Hiking with friends.

One of our awesome friends from Chicago

came to visit for a couple of days last week.

We took advantage of the gorgeous 

weather & went on a favorite hike

of mine.

Uh oh, altitude....

Getting a closer look at the rock face.

Pointing out Boulder landmarks.

Nice, but, um...we're still not at the top.

Best seat in the house.

They are number 1.

I was there, too!

Other highlights of Adam's visit include eating

lots & lots of yummy food.

We love showing off Colorado,
and love seeing friends even more!

On landing at dusk

Our late afternoon stroll last Friday

(pre-Springing Forward)

ended with the rapid

onset of dusk.

Just across the road from the

local airport,

we reveled in the small

aircraft racing the encroaching darkness, 

seemingly milking every last ray

for their flights

before the sun disappeared behind the mountains.

Portraits

Last night Z took me out for an

early birthday dinner, 

since we'll both be working on 

my real birthday.

Spring is starting to show up, 

bringing some amazing weather, so

I decided that I wanted to stop for a few

new photos before we ate.

Here are some of the fun shots we got.

This week...

I normally work an alternative schedule, 

longer hours for 4 days a week

then 3 days off.

But this week I ended up working

normal people hours, 

which unfortunately meant that

I had a crazy-long commute each day.

While I was stopped in traffic one evening

I snapped this photo.

Changing up my schedule was nice

for a week, but I'm looking forward 

to getting back my short commute & long weekends!

Instagram love

I heart Instagram.

I know I'm a bit late to the game, 

but Z gave me an iPhone

for Valentine's Day,

 and besides asking Siri

silly questions, 

the Instagram app has quickly become

my favorite thing!

Here are a few I snapped

during this morning's walk

in the fresh snow.

Winter Hiking

It was a fabulously sunny day here, 

so I was determined to get outside.

I'm pretty sure everyone else in Boulder 

had the same idea...

people were everywhere, and the trails were packed.

I decided on a trail without too much

elevation gain since I was expecting a little 

mud & slush.

Turns out that was a good idea! 

There was a ton of mud & slush, 

making it much more challenging,

but the views & fresh air were worth it.

Birthday love

Hard to believe that this little bug ...

Is turning one today!

Happy Birthday to my precious niece.

And happy birthday (last week) to my big brother, too!

Love you guys!! 

3rd & 4th pic found here

Happy Valentine's Day

Wishing you a happy day that celebrates all the love in your life!

An Artsy Saturday

I headed up to Longmont today

for some lunch & pottery painting with a friend.

I'd never been to a pottery painting

place before, and it was lots of fun 

picking out the right piece, 

coming up with design, painting, 

and visiting.

Here's my piece while being painted

(with tape on it).

Here's what it looked like once i removed the tape.

Can't wait to see it glazed & fired.

After we finished painted our painting, 

we found this public art in downtown Longmont.

I loved it so much I made 

mac and cheese for supper :)

What a lovely Saturday!

It's a funny sort of thing

How the same day I took the pic

from the previous post it started snowing....

and 2 days later we ended up with over 22 inches.

see more snowy photos here