Fall fun!

Thought I would post some pictures of what we have been up to this fall!

Fun with some of my family

Riding horses at my Aunt's house.

Hiking!

Car rides in the mountains.

Crested Butte

Last week we enjoyed a lovely little getaway in my favorite mountain town! After stressful medical tests for me and working away for John it was a much needed break! My parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents rented a beautiful house near the mountains. It was a wonderful time enjoying family and the outdoors.

The guys (John, my dad and brother) did a lot of Mountain biking. They rode Snodgrass, Lupine, 401, and Deer creek. My mom, aunt and I did some riding up Schofield Pass and admired/identified many wildflowers. We walked around town and had dinner out. The town of Crested Butte is very quaint with lots of great restaurants. My parents took us out for sushi at the Lobar (thanks mom and dad!). It was really good!

Aaron had fun getting tons of attention, exploring the house, taking walks, eating hotdogs, blowing bubbles and playing pool.

We are so thankful for such a great family to enjoy vacations with!

Home Improvements!

Three years ago John and I bought our first home. It was a foreclosure in need of some TLC. Slowly but surely we have worked, improved, cleaned and updated. Although it has been a lot of work it is amazing to see the changes and what a difference they make. It has been really cool to work together on this house and turn it into a home.

Here is my first before and after picture. I will try to continue posting before and after pictures from time to time. Enjoy!

Before:

After:

We replaced the front door and added a security screen door. We also did some landscaping. The lawn needs mowing, but you get the idea!

So excited to go here:

June 2010! I can't wait!

Pagosa Springs 2008

This was our second trip to Pagosa Springs. John and I spent one night in Salida for an anniversary celebration. We stayed in a very cute bed and breakfast and ate at a local microbrewery. It was a great way to celebrate four years of marriage.

The rest of the week was spent with my side of the family. These are pictures of a hike I did with my mom and aunts. This hike was one of the hightlights of the trip. We saw many different types of wildflowers including a spotted coral root orchid.

My mom Carol identifying some flowers.



Spotted Coral Root orchid. This species lacks chlorophyll which gives it the red color.



Elephant Heads



Spooky forest. It was a very wet and foggy day.



Death Camis. Very poisonous!

Bear Creek Trail

A couple of weeks ago John and I visited his parents in Colorado Springs. The highlight of the weekend was a hike to see the rare wood lilies that bloom this time of year. The flowers are endangered and are only found in a handful of areas. The bulbs are brilliant red in color so they were impossible to miss. We also saw a number of other flower species including columbines, wild geranium, wild rose and common harebell.

Lilium philadelphicum

Aquilegia caerulea

To see more pictures, go to "my photo album".

Atlanta

This post is long overdue, but here are some pictures from our trip to Atlanta. John and I went with my parents to Atlanta, GA to visit some of my family. We also planned the trip when one of our favorite bands was playing. So we got to see Radiohead play at the Lakewood Amphitheater. The concert was amazing, the music was fantastic and they played a really good set. The lights and video screens were also pretty cool. I have never been to a concert that big, there were 19,000 people there! We had the entire day before the concert to kill so went to the Atlanta aquarium and grabbed lunch downtown. Here are some pictures from the aquarium.

The rest of the week was spent in Warner Robbins, GA visiting my Grandmother, Aunt and Uncles. It's always a wonderful time spent with them. While the boys played in the pool mom and I relaxed on rafts. The last night we all pitched in and made a wonderful southern dinner. We had shrimp and grits, blackened red fish and grilled sheephead.

The morning we were supposed to leave for the airport a tornado hit Mancon, GA. Mancon is only about twenty miles from Warner Robbins so everyone was a bit nervous. Thankfully it didn't hit Warner Robbins and we missed it on the drive to the airport so everything was ok. Overall it was a really good trip, it was great to do some fun things and spend time with family.

"A Second Chance at Freedom"

The main goal of the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program is to return injured birds back to the wild. "A Second Chance at Freedom" is the program's motto, and it is always a wonderful day when a bird is released back to the wild. Here are a few pictures of an American Kestrel being released.

Raptors

I am now handling the permanently disabled birds at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program. I am in training for the educational aspect of the raptor program. For the past few months I have had the pleasure of handling a Kestral, a Great-horned Owl, a Saw-whet Owl and a Swainson's Hawk. It has been really excited to get close to these amazing animals.

In October, I volunteered to handle birds for a photo shoot. The great thing about helping with a photo shoot is along with handling birds, I also had the opportunity to take a lot of pictures. I also handled birds for a program at Front Range Community College on conservation. I am having a wonderful time learning about birds of prey and environmental education. It is truly a unique experience.

Land of the Midnight Sun

For our third anniversary, John and I were blessed with the opportunity to return to Alaska. Alaska is a special place to both of us, we have a lot of wonderful memories from a previous trip. John and I spent a summer in the "Last Frontier" a few years ago. We lived with five other people and we spent our time working at summer jobs and going on all kinds of adventures. I know it sounds sappy, but Alaska is where we fell for each other. Soon after returning to Colorado, we decided to start dating. We couldn't think of a better place to celebrate our three years of marriage.

Our trip began with a tiring red-eye flight which was significantly delayed due to the Seattle airport being closed because of weather. We barely made our connection and arrived in Alaska just before 2:00 am. The landing into Anchorage is quite exciting. We could see the Ghost range poking through the clouds. Once we were closer to the airport, we could see the Cook Inlet. The runway is right on the Inlet, so all you can see is water. Then suddenly, the plane touches down on solid ground. We picked up our rental car with only a couple of minutes to spare and then it was off to find a place to sleep. A campground outside of Anchorage did the trick, we grabbed our sleeping bags and dozed in the car until morning.

After purchasing our gear and food, we drove south on the Turnagain Arm. We found a campground in Girdwood, and it was there that we realized we had forgotten our tent poles! As members of Team Junk Show, John and I are used to improvising for lost gear.

We spent the next day hiking Little Coal Creek Trail and The Hand Tram trail near Girdwood. After hiking all day we opted to stay in the Girdwood hostel. Of course we couldn't leave Girdwood without sneaking into the Alyeska Resort to use their beautiful hot tub. On our way to Soldatna, AK we stopped by Portage Glacier and Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

Our purpose for going to Soldatna was to fish, unfortunately we caught the tail end of the second Sockeye (red) Salmon run. We each had a few fish on the line, but only brought one fish all the way in. John was the hero, and it was nice to have a salmon dinner. Fishing was still a great time, the Kenai is a gorgeous river and we chatted with people from all over the world. While in Soldatna, John and I also went hiking in the Kenai National Wildlife refuge.

From Soldatna we drove to Seward, our last stop. We had a cabin reserved which turned out to be quite nice. We cooked salmon, enjoyed showers and comfortable beds. Our first night we visited the Alaska Sealife Center. The center was funded using some of the settlement money form the Valdez-Exonn oil spill. John and I had a good time watching the animals and touching sea cucumbers, sea anenomes, sea stars, coral and sea urchins. The highlight of our stay in Seward was a kayaking trip to Resurrection Bay. We did an evening paddle and were able to sea harbor seals, eagles and spawning salmon. The Coho (silver) salmon were running, and they jump so high out of the water that we thought they might land in the boats! It was a wonderful evening and a great end to our stay in Seward.

The flight home did not leave until 2:00 am, so had some time to kill in Anchorage. We spent our remaining hours at our beloved Moose's Tooth Brewery drinking some of the best beer in the world. Afterwards, we ate pizza and caught a movie at Bear Tooth Theater and Pub. I think we made every moment count, it was the perfect way to end our trip.

To see more pictures of Alaska, go to our Photo Album.

Rocky Mountain Raptor Program

I have recently begun volunteering with the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program here in Fort Collins. Volunteering with RMRP is an amazing experience. The program specializes in rehabilitating injured birds and releasing them back to the wild. I am learning to feed and care for birds of prey. I am now learning to handle the birds, educate the public and tend to minor medical needs. Here are some pictures of birds, hope you enjoy! I am sure there will be many more pictures to share in the future.

Rough-legged Hawk

Peregrine Falcon

Great Horned Owl