Happy Wednesday!

Good Morning Everyone!

{ I hope you have a lovely day today. }

I always have a lovely morning

when I drink coffee out of this mug.

The story behind this coffee mug begins with a blog post from earlier this year. One of my very good friends surprised me by ordering two of these cute 'Good Morning' mugs and had them shipped to me for my birthday!

Now every time I enjoy a morning coffee in these mugs, I think of what a great friend I have (even though she's far away in California, she's close in heart) in my life. Drinking coffee out of these mugs reminds me of my dear friend and makes my mornings that much brighter!

I hope you have someone dear to you who helps you

have a 'good morning' too!

Full Speed Ahead!

This past week has been a blur.

My mom flew in from Michigan.

We cleaned house...

Grocery shopped multiple times...

and prepared things, decorations, and food for my cousin's party.

My cousin graduated from H.S. this past weekend.

We celebrated her graduating with a big party!

Over the weekend we cooked food, ate food...

and then ate even more food.

The place looked amazing for her party.

My cousin had bunches of flowers, cards, and gifts.

Most importantly,

everyone was there to

celebrate her achievements!

In the fall, my cousin heads off to Washington for college!

I am so looking forward to hearing about her adventures in school.

Congratulations Nicolette!

Everyone is incredibly proud of you.

My Cousin. The Rockstar!

I come from a very musical family, and I've always loved music. My cousin, who is a senior in high school, isn't much different. She began playing violin at age 5, and she's come a very long way since then. She not only plays the acoustic violin but the electric violin as well... among other instruments. (I told you she's a rockstar!) The girl has an amazing ear for music, can play just about anything that you throw her way, and she is just hands down an incredible violinist!

About two weeks ago, my cousin became part of a band called Eucalyptus. The band consists of my cousin and a classmate. She plays electric violin, and he plays guitar, piano, and he sings too. About one week ago, they won their high school's Battle of the Bands! The winner won the opportunity to perform at a local bar/restaurant... and perform is exactly what they did.

They played a great mix of contemporary music, self composed songs, and they even played a few audience participation songs like "Lean on Me" and "Hey Ya" by Outkast. I'll tell you, it was pretty entertaining listening to the entire audience shouting "Shake it! Shake it! Shake it!" during their cover of "Hey Ya". Their cover of "Boston" by Augustana even had me and my aunt a little teary-eyed. It was so much fun seeing my cousin on stage while playing as part of a band. She really is a rockstar! I'm so glad they won Battle of the Bands and that I had an opportunity to hear them play.

Eucalyptus was fantastic, and I hope they play again soon. (:

History

My favorite subject in school was chemistry. It most definitely was not history.

Remembering dates, time lines, and important historical events is like rocket science to me. Some people are great at it, but I am not. However, I'm not talking about history class here. The kind of history that has me thinking tonight is the kind of history that helps you understand where you come from.

Tonight, I glimpsed into my husband's history. Nate's step mom, Tammy, gave him a dvd of converted 8mm film from his childhood. It was absolutely fascinating stepping into his childhood. It's one thing to marry someone who grew up in the same town as you, because there's a good chance that you experienced the same things growing up together in the same place. That's not the case for Nate and I, because I grew up in Texas/Michigan... and he grew up in Colorado. As far as we know, our lives never really overlapped before we met. I was in awe watching some of his life experiences for the first time. Gaining understanding and gratitude for your history definitely gives relevance to today.

This might sound really cheesy, but that dvd was probably one of my favorite gifts that we received.... it's priceless. I never understood the importance of history in high school, but tonight I found a new appreciation. For my husband, and for history.

Little Nate

Little Ashley

A couple of the most important things that you can give to another person is yourself and your time. I think if everyone took the time to learn a little history, we would realize we're not so different. We're all made up of little bits and pieces of history. History is an incredibly important subject after all. Who knew?

Happy 4th of July!

I always feel extra thankful on this day each year. Yeah, it's fun to spend time with friends and family while enjoying a day outside next to the grill. Not to mention eating food hot off the grill along with some crunchy vegetables.....

... enjoy great weather and a beautiful sunset...

... but never forget those who have fought or still fight for this great country!

Thank you all! Happy 4th of July!

The Good Stuff

Some things that make me have that warm and fuzzy feeling inside:

• A message from a friend you love and haven't heard from in a while
• Laughing with loved ones over a funny board game
• Sitting around the bonfire at the lake with friends and family
• Watching a child do something for the first time... a first step... or a crawl
• Opening a very small and unexpected gift from someone who cares about you
• Listening to my cousin play the violin (sometimes that's more of an overwhelmed feeling, music does that to me sometimes)
• Watching the sunrise with my husband... we did that at the Red Rocks Easter Service this year, and it was amazing.
• Enjoying a cup of coffee outside on a chilly morning
• A nicely written and thoughtful thank you note
• Watching a "lightning show" late at night from the safety of shelter
• Enjoying the look on some one's face when you give them a gift that was exactly what they wanted and they never even asked for it
• When you see people give out of the goodness of their heart and without expectations (that seems to be something very rare)...

Easter Sunrise Service at Red Rocks, April 2010

I could go on... and on...

Some one's feeling sentimental huh? Geez :) You would think I'm getting "old" or something... just kidding. I hope to never feel old. But if I ever do... I hope that all of these things still make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Enjoying the Simple Things

I love these snowflake candle holders that my aunt and cousin bought for Nate and me this Christmas. Would it be ok to keep them out all year? ;) They're so cute. We just recently took down our Christmas tree and decorations. I think it was partly because we were so busy and also because I just like to keep those things up for as long as possible.

Our candle holders are so nice to look at, and I also love having candlelight filling a room. I was just thinking a few days ago how I grew up around campfires... at the lake or in the woods with friends. I miss just hanging out by the fire and relaxing with good friends and sharing fun times together. Things seemed so easy when you could just spend all night next to the fire with good friends. I hope maybe Nate and I can make a trip back to Michigan this summer and enjoy some time by the fire! How I miss that.... but for now I guess I'll just enjoy the candlelight from our snowflake candle holders! Sometimes you have to enjoy the simple things.

Holy Happy Turkey Day... almost!

My dad flew in from Michigan today and the first stop was the grocery store to pick up some things for Thanksgiving dinner. This year is going to be a small dinner, but I'm sure just as good as any other. This year it's just me, my fiance Nate, and my dad. I'm hoping we won't have the horror stories of wives who cook their first Thanksgiving dinner. I think maybe with our combined brain power we'll be able to pull off something decent. :)

Today I felt a little like Julie Powell, the author of Julie and Julia. I am definitely not much of a baker, so it's always a bit nerve-wrecking when I pull whatever it is I'm baking out of the oven. It might look like an explosion in a bread pan, or it might come out looking good but be tough in the middle... and the stories go on and on. So today after I picked up my father, and Nate was working in the simulator, I decided I'd make pumpkin spice bread with a cheesecake filling. I saw the "Dessert Diva" make it on channel 2 news one morning. I was feeling motivated and bought all the ingredients to make it for Thanksgiving dinner. It's only Tuesday, but tomorrow we're busy so today was the day to make the bread! It asked for room temperature cream cheese, but I forgot to take it out of the fridge to warm up. Aaahh, you can use cold cream cheese right?! Oh yes, so I mixed the "chilled" cream cheese up with an egg, sugar, and water. It looked sort of like creamed corn out of a can, chunky and somewhat creamy. I wasn't sure if that was how it was supposed to look... oh well. After 50 mins. of baking in the oven it actually came out looking like a loaf of bread! Sweet victory... but not too soon, we haven't tasted it yet. I'm making them wait until Thanksgiving day and then we can review the bread. I'll keep you all posted. ;) You never know.

I also made the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving dinner today, because I'm worried about making everything on Thanksgiving day. We made a great sauce at my aunt's house about 3 years ago for dinner. I asked her how to make it and she couldn't remember how we put it together that year. So another experiment was on the way today... and I think it might turn out okay. I found a recipe in a magazine and I edited it a little to be more like the one we made three years ago. I followed it pretty closely, except for the half package of jello mix that I added... and some cold water. I can't wait to give that a try too.

So tomorrow we're going to Ft. Collins, CO to tour the New Belgium Brewery. The last time that Nate, my dad, and I went we missed out on the tour. People were lined up outside at 10am that morning to get tour tickets. The last time I took a tour, my uncle had picked me up at the airport in Denver since I flew in from MI, I fainted and collapsed onto the floor. They gave us all sorts of free things and tried to bring an ambulance, which I refused. They told me I was dehydrated and affected by the altitude change. So this year I won't be having a repeat of that year. I've warned everyone to stay hydrated and to be prepared for a day of tasting beer and touring breweries! Tomorrow will be a good day.

I'll keep everyone updated as to the results and reviews of the bread and cranberry sauce! Hopefully the turkey and stuffing come out alright too. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. <3