Oh Christmas Tree!

So I thought that I was done buying Christmas decorations after last night, but after further deliberation I really couldn't bear the idea of having a holiday season in this apartment without a tree- so I bought little guy, 3 feet and artificial but hey, now that I've got him all decked out with lights and ornaments, he's pretty darn presh I gotta say. Especially with little Ned camping out underneath.













I'm such a Christmas nerd.

When the Weather Outside is Frightful...

As most of you probably know by now, I traveled home last weekend to surprise Dad for his big 60th birthday. Mom and I pulled it off without a hitch and Dad was legit surprised and had no clue that I was coming. It was a wonderful weekend and I was able to squeeze in everything I had wanted to do and still get back in time for work on Tuesday. I'm getting a lot more comfortable with traveling by myself and I'm still amazed at how you can wake up one morning on one side of the country and be having dinner that same night some 1500 miles away. Needless to say, I hope to do a lot more traveling in the future : )

But, since I'm here in Boulder for now, I am managing to have a little fun every now and then-- in fact, last Friday was one of the most enjoyable nights I've had in Boulder so far. To start it off, we got our first real snow- which was beautiful to wake up to. Not any huge accumulation but enough to coat the ground and make everything a little more exciting.







































After a long week of work-- perhaps the craziest and crankiest yet-- it seemed increasingly necessary to have a night out on the town with some of my more enjoyable co-workers. We went out to dinner at Old Chicago on Pearl Street, a very popular pizza/burger/bar joint that is perpetually busy. It was so nice to kick back and laugh with some new friends-- plus that night happened to feature the CU marching band's annual downtown parade in anticipation of their last home game and the whole band actually came into our restaurant and played a few songs right next to our table.





























It was so festive and exciting, everybody was into it. It left our ears seriously ringing but it was worth it. I stayed out a little late considering I had to wake up at 4am to catch my flight home but again, worth it.

So yeah, the weekend home was great- Saturday night the folks and I met Billy and Sandy for dinner downtown and then to see Robert Earl Keen at Toad's. A good time was had by all.























Sunday I got to spend some time with Katie and Erin which was really nice. Always good to catch up with buddies, though it definitely made it harder to leave! Sunday night Joe came over for a family dinner and Monday I was headed outta town. Counting down to the days to Christmas when I'll be home again and will hopefully be able to see more family and more friends! : )

Speaking of Christmas, Heidi and I went shopping for holiday decorations tonight after work because I've been dying for a little Christmas spirit around my apartment. I found a few cute things that I just couldn't resist.






















This seemed appropriate since I do live across the street from a trailer park. Plus really though, it's super cute.



























And this is just pretty and sparkly and looks great hanging from my balcony door.

Getting in the holiday spirit! Hope you are too : )

Habla Espanol?

Hola! So today I had a training for work (we're required to get 15 hours of training, unpaid, in order to be up for raises...kind of intense) and while I was a little upset to have to do work related things on my precious weekend time, this one ended up being really interesting.

It was a cross-cultural brokering workshop to help Latinos and Anglos better understand each other. Pretty important in this part of the country since there are certainly a lot of Latinos in the area, many of whom immigrated straight from Mexico and don't speak any English. Needless to say, there were several interpreters on hand to help overcome the language barrier. It was a really enlightening experience for me- we were each paired up with a Latino person and had a chance to share our cultural backgrounds and beliefs with each other. My partner was born in Texas to Mexican parents and moved to Chicago when she was 5, speaking only Spanish. The schools in Chicago forced her to stop speaking Spanish completely because "You are an American now. You must speak English." When she was 13, she dropped out of school to take care of her younger siblings, a sort of family obligation that her working parents placed on her. Her story was filled with interesting details and I really enjoyed being able to talk to her and compare our experiences.

Plus, we were served authentic Mexican food-- tamales, chips and salsa, and a cactus dish. It was all delicious, and a nice treat! Who can resist free homemade food? I'm enjoying all the interesting things I'm doing here in Boulder.

Then after the training I went to see High School Musical 3. I guess I'm still a teenybopper at heart : )

Belated Relaying of the Hike

So it's been about two weeks since Davis was here and I have yet to write about / post pictures of our beautiful hike in Eldorado Canyon State Park. So here I am! And here they are. Still thinking about all the lovely memories and gorgeous vistas.

It was a perfect day, temps in the 70's, sunny and peak fall colors. Here's what we saw as we first entered the park, a few miles south of Boulder.
























































The winding trail continued up and into the Flatirons, eventually rewarding us with amazing views of the larger snowcapped Rockies in the distance. And of course we couldn't resist a few photo ops along the way.


Happy hiking kids.

















Davis pondering the scenery.



















Aaaand me similarly pondering : )




















The mountains at their finest.

























































Almost to the top!





































Made it! If you look closely you can see those snowy mountains in the distance.




















There's a train on that ridge. Coal!




















Back down in the canyon.


























Climbers were all over the place. Intense stuff!



























Beautiful fall colors.





















And on the way out, through the tiny town of Eldorado Springs, a little taste of Americana I couldn't help but capture.





















In other news, congrats to Joe and Beth AND Tori and Jake on their recent engagements. I'm very excited for all of you and can't wait til the big day(s)!