Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

~Charles Swindoll

Birthday Celebration

My birthday was a little more low-key this year. There’s no time to celebrate! Life has been so incredibly busy and jammed pack with things. But, I still had a great day!
Thursday I was over at my parent’s house doing some wedding things and I got to open my presents! My pictures didn’t turn out at all, but I got some great stuff! Everything from some great house décor, including monogrammed wash clothes, to a Halloween apron to some fabulous clothes! My parents definitely know how to make a girl feel special! Thanks mom and dad!
I took Friday off of work and it was such a great, relaxing day. It’s been a birthday tradition for as long as I can remember to have a chocolate donut with sprinkles. Ben and I took a bike ride to a local donut shop.

Birthdays wouldn’t be the same without the donut!

After donuts, we went and picked up our marriage license. After making sure we weren’t related in any way, we were approved for marriage! YAY!

Next, we hit up Hudson Gardens. This place was on my original list of things to do in Littleton. I had a blast! We were practically the only people there and the weather was awesome. It you’re ever in the area and need something to do, I highly recommend it. It’s gorgeous!

They had a little train station set up that was a replica of Old Towne Littleton.

They had a chocolate garden that I was so excited for. I was a little disappointed to find that it wasn’t an actual garden full of chocolate. They use coca in the soil and all of the flowers have sort of reddish-brownish tint to them like the one above. It’s still pretty cool.

For fall, they had a pumpkin patch and a hay bale maze.

And, the changing leaves were awesome. Just one of the many reasons fall is my favorite season!

This is a shot of the rose garden. On both sides of the trellis and fountains are rose bushes.

Me and Ben enjoying the day together

That night it was off to the Rockies game with my family! This is the first time in 5 years my sister and I have celebrated our birthdays together! After the game, they had fan appreciation fireworks. It’s the best firework show ever.

After the game, we all headed over to the Cheescake factory for some birthday dessert! I got the red velvet cake cheesecake.

It has a layer of cheesecake between 2 layers of red velvet cake topped with the best cream cheese frosting I’ve ever had. And top all of that off with white chocolate shavings. HEAVENLY.

Sunday, my wonderful friend, Aubrey, took me to the Broncos game again. The Broncos lost to the Colts, but we had a great time and it was a good game up until the end. That Peyton Manning really gets on my nerves!!!!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself- the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us- that's where it's at.

~Jesse Owens

Birthday with Dez

My fabulous friend, Dez took me out for an early birthday celebration. If you know me, you know how much I love breakfast- especially pancakes!! So of course that’s what we grabbed.

Some delicious strawberry pancakes!

Dez also got me this great scentsy gift. It’s a candle warmer that melts wickless candles! They smell delicious.

Thanks Dez for the great food, great company, and great gift!

Wonderful Girl Time

Tuesday was a fabulous girl's day. My sister had the day off work, so i took the day off as well. We had a great day together! She came down to Littleton to check out my new place and then we hit up Snooze for breakfast. We both love breakfast, and Snooze is my favorite breakfast joint in Denver.

Their pancake flights are like heaven on a plate!

After breakfast we headed back down to Littleton and did some shopping!
Sister time is the perfect excuse to get out of work!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

I found this quote in a running magazine, but i think it fits everyday life as well....

Even when you have gone as far as you can, and everything hurts, and you are staring at the specter of self-doubt, you can find a bit more strength deep inside you, if you look closely enough.
~Hal Higdon

Things I love lately

~Fall. Fall is by far my favorite season and I'm giddy over the fall weather that is sneaking up on us! I love getting out fall decorations and walking the aisles at Hobby Lobby looking for new ones. I love Bath and Body works fall scented candles. I love how people update their facebook status about pumpkin spice lattes. It's the best

~Football season. Another reason to love fall. College football kicked off last week and the nfl is kicking off tonight. I love the big hits, the great plays, and the big comebacks

~Wrapping up wedding plans. 25 days until the big day! I can't believe how fast the past 9 months have flown by. My dress is picked up and ready to go! We went up to the venue on Monday and picked out linens and table layouts. I'm so excited and a little stressed all at the same time

~Throw back Mountain Dew. I'm not a big pop drinker, but a girl at work told me I needed to try a throw back dew. It was delicious!!! It's made from real sugar and is way better than the new edition

~My patio. I love going out there at night and reading a book or just taking in the cool weather

~A camera on my phone. And one where I can send the pics to my email or facebook. It makes life so much easier

~My mom's home cooked meals. Especially when they end with home made peach ice cream for dessert

~The book Calm my Anxious Heart. It's one of my favorites and I've read it several times. Each time I read it I think i learn something new

~Friendships. New and old I love spending time with those who are special to me

~Having my sister back!

SURPRISE!

Monday Ben had a big surprise planned for me! We were going to go celebrate my birthday....a month early! Ben showed up at my work with a single flower and a card that told me it was time to go celebrate.
I had no idea what was going on! We stopped and grabbed some food and drinks for what he told me was going to be a picnic. Well, the picnic turned into a tailgate at Red Rocks. He had bought tickets to the Ray LaMontagne and David Gray concert. If you're not familiar with them, you can check out my favorite songs here and here. Red Rocks is the perfect venue for both of these guys, and it turned out to be such a great concert.

Weekend Happenings

Last weekend was full of nonstop goodness!
Friday night we went to the Rockies game with our friends Eric, Erin, and Jeff. We had a lot of fun hanging out and catching up. And, Hot Toddy even hit a home run!

Saturday we headed down to Colorado Springs. Ben is adopted and his birth family lives in the Springs. I think we both were a little nervous going into it, but it couldn’t have gone better! We spent all day with them and had a great time. We headed over to 11 mile lake for a picnic and hung out by the lake. That night we went back to their house for dinner and some card games.

Sunday was AMAZING!!!!! My good friend Aubrey has Bronco season tickets and she invited me to go with her. Earlier in the week she told me that she got passes to be on the field during pre- game warm up. If you know me, you know how much I LOVE football. So of course I couldn’t wait to go to the game! We got to be on the field for about an hour and a half, which didn’t seem long enough. We cheered on the Broncos in the club level and they pulled out the win. Aubrey is taking me to another game in September when the Broncos play the Colts. :)

View from the end zone

Defense warming up

Just some linebackers

Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow!

Kyle Orton

One of my favorites- John Lynch. I have his jersey!

Eddie Royal signing some autographs before the game

Me and Aubrey living it up!