Colorado Wine Festival

This past weekend my parents and I went to Colorado Wine Fest in Grand Junction. Saturday was the Tour de Vineyards, it's an easy 25 mile bike ride through the vineyards in Palisade, CO. We drove to Grand Junction Friday night and when we woke up Saturday morning it was pouring down rain. We got in the car and drove to Palisade thinking the rain would probably be gone by the time we got on our bikes...nope! They said that in the 18 years the tour had been in existence, they had never once had rain....of course it would rain when we are there. We got on our bikes anyway and rode the whole way.

The ride was actually kinda fun, I don't think I have ever "played" in the rain before! Within 5 minutes we were soaked from head to toe, I even had water sloshing in my shoes most of the ride. Thankfully it wasn't too cold outside, it was around 65, but by the time we were done we had been wet for so long that I was absolutely FREEZING! When we finished I had mud, not only all over my body, but all over my face too!! I had followed behind my mom the whole way and I got her splash back....I should have gotten a picture, it would have been pretty funny!

Needless to say, I didn't get any pictures while on our ride, which is unfortunate :( I did take a picture from inside the car before we left, to give you some idea of what we rode in.

It was fun to see the vineyards and it was a pretty ride, but bet it would have been much better in the sunshine! Next I'm going to ride through the vineyards in Napa Valley, or somewhere like that!

After our ride we didn't feel like going to the festival in the park so we went back to the hotel, showered and took a nap. That afternoon we drove over the Colorado National Monument which was really cool. Now I am one of those people who hate scenery pictures, I think they are so boring, but this place was so pretty I couldn't help myself...and it wasn't like I could get pictures with people in them, because I took most of them while we were driving.

Independence Rock

These are called the 'coke ovens'

After that we went shopping at the mall and then saw the The Help. It was such a good movie, just as good as the book actually, would definately recommen it! We missed Robby, wish he could have been there....next year!! :)

Sunday morning we drove back to Denver and it was my mom's birthday so we celebrated that night with dinner. It was such a fun weekend, can't wait to do it all again next year!

Art Class

Last week I went to Canvas and Corkscrews with my mom, grandma and some of their friends. For those of you still living under a rock who don't know what this is :), you go to a painting class and they have wine for purchase. You paint the selected painting (or whatever you feel like painting) for the night and a teacher walks you through each step of the painting. Now I have no artistic ability when it comes to drawing or painting, but, with the help of a little wine, I actually end up with a pretty decent painting! Every time I come home, my husband says, "wow, you actually did a good job!" haha!!

I was actually not very pleased with this painting, I don't like how the colors turned out, but it's not too bad.





This was our first time to Canvas and Corkscrews and it was fun, but I would reccomend Canvas and Cocktails is so much more fun! Canvas and Cocktails is located in Cherry Creek here in Denver and it is crazy! The girl who teaches the classes there is CrAzY and so much fun, she plays loud, fun music which makes it even better. I like most of their paintings better too....and I have had better luck with how my paintings turn out. Here are some of my painting from there.


On the crafty note, I had a couple of drapery pannels that I wasn't going to use, so I decided that I would use them to make some new pillows (pillows are my sewing specialty!). I decided to cover some ugly pillows that came with my couch and they turned out okay, not my favorite though.

Our House

So we have been in our house for 4 months now and it has been quite an adjustment to say the least. To go from paying only a cell phone and car payment, to having a full on mortgage = pretty good sticker shock! :) We have been able to finish and furnish most of the rooms in our house except for the study and the two extra bedrooms upstairs. We still need a bed for the guest room in the basement, we just need to get that from my parents' house, some day we will do that, but here are some pictures of what we have accomplished this summer.

Powder bathroom

No picture of the messy study

I'm not happy with this part of the family room....I don't like how the entertainment center is decorated. Maybe once I get my fall decorations out I will like it better....defiantely needs some work

Master bath

Master bedroom

Proof that my dogs really do drink out of the bathtub faucet :)

Upstairs hallway

Upstairs bath

1 of two bedrooms....the other one is the exact same

Upstairs laundry

I completely forgot to take pictures of the basement which is probably my favorite part of the house, even though I don't ever get to spend time down there. Maybe this weekend I will get some good pictures as we break in my husband's TV for it's VERY FIRST OU GAME!!!

Life Lately

Wow, it's been more than a year since I last posted...kinda dropped the ball on that one! B-rit, you motivated me to start up again after reading your blog last night :) As you could probably guess, by my lack of posts, we have had quite the year since Robby came home. Here are some pictures of our first "real" year being married.

He's finally home!!!!

Our new house!!!

Cousin's wedding in Arkansas

July 2010 Robby and I along with my mom and dad rode in the Children's Hospital Courage Classic, a three day 157 mile bike tour through Copper Mountain, Vail and Breckenridge Colorado....it was so much fun and so worth it!

After Robby got home from his deployment last April we went to Vegas to celebrate out 1 year anniversary. Here are a couple, old, pictures from that trip, it was such a blast!

1 year anniversary

I could go to Vegas just for the pools!

View from our hotel room at the Bellagio

After we came home we spent a few months just getting settled and Robby started back to school at the University of Colorado at Denver, studying Business (his goal is to attend law school after finishing his undergrad.) At this time we were still living with my parents but in September we signed a contract on a house!! The house was not yet built so we got to pick everything out. Getting to pick everything for our house was fun, but a little overwhelming. Needless to say, we went in to the home gallery saying that we wouldn't spend more than a certain amount....we more than doubled that number in the end :) We had a long winter waiting for the house to be done but, finally, on April 27, 2011 we signed on the house and it was ours!!

Again, this summer, Robby left for a couple weeks for military training so we were apart a lot and are just now getting back to adjusting to life together....to have a whole year together, un-interrupted by the military would be wonderful! We can't wait to start making memories in this house. Robby has started back to school, is working part time and just got a job as assistant football coach at one of the high schools here in town, YAY!!! He loves what he does but it certainly makes for one busy life. With me working nights we hardly see each other, but it's okay, it's only temporary. I am still working at Children's, but I transferred off the floor and am now working in one of Children's satellite emergency departments and I LOVE IT!!

We have now been in our house for four months and with the furniture we have, the house is mostly done (except for the two extra bedrooms and the study...and we still need to get the bed for the guest room from my parent's basement). Pictures to come soon. I can't wait to start decorating for fall and Christmas!!

O, I almost forgot, well not really, but just before we moved into our new house, we got a brother for Winnie....Winnie has to have someone to play with, and we knew he'd miss Bogey and Betsy like crazy! His name is Putter, or Putt Putt (can you tell my husband is a golfer??) and he is a Shorkie just like Winnie. Putt Putt is ten months old right now and him and Winnie have become bff's.....they even kind of exclude Bogey when they go visit him :( Putt Putt has had quite a summer though, he was pretty bow-legged so the vet did "ulnar osteomoties" on both legs (they removed part of both bones to allow room for them to grow straighter). He had this procedure done, at the same time he was neutered....poor pup!! Needless to say, he is doing great! We don't know what we'd do without "those two pups" (as Robby would say to them)....we think that everyone should have a dog :)

Our boys!!

Putt Putt when we first got him

Deployment

No matter what, the military will let you down.

Sometimes I feel I would be better suited to run the military :)

It has been almost 8 months since I have seen my husband, and he was supposed to be home today. Well, guess what, he is not, no big suprise. I have been sitting in Oklahoma waiting to go on to Gulfport, Mississippi, but tomorrow I am going to go back home to Colorado...which is the opposite direction I need to be driving in order to see my husband.

So, I have definitely learned how things in the military work, and have learned to expect nothing, to make no plans. So I thought that when I decided to drive down to Gulfport I had it figured out...NOT! I thought dirivng would give me flexibility with dates. This last Friday I drove to Oklahoma to see friends and to go to a wedding shower, and then had planned on continuing to Gulfport on Monday, if Robby's arrival date changed by a day or two, I could deal, since I had my car and nowhere else to be, I could stay an extra day in Oklahoma, I did not have airline dates to be tied to. Well, the date did change from him arriving on Tuesday, to arriving on Wednesday...no big deal, right? Well then this weekend it was changed yet again to him arriving on Friday....still not too big a deal. I still had my sanity, I wouldn't mind spending a few more days with Megan.

Then, I get an email from Robby at 2am this morning saying that he was once again delayed until Monday! So, pretty much, I snapped. After waiting here in Oklahoma for five days, I am going back home tomorrow, and I am going to fly to Gulfport on Sunday...and I'm not sure I
even believe he will be here Monday anyway... It is going to be a long 11 hour drive tomorrow.

Who cares if some volcano is erupting...

Comes home soon!!

Winston

For those of you who know me, (and maybe even those who don't) know that my puppy Winston is my life. Robby and I got him almost a year ago, he was my wedding present from Robby, and he was THE BEST present EVER! Winston, also known as Winnie, is a Shorkie (shit-zu yorkie mix)...they are the absolute best mixes and I recommend them to everyone.

I cannot tell you how much having Winnie has helped me through Robby's deployment...without Winnie, it would have been miserable. I grew up having dogs and when I went away to college it was so hard not having the puppies with me, I could not wait to get out of school housing so I could have my own puppy. Having someone who always greets you at the door when you come home, someone who is always happy to see you and loves you no matter what is the best!

Winnie turned 1 on March 21st and we had a birthday party for him, I made him a birthday cake and his cousins Betsy and Bogey were there...he also got lots of new toys too!!

Me with the birthday boy

It's hard to get a picture of him with his eyes open!

They loved the cake!

Kisses for the birthday boy