Denver, CO

So long story short...Brad's aunt and her family live in Colorado and every Christmas they get the crap shoot of having to drive/fly all the way to the OH to be with all the rest of the fam. We haven't gotten to see them in forever because we usually don't get there at the same time.

flight essentials:  starbucks (which I spilled all over myself shortly after taking this picture), trashy mags, and the kindle

We all decided that this year we'd fly to Colorado and it worked out great! We took over a huge house near Winter Park and it was a blast! There were 12 of us all together (Brad's parents, brother, aunt, and cousins). It was great because we could get up and ski all day then come home to a warm shower and home cooked meal. Then we either played games or watched movies until bedtime.

Brad and I flew out a few days early and spent some time in downtown Denver. We stayed at a really modern hotel, The Curtis. Each floor was themed (we were on the Laugh out Loud floor) and the lobby and other general areas were really nicely decorated.

PROS: We got a great deal, so that was nice, and the hotel was a lot of fun. Bed was comfortable and gym was great.

 CONS: The walls were PAPER THIN and the parking was a nightmare. It was $20 per night to park but then it was almost impossible to find a spot! The hotel was right across from an arts theater and they sold parking for that making it hard for hotel guests to find parking. Annoying.

It was nice to get a couple days to ourselves. We had some great food and tried a lot of different beer!

you know exactly why i tried this one!! i missed my riley bear!

We also got to do some Christmas shopping.

Just in case you were wondering... it was even more awesome than I'd imagined. LOVE. The clothes are amazing and the salespeople were great too... And they loved my accent and kept asking me to say different things. (This happens to me all the time. What can I say, I'm COUNTRY!)

I also got some great workouts in at the gym (and watched a LOT of Teen Mom!).

Brad's brother met up with us on Saturday and stayed with us so we could all hang out. Then we packed up to head to Winter Park on Sunday. More to come!!

This is us sitting in the back of our rental car in the mall parking garage. We were waiting for Andrew to find us (mall parking lot the Saturday before Christmas... you can imagine). Tailgaiting seemed like a great way to pass the time!

On The Road Again!

Goodness gracious, I've missed you guys!! Sorry for the lapse in posting [although I have a few new followers... maybe less posting is better? WELCOME and THANK YOU!] just like all of y'all I've been crazy busy.

We just got back from Colorado where we spent some time with Brad's family. I have lots of fun stuff to share about that [I got to ride down the mountain on a snowmobile with ski patrol my first day if that gives you any indication of how things went]. But because I'm lazy and in a hurry I'm just going to share a few pics right now.

I'm working all day tomorrow and a half day on Saturday... then we get to go see my family for Christmas! I'm really excited because we haven't been home on Christmas in a few years. I'd like to say I'm all finished and ready to go but reality is I haven't even unpacked from Denver and I still have some shopping to do.

I just wanted to say MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all. I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your families. Safe travels and I can't wait to hear all about it!

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.

She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:1-14