Monday Yoga

Monday I went to a yoga class after work with my friend Beth.  It was the first time I've done yoga in a year?  I was slow moving at first, taking the easier, optional position each time.  I think my muscles were rebelling against this whole "get healthier" idea.  But by the end of the class class I felt stretched out and left feeling fairly relaxed.

The views were pretty beautiful.   And the class is FREE at the Auroria Campus for anyone in the Denver area.  Free!  Yoga!

(pr)instagram

By now, you all probably know how obsessed I am with Instagram; I created a whole "blog" (cough, Tumblr, cough) for it!  I love those little snapshots from my phone, with its fancy filters, and cute square shapes - borders optional of course.

What's one to do with all those photos hanging out on their phone?  Why, make a poster of course!  Meet, Prinstgram.  A straightforward website that downloads all your photos, arranges them in a random order, prints, and ships.  It was so very easy.  And I can't wait to frame the photo of photos to hang in our apartment.

 

And what did I do once I received my poster? 

Took an Instagram photo of it of course!  Surprised?

The Science Lounge: know your snow

The Science Lounge
Jayme Stone

Traveling

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I think my appreciation for traveling started at a very young age.  My parents took me to the beaches of Florida, my first experience of the ocean, to the mountains of Colorado, south to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, where I learned how to spell Mississippi the 'correct' way -- that's M-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-humpback-humpback-I, boy did I run that one into the ground, sorry Mom & Dad.  We went on road trips every year, where I slept in the backseat the entire time or read a lot of books.  I didn't appreciate the aspens, or the little antique shops, okay the alligators were kind of cool, and the theme parks, but I would actually complain a lot about the travel time.  Even though, as I was complaining, I now know that I was still experiencing the adventure and everything that went along.  And now, as a grownup (so says society), I have so much gratitude to my parents for dragging me along, sharing their passion for travel, and passing down their adventurous spirits.

Ironically, road trips are now my favorite mode of travel.  Very much looking forward to the next coming up in a few months.  East coast, here we come!

Old to New(ish)

A before & after tale:

My mom found these old windows in my Gran's barn a few years ago and hauled them, skeptically, back home for me to pick up.  She thought I was crazy, and maybe I am, but I really love the windows, worn with stories and fond memories, I'm sure.  And I love they are my Gran's.

  

Monday, I finally found time to clean them up a bit and hang them on the wall.  So I went out and bought the finest grain sandpaper I could find and a can of shelack to give the windows a bit of shine after they were cleaned.

I hung them both proudly above the "dinning table", a little high in hopes we get a pub table and chairs very soon.

All clean and fresh!  Can't beat a frame with old windows, an antique chair, and a mason jar of fresh flowers!  So happy.

Trivia Night

I'll let you in on a little secret:  I'm awful at trivia and my friends can attest - can't remember names very well, or history at all, time periods are totally out of the question, and geography?  Nope.  But somehow.. the stars aligned last night and I ROCKED some trivia.

I answered questions like: What are the secondary colors?  And, knew Robyn sang "call you girlfriend" (go you tube that immediately).  Also, somehow knew actors/singers first names once I heard the last?  I mean, I was out of control (or maybe it was just easy, humor me).  And it was awesome.

I see a Thursday ritual forming.  Yes, yes I do.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Currently...

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attempting to // drink a smoothie for breakfast instead of a cup of coffee.  Let's be real, the cup of coffee comes right after the smoothie, but it's not the very first thing I have in the morning anymore. 

excited about // upcoming adventures this year!  We have a couple friends coming to visit next month and our annual girls' trip coming up soon after. 

listening to // the Head and the Heart -- still. 

loving // life.  I made a few challenges for myself this year; to tackle my worrying (aka stop it!), to live in the moment, and to be more accepting of others for who they are, not who I want them to be.  I feel a lot more relaxed these days.  And happier.

hating // how tired I am after work.  Where do you find the extra energy to work out, prepare dinner, or go out with friends?  Where?!

looking forward to // camping in the springtime. Doesn't the photo above look magical? 

reading // a graphic novel called Habibi.  I've never read a graphic novel before, but I'm pretty sure it's just a fancy comic book.  I'll report back as soon as I'm finished. 

stumbled upon // this video.  Now I want to record my every move in hopes that I could put together something half as cool as he did.  It's so simple, and incredibly beautiful at the same time.

watching // The Wonder Years (!) on Netflix, with Portlandia next in queue. I've heard great things about this show!

spending time // in the kitchen lately.  We whipped up a few recipes this week that turned out really good!

*Currently... in June

*Currently... in August

*Currently... in November

  

Grizzly Rose

We added a little country flare to our weekend at the Grizzly Rose, a well-known concert hall in Denver.

Okay, I've never heard of it, but based on the amount of people crammed into the huge space, a lot of others had.

The moment I walked into the door I was greeted with a trough of beer for sell and a Bruno Mar's song, Grenade, vocalized with a twang and accompanied with a banjo.  The house band was pretty stellar and continued turning over pop songs until the headliner made their way onto the stage.

Couples were tearing up the large wooden dance floor, two-stepping and twirling around.  It all reminded me of a place in Stillwater, my old college town.  Though that particular place oddly (awesomely?) coupled a hip hop area in a tiny room right outside the country dancing area.

We all had a great time and I think we need to invite some more friends and go again soon!

Home again

Sometimes you just need to ditch the itinerary and fly by the seat of your pants.

And that's just what we did a few weeks ago when our friend Carol spontaneously bought a plane ticket out to see us right after the holidays; it was pretty much the best ever.  

We took a hike together, went skiing in freezing temperatures, baked, watched movies, ate and ate and ate, met up with 2 other ladies for a spectacular girl's night, chatted about life, shopped, relaxed, then shopped some more. 

She left a little piece of home with us before heading back to Oklahoma. And Ryan and I can't wait for the next visitor to show up on our doorstep (er, apartment welcome mat)! 

So This is the New Year

My main goal this year is to gain a healthier way of life.  I feel like moving to Colorado was a nice, fresh start and I've already made a few lifestyle changes, but I hope to make even more as the year progresses.

(we heart it)

A few goals:

• Cook at home more, know what we put in our food, use fresh vegetables, buy quality.
• Become a 'better' vegetarian - focus more on fresh fruits and veggies, rather than a lot of breads and pastas.
• Work out.  Use the FREE gym at our apartment complex to its full potential.  I don't want to loose weight, but I do want to become more fit, get my lung capacity in check, and strengthen.
• DRINK MORE WATER.  Possibly the toughest goal for me; "I won't drink soda, I won't drink soda, I won't drink soda". 

I plan to track my progress on Daily Mile, for myself, but also to hold me accountable to others too.  (let me know if you're on Daily Mile too, we can play together!)

Here's to a healthier year!

New digs: 5 months later

We haven't made a whole lot of progress on the apartment since October , so I really wanted to use a few days from my holiday break to work on the main living spaces.  And with a couple of after-Christmas shopping deals, we managed to cross everything off the list!

Focusing on the living room, we made 5 goals when we moved in:

• Curtains
• Larger lamp for the side table
• Perfect my Expedit (bookshelf) decorating
• More throw pillows
• Wall art

So, here's the before...

And after!

oooooh, aaahhhhhh!

For months, I looked online for prints and had pretty great success, though there are two standout pieces on the shelves that mean so very much to us.  First, my favorite is the wedding dress sketch my bridesmaids had made for me.  It's a reminder of my unique dress, and the special day I wore it, and all the love that the girls continuously poured out to me.  The second would be a map of Yosemite where Ryan and I enjoyed part of our honeymoon; a reminder of our first trip as husband and wife, where we had so. much. fun.

So, the shelves are filled, curtains are up, lamp purchased (thanks to an after-Christmas sale), & fluffy pillows adorned the sofa.  It's really feeling like home around here.

Kindle Kozy: part 2

I made a Kindle case for my sister-in-law for Christmas and I think I like it better than my own! 

A few changes from the first:

• Used a pretty patterned fabric instead of a hand-made patchwork top layer
• Didn't top stitch around the whole exterior, just the sides 
• Sewed 2 - the 1st I made was too small (not an intentional update)!

I can't get over this fabric, I just love it.  I even bought an extra 1/2 yard for myself to make.. something.  It caught my eye in the store and I really like those hot pink accents.  

So, here's to the only thing I made this holiday season!  Cheers.

Tutorial:  Patchwork Kindle Case

Christmas in Oklahoma

Holy hiatus!  I pretty much unplugged for 2 weeks and it was nothing less than amazing.  Though I missed "documenting" (as I tell my friends while I'm snapping a thousand photos) on the blog and reading all about your holidays too, it was a nice break.

And now I have a whole lot of catching up to do... get ready.

A few photos from our time in Oklahoma:

You just can't beat an Oklahoma sunset, they are beautiful.  Always.

Zia's favorite part about Christmas?  Ripping up all the wrapping and tissue paper. 

McNellie's is a long-running tradition with my friends; we always get together for a drink on Christmas night.

Fluffy sky's on our way to my Gran's

And homeward bound.

I was in true relax-mode, because these are the only photos I took from the trip!  Our time in Oklahoma was filled with family and friends and road trip adventures.  (Adventures = watching Crazy, Stupid, Love multiple times in the car).