Biking

Matt and I rode our bikes around Glenwood for nearly two hours today! We ran around town and got some things done this morning then packed a lunch, loaded up the bikes and took off for "Two Rivers Park" in Glenwood Springs. We found a nice picnic table right on the river and ate lunch. I took this picture from our table...


We rode around through the park on the trails that they had there. It was a really nice trail that ran alongside the river for nearly the entire trail. We did that back and forth a few times then rode into downtown Glenwood. We crossed a big bridge that crossed over the river and just rode around downtown for a little while longer. When we got back to the park, we did the park trail one more time before heading back to the car. We were WORN OUT!

Here is one of me on the bridge that is part of the park trail...

Same for Matt...


This is what we looked like BEFORE we started riding! (Nice and happy and clean!) I should've taken an "after" picture as well! :) It probably would've looked quite different! Haha, actually we are feeling pretty good right now, but we are worried about how we'll feel when we wake up in the morning!


We had a lot of fun today riding around town together. We are super tired now but we are having a "Game Night" at the church building tonight with the youth group from 7pm - Midnight. Fun, huh? I'm not sure if I'll be able to stay awake until midnight! I might have to lock the office door and take advantage of this big couch in our office! :) On top of that, we are going 4 wheeling tomorrow with some people from the church and we are meeting at 7am!!! We are going to be completely exhausted! Still, that being said, we are still having a blast being here! Maybe we'll get some pictures of our next adventure tomorrow and I'll be sure to post them! :)

Deer Run

As I've said before, Matt and I see deer out here nearly every day. When we pulled up at the house yesterday the deer were just hanging out in the driveway and the yard. We pulled out the camera but had to snap pictures pretty quickly before they got behind the trees. The lighting is kind of funny on this one because of the sun being so bright, but its still a cool picture!


Here is one just walking across the road!


Ok... I am a little embarrased about this one but it is too funny to not share! The deer that we had seen earlier had "pranced" off into the trees and it was so funny! It looked like a cartoon because they were just hopping up the mountain with their legs together. Matt and I thought it was so funny! SO, a little later in the evening we noticed they were out in the yard again. We kind of wanted to see them prance again so I told Matt to go up on the balcony and video tape and I would run down the driveway making noises and see if they would prance... good idea, I know.

SO, here is the video. A few things to note:
1. The driveway is VERY steep and I was running uncontrollably downhill the entire time (and had a hard time running back UPhill!)
2. Notice the deer that runs to the left side of the screen and jumps the fence (he comes back later to get me)
3. Although it doesn't look close in the video, the deer that comes back at the end was VERY close to me and we both thought he was trying to attack and kill me.

I'm retarded, I know... I'll save yall the time of leaving me comments that say "You're retarded." :) STILL, regardless of how retarded it is, this video gave us a good laugh! I hope you enjoy it!

Funny Pictures

As I said before, Matt and I have enjoyed using his panoramic option on his camera... so here are a couple of pictures we took on Sunday!

You never know what kind of creatures you'll run into out here!! :)

Hike, Mountains & ONE YEAR!

Matt and I went on a short hiking trail yesterday to see the Doc Holliday grave/memorial site. It is just a half mile hike up the side of the mountain to the Pioneer Cemetery. I'll share some pictures of our trip!

Here we are in the car getting PUMPED UP for our hike!! :) (Don't worry mom... we didn't ACTUALLY go out in public looking like this!)

We stopped on the way up to take a picture together!

We had a contest to see if we could blow all of the things off of the weeds. Matt got ALL of his, and all but ONE of mine blew off. :( As you can see, I was quite sad...


This was the sign that was posted at the bottom of the hill...


The plaque next to the grave...

The cemetery was stretched all up the side of the mountain, so who knows where he was actually burried!


Matt's camera takes paneramic shots and he just recently figured out how to use it! He has taken some really neat pictures with it!



These are from a few days ago when it was really cloudy outside. This is actually a picture of where Mt. Sopris is, but the clouds were completely covering it up! It didn't even look like there was a mountain there!

A little later in the day, you could see the mountain again with the clouds along the bottom of it...


Even LATER in the day, the clouds were just all around the mountain. It looked really cool to see the storm clouds on the left, one cloud sitting on the mountain, and blue skies on the right.


Nearly everyday we are amazed by the things we see. The mountains, of course, are amazing. Sometimes we will go in a store and forget we are in the mountains and just be amazed all over again when we come out. We see deer and a fox or two nearly every day. Usually it is dark outside when we see them so we can't get a picture, but maybe we'll catch them one of these days!

On another note, as of today Matt and I have been dating for ONE YEAR! It hardy seems like it has been that long ago. We consider our "first date" when we went to the Rangers game last year on May 26. Instead of being mushy and lovey dovey, I'll just leave you with this picture. It was the first picture we ever took together! :)


Cute, huh? :)

Super Cheesy

Exactly one year ago today, Matt and I sat in the movie theater in Sherman, TX and watched the third Pirates of the Carribean movie. That night was the first time that Matt and I held hands (all together now, "Awww..."). Well, it JUST SO HAPPENS that that very movie is on TV tonight. :) So we are going to sit around and for a good three hours of our lives, watch the movie again together. Anyway, I know that is a super cheesy and mushy story, but I just thought I would share!

One More Picture

Matt took this picture from the church parking lot. This is the mountain that we see from our office window.

ATTENTION: Mountain Lions in this Area

Hey everyone! Matt and I are finishing up our first week here in Glenwood Springs and things are still going great! We have seen a couple of foxes and quite a few deer, but no bears or mountain lions yet! ;) Anyway, here are a few pictures and videos that I wanted to share.

This is Sopris with the clouds coming in on top of it...


This sign is posted right as you enter the neighborhood where Matt is staying. The top says, "ATTENTION: Mountain Lions in this Area". Whereas I certainly don't want to come in contact with a mountain lion, I think it would be pretty cool to see one in the distance (while remaining safely inside the vehicle) Haha :) I am kind of a spaz about it because anytime I see anything that looks even remotely like an animal I get all excited. Usually it ends up being a rock or a dog or something... but Matt finds it amusing, I think.

The Colorado River is really high right now. Apparently they had a whole lot of snow this past winter and now that it is getting hot, it is all melting and the river is moving pretty fast! There is a kayak park real close to the church building so Matt and I went to watch some of the people yesterday evening.

Here is a guy that ended up flipping over...




Then, as we were leaving to go get some food a guy in a truck in front of us started pulling a SURF BOARD out. Our curiousity got the best of us so we rolled down the window and asked him if he was about to surf out there. He said that it would take him about twenty minutes to get ready but then he would be out there. We were pretty hungry so we ran and got some Moe's and went back to watch him.

Here he is surfing the Colorado River!



Anyway, we have been having a blast so far. We have a few hiking trails that we are looking forward to doing, including one up to Doc Holiday's grave. It is pretty cold today, so we will have to wait for it to warm up a little before we do those! We also want to eventually check out the Hot Springs Pool. We have been told that it is pretty neat.

We went yesterday to check out a program called "Feed My SHeep". They feed, clothe, and serve people from the homeless community in Glenwood Springs. We talked to them about ways we can help and maybe get the youth group involved in helping as well. One of our goals for the summer is to get the youth involved in the community.

Ok well, I will try to keep updating yall with pictures, videos and stories so keep checking back!

Oh Moe's...

It is hard to read the sign in this picture (I was holding my camera up through the sunroof!), but Matt and I ate at MOE'S today! I was so excited! We got a table outside and enjoyed the nice weather and the beautiful view! We warned the people there that this would NOT be the last time they saw me in there... ;)


This is the church building...

This is the auditorium...


If you thought I was lying when I said Matt had a great view from his house, you were wrong. He stepped out on the balcony this morning and took this picture... its unbelievable! Everything here is so pretty, but I think Matt definitnely has the best view!

We're Here!

Here are some quick updates on a few things that have happened since we have been here:

Matt and I arrived at the church building in Glenwood Springs yesterday around 3:30 in the afternoon. We came in and met a few of the youth group kids and some of the adults. Everyone was very friendly! After John gave us a tour of the building we played a CRAZY game with the kids!! I will have to do a video of it sometime to show yall... explaining it just wouldn't do it. While we were playing the game, John and his wife went and picked up a bunch of pizzas and "soda pops" (aka: cokes) and we ate dinner here at the building.

After we ate we went to the places where we are living for the summer. Matt and I both have really nice places to stay, and the people we're living with are very kind. I think we will both really enjoy our stay here.

We are set up in our office now and already busy planning things for the summer! We are constantly seeing things to take pictures of, so hopefully I will continue to update yall regularly with pictures. The mountains are absolutely beautiful. We have an amazing view from our office window, and Matt has an even MORE amazing view from the house he is living in! John told us this morning that they saw a bear yesterday evening just roaming around the neighborhood! He just lives up the road a little bit from me. So MAYBE I'll even see a bear this summer!

Anyway, I just wanted to give a quick update for now. Here are a few pictures from our drive yesterday:


This lake was completely frozen over!!

More to come soon! :)

Glenwood Roadtrip - Day 1

Hey everyone! I'm not going to tell many stories with this post, but I thought I'd post a few pictures and videos. Matt and I are sitting in a McDonalds in Raton, NM using their free WiFi to check email... and of course to update my blog!!! :)

Here is Matt cheesing it while enjoying our long drive!


If you look closely, you can see the FIRST MOUNTAIN that we saw today! It was definitely nothing impressive the closer we got, but it was still fun.



A volcano right outside of Raton...

Ok... I always say that Matt takes a long time to tell stories. Well, NOW I HAVE PROOF! We had a very interesting experience today with middle of nowhere New Mexico and NO GAS. We were both pretty scared for a while that we weren't going to make it to the next gas station, but we made it! I asked Matt to tell the story on video... (you might turn his up a little - its kind of quiet)

Then, I teased him about it being so long. So to "show him" I did my own condensed version of the story. When I finished (in under a minute) Matt kind of huffed and said, "BORING!" Hahaha, we had a good time sharing our story... hope you enjoy it!



We are driving around six hours tomorrow so our trip is far from over. I'm sure our pictures from tomorrow's drive will be much more entertaining than a tiny mountain in the distance!!! I'll be sure to keep yall updated!

Today is the Day!

I wasn't sure if the day would come where I would ACTUALLY get to go to Glenwood Springs, CO! This whole time it has seemed kind of like this fun thing to talk about, but like it would never really get here. But, believe it or not, it is here! Matt and I are leaving this morning! It's a pretty weird feeling to know that I am leaving home for the entire summer, and... as much as I try to hide it, it makes me a little sad! However, I know God has great things in store for us in Colorado so I am looking forward to that as well. So anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that we are officially on our way! :)

Also, I took a couple of pictures of some lazy boys last night, so I thought I'd share...

New Layout, Music Player, Countdown

Well, this is my new layout for now. Hopefully I can get a good picture of Matt and I once we are in Glenwood and I may change it up some. The mountain in the picture is actually one of the mountains in Glenwood Springs. In fact, I believe its the one that is right behind where I'll be living! I have convinced Matt to help me blog some this summer, so hopefully he will share some of his experiences and stories with yall this summer too. Anyway, I hope yall like my new, more "summer-ish" looking layout! :)

I also added a music player at the bottom of my page. It won't start automatically, but you can listen to any of the songs on the playlist if you want!

Lastly, I added a countdown on the side of my blog that shows when we leave for Colorado! You can click on the countdown and it will take you to a website that has all sorts of information about Glenwood Springs!

Athens & Record Player

I just got back home from spending a few days with Matt and his parents in Athens. We got to spend a lot of time together just hanging out and taking it easy! I'll tell you about a few of the things we did.

On Saturday night, Matt played electric guitar with the praise band at a church in Athens for a building dedication thing they had. His brother and sister-in-law came in to hear him play. The whole ceremony wasn't at all what we were expecting, but Matt did a good job. The best part was that we got an unexpected free meal! :) When that was over we drove to Waco to stay the night with Josh and Carly.

We drove to Waco because we had to get up Sunday morning and drive to Austin for Matt to check out a church there that is interested in hiring him during the school year. It was a very interesting church, but we both really enjoyed it. It was only about 20-30 people there and they met in a house (or rather, a mansion!). They are real focused on outreach and getting people (youth, especially) involved. They are looking to hire Matt to be an outreach minister. He would probably do a lot of communications and planning events and things like that. Anyway, we both enjoyed our visit with them, and hopefully they can work something out and maybe give Matt a job!

We visited with people there for so long, that we didn't get back on the road until around 2:15ish. We stopped in Round Rock to get some "famous" Round Rock Donuts. We got a dozen glazed donuts to take back to the house, then Matt and I each asked for a dozen donut holes. Instead, I think we got about four dozen donut holes!! I don't know if the guy there messed up, or was just feeling generous, but we got a bag FULL of donut holes! We didn't complain much... my STOMACH did (after eating about two dozen) but I didn't. :)

As if we hadn't had enough sweets, we decided to stop at the Dublin Dr. Pepper Museum around Waco. We didn't go into the museum, we just went to the fountain area. We each got a Dr. Pepper float and it was soooo good! So then, as you can imagine, we were pretty miserable! :) It was certainly worth it though.

Last night, Matt and I made dinner. We made poppy seed chicken without the poppy seeds. :) Haha! Afterwards, I finally convinced Matt to play his trombone for me! I'd been asking him a lot lately if he would play his "horn" for me, and he finally gave in. He played his trombone and his euphonium for me! He tried to teach me how to play, but I was no good. Finally, on euphonium, I think I got out ONE note. It was a B flat if I remember correctly. :) Matt's dad heard him playing and decided to get out some old tapes of Matt playing in high school and at SFA so we watched those for a while. He had a lot of solos that were fun to watch. We soon progressed from videos of concerts to videos of old family vacations. Haha, those turned out to be pretty entertaining.

So anyway, I got up this morning and Matt made me breakfast then I headed home. I got into some real bad storms and rain along the way, which wasn't fun, but I made it back home safely! :)

ON ANOTHER NOTE, I have a new edition to my room. It's a record player! My mom's aunt, Virginia, passed away a few weeks ago and when we were cleaning out her house I kind of jokingly said that I wanted it. The joke slowly turned into me SERIOUSLY wanting to take it home! My parents said that if I could find room for it in my room that I could take it. It works perfectly and has a record player, 8 track player and a radio. It's pretty cool. :)


Well that is about it for now! Pretty soon I am going to work on a new, more "summer-ish" layout for my blog. It's not long before we will head to Colorado! Eleven days, actually! It will be here before I know it. I'll keep yall updated!