Our Life Together

A Greenfield Update

2010-11-27T08:14:00.006-07:00

Happy Holiday everyone!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to share it with the ones you love! It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving day has come and gone and now we are only 4 weeks away from Christmas! Where has this year gone? This is my favorite time of year...Christmas music, holiday lights, friends and family gathering together, peppermint mocha coffee creamer, Christmas shopping, my birthday, snow, Christmas movies and that "holiday feeling" that warms my heart for the next 4 weeks...how can you not love this time of year?!

I know I haven't written much lately so I will take a minute or two to update everyone on what's been happening in our lives:

The biggest news I have to share with you is that Scott and I are now parents to a super cute puppy named Lexi. We got Lexi 4 weeks ago at the young age of 12 weeks! She is a black and while Shih Tuz/Poodle mix. Scott and I have been talking about getting a dog for a while now but just could not find a dog that we truly couldn't live without. That is until I saw Lexi's face!!! When we meet her we both fell in love! It has been a big life style adjustment and a greater responsibility than we originally thought but we learned quickly and now I couldn't imagine our lives without her. She's a really good dog and super smart! She's been house trained from almost day one, she knows her name, sleeps through the night without a sound, she'll sit on command and knows the word "no" (most of the time)! She has brought a lot of joy to our lives so far and we look forward to having her with us for a long time. Here are a couple pictures of Lexi:

Besides getting Lexi, our lives have been pretty much the same. Scott will done with this semester in just 2 weeks, which means that we will get to spend (a lot) more time together! This semester has been a challenge and has put a lot of stress on the both of us. We haven't been able to spend a lot of quality time together over the past 3 months and it has begun affecting on our marriage. We have pushed through and supported each other as best as we can, however, we both realized that having either one of us gone every night of the week and on the weekends is something we don't want to do again. We both agree that it's not worth the stress on our marriage or on us individually. Next semester Scott will only be in class 2 nights a week so we are hoping that it will be a much better schedule for us. I fully support Scott following his dreams and career goals but it's been hard to keep up that support when I see it affecting our marriage. Luckily we've been able to address these feelings and have made more of an effort to make the most of the time we do spend together. We have reinstated "date night" which not only allows us to spend quality time together but it also gets us out of the house! :-) We are so excited about the holidays and spending lots of time together!

Well,that is all the time I have. Lexi is up from her puppy nap and wants to play so I better go give her some loves before she gets into anything she's not supposed to! I guess I'll have to write about Thanksgiving and my birthday at another time!

Love,
Heather, Scott, Lexi and Joey

Life

2010-10-19T18:33:00.002-06:00

We've been busy! :-) Life hasn't slowed down at all for us and it really doesn't look like it's going to anytime in the near future. Here's what we've been up to lately:

We moved into our new apartment 3 weeks ago and have been settling in since then. My Dad came out for the weekend to help us move (Thanks Dad!). Since we couldn't move in until Saturday, I took a personal day on Friday so that we could have a father/daughter day. We hung out in Boulder most of the day and just enjoyed the great weather and time together. The move went well, though moving to a 3rd floor apartment made it slightly more challenging. Scott and I have felt at home here since our first night. We're 96% unpacked...hopefully this weekend we can say we're 100% unpacked! :-) Once we are all unpacked I'll be sure to take pictures and post them so you all can see our new home!

Scott and I have finally found our "grove" in our weekly schedules. With Scott being in class 4 nights a week this semester we have put a lot of importance on enjoying the time we do get to spend together. Every night, after Scott gets home, we curl up on the couch, turn on the fireplace and get caught up with our favorite TV shows. Lately we have been having a cup of hot chocolate (sometimes with a little Baileys and Whip Cream on top) to end the day. It's not much time, but it's wonderful and it helps us get through the weeks. Next semester it sounds like he'll only have class 3 nights a week....I'll take it! :-)

Besides not being home every night, Scott is really enjoying his classes at Metro State. He started flying lessons this past weekend. He tells me that if he gets nothing else out of the classes he's taking, they are going to make him a much better pilot! He's hoping to fly 2-3 times a week for as long as the weather allows. It sounds like he'll get his license by next Spring. We are still unsure as to where this new adventure will take him but we are both optimistic that it's going to lead to something great, which makes the sacrifice worth it.

I, on the other hand, am enjoying not being in school! It's almost been a year since I graduated Grad School and so much has changed! I am really enjoying my job! I'm learning every day and developing great personal and professional relationship along the way. For those of you who don't know, I'm working at H+L Architecture as a medical planner on the Denver's Children's Hospital. The project is very rewarding and very challenging at the same time. I'm so excited to be a part of this organization and so happy knowing that my work will help thousands of children from all over the country. The challenging part is disconnecting myself with the patients. I don't have any contact with the patients but I find myself having trouble breathing when I am working on the 7th floor Cancer Center or designing the ceiling in a hospices room. Call me human (or a future mom), but I can't imagine what the parents are going through if there child is in one of those rooms. I don't know if I could deal with it. I pray to God that when Scott and I have children we don't find ourselves on the 7th floor of TCH. But, I guess that's the rewarding part too, knowing that there is a place that we could take our kids to that will make them feel as at home as possible and a place where they will get the best care in Colorado! Our project is scheduled to open in late 2011 or early 2012 so I have a little job security.

Besides working I have been looking forward in my career. I have decided to start taking the Architectural Registration Exams after the first of the year. I have 7 exams to study for, take and pass before I can officially call myself an Architect! I've been working on being an architect since I was 7 years old....I'm just ready to be done! The exams are challenging and even extensive studying doesn't promise that I'm going to pass every single one....good thing they let you retake! My strategy is this: study for 4 week, test, take a week of and repeat! If I start in January it's my goal to have all 7 tests taken by October and doing any retesting by the end of the year. I am for warning you now....I might fall a bit behind on blogging next year. It's going to be a very large time commitment but it's something I have been working towards my whole life and something that I need to do in order to move on with the rest of my life. Again, the outcome will out weigh the sacrifice. Wish me luck!

Like I said at the beginning, I don't seen our lives slowing down much in the future. We have a few weeks of nothing much going on and then we're right back in the crazy-ness mix. We're off to Vegas in November. I was awarded a scholarship to attend a national design conference and Scott is going to join me in Sin City for the weekend. After that Scott is off to Cali to visit his Dad for a weekend. November will be busy, as it always is, with my birthday, Thanksgiving and the start of the Holiday Season. This is my favorite time of year! I am so excited for these next few months!!!! I'll try to keep everyone up-to-date with all of our fun and busy lives!

Love,
Heather

Happy (early) Birthday!!!

2010-09-20T19:53:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we celebrated Scott's 27th birthday, even though his real birthday isn't until September 28th. Being the loving wife that I am, I thought long and hard about what I could get my wonderful husband for his birthday. Of course I came up with lots of ideas but none of them seemed right. Just after our wedding I had a "light bulb" moment and I realized that I could get my husband for his birthday. I quickly called up Tony, Scott's best friend from college who lives in Des Moines. I knew how much Scott wanted Tony to come visit again and I knew that this would be a perfect excuses to do so. Because Tony is a great friend he of course said yes! I didn't need to do much planning before hand so it was easy keeping this a secret from Scott for the past 3 months. However, the past couple of weeks had been difficult.

I told Scott that we had this big weekend planned but I wouldn't tell him anything of what we were doing. He never really guess but he kept asking questions that made it hard not to come out and tell him what we were doing. My favorite question was when Scott asked me if he could unwrap his present in public....I just smiled and said well, maybe not all of it! :-) I had a great time planning the weekend while making Scott even more confused!

Finally Friday came and I was able to give Scott his birthday present. I asked Scott to meet me for lunch downtown. Little did he know, Tony and his girlfriend Erica would also be joining us for lunch. The 3 of us walked into the restaurant, of course Scott saw Tony first since he's a 7'-0" giant! Scott was so surprised and so grateful that they had come all this way just to spend time with him. I successfully pulled of the surprise!

Friday afternoon Scott and I were both able to get off early and meet up with Tony and Erica for happy hour downtown. We enjoyed the beautiful Colorado weather while sitting on the roof top patio of one of our favorite places to hang out after work. Later that night we went to Boulder and had dinner on Pearl Street downtown. Saturday we had brunch at CB & Potts before heading to Parker for their Oktoberfest. It was a small festival but it was nice to get out of the city and be out doors on such a beautiful day (70 degrees and sunny!). That night I had arranged for us to meet up with some of our friends at our favorite restaurant in Denver, Lime. We all had dinner and went out on the town. Tony and Erica left early Sunday morning so the rest of our weekend was spent on the couch relaxing. Overall, I think I the weekend was a success! I loved surprising my husband and giving him something that I knew would make him happy!!!!

Here are a couple pictures of the weekend:

Of course Scott's real birthday isn't for another few days so we will celebrate just the two of us on his birthday. Nothing too big but I'm thinking wine, candles, the fire place on, cake and How I Meet Your Mother!?!?!? Sounds like a perfect night!

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In other life news: we are (finally) moving this weekend! After weeks of packing....I just realized that we don't have a ton of stuff, it's just taken forever since I have been the only one packing (for the most part)...we are finally able to move in to our new apartment. We are both looking forward to the change and the feeling of being "stable" for at least the next 12 months. My dearest Dad is coming out to lend us a hand on moving. We are hoping to have everything moved by the end of next weekend...we shall see if we can do that!!!

Besides moving we are looking forward to the next few weekends. We are going to the Colorado Springs airshow, to Keystone for the night while I attend a design conference there and to Vegas in November for a short weekend (I won a national scholarship to attend a national design conference there so my trip is paid for!). So yet again, we have another busy few weeks ahead of us. I will do my best with keep you all up to date with our latest adventures!!!

Love,
Heather

Mr. Awesome

2010-09-13T19:18:00.002-06:00

I will be completely honest, there are days that I take my husband for granted. However, lately those days are very few and far between! Since Scott started taking classes this semester he hasn't been home much. And by "not much" I mean he has class Monday - Thursday nights and doesn't get home until after 8:30 most of the time. I miss coming home to him after work and tell him all about my day. I also miss our walks around the neighborhood, our nights cuddled on the couch or a spontaneous moving, wine and Chinese food evening that happens to fall on a Wednesday night! Most nights I am on my own for dinner, unless we meet up after work for a quick bit. Most nights it's Joey (the cat) and I on the couch watching any random show that I know Scott wouldn't enjoy or, on nights like tonight, it's me and a glass of wine hanging out on the computer listening to music. As much of a sacrifice this is right now, I know every night I come home to an empty house will only benefit our future together. I really wouldn't do it for anyone else! :-)

Not only do I miss my husband when I get home at night, but I miss the help around the house! I have to be one of the luckiest wives in the world because I have a husband who helps cook dinner (honestly, most nights he's home he cooks!), does the laundry (no pink shirts yet!), puts the dishes away (still working on how to properly load the dishwasher but I'll take what I can get) and likes to vacuum!!!

Basically, I married Mr. Awesome!!!

We're still trying to figure out our routine this Fall. It has been a challenge balancing work, class, household responsibilities and our relationship but I have all the confidence in the world that we will make this schedule work for us. It may take us until January when we will be faced with another (different) schedule, but we'll make it work! It's always worked out for us...why shouldn't this next step? In the meantime, we have been focusing our attention on "us" when we get time to spend together. We have a couple really good "us" weekends and we hope that they continue! Scott supported me while I was finishing up Grad school and I am happy to do the same for him!!!

Anyways, enough of how awesome my husband is! :-) Things are good here! I have been working a lot of overtime the last couple of weeks at work. We have a huge deadline on Friday so we have been working like crazy to meet it. I sure hope this only happens every 6 months or so, getting into the office at 7:00 and not leaving until 6:00 while working over lunch isn't my thing! Scott and I are moving next weekend so we have been busy packing up the apartment. We are both looking forward to moving, it's time for a change. Besides that, I have a big birthday surprise planned for Scott this weekend....he has no idea what it is and it's driving him crazy! Tune in next week to see what it was! :-)

Love,
Heather G

Home Visit

2010-09-07T19:41:00.001-06:00

Is it funny (or a little strange) that I still consider Iowa "home" when I have lived in Colorado for the past 8 years? I have quite decided whether or not it's weird but I have a feeling that I will always call Iowa "home". Anyways, Scott and I spent Labor Day weekend back in Iowa visiting friends and family and attending a wedding. We left early Friday morning and had to drive back to Colorado early Monday but we packed as much as we could in 2 days! Like most trip back "home", we didn't see everyone we wanted to nor did we spend nearly enough time with those that we did see. We say this every time we come back, but we really need to get back to Iowa more often! :-)

Here are a few highlights from the weekend:

Scott and I visited his best friend Tony at the Altoona Fire Station (Tony is a fire fighter)

My Dad and I with his Harley

Scott and I at our friends Kyle and Erin's wedding

We really enjoyed our short vacation back to the Midwest. Our friends and family mean so much to us and we truly wish they were all closer...if only Nebraska would go away! :-) No matter how long we are away from Iowa, we will always hold it close to our hearts and always consider it our "home"!

Love,
Heather

Short Update

2010-08-16T21:15:00.004-06:00

Life is good! Scott's good! I'm good! Things are good here in Colorado! Here's what's been going on in our world these past couple of weeks:

- Scott had a great time at the airshow in Oshgosh, WI! He spent 8 days there and took over a thousand pictures of airplanes! He had been planning that trip since January so I was happy for him when the time finally came for him to go! I was also very happy when it was time for him to come home! :-) I really enjoyed my time while he was gone (much needed girl time), however, by day 5 I was ready to have my husband home again! When I went to pick him up from the airport on Sunday night (Aug. 1) I felt like I was picking up my son from camp. He had so many things to tell me and so many pictures to share. And, like the good-loving wife that I am, I listened to all his stories and looked through all his pictures! Even though he had a great time and I enjoyed some time to myself we both agreed that 8 days is really too long to be away from the one you love! Next time maybe he'll just go for a long weekend! ;-)

- While Scott was at the airshow, my friend Krista came out to visit me. She had bought tickets to the Tim McGraw concert back in November as a "Happy Birthday" "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Graduation" present to me. Krista and I have seen Tim McGraw in concert together 5 times now! Our first Tim concert was the summer after our high school graduation! We were 18 years old! Since then, we have seen him 4 other times, all in Colorado. It's become a "Heather&Krista" summer tradition that I truly hope lasts forever, or for as long as Tim continues to tour! Besides the concert that weekend, Krista and I had some much needed girl time. We laid by the pool, went shopping and drank peach champagne. It was a great weekend!

- Last weekend Scott and I went apartment hunting. We put nearly 100 miles on the Honda going all around the greater Denver metro area looking at apartments. Knowing our current lease is up the first of October, Scott and I set out to find something that fit into these 3 categories: 1) We want to pay less in rent so that we can pay down some dept and save for a house 2) The new place needed to be as nice if not nicer then our current apartment 3) We wanted to still be on the bus route to downtown or the lightrail. So, with those "must haves" in mind we went on our search. Our search lead us from Erie all the way down to Lone Tree! We saw everything from a brand new 650 sq ft one bedroom apartment for $1100/month to a couple year old complex that offered 900 sq ft for $900/month! We were exhausted by the end of the day and decided not to make any decisions until we slept on it....and I made a pro/con list! :-)

- This week, we finally made a decision on where to live. We are moving just down the street and over the hill from where we live now. I decided to get a one bedroom apartment so that we could cut our rent by more then just a few dollars (it's expensive to live in Colorado by the way!). We both really like the apartment we will be living in. It's in a great location, still close to the bus, our favorite hang outs, the rec center and our friends. Oh, and most importantly it's even closer to the Metro Airport (which was a big selling point for Scott!). The apartment has a large deck, fire place, ceiling fans and plenty of space for Scott, Joey and myself. The down side is, we won't have any room for our guests to stay, unless of course they are comfortable sleeping on the couch! :-) For the next year, I think we will be very comfortable in our new home. I am surprisingly looking forward to our move! I'll be sure to post pictures once we get settled in!

Well, that's a quick recap of what's been going on in our lives lately. This weekend we are going camping at a lake in Ogalalla, NE....yes, I'm willingly going to Nebraska for the weekend! :-) We are going camping with 6 others for the weekend. We are so excited to get away for a weekend and spend some time outdoors! Our summer is coming to an end, Scott starts classes next Monday, and the weather is beginning to cool off (kind of)! We will end our official summer in Iowa. We will be back in Des Moines for 2 days over Labor Day weekend for a friends wedding. I hate to see summer go, however, fall is my favorite time of year so I am looking forward to our next season! Cooler weather, fall colors, football games, my birthday (and Scott's) and cute fall cloths! What isn't there to like about fall!?!?!

Love,
Heather

My Saturday

2010-07-24T20:19:00.005-06:00

My morning started at 5:30 am...yes, it's Saturday! Side note: when I was growing up my Mom always told me that nothing good happens after 10:00 pm, well Mom, nothing good happens before 8:00 am on a Saturday either!!! Needless to say it was early and I wasn't a happy camper for having to wake up that time on a Saturday. Who made me get up at that time of day you ask? Well, it was my dear husband! He flew out this morning to Milwaukee, WI for a week long adventure at Oshkosh (the biggest airshow around). He has been planning this trip since January so you can imagine how perky he was at that time this morning (think a 5 year old on Christmas morning). I, on the other hand, could barely open my eyes. Thankfully, he was smart enough to make coffee for us to take on the road! (He knows me so well!) Once we said our good-byes at the AirTran terminal at DIA I was on my way back home, head filled with what I wanted to accomplish while he was away. My list got interrupted when I saw the sun divide the clouds and hit the flatirons. I thought to myself, "It's going to be a good day." As it turned out, it was one of the best Saturdays I have had in a very long time.

My Mom and I had planned on having a girl's day for as long as Scott has been planning his trip to Oshkosh. It has been a long time since my Mom and I have spent a whole Saturday together. The sad part is, my Mom and I spent more quality time together when she lived in Iowa and came out here for weekends at a time to visit. Since she's moved to Colorado we both have had very different schedules that have made it hard for us to spend more then a couple of hours together at a time. Which totally defeats the purpose of her moving to Colorado. When she moved out here we had planned to see each other all the time, unfortunately that just hasn't happened yet. We are hoping that all changes in the near future. Anyways, we decided to make it happen today. Just us girls! A daughter with her mother.

We started the day with a trip to Boulder, our favorite place in Colorado (okay, next to Estes Park). For all the years my Mom and I spent vacationing in Colorado and the Boulder area we never made it to the Boulder's Farmers Market. Today, we changed that. We drove down Highway 36 and gazed at the beautiful sun kissed flatirons....a view everyone needs to see before they die. We bought some sweet corn (real peaches and cream sweet corn for those of you who are from Iowa) and tomatoes while wondering around the square block of the packed farmers market. Once we were done there we walked down Pearl Street to our favorite place to eat in Boulder, the Walnut Brewery. If those restaurant walls could talk! My Mom and I have had some of our best conversations there throughout the years. It was there that I told my Mom I wanted to go to CU Boulder for college back in the Fall of 2002! It was there that we celebrated my graduation for CU Boulder in 2006, it was there that we talked about our lives, dreams and goals. It's a place we don't get to visit very often, so it's even more special today then it was back then.

After our lunch my Mom and I went to Flatirons Mall for some serious shopping. We enjoyed shopping and walking around the mall just talking. We both found great buys and were every satisfied with our purchases. Since I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do with my Mom is shop. I don't care how old I get, I think I will always love shopping with my Mom. It must be a mother/daughter thing! Though the shopping was great and I found some amazing bargains, I think my favorite thing about our shopping trip was the conversions I had with my Mom. My Mom is a great listener and advice giver without telling me what to do. I know my Mom and I are different in ways, but we are also very similar in many other ways too. I appreciate my Mom's advice and know that it is (and always has been) coming from her heart and past experiences. I think I'm finally at the age that I realize my Mom does know more then me...it's only taken me 26 years to realize that! :-)

Finally, this evening my Mom and I went to church at Flatiron's Community Church, which just happened to be the perfect way to end our day. My best friend Stephanie and her two boys Jordan and Jackson joined us as well. Today's service was about community and connecting with others who are searching for the same purpose in life. Our Paster Jim asked those sitting before him to raise their hand if they had first come to Flatirons because a friend asked them to come join them. Stephanie, my Mom and I all raised our hands. You see, when I moved to Colorado I was invited to come to Flatrions by a friend, soon I asked Stephanie to come with me and finally my Mom was coming with us every Sunday she was in town. It was a great reminder that I am here (in Colorado) for a reason and that I am so lucky to have been given the people in my life. I am truly blessed!!!

Once my Mom and I gave each other our final hugs and said our I love you's to each other we drove our separate ways on HWY 287. As I was driving home I saw the most gorgeous sunset. The sun was setting behind the mountains and its rays were painting the sky orange, pink and yellow. It was as beautiful as the sunrise I saw when this day began. Tonight, as I sit here listening to music, drinking a glass of wine and reflecting on my day, I am happy, at peace, and satisfied with the world. Tomorrow is another day. A day I hope is almost as good as today.

Love,
Heather

I'm Back!!!

2010-07-15T20:53:00.003-06:00

Hello Blog World!!! Yes, I know it has been a couple of months since I wrote last and I apologize for that! We have been trying to get settled here at the Greenfield residents and get back into our routine after months and months of planning a wedding, job searching, grad school and so now. I am finally able to report that our lives have become normal...well, as "normal" as they can be! It feels good to be back and I promise to do a much better job of keeping you all up to date in our ever changing and adventurous lives.

So yeah, Scott and I got MARRIED!!! :-) Our wedding was beautiful, perfect and better then we expected! All our planning and stressing and saving we did paid off! We are so blessed to have had so many wonderful friends and family members make the journey to Colorado to share our special day with us! Even though it has been almost 2 months ago, Scott and I talk about that day all the time!!! We have such great memories from the entire weekend...memories that will last us a life time! Memories that we can't wait to share with our children!

Now that the wedding (and honeymoon) is over we have returned to our lives here in Broomfield. I started a new job with H+L Architecture in Denver 2 weeks after our wedding. I have been there over a month and have loved every day so far! The company is wonderful, the work I am doing is very rewarding and I love working in Downtown Denver. Our office is 2 blocks away from Rockies Stadium and surrounded by great happy hour watering holes. I have even found a new coffee shop a block away that makes my morning walks from the bus station to work a little bit more enjoyable! :-) I am looking forward to my future with H+L and will keep you posted on my experiences!

Besides getting married and starting a new job in the past 6 weeks....our lives have been busy but great! June went by in a blink of an eye and to be honest I can't remember anything else that happened besides our honeymoon and starting my job, so we'll skip to July! The first weekend of the month Jane and Dan came to visit. Though they were only here the weekend, we spent a lot of quality time with them and really enjoyed their visit. Last weekend Scott and I went camping in Rocky Mountain National Park. We headed up to Estes Park on Saturday and enjoyed the day hiking different trails...sometimes in the rain! We set up camp that night and enjoyed a campfire, the wildlife, smores and sleeping in a tent. With our busy schedule it was the first time we had gone camping this year. We are planning on camping a couple more times before the season ends. This weekend we have yet another busy agenda: H+L Company Family picnic Friday evening, Boulder's Farmers Market on Saturday morning, The Nadas concert on Saturday night and Airshow stuff for Scott all day Sunday. I don't think Scott and I know what it's like to relax...or be bored...but I think we enjoy our lives better this way! We may be tired at the end of the day...but we have great memories when we close our eyes at night.

We are enjoying married life very much! Though it hasn't been too big of change for us, we still get excited to call each other "husband" and "wife". I am in the process of legally changing my last night....it might take me all summer to get it done! Wish me luck with that! Well, I guess that's an update on our lives right now. Check back soon for more Greenfield updates!

Love,
Heather & Scott Greenfield

1 Month To Go....

2010-04-30T09:34:00.002-06:00

A month from TODAY Scott and I will be saying our vows and exchanging rings in front of our closest friends and family members. One month from today, Scott and I will become husband and wife and commit ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives. How cool is that!? It's crazy to think that we are only 30 days away from our "big day"! These past 18 months have flown by! I wish I could say that the past 18 months have been perfect, wonderful and easy....but I would just be lying to everyone! The truth is, these past 18 months have been the hardest and most challenging months that either one of us has had to go through. We've had our ups and we've had our downs. We've celebrated together and cried together. We've been angry, frustrated, happy, excited, sad, hopeful and disappointed. Life has handed us challenges that we were not prepared for or wanting to take on! But through everything, Scott and I have stuck together, supported one another and had faith that we could get through these past 18 months as long as we did it together.

On Oct. 18, 2008 Scott got down on one knee (Yes, he really did) and asked me to marry him. Even though I was sick as can be, it was the happiest day of my life! That day, I think we both imagined that our lives would be perfect from that moment on! :-) We were getting married! We were soooo in love! We were so excited for our future together! Well, those feelings lasted exactly 3 weeks and 6 days. On Nov. 17, 2008 I got laid off from my job. That was the day that we started a journey together that neither one of us had planned for!

Now, I don't want to make it sound like these past 18 months have been awful! To be honest, we've actually have had more good days then bad days. I graduated from grad school, we got our first apartment together, we went to a dozen concerts and tried out a hundred new restaurants, we went camping, explored the Rocky Mountains and have begun making Colorado our home. We meet new friends, developed stronger relationships with our families as a couple and built a stronger foundation for our life together. I know both Scott and I are disappointed that we were "robbed" of our "honeymoon" phase in life and wish that reality hadn't come quite as fast as it did, but I guess that's life.

If I've learned nothing else from the past year and half, I have managed to learn these 5 things:
1 - Life never goes as planned
2 - Enjoy today and don't worry about tomorrow (the biggest life lesson Scott has taught me)
3 - As long as I put my faith and trust in God I can make it through life's challenges
4 - Scott is the love of my life and I never want to go a day without him by my side
5 - Scott and I are so blessed to have loving and supportive friends and family members

As I look forward towards the next 18 months of our lives, I wonder what challenges life will bring us. Where will we be in 18 months? What will we be doing? What exciting new things are coming our way that we don't even know about yet? I guess only time will tell!!!

On a quick wedding note: We have been busy trying to finalize our last minute details for the wedding. RSVPs have been rolling in each day, final payments have been made and final touches have been done to make our wedding weekend even more special. We still have a long list of stuff that needs to get done, but neither one of us is feeling too overwhelmed! We are excited to see our family and friends at the end of the month! We are very excited for our honeymoon (a much needed vacation)! But I think most of all, we are just excited to finally be husband and wife! It's been over 10 years since Scott and I first met....I think we've waiting long enough!

With Love,
Heather

Spring Break in the 515

2010-03-31T13:01:00.002-06:00

Most people go some place cool for spring break...Colorado, Florida, California, Mexico....well, not me! For the past 7 years I have left Colorado (one of the most popular spring break destination might I remind you) and made the trip back to Iowa over Spring Break. This year was no different! Scott, my Mom and I packed our cars full and headed East on I-80. Here's a recap of our vacation in the 515:

Tuesday, March 23
Scott, my Mom, Cooper (my Mom's dog) and I were our cars and on the highway by 6:00 am! We made a stop at Starbucks for a little coffee and breakfast before we headed out of town...thanks goodness for Starbucks opening at 5:00 in the morning! Tuesday's drive was relatively uneventful. We made our regular stops along I-80...North Platte, Karney and Lincoln...for gas and food. The nice thing about traveling in the middle of the week is no traffic. The sun was out, which also made for a nice drive across Nebraska. Scott and I rolled in to Des Moines around 6:00 that evening. We unloaded our bags at John and Vicki's in Clive and headed out to dinner with them. We went to Biaggis for dinner, so that Scott could get his Chicken Parmesan meal for the week! :-) We had a wonderful time at dinner getting all caught up with John and Vicki! But after a long day in the car, Scott and I were exhausted! We went to be early and slept great!!!!

Wednesday, March 24
Wednesday was our only day to sleep in while on our trip...so we took advantage of it. We slept in until 9:00 and took our time getting ready. We went to Boone to meet my cousin Danielle, her kids Hunter and Kate, my Grandma and my Mom for lunch at the Dutch Oven Bakery. It was good to be "home." After lunch Scott and I headed to Ames where we met up with my Dad. We were able to spend that afternoon with my Dad. We had dinner at Hickory Park....yum...with him before we headed back down to Des Moines.

Wednesday night Scott and I stayed at Scott's Mom's house. That night we spent our time in the basement looking through hundreds, maybe thousands, of pictures and albums! Scott wanted to go through old picture albums so that we could pull some pictures of him as a little kid for the slide show we are putting together for the wedding. Well....I think we got more then we were expecting! :-) It was fun going through all the old pictures! I really enjoyed seeing pictures of Scott as a baby and little kid. He's cute now, but I think he might have been a little cuter when he was little! ;-) By midnight we managed to get through a good portion of the albums so we decided to call it a night and come back to it on Friday!

Thursday, March 25
Thursday morning we enjoyed a nice family breakfast with Jane, Dan, Scott, Stephanie and myself. Jane made eggs, cheese sausages, cinnamon rolls, fruit and coffee for us! It was wonderful! I really enjoyed our breakfast and look forward to having many more of them with the family! Thursday afternoon, while Scott went to his dentist appointment, I went shopping with Danielle, Kate, my Aunt Clare and my Mom. Went went to Davids Bridal in West Des Moines so that Kate could try on flower girl dresses. We finally picked on and got it ordered! She is going to be soooo cute, I can't wait! :-) Afterwards we went to Valley West Mall to find shoes and make-up. Danielle helped me pick out make-up for the wedding! What a great girl's shopping day!

That evening Scott and I headed downtown to meet some of Scott's co-workers from ING Des Moines and some of our friends for happy hour. Scott's friend, and groomsmen, Chris drove from Colorado to Iowa on Thursday so that he could attend Scott's bachelor party (what a friend!) so he was there and able to meet some people as well. Our rather large group went out to dinner and then to another bar for a few more drinks before we ended the night. I know Scott had a great time seeing all of his old friends! I'm glad they were all able to come out and join us!

Friday, March 26
After my dentist appointment at 8:00 am Scott and I went to my friend Erin's cafe for coffee and cheesecake. If you are in the Des Moines area you need to stop by Flarah's (2815 Beaver Ave) for lunch and try her cheesecake...tell her Heather sent you! :-) After our mid-morning snack, Scott took me to Hy-Vee in West Des Moines for lunch. He has been raving about Hy-Vee Chinese food ever since he moved out here, so he was so happy to finally be able to take me there for lunch. I have to admit that it was really good! Nice job babe! After lunch we went back to Jane's house to go through more pictures. This time Stephanie was able to join us! We made our way through the other half of the stack before we had to leave to head to Boone. I can't wait for everyone at the wedding to see how cute Scott was when he was a kiddo!!!! :-)

Friday night we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house to celebrate my Grandma's birthday. We had Godfather's pizza and cake. It was a great night! I miss having birthday celebrations with the family, so I really enjoyed myself that night. Scott definatly fits in well with the family, which is nice to know! :-) Kate seems to like Scott...in fact, I think Scott is Kate's best friend! She had to be sitting right between us and wouldn't leave Scott alone! They are too cute together!!!

After dinner Scott and I headed back to Des Moines to watch the UNI basketball game at a friends house.

Saturday, March 27
Saturday was a big day for both Scott and I. Scott went golfing that morning with John, Chris and Matt. It was his 2nd time golfing, and from what I hear he doesn't suck too bad! My day was wonderful! My Aunt Clare and Danielle threw me a wedding shower that afternoon in Boone. It was sooooo wonderful! The room looked beautiful, so many of my friends and family came (some who I hadn't seen in years) and the food was amazing! My Aunt and cousin did such a wonderful job and it really made me feel special! After the shower was over Scott stopped in to say hi to everyone. He was also impressed with everything and I know it made him feel just as special to know that there are so many people who care so much about us!

After my shower, I made the rounds and said my good-byes to everyone. Then my Dad and I went to dinner. I really enjoyed the father-daughter time I had with him that night. It was a nice way to spend my last night in town.

Saturday night was also Scott's bachelor party! I can't give you too many details because, well, Scott doesn't remember too many details! :-P The boys started out the evening with dinner at Granit City. After dinner they went downtown and bar hopped the rest of the night. It sounds like everyone had a great time and Scott really enjoyed the night! He kept telling me how awesome his friends are....so I'm guessing that means that they took care of him and treated him well that night! No one ended up in jail, with a tiger in their hotel room or a baby in their closet (see the movie the Hangover for these references), so I guess I can't complain too much about it!

Sunday, March 28
Scott's bachelor party ran into the early hours of Sunday. Poor guy only got an hour of sleep before I had to wake him up so we could leave. We, once again, left at 6:00 am and headed West. I drove while Scott sat in the seat next to me hating life! :-) I tried to make him as comfortable as I could, but I really didn't feel that bad for him....! The drive home was uneventful as well. Scott and I got home around 5:30 that evening and crashed!

We had a great time on our trip. It was so nice seeing all of our family and friends! We love living in Colorado, however, we wish Iowa was just a little bit closer!

Since we've been back, we've been busy getting ready for Scott's dad to come to visit tomorrow. We've put things away that we got for the shower and have cleaned the apartment for our guest. We are both looking forward to having Steve in town. Scott is especially excited since this is the first time Steve has come to visit since Scott moved here. They have a full weekend planned that includes a lot of airplanes and airports! I'm sure I will tag along, however, I have long list of things that need to get done this weekend too....thank-you notes, sleep, relaxing and getting caught up on Gossip Girl!

That is all for now! I hope everyone is doing well! I'll write soon...

Love,
Heather

Pictures From Our Trip To Iowa

2010-03-30T13:25:00.010-06:00

Since I don't have a lot of time to write all about our trip back to Iowa last week, I thought I would post a few pictures of our time back in the Midwest. I promise, in the next day or so I will take time to sit down and tell you all about our the wonderful time we had back home! Till then...here's our week through pictures. ENJOY!

Hickory Park in Ames...Yummy!

Scott and I eating at Hickory Park in Ames

Scott, his mom Jane and sister Stephanie

Scott and I at his Mom's house

Scott with his Mom, Sister and Step-Sister Hillary at my wedding shower

Scott and I at my wedding shower...he didn't attend, just stopped by to say hi to everyone

My cousin Danielle (my Maid-of-Honor), me, my Mom, Aunt Clare (who hosted my shower) and Danielle's daughter Kate (our Flower Girl) at my wedding shower

Opening gifts at my wedding shower

Well, there you go! Just a few pictures of our great week! Like I said, I will write all about it in the next day or so! I hope everyone is doing well! Miss you all!

Love,
Heather

Who decided that the days should only be 24 hours long???

2010-03-12T13:54:00.002-07:00

Time has flown by and once again I failed to write last week like I had promised. It is my life goal now to someday live a normal-boring life because right now, my life is INSANE!!!! I thought that once I was done with grad school my life would calm down and I would have time to relax. Boy, was I wrong! I honestly think I'm more busy now then I was when I was in school, seriously! Maybe I just have more time on my hands and I'm able to fill it up quickly? I don't know. Whatever it is, it really needs to stop!!! I wish I could say that I see the end in the future, however, I'm really not sure if this busy period of my life will ever end. I'm sure I will find something else to keep me busy after the wedding is over. BUT someday, I promise you, this blog is going to be so boring (because my life has slowed down and I have nothing to write about) that you will stop reading it. Believe me? Yeah, I don't either!!! ;-)

I'm really not sure where March has gone, I can't believe it's already the middle of the month! Our wedding countdown is at 79 days!!! YIKES!!! We are busy busy busy trying to get everything ready for our big day! On the First day of March Scott, my Mom, my Aunt Clare and I went to Estes Park to do our final wedding walk through at Della Terra. We now know: how many tables there are going to be, where they will be located, what our bartender will be serving, the schedule for our whole wedding day, what color of table linens we will have (probably one of the hardest decisions I have had to make for our wedding...no joke), when we will be doing our first day, where the cake will be displayed, how the cake will be cut and served, where the food will be located, what time we need to get there on Sunday, what time pictures will be and finally what color of napkins we will be using. I think I made more decisions on that Monday then I have this whole time we've been engaged! It was a long day, but we got so much done that now I'm finally not stressing about the day of the wedding...it's just everything else that is still stressing me out! :-)

Another big task we've crossed off our list is the invitations! Who knew DIY (do it yourself) invitations would cause so much stress! (Please stop laughing at me, I honestly thought this was going to be easy and in theory it should have been!) Picking them out and buying them was the easy part!!! We had planned on printing them with our own printer, HA! We were wrong! For whatever reason our printer just didn't like the paper so we were unable to print them at home. We thought that the next best thing would be to take them to Kinkos and have them print them. It wasn't going to cost us much and it sounded like a good idea on Tuesday. Wellll.....Kinkos didn't like our paper either. For whatever reason their printed decided not to print our invitations either. After I got the call yesterday, saying that "You're paper killed our printer" (yeah, friendly people they have working at our local Kinkos) I didn't know if I should cry or laugh...so I just sat silently at my desk until I thought of a Plan A and a Plan B. Plan A was to take them one last place to see if we could get them printed somewhere else. Plan B was to take them back to Iowa with us in a week and print them at my Aunt's work...this plan would put us about 2 weeks behind of when we wanted to send them out. Not bad, but still if you know me you know how I like my plans to all work out! So after work last night Scott and I went to Kinkos, picked up our blank invitations and headed to Staples. After taking the wrong exit (my fault) we found no Staples store in sight, but we did see an Office Max! Let's just say, Office Max will get my business from now on. The guy at the printing counter was great and got our invitations and RSVP cards printed in 10 minutes and it ended up costing us less then what Kinkos had quoted us!!!! Now, I wish I could say our invitations are ready to be put in the mail, but they're not! We still need to tie the ribbons on them, put them in the envelopes, put the RSVP cards in the envelopes, lick and stick the envelopes and put stamps on them! But that's the fun part! Sunday I am having a Invitation DIY party at my house. A couple of my girl friends are coming over to help. :-) We are hoping to have them in the mail by next Wednesday!!!

So besides all of our fun wedding stuff, Scott, my Mom and I are getting ready to head back to Iowa in a week. We'll be home March 23 - 28! We are so excited to go back and see our family and friends. It's been a full year since we've been back so it's time for a visit. As always our trip is already packed full of plans and we haven't even begun driving east! We are planning on spending time with Scott's Mom, Step-Dad and Sister, my Mom's family and my Dad and his family, John and Vicki and as many of our friends as time will allow! My Aunt and Cousin are hosting a wedding shower for me while we are home and Scott's partaking in his bachelor party Saturday night. We will barely have time to sleep while we're back, but since we have a limited time with our loved ones we want to spend every minute with them that we can get. It's going to be a lot of fun! When we get back from Iowa Scott's Dad is coming to visit the first weekend in April. After that weekend we have one awards event to go to for the AIA and that's it until the wedding!!!! I am going to make it a priority to relax and slow down in the month of April. It's going to be hard, but I think it will be much needed!!! Wish me luck with that! :-)

Well, that's what's been happening in our lives. Besides being way too busy, Scott and I are doing great! I think we are finally over being sick! The weather is starting to warm up so we have been spending time outside trying to enjoy it! I'm still job hunting and hope I will be able to give you all an update soon! Scott had his annual review at work this week and got excellent scores! I am so proud of him! I hope you all are doing well! We miss you and hope to see some of you while we are back in Iowa!!!

Love,
Heather

95 Days To Go!

2010-02-24T08:35:00.007-07:00

Whew! What a month it has been! Scott and I have been busy as usual, although, we've also been really sick!!! For the past month or so, we have both been hit several times by different cold/flu bugs. They just don't seem to leave our house! As soon as one of us gets well the other one starts to get sick. It has been a repetitive cycle for weeks now! But, the good new is, we are BOTH finally feeling better this week. :-) Hopefully we got all the germs out of the house and our systems.

Even though we've been sick, we have managed to get a lot done for the wedding. I thought we were getting closer to getting everything done, but as soon as I cross something off my "To do" list 3 more things get put on the ever-growing list. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed by the multiple pages of things to do in my purple note book, but I'm not always successful at it. We are now getting into the little details of the wedding...
- What color napkins do we use? (black, white, pink, a mix of colors....do I really even care?)
- What music do we want to have playing during the reception? (Nothing cheesy...more classical romantic stuff)
- What song do we want to have playing as we walk down the isle for the first time as Husband and Wife? (Nothing "traditional" is all I know!)
- What color of table linens do we want? (black over white, white over black, a mix of the two...again, do I really even care?)
- What beer and wine do we want to serve our guests?
- What style of ceremony do we want to have?
- Are we going to write our own vows? If so, we should probably get on that. If not, we should probably start looking for pre-written vows.

And the list goes on and on....The best part is, I am not doing this alone! I have many people by my side helping me make all of these decisions. I am so thankful that Scott wants to have a part in the decision making for our wedding and is willing to give me his input on all the small details as well. My Mom has also been a big help! She's always willing to offer her advice and opinion, but understands that the final decision is really up to Scott and I! She's thought of things that I hadn't even thought of yet, which is a huge help when it comes to all of these little details that really make the wedding day special! My Aunt Clare has also been amazing. Even though she is in Iowa, she is only a phone call or email away. She has been named the official Ludwig/Greenfield "Wedding Coordinator". I am so lucky to have her helping me out! And of course there are my wonderful friends who make this so much more fun and so much more manageable! Without them, I think I might loose my mind. They are always there for me and offering to help in any way!

Even though there are still questions that have remained unanswered and details that still need to be figured out, we really have managed to get a lot done in the past few weeks. I took my wedding dress in for alterations (I hate being short) a few weeks ago. It was really exciting to put my dress on again, I haven't had it on since I bought in back in Nov. 2008! It's more beautiful then I remembered! :-) I am going in for my final fitting this Friday, hopefully everything will be done and I can take it home. My bridesmaid Amy and personal attendant Tiffany are going with me so they can "learn" how to get me into my dress...it's a process, trust me! I also figured out how I am going to do my hair for the wedding. It's funny how a dress can dictate how one should have their hair...but I knew instantly how I wanted it to look as soon as I put my dress on! I can't wait to see how everything comes together on my wedding day...dress, hair, make-up...everything! Besides my dress, Scott and I did decide on what wine and beer we are going to serve at our wedding reception (I guess I should go ahead and cross that one off my to do list...). Della Terra hosted a wine tasting event at the chateau last Saturday. It was a snowy morning, but a beautiful (slow) drive up the canyon! Both Scott and I were recovering for our most recent colds, which limited the abilities of our taste buds, but we were able to select a few wines that we thought would appeal to us and our guests. They also had a local caterer and baker there with samples! Wine, food and cake...Scott's favorite things! It was a great way to spend a snowy Saturday! Della Terra looked so beautiful all covered in snow....I guess that's good to know b/c it could be snowing on our wedding day (let's just hope it doesn't!). This coming Monday Scott, my Mom, my Aunt, our caterer and I will all be heading back up to Della Terra for our FINAL walk through! This is where all of our unanswered questions will be answered and the small details of our wedding day will be planned out! Scott and I are so excited for this day! I think after Monday we will feel like we are just that much closer to getting everything done! Check back for an update next week!!!! We have also been meeting with our Pastor, Kevin, on a more regular basis now. I wouldn't call it "marriage counseling" but more "marriage/life mentoring". Scott and I really like Kevin as a Pastor and friend and are very excited to have him a part of our lives. It's nice to have a someone on the outside asking us questions and encouraging us to engaging in different conversations that we might not have had prior to getting married. Scott and I love each other so much that we want to do whatever we can to keep that love strong and healthy for the rest of our lives. We already know marriage isn't easy and you have to work at it everyday, so it's nice to get all the advice and as many pointers before hand that we can get! :-)

Well, I believe that gives you an update as to what's going on with the Ludwig/Greenfield wedding planning and preparation! We are down to less then 100 days to go...which just doesn't seem possible! I am getting more and more excited for the actual wedding day! I know it will be here and gone in no time, so I am trying to relax and enjoy each minute of it from now until May 30th!

Love,
Heather

Life Update

2010-01-20T21:13:00.007-07:00

I had hoped to be able to write more on our blog after the first of the new year, however, that just hasn't happened yet! To be honest, Scott and I have found ways to fill up our new free time together. In the last few weeks we have filled up every weekend by trying to cross things off our every so long and growing "To Do" List. Who knew planning your life took so much time! :-)

After the first of the year Scott and I got really excited about our future. Not that we haven't been excited about until now, but we finally feel like we are at the point where we can start planning our next chapter. With school behind me, we are looking forward to our wedding, being married, buying a house and kids....hopefully in that order and not all at once! ;-) Since both of us are not from Colorado, neither one of us knows any of the surrounding towns and communities. I only know the Boulder and Fort Collins areas well, the rest of the Front Range is much of a mystery. So, after talking about the fact that neither one of us knows much about our options for a community to call "Home" one day, we have decided to take the time and go "Community" hunting. It's much like "House" hunting, but on a slightly larger scale. We figured, if we find a place we'd like to live one day, it might be easier to look for a house when that time comes.

So, we have been actively looking for the past couple of weeks at our options. We have both decided that most likely we will both be working in or around the Denver area for the next however many years, which helps and doesn't when it comes to looking for a place to settle down. Denver is a big place with lots of suburbs surrounding it. We have both agreed that raising our future children in the city isn't something we want to do. So that leaves us with the 'burbs! It's not my first choice....oh come on, does that really surprise you? Mrs. Architect here doesn't want live in a development that has the houses so close together and everyone's house looks the same it's just painted a different shade of bage? But, I will do it for the safety and better life style for my family! Besides, newer developments have much better architecture then the ones built in the 80's and 90's!

Okay, so a couple of weekends ago Scott and I headed straight East about 20 miles from where we currently live. We ended up in a town call Brighton. Friends of ours just bought a house there this summer, so we are slightly familiar with their neighborhood. We drove around and around...without a map...and eventually found the town. As much as we love where Jake and Melissa live, the actual town of Brighton didn't excite us. We headed home deciding to keep looking, but to revisit the neighborhood in the next year as they were starting construction on a new retail area which often leads to more development.

The following weekend we decided to head South West about 35 miles from here. At work I was given a project to research the town of Littleton and everything I read about it made me love it more and more. So, our next stop was Littleton, CO. Now, this town of roughly 45,000 people impressed us. It felt like home in the sense that besides the 360 view of the mountains, we could have easily been in Iowa, which is a nice feeling. The town has a ton of open space, multiple lakes, great schools and friendly people. We found a local pizza place to eat at for lunch and decided that we should keep Littleton on our short list.

So far, we have enjoyed our weekend adventures to different towns around the area. Maybe it's been the 50+ degree weather or the sun shine or just the excitement of our future together, or maybe a little bit of all that has made this a great experience. We aren't done yet! There's still plenty of neighborhoods for us to explore. I'll keep you posted as we continue our adventures.

The rest of our time has been spent thinking about wedding stuff. I can't believe it's 4 months away!!!! It just doesn't seem possible! I feel like we still have so much to do....yet, when I look at my list I realize how much we already have done. We will be busy these next couple of months getting the rest of the stuff accomplished, but so far, I am confident we won't have to be panicking the week before the wedding....at least that's what I'm praying for. :-)

The rest of my time has been spent looking and applying for jobs. My current internship ends in May, so the pressure is on to find something else before then. I am still praying that a job in an architecture firm opens up, however, I am being realistic in that fact that I am applying for other jobs. I'll work 3 jobs if I need to....but it would be nice to find something full time with benefits. Hopefully something good will come up soon. :-) I feel like that is the missing part in my life right now. I would like to know I have a steady, full time job by the time we get married. I can't imagine what it will be like to have us both working full time jobs!!!??? I will have to say though, that this experience has been very humbling. It has made me look at the big picture of life and realize that I (and we) are not as bad off as others. I have a roof over my head, food in the refrigerator, gas (barely) in my car and I do have a job I can go to every day. Scott and I may not have extra money to go shopping, buy a new flat screen TV or go on a vacation, but we have managed to save a lot of money for our wedding, pay every bill on time and still treat ourselves to Chinese take out once in a while. This situation has allowed us both to realize that we can live on (almost) nothing and still be happy. It's not the ideal situation, nor is it one that I'd like to stay in forever, but we've shown ourselves that we can make it through and come out the other side happy and still madly in love with each other. And for that, I have to thank God for showing us that we can get through anything as long as we have each other.

Well that's all for now. I should get to bed so that a new day can start tomorrow! I hope you are all staying warm, safe and healthy. We think about you all often and wish we could see everyone more!

Miss you all!

Love,
Heather

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T16:03:00.002-07:00

With 2009 behind us, we are in highest spirits around here! 2010 (twenty-ten is how we say it here in the Ludwig/Greenfield residence) has already been better then the whole year of 2009 was! 2009 was a tough year, probably the toughest year yet! But, I am happy to report that Scott and I (and our family and friends) managed to make it through!

However, the year did end well for us! Scott and I spent our first Christmas together here in Colorado. We decided not to travel over the holiday this year to save money, and it's a good thing we decided to stay put given the harsh weather that hit all over the country over Christmas...had we tried to travel we may have had to spend Christmas in a hotel somewhere in Nebraska! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Fort Collins at my Mom's house. We all enjoyed our time together! It was a quite weekend, but just what we all needed! We ate a ton of food, watched movies and relaxed. New Years Eve was just as quite. Again, trying to save money, Scott and I decided to forgo the wild and crazy Denver New Years Eve scene. Instead, we went over to our friend Stephanie's house and hung out with her and her two little boys. We ate a great dinner, played yatzee and watched the ball drop in New York City from the comfort of Stephanie's couch.

And with that, we began what will be one of the best years of our lives! I know that is a big statement, but how can it not be one of the greatest years? Scott and I are getting married in 5 months!!! I think that right there proves that this will be a great year! :-) Now that the holidays are over and I am finally finished with grad school, we can devote the next 5 months to our upcoming wedding! I just ordered my bridesmaid's dresses yesterday, bought the programs for our wedding ceremony and have started finalizing the menu with the caterer. With all this free time I have now, I am in full "wedding mode"! :-) I love that I can now focus entirely on our wedding and enjoy the next 5 months! I know this time is going to fly by and then it will all be over, so I am going to make a point to enjoy every minute of it. I have really enjoyed having my Mom close by so that she can be a part of the planning and excitement too. It just wouldn't have been the same if she was still in Iowa and I was left to do this all my by myself. Who would have gone dress shopping with me? Or gone to Michaels and spent hours in the wedding section (folks, there are only 2 isles dedicated to weddings in the entire store...and yes, we tend to spend hours there...only a Mom would do that for her daughter!) and David's Bridal 100 times with me? Or gone to all those bridal showers? I have to think it was destiny that she moved out here just 4 months before I got engaged.

There are still plenty of things on my "Wedding To Do" list! But I look forward to checking them off one by one in the next few months!

Love,
Heather

Graduation Day!

2009-12-13T17:55:00.006-07:00

Well, I finally did it! I graduated from Graduate School with a Masters in Architecture! I started this journey 2 years ago, and at the time, never thought I would make it to graduation day! The past 2 years sure did fly by! It hasn't sunk in yet that I am done with school, and I'm sure it won't for a few weeks, but it is a great feeling! :-) Here are a few pictures from graduation:

Before the Graduation Ceremony

My Mom and I

Scott and I after graduation

Love,
Heather

Life Update!

2009-12-04T13:09:00.007-07:00

I know, I know...I didn't finish my list of the 100 things I am thankful for before Thanksgiving. I tried, I really did but life just got in the way! The last two weeks have flown by! The week of Thanksgiving was busy for Scott and I. Scott worked Monday-Wednesday while I stayed busy working on my final studio project. By Thursday, we were both ready for a much needed break! For Thanksgiving, we joined my Mom at the Silvandale Range in Loveland to have dinner. Since it was just going to be the 3 of us this year, we decided not to cook a big dinner and instead enjoy a home-cooked buffet provided by the Ranch. The food was amazing, but I think the best part of the day was that it was 65 degrees outside! Yes, I said 65 degrees and sunny!!! After being at the Ranch for dinner and desert, Scott and I went home and put up our Christmas tree! We spent the rest of the evening laying around and enjoying some down time.

On Friday, Scott worked from home in the morning and I went shopping to cash in on some Black Friday deals! I didn't get up at 5:00 am, but still managed to get some good deals at Target later that morning. I really didn't have an agenda, I just went to get into the holiday spirit. However, I did find some deals that were too good to pass up, and left the store with a large shopping bag! :-) That afternoon Scott, my Mom and I went up to Estes Park to enjoy the Lighted Holiday Parade! We ate at Village Pizza (yum!) and shopped downtown before the parade began. The weather was nice and warm that day, but cooled off after the sun went down! We enjoyed hot chocolate to stay warm!

On Saturday, Scott surprised me with tickets to the Nutcracker for that night as my birthday present! I love love the Nutcracker! We went out to dinner in Downtown Denver before the show and then went to a bar that is located on the 27th floor of the Hyatt hotel in downtown that has a spectacular view of the city afterwards for a drink. The night was wonderful and exactly what we needed! I have the worlds greatest Fiancee! Sunday, my actual birthday, we spent the afternoon in Fort Collins with my Mom. She made me triple chocolate cake and we ordered pizza for dinner. I had a wonderful birthday and I have to say, it feels really good to be 26! 25 wasn't my best year, so I have high hopes for 26! ;-)

This week was another busy busy week for me! I had my final studio presentation yesterday, so all week I was preparing for that. My presentation went really really well and it's such a relief to be done. I can't believe I am done with studio forever! For the 6 years I have been in school, studio was always my first priority! Stress, tears, blood and all-nighters were a part of my studio life and for it to all be over is a little bitter sweet for me. Some of my favorite memories from college are of pulling all-nighters with my friends, watching movies on a screen we rigged up, listening to music loud enough that I could be heard from outside the building and sleeping in the carpet garden for an hour every 32 hours. I know it sounds more like slave work then fun, and it was, but I always managed to make the most of it. Had it not been for all the hours I have spent in the studio, I would not have the life long friendships that I have today! And that's what has made it all worth it!

Anyways, studio is done and over with and I have one test to go before I am officially done with the semester! Graduation is next Saturday at 9:00 am....why do they do that!? My Mom and Scott will be there in the audience cheering me on as I walk across the stage! Afterwards, we are going to have lunch at the Walnut Brewery in Boulder. The first time my Mom and I ate at the brewery I told her that I was going to apply to CU Boulder, that was in September 2002. By September 2003 I was attending CU Boulder. After that first time, my Mom and I continued to eat at the Walnut Brewery each time she'd come out to visit. It only feels appropriate that we go there to celebrate an end to a journey that started 7 years ago.

My list continued......
61. My parents for allowing me to follow my dream of becoming an architect even when it meant supporting my decision to attend the University of Colorado
62. The Alabama Christmas Album
63. Scott for supporting me and loving me through this last year
64. Snow!
65. My Aunt Clare and Cousin Danielle for always buying me such cute clothes for my birthday
66. Coffee (I'm sure it's already made the list, but I really love coffee)
67. Being able to work in the same office as my friend Tiffany, I probably don't get as much work done but it makes each day at work more enjoyable
68. Having 5 great years with my MacBook before it died....it was a sad day!
69. Staying in touch with old Friends
70. Friends (the TV show)...so many life lessons can be learned from just watching an episode!
71. Christmas Cards...one of my favorite things about the holidays!
72. Graduating with a Masters of Architecture degree in a week!
73. Being able to spend the holidays with both my Mom and Scott this year
74. Dance!
75. Friday afternoons

Well, that's all for now! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and is remembering what this time of year is truly about!!!

Hugs & Kisses,
Heather

More...

2009-11-18T10:49:00.009-07:00

36. Receiving cards in the mail from my Grandma just because she misses me
37. Cozy blankets
38. My heath, Scott's health and my family's health
39. Tim McGraw because: Tim McGraw+Krista Brittain+Me+4 past concerts+This coming summer's concert=Some of the best nights of my life!
40. BHS Cheerleading
41. Having a fiance who insists that I relax and spend the night watching all my favorite girl shows after I've had a long day at work/school
42. Living in a place where the sun shines 360 days a year
43. The ocean and how it makes all my problems disappear
44. Snowboarding and how that makes me feel free
45. My purple iPod
46. A fiance that does the laundry, cooks and cleans!
47. Girls-Day-Out with my Mom that include shopping, lunch and lots of girl talk
48. The Walnut Brewery in Boulder, CO
49. Wedding Planning
50. Sleep
51. My relationship with God
52. My involvement with the AIA (American Institute of Architects) because it's provided me with so many experiences and allowed me to meet incredible people who have become my mentors and friends over the past five years
53. Christmas Traditions
54. The Barbie ornaments that I get from my Dad every year on the Birthday
55. Scarves, hats, gloves and winter coats
56. Estes Park...there are so many memories in that town that go back to the time I was 10 years old
57. Mine and Scott's future together...I don't know what it will bring but I know it's going to be fun, exciting, challenging, rewarding and memorable
58. Body Lotion
59. Bubble baths
60. Gilmore Girls

Giving Thanks

2009-11-14T21:14:00.005-07:00

With Thanksgiving less then 2 weeks a way and the end of the year less then 2 months away, I have been thinking about this past year a lot lately. To be honest, 2009 has not been the best year I've had. In fact, it's been one of the toughest years I've had in a long time. I'm ready to say good-bye to 2009 and hello to 2010, because I know next year is going to be much much better! As easy it would be for me to just move on, I know I should spend sometime reflecting on this past year, as I'm sure there are many life lessons I was suppose to learn. But I'm not quit ready to say good-bye to 2009 just yet. I am determined to end this year on a positive note. So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I have decided to make a list of 100 things in my life I am thankful for and post them here between now and Thanksgiving day. This time of year, I think it is important to remember what is important to us, that we are blessed and that we should give thanks for everything in our lives. I hope my list encourages you to think about the things in your life you are thankful for and give thanks for them.

100 thing that I am Thankful for...

1 - Scott, my best friend

2 - My Mom's unconditional love and support

3 - Having the greatest girl friends who are always there for me when I need to talk, laugh or cry

4 - My faith

5 - Snow Days (especially the ones that come in October)

6 - My Father's love and understanding

7 - My close relationship with my Grandma

8 - Movies that I have seen over and over again, but still love to watch

9 - Coffee!

10 - My loving family

11 - Facebook (I love how it's brought me closer to my family and old/new friends)

12 - My passion for architecture

13 - New shoes (sometimes a girl just needs new shoes!)

14 - Being able to eat (and enjoy) cinnamon rolls with Scott on Sunday mornings

15 - Watching the snow fall outside my window

16 - My cat Joey

17 - Finding a new band that I just can't get enough of

18 - Being spontaneous

18 - Having the ability to still be spontaneous with Scott

19 - Candles

20 - Red Wine

21 - Books that I just can't put down

22 - My education

23 - Date nights in with Scott that result in Chinese food, wine and a movie

24 - Being broke..for now (yes, I really do mean that...I think it will give us a strong foundation to build our lives on)

25 - Creating long lasting relationships with new friends

26 - My memories of growing up in Iowa

27 - My "Niece" and "Nephews": Kate, Hunter, Alex, Aaron, Jordan and Jackson

28 - My future

29 - My Future-In-Laws (yes, I really do mean that!)

30 - Never giving up on my dream that I would someday marry my best friend and soul mate because in my heart they are the same person

31 - Living in Colorado

32 - The opportunity to travel to the places I have been

33 - Daydreams

34 - Hoodies and beanies

35 - Flip Flops (and even more so, being able to wear flip flops in November!)

Love,

Heather

Pictures!!!

2009-11-08T16:36:00.005-07:00

So, I'm a little behind the times, but it just came to my attention that I can post pictures within our blog! This is something I've been wanting to do forever, but could never figure out how to do it...until now! So, here are just a few pictures of Scott and I. In the future, I'll try to post pictures within the blog! ;-) I hope you enjoy...

Scott and I out in Denver

Scott and I in Estes Park

Us in California

Scott and I in front of a P-51 Mustang at the Chino Planes of Fame Museum

H&S

October Snow Dayz

2009-10-29T09:42:00.004-06:00

Since this blog is about our lives out here in Colorado, I felt it was appropriate to blog about the crazy October snow storm we are having! For the past 48 hours the snow has continually been following outside our window. The snow started late Tuesday night and is finally suppose to end by tonight. We have 25 inches on the ground...it looks more like Christmas time then Halloween! The University and the ING Denver office are closed, which means Scott and I have a snow day today!!! Scott, unfortunately, has the ability to work from home so he's actually working today! I, on the other hand, am enjoying my snow day! Joey (my cat) and I are curled up on the bed watching hours of daytime TV and movies! Tomorrow it is suppose to be in the middle 40's and should warm up to the mid-60's by the end of the weekend, so I'm guessing we'll be back to work tomorrow. So for now, I am going to enjoy my rare fall snow day by drinking lots of hot chocolate, taking a nap and maybe even making a snowman!

Snowflake Kisses,

Heather

Lack of Motivation or Just Excitement for the Future!?!?

2009-10-27T11:30:00.004-06:00

Hello All! Once again, it has been forever since I have taken a moment to sit down and blog about all of the exciting things happening in our lives! I don't know about you, but I feel like these past months have just flown by! I can't believe I will be turning my calendar to November on Sunday! How is this possible? I guess that's what happens when you're still looking for August! Since I'm not even sure when I blogged last time, I'll give you all the cliff-notes version of what's been happening:

- Scott celebrated his 26th birthday on September 28th. We celebrated by going out to dinner one night and getting a home cooked meal and cake from my Mom another night.

- Scott and I went to California at the beginning of October to visit Scott's Dad and Step-Mom. We have a wonderful time enjoying the warm weather and beach! The four of us went to the Merimar Airshow in San Diego. I am happy to report that I really enjoyed myself and as it turns out, I am a pretty good aviation photographer!

- A couple of weekends ago I had a design conference in Keystone, CO. That same weekend, Scott and I celebrated our 1 year engagement anniversary! We celebrated by spending the night in Keystone and treating ourselves to dinner at a great restaurant in Dillon, CO. We had a really great night! It's hard to believe that we have been engaged for a year now! I'm not sure where that year has gone! I sure hope things slow down a bit so we can enjoy our wedding!!!

Well, I believe you are all caught up now. Our lives should calm down now for the rest of the year. I have less then two months till graduation, which explains the lacking motivation I'm feeling for school right now (I'm being told it's normal). I can't wait to be done with school and be able to focus more of my time on the wedding! Everyone is getting excited and I'm getting impatient! I can't wait for May to come around! We have a lot to do, but that's half the fun!

Well, I believe that is all for now. I wanted to give you all a quick update and let you know that we are still here, still just as busy, just still as madly in love as ever!

Love,

Scott and Heather

So long to summer!

2009-09-11T14:33:00.008-06:00

Summer is over, fall is here, it's time for football, hoodies and chilly nights. I love this time of year!!!

I haven't written in a month, and I have a good excuse as to why...We've been sooooo busy! I don't even know where to begin! For starters, school started for me 4 weeks ago! My last semester EVER! Mark your calendar...December 12th is going to be an exciting day for me!!! Classes have been going pretty good so far, it seems like it might be a more relaxing semester, or at least I'm hoping so! Along with classes, I'm still a student design intern at the Colorado Center for Community Development. It's working out perfectly with my crazy schedule. I am also a Teaching Assistant for 2 undergrad classes in Boulder. I am really enjoying that, and am happy to have my foot in the door in case I decide teaching at a university is where I want to be. Scott is still working at ING, nothing has changed there. We both take the bus downtown every day, which saves on gas, parking and stress!

About 3 weeks ago, Rocky Mountain Airport held an Airshow which Scott volunteered for. He had been on the planning committee since last January and was so excited when the big weekend finally arrived! He was busy the week leading up to the show and was very busy that weekend. The event was a huge success! Scott and the committee have already started planning for next year's show. I joined Scott at the Airshow on Saturday evening. It was my very first airshow experience! I had a great time at the "Twilight" Airshow! I saw a F-16 perform and a few other airplanes do tricks in the sky as the sun was setting behind the mountains...beautiful! My next airshow will be at Miramar in San Diego, CA in October. I asked if Tom Cruise was going to be there, Scott said no. :-(

The following weekend my Grandma, Aunt Claire and Uncle Rick, Cousin Danielle, her husband Jon and their kids Kate and Hunter all came to Colorado for a family vacation. Scott and I were able to spend some quality time with them that weekend. We spent Saturday in Fort Collins with everyone. I was able to take Kate to Davids Bridal and have her try on flower girl dresses. She was soooo cute! I picked one out, it makes her look like a little princess! Sunday I had a bridal shower thrown by my Mom and best friend Stephanie. It worked out that Danielle, Kate, Grandma and Aunt Claire were all able to come too. It was a small group of girls, but so wonderful! I have the greatest friends a girl could ask for! While we were at the shower, Uncle Rick, Jon and Scott went to Boulder and checked out a few breweries...good male bonding time! The next day I went to Estes Park with my Mom and Grandma (Scott had to work that day). We spent the day with the rest of family shopping and showing them where the wedding festivities will be taking place. That evening Scott came up for dinner and we all just hung out at the cabin. Kate really bonded with Scott. It was really cute to see her interact with him. She kept wanting to sit by him and play with him. We had a great time while they were here! It's always hard to say good-bye to family. We are all looking forward to our home visit in March to see everyone!

Finally, last weekend was yet another busy weekend for us. Scott's best friend, college roommate and best man Tony was out here for the holiday weekend. Scott had been looking forward for Tony to come visit since he moved here. I was excited to see Tony too, as it had been a long time since I'd seen him. Friday night the three of us went to the Rockies baseball game (they won). Saturday the boys went to Fort Collins for Tour de Fat and to tour the Budweiser Brewery...more bonding over beer! ;-) That night the three of us headed to downtown Denver. We took Tony to our favorite restaurant, Lime, and then took him to some of the hippest bars. We had a great time, I know Scott was excited to go out with Tony again. Sunday was a lazy day for everyone. The boys went to the Blink 182 concert that night, while I went over to Stephanie's house where we watched the CU/CSU football game. Tony left early Monday morning, so the rest of the day was spend being lazy and getting things done around the house. It was a great weekend! Tony had a great time in Denver and Scott loved having his friend around.

See, I told you, we've been busy! I wish I could say that things are going to calm down now, but that would be a lie! This weekend I'm off to Albuquerque, NM for a school project. Next weekend my Dad will be here visiting. The weekend after that is Scott's Birthday, and we must celebrate all weekend! The following weekend we'll be in California. After all of that I still have an architecture conference to attend, not to mention that Thanksgiving, my birthday, graduation and Christmas will be here before we know it! I have faith that one day we will live normal, boring lives! But until then, please forgive me if I don't blog every week. I'll do my best to keep you all updated on our exciting, crazy, fast paced lives out here in Colorado!

Love,
Heather

Outdoor Adventures

2009-08-12T07:11:00.004-06:00

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

2009-08-05T16:30:00.003-06:00

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

2009-08-02T10:21:00.006-06:00

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

Our First Place

2009-07-08T13:53:00.006-06:00

Well, we did it! Scott and I finally moved into our new apartment this past weekend. With much anticipation, we now finally have our own place! The moving itself was a bit challenging, as moves often are. By knowing we could get the keys on Friday, neither Scott nor I wanted to wait to move in but we knew we couldn't do it alone. So, Scott asked his buddy Chris to help us out on Friday, which happened to be their day off. Chris gladly said yes and was even able to borrow a friend's truck for the day. Our friend Stephanie and my Mom also offered to help that day. When Friday morning came, Scott and I got up early to get the keys to our apartment. We were both so excited when we walked into our new place for the first time. We couldn't believe now nice the apartment was, we even turned to each other and said "It's so big" at the same time. We knew this next step in our lives was going to be so wonderful! We were excited!

Once we got the keys we met Stephanie and Chris at Scott's apartment. Stephanie and Chris must have drank their Popeye spinach shakes that morning because they were amazing! Scott and Chris moved (down 3 flights of stairs) Scott's couch, very heavy TV and the rest of his furniture...all while Stephanie carried load after load of boxes to her truck. I wish I could say that I was right there with them, however, Scott forewarned me that I would be doing no heavy lifting during the move. "We can't afford to have you mess up your back again," he told me over and over again. So, I did what I do best, I became their door holder and cheerleader!

My Mom came down that afternoon and help me move my clothes and some light boxes from my place. We were able to do quite a bit while the guys moved the furniture. We were able to move all of the furniture from both Scott's place and mine, so we didn't have to sleep on an mattress or use lawn chairs in the living room! The rest of the weekend we spend unpacking boxes and figuring out where everything went. Our kitchen is huge and believe it or not, we actually have too many cabinets, their empty now but I'm sure with time we'll find things to fill them up with. We've hung things on the walls and put our engagement pictures out. It's finally starting to feel like home! Joey (my cat) even things so too. He spend the first few days curled up under the couch, but now I think he's starting to realize that we aren't leaving and this is his new home. He goes from window to window looking for the best view.

Now that we finally moved, our lives should get some what easier. The stress of having 2 households and living every other night out of a suitcase was hard on the both of us this past year. But it was well worth it...it brought us to today! Each step we take, is a step towards the future and our future together. The next big step, getting married! That should be the easiest one huh? :-) I can't wait!!!

LOVE,

H&S

Organized Chaos

2009-06-25T11:27:00.009-06:00

Where has this month gone? It's hard to believe that it's almost July! Life is moving too fast this summer! Scott and I are both extremely busy, which is adding to the incredible speed that our lives have taken on. Our daily lives have become overwhelming, full of organized chaos that seems to be taking over. We are now one week away from moving into our new apartment! My, already small apartment, is becoming even smaller as their are now boxes every where! I have given up on cleaning it, as it's just too hard to keep a boxed fill apartment any thing but messy! After moving nearly every year since I've been out here (I did a 2 year stay at the same apartment in Fort Collins) I am becoming a pro at packing boxes. However, this year is slightly different, as we are merging 2 house holds into one! Questions of who dishes are we going to use, do we keep certain things knowing that we will probably be getting a replacement for them after the wedding, do we donate the boxes of stuff that we just don't need any more or try to sell them have been coming up in our nightly conversations. Though time is on our side, I have 3 weeks after we move to be completely out of my place and Scott has almost 2 months, it's still been a struggle to get everything ready! We will both be very happy to be living under one roof and are extremely excited to finally have "our place".

It's funny to think that it's been one year since I went home for the 4th of July weekend and Scott and I started on this incredible journey together. So much has changed and happened over the last year, that it's hard to imagine what life was like before all of this! We have grow so close to one another in the past 12 months! I thought he was my best friend before, but now I've realized that he's my sole mate. I can't even begin to picture my life without Scott! This past year has been hard, but it has brought us closer together and made us believe that we can truly get through anything that life throws at us. We have a strong respect for each other and a deep love that will help us get through anything. I look forward to the next 12 months as more changes will occur. For starters, in less than 11 months I will be Mrs. Greenfield (how weird is that!?!) and I will graduate and be done with school forever! I'm sure there are also many things ahead for us in the next year that we have no idea of today. I can't wait to continue this journey with Scott by my side.

As far as a wedding update goes, we are continuing our search for the perfect caterer and cake baker. Once we cross those off our list, we will move on to "wedding party attire". We've started registering for household items, something that I am quickly becoming addicted to! We also have received our Save-The-Date cards so we are busy gathering addresses and addressing them to send out.

It's my hope that life slows down a bit after we move, however, I don't see that happening. We knew this was going to be a busy summer, so we are trying to use the little down time that we do have to enjoy the Colorado summer. :-) We hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

Hugs & Kisses,
Heather and Scott

Less than 365 days away...

2009-06-08T12:55:00.012-06:00

I'm finding it hard to believe that our wedding is now less than a year away! It seems crazy to think that Scott and I have been engaged for 9 months now! I'm becoming more anxious then ever for our wedding, I get butterflies in my stomach when I think about standing up at the alter with Scott. I truly believe that my life will begin on that day. It's been an incredible journey so far, I just can't wait for the next chapter to start.

We've been very busy the last few weeks! Last weekend we signed our lease (we move in on July 3rd), bought a tent and went to a friend's graduation party. We also celebrated our -1 year anniversary (we're dorks, we know) on Saturday, May 30th. We went out to dinner in Denver and spent a night on the town, just the two of us. We talked about the past 10 years and what the next year will bring. On Sunday we went to Estes Park for an open house at Della Terra (where we are getting married). They had finally completed the facility and had it completely set up! We were able to walk through each of the guest rooms and pick the room we will be staying in on our wedding night. All the rooms were amazing and beautiful! We really didn't want to leave! We also go to do some wine tasting and sample cakes. We had a wonderful time and walked away more excited for our big day. Della Terra is beautiful and we are so lucky to be getting married there!!! It's going to be perfect for us!

This past weekend was another busy weekend for us as. My Dad came out for the weekend and stayed with me. My Aunt Clare and Uncle Rick also came out for the weekend, they stayed with my Mom. Scott, my Dad and I hung out in Boulder on Saturday. We went to the farmers market, Pearl Street and the Harley shop. It was great spending time with him! I'm so happy that my Dad and Scott get along, I think my Dad enjoys finally having a "son". They enjoyed talking about cars, Harleys and "boy stuff" as I drove us around this weekend. On Sunday we went up to Estes Park and met my Mom, Aunt and Uncle at Della Terra. My Aunt Clare is doing the decorations for our receptions so we wanted to show her what the site looked like. Everyone thought it was amazing! My Dad said that he can't wait for our wedding and thought that Della Terra was perfect for us! My Uncle Rick, a man of few words, even expressed his excitement for our wedding and kept going on and on about how beautiful Della Terra was. Once we toured Della Terra we all headed to check out Lake Shore Lodge, where our rehearsal brunch will be, and then we heading to Village Pizza for lunch. We had a wonderful day up in Estes Park with the family, even though we got snowed and rained on a little (got to love Colorado weather).

This coming week and weekend is less eventful, but we need that! We still have a long list of "To Do" items so hopefully we can start checking those off. This summer will go by fast, and with so much to do it's going to be hard to enjoy our first Colorado summer together, but we're going to try. We have plans to go camping and hiking in the next few weeks and we're hoping to get some pool time in, if the weather ever corporates! We have so many things to look forward to and get ready for, we need to remind ourselves to slow down and enjoy the moments we're in. Hopefully Scott and I can remember to do that, not just during this summer but throughout our lives. Life is too short to live in the future or the past...the present is the most important time in our lives.

Love,

Heather

Big Steps...

2009-05-25T17:14:00.006-06:00

What a weekend it has been for Scott and I! It's finally beginning to seem like we are making a life together out here in Colorado. This was the first weekend, since Scott moved here, that we were able to spend the whole weekend together and not have any plans! We found ourselves wondering what to do...but it was a good feeling!

Saturday was our biggest day of the weekend! The day started by buying ourselves a grill! We are so excited to have a grill now...we have so many plans for it! We tested it out last night and Scott showed off his grill skills. Tonight we are having our friends Stephanie, Jon and their boys over for a little Memorial Day BBQ. Scott is excited to finally have a grill so he can show off his skills to our friends. I think Scott feels like a "real" man now that he has a grill, it's really cute!

Also on Saturday, Scott and I found an apartment! We sign the lease next weekend, and we are very excited!!! It's a lovely 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment in Superior, CO. We can move in on July 3rd, which gives us plenty of time to move both of our apartments into one and clean our old apartments. The location is wonderful and the price is right (which is really nice!). The apartment complex is only 4 years old and the interiors are really nice. We are both so excited to set up our new apartment! I know we won't have any problems decorating it! Our styles are very similar. And, I believe I made Scott's day when I told him we could decorate our second bedroom with airplane stuff! I found some really great old fashion airplanes at Hobby Lobby that I think will work perfectly in there. I'm looking forward to getting started in our new place! It's a very exciting time for us.

Besides our two big steps this weekend, we just enjoyed time to ourselves. It's been great not having to spend all my time doing homework! We can finally enjoy our time together! :-)

This week is full of fun as well! Tomorrow night I am getting together with several of my girl friends to have dinner. It's been forever since we've all gotten together, so I'm really looking forward to that! Scott and I are going to the No Doubt reunion concert on Wednesday night! We are both very excited! My best friend Krista is coming to visit on Thursday, so I'm looking forward to seeing her and taking her bridesmaid dress shopping! Saturday is our 1 year anniversary to our wedding! I can't believe it! We are going to celebrate by going out to dinner in Denver.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you are all doing well! I'll give another update next weekend!

Hugs & Kisses,
Heather

What a weekend!

2009-05-17T21:21:00.008-06:00

Well, like I had imagined, this weekend was busy, productive and exciting! My Mom and I spent all day Saturday in Estes Park running around the town with our list of questions seeking out answers. Along the way we meet some very helpful, friendly and interesting people. They helped answer our long list of questions and even gave us some fun facts about Estes Park. For example, did you know that Estes Park is the #2 spot in the country to get married? In 1st place, Las Vegas.

The first item on our list: Find a place to hold the rehearsal reception. I had done some research online before this weekend, so I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted it to be. For those of you who have been to Estes, and those of you who haven't, you know that Estes Park is all about the view! Well, let me tell you, the place we are having the rehearsal reception has one of the best views in the town! Lake Estes Lodge, located on Lake Estes, is not only beautiful on the inside, it is also beautiful looking out. Windows frame the lake and Longs Peak, creating a picture perfect view. The rehearsal reception will be held around 11:30 on Saturday morning. We have yet to decided weather we will have brunch or lunch...both menus look great!

After checking off item #1 on our list, we moved on to the second item: Cake Bakeries in Estes Park. While at a Bridal Show in February, my Mom, Scott and I taste tested cake from a locale Estes Park bakery. My Mom and Scott raved about the white cake (I don't like white cake) and I really enjoyed the chocolate. We are thinking that having a local bakery do the cake might be a good idea, given the winding roads most caterers would have to travel on to get to Estes Park. So we stopped by the bakery and meet with the women who does the cakes. She was friendly, excited and very passionate about her cakes. I loved it! 20 minutes later, with a list of prices and a list of flavors and were on our way. I have a good feeling about her cakes and am looking forward to taste testing them with Scott in the future.

Our next stop was at Della Terra. This was the first time my Mom had seen the place and the first time I had seen it complete. It is more beautiful than the pictures! I couldn't stop smiling while we were there. I can just picture our wedding/reception and know it's going to be wonderful! We managed to get all of our questions answered and worked out some wedding day details with Pam, the Della Terra wedding planner. She is a lot of fun to work with and seems to have so many great ideas for our wedding. Scott and I will be back to visit on the 30th, so he can see it completely finished as well. We'll be sure to take pictures and posted them on our website.

Finally, the last thing on our list was to look at hotels and lodging in Estes Park. Estes Park is not lacking the in hospitality field. Hotels and lodges are everywhere, the key is finding the ones with the best amenities and prices. We are going to pick a few hotels in Estes and block rooms at them, hoping this gives our guests the opportunity to get stay at a great hotel at the best price.

After all of that, my Mom and I headed home with our heads full of information and even more questions/things to do on our lists. I had a great time with my Mom this weekend. I'm so happy she is here to help me plan my wedding and that she gets to be a part of it. I know she is loving every second! A wise person once told me, "You may have been planning our wedding since you were 5 years old, but you're Mother has been planning your wedding since the day you were born." I think that's true, so I am happy she can be a part of it.

That's all for now. I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!

XOXO

Heather

Just an quick update...

2009-05-15T08:24:00.008-06:00

What a LONG 2 weeks it has been. Finals are over and the semester is finally done!!! After every semester I look back at all of the late nights, long days and hours I have spent on projects, homework, papers and studying and wonder how I managed to get through it. It seems like it will never end while in the middle of it, but when it's all said and done, I walk away with a feeling of accomplishment and success. Especially after this semester. And with only one more semester to go, I ended this semester with a smile on my face!

On Saturday, May 9th my good friends Amy and Dave welcomed their little boy Rylan Thomas Carahasen into this world. Mom and Baby are doing wonderful, and I hear Dave is the happiest father in the world. I wish them the best and can't wait to meet little Rylan in July.

Also last Saturday, my Mom and I had to put down my 14 year old cat Sami. She had been sick for a few weeks and wasn't getting any better. We found out she had a tumor on the left side of her face that caused her to stop eating and become blind. It was very hard to say good-bye to her. I got her when she was just 6 months old for the Boone Human Society, I was 11 years old. Sami Jo helped me get through my adolescent years and was very much my cat! She slept on my bed from the first night we brought her home. After I went away to college, she would always come sleep with me whenever I was home, and would continue to sleep there after I left, as long as my Mom didn't make the bed. She was wonderful and I am going to miss her.

This weekend starts my summer vacation! To kick it off I am spending the weekend in Fort Collins with my Mom (Scott is in Cali until Monday). We have a full weekend planned! Tomorrow we are going to Estes Park to done wedding stuff! :-) We are going to visit Della Terra tomorrow afternoon, I can't wait!!! If you haven't done so already, check out their website (http://www.dellaterramountainchateau.com/) and look at the pictures. This place is magical!!! We're also going to check out locations for the rehearsal brunch and a few bakeries in the area. I'm sure I'll have plenty to blog about on Sunday!

I believe that is all for now. Check back often, as I'm sure I'll have much more to blog about now that the wedding planning has officially started! I hope you and your families have a wonderful weekend!

Miss you all!!!!
Heather

My "To Do" List.....

2009-05-01T07:54:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's May 1st already! It seems like this semester has flown by! We are now 12 months away from our wedding, which made me think about how much we have to do between now and then. I'm not feeling overwhelmed just yet, however, my "to do" list has grown!

The first thing on my list, finish this semester. Finals are a week away! It has been a rough few weeks for Scott and I, as I have been very busy with homework and projects and have little time to spend any quality time with Scott. He has been a great help though! He makes me dinner at night and coffee in the morning, really the only two things that matter during finals! I couldn't ask for a better guy!!! It's such a great feeling to know that I only have 1 last semester to complete before I have my Masters Degree! I have a feeling we will be having a big celebration in December!!!

The next few things on my "to do" list involve preparing to move in July! Once again, I'll be packing up my belongings and moving to a new address. This time however, we hope it will be more of a permit address for the both of us. We have found a wonderful two bedroom apartment in Superior, about 5 miles East of Boulder, and are both looking forward to the move. As a part of moving in together, we have had to decide on who's furniture, coffee pot, dishes and decor we will be using, it's been a good lesson in compromise! However, we still haven't figured out who's bed we will use....mine is more comfortable but Scott's is larger. I have a feeling he will win this one! Once we move we will send out our new address, so look for that come July.

The next thing on my list is to get our wedding website up and running. Knot.com has become one of my favorite websites, although I haven't had much time to spend on it in the last few months. It's my goal to get our website up and running by the end of May so you all can go check it out! We'll have links to where we are registered, lodging information for the wedding and other important information! I'll give you a heads up when it's ready to go!

The rest of my "to do" list involves the wedding. Sending out Save the Date cards, visiting Della Terra in it's completed stage (the last time we saw Della Terra it was under construction and only framed inside), finding a caterer, picking out a cake, figuring out what the groomsmen are going to wear, pick out Scott's tux, ordering the bridesmaids dresses....and the list goes on! We have a lot to do, however, with help from my Mom, Scott, Stephanie, Krista, my Aunt Clair and whoever else wants to help (just let me know) I think we should be able to get it all accomplished by the time Fall semester starts up.

Besides our ever growing "To Do" list, Scott and I have some exciting things to look forward to this summer! The first exciting thing is the birth of my very good friends Amy and Dave's baby. Baby C should be coming into this world very soon (we're talking days), so I have been patiently waiting next to my phone for any news. Scott will be in California in a few weeks to go to an airshow with his Dad, something he has been looking forward to for a very long time. While he's gone, I'll be hanging out with my Mom in Fort Collins. I'm looking forward to a girls weekend. My Dad is coming out to visit in June. July is a busy month! Scott's Mom and Step-Dad will be stopping in Colorado on their way to Vegas, John and Vicky will be in Estes Park for a vacation and we're moving! August is a less eventful, so far, with only Krista's graduation from DU! Between all of our events, Scott and I hope to do some hiking, play tennis, go on bike rides, spend time with friends and explore our new community. Whew, what a summer!

Well, I am off to work on homework. I hope all is well with you and your family!!!

Love,

Heather

I'm a bad blogger....

2009-04-21T09:21:00.010-06:00

I know it's been a while since I've updated our blog, but believe it or not, I've been busy! :-) I'm not sure where the time has gone, but all I know is that I'm 4 weeks away from being done with school (for the semester at least) and 13 months away from our wedding! Wedding excitement is starting to take over, and it's beginning to be a challenge to focus on anything but wedding details. I don't know where the last 6 months have gone, but I remember thinking that we had all the time in the world to plan our wedding...well, now we only have 13 months! But, before I go in too much more detail about my excitement, let's go back a few months and get you all caught up on what Scott and I have been doing...

In March we headed back to Iowa for a long weekend. It was the first time Scott had been back to Iowa since he moved to Colorado last fall. It was a much needed home visit for the both of us. We were busy, spending time with family and friends, but it was a nice break from our busy lives out here. We enjoyed spending time with Scott's Mom, Step-Dad and Sister, as well as my Dad and the rest of my family. We also got to spend some much needed time with our Iowa friends! Overall the weekend was a blast! We are sorry that we didn't get a chance to see everyone...but there's always next time.

Since we got back, life has escalated past busy to hectic! I started a new job in April at the Colorado Center for Community Development. I am a student design intern there and have been working about 20 hours a week. I am also still working at the pool in Boulder as a Manager and TAing for an undergrad class...oh, and let's not forget school. With everything going on, I have barley had time to sleep! But it will all be over soon! :-) I have 4 weeks left of classes and am looking forward to relaxing in May.

So, back to wedding excitement! I am starting to realize that the next 12 months will go by very fast! This summer we will be looking for caterers, cake bakers and rental places...just to name a few! We are hoping that most of the details will be figured out by the time fall semester starts. With that being said, I can guarantee that there will be more blogs starting as I want to keep you all in the loop of our wedding adventures.

I hope all is well in your life! Please keep in touch, we'd love to hear from you!

Love,

Heather

It's been a while....

2009-02-23T10:43:00.008-07:00

It's been awhile since I've sat down to write anything. To be honest, I just haven't felt like there is anything to "blog" about. Life for Scott and I has been a bit boring lately, not that boring is a bad thing, but I just haven't felt that there is anything worth writing about. Then, the other night Scott and I were talking about my lack of "blogging" and he made me realize that it's okay to blog about nothing. So here I am....

I still don't have a "real" job. I'm teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding at the City of Boulder aquatics center to have some kind of income coming in. I'm also a teaching assistant for an undergrad class at CU Boulder. Both keep me busy, however, I don't consider either one a "real" job. (For anyone who doesn't think that times are tough, talk to me.) I visit craigslist.com on a daily basis, looking for anything, but the truth is unless you have a degree in nursing or accounting there's just nothing out there. I'm trying to stay positive and just get by right now, but a positive attitude is hard to keep when it just seems like there is no hope. I'm not the type of person to give up, so I'm not going to, but I am a realistic person. I'm realizing that for the next 6-12 months I may have to have 3 different jobs, not relating to architecture, just to get by. I have to be thankful though for Scott and my parents. They are cheering me on and offering advice and support. Without them I just don't know where I would be. Hopefully something will come around sooner than later. But until then, I'm just trying to stay positive and keep a smile on my face. Things could be worst.....

On a more positive note, Scott and I are busy planning our wedding. Even though it's still 15 months away, I have been brainstorming and planning for our big day. My Mom and I spend most of our conversations talking about the wedding and even my Dad is always wanting to be updated every time I talk to him. It seems like they are more excited, at times, then we are! They have really stepped up in offering to help Scott and I with the wedding costs. I don't know how I will ever repay them or thank them for everything they are doing. I have been blessed with the most amazing parents a girl could ask for!!! In order to keep costs down, I have been doing my reading on "recession weddings". It seems that Scott and I are not the only ones trying to plan a wedding during the worst economic times in 50 years. I think what this has taught me is that it's all about Scott and I and our family and friends. We want everyone to enjoy themselves while they are a part of the biggest day of our lives. We look forward to seeing everyone there!!!

Scott and I will be back in Iowa in March. My Grandmother is turning 80 years old so we are going back to celebrate with her and the rest of the family. We will only be back for a few days, but have every intention to make the rounds and see everyone. We will keep you all updated on our plans as the time gets closer.

I hope everyone is doing well. We miss you all!!!

Love,

H&S

Engagement Pictures

2009-01-13T10:49:00.008-07:00

Hello everyone!!! Last Tuesday Scott and I got our engagement pictures taken in Estes Park. We wanted to get our pictures done in Estes since that is where Scott proposed and we are getting married. Any normal person would have waited until the weather was nice and warm, but I rarely do what normal people would do anyway! :-) I had my mind set on having snowy engagement pictures since sweaters, scarves and hats are my favorite things to wear. Well, we definitely had on our sweaters, scarves and hats but there was no snow. The weather was freezing cold and the wind was blowing but we decided to get our pictures taken anyway. Melissa and her assistant Megan braved the weather with us as we walked all around the town. By the end our lips were blue and we could barely feel our fingers, but it was well worth it. Scott and I could not be happier with our pictures. We will get all the proofs soon, but until then Melissa posted a few of her favorites on her website. Please feel free to go take a look at them and give us feedback on your favorites! There are plenty more to come, so we will need all the help we can get to pick a favorite.

www.melissabeckphotography.blogspot.com

Love,

Heather and Scott

Happy New Year!!!!

2009-01-05T10:12:00.014-07:00

Welcome 2009!!! I can't believe another year has passed! I feel like the older I get the faster the years go by. 2008 was a big year for both Scott and I. It was a year full of changes, adventures, struggles and excitement...I went back to grad school in January, Scott graduated from college in May, my Mom moved to Fort Collins in August, Scott moved to Denver in September, Scott and I got engaged in October and I got laid off in November....what a year! Through the good and the bad, I don't think I would change any of the events of this past year. Overall it was a good year and one we both will remember (and talk about) for years to come.

But now it's time to move forward and focus on the future. I don't know what 2009 will hold for us but I think both Scott and I are hoping for a little less eventful year! :-) We'll continue to plan for the wedding and I'll graduate in December, but beyond that I think we'll just enjoy our life in Colorado. We are excited to go snowboarding before the weather gets warm, go camping once the weather is nice and attend a few CU Football games when fall comes around. I'm not one to set New Years Resolutions, but if I had to make one it would be to live a happy and fulfilled life this coming year. If 2008 taught me one thing, it was that life is unpredictable and if you plan too far in advance you lose out on enjoying the present moments. This year, I hope to enjoy each and every moment.

I hope 2009 is a good you for you and your family too! We hope to see you all in the coming year!!!

Love,
H&S

Counting down the days 'till Christmas...

2008-12-18T08:40:00.007-07:00

It's been a while since I've written, but be honest nothing too exciting has been going on. We're just enjoying the Holiday season (our first together) out here in Colorado. We've been trying to get into the Holiday spirit by lighting up our Christmas trees at night, laying by the fire and watching Christmas movies. The snow on the ground definitely helps put us in the Christmas mood! In just a few days my Mom and I will be heading back to Iowa for Christmas and Scott will be flying to California to visit his family. It will be hard spending this holiday apart from each other...our first Christmas together will be spent in two different states. I guess that just goes to show how fast life can change. I don't think either of us thought, when we were planning our holiday trips, that we'd actually be engaged to each other this Christmas! Our engagement was a surprise to many people and some might even say it happened too fast, but when I look at Scott or laugh at another one of his silly jokes, I just couldn't imagine being with anyone else! I am so in love with Scott and I feel so blessed that we finally figured out that we were meant to be together (it took us long enough)! It makes this Christmas even more special! 2008 has been a year for the record books...and it's not even over yet. I'm looking forward to these last few weeks of the year, it's my favorite time of the year!

I can't wait to head back to Iowa and see my family. I have a new baby cousin, Hunter, to meet and lots of hugs to give. I hope you and your families have a wonderful Christmas! Please remember to enjoy this time of year and not get all caught up in the craziness of the season. Remember that you all are blessed and loved! We wish we could spend the holidays with every one, but just know that we will be thinking of all of you!!!

With Love,

H&S

A Colorado Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T20:38:00.014-07:00

I apologize for not writing lately. The days and weeks have just flown by...it would be nice if life could slow down a bit for the rest of the year!!! We've had a lot of fun and memorable moments these last few weeks, everything from a surprise birthday party to Thanksgiving in Fort Collins...

Friday, November 21: SURPRISE!!!! After a pretty crummy week, I was ready to celebrate my 25th birthday (a little early) with Scott. He told me that he had a whole night out planned for us. Of course, I took that as a great excuse to buy a new dress! :-) When we got to the restaurant in Denver I was shocked to see a group of my friends sitting at our table....I was even more shocked to see my best friend Krista sitting in the chair next to mine (reminder: she lives in Kansas City)! I was so happy and so surprised that I almost started crying...almost! I couldn't believe that Scott and Krista had been planning a surprise birthday party for me for months! After having bad luck at work this week, having my closest friends gather for my birthday was one of the greatest things that could have happened to me. I was reminded of what really matters in life! Thank you all for coming out and helping me celebrate!!! I love you all!

Thursday, November 27: THANKSGIVING! This year we spent Thanksgiving in Fort Collins, Colorado! It was Scott's and my first Thanksgiving together and our first one spent in Colorado. The day couldn't have been better. Scott and I drove up to my Mom's house in the morning and helped her prepare dinner. We had all the traditional Thanksgiving goodies....turkey, masked potatoes, pickle-wraps, green bean casserole and Mom's fresh apple pie! My cousin Jason and his friend Tucker joined us for dinner as well. It was a quite day filled with laughter and full tummies! Though this year wasn't at all like what we are use to, it was nice to start our own family tradition. Of course we missed those family members who were not here with us! Maybe in the future we can have more visitors for our Colorado Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 28: Black Friday!!! 6:00 AM...we were out the door and on our way to Target! (My Mom found out first hand just how much of a morning person Scott is!) $3.99 movies were what we were after! Nothing says "Happy Holidays" like pushing through the crowds on the Friday after Thanksgiving. :-) After Target we headed down the street to Best Buy...for more great deals! By 7:30 we were all shopped out! My Mom headed to work and Scott and I headed back to bed! By noon we were ready to go again! Scott, Mom and I headed up the canyon to Estes Park. That evening we stood on Main Street, in the snow, and watched the Estes Park Holiday Lighted Parade! What a sight to see! There were more people lining the streets than there are at Boone's Pufferbilly Days!!! Little kids waited patiently to see Santa at the end of the parade! We had a great time! I think it put all of us in the Christmas mood!!! By the end of the night, we were all exhausted...a full day of Holiday fun!

Saturday, November 29: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I turned 25 years old at 8:10 am! My Mom and I celebrated my birthday by going to the Nutcracker in Denver. It was wonderful and I am so happy that my Mom was here to share the experience with me. We decided that we would like to continue this tradition every year! That evening Scott and I went to dinner and enjoyed the rest of the night alone. We built a fire and put up my Christmas tree! What a perfect way to end a wonderful weekend!

This is my favorite time of year! I love the lights, the trees, the snow, the music and the stillness of the air that always seems to fill the room when only the Christmas tree lights are shinning. I look forward to the weeks to come as we count down to the new year! They will be filled with holiday parades and dinners, cookie baking and decorating, family and friends. I hope this finds you all well and enjoying the holiday season. We miss you all!!!!

Love,

H&S

All good things must come to an end.....

2008-11-17T08:51:00.008-07:00

It's funny how unpredictable life can be sometimes. Take this past year for example. I could never have predicted that my Mom would be living in Fort Collins, that Scott would be living in Denver, that I'd be engaged, that I would be back in school working on my masters....and I definitely would not have predicted that I would no longer be working at The Neenan Company! :-( The "recession" has finally hit home. Being an architect in today's world is much like being a fisherman in the desert. All over the country construction jobs are being shut down and architecture jobs are being put on hold. For these reasons, and others I'm sure, architects are losing their jobs. I lost mine Monday morning. I was pretty down this past weekend, knowing that this was a possiblity, and truly scared to face the reality of unemployment. All I could think about was why it was happening to me and what I was going to do! Luckily, I have an amazing fiance and parents. They all helped me talk through my pending situation and realize it could be worse. Things could be worse and I had to keep reminding myself of that yesterday after I got my "news". I sat on my patio in the afternoon, enjoying the 70-degree weather, and thought about the things that are blessing my life right now. I've decided to share them with you...

- Scott, my best friend and fiance

- My Mom and Dad....for being the best parents a girl could ask for

- My family...I miss them everyday, but their pictures around my apartment light up my heart

- My amazing friends...far and near

- The Gergte family....for always treating me like the little sister

- 70 degree weather in November

- Joey (my cat)

- My health

- My parent's health

- Music...it's what fills the silence of my room while I write this

- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough icecream

During these hard times, I think it is important for everyone to remember what matters to them most and that they are blessed everyday. I hope as you are reading this blog, you are able to think about those things that bring joy to your life. If you are having a hard time finding them, look into your child's eyes, give someone a hug, step outside and breath in the fresh air or take a walk with someone you love. Things will get better, even when they seem like they can only get worse. For me, the next step is to finish my degree and start looking for my next adventure. Life is full of surprises, so embrace them!

LUVS!

Incase you missed it......

2008-11-11T10:24:00.006-07:00

So I thought I would take a minute or two to get all of you caught up on what's been going on in my life...besides getting engaged and all! :-) I decided to go to grad school last spring to get my Masters of Architecture degree. I am about to complete my second semester at the University of Colorado, Denver. I am planning on graduating a year from now in December 2009. I really like school! I enjoy being challenged and learning more about architecture....however, with that being said, I'm ready to be done! Besides school, I am still working in Fort Collins at The Neenan Company as an architectural intern. I have been with them for the past 2 1/2 years and honestly, I could not ask for a better company to work for! Neenan has supported my decision to go back to school and has worked with me on my crazy work schedules! I enjoy working there and am looking forward to taking on more responsibility once I graduate! Upon graduation I will begin taking the Architectural Registration Exams. I need to pass all 7 exams in order to become a licensed architect. Who knew becoming an architect would be so hard!?!?!? Along with school and work, I was recently elected the 2009 state Associate Director for the AIA (American Institute of Architects) Colorado state board. This is a great opportunity for me as a young professional!!!

Probably one of the biggest changes in my life...besides getting engaged...is that my Mom moved to Colorado this past July! She is living in Fort Collins and LOVING life! I spend every Sunday night at her house...I work in FC on Mondays so it works out well! We have dinner (Mom cooks!) and have good mother-daughter bonding time. As I have gotten older..and wiser...I have realized just how important my Mom is to me. I hated having to say good-bye to her every time I went home or she came to visit. I am so thankful that she choose to pack up her life and start new to be closer to me. And now, as I am planning a wedding, I couldn't imagine her being back in Iowa. The timing has just seemed to work on a lot of things recently. I just pray that things continue to work out as well has they have so far. I know my Mom is thrilled that she gets to be apart of the wedding planning process! She is full of good ideas and always seems to have an answer for all my questions. She was even the one who picked out my wedding dress. Without her there, I may not have found the perfect dress and may have just had to go naked at the wedding (okay, probably not...but you get what I mean!). I'm looking forward to the future and am so excited that my Mom can be apart of it!

Well, that's just a quick update on my life. I'll get Scott to give you an update as well....

Till then, Hugs & Kisses!!!!

Our Engagement Story

2008-11-07T08:52:00.018-07:00

Life doesn't always work out according to your plans...even when it comes to proposing to your girlfriend. Friday Oct. 17, 2008 - Scott and I headed up to Estes Park for the AIA Colorado North Awards gala. We had a wonderful evening at the Stanley Hotel...I even won an award for Associate of the Year! We left the gala around 9:30 pm and headed to our hotel. Saturday Oct. 18, 2008 - Around 3:30 am I woke up not feeling good. As I laid in bed, I thought to myself "I think I'm going to get sick." I was right. I spent the next hour throwing up in the bathroom. I went back to bed and woke up again around 5:00 am only to spend the next hour again in the bathroom. I fell back asleep only to be woken up by Scott's alarm at 6:30 am! 6:30!!! Scott woke me up and asked "Do you want some coffee?" I looked at him as if he was crazy. "Scott, I'm sick...I can't drink coffee right now." He looked disappointed, which I thought as a bit odd....but at that moment I really didn't care about anything besides trying not to get sick again. Scott decided that we should just head out early since I wasn't feeling well...duh! As we got into the car Scott asked another dumb question, "Do you mind if we drive through Rocky Mountain National Park?" Again, I looked at him as if he was crazy! "Really?" was all I could say. I was thinking to myself..."How selfish of a guy is he?" I'm sure he knew what I was thinking, but still insisted on driving through the park. I finally gave in, against my stomach's best interest. As we were driving through the park I kept asking if we could turn around and just go home. He continued to tell me that he wanted to take a few pictures of Bear Lake and that it would just take 5 minutes. By the time we got to Bear Lake I was so mad at him that I almost didn't get out of the car...but I did. We walked to the Lake and I sat down on the first bench I could find. Scott reached into his pocket...to grab his camera I figured....and got down on one knee. My heart started racing. He pulled out the ring (which is beautiful) and told me that the reason he wanted to take me to Bear Lake this morning to ask me to marry him. He barely finished asking me when I said YES! I was so surprised, so happy and excited that I almost forgot that I had spend the past 4 hours throwing up. Because of this, Scott now knows that when I get sick...all I need are diamonds to make me feel better! :-) Even though the morning didn't work out just the way Scott had planned, it's still our story and I wouldn't have had it happen any other way.

Welcome!

2008-11-06T09:34:00.005-07:00

I never saw myself as a "blogger" however, I realized this morning that Scott and I have started a journey together that not many of our loved ones will be able to experience with us. Our families are sprinkled throughout Iowa, California and Colorado. Our friends spread from Portland, to Des Moines, to LA, to Kansas City and Denver. We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives who love us and who we love...it's a shame that they can't all be here in Colorado with us during this exciting time in our lives. So....we will just "blog" about it!

For our friends, new and old, here is our story (it's a long one....so you might want to grab a snack and something to drink):

Scott and I meet in 7th grade (no, I'm not joking) at Boone Middle School. Scott had glasses and braces and was so adorable with his blond hair and blue eyes. I remember meeting him that fall and having an instant connection with him. We "went out" for like 2 weeks that year but even after we "broke up" we stayed friends and soon became best friends. He was ALWAYS there for me...and still is to this day. As we entered high school we experienced all Boone High School had to offer us. We played in band together, went to homecoming and winter dance together and hung out in Jenny Licata's basement. Through those years our friendship grew and it wasn't long before we fell in love. It was the summer before Junior year. I knew that summer that we were going to last forever. However, forever got interrupted when Scott's dad decided to move to California. I still remember saying good-bye to him in the little gazebo behind his house. That day, not only did I lose my boyfriend, but I lost my best friend too. Scott and I tried to "date" long distance that year. I went out to Riverside during Christmas break and he came back from prom. However, like most teenage long distance relationships, our didn't work out. But even though we broke up for the second time (remember 7th grade) we stayed friends. For the next 6 years we lived separate lives. Scott moved back to Iowa, I moved to Colorado, we went to college and graduated...all while seeing each other every holiday and talking to each other here and there throughout the years. Now, lets fast forward to March 2008. I went back to Iowa to spend Easter with my family. I hadn't seen Scott in almost a year. We went to Old Chicago in Ames to have a drink and get caught up and even though he spilt his drink all over the table (he clams it's because he was so nervous to see me) and I knew at that point there was a reason he was still in my life. At the end of the night, he walked me to the door of my Mom's house...like he had done a hundred times before...and he gave me a hug good-bye. That is when I realized I was still in love with Scott Greenfield. Fast forward again to July 2008. I went back to Iowa once again for the 4th of July....and this is when Scott and I decided that we were meant to be together. He kissed me for the first time since we were 17 years old and it was as if the last 6 years hadn't happened. After that trip back home, Scott and I talked on the phone every night before bed and he began looking for jobs in Colorado. Fast forward one more last time to September 2008. Scott got a job in Denver with ING, the same company he has been working with for the last 3 years. He packed up his belongings and moved his whole life out to Colorado to be with me. It was a big step and a little risky...he and I hadn't spent more than a few hours together in years and here he is now packing up his life and moving 800 miles for a chance. The moment I saw him get out of the moving van, I knew this was going to be forever. Scott asked me to marry him on Oct. 18, 2008 (I'll blog about that later). It's been a long journey to get to where we are today. We both have experienced life, lived hundreds of miles away and still managed to end up in each others arms. I have to think that God had his hands in our live therefore I can't question why we took such longs paths to get to where we are today. We are both very excited about the journey we have ahead of us. We will become Mr and Mrs Greenfield on May 30, 2010! Until then.....we will keep you all up to date on our wedding planning and lives out here in Colorado!

We love you all!!!