I once said I'd never go caving.

photo of Waitomo Caves in New Zealand. 

Our experience wasn't like this at all, but oh my, wouldn't this be amazing?!

I seem to be on an adventurous kick!  I like to think of myself as a risk-taking lady but lately, I've been even more so.  There used to be certain boundaries I wouldn't cross.  No longer. 

This past weekend I went climbing (normal), mini golfing (not out of the ordinary) and CAVING.  Yep, as in squeezing my claustrophobic self through tiny, tiny spaces.  As in getting stuck and mildly freaking out, and then getting unstuck.  As in climbing in dark, damp, thin crevices, ten feet above a small stream for a long way.  It was completely scary, but I felt completely tough after I made it back out.  I also felt completely bruised, but mostly tough.  And the greatest thing about it is that I didn't flip out, and I even had a good enough time to want to do it again. 

Have you ever gone caving?  What's something you've done even though you were terrified to do it?

summer plans.

photo by Wolfgang Staut

This summer, the boyfriend and I will be making the 17 hour drive from here to Arizona.  I spent my junior high, high school, and college years in the Valley of the Sun and I still have family and friends there.  We'll be there in late July, early August.  If you've ever lived in or visited Arizona during that period of the summer, you may be wondering why, oh why(!) would we visit in the hottest portion of summer?  It's because my brother, who is currently serving in Afghanistan with the Army, will be taking his leave in Arizona at that time.  So, even though we Wyoming folk will shock our systems with unbelievable heat, it'll be worth it to see my little bro!  Bonus: the boyfriend will get to meet him for the first time, along with some more of my fam! 

When we're there, I hope we are able to float down the Salt River, hike Usery Mountain, spend an evening on Mill Avenue (the Big Bang!), swim in my pop's pool, see some good old friends, go to great restaraunts and pubs(In-N-Out Burger, Red, White and Brew, Four Peaks Brewery, Casey Moore's), and who knows what else! I'm excited!

 

photo of people floating the Salt River by joelstine

photo of Usery Mountain by bethany8183

Do you already have plans for the summer?

amazing weekend recap.

photo via On a High Note

This weekend was chock full of good stuff!  Let me first start off by saying that the weather did not cooperate completely (so rude, when I asked so nicely) but it did give me the opportunity to wear my bright green puddle jumpers!  Score.  Okay, it's best to discuss this weekend in bullet form.  At least, that's what I hear.

Friday

• The boyfriend and I met up with a group of pals at a great new bar downtown.  They have a bunch of local beer on tap, including a delicious Irish Red.  Be careful though; it's more than 8% alcohol!  Ooeee.
• We ended up dancing at a bar called The Parlor.  It's not often we make our way there, but when we do, we get our groove on...or at least I and my lady friend do.  The boys weren't really into it.  Boring. ;)

Saturday

• Yummy bagel sandwiches for breakfast with the boyfriend.  
• Flea market shopping with a lady friend.  I found some beautiful plates.  $18 for the set of 8.  What a steal!  They'll be perfect for a lovely outdoor meal.  I'm envisioning it now...
• Met up with the boyfriend again and some other pals for the University of Wyoming's Biennial Keepers of the Fire Powwow.  The outfits, the singing, the dancing: it was all amazing.  It's inspiring to see how much preparation goes into an event like this and to witness a part of their culture.
• RAIN
• Later that night, we attended the House of Joy BBQ in town.  It was a fundraiser for the Laramie Plains Museum.  10 dollars for all the beer and food you could handle, plus 6 live bands all night.  It was so cool.  I don't think I've been to a better event in Laramie before.  We all had such a blast.  Aaaaaand you can't really go wrong with free beer. :)

Sunday

• From dawn til dusk, the entire day was beautiful.  Sunny, some clouds, blue skies.  Perfect! 
• The boyfriend and I had tea in a downtown coffee shop.  
• He organized a picnic, so we met our friends at a local park in the afternoon for sandwiches and frisbee.  It was the best day for a picnic and it was the first time I've been barefoot in the grass this season!  Ooh, and I took some shots with the Diana.  We had a lot of fun.
• After the picnic, we saw the movie Kick-Ass.  Loved it.  Violence isn't usually my thing (and let's be honest, I closed my eyes during the bad stuff), but the story was really good!  I recommend it.
• And what's the best way to top off an already perfect weekend?  With sushi of course!  It was delicious, as usual. 

I hope you had a great weekend too!  I might not be posting very often this week.  It's going to be a busy one.  Have a great week!

happy weekend.

photo via Just be spLendid

What are your plans for the weekend?

Mine will likely consist of some local beer at a local bar, bread baking, flea market browsing, and catching up on some work.  Ooh, the last one doesn't sound too good, does it?  Nope.  But alas, it is necessary.  Hopefully I can make up for having the bore of work in my weekend with all of the other fun stuff that will go on!  And please, oh please, let us have sunshine!

Have a great weekend!

weekend recap.

photo of Old Town Fort Collins by David Kingham

How was your weekend?  I hope it was filled with sunny days and blue skies.  Here are some highlights from mine:

• The boyfriend and I checked out Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.  The campus is beautiful.  Awesome.
• Went to an information session for a program I'm interested in at CSU.  Tons of information, mostly good, very overwhelming.
• Met up with our good friends and went to FOCOMX, a music festival in Fort Collins.
• Saw The Dovekins and Stella Luce.  Both killed it. They're so good. 
• Witnessed a strange drunk fight.  A mustache and super wasted man were involved.
• ATE A HOTDOG.  Delicious.
• Stole a cab from someone else.  Maybe that sounds not nice, but it was late.
• Woke up the next day and ate at Lucile's (best breakfast in town).
• Shopped at Target, and other lovely shops downtown.
• Had lunch (complete with a blood orange, yum) at Whole Foods.
• Headed back to Laramie.

The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxed and normal.  It was a good weekend.  I hope your weekend was too!

this day will be big.

 

photo via a violent yet flammable world

Today is the day!  Which day, you ask?  It's the long awaited meeting for the program I'm looking at at Colorado State.  I'm anxious to see what they have to say and ask some questions.  I'll give a total fill in on Monday.  I'll also get to check out the campus in general.  I've been on campus once, and it's lovely, but I haven't really explored.

After all of that, some friends are meeting the boyfriend and I to attend a music festival called focomx!  It's not your typical fest.  This one is 15 dollars, 15 bars, 150 bands, over two days.  Lots of music overlap, but I don't know many of the bands so that's not a big problem.  One of the bands we do know and are going to see is The Dovekins, of course!  Golly, I love them.  I'm super pumped to introduce our friends to them.  Stella Luce is also playing, as is Fierce Bad Rabbit.  The latter band of the two is one I haven't seen live, but the violinist from Stella Luce is in it, and they sound pretty rockin' on their myspace.  Another band I just found that will be playing sometime tonight is The Tanukis.  They've got a real gypsy sound to them and I think the boyfriend will really dig it.  A fill in on this part of the adventure will come Monday too.  Yay! 

Have a great weekend!

it's nearly here.

photo by Tender Letters via Just be spLendid

There's magic in the air.  The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is set to open in June of this year.  If you're a Harry Potter lover then this will certainly be a must see for you!  I know it will be for me.  Just a few of the delights they have in store:  Hogsmeade Village full of shops you'll recognize from the stories, butterbeer at the Hogshead Pub, the Hogwarts Express, rides based on exciting parts from the books AND Hogwarts Castle complete with talking paintings and recreations of Dumbledores office, the Room of Requirement, the Gryffindor Common Room and more.  Read more here and see pics here.  Amazing.  It will be AMAZING.  Are you planning to go?

wandering.

photo by lauren {elycerose} via Just be spLendid

I'm a wanderer by nature.  Because of this, I'm always daydreaming of places I'll someday visit, and adventures I'll one day have.  And while that's all good and fun, sometimes I need to remember to stop daydreaming and just be here.  Because really, there is no place I'd rather be. :)

which way to go.

photo by NKPhillips

Making the decision to go back to school is a tough one.  There's much to consider, and whichever decision I make will have far reaching implications.  One day, I think it's time, and the next day, I don't feel ready.  I'm nearly sure that I've decided what to go back to school for, if in fact I do go.  I have an information session at the school I'm looking at on April 9, and hopefully that will help in making a decision. 

Here are the two sides:

Side 1:
I really enjoy my life right now.  I'm young, I have a great group of friends, an awesome boyfriend, I live in a place where I can be very active and have access to lots of outdoor activities, I'm working in the field that I got my degree in, and for the most part I enjoy my job, right now.  Why mess up a good thing?

Side 2: 
I've known for a while that I don't want to continue doing this job for the rest of my life, which means that somewhere along the line there has to be a career change.  The field I'm looking at getting into is booming right now so if I don't get in now, will it be a saturated market by the time I go back to school?  There are many other places that have access to outdoor activities, and they'll also have great cultural happenings around town (like the town I'd have to move to for school). 

So I know I want a change eventually, but I'm not sure if it needs to be right now.  I suppose I'll go to the meeting, gather more information, discuss it with those close to me, and make the best decision I can.  Wish me luck!

peace and quiet.

photo by ~brrb via just be splendid

How lovely would it be to hang out in a tree for a while?  I'd bring a thermos of hot tea and a couple books.  And a wonderful dress like the one above just in case any passerbys want to capture the moment.  :)

oh gelato.

 photo by josh.liba

I forgot to mention our stop at a yummy gelato shop in Vail.  I had the coconut and lemon gelato and combined it was delicious.  Of course, it was super chilly out, but the gelato was worth it!  Are you a fan of gelato?  

Vaaaaail.

view from the eagle's nest, photo by me

 

 me riding the gondola, photo by the bf

Super. Awesome. Weekend.

It started with a scary drive through the mountains but once we got through that, the weekend was perfection!  Once we arrived in Vail, my cousin directed us in dropping our luggage at the gondola and then we grabbed a delicious, delicious dinner (plus delicious, delicious beer) at a restaurant called Garfinkel's.  Afterwards, we ourselves rode the gondola to the tippy top of the mountain.  We expected my cousin to take us to some random shack on the mountain but no, he actually lives inside the huge gondola building at the top!  I couldn't stop gushing about how cool his living sitch was.  I'm sure I drove him crazy. :)

The next morning, we decided to have breakfast down in the village.  Because we were already at the top, to get back down to the bottom we had to ski down.  And by saying we "had" to ski down, we had the opportunity to ski down.  We had the whole run to ourselves on perfectly groomed snow.  It was so cool!  After breakfast we skied all day and even though we all got separated half way through the day, we all had a blast.  The mountain was so big and there was so much to ski!  We're already planning our next trip out there and will definitely be skiing more than one day.  After a day on the slopes, we had dinner at a great pizza place called Vendetta's.

The next day, we slept in and then had breakfast at an awesome place called the Westside Cafe.  I had captain crunch coated french toast.  Yes.  And it was sooooo good!  The boyfriend had banana bread french toast.  Also soooooo good.  After breakfast, we grabbed our luggage, and got a start on the road.  It was hard to leave such an idyllic place, but we know we'll be back!

Recap:  We stayed at the TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN, skied an awesome day all day Saturday, ate amazing food for nearly every meal, and had a great time with the cousin.  I can't wait to hang out with him again and am so glad he invited us to see him!

road trippin'.

photo by -RobW-

This weekend the bf and I are going to visit my cousin!  He lives in Vail, CO, works at the ski resort there and lives on the mountain.  ON THE MOUNTAIN.  Yeah, it's going to be a good time.  The plans are to head down Friday, ski Saturday and maybe Sunday, go out on the town every night we're there, and have a rockin' good time!  I'm sure that there will be great pictures had so I'll be sure to update you on the weekend when we return! 

P.S. Wouldn't it be fun to road trip in this super cool green bus?  The answer is yes, it'd be so fun!

live music.

photo by jesse.millan

I'm a conditional fan of live music.  I don't love being in a huge arena and so far back that you're essentially listening to their (muffled) cd while being jostled by giants that somehow only come out of the woodworks when I actually want to see something. 

What I do love is going to an intimate show with pretty close seats (or the kind of place where everyone can see) and having a real experience with the band.  Some bands that I've seen this way are Stella Luce, Murder by Death and the Dovekins.  All awesome.  All even more awesome because they play in smallish venues.  I'm a short person.  Really short.  And quite often when I'm at a larger show, I can't see a dang thing because giant mcgianter always stands right in front of me.  It never fails.  But smaller venues seem to either have better viewing all around, or there is more room to move around and get a better view.  And the sound quality in small venues?  While some of these bands may not have the most up to date sound equipment, because you're close to them, the sound is raw and amazing. 

Next month Ani DiFranco is coming to Laramie and we have 4th row tickets!  It's going to be amazing!  What's even more awesome is that the venue she'll be playing at isn't very large so I know already, I'll love her show.  I can't wait!

summer on the brain.

Woah!  Slooooooow down lady, it's not even Spring!  I know, I know...but I can't stop daydreaming about lovely summer activities.  Of course, all of the things I'd love to do right now wouldn't even be possible where I live at the best of times.  I suppose that means that I'm free to daydream since I'd have to travel somewhere warm and near water anyways!  What are the desired adventures, you ask?  Well, I'll tell you.

Scuba Diving

photo by Ilse Reijs and Jan-Noud Hutten

Sail in a little Sunfish

photo by Simonds

Sea Kayaking

photo by adrimcm

Visit Mackinac Island (my favorite place ever)

photo by humbertomoreno

What adventures are you dreaming of?

weekend update.

follow link for tickets

Oh. My. Goodness.
My weekend was chock full of goodies (and one epic moment of not so good. Let's just say that the bday girl, me, had a bit too much to drink on Saturday night).  Here's the rundown:

Friday.

A very low key night. The bf and I walked through a warm snowstorm (it happened) to meet another couple at a local bar. We played good music and not so good pool. Let me rephrase that. The boys played good pool. The girls didn't do much to contribute...unless chatting, drinking beer, and occasionally hitting a ball is contributing. Hmmm, I feel like it is.

Saturday.

The bf and I woke early to attend the local Gear Swap. We weren't looking for anything in particular but would've bought something had it jumped out. My wallet thanked me that nothing jumped out. After the gear swap we walked around the now warm and sunny town (with boatloads of melting snow, slush, rivers of water). We had a yummy lunch at a little bakery downtown and then popped over to the grocery store to pick up my eagerly anticipated, (and early ordered) tall, pink cake that only this store makes.

I informed the baker that I was scheduled to pick up the cake at 3pm. She stared. Only stared. Once she snapped out of her trance, she walked around the immense baking area for twenty minutes, looking in their seemingly endless amounts of refrigerators. She found the order slip for the cake, but no cake. No cake? "The party is tonight" I told her. She stared (again) at me and simply stated, "Well we ordered the cake, so we did our part". Ugh. Apparently all cakes are shipped in from Denver. They don't bake them in house. I don't even know if they bake anything in house. What is the purpose of the HUGE baking area then? To make you feel as though they bake it there? They said that they had no idea where the cake was, and I could pick out another cake for free. While kind of nice, it wasn't the same. I ended up picking out some weird generic cake and as I walked out of the store, I vowed to only order from the local bakery from now on.

After the cake fiasco and the miles of walking, I needed a nap, so a nap I took. Of course I slept too long, so after awaking, I scrambled around to get ready for the "80s & Gangsta" party. That's right. I dressed as a Cyndi Lauper wanna be. And most of the other partygoers dressed up too! I love theme parties, but when everyone else gets into it, it is so much more fun. I don't have pictures yet, but soon...very soon. All in all, the party was a success and fun was had by all.

Sunday.

The next morning, after my epic moment of drunkenness, the bf and I headed to Fort Collins for breakfast at one of our favorite places: Lucile's. So good. Can't even tell you how good. Go there. We had "breakfast" at 1:30 (a bit of a late start). Afterwards, we headed to Denver to walk around and then see "Mary Poppins" the musical! Again, SO GOOD. We were in the 6th row, had a perfect view, and watched an incredibly talented bunch put on a magical show.  The set design, the lighting, the caliber of singing and acting…it was all amazing.  I loved every minute of it.

The weekend was so good, and everyone was so good to me. I can't ask for a better bf or group of friends and love how familial it feels when we're all together. Thank you everyone.

I'm 26!

*update*
After realizing that my pink cake never arrived and the store offered me a different one, I asked what would happen to the cake I originally ordered when it did finally reach the store.  Her response was that they would of course sell it to someone else.  Fine.  Two days ago I was at the same store grabbing some salmon so I stopped by the bakery cooler to see if my cake was actually there.  Sure enough, there it was.  And it was the ugliest cake I've ever seen!  The icing wasn't thoroughly mixed and it was globbed on like a 2 year old had done it.  What a mess.  Here's a picture I took with my phone.  The glare obstructs part of the view but you can still see the strange globs of icing on the top and the unmixed icing. 

UGLY.

photo by me

poker run. aka drink a ton and ski.

photo by Valeriana Solaris

Yesterday was the annual Murf the Surf's Poker Run.  Imagine this:  hundreds of people, half dressed in costume, most drunk or on there way to being drunk, on skis.  Sure sure, some were on snowshoes, but the majority?  Yep, on death sticks.  And I only call them death sticks during the Poker Run because hello, we're all drinking...and skiing...downhill.  The event supports some charity (I've been told).  It takes place on a popular, mostly downhill cross country ski trail.  I've skied this trail a number of times but never inebriated, which brings me to the problem.  I have never face planted so many times.  And I'm not talking just on this trail.  I have never face planted this much.  Every 30 or so feet, I went down, face first.  Where were my arms to help me fall you ask?  I have no idea.  It seems they decided to take the day off and let me fall in all of my tutu-ed glory (that's right, I was wearing a tutu).  This particular trail typically takes one and a half to two hours to do.  Yesterday?  A cool four and a half hours.  Hundreds of people on the trail, half of those people (myself included) falling all over the place and our poker run stops really held up the day.  By the time we made it back to the car, the bf and I decided to skip the raging party that follows the run and headed home.  We had our party on the slopes.

Have you ever done a Poker Run?

ski ski.

photo by Scott Teresi

Last weekend the bf and I (plus 8 other friends) rented a condo in Winter Park, CO.  We arrived Friday night and were scheduled to leave Monday am.  I'll have you know that I ski.  I grew up skiing as a kid, stopped when I moved to the desert, and started back up this year.  So I ski, but I'm not amazing by any means.  On the little ski hill by my little town, I can ski the whole mountain, green through black.  On Winter Park and Mary Jane, I can ski up to blue.  That leaves blue/black, black and double black all off limits to me.  A big mountain is intimidating!  It's also liberating.  There's so much space; the runs are incredibly wide and long.  And even though I was scared half the time, I wish I could ski big mountains all the time.  Do you ski?  If so, where is your favorite place?  What do you ski on?

As for the condo: Amazing.  Amazing!  It was huge, was right by the shuttle for the mountain and was crazy beautiful.  Oh, and there was a hot tub.  It was heaven!  After a long (and I mean long) day of skiing, it was so perfect to come back and soak.  We'll be going back again I'm sure, and when we do, I'll make sure to take pictures this time. :)

where to go first.

photo by - reuben -

Northern Michigan
Oregon/Washington/Vancouver
New Zealand
Hawaii
Australia
N/S Dakota
New England
France
Germany
E Europe
England
Ireland
Chile

This is the list of places the bf and I want to go. It's long, and it'll probably take years and years but it's so exciting to imagine the adventure, non? Coming from a military family, I spent a large amount of time traveling. But since we've been back to the States, large trips went by the wayside. In the past 14 years I've spent six months in Central Mexico during college and I've traveled to Vancouver, BC. Both trips were amazing, but not enough to quell my travel bug. I can't wait to start checking this list off! Happy travels!