I can’t believe it’s Friday – like really, it just doesn’t seem like all the other days of the week have already gone by. My weeks used to drag by, but now that I’m doing work that I’m completely passionate about, my weeks seem to literally fly by. So Friday has come too soon in my opinion this week, but it was good day and I’m happy to have documented it!

It’s a gloomy morning and it would stay mostly overcast for the entire day. We don’t get a lot of overcast days here along the front range in Colorado, so I actually really appreciate the change. We’ve also been getting spontaneous rain showers which are very welcomed. We had a really dry winter this year and will take any precipitation we can get!

I started the morning by folding some laundry from yesterday that was still in the dryer. Since it was a little chilly, I chose my favorite cozy J. Crew sweats that my sister got me (she always picks me out the most amazing things) and the sweatshirt/jacket that I’ve pretty much lived in for the last two or three years from Lululemon. What I will do when that jacket finally goes into retirement, I do not know, nor do I want to think about such a day.

Penny just loves being loved. She will walk in and just give you a look that cannot be resisted. She just wants some petting and snuggles and then she’ll go off and do her own things.

Colin thought I would like this flavor so he grabbed it. It was really good, actually. I still have half left that I’ll finish off this weekend. It sort of tasted like eating a pear pastry with yummy spices. We go through phases where we eat a lot of yoghurt and we are currently in one of those right now. We pretty much only get Noosa – we like it a lot and also appreciate that it’s a local product! We used to buy it when the company first started out and was selling at the Boulder Farmers’ Market!

Izzy likes to show off to get our attention. This morning is was carrying around this huge stuffed elephant. She seriously prances. It’s adorable and we absolutely encourage it!

It was very wet out this morning so we kept the doggie door closed to keep the dogs from tracking in too much mud and stuff. Penny loves to be outside and was staring longingly out the window. Like I said, we don’t get a lot of rainy days here, so this is an unusual circumstance for her…”Tell me again, why is the doggie door closed?!”

Izzy looking longingly at the spot next to Colin. She often waits to be invited up on the couch which I think is pretty cool.

I spent my entire morning trying to figure out what tax forms I need to complete in order to participate in a craft fair in Denver in a couple weeks. Denver collects its own taxes, so my understanding is that I need additional forms and such to be in good standing. This is all super new to me so it was a big job. I was so over it by the time I stopped a little before lunch.

I posted this image on Instagram to just thank everyone who has supported and followed my lettering account over the last year. I reached 600 followers the other day and thought it was a good milestone to acknowledge and to show my appreciation!

We have a little tradition of going out for Mexican food on Fridays when we can make it work. After all that tax research, I was absolutely in the mood to get out of the house for a bit. A good friend of ours often meets us as he lives close by and he was able to sneak away from work for a bit today. It was so good to see him and catch up a little. He and Colin talked about work a lot too (they work together as well) and I can usually keep up with most of it 🙂

When we got home, the mail had arrived and with it came my new Story Kit!!! I love love love this months kit. The colors are seriously some of my very favorites. Dark, navy blues are probably my all time favorite colors and the greys, turquoises and coral colors are also at the top of my list. The theme this month is ‘Lens’ and the stamp set is incredible.

Colin captured this Penny face. How can you not want to snuggle that?!?

More work after lunch. Listening to some Country music again today.

The dogs were pestering me for hours this afternoon. They wanted to go out so bad. I was thinking of taking them for a walk, but I thought the trails would likely be pretty muddy. So a trip down the street to the school it was. Colin came too and threw the disk for them while I did some laps around the track. Even when it’s dark and cloudy, I think the mountains look so beautiful.

Taking care of a light bulb issue. Turns out the bulb had just become loose – tightening it did the trick!

We feed the dogs a meal around 10pm, right before bed. It seems to help their stomachs stay calm into the morning. After “second dinner” they get to have a toothbrush aka Greenie treat. The excitement is quite the sight. They do little dances and purposely bump into each other and as you can see in the photo, there is a LOT of tail wagging.

So that’s a wrap for Friday!  Bring on the weekend!!

Good morning Thursday!!  That green hose you likely see in a lot of the pictures I take of the yard is to water the tree there. That tree tends to hoard the water in the ground around it and it’s really hard to get grass to grow on the hill just beyond the trunk. We’re hoping if we give the tree it’s own water more often this year, the grass will have a chance of surviving!

While I got some laundry started, Izzy joined me. I thought I better give her some hugs.

Lots of errands to run today. Costco, coffee shop, drop off some cards for a friend. I don’t mind Costco so much on weekdays. It still stresses me out to go in there, but at least there is room to move around.

Boulder Flatirons shot while waiting at a red light.

Colin and I both love Ozo coffee. So made a special stop in Boulder to grab a bag of their decaf beans. Since I survived Costco earlier, I thought I’d treat myself to an iced latte and some of my favorite GF Lemon Poppy seed bread!

Penny enjoys rides where she can stick her head out the window a lot, so she came along with me today. She had a great time and enjoyed a little tiny piece of lemon poppy seed bread 😉

A shot that Colin got of Izzy while I was gone – so fluffy!

I went out to help Colin and Izzy finish filling the garden box with the woodchips. Such hard workers!

At 4:30, I made my way over to my friend Kati’s for a fun night out!  She invited me to join her for a viewing of The Princess Bride at the Paramount Theater in downtown Denver. It’s pretty much one of my very favorite movies ever (Colin’s too, he was bummed he couldn’t go…but I wasn’t giving up my ticket! ha!), so I was super excited to get to go! We survived some horrible Colorado 4-20 traffic and found a spot near the theater for dinner. Then we waited for a little bit in the rain to enter the theater. Totally worth it!!

It was a full house!  Such a beautiful venue too.

We had great seats and it was a wonderful experience! It was so fun to be in a room where everyone was reciting the best lines and clapping at the amazing parts. After the movie, Wesley himself (aka Cary Elwes) came out on stage for a Q&A. He was so great. Really charismatic and down to earth. He talked a lot about how the movie didn’t do well in the theaters, so the actors and staff all just kind of went on with their lives, not thinking much of it except that they had a great time making it. Then about 10 years later, they started noticing people approaching them and reciting lines from the movie and asking lots of questions. When the VHS player became standard in people’s homes, suddenly the film experienced a resurgence and it was awesome. Cary ended up writing a book about what it was like working with the other actors and many of them contributed to it as well. I’m thinking I’m going to get myself a copy because the stories he was telling were wonderful!!

After the event, Kati and I headed back home. It was a late night, but so amazing. I always love spending time with her and this was an extra special experience that I’ll never forget <3

What a great way to start a Wednesday – Colin made me breakfast!!

English Breakfast tea with cream and sugar. These days, I switch between coffee and tea in the morning. Sometimes I’ll have afternoon tea as well.

I woke up to 600 followers on Instagram – super excited and grateful!

A friend of mine works for this company and gifted me this lip care set – it’s amazing. I try to use both the exfoliator and the balm daily.

Ah. A trip to our favorite store…That was absolute sarcasm, by the way.

Home Depot. I don’t even want to think about how much money we’ve spent there over the years. It would be painful to know, I’m sure.

Izzy does this thing where she goes around to the all rugs in an area and messes them up. We have no clue why she does it. It’s weird, yet hilarious.

I had some printing to do today, but I really hated the place I had the printer set up so I also did some rearranging to make it more usable. Really happy with how it all came together.

Penny often hangs out with me while I work.

Colin was messing around the sprinklers after work. So nice to see the grass green instead of brown.

 

It was windy but so beautiful out. The dogs and I went to the open space that’s just up the street from us. They love to sniff EVERYTHING. I have to be very patient. The views in the open space are so beautiful, though. So I can usually keep myself occupied while they check up on all the spots.

We got back just as Colin was leaving to get some groceries for dinner, so the girls hopped into the back with him to go for a ride.

Colin grabbed a watermelon at the store. It was pretty good, actually, considering how early in the year it still is! Made a great dessert and  was a very sweet way to end a great day.

Tuesday, April 18 2017

8:00am | I just can’t even describe how much I love that big brown nose. Most days, Izzy & Penny come in to let us know that it is definitely time to get out of bed. They take turns on each side of the bed. I imagine them giving each other looks like, “Is yours budging? No? Mine either. Let’s switch sides.”

9:30am | Eggs & hashbrowns & bacon for breakfast. I have some fans. We let the girls lick the egg plates. They love eggs. Colin had already finished (he eats so so fast) so they were waiting for me to be done…we’ve created egg monsters.

Big Hugs!!! You get them whether you want them or not around here 😉

Around here we do french press coffee and tea – both decaf. Turns out we both sleep a lot better when we eliminate caffeine from our diets.

Today’s work, a piece my cousin has commissioned for her new baby girl’s room. It’s a page from the book “Wish” by Matthew Cordell. It’s really cute and sweet and it might make you cry a little…or a lot.

3:00pm | Confession: I forgot to eat lunch today.  Oops.

I have a bunch of the Tombow dual tip pens, but I really struggle to use them in a way that I like. Today, I decided to try using them on watercolor paper (which is probably not great for the brush tips at all as it will pull on the fibers of the felt tip, but hey, if it works and I actually use them, I’m okay with them wearing out a little faster.) I really like the way it turned out! It took me a couple tries to get something I liked, but I thought the blending worked much better on the watercolor paper than on other types I’ve tried!

Most days, around 4pm, Penny comes to find me to let me know she’s ready to play. This dog has a really impressive internal clock.

Stretching before play. Good habits.

 

We have quite a few blossoms on the apple tree again this year. Bracing ourselves for lots of apples.

The standoff.

5:00pm | Dinner time

“I need to make some lists!” I announce to Colin, who rolls his eyes, and for the billionth time since we’ve known each other says “Girls love to make lists” (it’s a South Park joke) which causes me to roll my eyes in return. Although, truly, this girl does like to make lists! Today’s lists involve things to get at the grocery store & things to get done in the house before the shower we’re hosting in a couple weekends.

7:30pm | She’s our observer. She loves to be outside. She guards the yard against squirrels and bunnies. She takes her job very seriously.

10:00pm | We had leftovers for dinner which means minimal dishes. Yay! Then we settled in on the couch for a movie. Izzy was really snuggly as the evening wore on. This is not typical for her. So I made Colin snap a picture. We have one of those LoveSac couches and it’s still set up in the guest bed configuration from last weekend when my cousin stayed for a few nights. It’s just so comfy, we can’t bring ourselves to put it back into couch mode! We do let the dogs get on this couch because the covers are extra tough and washable, but they aren’t allowed on any other stuff. For the most part they are really good about that rule.

YAY!! Week in the Life!!!  I Love this project. The first year I participated, 2015, it was a bit overwhelming but still exciting and I learned so much about my process and how I could make it better for the next year. So I played along again last year and I completely fell in love. I loved taking photos, reviewing my photos and blogging about them each day, deciding what to print and edit, putting the album together – just everything.

Today, I decided I had better go through my album from last year to remind myself about what I did well, how many photos I ideally want to have each day and what I can improve on this year. I really never record things, ever, but thought I would record the walk through so that you can see how my album turned out last year!! (Spoiler, it’s really similar to Ali’s! Ha!)

MONDAY, APRIL 17th 2017

Typical morning involves a 6-6:30am wake-up call from Penny (our younger Labradoodle). When Izzy is sure that Penny has successfully pulled me (almost always me, rather than Colin, as I’m the bigger pushover) out of bed, she joins us on our trip to the back door. They both do a quick job outside and then come back in for breakfast. We all go back to bed for another couple hours.

8:30am | Colin’s alarm goes off and he starts to check his email on his phone from bed. I also do a little screen time while Colin starts to get dressed. About 30 minutes later, he reenters the room with a cup of coffee for me!!

The weather today is gorgeous. It’s in the 70s, sunny, and there is a light breeze. Penny is laying by the open door, but when I approach, she gets excited that I might be going outside. Both dogs love it when we are outside.

Colin has taken advantage of the weather and is doing his work from the patio – smart. He multi-tasks and throws the disk for the dogs.

I made myself a really quick breakfast of toast with chocolate hazelnut butter and then Colin and I head into Boulder for our Chiropractor appointments. Colin doesn’t actually have an appointment, but Cindie is always very accommodating and lets him slip in with me. I just got home from traveling to visit family in WI so I’m definitely in need of some adjusting! The drive into Boulder is stunning, as always.

1:00PM | Home again and time for lunch!

The girls are supervising.

Quesadilla for me! Colin found some gluten free tortillas that have more of the consistency of flour tortillas (rather than corn) and I love them! I can finally have quesadillas and burritos again. Winning!!

Today I did a lot of catch up on emails & list making and such for my business. I rewarded myself with a little time to do some lettering. This month, I’ve been participating in a couple of lettering challenges on Instagram. One of them is a Harry Potter themed challenge revolving around spells, charms and potions. It’s been really fun!

Izzy napping in front of the door. There was a very nice breeze coming through, I understand why she picked this spot!

It’s about 5 o’clock and I’m ready for a break. I grab a LaCroix (Peach/Pear today) and my book, and I head outside.

But then Colin gets home from making a Craig’s List trade – a bike rack for this brand new hammock (ours broke last fall). He puts it up right away and of course we have to try it out! Snuggles, sunshine and squinty eyes 🙂

Enjoying the wonderful breeze…

My friend Tess called to chat about her baby shower that I’m planning/hosting at the end of the month. Colin walked in and insisted that I needed a photo of this goofiness, ha! (PS see that awesome closet behind me?! Colin built that last week while I was gone – we now each have our own closet in our bedroom – just need doors. Gosh I love that man!)

6:30PM | We finally make it to the gym. I did some core exercises and then grabbed a recumbent bike. I love those bikes because I can easily read while I pedal!  I’ve been making my way through the Harry Potter series this year. I’m currently about 100 pages away from finishing the 5th book, The Order of the Phoenix.

Gorgeous sunset as we leave the gym.

7:30PM | When we get home, Colin quick cooks up some burger to add to our spaghetti sauce, then we take the dogs down the street to the school so they can run around and fetch the disk.

I didn’t take any photos the rest of the evening. We just ate delicious spaghetti, watched some TV (Bob’s Burgers, Archer and Into the Badlands), I also played Suduko on my phone which I’ve really been into lately. Cleaned up the kitchen. We sat in bed reading and listening to podcasts for a while with the window cracked open to let in some fresh air…Ahhh, good night, Monday…