October Snow Dayz

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!?!?

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!

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

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

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

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

Love,
Heather & Scott

A Father's Love for His Daughter

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

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

Heatherbear

A Busy Time in Our Lives

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

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

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

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

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

Love,
Heather

Our First Place

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