Outdoor Adventures

This past weekend, Scott and I finally had a free weekend! Nothing was planned, nothing had to be done, it was out first free weekend all summer! We weren't sure what to do, we just knew that we couldn't waste our free weekend just hanging out at home. So, we went camping! It was an adventure before the idea even came to our minds. We learned a lot and had a great time! Coming up with the idea was the easy part, finding a vacant campground site, on the other hand, was the challenge. We learned that it's hard to go camping spontaneously in Colorado between the months of May and September. I called a ton of campgrounds, Estes Park, Fort Collins, Loveland, Boulder, only to be told the same thing: We're Full. We were about to loose hope, when I came across a campground in Loveland at Boyd Lake. They reserved a number of campgrounds for "First Come, First Served", meaning, if you got to the campground really early in the morning you might get a campsite. HA! We wanted to go camping on Friday night, but both of us had to work so there was no way we could reserve ourselves a campsite and be at work on time. Well, turns out, Friday was our lucky day! My Mom had the day off, so she willing got up at 7:00 and went out to Boyd Lake to find us a campsite. The process was new to me, so I gave her a map to get there and told her good luck. The second thing we learned is that campers are very friendly!!! My Mom met new friends while they helped her pick out a campsite for us and showed her the ropes. She's a pro now! Knowing we got our campsite reserved, Scott and I headed up to Loveland after work on Friday. We set up our tent, okay to be fair Scott set up our tent, and settled in for the night. We passed the hours playing card games before dark. Once the sun went down Scott made a fire for us and we sat around the camp fire roasting marshmallows and talking. It was a wonderful night and we really enjoyed ourselves. The next morning we packed up, went and laid on the beach at the Lake for a while and headed home. The rest of the weekend we spent relaxing and enjoying some more "us" time. We're sad that we waited so long to go on our camping adventure. We're hoping to get at least one more weekend in of camping before the weather turns cold.

Wedding Update! We have secured a caterer for our reception and bakery for our cake! We are both really happy with our choices! I think our guests will be happy with our choices as well! We are excited! We also decided on our honeymoons and even booked our hotel! Scott and I have decided to go to Las Vegas for our honeymoon. We'll leave on Tuesday and return on Saturday. We had a few other ideas for our honeymoon, but with having limited funds, we decided that Las Vegas would be the best option right now. Our other ideas will be used for upcoming anniversaries. We will be staying at the Vdara Hotel and Spa (http://www.vdara.com), check out the website!!! We are both very excited! We are planning on going out to nice dinners, shows, going shopping, spending a day at the spa and spending a lot of time by the pool. It will be relaxing and fun, everything we want out honeymoon to be!

Well, that's all for now. Our lives are about to get busy again, as I start classes next week! Only 4 more months of school!!! YEAH! This coming weekend, my best friend Krista graduates from Grad School at the University of Denver. My Mom and I are going to her graduation on Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing her, but sad as well since it will be another 6 months until we see each other again. She's off to North Dakota to start a new job and begin her new adventure as an adult! I know she'll do great! The following weekend is the Rocky Mountain Airport Airshow. Scott is on the volunteer committee so that will take up his whole weekend. He is excited to be a part of it! I think he's more excited that I will experience my very first airshow! I'll let you know how that goes! The following week my family will be in Estes Park for vacation and then the week after that Scott's best friend Tony will be here to visit. Like I said, our lives are about to get busy again!!! I'll keep you all updated with all the excited things we have coming up. Until then, we hope you are all doing well! We miss you all!!!!!!

Love,
Heather & Scott

A Father's Love for His Daughter

The other day, while my Mom and I were shopping, I found the perfect accessory for my bridesmaids. Unfortunately the store only had 1, so the search for 4 more began. After finding 2 more at another store in the Denver are it seemed as though my luck had run out. After calling store after store...California, Kansas City, Des Moines, Omaha...I finally found a store with 2 more! Unfortunately, the store was located in Lincoln, Nebraska and refused to ship them to me b/c shipping would cost more than the purchase. Once again, it seemed that my luck had run out. Scott suggested that we drive to Lincoln to pick them up, eat at Granite City (his favorite restaurant back home...the closest one is in Lincoln) and drive home. In theory, that's not a bad idea until you realize that it's almost an 8 hours drive! We don't have the money nor time to do that. I was running out of options, when I decided to pick up the phone and call the one person that might just have the answer. I called my Dad. For those of you who know the kind of relationship my Dad and I have, know that my Dad rarely says no to me, although this time I was prepared for a no. After explaining my situation, he said he'd be happy to make the trip from Des Moines to Lincoln this weekend for me. I was so happy, I almost began to cry. Having my Dad back in Iowa has made it hard for him to be a part of the wedding planning process. Of course I tell him what's going on and how the planning is going, but he hasn't been here to really be a part of it. I understand that the Father of the Bride really doesn't have a big part in the wedding planning process, but you get what I'm saying. By him agreeing to drive to Lincoln to pick up accessories for my bridesmaids is huge! It's his small way of helping out with a really big gesture.

I've always been able to count on my Dad. He's been there for me when time got tough and when times were great! I always know that he's just a phone call away or a short 11 hour drive. I am truly blessed to have a father like him. I can't wait for him to walk me down the isle, it's a moment I've been looking forward to since I was a little girl. So Dad, I'm sorry you don't get mentioned in the blog much, but here's a whole blog post just you! Thank you so much for everything! I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for your love and support! I love you!

Heatherbear

A Busy Time in Our Lives

Wow, how can it be August already!?!?! Where did summer go? As you can imagine, Scott and I have been BUSY! As my last posted said, we moved into our new apartment at the beginning of last month. The rest of July was spent finishing moving....taking furniture to my Mom's garage, cleaning the old apartment, unpacking the new one. It was a very long moving process, but it's over now! :-) We're unpacked (the new apartment isn't so big now) and have settled into living together. We live well together! Our place is big enough for us to each have our own space but not too big that we loose each other! ;-) For example, right now Scott is sitting on the couch watch a TV show about airplanes (really!?!?!) and I'm sitting in our dinning room, which is our computer room right now because we don't have any dinner room furniture, writing this blog. We're spending quality time together while we both do what we enjoy doing! :-) I think this will work out well!

Believe it or not, we didn't just move all of July! We also enjoyed a weekend with Jane and Dan (Scott's Mom and Step-Dad). They came by for a visit on their way back to Iowa from Las Vegas. We had a great time with them. We spent most of one day in the Boulder area. We had lunch at the Jefferson County Airport and walked around on Pearl Street in Boulder for the afternoon. Neither of them had been to Boulder, so it was fun for Scott and I to show them something new. That night we all had dinner with Dan's sister and husband. It was a great chance for me to meet more of Scott's family. The following day we went up to Estes Park. Scott and I showed them Della Terra, there was a wedding going on so we couldn't go inside, but I think they loved what they saw! We walked around downtown and had lunch at Mary's Lake Lodge. It was a great day! That night we went to Fort Collins and had dinner with my Mom. Jane and my Mom hadn't seen each other since Scott and I went to Junior year Prom! It was a great chance for them to get caught up and get to know each other better. The weekend went quick, but it was a wonderful weekend! I really enjoyed spending time with them!

We also managed to do some wedding stuff too! We found a caterer and baker!!! We went one night after work and did a taste test with them. Scott thinks that this was the best part of planning a wedding! He was really excited! We both really liked the food and company! We are happy to have that off of our list. I also picked out bridesmaids dresses!!! They are perfect! They have pockets (if you're a girl, you will understand the importance of pockets in a dress)! I'm relieved that I found something that I like and something that all of the girls will enjoy wearing and look great in! We are on to finding the groomsmen's outfits, which should be much easier! We have also planned a small wedding shower for the end of August in Colorado. My family, Aunt and Uncle, Cousin and her family and my Grandma are going to be in Colorado for a family vacation. My Cousin Danielle is my maid-of-honor and it was really important to me to have a shower while she was here so that she could meet my friends! I'm really looking forward to having my friends meet my family and having an afternoon with my favorite girls!

The other day, my Mom and I went shopping. I found some great dresses and outfits for the upcoming wedding showers, rehearsal and honeymoon. As I was trying on the dresses it hit me...I'm getting married!!! I know, that seems like a weird time to realize that I'm getting married. I'm not saying that for the past 10 months I haven't realized that I'm getting married, but it just hit me that we are actually getting married soon! Scott and I have been engaged for a long time, and for a while now, we've just done a few things here and there for the wedding. But now, that the wedding is 9 months away, it finally hit me that I'm getting married!!!! I'm soooo excited! Our wedding is going to be perfect for Scott and I! It the most important day for Scott and I and we're going to be able to share it with our family and friends. I can't wait!

I think that's all that happened last month! It went by so fast! I'm hoping this month slows down just alittle bit! We have a lot of things to look forward to this month! I'll keep you all update as we continue on this exciting, fast moving journey!

Love,
Heather