Colorado in Review

The trip begins!! lots of driving! lots of pretty scenery! and for me, lots of car sickness, followed by lots of dramamine, followed by lots of sleepiness. And that pretty much sums up the ride up!

On the way we stopped at the Royal Gorge. It was really pretty. You can walk across the bridge (or drive or take a trolley)

We walked. Did you notice on the sign above that it is 1053 feet high?? that's high! and the bridge SWAYS with the wind!! Oh my. It was a bit scary.

Here's the view down. Oh no, I couldn't actually look down. I simply held my camera out over the edge and snapped away, no looking involved. Apparently that's some good white water rafting below.

The worst part, maybe worse than the swaying, was the magnificent gaps in the planks of the bridge. I mean look at that!

Here's another shot where the river is in focus. I'm talking scary! I was worried about tripping. i was worried about losing a flip flop. I was walking VERY carefully, placing each foot on a FULL plank. I looked like an idiot.

So we finally made it into Summit County. My college roommate (who now lives in Denver) drove in for Friday night. That was awesome! I love seeing her, feels so good to catch up with a dear friend. And my little brother Joey flew in from LA. SO I was in hog-heaven, surrounded with friends and family!

Saturday morning, we drove to historic Georgetown. It was super cute. My brother took over my camera.

Joey tooks some portraits of us all... here's little Lukey (Ty's little brother)

Dear Sweet Tyler. (I'm glad to know that he hates having his picture taken by everyone, not just me. Makes me feel better somehow.)

Me and Lauren. How come I always look ridiculous? Can I not be normal for one moment?

I found a candy shop. This began a long trip filled with more sweets and sugar than I've eaten all year. I"m suffering for it now. I feel gross. I look gross. But man was it good!

Ty's typical routine while traveling. Find a rare and antique book store. Spend our life savings. Just kidding. He does not spend our life savings. Only half. But he looks good doing it!

We went over to Keystone for lunch and had to wait in line, behind a DOG!

Okay, I was just kidding about that. The dog did look like he was ordering, which was funny. But we really sat at a table and ordered. At a different restaurant. I'm not good at lying. Not even for the sake of humor.

here is downtown Frisco! We actually stayed in a house in Frisco. Somehow I never got a single picture of the house or at the house. I'll have to fix that next time. Anyways, I love downtown Frisco. Super cute. close enough to bike to. Full of yummy restaurants and adorable shops. OH and we hiked that mountain the background on the last day.

There was an antique and art festival in Frisco. I purchased this tiny stool. Cute huh?

Okay, this next picture is from the top of the mountain we hiked. It's out of order. But I want you to notice all of the sad dying trees. There is a beetle infestation. They burrow into the trees and eat them and kill them. But you can't see them because they go inside the trees. So all of a sudden a tree is dead and you have no idea that it was happening. It's been going on for about 2 years now, and it looks very very sad. You can see lots of dead trees in the background.

I'm showing you that because look at this...
Only in Colorado!! So they are having a "Beetle Fest" - the small print says "A festival to ward off the evil beetle" Funny huh?

off of sad stuff to happy stuff... apparently they had a spring with LOTS of rain. Which meant AMAZING flowers for us! Look at these poppies. I took this picture. Joey immediately said, "let me do it."

And he took this one. It is cooler. I know. I have so much to learn from him.

Guess who this is? Better question, guess what we're doing?

We went golfing. Well, Ty and Luke golfed. Father-in-law and I rode in the carts and watched. But it rained REALLY hard for a bit, then it got REALLY cold. So he made his own ear muffs. Creative.

One day we went to the Alpine Slides at Breckenridge. You can kind of see the white slides up on the mountain in this picture. So basically, you ride the ski lift up to the top. Then get off, grab a little sled and jump on this concrete slide. It is AWESOME! we had a blast! But watch out for roadkill, sometimes a chipmunk gets in the slide, and the brakes just dont' work that fast.

We also went white water rafting (couldn't take my camera because of the water), biking, played sand volleyball, went shopping, and watched an entire season of 30 Rock. But I didn't photo-document those events. I promise they happened.

Look at this amazing restaurant. We didn't eat here, but isn't it adorable with all the flowers??

We walked around Breckenridge a bit. Then found this stream that kids play in. Joey and Steve sat and talked. This was pretty much a constant scene throughout the trip. They had fun. Steve told stories, Joey listened and laughed. And probably wrote some ideas down to use in an upcoming screen play.

The HIKE begins!! Look at us... real mountain people!

Brother and sister. Yes I AM older.

We finally made it to the top! Joey went barefoot.

Ty did push ups on the edge. I couldn't watch. Joey took this picture.

Ty and Joey talked. They strategically placed themselves at the edge so I wouldn't sit down with them. I just know it.

Last night. We ate at The Mint. Was first made as a brothel. Now it's a yummy steak house.

You go up to the butcher and pick out your meat. He then hands it to you. Raw.

You season it and place it on a huge grill.

Here's my men manning the grill.

We dropped Joey off at the airport the next day and drove to Colorado Springs. Visited the Air Force Academy.

Then went to the Broadmoor. This very fancy and famous hotel resort place. It was fabulous.

But my rear end is numb from typing this long, and you are probably bored to death. So that will be for another post. Here's a teaser of the place.

Lettered Cottage Giveaway

One of my very favorite blogs is hosting a giveaway today. She does fabulous interior design - mostly cottage style! my favorite! and she has just opened a new online store. Today is the grand opening, and hence the prize!

Enter to win a lovely cakestand... oh I'm so excited. Here's the link. Happy reading and designing~

Forever

We are married. Forever. We said our vows when we were 24 and 26 years old. I just wanted to tell you that.



So, driving to Colorado we stopped just over the Colorado state line and took this wonderful picture. Oh I love him. Forever.

Look at that view.

Then I started to notice writing on the guard rail. In fact, it looked as if it was newly painted and people had just recently begun to write on it again! Many of the writings said "The Johnson Family - April 2009" or "Maggie W. and Sarah W. were here July 2009" I should have written on it. I didn't. I'd feel bad.

Anways- I noticed this one included their ages.... Kate 13, Beth 17, Shelton, well his age was cut off. And Martin didn't leave his age. Or maybe Martin was their last name. I don't know.

But I do know about 5 feet further down I saw this and laughed out loud. I just love kids and to me, 13 is still very much a kid.

Kate Shelton (from the previous picture- age 13) + Jimmy Thurston = FOREVER "09"

Now, it may not really be that funny. But to me it is. It's funny that poor Jimmy doesn't even know his name is up here- forever- in love- with Kate.

And based on my daily reading of Cake Wrecks... a mis-use of quotation marks really makes me laugh. I mean, is it like kinda 09 when they are in love- and thus needing quotation marks? Or is it literally 09? I'm just confused.

Anyways... that's a sneak peek into our trip. Don't worry- food photos, flower photos, hotel photos, oh and family photos! to come!

Cooler Weather

After over a month of temperatures OVER 100 degrees... we have left town! We got out of dodge! not permanently. but by the amount of stuff we packed, you wouldn't know that we were ever going home. but we will go home soon. well, not real soon. Next week.

today- I'm in Colorado. Frisco, Colorado. I don't know what the current temperature is, but it feels awesome! I'm sitting in a corner of the main room surrounded by open windows. the wind is blowing just right. the sun is shining. the mountains are looking splendid and majestic in the background.

I'd show you a picture, but I'm on hubby's work computer and he'll probably be a little upset if I just hook my camera up to it. So pics will have to wait til we return home to the oven of Texas.

Until then... I'm feeling good!

Procrastinating

So I should be packing for our exciting trip to Colorado... (we leave tomorrow for 10 days- although we're driving there, so 2 of those days are travel days)... but instead, I'm blogging. and showing very random pictures at that. I remind myself of the little kid who comes up with the most random attempts to procrastinate taking a bath or going to bed. I never out grew this habit.

Picture set #1 ... Showing off my OCD... so my new classroom was FULL of boxes, furniture, tons of stuff, etc, etc. Do you know what I spent almost an hour doing? not unpacking boxes. not moving furniture. nope. organizing the construction paper. It was previously just all jumbled together... a red piece here, a handful of blue, a pack of pink. But I took care of that problem!
TWICE! Oh yes, in kindergarten we have short and LONG paper- and I just HAD to organize BOTH! So, now that that is finished... I can move onto the boxes :) (what is wrong with me??)

And on the home front... I posted this awhile back. Our ugly door knobs in our cute cottage home.

The new one from Anthropologie looked so great! But that old key hole cover had left some ugly marks.
Good thing Carpenter Kelley lives here! Now look at the beauty! Nothing a little wood putty and paint and sanding can't fix. (I am very proud of myself)

And for the other 3 doors on that hallway... our door knobs from Canton! They are now all perfectly installed and working :)

These fit with the key hole covers- so we just kept them on.

Okay, well, I guess I'm out of material. So, time to pack! And then off to Colorado~~ cooler weather, here I come!

MMM MMM GOOD

About a year ago, Ty's wonderful boss invited us all over for dinner. He and his wife proceeded to make us an amazing Mexican meal. The food was delicious, the conversation was wonderful, the people were great. Or so we thought, we've never been invited over again. Hmm.

But anyways, he made this yummy corn dish- super easy, full of flavor. So when we had a small dinner party last Saturday, we decided to give it a whirl.

Begin with fresh corn. Boss man says 1 and 1/2 ears per person. We did a bit more than that because we really like this dish. Clean em up, husks off, fuzzy stuff off. clean corn.
Here's what else you'll need... pepper, season salt, garlic, butter. Although I guess you could really use whatever spices you want. Be creative.

Okay- cut a small square of foil, put down a small pat of butter (or a lot, I won't judge), place corn on top. Another small pat of butter, sprinkle with seasonings, and roll it up. Repeat with all of the sweet sweet corn. (I think corn is my favorite vegetable this summer. I really wish it had more nutritional value.)

here's my 7 ears of corn sitting in the oven. I put them on a baking sheet just in case they leaked. They did not leak. Roast em. I read a cook book that says roast 350 for 30 minutes. I just turned the oven on and hoped for the best. It worked out just fine.

While those little babies are baking away, get out your final ingredients. the real goodness. The CHEESE!! This is a Mexican dish, so it requires Mexican cheese. My grocery store always carries 4 types of Mexican cheese. The one day I go to purchase the Mexican cheese, they are out of 2 and only have these 2 left. Typical. anyways- I used these two and it was perfect! Cojita and Queso Anejo.

Now, I used a casserole dish so that I could throw it all back in the oven (or microwave) to make sure the corn dish was hot when the dinner was all ready. So, into your casserole dish grate some queso anejo. As much as you want. I did some on the big grater side and some on the more fine grater side. It really doesn't matter here, I was experimenting.

Then throw in some cojita. yum. (this came pre-grated, even better)

Now, when the corn is ready, carefully unwrapped one. Pour any of the delicious butter sauce into the cheese. Now, to keep the corn as hot as possible, I cut it off the cob into a metal bowl. But first, I ran hot water all over the metal bowl to heat it up, then I wiped it dry and cut my corn into it. Seemed to keep the corn pretty warm. I could just eat the corn like this by the way. delish.

Here's a blurry picture of me cutting the corn off the cob. By the way, do you like my cute little owl apron my hubby bought me from Anthropologie one year for an Easter gift? How sweet is he?

The heat from the corn should melt the cheeses. Just stir together and voila! You have an incredible Mexican corn dish.

And I promise there will NOT be leftovers.

Mexican Corn Dish

corn on the cob (1 and 1/2 ears per person)

butter

season salt

garlic powder

pepper

queso anejo

cojita

Clean the corn from husks and "hair." Place on a tin foil square, add a pat of butter and salt, pepper, and garlic (to taste). Roll up individual ears of corn.

Roast for 30 minutes at 350.

Grate the cheeses into a casserole dish.

Cut the corn off the cob. Add the corn and any leftover "juice" into the cheeses. Mix together. Reheat in the microwave or oven if necessary to melt the cheeses.

Enjoy!