blink.

Well.  May, June, July you sly little bastards.  You sure snuck in and out without so much as a hello or goodbye!  It's been a while, ol' blog.  Here's a quick { yeah, right.  lengthy } recap of what's been going on in my little neck of the woods!

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I've been baking.  A lot.  This is new territory for me.  I can throw together a Thanksgiving dinner for 13 and barely break a sweat, but ask me to bake muffins / a cake / cupcakes and I tend to spiral out of control.  The thing about running a bed and breakfast is...people expect { rightfully so! } freshly baked goods.  I'm too frugal to go out and buy pre-made muffins / scones / sweet bread every week, so it leaves me with one option, and one option only.  Baking these baked goods myself.  Thankfully I was at my parents house a few weeks back and I was able to get several recipes that my mom made all throughout our childhood.  This has helped me get over my fear of baking because I know what they are supposed to taste / look like so I have a pretty good idea if I'm navigating through the recipe okay.  Scones though?  Uncharted territory for me.  But I loved making them!  I am working on perfecting my bagel forming technique, which you won't find us Madfields upset about.  I've made 3 batches of bagels in 7 days  { enter oinking noises here }, though many of those bagels were used for breakfast sandwiches and served to our guests so technically we haven't ate three batches of bagels.  Technically.

I've been going to LiftUp.  A lot.  LiftUp is our main thrift store in Steamboat and I was afraid of it for the first 12 months I lived here.  Why was I afraid of it?  I'll be frank.  It's a smaller building with tight congested corners and to be honest, more often than not smelled like a giant fart.  However - a few months back I needed to find a few little things for the b&b and refused to pay inflated Steamboat prices in buying these items new, so I took a stroll through LiftUp and hit the jackpot!  I've continued hitting the jackpot week after week since then.  The way I justify this { mostly } weekly visit is that seeing how we've just moved, I will find one or two things I want to get out of the house and donate and oh ok while I'm here dropping these things off I suppose I'll take a stroll through the retail side.  It's ridiculous justifying spending $25 on several boxes of items { they often have 50% off all item specials } because it's been a really fantastic way of filling up our new unfurnished home, which is more than double the size of our last furnished home btw, on a budget.  The second to last time I went, the cashier said "Oh my.  Well don't you have quite an eclectic group of items?"  I wasn't too sure how to respond to that comment, so I just didn't say anything at all.  For being a small establishment, I really have been finding some fantastic finds that add the perfect touch of decor to our home.

I've been drinking iced coffee.  A lot.  What is my method for brewing iced coffee you ask?  It's quite scientific, actually.  I simply bring home the leftover pot of coffee from the bed and breakfast most mornings and pour what is left in the glass pitcher in our fridge that has been designated our iced coffee pitcher.  Sometimes it's with a little cream and sugar.  Sometimes with some Kahlua but mostly just straight coffee and ice.  I chuckle now at Beth 8 months ago who would toy with the idea of giving up coffee and/or having just one cup of coffee each day because Beth now essentially drinks bottomless coffee on the mornings that she works the breakfast shift.  Cooking breakfast for groups morning after morning, I knew it would be easy getting into the routine of making just a little extra frittata or baked french toast to reserve for myself...but I also knew it would add { haha - when I first typed that I accidentally typed ass.  Quite fitting. } up quickly and I would have to kiss my jean size goodbye.  I've gotten into the good habit of just snacking on the fruit if I'm hungry in the AM's, then eating a more balanced and healthy breakfast once I get home.  But coffee?  All bets are off.  There are some mornings where I'll admit to drinking half a pot of coffee before the guests even get out of bed.  Soon I will work to correct that habit, but it's really the furthest thing from my mind right meow.

I've been eating watermelon!  A loooooot!  As in averaging buying one watermelon a week....and Hunter doesn't snack on it nearly as much as I do.  I can't even help it though - I feel like City Market's watermelon's are especially good and juicy + sweet this year and I won't even apologize for it.  When we lived in Washington, fresh watermelon juice with lime was my go-to afternoon drink.  I continue buying watermelon and limes with the intention of making that juice again but sadly both ingredients don't last in our house long enough to hit the juicer.

Mixing our own night caps.  A lot! { hence the limes disappearing before it's time to make juice }....well not a lot because it is quite rare that there are a lot of evenings where Hunter isn't on call or I don't have to wake up at 6am the following morning.  But I declared the summer of 2015 as the Summer of the Night Cap.  We are such beer + wine drinkers that it's really all we've ever kept in our house.  When we moved into our new place we had the perfect spot for a little bar, except the only liquor we had to put on the bar was a nearly empty small bottle of Absolute Vodka and Sailor Jerry's from when I made homemade spiked apple cider last winter.  To remedy this "problem", we made a few trips to the liquor store to stock up on various liquors and have been having fun coming up with different night cap drink recipes.  We typically bring the dranks upstairs to the bedroom and just sit with the windows open and fan on high chatting about our days and the week ahead.  It's a new routine for us and I'm totally loving it.  We've been making Manhattans { and have seriously stepped up our game per Hunter's suggestion on what we use for Manhattans.  I'd been doing it the poor girl way of using Bullet Bourbon with a little maraschino cherry juice, but now we have bitters and vermouth and I will admit they taste far more authentic. }, White Russians, G+T's, mojitos { with the massive amount of fresh mint we grow at the b&b }, vodka sodas - the list goes on!

I've been making lists!  A lot.  Holy heavens, so many lists.  It feels like there are endless things to keep tabs on lately, all b&b related, between schedules, both cleaning and breakfast, menu planning, grocery lists, to do lists, guest check ins/outs, social media lists etc.  My life is one big piece of paper right now and secretly?  I love it.  I've always loved running errands and grocery shopping, which sounds strange when I type it out, but I really do.  I tried a system of list making on my phone to save paper, but I couldn't keep everything straight so I'm finally using up some notebooks I've had for a few years.  I feel like I have a good system down, so we'll see how long that lasts. ;)  A lot of my lists look the same seeing how I do a lot of the same things every day - but if it isn't on that to-do list, it won't get done.  Ha!

Watering our gardennnn!  A lot!  But maybe not as often as I should.  Our landlord's son built us a garden and we've had so very much with planting and watching our little babies grow.  I've come to terms with the fact that I am that person who sits outside with her cup of coffee talking to her plants.  It is so fulfilling watching those little seeds sprout and form plants!  I remember being thrilled beyond belief when not only did our greens come up, bit I could see the shape of kale leaves take place.  Gah.  Proud parents right here!

We've been la-a-a-oving our new house!  We had our eye on renting this house for a few months before we knew it would be available { our good friends live right across the street and gave us the tip to stalk the landlord to keep tabs on when his renter was moving out. }  { Ok, they didn't tell us/me to stalk the landlord necessarily - that was something I decided on all on my own.  But we are here!  Moved in!  Loving life!  So it all worked out.  heeheehee. #stalkerrenter } and the timeline of moving out of our last place and moving into this place worked out pretty perfectly.  It's a really lovely 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in old town Steamboat with a great yard, right across the street from a park with access to mountain bike trails which anyone who knows Hunter knows he HATES the quick access to mtn biking { wink }.  It's only about 5 blocks from the b&b so the mornings when I don't have a strata/waffle mix etc to bring to work with me, I'm able to bike to work!  The size of our house is perfect for what we need - spacious with room for guests (YAY!) with the added bonus of actual privacy when there are more people than just Hunter and I in the house.  In our last house, there was just a sheer curtain separating our room from the kitchen/living room.  Which was charming, for sure - but got a little old.  In this house we have room to spread out if, let's say, one of us wants to take a nap, and the other one wants to catch up on watching Teen Mom 2 online while indulging in the last bit of last night's ice cream.  I MEAN THAT IS JUST AN EXAMPLE.  Yeah, an "example".  ;)

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I feel like I could go on and on { shocking }, but the moral of the story is that life is good right now.  Really good.  I have an amazing circle of friends, both in Steamboat and my long-distance besties.  I have my mom, dad and sister only a 3 hour drive away now that they moved to Denver about 2 months ago.  I have a loving, handsome, driven and supportive boyfriend.  I have a job that challenges me and allows me so very much creative freedom.

 

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.   

Self belief.

Every New Years Eve/New Years Day that Hunter and I have been together { save for the first NYE we were together.  We were too busy taping pop culture to our foreheads and drinking bottle after bottle of champagne. } we write out our new years resolutions and close them up in a mason jar without showing the other person.  Then, the following New Years Eve/Day we open up the jar and read each other's goals for that year and talk about how we succeeded in these goals and applied them to our daily life.  It's one of my favorite things ever.  This year I wrote down two goals.  I won't tell you the main one, but the 2nd resolution written in small writing under my big one was "…and quit my day job."  I wrote it with the sole intention of putting it out in the universe and seeing where it would take me in the months ahead.  Never ever when I wrote it did I think it would manifest within 30 days of writing it down!  January proved to be a big month for me.  I was pursued by a local business here in town and received a job offer.  I was tempted to accept this position but there were too many "ehh, this isn't ideal" moments than there were "omg this would be so fun!" moments.   But, it lit the fire and finally motivated me to do something about my current work situation.  Which again, wasn't a bad situation.  It was just fine.  

Ahh, that lovely word.  Fine.  The biggest eye opener that I needed a change in my day to day pretty much boiled down to the word fine.  Day after day { afterdayafterday } when I would get home from the office, Hunter and I would have this exact same conversation

him: How was your day today?!

her: It was fine.

him: Just fine?

her: Yea…just fine.

After 5 days in a row of that - it gets pretty old.  I realize that not every day will be fireworks, or challenging, or omg today was greatgoodfantastic!, but I wanted it to be better than fine.  Good gravy for my sanity I needed it to be better than fine!  

So what is next?  This Friday, March 20th will be my last day working as a Multimedia AdRep with the Steamboat Pilot and Today.  Ahh!  I will have { some much needed } time off before I start my new gig.  The new gig being taking over as manager for a local bed and breakfast here in town!  I am giddy with excitement for the challenges and opportunity that lies ahead of me.  I'm looking forward to more flexibility in my days, the thrill that comes with being responsible for running a fully functioning business and the chance to express creativity in a whole brand new spankin' way.  

You guys, I'm so excited.

I have received such incredibly sweet comments on my departure from the newspaper and the most unexpected and heartfelt encouragement for this next chapter in my life.  I keep saying that I wasn't necessarily looking for a new job, this new job found me.  Which makes leaving my crazy kewl co-workers and clients that much more difficult.  But with every change that I've been through in the past 2.5 years since leaving my comfort zone of Denver, I have great confidence that these friendships and routines that I've built up over the past year+ will take on a whole new beautiful spin of their own. 

I had jotted the above quote down several weeks ago while watching a Perennial Plate video.  It was another one of those quotes and ahhh'ha! moments that hit me square in the face.  A moment that was heavy with encouragement and potential.

Breathe.

If you've asked me "How are you?!" lately, what I want to respond with is "I'm tired.  I'm over worked.  I'm in desperate need of a quiet solo night in with candle after candle, girlie crap tv and wine.  And tea.  And my crochet.  I miss sleeping past 6:30am.  I miss not working everyday.  I miss being able to clean, and do crafts and being able to go for a leisurely walk and I miss spending my lunch break at the gym/going for a run versus working/quick meetings for the next big thing."  Instead, what I do respond with is "There has been a lot going on lately!  My days have been packed but it's wildly rewarding on top of painfully exhausting."  

My newspaper boss just asked me this afternoon "How are you doing?" and I said "Oh, I'm fine!" and she continued to ask me 3 times if I was sure.  Ha!  #walkingzombie #lookaway #monster  Anyway, I want to post a few things about what are making my crazed days a little less crazed and help me keep my eye on the prize.  

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The clean and simple updated blog designs to both Edible Perspective and Bev Cooks have left me all heart eyed not to mention itching for some downtime to work up giving my site a clean and simple facelift.

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Before I left for California this past December, I promised myself that I would drag my parents and take a trip to In n Out. I've only been there twice in the 5 years that my parents have lived in CA.  For some reason in December I was really craving that indulgence.  No surprise that I talked myself out of going and while my hips and ass are thankful we skipped the trip, my craving still hasn't subsided at all.  This copycat recipe snagged my attention and I would looooove to give it a go soon!

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Serial.  All the livelong day, Serial.  I had heard whisperings of the Serial podcast around, but it wasn't until I read LC's post on her favorite Podcasts that I finally bit.  Once I started listening, I could.not.stop.listening.  I posted this to my Facebook a few weeks ago:

Sometimes I'm unintentionally a little slow on jumping on the popular entertainment bandwagons. TV shows, movies etc. This week's bandwagon I finally jumped on? Podcasts. Most specifically Serial. Needless to say I'm absolutely, positively hooked. I'm on on Episode 07 and am already sad at the thought of catching up to the final Episode 12. Did Adnan do it?! Ahhhhhh!

And one of Hunter's high school best friends commented:

Oh man, my wife loved that radio podcast. I came home everyday to her with headphones on with this intense look on her face.

which made me laugh out loud.  Rather than listen to it with headphones, I would hook it up to Hunter's bluetooth speaker.  He would get home from work and try and greet me, ask about the day etc and I would just respond with wide eyed head nods before going to my phone and backing the Podcast up :30+ seconds as to not miss a single word.

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I will make homemade granola one of these days.  I will.  Right after I redesign my blog, get caught up on my craft projects, get a birthday gift from November in the mail and a Christmas gift from December in the mail.  This post got me all twitter-pated to get after it.  I.will.make.homemade.granola.

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One of my sweetest friends here in Steamboat shared this song/video with me this afternoon.  My very favorite part is where he repeats 

Each day that I wake, I will praise, I will praise.

Each day that I wake, I give thanks, I give thanks.

Each day that I wake, I will praise, I will praise.

Each day that I wake, I give thanks, I give thanks.

And they day that I don't wake up and transcend the holy makeup, I am capable, I am powerful.

The day that I don't wake up and transcend the holy make up, I am on my way to a different place.

Gah.  I was listening to this song not too closely while working on other things and that group of lyrics gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes.  It was such a beautiful reminder of this phase in my life to instead of blowing through the day living by a to-do list to pause and praise!  And give thanks!  It sounds quite cliche but also completely necessary to get through challenging times.

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This cozy image of relaxation, indulgence and comfort.  Give to me all the relaxation, indulgence and comfort!

::via::

To my sister on her birthday.

March 5th brings me an unmeasurable amount of joy.  Year after year after year I wake up and notice extra sunshine, joy and kindness in the day.  It's always been a day to reflect on how much love my sister Katie has brought to my life.  It is a day to remember the years and years of sunshine that radiated from my life simply by knowing her.  It's a day to pause a little more than usual and be thankful for having this strong, determined and loving sister in my life.  In full disclosure it also comes with a fair amount of pain and sadness from being distanced both mentally and physically from Kate but that doesn't take away from the immense amount of love that I have for her.  That I will always have for her.  My life has a big ugly black hole that has come from missing my sister.  A hole that can only be filled with her love.  I have hope that someday the hole will be filled again.  

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To my sister on her birthday,

I hope you always remember how much you are loved.  Truly loved.  I hope you remember how cherished you were yesterday.  How cherished you are today.  How cherished you will be tomorrow.  I hope you know whenever and wherever that I will always be here for you.  I am so lucky to know you and to have been molded by your strength and guidance my entire life.  

I love you.  I love you.  I love you.

Buff

hbd, hmm!

happy birthday to my favorite hot (hot, hot!) tamale.  

there isn't a day that goes by where i don't pause for a little moment of thanks and appreciation for how happy i am to know hunter and to have spent these last 3.5 years of pure adventure with him.  i am so thankful for his silly, determined, generous and spontaneous heart.

part of hunter's birthday gift was a surprise ski trip to taos new mexico for a long weekend.  i managed to keep it a secret from him for over a month now and i feel 10 pounds lighter after finally telling him this morning where we are going!  his brother, sister in law and niece and nephew will get into town this afternoon and we are hosting the entire family for a birthday dinner this evening.  i'm reminded of the birthday dinner we had up at snowy for hunter 2 years ago when we were living at the ski area.  the kids were running amuck, the wine { + whiskey if i'm being honest heehee } was flowing and we happened to plan a dinner menu eerily similar to what we are having this evening.  filet mignon, roasted veggies with mashed potatoes and a caesar salad { extra anchovies! } are what maddox birthdays are made of!

hunter's birthday//2012

happy birthday my love.  you mean more to me and the people around you than you will ever know.

Take the hint.

Do you ever have one of those moments where you are going about your day to day and all of a sudden think *OMGosh I really want pizza.  And suddenly whenever you pull up Instagram, or open the newspaper.  Hear a radio commercial or see a billboard...it's all about pizza.  People eating pizza, recipes for pizza, a new pizza restaurant opening in town, coupons for cheap pizza, the list goes on.  And you think, huh.  Well that's interesting.  Maybe it's a sign I should get pizza.  And the more you talk about it, the more you think about it all, the more pizza surrounds you.  Then!  You spread the circle a little bigger.  You start telling your friends, your boyfriend, your coworkers, your family how much you are craving pizza.  They all chime in with how good it sounds, too and Yeah you should really go get some!  The next thing you know, your evening plans are rearranged and bam! you are eating pizza.  

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I'm not just talking pizza here { though man, now pizza sounds so good }.  It could be a green juice that you've been craving or wanting a sign to buy that scarf you've had your eye on…maybe you need to see some motivation to start a new daunting craft project, or pulling the plug on buying a new sofa.  Maybe it's even something as big as pursuing that new job and new lifestyle that you've been lusting after for far too long.  Whatever it is, the point here is that once the thought of buying that thing, or changing that other thing creeps into your mind…it follows you everywhere.

For over a year now,  I've been approached by a local Steamboat business manager { who happens to be not just a good friend, but a good family friend of the Maddoxs' } trying to get me to come on board and work for her/with her.  The job she was propositioning me for was my dream job in so many ways.  It would open up so much more flexibility in my schedule, the opportunity for new avenues in which to express creativity, ways to push myself both mentally and physically and all around a beautiful chance for growth in my life.

But I was scared to make a change.  

Lord have mercy was I scared!  So scared that I ignored her requests for 12+ months.  I buckled down and kept on keeping on at my { how I now affectionally refer to it as my } 9a-5p, Monday-Friday, cubical bound, florescent light lit job.  And it was ok!  Really, things were truckling along and things were fine.  I started out in sales with some pretty sad numbers both in $$ booked and $$ in my bank account.  But I kept trying.  I kept working, I kept scheduling meetings with my clients.  I kept showing up to work knowing I could push my monthly %'s booked and!  I can confidently say that I grew my territory { and for what it's worth, my bank account too }.  But seeing those growth in numbers did nothing to make me more excited about my job.  It didn't make me want to work any harder to see how much higher I could grow those numbers and it didn't make me want to work any less.  I struggled with finding fulfillment with my job and always settled that argument with myself by saying "But I really enjoy my coworkers, I really enjoy working with { most of } my clients so it's ok if I'm not 100% fulfilled."  Until I realized that it really wasn't ok.

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Of course here in the blog world there are 1,000,000,001 real life examples of people chasing their dreams.  Finding their ideal job!  Ditching the monotony of a desk job and chasing their passions.  Reading their stories used make me angry.  "How can you just do that?  How can you quit a steady paycheck and health insurance to open an online craft store/photography business/coffee shop { etcetcetc } and support yourself?!?!?!"  These stories made me angry until once day they didn't.  And I very timidly started putting myself in their shoes.  I started asking myself small questions of "What if I did quit my day job?  What would my day to day that look like?  How much would my quality of life change?  What would I even want to do?"  Of course I lucked out and found the most supportive partner who genuinely believes in me, sees talents I possess that I'm sometimes blind to and can recognize when one area of my life is causing so very much inner turmoil.  He helped me answer these little questions and he supported me when the biggest questions surfaced.  

:: via + via ::

Even with these little and big questions asked and answered, I was still scared.  I was scared of disappointing my current employer.  I was scared of not being able to fill the shoes of this new job.  I was scared financially and truthfully, I was scared of how I  would respond with freedom in my work schedule.  Even with all these lurking thoughts of doubt, there was one thing that remained; the unstoppable daydream of taking the leap to make this big change.  What remained was every time I would hop on Pinterest for a few minutes, half a dozen images similar to the ones in this blog post hit me square in the face.  What remained was that one voice that said "Beth, you can do this." that drowned out all the other voices that were saying "Stay comfortable.  Don't make the change."  

These quotes littered throughout this post are some examples of what I would see time and time again.  These quotes are my example of pizza in the above paragraph.  I knew that I could only ignore them for so long until I had to stop ignoring all the signs and it was time take the hint.

Ya'll know me enough by now to know that I'll have to split this up into like 3 posts with my chronic over thinking/analyzing.  Thoughts and updates to continue in the upcoming days.

*To drive this point home even further, I want to say that I've had 3 pizza related things happen to me / come up in conversation just in the few short hours it's taken me to start writing this post.  It is all very Law of Attraction of you, Universe. 

All the feels.

I've sat down at least 3 times this past week to complete unfinished posts I have in the archives but the second my fingers hit the keys my thoughts instantly poof into thin air.  Whenever I have so many words swirling in my head, I typically go into self inflicted writers block as far as this blog is concerned.  The only way I can think to break through this is to just write.  So enjoy this blog post of scattered thoughts, stories and emotions.  So many emotions. #allthefeels

My heartstrings are being pulled into so many different directions lately.  I'm feeling especially emotional and sensitive to the biggest of big or the smallest of small things.  January was a hard month for me, and I'm thrilled to say that February is not following suit.  Two weekends ago, we spent a long weekend at Snowy with the family and the second we pulled into the parking lot, I immediately felt myself calm down and unwind.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - those nieces and nephews of ours are magical.  We spent the entire weekend laughing, cuddling, chasing, playing, smooching, hugging and laughing some more.  We had a pretty special birthday on Sunday and everyone came together in perfect unity to celebrate.

There are so many changes and potential changes on the horizon.  I'm finding myself caught up on what could be that I'm not focusing on what is.  For reasons I can't explain, I'm feeling especially nostalgic and emotional about every. little. thing. that comes my way.  Hunter and I watched Into the Wild a few weeks ago and you guys.  I'm embarrassed to even type this out but at the end of the movie I was in such hysterics we literally just laid in bed with Hunter holding me as I shook from crying so hard and he whispered positive thoughts into my ear.  Yesterday was my dad's 61st birthday and I wrote a little note on Facebook wishing him a Happy Birthday, then proceeded to just sit there and cry for 15+ minutes about how much I love him and what an amazing man he is.  I really can't explain either of those two examples but they were very real.  Just ask Hunter.  Ha!

This time of year is always a fun one for us.  Three years ago right around this time is when Hunter and I really hit our stride in our relationship and had so many amazing firsts going on.  Our first New Years together, our first Valentine's Day, celebrating our birthdays for the first time together, our first spontaneous weekend get away together etc.  Being up at Snowy last weekend brought back hundreds of memories from when we lived up there 2 winters ago.  I desperately miss seeing those kiddos on a daily basis and I really love watching the interaction of Hunter with his brother and his dad, yet I love our life here in Steamboat and can't even imagine leaving.  It's hard sorting through missing someone and something so fiercely and figuring out how to get it back in your life in a healthy manner.

I've been playing with my diet more and more the past few weeks.  During the holidays I definitely introduced meat into my diet on a regular basis, but I didn't love that I did.  I've been craving different foods…non-vegan foods lately and it was freaking me out.  I never really understood the phrase "Listen to what your body wants" because I always thought that meant I would be eating french fries and nachos and tater tots daily with the excuse of "What?!  It's what my body wanted!"  But the past few weeks I have been craving eggs so this time I'm understanding that on whatever level, my body wants and needs the nutrition in eggs.  Eggs don't necessarily agree with my system, so that's been challenging but I'm still figuring it all out.  I'm toying with the idea of doing my Crazy Sexy Diet cleanse after Hunter's birthday to kind of reset my body.  I've always had such a great experience with that cleanse, I'm excited for the challenge again.  Hunter and I watched { I re-watched but it was the first time Hunter had seen it } the Hungry for a Change documentary { it's also on Netflix! }.  I truly feel like I could watch movie that once a day for an entire month and never tire of the knowledge and wisdom packed into the 90 minutes.  I can relate to various topics in the film that it felt good to have someone spell different questions or concerns out for me.  My favorite part was the ending where it talked about self love and how much our thoughts and actions can affect { positively and negatively! } our health.  Self love and care is something I need to make more of a priority in my life.

Hunt's birthday is in 9 days { I mean….who is counting?! } and I have a surprise trip planned for him that I am so crazy excited for.  I can't wait to pack up and get away with my main squeeze and file away another great birthday trip in the books.  Last year we spent his birthday weekend at Monarch for a relaxing and lovely ski weekend while the year before we had a long { amazing, perfect, adventurous, spontaneous, beautiful } weekend skiing our way through Montana for his birthday.  I really think this trip will live up to the excitement of years past.  It's a surprise for Hunter but I've been giving him Clue Cards the past few weeks letting him in on a few highlights of the trip and will tell him on his birthday where we are going { we leave the day after his birthday, the 26th! }.  Eep!

We spread our Valentine's Day celebration over 2 days this year.  Hunter and I both worked on Valentine's Day but we got an early morning workout and hot springs soak in together before we both headed off to work.  I had a few yummy snacks { stuffed mushrooms + buffalo chicken quesadillas + roasted asparagus and brussels sprouts with an aioli + chips and our favorite salsa } ready for snacking when Hunter got off work at 9:30p with my favorite wine and his favorite beer surrounded by the soft glow of candles scattered throughout the house.  It was a fun intimate way to wind down from the day and enjoy the last bit of Valentine's Day together!  Sunday we both had the day off, so I spent some time in the kitchen first thing in the morning making us a really delicious breakfast { like super delicious.  I don't even feel embarrassed telling you guys how good something I made was.  ha! #notevenclosetohumblebrag #straightupbrag } and then we packed up and headed out skiing for a few hours.  The snow was less than ideal, but we skied for about an hour and a half before landing at our favorite ski bar { T Bar! } for a few beers.  We came home and relaxed a bit before our dinner reservations at Cafe Diva.  Holy Mother of Food Gods was it absolutely incredible.  Everyone in town has talked about how amazing this restaurant was and I was really worried about it not living up to the hype.  But!  It completely surpassed my expectations.  It's certainly a once a year special occasion meal { read: $$$$$$$ }, but I feel so lucky we were able to go.  Hunter got the Elk Tenderloin while I got the Winter Mushroom Fettucine.  We also shared the Peanut Butter and Bacon Sandwiches which made me literally moan in happiness with every single bite. { I'm so sorry for that visual. }  And I don't even care for meat!  But dang.  This thing was incredible.  All paired with a wonderful bottle of wine and we were happy campers.  Scratch that: incredibly full happy campers.

I'm currently watching this, while drinking this while making a grocery list to cook this after my Fierce 4 workout class tonight.  All in all, life is good.  Really good.  It's challenging, scary, confusing and frustrating but at the end of the day it's so good.  I think anything that makes you feel love so fiercely and leaves you confused sometimes, but oh so fulfilled other times is something worth thanking your lucky stars for.  Thanks for keeping up with my rambling thoughts. Even if you didn't keep up with them, I am thankful for this space to sort through my thoughts.

Hakuna Matata, friends. : >

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!

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.  

.ribbit.ribbit.

I have a sweet girlfriend that I work with who not too long ago was going through some relationship turmoil.  She's young, beautiful and is dating in a new-to-her town.  She has met some boys she liked, some she thought she liked, and some she most certainly didn't like.  Every few mornings she'd be at my desk with an update looking for some advice and help off the dating ledge.  One morning after dishing out my advice she sighs a big sigh of relief, exclaims how much better she felt after our chat and then said "How do you always know what to say?!"  I smiled, took a little pause and the only thing I could come up with is:

I've had to kiss a few frogs.

While it's such a corny and overused phrase, referring to kissing a few frogs to find your prince, it's so true.  After my girlfriend walked away from my desk that morning I couldn't help but thinking of those  boyfriend frogs that I once had.

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The boyfriend who was receiving Match.com notifications and emails while we were together.
The boyfriend who would never go on a coffee date with me because, and I quote: "I just smoke weed every morning to wake up instead of drink coffee."
The boyfriend who only expressed his emotions in songs.
The boyfriend who lived in Iraq/Japan/HI while I lived in ND.
The boyfriend who lived in WA while I lived in CO.
The boyfriend who lived in NM while I lived in CO.
{ what can I say, I was a serial long-distance-dater there for a good 5 years }
The boyfriend who during our breakup alluded to having used the mindset that we had "just been friends" for the past 3 months.  Oh, great.  What a fun 3 months that had to have been for him.
The boyfriend who had a secret folder of 100+ photos on his computer that 8 years later I still wish I could un-see.  Yes.  Those kind of photos.
The boyfriend who would have rather smoked weed with his lesbian roommate than hang out with me.
The boyfriend who was a little too close with his mom.
The boyfriend who was a little too mean to his sister.
The boyfriend who wanted to eat Fast Food morning, noon and night.
The boyfriend who cried more than I did.
The boyfriend whose glass of vodka I mistakenly took for a glass of water and took a big swig.
…consequently; The boyfriend who drank way too much.
The boyfriend who would get so caught up in playing video games in his dark apartment all.day.long. and would forget your 6pm dinner date.  ON A TUESDAY.
…consequently; The boyfriend who didn't have a job.
The boyfriend who talked in baby talk to his sister.
The boyfriend who had a crush on my roommate at the time and would never set foot in our apartment.
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At the time that many of the above happened, it truly felt like the end of the world.  In hindsight, none of them were that big of a deal { except for the computer folder with massive amounts of porn on it.  That one really was a big deal. } rather they all just helped my journey along.  They helped me gain confidence and perspective in the really ridiculous world of dating.  They helped shined light on this handsome man who walked up to me at a Broncos tailgate some 3+ years ago.  They helped me realize that Hunter was so very different than any man I had ever dated.  They help me appreciate every dinner Hunter cooks for me, every surprise he plans and every way, big or small, that he proves how much he really knows me.  They help me cherish every thing he says that sends laughter piercing through my body.  They help me relish our many moments of adventure that we share.

So this one is to you, ex-boyfriend frogs.  Thank you all for being painfully wrong men so I could find my painfully right man!




It should be noted that each isn't example isn't different person - it's all really just 3'ish men total.

the weekend.

Haaaappy Monday, friends!  This weekend was good for the heart and soul { and stomach! }  It was one of those cozy winter weekends where I left the house a total of 3 times: Once on Saturday to pick up fresh rosemary and placemats from Hunter's dad's house.  Second time on Sunday to buy a new massive snow shovel { hello 12+ inches of snowfall over the weekend! } + a new French Press and the third time Sunday night for a night date at the gym.  Saturday we hosted our first Friendsgiving and it was a beautiful and delicious success.  It consisted of constant prep from 7:45am until 4:45pm when the first guest arrived, but it was well worth it.  Sunday was our lazy day where we watched football { and I crocheted! } for hours and hours on end.  I am thrilled for the 3 day work week and secretly love the crazy snowfall outside.  

the weekend.

This weekend was pretty good for being pretty bad.  Jaime and Ryan had been planning a Steamboat { #dreamboat } weekend for about a month now but leave it to { that bitch } Mother Nature to go and ruin it all.  It's happened once before with My Mary, so it only makes sense that she had to strike twice. The weather report was calling for, and I quote, "Hazardous and nearly impossible travel." so while I do know it was wise to cancel the trip, I couldn't help but bum all weekend long about it.

We managed to sneak in quite a bit with the cold + snowy + freezing weather and canceled plans.  Saturday we woke up to snow, snow and more snow.  Hunter and I tag teamed breakfast.  He cooked one of his mom's famous meals, and I cooked the potatoes I can't stop making { and eating }.  We snuggled in on the couch for a few Food Network episodes before venturing out to run some errands.  Hunter knew I had a crappy day on Friday, so he helped make it better by surprising me with buying some Christmas lights! We hung a few outside, I broke down and finally bought good winter boots and while I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I own a pair of boots with fur on them, I can't deny they are warm and waterproof as shiiiz.  We put them to use and went for a snowy hike up Spring Creek which got us all sorts of twitter-pated and excited for winter activities.  We've begun planning our ski trips and enjoyed visions of weekend cross country/snow shoe adventures.  Heart eyes for days!  The rest of the weekend consisted of a Stranahan's event at a local taproom, The BARley, late night walks in the snow, cursing at the TV screen { Broncos, I shake my fist at you! } and a loooooong evening soak at the Hot Springs followed by cooking up some homemade pizza.

I swear at any point this weekend I had a warm beverage in my hand, cycling through warm cider, hot chocolate, hot tea and of course coffee.  This weekend was a really wonderful introduction to the winter season. Now! to plan Jaime and Ryan's next visit...

fall favorites // GABF + Denver!

Through Hunter's brewery we were able to snag Great American Beer Festival tickets before they were opened up to the public which is a big whoo hoo! as they typically sell out in 15 minutes or less.  So crazy!  We bought the max tickets we could, 4, the day they were opened up to us and decided the Who What Where When Why would just figure itself out later.

Hunter, his dad, their friend Dean and myself { the Who of the weekend } met up downtown Denver Saturday morning and the GABF { the What } festivities began!  Hunter's dad has the hookup with a 21st floor condo in downtown Denver { the Where } so we stayed in the heart of Denver all weekend.  We extended our trip through Monday to make a long weekend out of it. { the When }.  And the Why?....well because, craft beer that's why.

I'd been to two GABF's in the past { back before it got to be such a huge event GABF would donate tickets to my old work in exchange for production time to promote the event } and I'm not ashamed to admit my main goal in attending those Festivals was simple: Drink as much beer as possible.  This time around, it was a far different { better! } experience going with 3 beer aficionados.  GABF had rolled out a new mobile app since I'd been, so the 3 men had spent a lot of time mapping out which booths we needed to hit up. It was far more organized going with them than my other 2 visits and this time I felt like I got so much more out of the evening!  We saw tons of breweries that we'd been to on our travels, spent some time with the Steamboat breweries that were represented at the Festival, ran into some friends and all around really enjoyed the evening and experience.  When we left GABF for the night, we went to Wazee Supper Club for some grub { a fool proof Denver favorite! } and when it came time to order drinks, the 3 of us in unplanned unison said WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT ISN'T BEER?!  Ha!  Needless to say, we'd beer'ed ourselves out for the day.

It was a stunning fall weekend in Denver and it felt good to be city dwellers again for a few days!  Before/after our GABF Saturday night session, we enjoyed a few tried and true favorites { Wynkoop Brewery + City o' City + Wazee Supper Club + Brooklyn's + Scratch } and indulged in some new-to-me dinning { Jelly }.  All weekend long we walked blocks and blocks and I soaked up all the sights that hold countless Denver memories for me.  Sunday morning, Ashley + Sara + Jaime and I met up at Jelly for brunch.  Those truly were some of the best 5 hours of the weekend.  The 4 of us hold an  astounding amount of memories, inside jokes, respect for one another, love and laughter.  We were coined The 20 Something's when we all worked together and were { and still are! } thick as thieves.  A morning with these ladies was exactly what I needed.  I'm still riding out the pure bliss that comes from calling them my best friends.

Jaime also got Hunter, Bob and I on the list for the bitchin' tailgate that my old employer/her current employer hosts for each home Broncos game.  The tailgates are always thrown with such flair and there is a general buzz of excitement/anticipation in the air with all the Broncos fans in attendance.  The tailgate was a double whammy because not only do we love Broncos, we love tailgates { read: free beer + food }, but we love Jaime and Ryan and we love the opportunity to spend as much time with them while in Denver as we can.  At the tailgate, I was also able to catch up with several old coworkers whom I've known for 7+ years which is always a kick in the pants.  Somehow we found ourselves hidden in a storage shed with an old friend taking Jagger shots and it felt just like the old days.  After the tailgate we hopped a pedicab to a nearby bar for game time.

Hunter and I were able to pick up a few boxes of storage/items that were still at Sara's house from when we on/off lived with her over the past few years and made a trip to went crazy at Target for items we would need for our new house.  { it's amazing what seeing the inside of a Target does to a girl who had to quit the Target habit it cold turkey. }

The weekend was perfectly perfect.