Honeymoon

Four months ago, Adam and I were on our honeymoon!  We went to Estes Park, Colorado, and we had a wonderful time.  Here is the proof!



We rented a cabin at the YMCA camp there, and it was perfect.  No technology, and hikes everyday.






On our first day, we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park and made it up to about 9,000 feet.  We got about 50 feet from the car before we realized that, as Nebraskans, we were not prepared for hiking mountains in May.  The ground was covered in ice and snow, and it was drizzling.  So we drove down to 7,000 feet and found a better (aka clearer) path.  It was chilly and rainy, but perfect.  The hazy views were breathtaking.









Day two of hiking, we went in the opposite direction and we were almost too hot!  It's funny what a difference a couple thousand feet can make.  We hiked up to this lake on top of the mountain where we ate lunch.  As we were sitting there, this girl came running out of the forest from the other direction.  We chatted with her for a minute and it turned out she was a part of a running club that runs 10-15 miles through the mountains every weekend then gets breakfast.  Who does that??  Coloradans are nuts!!



I did tree yoga


And Adam tried too :)



We went to the Shining hotel too!  We got a drink at the bar, because duh. 

Achieving My Dreams

What is keeping me from achieving my dreams?  My perfectionism mixed with my procrastination.  These are probably two of my most prominent qualities.  I always want what I do to be perfect, and when it’s not working out right away, I find ways of avoiding it.  I never remember that it’s better to just begin, get started.  It doesn’t have to be perfect the first time around. 

I know that in order to improve, you have to practice.  Start small.  I know this.  Putting it into practice is so much harder.  It’s so frustrating.  I have always thought big, in the abstract.  Seeing the trees through the forest is so hard for me to do.  But it’s something I’m working on.  I’m trying to start small, to take little steps. 

I think even just writing this post reiterated to me that I am indeed a procrastinating perfectionist and that I just need to start the things I have to do, and know that it will come together as it should.  I wrote the first two paragraphs on Wednesday, and (contrary to instructions) didn’t post it, because I thought I could make it better.  I’ve looked at it each day since, and have only now decided to just post it. 

BUT!  After I wrote those two paragraphs, I got up off the couch and cleaned the whole main level of our house!!  It seemed like such a daunting task (we get messy), but I just had to get started.  I told myself that I would put everything that needed to go upstairs in a basket.  Then all of a sudden, it was an hour later and the main floor was clean! 

So that is my goal for now, for achieving my dreams: start small.  Stop thinking huge and in the abstract.  Just start where I am with what I have and go from there. 


Thank you for the inspiration for this post goes to Elizabeth at Delightfully Tacky!

Life is Good

I had an old high school friend over for dinner the other night, and we were catching up after a (few) year(s) of not seeing each other. I was telling her about my life, my family, the wedding, my hobbies. And then it hit me:  life is good.  In fact, it’s great.  I love my life, I am the happiest I can remember being, and I’m living a life I'm proud of.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the final product (I am a perfectionist, so duh), that I forget that the journey is 95% of it.  It seems so cliché.  I kept trying to decide who I wanted to become or what goals I wanted to reach, and panicking when I couldn’t figure it out.  I didn’t realize I had silently been becoming the person I wanted to be for the last 28 years.

As someone who spent most of my life in school, I’ve always lived with an end goal.  Finish high school.  Go to college.  Graduate.  Go to law school.  Pass the bar exam.  Now that I have a career (so weird to say, I feel too young for that!!), I kind of had a quarter life crisis realizing that this was it, I had met the final goal.  But it’s really not, is it?  The goal is to keep growing and learning and improving yourself.  Find the hobbies you love and do them.  Go outside.  Live the life you dream about.  Do it now.  Because that’s what living is about.

So take a pause. When you finally stop and look around at what you’ve created for yourself, you will be pleasantly surprised.  Or at least I was.

If that was too introspective for you, I apologize.  Here are some photos of Pig to make up for it.

 

Music Monday: Keaton Henson

I signed up for Spotify a few months back, because I hate having buyer's remorse with music and I'm always looking for new stuff.  I love me some Bon Iver during work, something relaxing for background music.  Anyway, I clicked on the handy dandy "Similar Artists" button today and discovered Keaton Henson. 



His voice is so strange and ethereal, it seems like something out of a dream.  Good stuff.  Hope you enjoy!

Lindsay's Wedding Part II: Wedding Party

These two rocked the crap out of this wedding.  I know some people take weddings so seriously, but Chris and Lindsay did none of that.  They had fun, partied with their guests, and partook in the festivities.  That's how it should be done!!





I love this picture of the sisters.  Doesn't Lindsay just look like she's glowing?!


The groomsmen were pretty badass.  The two on either side of Chris took their shirts off to show of their tats for the photos!  Hahaha



And let's just throw in one more friends photo with the bride, because why not?!


Such a beautiful day to celebrate these two gems! 

Lindsay's Wedding Part 1: Friends

The weekend before our wedding, one of my dear friends, Lindsay, got married to a really awesome guy named Chris.  They had an outdoor wedding, which in Nebraska is always a gamble, but it totally paid off.  The weather was perfect, and the atmosphere was fantastic!  Everything was relaxed and just felt like a party celebrating the two of them and their union (as it should be)!!






Everyone sat on picnic benches for the ceremony, making it feel perfectly cozy :)





The reception was indoor/outdoor, and the outdoor included games!!  It was such a fantastic idea!  Polish horseshoes was a big hit.





Sarah's pregnant belly broke the bench :( 


Just kidding!!




The views were fantastic, the weather was perfect, and the celebrations were wonderful.  It was such a great party for these two wonderful people!  I loved seeing how they made it their own with such a unique environment.  Photos of the wedding party coming soon!!