Fall Fun!

Fall is here, not that you could tell by the weather! It's still in the upper 80s during the day, which seems so hot for almost October! But it is great so that our plants keep growing and we can enjoy the weekends outdoors.

Here are some shots of things going on in our backyard.

My lovely Rose of Sharon bush. Yes, it's tiny, but it's so pretty. Hopefully next year it will really grow!


One of our tomato plants. It has so many green fruits! I hope they will turn before it starts freezing at night! Can you imagine the salsa I could make? YUM!


Two of our froggies enjoying the day.


I so want to capture the fish on camera so you can see the beauty of them I can't even describe how cool they are. And they've grown like CRAZY. Alas, they are totally scared when we get close, and my far away pictures are not good. Oh well.

Our cilantro. Yep, salsa, baby.

Last weekend my friends Jo and Jody and I went to Canon City for the Harvest Fest. It was at the Holy Cross Winery and was such a wonderful time! We tried wines, had crepes for lunch, listened to music, sampled the goods and watched the people. It was a delight!

Jo, Jody and Ter

Sisters!

The old abbey. It's owned by a private corporation now, but was a boys school and an abbey for a long time. The last monks left in 2000!

(just look at that Colorado blue sky. Love it!)

Communion???

Alpacas at the fest!

This band was great. They were singing modern songs in their Hispanic accents. So fun!

Um, tall much?

Happy Fall!

Breathing Deep

Well, it's not Fall yet, but I couldn't wait any longer to bring out my fall touches. Of course I don't think pictures do justice, but for memories sake, here they are. We are watching football (of course!) and the smell of my pumpkin spice candles as we relax on this cool evening is enough to make me smile for days :)







Today was Race for the Cure at Garden of the Gods. This is the 3rd year Mom and I walked with our friend Angela, who is a survivor. There were 15 in our group, 3 survivors and several loved ones we walked in memory for. What a devastating disease, but what hope there is in events like this one. It was a GORGEOUS day and such fun to chat with these wonderful people. Another reason to smile for days!


Angela and Jan at the finish line


Our group approaching the finish line.


Angela and her daughter Caitlyn and Caitlyn's bf Dean.


Mom, me and Angela




Our whole group at the beginning!


And of course what is a blog post if it lacks random shots of the kitties?

This is a rare moment when the kitties are next to each other and not fighting.


This is Clarence's window, and trust me, he will climb through those blinds.





Last weekend Jeff and I went for a hike in Palmer Park, this amazing park right by our house in the middle of the city!



If you want to give your wife a heart attack...


Can you see the cat back there?...

...One of the neighbor cats enjoying our cat mint.


And that's that. Thanks for reading!

*sigh* of relief!

So, attempt #2 resulted in...

...PERFECTION! YAY! Jeff keeps talking about how much he loves it. And so do I! It's called wooden swing. I have no idea why. We took in a pair of Jeff's khaki pants and tried to find a swatch as close to it as we could. Hoping beyond hope that we'd like it in the daylight and at night in the incandescent light. And we do! It's really dark, if you ask me, but not as dark as Jeff thought it might be. It's very rich and warm. It looks great against the dark floors and white ceiling. I love it against the slate tile fireplace. Phew! We did it! Now we just have the rest of the house to tackle, but I'm not worried and I'm not dreading it. Finally!

Here is the house as the old owners had it. It's hard to tell the difference in all of these photos, but I had to lay it out, just for memory sake. This is a sort of coral/peach color. Definitely not our favorite.


After all our wonderful helpers painted and put in the wood floors. Seriously, even though it didn't turn out exactly as we'd imagined, we were and ARE so thankful for all our family and friends who pitched in. This color is called sandstone. I thought it would look like beach sand. It's crazy how white it looked, though. A bit to much contrast, making it seem sort of stark.




And now the final choice. Wooden Swing. Ahhhh, yesssssss.




Oh, and here is a shot of the yellow that I still really like in the kitchen and dining room. I was inspired by a friend to put decorations above our cabinets and I love it! It's looking really homey around here :)


Now it's time to enjoy the rest of the 3 day weekend. See you soon! :)

Mustard Yellow

Ugh. We seem to have bad luck with paint. While we LOVE the new paint in the kitchen and dining room, Jeff was a sweetheart and painted a wall in the living room last night and now it looks SO YELLOW. It's overwhelming. And so disappointing. I'm telling you, I took this very personally. Imagine being so happy that your husband now likes his home more. He's pleased with the the FEEL of it. Only to find out it was just a mirage. It's not perfect after all. What a let down. We both know it's just a color. It only took 2 hours last night to paint the wall in the living room and so it will not be a big deal to repaint it a different color. Clearly in the grand scheme of thing it's not a big deal. And yet, I'm sad. It's the IDEA more than the actual situation. The idea of loving where you live. The idea of coming home to a place that feels complete. Feels inviting. Feels settled. Now the thoughts of picking a new paint- moving the furniture and pictures-Painting the wall AGAIN to see if it works- Possibly being let down AGAIN- loom over us. It's just paint. It's just a color. You know how some things just hit that button, though? That button that can deflate you for a moment. Well, that button got hit last night. Oh well, now we move on and figure out what to do. Cross your fingers.

Riviera Sand

Painting. Oh my, how i do NOT love it. What did we do yesterday? We painted. The kitchen and dining room. Yep, we painted the whole house when we moved in last year. Now we're painting again. But let me say this, Jeff wasn't a fan of the old color. And let me say this, the new color is GORGEOUS. I'm telling you it transforms the place. It looks like it could be in a magazine, in my humble opinion. And so, because I love my husband, and I want him to love our home, I paint. Only the living room, hall way and 2nd floor to go. I'm working on my "OMG we have to get this done now, right now, all at once or I'll die" frame of mind. We're going to do it a little at a time. We're not going to hate it. We're going to have a good attitude. Yeah. We'll see. But in the end, it is going to be beautiful. Stay tuned :)

College friends to lifelong sisters

Last night I was overcome with thankfulness for my college girlfriends. I was lucky enough to meet some of the most amazing girls in college who are now some of my closest friends, 7 years later. A couple of weeks ago 6 of us were able to get together and catch up. The memories that flew through my mind were so bright and full of love. Listen, we all know friendships change, and with us that is true. Some of us get together more than others. Some talk on the phone more. Some are closer in distance than others. But in the midst of the distance, the time apart, the different stages of life, our friendships remain strong, the bonds we share can't be broken, and for that my heart is alive. It is often times hard to find a time when we can all get together, and I don't know that there will ever be a time when ALL of us can be together at once, but it is never hard for us to pick right back up when we are together. Jess, Grace, Tiff, Sarah, Steph, Kim, Sara and Ash. These names are written on my heart. Sweet, hilarious, smart, kind, generous, honest, loyal, trustworthy, successful, fun, strong, steadfast, gentle, intentional, vulnerable, loud, quiet, contemplative, thoughtful, spontaneous, gorgeous, mothers, wives, friends, daughters, girlfriends, girls, women. Just a few words to describe my precious friends.
We are celebrating joyful occasions in the midst of grief, pushing laughter right through sorrow and depression to the smiles at the other end, crying with each other during heartache, sharing life after years apart, yet feeling only seconds away, living life together after much loss, hoping and expecting a future filled with more of the same. Girls, you are my friends. You are my sisters. I love you.
Ter

Think About It

BP Oil Spill: Leaked 330 million gallons
US Daily Oil Consumption: 819 million gallons
(http://www.eia.doe.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_home#tab2)

Think about it.