Alabama

Oh Sweet Home Alabama with your cute southern twang and gorgeous white beaches. Brad and I made the trip here in Fall of 2012 and tagged it on to his 30th Birthday extravaganza in New Orleans (We visited Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee).  For those of you that don't know Brad is a HUGE bass fisherman and a lot of our trips revolve around bass lakes especially in the south.  The main reason for going to Alabama was a #1 bass fishing lake called Guntersville.

Quick picture as we drove by

First we decided to stay in the Gulf Shores/Orange beach to soak in some rays and enjoy the beach. I must admit that almost every blog that I follow had featured some post about the Gulf Shores and the pure beauty of Alabama.  There was a lot of hype for this Colorado girl and let me tell you these beaches were G-O-R-G-O-U-S!!  First lets start with the pure as white sand that almost looked like snow, then the gorgeous water against the beautiful sky.  These beaches were amazing to walk miles on and take in the beauty.  Being that we were there in September  the crowds were small and we were able have more of a private beach experience and not have to fight the crowds at the restaurants.  One of our favorite eateries were Louisiana Lagniappe the seafood was excellent and the view of the water was breath taking.  Brad and I both agree that the Alabama beaches are a must see for anyone, by far one of the best.

After our beach bliss we heading across the majority of the state to good ol' Guntersville.  This is where Chris Lane (one of the professional bass fisherman) lives and fishes out of Lake Guntersville. The lake itself was one of the best fisheries that we have experienced, gorgeous scenery and big bass.  We guided out with one of Chris's friends and got to fish a large portion of the lake.  The unique thing about the lake is the LARGE lily pads and the year round frog fishing.  This by far is Brad's favorite and most unique technique.  Due to a cold front we didn't have the best of fishing days but we enjoyed the lake and the beautiful scenery.  Guntersville was very cute but VERY small with out the lake there really isn't much to do.

First thing in the morning with the fog

Look at those Lily Pads!

We then continued onward with our road trip into Tennessee.  Before crossing state lines we made a quick stop in Huntsville to visit Brad's Uncle Scott and Family.  It was great to visit and get to see the cute town of Huntsville.

On another note I had been crushing over Alabama ever since the first Episode of Hart of Dixie, one of my all time favorite shows.  It takes place in a town called Bluebell.  Much to my dismay this is a made up town but it still reflects the true Heart of Dixie!!

Alabama is defiantly in Brad and I's top five states.  We absolutely love the southern charm, white picturesque beaches, scenery and bass lakes.  Next time we for sure need to hit up both Auburn and Tuscaloosa.

2013 Year Rewind

I thought it would be fun to recap our 2013 year in photos since I was not actively blogging at the time.  It is always fun to go back and look at all the fun activities, vacations and times had over the previous year.  Brad and I don't like odd numbers and are OCD about making sure everything is in even number format (volume on radio, thermostat temp, year of cars, house address, etc.) , I was nervous about the '13 but it turned out to be a great year.  Maybe odd numbers aren't that bad after all!

{January}
As holds true every year there is not much that went on in January.  We were shocked and depressed  beyond belief when the Bronco's lost the first round of the playoffs and the rest of the month was pretty much a blur. On top of that it is too cold for Brad to fish so for him it was full on out "oh woo is me mood"!!  We also used January as our "maintenance month" filled with Doctors Appointments, Dentist Appointments and Vet appointments, as you can tell the excitement level was at an all time high low!
(No pictures to post, just shows how boring our January was!)

{February}
We were able to get out and enjoy some things in Denver including Restaurant week at Elway's with John and Maggie.  Brad made me a fabulous Valentines Day dinner, followed the next week with a traditional New Orleans style dinner to celebrate Fat Tuesday. Oysters and all it was one of my ABSOLUTE favorite meals of the year.

Wizard of Oz cake from Home and Garden Show contest

Colorado Pride on Larimer Square

Thank goodness for Fat Tuesday, wishing we were at Mardi Gras!

Valentines Day Dinner

{March}
Colorado March's are usually cold, I never know if I will be celebrating my birthday in nice weather or the freezing cold.  Lucky this March wasn't to bad and we started the month off with our first fishing trip of the year at "a secret" pond near Boulder.  I turned the BIG 3-0 (I don't want to talk about it) and celebrated for 4 straight days.  We went to one of my favorite restaurants in Boulder, The Med with Brad's family.  My co-workers got me a nice cake and treating me extra special. Brad, my mom and I went to Black Hawk to gamble for an over night trip and we finished off the the celebrations with our friends John and Maggie in Estes Park.  Once we got to Estes in snowed about a foot, it was so pretty and relaxing. It was one of the best birthday's even though I faced officially being "over the hill".

First Bass of the season

Fabulous Sangria at the Med

Work Birthday Celebration

Blackhawk with my mom and Brad

Birthday Cabin in Estes

Favorite BBQ joint, Smokies.  Keeping it real with Big Red, pure heaven

Winter Wonderland

Lilly Lake in the snow

{April}
First Rockies game of the season which meant it was COLD and rainy.  We were also able to enjoy the one and only Denver Nuggets playoff win.  Our pond un-thawed and we were able to start to enjoying the yard and wisteria.  At the end of April we did have to say good bye to our beloved pug Belle.  It was so hard to make the decision that it was time but her health was failing and she was starting to suffer.  She is so missed and truly was one of our "babies".

First of many Games

One and done

RIP to the best pug any family could ever ask for

{May}
We started off May with LOTS of fishing.  I caught my first Walleye and we were able to take the boat out several times.  For Mothers day we took the mom's (Sue John's mom and my mom) to a Rockies game and enjoyed beautiful weather. May is definitely one of my favorite months as it brings on our Anniversary which means VACATION.  This year was special as we celebrated 10 (1-0!) years of being married.  After much deliberation we decided to go to the Dominican Republic followed by a few days in New York City.  We stayed on a private island in DR in an all inclusive hotel, it was so very relaxing.  Our biggest choice we had to make the whole week was beach or pool!! We went from pure quite bliss to the crazy but absolutely amazing NYC.  We were only there for 3 days but were able to see and do a lot.  The first night I just stood in Times Square with my mouth open in awe.  We were able to go see Wicked and the 9/11 Memorial, it was such a great trip.

Smallest Walleye EVER

Mother's Day Rockies Game

Paradise

Looked like a scene from a book

Coming off the boat and seeing the hotel for the first time

Anniversary Sunset

Anniversary Dinner

Boat dock leading to our Hotel

Gorgeous scenery

Pure Paradise

We went from here to...

Here

Pizza, Pizza

Times Square

Central Park

FAO Schwartz

The Voice Chair

Outside Trump Tower

Favorite moment/memory in NYC

Statue of Liberty is in the back ground, closest we got due to storm Sandy

9/11 memorial, amazing tribute

Wall Street

 {Wooza, May was packed full of fun!}

{June}
Consisted of baseball, a wedding and birthday celebrations.  We got the best seats in Coors Field to celebrate John's 30th birthday, it was 100+ degrees but we still got our party on.  Lots more fishing happened all over Colorado and my dear friend Michelle got married in my favorite town of Manitou Springs.  The weather was amazing, we were able to enjoy our yard with lots of BBQ's and fun.

Our besties John and Maggie

Lucy enjoying staring at the fish

Back yard flowers

{July}
We celebrated a fun 4th of July (my favorite holiday) with two different firework displays.  The first one at.. you guessed it... a Rockies game and Coors field.  For the actual 4th of July we went with J&M to Blackhawk.  They put on an amazing display that lasted for almost an hour.  I just love watching the fireworks and hearing patriotic music, it takes me to my happiest of happy places!!  We headed back to Manitou Springs / Colorado Springs to celebrate John's birthday with other friends.  We were also able to enjoy some hiking.

So pretty

Pond flowers in full bloom

Brad feeding the giraffes and Chyanne Mountain Zoo

A great hike out of Colorado Springs

{August}
Brad's obsession for the Bronco's officially is in high gear with training camp starting.  We headed down to Dove Valley to watch the Bronco's practice and get autographs.  We were invited up to Central City to spend time with Brad's dads side of the family.  We had a wonderful time visiting and even taking in a hike near his uncles awesome property.  We finished the month off with the Bronco's scrimmage game at Mile High where we were drenched with rain. Scrimmaged still went on and autographs happened after, it was EPIC.  Then we came home to (dun,dun, dun) "the micro burst".
(Side note: While we thought we were getting rained on hard at the Bronco's scrimmage a mini tornado called a micro burst hit the house, lots of damage in our neighborhood we were lucky)

Training Camp

Best seats for autographs, good thing Brad got there 8 hours before the gates opened!

Before the Rain (Great photo bomb in the back)

During the Rain

Autographed Peyton Manning Tennessee Mini helmet

Brad and his Dad

Brad's dad and his Aunt Susan and Uncle Web

Tree down from the micro burst

Leaves EVERYWHERE

{September}
Dealt with tons of yard cleanup due to all the damage and an insurance claim with lots of work.  We  got away for the weekend to Brad's families cabin in Fairplay, CO.  We were able to enjoy Breckenridge and go for a long hike on the slopes.  Colorado was hit with the some of the worst flooding on record and we were unable to work for a few days due to the flood danger (My work building abuts to the shore line of Boulder Creek).  There was so much devastation to Boulder and Longmont is was scary and unbelievable.  On a more positive note we ended the month with a wonderful trip to Santa Fe New Mexico.  The food was fabulous and pretty much we walked the plaza and ate the whole time.  Needless to say when we got back we had to get back into exercising!!

Pond after all the rain

Another Bass this time on a "Shell Cracker"

Boulder Creek right outside my work

Boulder Creek looking west, this usually is just a small stream

I was super freaked out about heading up Sandia Peak Tramway in Albuquerque

Tram itself, super high

At the top observatory

Wildflowers

Santa Fe Church

Delicious Christmas Style Enchiladas with sopapilla's

{October}
We went to lots of CU games with our good friends Chas and Afton.  We have a tailgating pass and season tickets so most of our weekends were at Folsom Field celebrating the the buffs and routing Ralphy on her run.  Ralphy is a real life buffalo that runs the field prior to the Colorado buffs taking on the field.  The call her the "feirceest" mascot in college football.  It makes me proud to be a CU alumn!! We also went on a massive hike to the Flatirons and enjoyed a Bronco game.

Go Buffs

Sunset over Folsom Field

Ralphy is my homegirl

Flatirons behind us

Made it to the base of Flatiron 2 

Bronco's Game

{November}
Mostly consisted of Bronco's parties and friends.  We celebrated Brad's 31st birthday in Black Hawk with friends and had a great time.  Thanksgiving was a blast at Brad's dads house and we ate way too much turkey. 

Eating at his favorite Restaurant the OG (Olive Garden)

Brad's Dad with the turkey

{December}
We did so many fun things leading up to Christmas including The Nutcracker Ballet, Cirque Dreams Holidaze, shopping and so much more.  We celebrated Christmas in Estes Park and brought in the new year in our PJ's watching movies.

{Congratulations you made it through this insanely long post}

As I look back through the year I am so grateful.  I am lucky to have such a great husband, family and friends!!  I can't wait to see what 2014 will bring (hopefully a Denver Bronco Superbowl win)! Thank you all for reading my little online journal it means a lot.