Rollin' with my homies.

I found myself scrolling through my phone photos recently and I realized how much I've been up to lately and how little of that has made it to my blog!  It's been over a month since I left my job at the newspaper.  For some hilarious reason I thought once I was done with my desk job that I would have sooo much time on my hands.  Ha!  Life hasn't slowed down one bit - in fact I feel like it's gotten a little more hectic.  We are still in our very slow season at the b&b, but I've been keeping myself busy with small improvements around the lodge and working with my very patient and knowledgeable boyfriend on some small advertising we can do together.  But!  Here are a few things that have been keeping me busy during the past month+.

My sweetest, most hilarious and insulting { in the best way! } friends Steven and Todd came up to Steamboat on the Friday that was my last day of the newspaper.  They were the ideal distraction that I needed that weekend.  Hunter was out of town for work and their nonsense kept my mind occupied from any OMGwhatdidIjustdo thoughts that could have snuck into my mind.  We spent some time dining out, some time dranking with my SBS friends, some hiking but most of our time was spent with some serious rest and relaxation at home.  We laughed that when their friends would ask what they did in Steamboat, they would respond "We watched Mean Girls, sat in the sun and took lots of naps."  The boys assured me that they wouldn't have had it any other way.  These two are such dear and unexpected friends of mine...just go ahead and ask Steven how we met, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I'm so grateful for their friendship and them taking the time to visit me in Steamboat!

Steven and Todd left on a Sunday, I hosted a little girls night on that Monday, then Tuesday morning { after locking myself out of our house }, I took off for a solo night in Winter Park.  The weeks leading up to my leaving the newspaper, I had worked 19 days in a row.  Nineteen.  Looking back on it now, I'm not too sure how I had kept my sanity.  Keep in mind that many of those days I was working 2 jobs per day.  Somewhere in the middle of those 19 days I had had a minor freakout moment and went online and Hotwired myself a hotel room in Winter Park.  Just the thought of that hotel bed, with nothing to do and nowhere to be kept my sanity and motivation for the following weeks.  I took off to WP mid afternoon on Tuesday with a brand new audio book and a smile on my face.  After checking in to my hotel, I hit up 2 breweries and got some take out food that I brought back to the hotel and ate in bed while watching crap tv.  Indulgence at it's finest!  The next morning, I woke up on the early side and skied for a few hours hours.  I had only skied Winter Park once about 6 years prior, so it was fun to get reacquainted with the mountain again.

After leaving Winter Park, I headed to Denver!  My mom was flying in that Friday but I planned to get to Denver on Wednesday to spend some time with my nearest and dearest.  Though this trip happened over a month ago, I still get emotional thinking of how great a time I had that Wed + Thursday with some of my very best friends.  Jaime and Ryan so graciously let me stay at their beautiful home and made me feel more than welcome.  We had early morning coffee dates and late night gossip hours.  While they were at work, Jaime let me dive in to her nail polish collection, tea supply and fresh box of Door to Door Organics.  Our sweetest friend Lindy lives just 6 doors away from Jaime and Ryan, so I walked over one afternoon for coffee to catch up with Lindy.  I also got to smooch on her delicious youngest son Wade!  Thursday afternoon I made time for a run through Wash Park.  I love so many things about Steamboat but man alive, do I miss the parks in Denver.  I have memory after memory at Wash Park, Cheeseman Park, City Park, Confluence Park etc.  I didn't even need music to keep me occupied during my run because for 30 minutes I did nothing but reminisce about my time spent at that park.  Picnics with friends, runs with friends, runs with exs,  long Wash Park runs to get over breakups with exs, tennis dates with Mary the first month we both lived in Denver, Hunter taking me to WP to get acquainted with a mountain bike for the very first time, attending a funeral at the park, breaking up with a boyfriend at the park, afternoons spent solo reading under my favorite tree at the park...the memories were flowing for sure.  It was an incredibly nourishing afternoon.  After my run I treated myself to lunch at Native Foods.  Yeah, you don't have to ask this part-time vegan twice what her new favorite vegan restaurant in Denver is!  Thursday evening, Jaime and Ryan were kind enough to host a dinner with Lindy and her husband and our sweet friend Ashley and her boyfriend.  We had such a great time!  We FaceTimed with Mary to make sure she knew how much she was missed across the miles.  I know it must be obnoxious to have me post again and again how much I love these women, but our friendship, our bond and our time spent together is utterly priceless to me.  I feel blessed beyond words to have their influences in my life.

Friday my mom flew into town!  We rented a hotel in Westmister and had a hefty list of chores to accomplish with her time spent in Denver.  Mom flew in early Friday morning and per tradition our first stop after picking her up from the airport was at Ink! for coffee and bagels.  We accomplished equal parts play and work throughout the weekend with enough downtime in between.  One of our favorite parts was stumbling into School House Kitchen and Libations in Arvada.  Mom and I both let our hunger { and thirst :}  get the best of us and once made our way to bar we took a moment to feast our eye on what we had stumbled upon.  From what I can gather, it is an old school turned bar/restaurant.  The bar portion is in the old gymnasium and they did such a great job with converting the space but keeping the integrity of what it once was.  After our time spent there, we had a few more errands to run before calling it a day and picking up wine + cheese + crackers + veggies and collapsing into bed with our favorite Friday night TLC shows.  Saturday we had errand upon errand upon errand to run but managed to sneak in some time with my aunt + uncle, my mom's sister + brother for lunch, a little afternoon shopping and an evening spent at Phil and Sara's house sharing some wine and getting to know their neck of the woods.  Phil and Sara were so sweet to have my mom and I over { we thanked them with a bottle of wine! } to pick their brains about a few different things.  It was either the exhaustion that had set in, or Phil and Sara are really that sweet and fun to hang out with, but I feel like mom and I could have spent all evening at their house chatting over wine.  Phil is originally from CA, so it was fun listening to him and my mom talk their CA slang.  Plus, I loved getting an insider peek at a few details for their upcoming wedding.  Eeekk!  Sunday, Mom and I went to morning mass, grabbed a bite to eat, ran more errands and ended the night...you guessed it - in bed with cards + TLC + Food Network.  She { sadly!! } flew out on Monday morning but I felt too full of memories and love from the weekend to feel too bummed about her leaving.

I've had a few more adventures since leaving the newspaper - but I think I'll end this blog post with the stories above.  It's so exciting, a little nerve wracking but mostly exhilarating to think of what sort of things will fill my days and weeks now that I'm not tied to a Monday-Friday, 8a-5p desk job.   

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 weekend.

This past weekend was one that will keep me warm for quite a while.  Everything lined up perfectly making for an active/busy/productive/silly/relaxing weekend.

Mary and I spontaneously planned another 12 hour mini-mountin meet up in Dillon.  Even though we talk obsessively every day minute by minute but it wasn't until we met up and I heard her sweet giggle that I was able to realize how much I miss my Mary.  My Mary who has been a sister to me for more than 8+ years.  My Mary who approaches every situation with care and creativity.  My Mary who is so damn lovable and perfectly silly.  We had a really wonderful 12 hours eating, drinking, laughing, laughing and laughing.  I love that girl too much.

The rest of the weekend was filled with working + beer drinking + football watching + final mountain bikes of the season (him) + spending time soaking up the sun with coffee and bailey's in hand while reading Julie and Julia (her) + bed and breakfast cooking (us).  It's Monday now and the snow is aggressively falling and will continue to for the rest of the week,
but (!)  I feel so warmed from the memories over the weekend (cliche) that I don't mind the snow one bit (truth).

fall favorites // my james!

We had a vvvvvvery special guest come visit us at the beginning of September - my best friend Jaime took  made the trek up from Denver to Steamboat for the weekend!  

James got to Steamboat lickity split on Friday and pulled up at the house just a few minutes before I got home from work.  As I was rounding the corner and saw their familiar vehicle in the driveway, I instantly teared up.  When I saw her beaming beautiful smiling face behind the steering wheel, the tears started flowing.  I always feel incredibly thankful when dear friends take the time to come up to our neck of the woods for a visit and quite simply, I had been missing my James.

After we got the hugs and tears out of the way, we settled in for some champagne { Sofia - our very favorite! }, cheese + crackers + girl talk.  After talking, talking and more talking - we eventually headed downtown for First Friday ArtWalk which was so special to me.  Jaime, Ryan and I along with her sister Gina and my mom have quite the history of amazing memories held at ArtWalks.  I was over the moon when I realized that Jaime would be in Steamboat for First Friday!  We all went when my mom was in Denver nearly 4 years ago, and no joke at least once a months my mom still brings up how much fun we all had.  Plus, the hilarity of a trip to ArtWalk I went on with Jaime, Gina and Ryan are still some of the greatest inside jokes we reference to this day.  Anyway - James and I had the most fun moseying around downtown Steamboat, drinks in hand among the crisp air and setting sun.  We ended up at Aurum for a shared dinner around the outdoor fireplace with delicious mixed drinks flowing.  The night ended with a long soak in the hot tub, still talking each other's ears off.  It was one of those nights that was a beautiful reminder of it doesn't matter how many days, weeks or months that pass, the bond between best friends never fades - rather grows quite a bit stronger.

We woke up the next morning and set off to Freshie's which isn't just a favorite of Hunter and I's, but also happens to be Jaime's favorite breakfast joint in town!  After we dinned, we changed and jumped into the truck for a short drive out of town to show Jaime some Steamboat hikes that you just don't know about unless you are with a local.  The timing of the hike was right as the aspens were starting to turn yellows and oranges, so the views were incredible.  The trail was ours and ours alone { save for a group of 3 we bumped into while hiking }.  We talked, we laughed, we enjoyed the comfort of quiet that really can only be found between dear friends.  

Another reason I was extra thrilled that James was in Steamboat that particular weekend was because one of Hunter and I's favorite breweries, was hosting a Farm to Table Dinner!  I knew it was right up our alley and bought tickets without giving it a second thought.  Sadly, Jaime's husband couldn't make it due to a last minute work commitment.  This was the part of the trip where he was missed the most as I just know he would have loved drinking round after round { after round after round } of local beer and hearing about the local produce + meats that were prepared for us.  We thought it was hilarious to keep talking as if Ryan was with us - He just ran to the bathroom!  He took a little longer nap.  He'll  be right back!  We got the smallest { seriously....the smallest } table available and laughed our way through the 3+ hour long meal.  Things started to get a little weird towards the end when every.single.volunteer.worker.there. reminded us time and time and timeandtimeandtime again that we could take our drinking glasses home with us but! it wasn't until they announced the table settings were also available to take home that I got out of control.  THE FLOWERS WERE IN MASON JARS and screw the flowers, I wanted those jars.  I may have gotten so worked up on this fact that it wasn't until we jumped in a cab and were a good 5 minutes from the brewery that I realized I had completely abandoned my cell phone at the bar where I picked up said free flower arrangements { and one really weird candle holder that I still am perplexed by to this day }.  We then took Jaime to another local favorite - The Laundry, where we enjoyed more beautifully mixed drinks { and talked more about how much Ryan would have loved the restaurant }.  We hoped around town to Carl's { too much DJ and unsunsunsunsuns jams, less leisure vibe } then ended at The BARley { which had zero unsunsunsuns jams and wonderful leisure } before a quick walk home.  

Our time with James was short on Sunday as she had to be back in Denver for a work commitment.  We got up and I served up my favorite breakfast potato scramble along with a fresh green juice and we sent her on her pretty little way.  Even typing this out almost 2 months later, I still feel the strong love and thankfulness that I felt that very weekend.  This is a woman whom I adore and have adored since the day we met 7+ years ago.  Her in her pinstripe pants and polka dot shirt, me { nervous and sweating } in my tweed skirt and black button down shirt that was missing buttons.  Jaime and I hit it off in a really beautiful way my first day of work at my past job and have quite literally been inseparable since.  We stay up to date on each other's lives with weekly emails, FaceTime calls, phone calls and text messages.  We never fail to leave out even the smallest detail that might not matter to anyone else, but it matters to us.  

See Jaime's trip recap here!  Though mine is quite a bit late in publishing, it is one of those memories and trips that I wanted on this blog to reflect back on in the years to come.  I am simply giddy as we are already planning her and Ryan's return trip to Steamboat in a few short weeks!  Eeepppp!  

Cheers to the very best of friends!

summer lovin'

I'm still digesting all of the adventures + celebrations + weekend fun that we experienced over the summer.  While this post is delayed in being published, I've been writing and assembling it for a few weeks { scratch that - a few months!  Slowest blogger award goes to... }.  It is just so hard for me to begin trying to get everything down on "paper" { blog + paper?  blogper? } without writing everything.  So I give to you, my summer as condensed as I could condense it : >

My sweetest + silliest friend and her plus one came up for a quick/long weekend for the 4th of July.  This was right around the time I was really struggling with friendships here in Steamboat, so Sara's infectious laugh, insane sense of humor and sharp honesty were just what my heart and soul needed right at that moment.  I am forever grateful for her, our memories we've made over the past 7 years and our memories we have yet to make.  I love that woman more and more while always falling short with words to communicate that to her.

My best friend of 15+ years, my soul sister and the strongest part of me got married to the love of her life in Montana.  I was a hundred different shades of proud standing up next to her as she said i do.  Hunter and I made a week long road trip out of it and the ridiculous adventures we experienced on our drive there, the week we spent in an out of this world amazing VRBO rental, the rare happenstance that lead me to get to see one of my dear Bremerton friends(!!!!), the precious time spent with my parents + the dearest of friends from high school are memories that won't leave me anytime soon.

My parents made a 2 week road trip out of Amie's wedding, so they stopped in Steamboat on their way back home!  My dad had visited Steamboat back in the 70's but it was my mom's first time in The Boat!  I loved having them here and showing off our favorite spots in Steamboat.  I am forever grateful for their love, support and the spontaneous silliness they bring to my life.

Before Lindsey decided to move to Steamboat for a month, she was in town for a long weekend { her and our friend Kristy participated in the Tour de Steamboat.  Hello, inspirational! }.  I was able to steal a few hours of their time and host a brunch at the house!  It was everything a summer morning should be built of: coffee, fresh green juice, mimosas { duh! } followed by breakfast pizza { with homemade crust!  toot toot! }, my most favorite breakfast potatoes, breakfast cookies, fresh fruit and avocado toast.  We followed it up with a few hours laying in some shade in the backyard talking about everything and nothing at the same time.  Every ounce of me was filled with love, gratitude and appreciation that morning.

Hunter, Bob, our friend Judy and I made a somewhat spontaneous trip to the always gorgeous Lake Powell!  Luck is on my side as Hunter + his brother + dad all have their pilot licenses and access to several airplanes.  A road trip from Steamboat to Lake Powell can be upwards of 8+ hours, but in an airplane it is a zippy 2 hours!  We left early on a Saturday morning and were on the water with a cold adult beverage in hand by 10am.  The weekend was spent leisurely drifting around Lake Powell while listening to story after story of trips the Maddox family took to Powell throughout the boy's childhood.  That lake.  That boat.  That spot is magic to these men and I feel beyond honored to be let in on that sacred adventure with them.

Of course my trip to Denver back in August is not to be forgotten.  Mary has always been the most gracious host and I loved our weekend together!  We did everything from a Red Rocks Concert, Yoga on the Rocks....oh ok I know you've read all about it here, but I never want to pass up an opportunity to brag up my amazing friends and family who held me up in times where I truly didn't think my legs would take another step.  I still haven't stopped carrying the love of this trip with me day after day.

My birthday!  Goodness me was I spoiled rotten this year.  My birthday breakfast was presented to me by the most booootiful waitress in all the land { Hi, Rou! } with my very favorite acai bowl and a birthday candle!  I was treated to my most favorite biscuits and gravy mid-day, an amazing lunch with a dear friend and then shot out of work { 10 pounds heavier } an hour early so Hunter and I could check into our hotel room for the night!  WHERE, my sweet friend Emma went above and beyond to upgrade our already discounted hotel room to a suite!  Hunter and I relaxed a bit with a few drinks and gifts before meeting a few really wonderful friends of ours for adult beverages + small plates.  We retired back to the hotel room a bit early where I could indulge in my ultimate indulgence which would be eating dinner in bed while watching TV.  A rather simple request, this I know.  We never ever were allowed TVs in our room growing up, so when I get a chance to relax in bed while eating, it makes for a really happy Beth.  The night ended with one of my favorite pizzas in town, a nice hot tub soak followed by a nice long bath tub soak { I'm so predictable, I know it.  What can I say?!  I know what I like. } before drifting off to sleep with my heart about to burst and a smile the size of Texas.

My birthday weekend!  There is a small chance { we are talking like 99.9% out of 100% chance } that I put the pressure on Hunter rather strong this year to have a really amazing birthday weekend trip planned. It sounds incredibly selfish, this I know.  BUT, my last two birthdays were off the charts { here and here } and I really didn't want our tradition to die this year because of silly restrictions like work schedules.  We went back and forth between deciding on a repeat trip to Lake Powell, a weekend long backpacking trip or a van + biking road trip.  In the end, the van + biking + camping road trip won and man alive am I glad it did!  Hunter planed the entire weekend with not only my favorite snacks, breakfast foods, drinks and dinners but he kept our route and final destination { Crested Butte!!! } a surprise.  I did not stop smiling the entire weekend.  The surprise of a Saturday morning soak in a small mountain town hot springs totally set the tone for the weekend followed by insanely gorgeous and secluded camping spots, leisurely visits to { two! }  breweries and a distillery.  I logged my record of 20 miles over 2 days on my mountain bike { a record for this newbie mountain biker! } and made best friends with a few dozen cows that Hunter and I still talk about to this day.  We fell in love with the town of Crested Butte and dreamed of what it would be like to relocate our lives there.  Everything about it was pure bliss and I still can't get over his creativity and how well he knows me.

Final camping trip of the summer!  Over Labor Day weekend, Hunter and I loaded the WZL up and met Lindsey for a final weekend in the great outdoors.  I remember when Hunter and I would go camping in Washington and he would say "I really can't wait to show you how easy it is to go camping in Steamboat.  You drive for an hour and when you reach your campsite you feel as though you are so far away from Steamboat." and drive for an hour and feel as though we are far far away from Steamboat is what we did!  Watching the stars sparkle in the darkness, in the comfort of quiet between best friends and a good cold beer in hand while being wrapped up in blankets and cozy sweaters { yes, plural } was a main highlight of the trip, hands down.  Another highlight for me happened while driving to our biking trailhead. I was fighting anxiety, nerves and butterflies in my stomach { embarking on a 13+ mile difficult mountain bike ride with two pros made me incredibly anxious } when out of no where Lindsay starts playing Amos Lee's Windows are Rolled Down and a swelling of love, appreciate and gratitude filled me to the brim and I shed a few tears out of pure happiness for being in that moment.  The bike ride ended up being incredible { also incredibly challenging }, but incredible nonetheless.  The views, laughs and accomplishments that we experienced are totally priceless to me.

In between these big summer moments, I had dozens of small moments worth remembering.  Likeeee, seeing 2 incredibly meaningful concerts.  Amos Lee at Red Rocks and Paper Bird in Steamboat!

{Semi permanently } Dyed my hair for the first time in 1.5 years then cut 6+ inches off.

Managed to klutz myself through the summer and wound up in an ace bandage three times.

And spent each and every Tuesday night mountain biking with a fantastic group of Steamboat women in a 2 hour long biking clinic and every Wednesday night playing softball on a team with my coworkers.  I can't hardly believe I don't have photos of either of these events, but I guess it is a testament to the amount of fun/work that was had!

PHEW.  That was an amazing summer.  I already have a few highlights from Fall that I would love to share.  Note to self, Beth: Post said events every few weeks versus every few months to avoid a blog post with 1,000 too many words and 100 too many photos.

My best friend.

I have been known to talk in seriously exaggerated terms.  Either an experience is either THE BEST I've ever had or THE WORST I've ever experienced.   I understand it's an incredibly dramatic way of expressing myself, especially when it comes to simple things such as 

OMGTHIS IS THE BEST PIZZA I.HAVE.EVER.HAD.IN.ALL.MY.LIFE.LONG EXISTENCE or omg I can't believe people even put beer that foul tasting on the menu and expect people to be ok with it.  Why the pizza can't simply be really good or the beer be simply I've had better is beyond me.  Regardless, it's how I gauge my life experiences.  Sooooooo.  Deal with it.

I feel like this overdramatic exaggerated way of life gets most annoying confusing when I am talking with people who haven't known me very long i.e. new friends/coworkers.  It's come out more and more when I would talk about upcoming visits/trips with friends.  Since moving to Steamboat, they've heard:

YOU GUYSSSS!!!  MY BEST FRIEND FROM BREMERTON, WASHINGTON IS COMING TO VISIT THIS WEEKEND!

Then a handful of months later it was MY VERYVERYVERY BEST AND LONG TIME FRIEND FROM DENVER  IS COMING TO VISIT THIS WEEKEND!

Shortly after was WE ARE GOING TO MY.BEST.FRIEND WHO MIGHT AS WELL BE MY SISTER.IN.THE.WHOLE.WORLD'S WEDDING IN MONTANA!!!  AND I GET TO SEE ALL MY BESTEST FRIENDS FROM JR HIGH AND BEYOND!

A hop and a skip later MY BEST FRIEND AND MOST FAVORITE AND FUNNIEST ROOMMATE EVER IS COMING TO VISIT US IN STEAMBOAT!!!!!!@#%^!!!#@$%$&$%#%@!@!@#!!!

Fast forward a few weeks to a blissful weekend in Denver when I GOT TO SEE THE BEST FRIENDS I'VE EVER HAD WHO HAVE BEEN THERE THROUGH THICK AND THIN.

A week or so after that trip it was I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE THIS LUCKY: MY BEST FRIEND FROM SALT LAKE/PORTLAND IS MOVING TO STEAMBOAT FOR 4 WEEKS!!!!

And now?  Now it is  OMG MY BEST MOST FUNNIEST FRIEND WHO HAS BEEN THERE TO SUPPORT + PICK ME UP AND SHARE IN LIFE'S BIGGEST JOYS IS COMING TO VISIT THIS WEEKEND!!!

It's a little embarrassing and I understand it's a completely unrefined way of speaking, but I genuinely get that excited about all of these people.  To me - they are all my best friend(s).

All of this to say that Jaime and her husband are planning a trip to Steamboat this weekend and I am ecstatic.  Maybe the happiest I've been all month.