Unexpected Weekend

Christine and I had planned to head to Moab, UT with friends for a long weekend of mtn biking, hiking, and camping. The mini-flu hit me mid week and we were wondering if it was the best idea to go. After I was getting better on Thursday, Christine took a turn for the worst. We thought it better to stick around Longtucky and take it easy.

I still took Friday off from work and the unexpected weekend was great. We slept in, then went to our favorite restaurant, Lucile's, for breakfast. We enjoyed coffee, salmon, and good conversation for hours. We then headed to Lyons Picture Rock trail for some hiking/trail running.


Picture Rock Trail

Town of Lyons below

After the trail run, we took off to Boulder for the TRG film 'Under the Influence.' Christine and I decided we're getting too old for the college, ski flick, waiting in line for hours, loud, scene. Next year we'll just buy the movie and enjoy it at home with ice cream.

Saturday morning I got up before Christine, made coffee, and spent some good time reading. After Christine got up, we had coffee together by the fire and talked a little bit. I then slipped out for a little mountain biking prior to the Bama game.


Hall Ranch, with Long's Peak in the background.

We topped off the weekend with lunch with our friend Keith (soup!) and a win from Alabama over Ole Miss. I wasn't the happiest camper, as they played terrible in the second half, but a win is a win right. Good times were had though.....well, as good as it gets with a Miss St graduate!!!

Good Times in Alabama

Christine and I took a couple days off and spent time in Alabama with my family. We left at the crack of dawn on Thursday (getting up at 3 AM...ouch). My parents picked us up at the airport and treated us to lunch. We then recommended stopping for ice cream (we're suckers for ice cream, no matter when or where). We hung out with the parents for the day, catching up and hitting he sack pretty early after a tiring day of travel.

The next morning I took off to find coffee for us, since my parents don't indulge. Surprisingly, the one coffee shop in the metropolis of Russellville has closed....did I mention the town population is around 9,000. After a quick stop in to see an old friend, now an optometrist, it was on to McDonald's for coffee (not too bad actually).

My brother called and offered to take us to lunch. We enjoyed getting time to hang out and hear his thoughts about welcoming a new little one to the family. After hearing from him that it was homecoming weekend, we had to drop by and see the town parade.

No offense, but the floats from the class of '97 were much better!!!

Christine and I got to hang with my grandmother for a while. Her German/Southern sound coupled with good story telling skills make for a good time.

One of the best parts of the weekend was getting to spend time with my nephew Samuel. He's grown so much. Check out the sweet snow boots....he had to wear them as he always associates us with snow!




All in all, it was a good weekend.

It seems the older we get, the important things in life shift from where you are and what you're doing, to who you are with. Life is definitely full of changes.....the internal changes are now starting to catch up with the external ones. I'm both excited and scared for what's next.

Did I say scared? No way, I'm from Alabama!

Picture Rock Mtn Biking

Christine and I decided to enjoy our Sunday with a Mountain Bike ride on the new Picture Rock Trail. The trail just opened last week so there were plenty of riders that had the same thoughts as we did. We enjoyed the ascent on the winding singletrack, with a view of Steamboat Mtn in the background (I think). Just as we were nearing the spot where we decided to turn around, Christine had a hard fall over a rock and tumbled down the hillside. She walked away with plenty of scratches and bruises, but she did walk away and that was the critical part. We rested a bit, cleaned her war-wounds and snapped a couple pictures.

We took our time on the descent, talking about mountain bike skills. Christine wanted to know all about technique as I replied, "just go faster!"

The day brought about many questions for us; why is that we want to compliment each other in a marriage, yet our differences can be a huge obstacle in our path? We've found that often times it's the thing(s) you love most about people that seem to cause the most conflict. For example, Christine loves my spontaneity, but taking her out on a date without a plan can sometime be frustrating. Interesting stuff, aye?

The thing I found that helps the most is communication!! The more Christine and I can talk about our frustrations as well as our needs, the better we become at striking the balance that we are searching so hard for.

Mt. Bierstadt 14,060 ft

Here are a few pics from our recent 14er hike. It will probably be our first and only 14er of the season. As you can see it's getting pretty snowy up high!! It is amazing how many people hike this mountain. The summit was filled with people!

Just hanging out

Shane is in California working for a couple days so I am at home just hanging out, catching up on a few things. I hope to get some good reading time in! I just started reading A Long Way Gone, about a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. We are working on building a bookshelf. Shane bought a piece of wood that he sanded and I need to finish staining it. We are having people over Friday night to talk about starting a community group in Longmont. We are excited to get to know more people that live close to us. Saturday I am co-hosting a brunch for my friend/old roommate Becky who is getting married in a month. It's going to be a busy weekend!

Finally a blogspot!

Well, I've finally gotten around to setting up a blogspot. I have to admit, it was easier than I thought it would be. Hopefully it will be a great way to stay in touch with all of our friends and family scattered around the country!! I'm looking forward to posting pictures and sharing stories about our life in Colorado.