bucket list // hot air balloon ride!

While Hunt and I were in CA for Christmas, my mom had planned many, many big and small things for us to do!  We were mapping out our weekend plans and my mom was acting super vague about what we had planned on Sunday.  She kept saying "Well we can't drink too much on Saturday night because we have something we are all going to on Sunday morning."  Truthfully, I first thought she was talking about early morning mass, so I didn't think too much about it.  It wasn't until my dad started chiming in, and anyone who knows my dad knows he is so not smooth with secrets, that I knew something was up aside from church.  Saturday night we went to Ontario for a hockey game { they were playing the Colorado Eagles! }, and on our drive back to Temecula I was grilling my mom for clues.  She really kept quiet and all she told us was that we wouldn't have time for coffee or breakfast in the morning and that we had to leave around 6:15am.  At first I thought we were going to San Diego for a breakfast whale watching trip and then I thought maybe we were taking the train somewhere?  Like a South Pole Christmas breakfast trip?  Seriously, Hunter and I were both clueless.  What threw me was that we had to leave the house at 6:15am, but I knew the event had to meet at 6:30am.  Well it also threw me that we weren't having coffee before we left because in the Summerfield house, coffee always comes first.  So my dad, mom, Hunter and I all pile into the car for a quick 15 minute drive and end up at the wineries…which even further confused the hell out of me because we like wine, but wine at 6:00am?  At this point my mom was crazy cute ridiculously giddy.  I knew we had to be doing something fun.  And not just 6:00am wine tasting fun.  

When we arrive at our designation, we turn the corner and I see a truck with a trailer pulling this giant basket/bucket thing.  I immediately think it's a hot tub and we are taking a tour of the wineries by hot tub { though it sounds so amazing we can say it together WTF Beth?! }  Back in the day, Hunter used to work for a hot air balloon company here in Steamboat, so he recognized the gear right off the bat.  It took me a little longer to fully come up to speed. { But I didn't bring my bathing suit, mom?!  was still vibrating through my head up until realizing what we were doing. } 

I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but needless to say we had an absolutely amazing time!

Our balloon was loosely inspired by Anastasia and without a question my favorite part was looking up the balloon and seeing the cute little at that veeeeery top!  The ride lasted about 90 minutes and after we landed { almost in someone's backyard! }, we had our traditional champagne toast { yes, at like 8:30am! } and ended up at at South Coast Winery for brunch.  We were so giddy with the overall experience and had the best time recapping our favorite parts!…and not so favorite parts.  Because Hunter has chased hundreds of balloons before, he's heard the spiel that the balloon guys give the crowds, well hundreds of times.  Haha!  

I feel so lucky to have completed 2 things on my bucket list within a week!  I really think my favorite part of the entire ride was watching my mom's face - she was having the most fun and her face was lit up in excitement the entire time!

eat your fruits and vegetables // kale + herb edition

Last Saturday we received our Organic Bountiful Basket with the additional Juice Box and Herb add on.  Due to the insane sickness that swept our house { actually, make that present tense.  Is sweeping our house }, majority of the produce remained untouched.  I got a burst of energy Sunday afternoon and knew there were some tomatoes, a ton of fresh herbs and some other misc. veggies that needed to be used up.  I decided to make some homemade tomato sauce, which really is one of my most favorite things to make!  My sauce typically comes out more ratatouille'esk as I throw in zucchini, squash, mushrooms etc., but this version stayed more along the lines of traditional spaghetti sauce.  As I was preparing the sauce, it occurred to me that this would be the perfect dish to kick off my New Years Resolution of beginning to understand what makes all these veggies that we eat on the regular so darn good for us.  This isn't a recipe by any stretch of the imagination, rather a breakdown of what I did and a few facts of what nutritional ingredients make up the sauce.  

In our cast-iron skillet, I added a few tomatoes to sautéed onions and a few cloves of garlic.  After it thickened up, I added some water, tomato paste, 2 varieties of kale and a ton of fresh herbs; basil, oregano, rosemary, sage etc.  It only needed about 10 minutes of simmering before it became the most rich and flavorful sauce!

I am more than thrilled with how the sauce turned out!  It made a big enough batch that we were able to freeze some of the sauce.  I always feel so very productive when a dish makes enough to tuck away in the freezer.  I am constantly reaching into our freezer for quick, nutritious and homemade meals and I am excited for the next lazy evening where I get to eat up this sauce for dinner!

twenty minute design // tgis

Have a beautiful weekend, friends! I got up early, went to the gym and was greeted with fresh french press coffee and homemade waffles when I got home { thank you, Hunt! }. Had a quick chat with my grandma back in North Dakota and now I'm off to shower and get ready for work. But! I have tomorrow off which is basically the best thing that's happened to me in a month. Tomorrow morning we have { boozy } brunch reservations with some sweet and dear friends of ours and then? Who knows. Just knowing I don't have to work is more than enough for me.

twenty minute design

Since switching to sales from the creative services department at the local newspaper, I've done little to no graphic design.  Which!  Was fine and dandy, until it wasn't fine and dandy.  And I realized that I missed it.

A coworker and friend of mine has challenged himself to taking 10 minutes out of the day, everyday to draw.  He's an excellent artist and had decided he doesn't draw enough.  I loved that philosophy.  

I want to start designing more.  A few days a week for 20 minutes or so, I want to design.  They won't be groundbreaking designs but it will { hopefully } be enough time to have fun without over-thinking things.

I saw this quote yesterday and fell in love with it.

bucket list // court side nuggets game!

Hunter and I flew out to California a few weeks ago for Christmas vacation.  Hunt was able to stay in CA 5 days before having to come back to CO to work the week of Christmas, where I was able to extend my trip to be 12 days long.  When we were booking our travel, we looked up the Nuggets schedule and realized that the Nuggs played the night before we flew out!  We used to loooove going to Nuggets games together when we lived in Denver and sadly didn't make it to a game at all last year.  We decided pretty quickly that we would head down to Denver a night early to make the game before flying out the next day.  I know that my best friend Jaime her husband Ryan are also big Nuggets fans, so I shot her a text seeing if they were available that evening for a game (which they were) and just like that we had a plan!  

Jaime and I worked together for about 6 years, and the company that I used to work for and that she still works for buys season tickets for most of the sporting events, Broncos, Rockies, Nuggets etc. to give away to their biggest clients.  Jaime, being the incredibly kind friend that she is, pulled a few strings and landed 2 court side seats for the game in addition to 2 lower level seats.  We were bummed that the seats weren't together but joked about how each time out, quarter, basket made etc. we would run and switch seats so everyone got a fair chance at sitting in the court side seats.  James and Ryan let Hunter and I have the tickets the first part of the game and Hunter and I assumed that we would switch at half time.  Well!  These tricky and giving friends of ours surprised us and let us have the seats the entire game!  I couldn't even believe it.

For whatever reason, sitting court side at a basketball game has been on my bucket list for years and years now.  I like the Nuggets, but I don't live and breathe the basketball so it doesn't really make sense as to why I have wanted so badly to sit court side.  I've always thought that it would be such a fun experience being so close to the refs, players, scoreboard etc.  And it really was as much fun as I had dreamed up!  Hunter and I got the biggest kick out of what the refs scream to each other, themselves and the score keepers.  We would laugh at the opposing team's (Houston Rockets) coach pacing back and forth and got to marvel one of the Rocket's best players, Dwight Howard, express such kindness to the little 8 year old who was also sitting court side and wearing Howard's jersey.  Dwight would pause and high five/fist bump this little kid every single time he went in or out of the game.  He would sometimes even pause if the little boy wasn't paying attention to Howard and wait for him to turn to him and high five him!  It was so endearing and I got silly  emotional over how kind he was to this little fan of his.  Dwight even gave the kid his shoes after the game!

::hunter and i along with the view of jaime + ryan!::

It was an incredibly fun experience and we can't thank Jaime and Ryan enough for giving us the tickets.  It was a close game (though we lost) that went into overtime.  With less than a second in regular game time, the Nuggets hit a 3-pointer that tied us up and put us into overtime!  You can tell we were crazy excited at them making the basket as showed by this tv screen shot.  Ha!  The guy who was sitting in font of us had this picture text to him from a friend that saw us on his tv at home.

We all ended up going out for a beer after the game as we didn't get to see them but before the game and a little at halftime.  We ended up sitting with a few beers and talking until 1am.  Poor Jaime and Ryan had to work the next day, while Hunter and I had to fly to California with quite the exhausted hangover.

It was the most perfect way to spend a quick 12 hours in Denver and yet again reminded me of how thankful I am for James and her husband!

the sweet season :: broken down v.5

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making :: the effort to put my phone down more in the mornings and evenings.
cooking :: this curry spaghetti squash dish tonight and I'm so excited to see if it turns out as good as the photo looks! { update; i made the curry spaghetti squash dish for dinner last night and it was.to.die.for!!!  i will most certainly make it again and strongly encourage all you spaghetti squash + curry lovers out there to make it as well! }

drinking :: tea.  you guys - so.much.tea.  chamomile tea, yerba mate tea, licorice tea, white grapefruit tea, and most recent favorite pangaea tea!  i start drinking tea after my 1 cup of coffee each morning and truly don't quit until i pour myself my last cup of tea at bedtime.  quick funny/pathetic/annoying story:  my mom buys me a bag or two of loose leaf tea every year as a stalking stuffer.  last week i brought it into the break room at work with me to pour into my tea infuser and some pothead guy who was also in the break room commended me on bring my pot to work to roll a joint.  I MEAN, REALLY?!  A) do you not know me? B) at work?  and C) just because we live in colorado does not mean we all smoke the pot, people.

reading :: waiting for snow in havana for mary and my book club - it was recommended to me from hunter and was recommended to hunter from his mom!  super excited about this one.  I'm also reading rushed on the side and i'm not totally sure how i feel about this one quite yet.

wanting :: a weekend off that could be spent in steamboat with no plans.  one would think this wouldn't be too hard to achieve, right?!

looking :: through photos from an emotionally charged yet painfully perfectly fulfilling weekend.

wasting :: time daydreaming with my head in the clouds.

learning :: to better manage my expectations with myself, my relationships and my friendships.

wishing ::  i had more snacks at work.

enjoying :: working it out with my steamboat friends!  i recently created a "sisterhood of the traveling gym shorts" facebook group for all of us to post weekly class and workout schedule so we can all work out together.  it has been great motivation for everyone and there has been a really fantastic response.  i've loved working out with everyone these past few weeks - mornings, noon and nights!

waiting :: for this week long headache/migrane to fade.

liking :: the chilly days/evenings.  our house gets awfully cold in the evenings but honestly it's just how we like it.  cup of hot tea bundled up by the fire and crawling into bed with our quilts/wool blankets is what this winter is made of!
playing :: the have a great day! playlist on spotify.

wondering :: what life will look like in 6 months, 10 months and 12 months.

loving :: frozen banana, almond milk and cacao powder smoothies.  i've been having one of these for breakfast or lunch daily and i can not get over how delicious it is.  it tastes exactly like a frosty from wendy's!
hoping :: to remember little details throughout these first few days and weeks of 2015 that in my opinion is moving by too.darn.fast.

marveling :: at my christmas present from hunter.  i was completely awed and floored when i opened it.  it's been living on our stovetop because it's just too pretty to store out of sight.  i've made one batch of soup in it and have a few other recipes up my sleeve.  name pending and suggestions welcome.

smelling :: my rose geranium lotion from ranch organics here in steamboat.  this was gifted to me for my birthday and is one of my favorite scents that i own.

wearing :: a leopard scarf that i bought in california!
noticing :: when i sit down to meal plan, all i want to make { and consume } are soups!  i love soup.  i want to make my very veggie chili and thai coconut curry soup again soon and am eyeing this little number for dinner tonight while hunt is at work.

knowing :: that i've now written about three curry dishes in this point.  yes, i realize we have a curry obsession/problem.

thinking :: of a new blog series { i use that term loosely as we all know i'm not that great at keeping up with writing blog series } where i post some fruits and veggies i've been eating throughout the week with their corresponding health benefits.  i think writing about it would be it would be a good way for me to fully absorb their nutrients { pun intended }.  i want to use this little blurb from my girl crush laura miller as inspiration.

feeling :: energized!  we bought some green superfood powder in bulk and i mixed some in with my lemon water this morning.  i am feeling that green boost for sure!

bookmarking :: steamboat pilates and fitness workout schedule.  hunter gifted me a month unlimited and i've been sneaking in every pilates and yoga class that my schedule { and sore body! } allows.

opening :: my eyes to options both big and small.

giggling :: at friends.  i've checked out seasons 1-8 { hunter was thrilled } from our library over the past 6 months and i've now turned to watching season 9 and 10 on netflix.  i've loved watching it from start to finish.  it had been years since i've seen a full episode and the entire show is so much more silly and entertaining than i had remembered.
needing :: to get back to work.  zoikes!
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sweet season post volume one and two and three and four

book > movie

I have always been a pretty shotty movie watcher.  In my defense, it began in my childhood.  We never really watched movies growing up { save for Steel Magnolias, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, While You Were Sleeping and all Disney movies } or listened to a lot of music { save for Michael Bolton }.  I didn't really realize this was unusual until my adult years when my old coworkers took to regularly quizzing me on some of the classic and timeless music { think as simple as The Beetles } and I would fail at their questions every.single.time.  I will never forget the visual of my coworker and diehard music lover + musician Clay racing out of his editing suite over to my desk to ask me a music question.  Right when he would see the bewildered and completely lost look on my face he would walk away shaking  his head in his hands muttering "SERIOUSLY, BETH.  You haven't heard of ______!?!?!?!!!  My 5 year old daughter even knows their music!"  The same goes for movies; Sixteen Candles, Beetlejuice, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Goonies are all movies I hadn't seen until up to the past 24 months. A few of those and many others I still haven't seen.

Beth sitting down to watch a movie poses many issues.  If I'm watching the movies at home I have to have something nearby to keep myself busy.  Painting my nails, painting my toenails, wrapping Christmas gifts, working on some crocheting, cooking…the list goes on.  I just get a little bored sitting down for 2 hours staring at a TV.  To be perfectly honest, 8 out of every 10 movies I watch ends with me falling asleep.  If I go to the theatre to watch a movie not only does my ADD go into overdrive, but I often times feel incredibly claustrophobic and squirmy while cursing at the movie theaters for not designing their theatre to be tall person friendly.  The chairs are SO close together with such little leg room!  Needless to say….I don't watch movies all too often.  In fact, when Hunter and I went to see Mockingjay a few months ago I realized it was the first time I'd been to a theatre to see a movie since the last Hunger Games movie came out the winter of 2013.

Man - I'm doing a really great job painting myself to be the perfect movie watcher companion, aren't I?!

Hunter and I had a totally relaxing evening last night and watched Gravity and Gone Girl.  { I have been more than exhausted lately with an aggressive workout schedule + working during the week at the newspaper and all weekends at my part time job which is why I had no problem with laying on the couch and zoning out to the tv for a few hours.  I will say that this is quite the rare circumstance. }  When we had decided on Gone Girl for our 2nd movie, it dawned all the movies I've watched lately have one common denominator; I've read the book.

Mockingjay, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Wild, The Fault in Our Stars, and Gone Girl.  These are all { plus Gravity } the movies I have watched in the past 2 months or so.  When I would go to work and talk to my coworkers about the movies, it would always start with "Well I read the book, and…."  It cracks me up.  There is one way to get me to sit still long enough to watch a movie!  Most of the movies I've enjoyed while a few of them I really hated.  Ha!

Mockingjay / hated.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day / cute movie but, eh.
Wild / loved, loved, loved.
The Fault in Our Stars / hated.
Gone Girl / ehhhhh, meh.

I have Divergent lined up as the next book to movie that I want to see and am I'm thinking of watching it tonight or tomorrow night.  Wee!  With perfect timing too because my nails need a good fresh coat of polish.  Last night, after we finished Gone Girl , Hunter says "Well now you need to hurry up and read 50 Shades of Grey so you can jump on that movie bandwagon, too!"  Yeahhhhhh, that is one book and movie I'm confident I won't ever read or watch.

Come at me, 2015.

I'm feeling rather conflicted on New Years Resolutions this year.  I still stand by the belief that a person can change behaviors and habits any of the 12 months out of the year and really shouldn't wait for 1 specific day to change their routines.  But.  I have been taking a few minutes to reflect on 2014 and taking note of a few things that I let fall to the wayside that I want to improve upon.

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I'm going to work on creating more.  Creating more food, memories, cards, friendships, income, crafts, designs, fitness goals.  Creating of all forms is a huge release for me and it's something I want to continue to grow.

I want to become more knowledgable of what I'm putting in my body.  We eat copious amounts of fruits and vegetables but sadly I don't know that much about the specific nutrients and benefits of them all!  I would love to really read up on what it is we are eating on a daily basis.

I hope to be more kind to myself and practice several forms of self care…both big and small.  

I want to grow my friendships.  I want to do more than shoot a "Hi,howareya?" text with several emojis to my long distance friends.  I want to spend more time talking on the phone and writing letters.  I have a girlfriend in Washington ( my best friend Julia! ) and we've slowly started the habit of sending each other letters once a week or once every two weeks.  Actual letters!  I can't even express how much it warms my heart.  It feels like a much more sincere form of friendship and it's something I want to work on for all my girlfriends.

I want to take less shitty pictures and far more intentional photos.  When I look through my iPhoto I notice a trend of dozens of half assed blurry photos because I was too shy or lazy to work on getting just the right photo that I was hoping for.  

I will be more nurturing to myself and those around me.  I will be intentional + present with my actions and my words.  

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Happy 2015, friends!  I hope you started your year spoiled in love and laughter.

::via::

dreamboat anniversary.

This past Saturday, December 27th, marked my one year anniversary of living in Steamboat!  Anyone who is anyone (aka anyone who has read this blog for longer than a month) knows I love me a reason to celebrate a milestone while dissecting and reflecting the shit out of it!  Readyyyyyyyyandgo!

::steamboat was looking insanely beautiful this past sunday while we were out cross country skiing!::

When we moved to Steamboat I truly had no expectations of what things would be like here.  This can be attributed to my job interview + job offer + accepting the job + moving to Steamboat all happening within a week's time.  After not working for 13 months (freedom....yay!  empty bank account....booooo!) I was thrilled at the chance of having a steady job + income again.  I didn't give myself time to fret (read: obsess) over moving to a new city without knowing anyone.  We had just wrapped up 7 months of doing that exact thing in Bremerton, so it was the mindset of "Oh, whatever - we did this once, we can do this again."  It was intimidating moving to a brand new new city twice within a year's time but it was also empowering.

I moved to Steamboat a few days before I started work to begin the process of getting to know the city as a newbie local.  I had the weekend all to myself which I remember being so relaxing and nourishing (that is until I got food poisoning Sunday night and spent the entire evening before my first day of work in the bathroom sicker than a damn dog.)  As all things do, it took some time to get into a good routine.  Hunter was still working in Denver and Bob was spending a lot of time up at Snowy so the first few weeks, I spent a lot of time by myself.  I paid a lot of attention to the free events around town that I found listed in the newspaper and attended as many as I could.  I would snowshoe solo every weekend and spent my evenings watching Breaking Bad with a homemade meal for 1, a hot cup of tea or a glass of wine.  It was tough knowing I was 3 hours away from our "old life" and our best friends in Denver…it was almost more painful being 3 hours away from them in Steamboat than it was being 15 hours away in Washington.  It was an adjustment for me for sure.  After about 3 weeks of work and spending a lot of time by myself, I was invited to my first happy hour with work girlfriends and after 4 weeks of work I got promoted to a different department with a brand new job title.  Ever since then - I'll admit it's been prettttty smooth sailing.

My first few months in Steamboat, I remember soaking up it's beauty and walking around starry eyed at how stunning the area was.  I really couldn't believe  that we actually lived here!  I remember witnessing the Alpine Glow for the first time, watching a plethora of wildlife meandering through town, and of course, enjoying the 5 minute or less commute to really any destination in town.

This move has given Hunter and I  so many chances to grow as a couple and to grow individually.  I do still struggle with being 3 hours away from my closest friends and family living in Denver.  I am still learning to go with the flow, embrace each friendship and most importantly to live in the moment.  I never want to lose sight of how lucky we are to have best friends where we live now and everywhere we've lived in the past.

And here we are - one year later.  Enjoying life cozied up in our little cabin just big enough for our possessions but no where near big enough for the love and laughter it holds.  We have a routine and a life that I could have never dreamed up 3 years ago when I met Hunter for the first time.  I'm proud of the simple and meaningful life we've created for ourselves.  I'm proud to do each day with Hunter at my side.

Happy Year Anniversary, Steamboat!  Thank you for being really damn good to us.