COURTNEY IN DENVER.

look who landed! so grateful that courtney could fly out to visit us in our new city.

we started the weekend off at - where else? - the beer garden.

after a late night of eating brownies, we kicked the weekend off with breakfast at under the umbrella cafe.

and then we went to red rocks for the first time! that was on my summer to-do list {which we did about half of} and i'm glad we stopped there. it was cooler than i anticipated.

 we got outdoorsy at roxborough again, our favorite hike.

and i thinkkkk courtney liked it.

thanks courtney for being our first guest! we'll show you a good time too, get out here to the mile high city!

CAMP 2012.

we've been back from camp for a week, but feels like it has been a million years since we were on the lake enjoying this view.

future sister and i on the booze cruise! 

a loon. this was the first year i saw one and they were talking to one another like crazy. they kind of sound like turkeys on water. there is a stuffed one in the dining cabin {sad face} and they kind of look like - and are the size of - penguins! i am obviously not a loon expert, so here's the wiki link. aren't they pretty?

going her own way.

night of the engagement!

fishing on the dock. little brother rhody even caught one!

can't stop. won't stop. 

last day, a storm rolled through right before we left. still the most beautiful place.

until next year, tupper lake.

MT. EVANS.

on saturday i woke b up at 4 a.m.to head out to north america's highest paved road, which was one of the things on our summer to-do list!

see, the sign says it all. elevation: 14,260 feet. we should have taken notice of this before we were at the summit.

here it is: the road! so, i'm not going to lie. i groaned and screamed and acted nuts the entire way. i'm not a huge fan of heights and the road was so skinny, there were no guardrails and you could see where portions of the road had broken off and fallen into the valley. because, you know, the road is on the edge of a mountain. also, in a bunch of areas there was still ice on the road. DANGER!

and, you all, we saw three bikers and a runner hitting the pavement. i have no words for the fitness-obsessed people that live here.

it took about 30 minutes to get from the start of the park {that sign} to the very top. it was about 70 when we left denver at 4:40 a.m. at the summit at 6? 39. 39 degrees! i had packed a sweatshirt, which b had made fun of. neither of us were laughing when we got out of the car. the winds were raging at 50 miles per hour and we could see our breath. when i couldn't open the car door on my own, i realized we were very unprepared.

one of three photos i snapped at the top. amazing, right? we should have heeded the warnings on the sign. both of us were instantly affected by the complete lack of air and ran around the top like total whackos. literally, you could not breathe, the gusts was blowing even b around and while there are some walls up as wind protection it was a cyclone no matter where you stood. we were out there for approximately two minutes.

after a quick respite in the car, we jumped out and had another visitor shoot a photo. this was the best one. check that hair!

one of the reasons we got to mt. evans so early was because we read that the animals are out and about in the morning. they were right! we didn't see a mountain goat, but we saw a deer, a fox {walking on the highway at the base of the mountain} and this cute little guy! i rolled my window down and yelled "work it!" and he looked right at me. too cute. 

i think this shot of the helicopter illustrates how deep the mountain range goes. doesn't it look like we are in a foreign country?

and a win for self photography! just a couple of turns down from the summit and 20 degrees warmer and weather more supportive of a good hair shot.

mt. evans, i'd recommend it! just don't forget your snow jacket, winter hat and oxygen tank.

SUMMER IN DENVER.

{from our hike in boulder. i'm sure there will be many more similar shots this summer.}

i made a nashville bucket list last july, and we did almost none of it. pitiful! but, that won't keep me from giving it another shot. i feel like the weekends sneak up on us, and most of the time i don't want to do anything but veg on the couch. however, it's a new city and we need to live it up! so, here are some of the things we {yep, b added his favs, too! hint: they involve alcohol.} want to do this summer:

- see a rockies game.
- go view the ysl exhibit at the denver art museum. we tried to go a few weeks ago and it was sold out that day, but we're going to give it another shot. we did this yesterday. post coming soon!
- walk the royal gorge suspension bridge.
- complete two 5ks! we are already registered for the set the pace 5k {which is in two weeks - yikes!} and the drop your drawers and run wild 5k {no, i did not make that up}.
- go to the dancing pines distillery.
- stand beside tricia when she gets married! well, that's just me, but b officially has a plane ticket and will be there too. if anyone has maid-of-honor speech advice, i'd love to hear it.
- hang out at jazz in the park. hat tip to anna for informing me of this apparently awesome sunday evening happening. 
- check out red rocks. maybe even go to a concert? i just found out sawyer brown played there last week, which i somehow never heard about until it was too late.
- buy a pair of hiking boots. and hit the trails, of course!
- take a weekend trip to strawberry park hot springs.
- watch all of the olympics! i can feel the tears coming on already.
- drive "america's highest paved automobile road" mount evans! doesn't that sound cool?! it's 14,200 feet at the summit and is only an hour outside of denver.
- tour great divide brewery.
- go to camp. camp has quickly become a love of my life. i am so thankful that we get to spend a few days there this year.
- M-O-V-E! i cannot say enough how glad i am to be moving this month! hopefully this helps you understand the level of my joy: !!!!!

with all this on the agenda, i am really looking forward to the next few months! what do you have planned for this summer?

p.s. this is my 200th post! woot. 

summer.

so many things i want to do this summer. like:

go to arrington vineyards!

white water raft again on the ocoee!

see taylor swift with my sister for the second year in a row!

go to camp with b's family!

and, one i'll be accomplishing this weekend: see the fireworks from downtown nashville!