What we've been up to lately

We've been doing all sorts of stuff to stay busy and here are a few of the highlights:

Road Biking Denver's Cherry Creek Trail:  

 I got a steal of a deal from Craigslist for my bike.  Some lady bought it last year, rode it twice, and decided she does not like road biking.  So I picked it up for less than half the retail price.  Wahoo!


Visit to Colorado Springs:

 Biking around Garden of the Gods.

(Someone please tell me not to wear those sunglasses anymore!!!)

Touring the chapel at the Air Force Academy.

My dad came for Memorial Day!

And we went hiking in Evergreen and went to the Flying W Ranch for a cowboy dinner and a show with Uncle Gordon and Aunt Pam:

 

We're just having a bunch of fun.  That's all.

Helvetica Coolness

I've always liked fonts and think it's so cool how the design of letters can influence the image and even the meaning of a word. Here is a trailer to a documentary about Helvetica, the font. Looks like a documentary worth seeing at some point, if only for the NYC pics.

Pretty Therapy

Picture from http://www.maleneb.com/showrooms/

I could (and do) spend hours and hours googling over pretty things. There is just something about staring at pretty things online that makes me feel so feminine, international, stylish, and inspired. It's strangely therapeutic.

I have an obsession with a certain kind of style that's hard to define, but you know it when you see it. I love designs that seem to use a palette of the world to create a perfect combination of culture, sophistication, worldliness, organic earthiness, modernity, and fresh class. But it can't be overdone (i.e. Amy Butler).

• Cultural/Worldy/International
• Shabby chic (But not too much. yuck, when it's overdone.)
• Modern vintage
• Contemporary
  
• Antique-ish and Jacobean
  

Perhaps I could define it with one word: Anthropologie. (This also might explain why I like to look, but don't often buy.)

Here are a few highlights from my latest pretty googling therapy session that was motivated by a frustrating trip to the fabric store and started with googling India and fabric, and morphed into kantha, and morphed again into Anthropologie and fabric, and morphed again into....

www.maleneb.com/collections/signature/
www.contemporarycloth.com/
www.etsy.com/shop/theneedleshop?page=1
www.absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/
www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/good-questions/good-questions-similar-fabric-online-059460
www.justscandinavian.com/
http://kkantha.com/
http://bolefloor.com/

Missing the Cherry Blossoms

The cherry blossoms in DC are a magical DC treat. They ring in the spring like a fashion show, each tree putting on its best blossoms for the new season.

I LOVE the feeling that I get when I think of that beautiful site. I laugh at some of my cherry blossom memories the 5 years I spent in DC. Jogging around the Tidal Basin with Amber, having a DTR with an ex-boyfriend, coercing a crush to join me there (ha!), FHEs on the Jefferson Memorial steps, lunch breaks in the park, the National Kite Festival, visiting the blossoms at 5:30am, taking photos with friends, visiting them with my mom, ahhhh, such good good times. I love spring.


I'm sad to miss it this year, so anyone who's out there, please, give those trees my hello. Amber, maybe you can do the Tidal Basin run for good times sake.

Go Cougs!

The NCAA basketball tournament brought our alma mater to town this past weekend, and we joined friends in cheering on the BYU Cougars! Thanks to our friend Staci's adept negotiation skills our seats were upgraded from the top row of the Pepsi Center to the 10th row in the bottom bowl. Jimmer and the boys look pretty good from there!

Where we sat would typically be the student section at a home game, but as we looked around, it was just a bunch of young professionals reliving their student days. It was great to be part of that crowd, and even better to watch BYU work their way into the Sweet 16 by schooling Gonzaga!

Honeymoon Dreaming

I downloaded Picasa on Ben's new computer today and had so much fun looking at all the pictures it found on our external hard drive. This will make it easier for me to post our pics, which I've been lazy about over the past 6 months. Seeing our honeymoon pictures again was just what I needed on this cool March day. We started our marriage in the right direction with a Mediterranean cruise. If you are thinking about ideas for a honeymoon right now, I highly recommend going all out. It's totally worth it.

Here are a few pics for you to enjoy:

It works

I'll save you the details and myself the embarrassment. I'm just saying, it works.

I'm going to get a pedicure!

Easy Dinner Tonight

Ben and I got home from work late this evening so we needed something quick and easy to eat for dinner. And, might I add, healthy considering my random Carl's Jr. run at lunch this afternoon. I don't have pics, but what I came up with was easy and yummy... worth sharing.

I should also mention that it's meatless. I've taken a few classes about public health a food production, and I've decided that we can go meatless once a week. Ben grew up on a cattle ranch and I'm from South Dakota so there's no moving this crew to full vegetarianism. But we can eat cageless eggs and meatless on Mondays (or Thursdays).

Spicy Chickpea Wraps

2 Flour tortillas
1 package of Tasty Bite Chunky Chickpeas
Fresh spinach
1 Red pepper
Feta cheese
Ranch dressing

Assemble the wrap and viola! I think next time I'll add a little rice to make it not quite so chickpea heavy.

The Tasty Bite chickpeas are SO good. They come ready to eat and are already mixed with yummy spices. Plus the ingredients list is all natural and cleanse friendly - no preservatives or things you can't pronounce.

Enjoy!

Flat 14ers

Colorado has 54 mountains that tower above 14,000 feet. It's a really big deal to climb them and they're known as 14ers. The Flat 14ers program is an initiative that will bring those peaks to the school district that I work for. We are hoping to get our students to increase their physical activity by challenging them to walk the equivalent distance of the real 14er trails in their neighborhoods, parks, and schools.

That's for work.

So conveniently, I'm roping it into my classwork as well. For an assignment in my Health Communication Programs class I have been writing a communications strategy for my district with a focus on promoting the Flat 14ers program amongst middle school students. My professor's feedback regarding the title for the program, which I mentioned in one part of the assignment without explaining it (I know, that's a no-no), is hilarious:

"What does Flat 14 mean? Girls do not want to be flat, they want to be curvy and guys want to be muscular?? Colorado is not flat!! Why only 14? Won't it appeal to 15 year olds?"

Haha! Her comment made me laugh. It was the exact feedback Ben gave me when he first heard about it too!

Odds and ends

It's been a few weeks since I've posted so here are a few odds and ends that have been going on...

1. We went to Austin last weekend. Austin is a cool city. It's no wonder it's rated one of the best places to live in the US. The city somehow embraces white trash, big Texas culture in a way that makes it classy. For example, you'll find trailers in the middle of town serving incredible BBQ, and they're jam packed with folks partaking of the goodness. Austin is a big city, but it still has a college town feel to it. You'll see people wearing Longhorn orange everywhere you go. You'll also see people wearing dorky Texas flag shirts, but somehow it's cool, nobody judges. A drive through downtown at night will present you with bustling clubbers and concert goers amidst glowing vintage lit up signs. And during the day, city parks are filled with thousands of people exercising, enjoying the weather (oh the amazing January weather), and basking in the grass while eating the BBQ they picked up at the trailer shack around the corner. I also really appreciated the diversity (I live in the suburbs where there isn't a lot of diversity). I liked Austin.

2. I changed my shampoo. I went to Ulta last week to take the plunge and go for Pureology. But I just couldn't do it. First of all, I don't color my hair, so I don't need product for color treated hair. Secondly, a 10oz bottle is almost $30, that's not including the conditioner. The sales lady recommend AG Hair Cosmetics, but they were out of the moisturizing formula. I live in Denver. It's DRY as a bone here - I need the moisturizing formula. So I went with Back to Basics. I LOVE it.

3. It's cold here. The high today is 0 degrees F. And it's the middle of winter. It's hard to get out and exercise so Ben and I have turned to dancing. He loves to salsa, so we turn up the salsa station on Pandora, and get our groove on in the living room. It's a great workout. I love being married!

4. I got a job. I'm working for the Douglas County School District as their Wellness Coordinator. I'm managing a CPPW grant through which I am responsible for coordinating and promoting wellness activities for the district. My primary focus is on student wellness initiatives, but I also work on staff wellness. This is a pretty cool job because I get to work on policy development and program planning as well as be a part of the implementation aspect in the schools.

5. I'm almost done with my MPH degree. Phew! We're looking at the end of the summer or perhaps December, depending on when I complete my thesis. Wahoo!

6. I go to CorePower Yoga here in Denver. I like the classes and the warmth from the hot yoga. But once my 10 class pack is used up, I'm going to switch to their Yoga On Demand online classes and stream it through my TV so I can do it in my living room. That's going to save time and make it much more convenient. And it fits my budget better. And maybe Ben will join me. I'll let you know how it goes.

Things we did in 2010

I want to make a photo book of our first year together. Before I start gathering pictures, I made this list of things we did in 2010. Our story started in the end of 2009 and has been full of really cool stuff ever since.

1. Thanksgiving 2009

2. Obama Christmas Tree Lighting 2009

3. Christmas 2009

4. Ben Piano – Men of the Ward calendar pic

5. Trip to St. John - Jan 2010

6. Best Valentine's Day EVER

7. Snowpocolips/Snowmageddon

8. Cherry Blossoms (April 3)

9. Muse concert

10. Biking in DC

11. Peeps Party

12. Engagement Story

13. Trip to Sioux Falls, SD

14. Trip to Utah (Horseback Riding)

15. Ben’s Law School Graduation

16. Trip to NYC to visit Dan and Elise and go to Kristy and Eric’s wedding

17. Grand Canyon rafting trip

18. Move across country from DC to Denver

19. Bridals (including pics with Grandma)

20. WEDDING (August 13, 2010)

21. Honeymoon – Mediterranean Cruise

22. Trip to Driggs, ID (Labor Day)

23. Rockies Baseball Game

24. Camping/Canyoneering in Moab

25. Thanksgiving 2010 in SW Minnesota

26. Christmas 2010 - Utah

Any recommendations on where to get a photo book made?

Unexpected Africa

Some things I never expect. Like being in Kenya right now. Yup, I just arrived, checked into my hotel, and am trying to sleep, but I can't sleep. I wish I could sleep! Blasted jet lag.

I got a call last week from my old employer asking if I was available to help with a project in Nairobi for a few weeks. Who turns that down? Of course I'm available! (Well, except for my classes, but I'll work them out.) Actually, I was apprehensive about leaving Ben for so long, but he's really proud of me and totally supportive. I also don't like being out of the country during December because it means I'll miss a lot of the Holiday season. But that's just something to complain about in a situation where there's no room for complaints. I'll be home in mid-December with plenty of time to get into the Christmas spirit.

I think this project is going to be a good challenge and an exciting career opportunity. Plus, it's always cool to travel and see a new place. Especially when it's unexpectedly in Africa.

Me and Salvador Dali

Lots of people love his stuff.

As you can see, I'm just a little weirded out by it.

Sometimes I feel like this

Heights

We went camping/canyoneering this past weekend in Moab with Ben's brothers. I lucked out on scoring an awesome family in law. If I had to survive in the wilderness for an unknown amount of time with anyone, I'd pick the Roberts as my crew.

Reason for the trip: this guy, Sammy. This week, he is headed to the foreign state of Iowa for the next two years to serve a mission for our church so we had to get the bros together before he left.

I know my husband is an avid outdoorsman, but I had no idea that he is big-time when it comes to canyoneering.

He took us on a couple of really cool hikes. Here's the top of Elephant Butte in Arches National Park. The other hike, Dragon Fly, made me hysterical - no joke. I was fine swimming through two freezing pools

and doing an 80 ft rappel. But when I had to squirm my way through a slot canyon with my back on one wall, feet on the other and about 15 feet of space to the ground below me only to find a 150 ft drop off rappel at the end, I was no longer fine.

NO WAY JOSE!

The thought of putting myself over that cliff by a rope put me at my complete emotional limit. I cried and I nearly hyperventilated. That's what you do when the only way out is down, and you thought you were brave and have been acting all tough, but you're actually afraid of heights.

This is me crying (I tried to give a little smile) while contemplating my downward fate.
But Ben came to my rescue. He calmed me down and scouted out a way for us to climb out of the canyon without doing the drop. Follow the yellow line in this pic to see our route.

His brothers, who are fearless, did the rappel and said it was pretty cool, but that I would have been really scared doing it. Going up out of the canyon wasn't easy either, even though Ben belayed me up.

Let me tell you, crawling out of a 60 degree angled canyon wall by a rope that is hooked to your husband is quite the bonding experience. Here we are at the top, glad to be out. Yes, those are now my tears of joy that you see here.

We finished the trip with a hike to Delicate Arch. We had a poster of Delicate Arch hanging on the wall of the basement in the house where I grew up. I've always wanted to see it. It's breathtaking! As for canyoneering, we're going to join a climbing gym so I can practice rappelling. I think I did alright with the first three drops of the day considering that it was my first time rappelling ever. I just freaked out for the last one. It's all about trusting your fall. Trusting your strength. Trusting your ropes and the bolts that hold them into the rock and knowing your physical (and emotional) limits. I think I can do it again.