down for the night without her screaming at the top of her lungs, but once I finally did, she slept well. So I got a decent amount of sleep before the race.

The next morning, we made coffee, fed Emma breakfast, packed up all our stuff (which was a lot!), and headed to Bruegger’s near the race. We had actually wanted to go to Panera, but apparently that’s no longer there… I ate my egg and cheese on honey wheat on our drive to the parking garage. We pre-paid to get into the closest lot, which ended up being a great idea. We just handed over our parking pass and were in. I assembled my running playlist as Travis ate his breakfast sandwich and then we put Emma in the stroller and walked to the start line about 5 blocks away.

It was WINDY! Aye. I decided to wear my light windbreaker over my long-sleeve shirt, which meant relocating my bib.

20140419_083726I had used the restroom at Bruegger’s but the race had TONS of portajohns so that would’nt have been necessary. I found a spot in Corral I (11:00+ pace) and within about 5 minutes, I waved to Travis and we were off.

20140419_084537 (Large)My adorable cheering squad

Right off the bat, I could tell that I was running faster than I had during training (11:30/mile), and even faster than my “goal” (11:00/mile) but my legs felt strong and the pace actually felt pretty easy. So I went with it, even though I wasn’t entirely sure that was the best idea. I’d find out!

Mile 1 – 10:05

Mile 2 – 9:58

Mile 3 – 10:32

The wind was gusting 25 mph at times, which made me glad that I had worn my windbreaker.  We had to run across and under a number of bridges, which meant the course included a decent amount of hills. Surprisingly, I was able to muscle through the wind and all hills except one doozy, and I still felt good! This course was especially fun for me to run because we were on trails that I ran almost all the time in college. So it was a run down memory lane in addition to a race. 😉

Mile 4 – 10:25

Mile 5 – 10:35

Mile 6 – 10:30

Around Mile 6, I felt the beginnings of a blister forming on my left foot, on the bottom of my foot between my big toe and the toe next to it. I tried to not run differently because of it, but the tightness in my ankle later that day revealed that I didn’t do a great job of that.

I was hoping that there would be gels out on the course, but there was only Gatorade and water at each aid station. I ended up drinking a cup of Gatorade at the halfway point, and at the finish – which was also a gamble because Gatorade has upset my stomach in the past, but I guess I felt the risk was worth it. (It ended up being fine!)

I don’t think my uncertainty about running the full distance went away until I was around Mile 7. But once I passed that mile marker, I knew I had it in the bag – and could even turn it up a notch!

hotchocolatepicMile 7 – 11:01

Mile 8 – 10:25

Mile 9 – 10:50

The last 0.5 – 4:30 

The last miles ticked away and finally it was the home stretch! I finished strong, and saw Travis and Emma right before I crossed the finish line. My final (official) time was 1:39:15, a 10:39/mile pace. I was 144/211 in my age group and 926/1356 overall. I am so pumped about my performance, and could not imagine the race going better.

20140419_105133 (Large)I found Travis and Emma after grabbing a water and then we moseyed on over to the post-race meal tent to get my mug full ‘o chocolate. I didn’t get a picture of it because I was too busy eating it, but this is what it looked like:

this-is-your-finishers-mug_2012

It didn’t include apples, but it was delicious. The chocolate fondue was amazing. I almost lost my banana in it, and ended up getting the chocolate all over my fingers. Totally worth it.

20140419_105118 (Large)Emma had been awake for a long time, and was very ready for a nap, so we headed back to the car. We tried to get subs from Erbert’s & Gerbert’s for lunch but the location on Washington is gone! So we settled for Chipotle. And since we were in the neighborhood, we popped by to see some old friends after lunch. Emma did really well for being so tired. After that, we headed down to Rochester for Easter fun (separate post coming soon)!

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Here Goes Nothing

17 Apr

I’m running my first postpartum long-distance race on Saturday – the Hot Chocolate 15K in Minneapolis. I haven’t talked about my training on the blog much, because well, there hasn’t been a ton to talk about. Pre-baby, I did 95% of the workouts on my training plan. Post-baby, I’ve done maybe 60%.

Which may or may not turn out to be a really bad idea. My weekly long run was the one I did consistently – I only missed one, and that was the weekend we were moving. I ended up adjusting the remaining long runs slightly, to account for that (so that my distance didn’t jump up too much in one week). The training plan I’m following (Hal Higdon’s Novice 15K) had my longest run before the race being 8 miles, and I felt comfortable doing only 7.5.

Since I haven’t talked about my training, and my training has been interesting since moving to rural Minnesota, here are what my 3 longest long runs looked like:

3 Weeks Pre-Race

6 Miles, 1:09:22, 11:34 per mile

Nevis, MN

I know my way around Nevis enough to be confident that I wouldn’t get lost (and the town isn’t that big) so I parked at the Catholic church and took off running. I decided to not look at my Garmin until my playlist ended (around 30 minutes). At that point, I had covered 2.7 miles. So I did a few more loops, aiming to hit at least 5.5 miles – and well, 5 miles would be fine too. Well, I underestimated how long the loop would be so I ended up doing a full 6 miles.

nevisrunThat elevation map looks crazy but if you look at the elevation, it’s only varying 50 ft. Ha.

2 Weeks Pre-Race

6.5 Miles, 1:15:28, 11:37 per mile

Park Rapids, MN

I pretty much saw all there was to see (some of it twice!) in Nevis, so for this long run, I headed to the neighboring town of Park Rapids and ran while my mother-in-law got her hair done. This was the first time I had mapped out a route on MapMyRun ahead of time, and then looked it up on my phone to follow it. It actually worked really well, and I would do it again, though I do recommend not making your route such a crazy loop! I didn’t get to enjoy my surroundings as much with this run, since I was constantly looking at my phone trying to figure out where I needed to turn. I also ended up getting a stomachache toward the end, so I cut my run short by 1/2 mile.

parkrapidsrun1 Week Pre-Race

7.5 miles, 1:20:21, 10:48 per mile

Bemidji, MN

It was nasty outside this day – 30 degrees, cloudy and windy with gusts up to 25 mph. I was not in a mood to go running, especially in the wind, but it was my LAST long run before the race so I couldn’t wimp out! I drove up to Bemidji where my sister-in-law lives, so she could watch Emma while I ran – a win-win! (Travis is still studying for the California PE test, which is this coming Monday! Soooo ready for that to be done with.) I had Carolyn drive me 7.5 miles from her house, so that I could run with the wind, instead of against it. I’ve done this before and it’s a great way to get your run in even when the weather is crappy. And hey, the wind helped my pace – I ran the second mile in 10:12!!

bemidjirun20140413_17025420140413_165312This last run really boosted my confidence level. Up until then, my runs had felt lethargic and slow. Like my legs just wouldn’t wake up. But this run, I felt light, fast and excited about running. The last 2 miles were tough because they were around the south side of the lake where the wind was strong, there was snow on the trail and my legs were getting tired, but I finished the whole thing!

Overall, I’ve enjoyed training for this race, but it’ll be my last for a while. I honestly only have the motivation/energy for working out about 3 times a week right now, and when I’m training for a race, I feel like the only thing I should spend my workouts doing is running – which leads to burnout and injury.

I also did not dedicate enough time to the things that are necessary training components outside of running, like stretching, getting enough sleep, fueling correctly, drinking enough water, etc. Part of that, though, is being in the middle of moving. For a while, I wasn’t sure where my foam roller was – once I found that, I started using it fairly regularly. All of my running fuel is packed up, so I haven’t been fueling during my runs at all (and really, I don’t feel like 7.5 miles really requires that – but I will fuel during the race because I could’ve used a little pick-me-up during my last run!).

I also think that I should’ve done more strength training and cross training in building up to this race – if not during the training plan, at least before beginning training. I think my muscles atrophied a lot during pregnancy and as all runners know, it’s possible to develop the muscles you need for running by running – but you usually end up being out of balance and more easily injured. My knee joints have been the thing bothering me the most, and I’m sure tight IT bands are somewhat to blame (it has gotten better since I got my foam roller out). But I also think that if my legs were stronger from non-running activities, and limber from more yoga, my knees would be happier.

So after this race, I’m looking forward to doing more yoga, walking and maybe a few exercise videos. I’ll probably still run once a week just to keep my fitness up, but I need some variety back!

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From Urban to Rural

15 Apr

20140413_170254Being in northern Minnesota is like being in a different world. You wouldn’t think that things were so different in the same state that I grew up in, but they are.

It feels weird to say but I think I’m struggling with culture shock. I grew up in a town of 80,000 people, but after living in major metropolitan areas for the past 12 years, even that feels small to me. Now I’m out in the middle of nowhere: 10 minutes from a town of 350 people. I’m used to there being 3 Targets within 10 miles of my house. Now the closest one is 65 miles away. I expect businesses to be open 24 x 7 x 365. Here, they close at 5 pm on Fridays and aren’t even open on Sundays. And because this is a tourist area, a lot of the ‘area attractions’ are only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Travis’ parents have deer carcasses hanging in a tree – a tree you can see from their kitchen window. They shoot porcupines and beavers for being nuisances to trees. They hunt and fish year round. They have more guns than I have fingers. They lease land from a logging company specifically for hunting.

Don’t get me wrong – I love my in-laws (hence my willingness to live with them for several months while we look for a house). And it is true that they’re farther out in the boonies than many people. But a lot of these things are just realities of living in a rural area. To visit specialized doctors or go to a real shopping mall, they drive all the way to Fargo – 3 hours away, one way. Just Walmart is 25 minutes away.

It’s one thing to visit during holidays; it’s another to actually plan on living here. To be honest, it has made me start questioning my desire to live in Brainerd (with neighboring Baxter, the population is 20,000). They have a Target, Kohl’s, Menards, Home Depot, JCPenney, Walmart and Fleet Farm. They have a Starbucks and a library. There’s no shopping mall, but I hardly ever shop at full-price stores anymore anyway.

I have a friend Emily who lives in Park Rapids (the nearest town to here, population 3,500). She grew up in Ramsey, a northern suburb of the Cities, and she said it was a big adjustment moving to Park Rapids. It took a couple of years, but now she feels like Brainerd and Bemidji (13,000) are the big cities. So it is possible to adjust.

I think a common question for city folks like me when they come up here, especially in the winter, is “What do you people DO here?” I grew up in Minnesota and have been around Travis’ family enough to know that there are lots of winter activities: snowmobiling, ice fishing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, sledding, ice hockey, broomball, ice skating. Only problem is, it’s often too cold outside to do that stuff!

I think a lot of my apprehension comes from having Emma, at the age she is. There’s a very limited amount of things she’s willing to do, and those things have a time limit – either because she gets bored, or I get tired from pushing/holding/lifting her. And for pretty much all of those winter activities I listed above, Emma is too young (though she will be old enough next winter for some of them). In the city, it was nice to have lots of parks, museums, shopping malls and playgrounds (open year round) to choose from. There were walking trails near our house. So part of my trouble now should get better once we move from tiny Nevis to bigger Brainerd.

The other part of my apprehension comes from just not being plugged in to our new life here. We’re in this limbo stage, where we’re too far from Brainerd (1 ½ hours) to start getting plugged in, and the people we meet here will be too far away to stay in touch with once we move . So I don’t have many friends or activities to occupy my time other than hanging out at home and venturing into town a couple times a week. The relaxation has been nice, but after another couple months of this…?

But when I think about why I question moving to Brainerd, my main reason is fear. Fear that I’ll be bored to death. Fear that there will be nothing to do. Fear that my city-girl self won’t be able to adapt – or won’t want to adapt – to small-town ways.

I have to admit that it’s easy for me to fall into the trap of feeling superior in a small town. “These small-town folks – how in touch with the real world are they? Look where they live. Look what they wear. Look how they decorate their houses. Look what they drive. Look what they do for fun. I’ll never be like that.”

That judgment, though, is just me trying to rid myself of some of the awkwardness I feel from being out of my element. It’s also very arrogant – saying that I know everything there is to know about the world from living in a big city, and small town people are small-minded and have nothing to teach me.

God’s love frees me from having to judge others. Being grounded in His love for me enables me to be confident in who I am in Christ, so I don’t need to prove myself to anyone. When I am confident in who I am, I don’t feel pressure to completely conform to the culture and lose my identity, but I also don’t need to dig my heels in against everything that is different from what I’m used to.

For example, I’ve been thinking about running in the winter up here. Often it’s so cold that I will have to run inside. Brainerd does not have an indoor track (that I know of) so it will be either a treadmill or nothing. I could get frustrated and grumble about not being able to run in the winter, saying “This sucks” and “Stupid small town” or I could embrace the opportunity to expand my horizons, and snowshoe and cross-country ski more. That is a big benefit of the small town! The trails for that sort of thing are MUCH closer than they were in Denver.

The anxiety and uncertainty I feel about moving to Brainerd reminds me that this move requires faith. Just like moving out to Colorado required faith. Faith that God is leading us. That we’re leaving behind everything and everyone we know to forge a new life, in faith that God is everything He says He is, and will do everything He has promised.

The Jesus Calling devotion today was EXACTLY what I needed to hear:

“Trust Me, and don’t be afraid. Many things feel out of control. Your routines are not running smoothly. You tend to feel more secure when your life is predictable. Let Me lead you to the rock that is higher than you and your circumstances. Take refuge in the shelter of My wings, where you are absolutely secure.

“When you are shaken out of your comfortable routines, grip My hand tightly and look for growth opportunities. Instead of bemoaning the loss of your comfort, accept the challenge of something new. I lead you on from glory to glory, making you fit for My kingdom. Say yes to the ways I work in your life. Trust Me, and don’t be afraid.”

Are you a city-goer or small-town folk? 

Have you ever made the switch from urban to rural, or vice versa? I can see that going either way would be challenging!

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We Made It!

27 Mar

Last Thursday and Friday, we loaded all of our possessions into a 26-foot U-Haul moving truck. Our awesome friends and family helped us. Nothing had to be left behind! Travis and I slept on cots for Thursday and Friday night, my dad on an air mattress, and Travis’ parents got a hotel room. Oh, and Emma slept in her pack & play.

MovingtoMN 002 (Large) MovingtoMN 004 (Large) MovingtoMN 005 (Large) MovingtoMN 018 (Large)

MovingtoMN 022 (Large) MovingtoMN 025 (Large) MovingtoMN 026 (Large) MovingtoMN 027 (Large) Early Saturday morning, Emma, Grandma Beth and I flew to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Emma did really well on the flight. She played with toys and the in-flight magazines until she crashed.

1966916_721446454552346_1619279792_nAfter we landed, Emma and I drove my dad’s car (that he had left at the airport) to Rochester while Beth headed up to Nevis in her car.

Meanwhile, Travis, Grandpa Al and Grandpa David drove the moving van, pickup truck and SUV (with our 2 dogs) to Minnesota. My dad split off in Omaha – he kept going NE to Rochester while Travis and his dad headed north to Sioux Falls. My dad arrived in Rochester just a little before 11 pm. The dogs were very ready to get out!

Emma and I stayed in Rochester until Tuesday morning. We had a great time hanging out with Grandma Sheri, playing with fun toys (books and magazines count, right?)…

998461_723575161006142_640768047_n…and shopping for Emma’s Easter dress. We looked at every dress in every store in the Apache Mall before deciding on this one. (Apparently, I’m very picky?) Emma will look so cute in it! I also had to buy this one and this one because I’m obsessed with neon coral and stripes.

On Tuesday, Emma and I headed up to Nevis (a 5-hour drive). Emma slept the first 2 hours, then we stopped for lunch. I took the dogs and Emma on a very short walk and then got back on the road, but Emma was not having it. So we went shopping at the Shopko in St. Cloud and I bought Emma’s birthday present and a cute swimsuit top for me, among other things. She still wasn’t the happiest about being in her carseat after our shopping trip, but she fell asleep after 10-15 minutes, and woke up when we were only about 10 minutes from the house. Whew!

The minute I walked in the door, I was organizing and unpacking. There’s something in me that can. not. stand. things being out of place and messy. By the end of Wednesday, everything was pretty much in its place. So today we went to the library in Park Rapids!

10155088_723504804346511_2129091930_nNow I’m on to planning Emma’s birthday party. We’re just doing a small brunch up here in Nevis, with some cute, simple decorations. Well, that’s all for now!

 

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Our Top 15 Colorado Memories, Part 3

22 Mar

If you missed them, check out Part 1 and Part 2.

………………………..

Continuing on with my top 15 Colorado memories (in no particular order)…

11. Climbing Grays and Torreys

These were the only 14ers I climbed in Colorado, and it’s easy to do both in one day because they’re connected by a saddle. We camped out at the base of the mountain with our friends, Michael and Amy Leon. Unfortunately, it rained that night, and the seams on Michael and Amy’s tent were no longer waterproof. We ended up getting out our extra rainfly in the middle of the night to put on their tent.

DSC03402Early the next morning, we hit the trail. My back has never hurt so bad as it did on that hike – and I wasn’t even carrying a pack! I learned time and time again that being in good running shape does not equate to being in good hiking shape – that’s its own beast. But we made it to the top of both peaks and on the top of the 2nd mountain (Torreys?), the clouds cleared enough that we could see the amazing view.

DSC03424 DSC0340412. Camping with the Normans

Mark and Sarah were the first friends of ours from back home to come out and visit us in Colorado. We, of course, took them camping and hiking. There was still a decent amount of snow up where we were hiking, and on the way down the mountain, we slid down the snow on our shoes/butts – if you’ve never tried it, do! It’s really fun. We also gorged ourselves on Beau Jo’s pizza in Idaho Springs – something we did fairly often when coming home from the mountains.

DSC02427 DSC0242313. Christmas with the Brehenys in Estes Park

For Christmas 2012, Travis and I stayed in Denver instead of going to Minnesota. Our friends Paul and Carrie graciously invited us to join them at a condo in Estes Park with their 2 kids. It was so much fun and a nice change from spending the holiday by ourselves.

blendsgiving 021 (Large)14. Camping at Lutheran Valley Ranch

For Memorial Day 2011, our friend Randy let us camp on his property down at LVR near Colorado Springs. We did a couple of really nice hikes while we were there and the dogs unfortunately got quilled by a porcupine. They survived though.

memorial-weekend-2011-033-large1 memorial-weekend-2011-023-large115. Hiking Bear Peak and South Boulder Peak

Bear Peak is really close to Boulder. It got pretty steep near the top but it was so worth it for the view! The worst part of the hike was actually the way back…it was downhill the…whole…way.     Distance: 7.6 miles roundtrip     Elevation Gain: 2,461 feet

We hiked South Boulder Peak (separated from Bear Peak by a saddle) on July 4, 2008. It was a gorgeous day for a hike and a lot of the trail was in the shade. But this was by far one of the hardest hikes I’ve ever done–not the longest or the highest elevation but the most straight up (1,800 ft elevation gain in about 1.1 miles, to be exact). I didn’t think I would make it – I started getting dizzy and nauseated. But I made it to the peak, which I was able to enjoy for about 30 seconds before all the bugs at the top forced to me to leave.      Distance: 7 miles roundtrip    Elevation Gain: 2,949 feet

DSC02107 DSC02462 DSC02114And that’s all 15! Of course, we have many other great memories so this list is by no means exhaustive. Colorado is a great state, and I feel like we did a good job of enjoying what it has to offer. We didn’t get to everything on our ‘bucket list’ but hey, Colorado isn’t going anywhere!

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Our Top 15 Colorado Memories, Part 2

21 Mar

If you missed Part 1, read it here.

………………….

Continuing on with my top 15 Colorado memories (in no particular order)…

6. Elk hunting (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013)

We have gone up to the mountains for elk hunting every October, except for the fall we moved out here (I didn’t blog about it 2009 and 2010 for some reason). Unfortunately, with work and now Emma, I have only been able to be there for the whole time once – in 2011. That was also the year that Travis shot his big bull (and boiled the head to make a European mount!?!?) so I’m saying that was our favorite trip, but they have all been enjoyable in different ways. We haven’t camped in the same spot twice, and camp set up is always a little different, but good! It’ll be interesting to see how elk hunting goes in the future (yes, we’ll be returning to Colorado every year for elk hunting… or at least, Travis and his family will be. Emma and I are still on the fence.)

img_17127. My Olympic triathlon and marathon

In 2011, I completed my first Olympic triathlon in Steamboat Springs. In 2012, I ran my first full marathon in Anchorage. Ok, so that race wasn’t in Colorado. BUT all of my training was, and those are memories that I will never forget. I spent hundreds of hours running, biking and swimming in preparation for those 2 races. I biked to work. I ran 18 miles at 9,000 feet. I purposefully re-ran the half marathon course that had kicked my butt when running it the first time in 10-degree weather. What was Travis doing during that time? Playing hockey. Studying for the PE. Finishing his Master’s degree. You know, stuff.

318235_256197047743958_5830935_n8. Care group camping trips (2012, 2013)

This became an annual camping trip with our small group from church starting in 2010 (again, I didn’t blog about it in 2010 or 2011). While all the years were fun and different because of the location and people attending, I’m going to say that my favorite year was 2012. Most of our friends were there, for the same days, and Travis and I accidentally brought our smallest tent so with the 2 of us and our 2 dogs, we were not cold at all. It was so nice! That’s my main complaint about camping – I’m usually cold a lot. That year, we also did some hiking and skipped rocks. But I mustn’t forget the year (2011) that Charlotte, Sheri and I braved swimming in the mountain lake. Brrrr…

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300562_251345134895816_1309176_n9. Emma’s birth and first year of life

Emma will never remember living in Colorado, but we will. We’ll tell her about it. About how crazy Colorado weather is – it snowed 3 times after Emma was born on April 7. The day we went home from the hospital, it was snowing. About how she went camping when she was 4 months old. We’ll show her the pictures of our house. When we think of Emma as a baby, we’ll think of Colorado.

483632_555438891153104_307601803_n

10. Our Wedding Anniversaries

Ok, I realize this is broad but our anniversaries were nice in different ways. For our 1-year anniversary, we rented a secluded cabin in the mountains and went hiking. For our 2-year, we saw O.A.R. perform at Red Rocks and went hiking up in Leadville, which involved fording an ice-cold mountain stream. For our 5-year, we spent a weekend up in Frisco, where we ate breakfast at the awesome Butterhorn Bakery. I can’t remember what we did for (and I didn’t blog about) our 3rd and 4th anniversaries, so they must’ve not been that exciting. 😉

dsc03370Stay tuned for Part 3…

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Our Top 15 Colorado Memories, Part 1

18 Mar

Travis and I were married for only 3 months before we moved out to Colorado, so this is pretty much all we’ve known as a married couple. We lived our first year in a 750-square-foot apartment in Boulder and then bought our first house, where we’ve lived for the past 5.5 years.

We have created so many memories here – so many that I was only going to choose 10, but ended up with 15 (and still have more!) But if I had to choose, here are my top 15 (in no particular order).

1.  Valentine’s Day 2009

This was one of the only years that we’ve actually done something really special for V-day, and it was just such an enjoyable day. We drove up to Glenwood Springs to go snowshoeing, and then had a mineral bath and natural sauna time at Yampah Spa. The bath water was from the natural hot springs and just about burned our skin off. We had to drain half the tub, replace it with freezing cold hose water and then it was just bearable. The natural sauna was really cool too – like being in a very humid, wet cave. I would definitely recommend the experience.

DSC031332. Skiing with my brother Chris and SIL Meg 

We bought a 4-pack of lift tickets to Keystone and Arapahoe Basin the first year we were out here and then 2 years later. We enjoy skiing but aren’t passionate enough about it to spend all the money on lift tickets and then rent skis, fight traffic and make the God-forsaken walk in ski boots from the parking lot to the lift very often. But we did go skiing with my brother and sister-in-law when they came out to visit us (in 2010?), and it was the most fun we had skiing. Thanks Chris and Meg!

3. Backpacking with friends for 4th of July 2011

This was the most intense backpacking trip I went on (and it  still wasn’t that intense…). Camping is one of those things that I’m tempted at times to wonder why I like it (and backpacking is camping on steroids) because it’s just so. much. work. But this trip was really fun and we enjoyed it. Unfortunately, even though we hiked to a remote lake, there were other backpackers camping across the lake. They also happened to have a very friendly nosey dog who came to visit us a lot and instead of walking over to fetch his dog like a good owner, the guy would just yell at the top of his lungs, “Slim! Sliiiiiiiiim!” Yep.

20110704 Eaglesmere Trail 0544. Almost getting stuck in Golden

Before we moved, we sold Travis’ car so we only had my little Ford Focus for about the first 5 months we lived out here. My Focus worked out fine in Minnesota but it was dicey in Colorado. When we lived in Boulder, we drove to and from Golden everyday for work. One snowy night, we were headed home to Boulder on Hwy 93 (that runs along the foothills between Golden and Boulder) and stopped for gas at the north end of Golden. There are 2 stoplights there, both of which are at the top of a hill. When driving on a snowy hill in the Focus, you don’t stop – or else, you won’t get going again. We couldn’t make it to either stoplight at the right time without our tires spinning. In the end, we waited at the bottom of the hill until the light turned and then gunned it. And never stopped for gas there on a snowy night again.

5. Colorado Springs trip with my parents

My mom had a work conference at a hotel in Colorado Springs in 2008 so they came out early and we saw some of the sights in Colorado Springs, including Garden of the Gods, Manitou Cliff Dwellings, Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine, Royal Gorge, and Phantom Canyon Road. I would definitely recommend touring a gold mine! They’re crazy. And the Phantom Canyon Road was ridiculously narrow. My parents drove another road after Travis and I left that they said was even narrower – even my dad was a little scared!

DSC02233Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3…

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In Honor of My Last Day…

13 Mar
It’s my last day of work and thought this post would be fitting. Enjoy!
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Originally posted on August 24, 2011
As a person with a work history mostly at small non-profits, I have noticed that things in Corporate America look a little bit different.

You know you work for a big corporation when…

  1. You wander around for 5 minutes after work trying to remember where you parked your car that morning.
  2. You don’t work in a building; you work on a campus.
  3. Your office location is 6 digits/letters long, with designations for building, floor, wing and hallway.
  4. You don’t know what 99.995% of the people do who work there.
  5. There are thousands of people working at the same company you’ll never even see, much less meet.
  6. Your campus has its own coffee shop, cafeteria, fitness room and conference center.
  7. You have co-workers in 12 different countries.
  8. There’s a person for everything. (No odd jobs here!)
  9. The marketing department actually has (and uses!) a brand manual and AP style handbook.
  10. Rebranded assets include company cars, conference rooms and hallway signage.
  11. There are indoor walkways connecting each building.
  12. You have 7 different bosses (did you get the memo?).
  13. Your company has its own softball league, no outside participants needed.
  14. You need a security badge just to go to the bathroom.

Do you work for a big corporation? Any insights you’d like to share?

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