How is it already almost August?!
Whelp, we officially bit off more than we could chew this summer...
A. I signed up to take a three-credit class on Colorado History for the summer. It sounded like a good idea at the time because I've found myself interested in the topic lately and for some reason "summer school" makes me feel like I'll automatically have more time for it; however, I forgot about that other little thing called a full-time job. Plus, this class is just writing, writing, writing and I resent it so much even though I am learning a lot. I opted to take it pass/fail, foolishly thinking that would relieve the pressure. It turns out I don't know how to purposefully write C work and I've found myself trying to get a 100% in the class. I'm an idiot.
B. We decided to start growing vegetable seedlings but by the time they really took off, we were busy with the house painting project and we no longer had the energy to learn how to be farmers. We ended up quickly building and installing a raised garden bed after work, in the dark, with headlamps on while we laughed pitifully at our attempt and profusely apologized to the vegetables for failing on our end of the deal this time. At least we gave them a shot instead of leaving them to die in tiny seedling trays.
C. Back in, like, February, we decided to surprise our best friends who live in Colorado Springs by painting their kitchen cabinets (a project they've wanted to do for some time) while they were out of town. We conspired with my friend's mom and we totally pulled it off right after the Memorial Day weekend. It was a whirlwind and I felt like I was on HGTV.
D. Our house is still in the process of repair and exterior painting. This has turned into what feels like a life-long project but the progress that has been made makes us very happy and very excited for the end result. We have received nice comments from the neighbors that it looks really great, thus my people-pleasing heart is relieved that they all aren't behind closed doors saying, "Oh my gawd, that color is hideous. I've got to call Carol."
The bad news: all of these projects have prevented us from our normal summer activities of hiking and exploring.
The good news: we had already planned some camping trips and visits from friends before we knew how long this project would take so we've been able to have a couple weekends to enjoy the people and land we love so much.
The bad news: all previously made plans continue to delay the progress of our project. It's a tough conundrum but when you try for the best of both worlds, sometimes each world has to compromise a little to make it possible.
Enough of the whining. Here's a pictorial of our fun weekends:
Turquoise Lake, Leadville, CO
(P.S. Brian bought us an inflatable kayak on ebay so we have been expanding our options)
Twin Lakes, CO
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
My mom came home with us after Twin Lakes to spend the week with us. I found out two weeks ago that I had to attend a training in Gunnison while she was going to be visiting so she came with me. I proposed we make it an adventure so we stopped at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We hiked two of the trails and stopped at some of the overlooks. It was breath-taking and pictures don't do it justice. We had a very nice time and it felt really good to remind myself what I can do without Brian. Sometimes all those years of marriage make me forget.
A. I signed up to take a three-credit class on Colorado History for the summer. It sounded like a good idea at the time because I've found myself interested in the topic lately and for some reason "summer school" makes me feel like I'll automatically have more time for it; however, I forgot about that other little thing called a full-time job. Plus, this class is just writing, writing, writing and I resent it so much even though I am learning a lot. I opted to take it pass/fail, foolishly thinking that would relieve the pressure. It turns out I don't know how to purposefully write C work and I've found myself trying to get a 100% in the class. I'm an idiot.
B. We decided to start growing vegetable seedlings but by the time they really took off, we were busy with the house painting project and we no longer had the energy to learn how to be farmers. We ended up quickly building and installing a raised garden bed after work, in the dark, with headlamps on while we laughed pitifully at our attempt and profusely apologized to the vegetables for failing on our end of the deal this time. At least we gave them a shot instead of leaving them to die in tiny seedling trays.
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| Pretty sad. Most of this instantly died but I'm happy to say that things have started to sprout back up again so we might get a tiny little veggie or two before the snow flies. |
C. Back in, like, February, we decided to surprise our best friends who live in Colorado Springs by painting their kitchen cabinets (a project they've wanted to do for some time) while they were out of town. We conspired with my friend's mom and we totally pulled it off right after the Memorial Day weekend. It was a whirlwind and I felt like I was on HGTV.
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| Before and After |
D. Our house is still in the process of repair and exterior painting. This has turned into what feels like a life-long project but the progress that has been made makes us very happy and very excited for the end result. We have received nice comments from the neighbors that it looks really great, thus my people-pleasing heart is relieved that they all aren't behind closed doors saying, "Oh my gawd, that color is hideous. I've got to call Carol."
 |
| Front and back are just about done. Then the work on the sides will begin. |
The bad news: all of these projects have prevented us from our normal summer activities of hiking and exploring.
The good news: we had already planned some camping trips and visits from friends before we knew how long this project would take so we've been able to have a couple weekends to enjoy the people and land we love so much.
The bad news: all previously made plans continue to delay the progress of our project. It's a tough conundrum but when you try for the best of both worlds, sometimes each world has to compromise a little to make it possible.
Enough of the whining. Here's a pictorial of our fun weekends:
Turquoise Lake, Leadville, CO
(P.S. Brian bought us an inflatable kayak on ebay so we have been expanding our options)
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| Eefee the mountain dog. |
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| Cotton's first trip to a Colorado beach. |
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| Brian took each of my parents out for a spin. Eefee was pretty excited when my mom came back. |
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| I don't hate Turquoise Lake. |
Twin Lakes, CO
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| Pretty awful scenery. |
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| Cotton was excited for her maiden voyage. |
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| And then she got bored. |
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| We rowed out to an old resort called Inter Laken from the late 1800's. It's about 2 miles round-trip by boat and 13 miles round-trip by foot. We only had the one boat so Brian ferried my parents across the channel one-at-a-time to help save them some miles. |
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| Dexter's cabin at Inter Laken. It's so beautiful inside. Even the door hinges are beautiful. |
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| The resort at Inter Laken. All of it is abandoned now. |
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| Nap time view. ~Sigh~ |
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
My mom came home with us after Twin Lakes to spend the week with us. I found out two weeks ago that I had to attend a training in Gunnison while she was going to be visiting so she came with me. I proposed we make it an adventure so we stopped at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We hiked two of the trails and stopped at some of the overlooks. It was breath-taking and pictures don't do it justice. We had a very nice time and it felt really good to remind myself what I can do without Brian. Sometimes all those years of marriage make me forget.
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| We found a gentlemen to take our picture and he actually knew how to use a camera and frame a shot. God bless him. |
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| According to my sources, this is the tallest cliff in CO. That top white stripe has been deemed the "dragon". |
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