So how did we spend our winter? Camping out in full-body camo, with nothing but the heat of a lantern fueled by fat of the bear we killed to sustain us!
Yeah, not really. This was a fun time, though. We visited my cousins in Colorado Springs, who are some of the most outdoorsy people I've ever known. They took us ice fishing and equipped us with all the gear we needed to keep us warm! It was cool to sit in the windowless tent, where the only light comes through the ice beneath your feet, giving it an iridescent glow. And we caught plenty of fish!
We've done a bit of traveling apart from that, too. In February, Hannah made a trip to Rochester for her late uncle's funeral. Though the reason for her visit was sad, I know it was great for all her family to get together for a couple days to celebrate his life and appreciate one another's company.
Immediately after Hannah's trip, I flew out to Minneapolis for work - my first work trip! As long as it remains infrequent, I have to say I love traveling for work. Cushy hotel with a free happy hour, meals on the company's dime, and a bit of time to see a new city. Who wouldn't enjoy that in place of the typical office grind? My coworker and I ate well while we were there. Hannah scoured Instagram and Yelp to provide us with an itinerary of delicious restaurants, so we dined according to her plan and loved every meal. ... Oh yeah, and the purpose of our trip was successful, too. We trained on a new software used to control our lab's test equipment, and hopefully the proliferation of our learning will enable our lab to handle a greater volume and complexity of work!
We've been fortunate to host some visitors recently, too. My family flew out at the beginning of March, and we spent a lot of time with our Denver and Colorado Springs cousins. We also tried Denver Biscuit Company, which was an awesome brunch! Highly recommended, especially on weekdays, since you avoid the 1-2 hour wait times common to weekend mornings.
Later that same week, Hannah's sister flew out for a ski weekend with two of her friends. We joined them for one of their ski days at Copper Mountain, along with Hannah's dad, who was in town for work. It was also Hannah's spring break and my off-Friday, so it all lined up perfectly! The weather was great and the slopes were even greater!
"Lean in!" Classic.
Hannah and I had our own ski day, too - this one at Ski Cooper (not to be confused with Copper).
Apart from all the traveling/visitors, we've had a lot of fun on our own, too. To kick off my birthday weekend in January, Hannah set up an at-home movie night that included BBQ takeout, an array of candy that rivals a true movie theater's, and a blanket fort to lounge in while we watched. She's so creative! Then, on my actual birthday, we did the Coors Brewery "short tour" by walking straight to the end for our three free beers. We followed that up with an incredible dinner at Linger, and went to the actual movies to see The Greatest Showman.
For Valentine's Day we went to dinner at a French restaurant called Bistro Vendome, where I tried venison for the first time and really enjoyed it! And their baguettes were glorious. Perfectly crisp shell with a warm, fluffy inside... man, I love bread. After dinner we went to the Colorado Symphony to see Rite of Spring. On top of being an incredible piece, it was also the basis for our marching band show the year Hannah and I met. How's that for full-circle romance on Valentine's Day?
Just a week later we went back to the symphony for their "Red Carpet Rewind," a celebration of the music of the Academy Awards from throughout the years. We heard pieces from Wizard of Oz, American in Paris, West Side Story, Star Wars, The Red Violin, plenty of Disney classics, and more. That show accompanied a trip to D Bar for Denver Restaurant Week, which was an awesome three-course meal that concluded with their popular "cake and shake" - literally a giant slice of chocolate cake with a shake of your choice on the side. Yeah, that's our kind of place!
We also visited the Denver Zoo one chilly afternoon. It was a great time, and I wish I had photos, because we saw lots of cool animals! My favorite might have been the sea lion show, but runner-ups included a polar bear, a snow leopard, particularly playful elephants, and a grizzly bear.
We've been on a few more brewery tours, too - and not just for the free beer! We both went on the Anheuser-Busch tour in Fort Collins, which we timed perfectly, as the Budweiser Clydesdales had just arrived back from an out-of-state trip. Those things are huge!! Hannah also did a New Belgium tour during her spring break, and just a couple weeks ago we visited Avery Brewery in Boulder, which was cool because it's a much smaller brewery, so it's all craft beer. All these brewery tours have really inspired Hannah. No joke, she wants to brew her own beer some day. If there was one place in the world that could turn Hannah into not just a beer-drinker, but a beer-brewer, it would be Colorado!
Better keep up with our biking so we don't get our beer bellies, though. Fortunately for us, Colorado is the perfect place for that, too. Previously we'd only done a single path that follows Highway 36 to Boulder, but last weekend we tried a new one that took us through Downtown Denver along the Platte River. Can't wait to keep trying more!
In other news, our church small group has been a particularly happy development over the last couple months. One of my favorite parts of every week in Arizona was our small group evenings, and when we moved here, I didn't expect to find another group we loved so much. But the one we've become a part of here is a fun and rejuvenating experience each week, which is such a blessing amidst the stress of work and school! In addition to that, Hannah's classmates have organized a Regis University community group, which we meet for roughly once a month. We've been reading through Tim Keller's book, Every Good Endeavor, which has really helped me grow as a Christian in the workplace. I think it's been great for Hannah, too.
Anyway, sorry for the lack of photos this time. My phone just died on me earlier today - like, charging-it-doesn't-turn-it-back-on died - and I hadn't uploaded the last couple months' photos to my laptop yet. Hopefully it starts working again soon, or I might unexpectedly be getting a new phone this weekend!
Happy spring, everybody :-)
