Chasing Yellow

Fall is upon us! S'pose you might say it "fell" right into our laps... Yeah, okay, I'm trying too hard. Point is, fall has arrived and brought with it some gorgeous scenery to Colorful Colorado!

If there's one theme to this post, it's the outdoors. Lately, we've had some incredible opportunities to venture into our mountainous backyard and grow our already large appreciation for God's creation. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking!

First off, here's a few highlights from a trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons we made with Hannah's parents in August.

The Grand Tetons - such sharp, rugged peaks!

Gorgeously clear water in Leigh Lake.

Old Faithful doing what it does best!

Grand Prismatic Spring. It's about 300 feet across, and the colors come from different types of bacteria that thrive in different temperatures - so the temperature gradient results in a rainbow!

Took a far-out tour on this bus from the 70's.

An iconic shot of Lower Yellowstone Falls.

One of the best things about Yellowstone is the wildlife. We saw hundreds of bison, including an experience of them stopping traffic as they wander across the road. This one clearly new he was being photographed!

A black bear and her cubs - just 20 yards from our car! We totally lucked out with wildlife sightings. We also saw a grizzly at dawn about 30 yards from our car, and a different grizzly and some wolves chowing down on a bison carcass in the middle of a field in Lamar Valley.

That trip was everything we hoped it would be and then some! A couple weeks later, over Labor Day weekend, Hannah and I tackled the Decalibron - a hiking trail that covers four 14ers (Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross) in the span of about 7.5 miles. It was as rewarding as it was exhausting!

This annotated photo sums it up pretty well.

At the top of Mount Democrat - 14,154 feet above sea level!

As always, you can't beat the views from the top of a 14er. Unreal.

A couple weeks after that, we went on a nice hike near Brainard Lake with a couple of our friends we met through church. These guys introduced us to 14ers last year when we hiked Huron Peak - possibly still our favorite 14er.

Their daughter is quite the trooper. We have no doubt she'll grow up just as outdoorsy as her parents!

Quick detour from the outdoors to mention a fun, very "Colorado-y" date night Hannah and I had recently. We went to a vegan restaurant for dinner, a kombucha tap room for drinks, and a vegan bakery for dessert! No, don't worry - we're not vegan now. Vegan cooking/baking has definitely surprised and impressed me, but it still doesn't beat the real thing!

Hannah with her kombucha flight. She likes it almost as much as Chai tea, which she likes almost as much as Coke Zero. Yes, it's a very complex hierarchy of beverages; sounds almost like a Matrix Logic problem! #tbt

Kombucha, by the way, is just fermented tea. Usually it's very aromatic, with most flavors coming from fruits and/or flowers.

Then, just last weekend, Hannah and I drove out to Aspen to catch the changing colors. It was one of the most visually stunning trips I've ever been on. We camped a few miles outside of town, which was a lot of fun; we saw soooo many stars at night! And we saw the Maroon Bells - possibly the most photographed peaks in Colorado, and for good reason. They were framed beautifully by all the yellow aspen trees. See below!

So, yeah. We're still loving Colorado.

To end, I wanna give a quick shoutout to Hannah for completing her last week of classes - EVER - yesterday! Just two more 12-week clinicals stand between her and graduation next May. She's learned so much, and now it's time to apply it in the field! Not that the learning will stop, of course :-)

New Job, New Third Year, New Niece... What Else is New?

We’re back! And guess what?? I’m a third year physical therapy student!! That is really crazy to say because the past two years have flown by... yet at the same time so much hard work, time, tears, and endurance has gone into them! I have about 7 weeks left of classroom work before I am out on clinical rotations for 24 weeks before I graduate. I know that time is going to fly just as much. 

So what have we been up to since March you may be wondering? For one, Jeremiah got a new job that has been so good for him. You may know that in order to move up to Denver he turned down a job offer from a company called Stryker that he interned for. They have a small division here in Denver which he tried to get a job with when we first moved, but due to its size there was nothing available. But he kept an eye out and about a year and a half later he saw an opportunity with them that fit him SO perfectly. So he went for it and nailed it! He got the job offer and started there on April 1st as a test engineer in their Research and Development department. It has been such a great fit for him. He has great coworkers, the mission of the company is something he feels passionate about, and he finds the work more interesting. What more could you want? I am very excited for him if you couldn’t tell! He also has had a few cool travel opportunities through work including just a couple of weeks ago to Puerto Rico where he got to stay a couple extra days to explore and even try surfing! 

In early May, Jeremiah and I had a temporary goodbye as I hit the road to live in Kansas for 8 weeks! I believe I mentioned it before, but my school requires that one of our clinical experiences be completed out-of-state and in a rural setting, or you can do both at once. So I decided to complete both at once, and it was made much easier on us because Jeremiah’s grandparents live in rural Kansas, just 6 hours from us! I lived with them in Salina, KS and worked about 40 minutes away in a smaller town called McPherson, KS. I worked in an OP/IP Mixed setting in McPherson hospital, though 95% of what I was doing was Outpatient Musculoskeletal, or what you imagine of a “typical” PT office setting. I really enjoyed the experience, living with Jeremiah’s grandparents and the setting itself. Everyone at my office was very welcoming and made me feel like part of the team which helped boost my confidence for sure. Then it was nice to go home at night and have friendly faces to talk to and eat with. Jeremiah’s grandparents were very generous and took me to some meals out, made me many nice dinners, took me to a community theater performance, and a number of concerts. I’ll add in pictures to show even more of what I did because I could go on for awhile!

A very nice dinner with a lovely view at the Salina Country Club

A classic, Swedish data horse. Everyone in Jeremiah's family has one of these outside their home!

A view from one of my bike rides. 

There was frequently the delicious smell of fresh-baked bread that Mormor was making! 

Outside McPherson Hospital

Mormor and Papa! 

I finished my last day in Kansas on a Friday, drove home on a Saturday, and was back in class on Monday. Yikes! But it was a super short semester, only about 4 1/2 weeks. This rounded out my 2nd year of PT school and I am a third year!! Woohoo! Now I in the midst of my 3 weeks off before my very last semester. And then two 12 week rotations. Graduation date: May 2, 2020. Can you tell the countdown is on??

We have a new niece!! My sister and brother-in-law gave birth to Mae Olivia Lucas on July 25th at 3:06 pm. I was sitting in class not paying attention at all and just staring at the group text with my family waiting to hear boy or girl. Then my mom sent the text that just said “Girl!!” I gasped out loud and everyone at my table turned to look at me and I looked up and whispered, “It’s a girl!!” It was such a happy moment. Fortunately I had already told everyone at my table that I was waiting on a new niece or nephew so they weren’t totally confused. She is adorable and with every new niece or nephew I’m always so amazed with the miracle of birth! I originally hadn’t planned to meet her until mid-October but my mom was so nice to offer to fly me out for about 48 hours in a week so I can snuggle her as a newborn. So just last week I got to see her and barely put her down for the two days I was there. I was just starting at her and so in love already! While I was in AZ we also managed to squeeze in a family dinner at my parent's house, I got to be part of a few school drop-offs and pick-ups (we have two new kindergarteners in the family!), and really just some great time talking with family. 

The few days I had in between my last day of the semester and going to AZ I got in 4 hikes! One day hike near Vail with a couple of friends, and 3 up in Rocky Mountain NP where I spent two nights camping for a girls' weekend/bachelorette party kind of thing. It was so nice to disconnect and be in the mountains hanging out with these friends and experiencing and taking in God's creation each day! It was so beautiful!! I will post pictures to do most of the explaining for me, once again.

After my 48 hours in AZ, I did not fly back up to CO alone. I flew back with my oldest niece, Paisley for a weekend trip! I had been asking my brother and sister-in-law for a little while now if they would be comfortable having her fly up here to visit us, and it ended up working out very well that I was at least with her for one leg of the trip, though she did the flight home by herself with no trouble at all! While she was here, she, Jeremiah, and I had a fun-filled weekend that left me rather tired! Definitely gave both Jeremiah and me new respect for how hard it must be for my siblings to raise three busy kids! We had a movie night where we set up a "concession stand" and pretended our apartment was the theater, we went on a short hike in Boulder, went on the Hammond's Candies factory tour, played at the park and splash pad, listened to lots of music, went to Chipotle for dinner (Paisley's request even though I offered restaurants unique to Denver!), made pizzas, went to Big Time Fun Center, and introduced her to Little Man Ice Cream! It was a successful weekend of fun, without any hiccups which I was happy about! Parker is already asking if it is his turn for a special trip. If we are still living in Denver when he and Madeline turn 8, I think it would be fun to make it a tradition! But who knows where we will be at that point.

My partner on my flight back to Denver!

My first day back on August 26th I have this big Comprehensive Exam for school, so I am now studying for that. Yayyyy. Next week, we are heading to Yellowstone with my parents, so Jeremiah and I are very much looking forward to that!

Before I wrap up, a couple more random things that we have done in the last several months include: A French-themed cooking class that was a late Valentine's gift from Jeremiah, that was delicious, the Dwights visited for a weekend in April, "Bagels and Beer" class where we learned how to make bagels at a small local, bakery (Jeremiah has found a new love of bread-baking), a quick Memorial Day weekend in AZ for my friend Morgan's wedding, a 4th of July hike up Torrey's peak which marked out 3rd 14er, stayed one night in Breckenridge as a belated-anniversary celebration, and miscellaneous other evenings with friends!

With Tommy and Emily at Garrett and Michelle's Wedding

My excellently plated meal from our cooking class (if I do say so myself!)

A last hike before I headed to Kansas.

Another beautiful ski day! This was at Arapahoe Basin.

We tried outdoor rock climbing for the first time with our friends Scott and Liz!

Film on the Rocks! We watched Top Gun at Red Rocks Amphitheater with Jeremiah's company!

Torrey's Peak

Our apartment has been under construction for months! This is our temporary entrance through our back door. 

Bagels and Beer Class (not all just our bagels)

The Big Apple

Happy Sunday, everyone! Lots to talk about, so I'm gonna jump straight into our trip to NYC and DC in January. It was everything we hoped for and then some! Here are some of the highlights from NYC...

Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. We especially enjoyed the museum on Ellis Island because it helped us understand how overwhelming it must have been for immigrants in that time!

9/11 Memorial & Museum. What an incredible tribute to those who lost their lives, voluntarily and involuntarily, that day. The museum really immerses you in the chaos and tragedy of that day.

Chicago on Broadway. Really entertaining show, and phenomenal voices! Featured Cuba Gooding Jr. as the lawyer, but unfortunately he didn't impress us. Of course, everyone around his was an elite-caliber singer, so maybe it's an unfair comparison, haha.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (no photos allowed, unfortunately!) and Live with Kelly and Ryan. Both were fun because they gave us a chance to see what "show biz" is like! The Late Show was recorded in advance, and Live was, well, live, so we got to see two different sides of what it's like to put together these shows. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the main guest on The Late Show, and Chris Pine was the main guest for Live. I think The Late Show was actually our favorite experience in NYC. The band (Jon Batiste & Stay Human) was fantastic; they kept us entertained before it started and during breaks. And of course, Stephen Colbert was hilarious. Major props to Hannah for planning well enough to get those free tickets online!

Seeing all the sights: Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center, the Friends building... about the only thing we didn't see was Central Park, and that was because we couldn't bare the thought of being totally exposed to the frigid wind. I'd like to mention I was the one who frequently sacrificed my the warmth of my hands in order to take our photos! That's at least 1000 husband points, right?

Was it cold? Yeah, as a matter of fact, it was! Why do you ask?

And of course, THE FOOD! Our favorite dessert was World's Best Cookie Dough (sorry, Dō, you weren't up to the hype!). A few of our other favorite meals were Best Bagel & Coffee, Very Fresh Noodles in Chelsea Market, Prince Street Pizza, and Dutch Freds, where we enjoyed awesome cocktails courtesy of Hannah's siblings!

After 3.5 days in NYC we took a Greyhound bus to DC for Hannah's physical therapy conference (super easy and inexpensive method of transportation, by the way). We had a full day together to explore the city, so we went to the Capitol, the Holocaust Museum, and saw most of the memorials on the National Mall.

Once Hannah was in the conference for the next couple days I just kept exploring on my own. The government shutdown kept the Smithsonians closed, but I found other things to do! I went to the Museum of the Bible, the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery, and Georgetown. A few of our favorite meals from DC were Amsterdam Falafel Shop, The Best Sandwich Place, Good Stuff Eatery, and Baked & Wired.

So, like I said, fantastic trip. I think we both did a great job totally detaching from work/school and living in the moment, just enjoying each experience as it came! Except for nearly missing our bus to the airport on the way home. That was not fun at all :-)

Since then we've been enjoying the winter weather in Colorado. We went snow tubing for the first time and had a blast. We also skied at Loveland Ski Area last weekend and are set to ski again this coming Thursday! And a couple weeks ago we visited my Colorado Springs family and visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. I guess visiting the zoo isn't exactly a winter weather activity, but it's a nationally acclaimed zoo, so worth mentioning!

In other news, Hannah now knows where her last two clinical rotations will be! Her second of the four will be in McPherson, KS, in May and June. Her third will be at an outpatient clinic in Boulder later this fall. And next winter, her last rotation will be at - drumroll, please - Children's Hospital of Colorado! She's most interested in pediatrics, so getting her final rotation at Children's was H-U-G-E. Not to mention she had to apply and interview for it - and it's competitive! Way to go, Hannah!!

In a similar vein, I recently accepted a job offer from Stryker, a company I interned with while I was in school! I'll be at their Sports Medicine location in the Denver Tech Center starting April 1st; this group designs surgical tools for things like rotator cuff repairs, knee and hip replacements, and other sports-related injuries. My last year and a half at Lockheed Martin has been a great experience, but the medical device industry excites me more than aerospace, so I'm excited to get back to that industry - and with a company I know I enjoyed previously. I'll be a test engineer in their R&D team, so I'm also excited to be focused more on the front end of the product development process compared to my current role at Lockheed.

Last thing I wanna touch on in this post is a shoutout to my dad. When we visited them at Christmas, my dad sent us home with a beautiful rocking chair he designed and built as a wedding gift to us. It's easily my favorite piece he's ever made - and not just because it's mine now! Here's a photo so you can admire it in all its glory.

Hopefully we'll have another podcast up on SoundCloud soon, too. Check it out here!