Spring!

                                                                      The Gardens in full Spring bloom!

So much has been happening here in Colorado, it's been hard for me to keep up with updates. So, this one catches us up on Spring happenings and I promise another soon for Summer fun!

The month of May ended with lots of house projects underway. Tom rebuilt our back deck (by himself, with wood he reclaimed) and added perennials to the xeriscaped front yard:

In May, our friend Gina flew in to spend a fun weekend with us. Gina and I rented a little apartment in Boulder for a couple of days-we went to the farmer's market, strolled Pearl St., visited the Boulder Tea House (made and sent over to Boulder from its sister city in Tajikistan-beautiful!) and saw an awesome exhibition from Croatia at the Modern Art Museum. 

Gina admiring a sculpture at the Tea House

Then we headed back to Denver for a quick trip to the Botanical Gardens-so gorgeous in May, a downtown art festival, and some delicious handmade ice-cream. Denver is chock full of ice cream stores with about a zillion flavors to choose from. Who knew?!

The Lilacs were fully in bloom!

Gina sneaking "just a little bite" of Tom's ice cream at Sweet Cow in Highlands

May and June are festival madness around here! The 5 Points Jazz Festival, the Students Art League Festival, the People's Fair, the Denver Arts Festival, just to name a few. We still have the Cherry Creek Arts Festival and the Affordable Arts Fair on on the way!

The 5 Points District-full of music and culture

Me at the People's Fair. Tom bought a really nice print here.

And my favorite festival by far this year: the Chalk Art Festival! Several blocks downtown of awesome, temporary chalk art. It was all gone within 72 hours. Below are some of my favorite pics to help the art live on a wee bit longer!

Seriously, people. That's all chalk! Fantastic.

June ended beautifully with a week long vacation in Telluride. But, before we left we began a bittersweet goodbye for my boss, Sam, and her family. She, and husband Jim, are headed to Michigan State to shake things up in all the right ways. Luckily, our friends Darren and Andra (Andra, Sam, and I worked closely together at KP before Andra headed to UNC for grad school) were in town for a lovely dinner here in Colorado. Sam has been a great mentor and advocate for me and I will truly miss her (and Jim-such a great man!)

Sam & Jim (or "Salmon Gin" as Tom calls them) with Darren and Andra and Tom on the back deck. Guess what we ate? Salmon marinated in Gin. Tom's idea! It was delicious.

Telluride deserves its own post. So, I'll send the vacation update really soon.... 

As an end note, I've realized in the process of starting this blog that I've been taking my camera more places and capturing some great moments that otherwise would go unnoticed (or unremembered). So, from now on I want to try to end the blog with an "in the moment" shot. Something awesome or fun we caught on digital film simply just walking through our life.

Here's a fun one from May. When Gina was visiting, the three of us were walking down a street and happened upon this wedding hysterical-ness. Made me want to pull out our Princess Bride DVD, pop some popcorn and laugh it up! You can't go wrong starting a marriage with humor-

  

Hope you all are full of warm, fun summer things! 

We'll be in touch soon-

Much love from Denver,

Tom & Rebecca

Well, we thought we were having a "mild" winter, but with the last three snowstorms in April and one in May I've changed my mind.  Snow in May. Seriously?!

My drive to work last week

Dylan enjoying the last snow 

Tom and I had big snow plans but unfortunately we've been laying low due to a minor but annoying injury. I've got a strained ligament in my back. I'd love to tell you I did it while skiing, but nope. Just took a big dive into the icy pavement at the Safeway grocery store down the street. Classic. So, I've been down for the count and we'll have to wait til next year to get our 'ski' on. Anyhoo...

Tom showing empathy for my injury

We had a great time in NC in March! It was a whirlwind tour. We flew into Raleigh, spent the night there and got to see friends Paulie, Rod, & Eileen before heading to Chapel Hill for a little afternoon alumni reunion  and a  fun night with Andra and Darren-our CO friends that now live in CH. Awesome! We ate at my hands down favorite restaurant (Curry Blossom), played a mean round of Balderdash, and laughed until we cried. Miss you guys so so much !

Alumni Reunion: Laurie, Lisa, me, and Malena-I wouldn't have made it through  grad school without these ladies!

We then headed to Asheville  for our nephew Griffin's 1st birthday day. It was so great to see the Davis clan-brother Greg, sister-in-law Tommasanne, and my parents Tom and Penny. Griffin is about the cutest thing I've ever seen (I may be a bit biased) and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life getting to know him. Really nicely done, G&T. He's a good one!

Love those Blue Ridge Mountains!

hangin' out with mom

The Davis Clan: Penny, Tom, me, Tom, Greg, Griffin, and Tommasanne

All was good until we started singing!

daddy's little man

Uncle Tom and little G

It was so good to be in Asheville. We got to spend an afternoon with our good friend Kelly after Griffin's party. And, we had the bonus of a live concert from the fantastic musician neighbors. 

me and Kelly at her house-just across the street from G&T

the neighborhood entertainment- gotta love front porch music

We also got to spend the weekend with our dear friend Gina at her house in the clouds, looking down on the Asheville skyline. Thanks, Gina, for all the great food and time spent hanging out!  

It was so nice to be back in the blue ridge mountains. They may just be hills compared to the rockies, but they are the ones that call our names and call us back. One day....

Tom and Gina in downtown Asheville

 

the view from Gina's kitchen

Beyond Griff's celebration, NC was quite the baby tour-we got to see our friends Joella and Anterio just before baby Calliope made her debut and I got to sneak in a few minutes with our friend Niasha and her sweet little bundle of joy, Mali. So cute! Love all that good baby energy! Congrats all around and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Niasha and baby Mali

Joella, Anterio, and Calliope

It was tough to say goodbye to NC and all the great friends and family we have there. We'll be back as soon as we can....

Back in Colorado, we celebrated the arrival of the sun last weekend AND the arrival of the "W" line into our neighborhood! The lightrail station one block from our house opened with lots of parties and free rides all day. Right now we can take it from downtown all the way to Golden. By 2016, you'll be able to take it from the airport right to our neighborhood. So cool! 

Tom riding the rails

Our new Knox street stop!

We've also started working on the yard. There is so much to do! As the perennials  start to shake the snow off, we're adding new life to our front yard "rock garden", our back "little house", and Tom even built me a little herb/succulent container garden area. It's gonna be fun and delicious! Meanwhile, Tom's planning an awesome roof top deck. Stay tuned for more info on that one.

We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying Spring in whatever way makes you happy. I'll leave you with a sweet picture I snapped during our light rail extravaganza last weekend-Tom and I can only aspire to be this cute of a couple in our old age. We miss you all!

What?! February is already over?

Hey friends! Hope February treated you well. Tom and I had another fun month in Colorado-mainly because we celebrated my birthday a zillion times. Fantastic! The Ochterski side of the family will be happy to know a birthday doughnut was included in the festivities, even though it wasn't captured on film...

It was another month of Colorado travel for us, with birthday trips to Garden of the Gods for hiking, Manitou Springs for cold soda spring water sippin', and Antero Hot Springs for hot water whole body dippin'. Best. Birthday. Ever. We've already made plans to head back to Antero-anyone want to join us?!

Check out the "heart" rock behind us at Garden of the Gods!

So beautiful to see!

Oh, and Smokey the Bear was hanging out there too!

Manitou Springs is a cute "tourist" town just south of Garden of the Gods. It's the home of the Cog Railway that takes you to the top of Pikes Peak-which we highly recommend when you come visit us next!

The "Avenue" B&B where we stayed. It was one of our favorite B&B's to date.

100% Gluten Free restaurant downtown-"Coquettes". Delicious!

Tom drinking from the public "soda" springs where "healing" mineral water thousands of years old bubbles out







From Manitou, we headed southwest to Antero Hot Springs. We drove through two national parks and the views were amazing. Then again, it's Colorado. I shouldn't have been surprised!

Traveling to Antero

 In Antero, we stayed at a private cabin (the "Cottonwood") that was the original post office of the town built in the early 1900's. Just outside our backdoor was our own private 108 degree hot spring that flowed down into the river running just behind the house. It was so relaxing! Nothing turns you into mush faster than going from snow to hot springs in less than 5 seconds.  Loved it!

the Cottonwood Cabin-highly recommended

barefoot in the snow on the way to soak

Tom cooking breakfast in the cabin

Our Antero view. We found a campsite nearby and plenty of hiking trails, so we'll be back when it gets warmer for sure!

We spent time hanging out and about in Denver, too. We made sure to get in a nice hike on my actual birthday. A while back I bought a book of hiking trails near Denver-Tom and I have made a good dent in it, but mostly in the cold and snow. I'm looking forward to Spring and starting the book all over again with a different landscape!

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Tom also got us tickets to see a temporary exhibit of Georgia O'keefe at the Denver Art Museum. It had a great video of her life and a range of her works from Ghost Ranch. Tom wasn't impressed but I continue to be in awe of her work. It was our first trip to the DAM since we moved here three years ago. We'll be back.

Tom turning the outdoor art in downtown Denver into a "performance" piece

Oh Georgia, how I love thee

fun buildings downtown near the museum

Babs, this one is for you! Another temporary exhibit called "Fox Games" brought to our attention by my mom-in-law during their last visit.

Even though it's been a mild winter here, we're ready for Spring to come. But not before we get in a few more weekends of powder. Watch for our update in March, "How the Ochtera's got their "ski"s back!"

Love to you all,
T&R