Summer, Fall, and Winter (The Abridged Version)

What happened?!  We blinked and opened our eyes to 2014! It’s been waaayyyy  too long since our last update from CO-my apologies! Life has been very busy here in the Rockies. Below is a whirlwind tour of the last 6 months to get us up to date. Even though it's abridged, it's still pretty long. So have a seat, grab a snack, and enjoy the story! I’m hoping I’ll be better at updating more regularly as we jump into the new year.

Let’s start with an AMAZING vacation at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival thanks to our friends Tashia and Dennis who invited us along this year to share their Telluride traditions. Almost two weeks of beautiful travelling across the mountains, hanging out with friends, incredible music, and “primitive” camping in the Telluride woods (with the quaint town of Telluride just blocks away).

Riding the Gondola-the main mode of transportation around the area. That's Telluride below.

Me enjoying Lake Street Dive-a very cool band

The trail right outside of the campsite-our daily morning walk. Beautiful!

Another shot from our exploring around town

Crazy hot in the day and  very cold at night! Keeping warm at our campsite with friends

Our temporary digs

The view just outside of the campground

The Telluride stage right before the festival started

And this was the Telluride stage pretty much every moment after the start of the festival

The Trifecta: Edie Brickell with Steve Martin and  the Steep Canyon Rangers. So amazing!! 

 Me, Tom, Joe, Tashia, and Dennis at the campsite

We also took a mid-festival road trip to visit our dear friend Patty (aka Wonder Woman) on her ranch in Durango. What a hoot! Can you believe this woman is almost 70?! 

Patty coming in from the field to greet us

That's some serious working woman muscle!

Tom hanging out with one of Patty's horses

Patty's favorite calf

Patty and Tom and our favorite breakfast place, just beside the gallery where Patty sells her handmade jewelry.

I just loved this picture from the pasture so I wanted to share it. That's some serious snot!

Two of Patty's pups, Baxter and Simon, waving goodbye  as we headed back to Telluride

We came back to life in Denver-enjoying what summer brings and picking up some new hobbies with the long sunny days. 

Yay baseball! A night at the Colorado Rockies

Our friends Mike, Jennifer, and me enjoying the game

Me chilling out at the Botanic Gardens. We love this place.

An early birthday gift from Tom-front row seats to the Cirque de Soleil-Ama Luna. It was awesome!  

Me laughing hysterically but I have no idea why

Tom during another trip to the gardens. Did I mention we love this place?

Tom's Bday present-welding tools to build us a rooftop deck. Sparks were flying all summer!

My first creation from my sewing class-a pillow case! Next class-zippered pillows...

Us at a Bruce Hornsby concert at the gardens 

Bruce Hornsby rockin' it out. We love these concerts!

Me and Frankie taking a hike in the Aspens 

Fall brought a trip to NY for Tom to see family, friends, and replace his infamous Aurora shoes-custom made to fit his feet and his staple clothing item for the last two decades!

The guy who made Tom's shoes and Tom. 

Babs (Tom's mom) with her New York bees that make the best honey 

Tom's parents, Babs and Wally, with their dogs Reese and Nifkin

Tom also saw his good friends, Pam and Dave, and their kids Jessica, Lucas, and Jacob

And Fall also brought my mom to CO! We had such a great time exploring, from Boulder to Georgetown:

Me and mom at the Tea House in Boulder

Tom and mom in our alley behind the house

Our trip on the Georgetown Railroad

Mom enjoying the open air railcar

Us being cute

Mom at the Colorado History Museum. This museum is amazing and we highly recommend it if you come this way!

Around the time of mom’s visit, I was offered a promotion at work that included me creating and implementing a complete redesign of the Health Education department for Kaiser’s Colorado region. It’s been a great experience. Unfortunately, it’s also meant many long hours at the office. I’m starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s been a long tunnel!  We did still manage to get in a few fun adventures before the snow started flying around here:

A fun day in the mountains

Colorado is gorgeous!

Safety Third! Tom goofing around while working on his welding projects

We won tickets to the Radio Lab show Apocalyptical. Never knew radio could be so captivating in person. Check out the huge dinosaur puppet on stage. They had several ones that stole the show.

I took a class with a well known Denver painter. It was really fun-like being in elementary school art class!

I flew home for the Thanksgiving holidays. It was so great to be back in NC spending time with family and friends!We spent most of the time in Asheville, including a trip to the Petting Zoo and to the Botanical Gardens to see Lego (yes, Lego!) sculptures. My nephew Griffin is growing up so fast. What a cutie! 

The Davis family: Tom, Penny, Tommasanne, Greg, and Griffin

Not sure who is more intrigued by who in this one!

Huge! And the whole thing is tiny legos glued together. Crazy!!

A day at the park with fun for the whole family

We started a kitchen remodel in the summer and it was supposed to be finished by the time I got home, but it hasn’t quite worked out as planned. It’s been an adventure to say the least! Tom, unfortunately, has had to do most of the work to date and we spent November and December with boxes packed to the ceiling and the kitchen, dining room, and sun room in disarray.  I haven’t really thought of our house as “small” until we were down to a bedroom and bathroom as the only options for where to be. 

Our kitchen before the renovation started

Starting the demo

And more demo...

Cabinet boxes galore

So, so, so many boxes. Oh, the boxes.

Christmas and New Years were pretty quiet around here, though the kitchen project has kept us on our feet. (Literally, because there isn't anywhere to sit!) We were lucky enough to hang out with nephew Tony and his girlfriend Amanda at the Botanical Gardens Christmas lights and spend New Years day with family,too-a trip down to Highlands Ranch to nephew Tony’s new place to share greens, hoppin’ john,  and pork (the southern Davis tradition) and roast beef sandwiches (the northern Ochterski tradition) with Tom’s sister Cathie and her clan. As for the kitchen, fingers crossed installation starts on Monday. Which is good, because having to walk through snow to get to the refrigerator is crazy-town!

Me, Tom, Nephew Tony, and girlfriend Amanda

Christmas Day hike in the woods

Tom, Dylan, and Frankie taking a break

Me and D

Yummy Hoppin' John. Happy New Year!

Sister Cathie and her boys: Greg, Tommy, Tony (and Amanda)

Breakfast, anyone?

Looking forward to the whole house being inside again!

We’re planning for a great year in 2014! The next adventure is my 40^th birthday in February. We're looking forward to a visit from Tom's parents around that time and Tom and I are planning a New Mexico get away to celebrate. We’ve still got Cambodia/Vietnam on the brain and we’re aiming for January 2015 (my new job stalled our plans for going this year). Tom plans to step up the art shows and to renovate his website. I’m committing to better work/life balance in the new year, including taking time to volunteer and getting back into my art. We’ll keep you updated on our progress!

And finally,  here are my two favorite pictures of the moment over the last six months: a motorcycle riding dog captured on Colfax Ave. while we were on our way to Home Depot and a random race I got stuck in the middle of one afternoon. Everyone running by was in a gorilla suit! Oh, Denver how you make me giggle…

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2014!!