Sweet Birthday Boy

Yesterday Jason turned 26... and he is such a sweet man that he spent the evening at my work Christmas party. What a great husband! I always have trouble buying presents for him, it seems as we get older, all the things that would be great presents are just so expensive! But, I finally figured out something fun and creative... There is a new brewery here in town and I signed us up for an evening of beer tasting! I will let you know how it goes!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Holidays approaching fast!

Well, it has been a quick and busy semester and it is finally winding down, thank goodness! I have one final exam and one final project and then I can take a break and hopefully enjoy the holidays! Jason had to pick up the blogging slack for me, and did a great job letting everyone know what we have been up to. He has also been helping with my "woman's work" around the house by cleaning and cooking and doing laundry... I am a really lucky girl! Christmas is just around the corner, and Jason and I decorated our tree last night. I really love the smell of the tree in the house, it really gets me in the holiday spirit! We already have a lot of our Christmas shopping done, which is great because I won't have to be out with the last-minute holiday shoppers. This weekend on the agenda is making Christmas cookies (in addition to homework)! I will post some pics of our tree and cookie-making later in the week! Thanks to everyone who has listened to me complain about school and being stressed and overwhelmed these last 16 weeks, your encouragement helped me through!

Pretty Cool

No matter how you voted, it is awesome to witness a very historic moment. It's amazing to think that only a couple of decades ago African Americans weren't given equal rights and often weren't allowed to vote, and today we wake up to our first black president. Now we will see what he does. 

Wizards Make Playoffs!

HAHA CRapids fans! 

Go Jimmy!

From October 08

Dani and her favorite soccer player. 

From October 08

Ian somehow convinces Katie to marry him!

From October 08

I don't know how he pulled this off, but he did. Congrats! 

From October 08

Everyone laughing at Ian's joke about how she beats him in every sport they play. Funny, because it's true. 

GO CU!!!

From October 08

 Last weekend we went to Boulder with the Lundstroms to watch CU run over KSU. With a vastly superior offense and defense the buffs were able to wipe out the Wildcats 14-13. It was a high scoring thriller. Contrary to popular belief, CU fans are friendly people who were very kind to the losers. See the picture, we even let them tailgate with us. 

From October 08

Joe snuck us into the new Club Level seating. This is the view Dani and I had of the game. 

It's more fun when your team wins!

From October 08

Master Jason

Jason successfully defended his Master's last Friday. Finally. 

Steamboat Camping Continued

More hiking followed the rest of the week while we were in Steamboat, there were plenty of trails to choose from, and we wanted to do a longer hike mid-week. We decided on the hike to Long Lake, about 5 miles UP! We packed up a lunch and swimming suits to go for a CHILLY dip at the top. Here we are getting started...

There were lots of bridges and waterfalls up to the lake, so it was very scenic! About half-way was a larger waterfall with a nice area to sit and relax, so we took a quick break and had a snack. This is my tired, but still smiling face.

The trail was finally flattening out and we were in the homestretch, I am cruising along and Jason is right in front of me... we were both ready for some PB&J. We turn a corner and there is a big boulder in front of us to the left of the trail and the path curves around the boulder, I am in the zone just walking along. Jason stops, and I look up and see a BIG, fuzzy black head and ears poking up from behind the boulder, only about 20ft. in front of us! I was just about to high-tail it running, and then Jason grabs my walking stick and tells me to walk back slowly (instead of SPRINTING). He was much more calm then I was, I went into panic mode and probably would have frightened the bear making a ruckus running the other direction. Anyway, unfortunately we did not make it to the lake, there was a minor "road block." But, it was really cool to see a BEAR!


We also made some trips into town just to explore the area. Steamboat has a really great botanical garden, and while we were there a string trio was playing music. It was really nice and relaxing to just walk around and admire the beautiful flowers, listening to beautiful music.

Steamboat Camping

After a fast and furious weekend with family and friends in Colorado Springs, Jason and I really wanted to spend some quiet time together, so we took the week off to camp in Steamboat Springs. I had never been to Steamboat before, and Jason really loves it there, so it was fun to explore the area together!

We were lucky to get a camping spot, many of the forests in Colorado are being cleared and under maintenance due to the outbreak of the Mountain Pine Beetle, here is some additional information if you are interested: http://csfs.colostate.edu/ But, I think it helped that we were coming in on a Monday, when all the weekend campers were leaving. We spent our first day just unloading everything and setting up our campsite...

Day 2 (Tuesday) we decided to get up and take a hike on the trail that was right next to our camping area, it was very convenient and a nice way to start the week!

After the day was finished we made a nice fire and tried to stay toasty...

Pat and Candice get hitched!

Congratulations to our friends Patrick and Candice on thier marriage... We were very happy and honored to be part of their special day!

They look so happy cutting the cake, but things took a turn for the worst quickly after this picture was taken... Lots of cake smashing!

Last week of Summer!

Well, I thought I should try to get an update out to people before the Summer slips away... The next four months will be very busy for me, settling into the new routine of SCHOOL and work. Jason may have to pick up my blogging slack (hint, hint) but I am going to try and enjoy my last week and weekend of freedom.

We had a very busy summer filled with weddings and vacations, and time with family and friends. Jason is working diligently on finishing up his Masters thesis, he is hoping to defend this semester and take his Preliminary Exams in January. He will be busy playing soccer with the KSU club team this Fall, last year the team made it to Nationals, so wish them luck this season! I am taking two classes this semester, unfortunately they are not fun or interesting classes, just required courses. I am sure the Fall will be gone before my eyes, just like this summer, and I still need to fill everyone in on our Steamboat Camping trip... I can't believe that was a month ago! Well hopefully, I can get some pictures up today.

Wedding Festivities

Pretty much as soon as we drove into town on Friday, July 11th things were crazy busy! Jason had just enough time to scarf down lunch before he was off to pick up his tux for the wedding. I had a little more time to chat with my mom before I had to get ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. There really is never enough time to fit everything in!

I had a little helper around while I was getting ready, Skyler did make-up with me and just watched intently as I was getting ready. She is definitely a girly-girl! We bought her the shirt she is wearing for her birthday and brought it out with us to give to her. It is pink with Hannah Montana on the front, I think she wore it 3 days in a row.

The Rehearsal dinner was very nice and an excellent back drop for pictures of the Garden of the Gods.

Visiting the Family

All I can say is I can't believe it is August! The summer is almost over and I don't know where it went... But, at least it was jam-packed with events, family, and friends. Last month we headed back to Colorado for a wedding and worked out our schedules to squeeze in a vacation in Steamboat. To start the trip off we spent some time at my parent's house, hanging out with the kids and just catching up. I can't believe how big Kaleb and Skyler are and it was really fun to get in some quality time. Jason and I took the kids and the dogs hiking in Palmer Park...

Kaleb had a Camelbak that he carried for most of the hike, but by the end Aunt Dani was carrying the Camelbak and his hat.

I must say that I am very impressed with Kaleb's picture taking ability. He took both of the pictures below, and they came out great!

Brown Barlett Wedding

We started our summer with a wedding for a friend and classmate of Jason's... good times!
The lovely couple, the Barlett's...

Time to get the party started!

I think it is a necessity to play the KSU Wabash at weddings in Manhattan, Kansas. The bride and groom doing the wabash!

Jason and Jessica really wanted to be the ring bearer and flower girl in the wedding, unfortunately Natalie did not oblige them... Here they are in a reenactment of "what could have been," and Jason doing a little group dancing with the ladies.

Me and the BEAUTIFUL bride!

This was really great, Tyson definitely got the party going with his incredible dance moves, and his parents have no idea where the break dancing came from!

No wedding is complete without the Cool Table!

Long Time Gone

Loyal readers we have had a jam-packed summer and it is quickly passing us by, thus my absence from blogging lately. June flew by and July will be over soon too, I have plenty of exciting things to share! First, I want to thank everyone for supporting my school endeavors and the hard work paid off in my first class... I got an A! Woo Hoo! I especially want to thank my wonderful husband who had to pick up my slack around the house during that time. After a very busy June, we took a well deserved vacation and had a wonderful time relaxing and camping in Steamboat Springs... I have plenty of pictures and will post all about our Steamboat adventures! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Summer!

Safe and Sound

If you watch the news, you might already know that the Midwest has been hit with some pretty bad weather the last couple of weeks. Right now, Iowa has it worst with flooding, and my thoughts and prayers go out to those families who have lost their homes. Manhattan Kansas was hit with an F4 tornado last Wednesday night, there are about 50 homes that were completely destroyed, and another 100 severely damaged. Kansas State University estimates about $20 million worth of damage to campus buildings! Our home is about 7 blocks from the University, but thankfully, we had no damage to our house and most important, we are safe.