Boulder buys

After spending time in Denver, Brian & I headed to Estes Park via Boulder, where we stopped to shop at Pearl Street Mall. (I loved the outdoor district's flower gardens and newspaper distribution boxes.)






The college town reminded me a lot of Lawrence, and there were lots of boutiques where we found unique items, including these "Already Been Chewed" gingerbread cookie cutters. They may be the perfect kitchen gadget for that transition time between Halloween and the Christmas season ...


The destination store for us, though, was Jake Rocks, a Life is Good boutique. I've mentioned before that Brian & I are big fans of the brand, not to be confused with Life is Crap, a parody brand that we first spotted earlier this year when we were shopping in Taos, N.M.

I guess it's just a matter of perspective:

Denver diversions

Brian & I rolled back into town late Saturday night, and we've spent today mostly with Jen & Kaden. We had a wonderful, relaxing and adventurous Colorado vacation. I'll share a bit about it in this post, with more to come later this week.

(Also, a special thanks to Amanda, who was by guest blogger while I was away. I wasn't able to comment on the road, but I did read her posts and hope that she starts a blog of her own soon!)

Our first stop was Denver, where we attended a Sunday morning service at Trinity United Methodist Church, touted as the city's oldest church. The choir was impressive, and we enjoyed the architecture of the beautiful building.

We also think the person in charge of the downtown church's parking lot has a wicked sense of humor.

While in the Denver area, we stayed at Boston Commons. I'd highly recommend it. It's owned by the same people who run the Holtz in the Kansas City area, where Brian & I like to stay. When Brian checked us in last week, the woman at the front desk thought he was charming and gave us a free suite upgrade. Score!




Our Denver adventures included lunch at the Breckenridge Brewery (their Wild Raspberry Beer on tap is tasty); gawking at the Monet, Picasso and Houdon pieces at the Denver Art Museum; and shopping at the REI headquarters. We realized that people in Colorado are insane about their Starbucks. And we laughed when we saw a homeless man downtown with a sign that said, "Will kidnap mother-in-law for beer."

We also took photos at the downtown Civic Center, which had gorgeous gardens, public art and a Greek amphitheater:

Toothless wonder

I guess I never thought about dogs losing their teeth until I started finding Toby's around the house. I don't think it's proper blog etiquette to share pictures of the teeth, so you'll have to settle for this close up shot of the Tobster. It's hard to see, but my 6-mos. old toy poodle has adult teeth crowding his puppy teeth. Currently he has two rows of incisors. I think he's part shark.

Growing up, the O'Toole Tooth Fairy left quarters under our pillows. Toby's Tooth Fairy gives him tiny spoons full of peanut butter. Mmmmmm.

Fun with Dan and Ann

While Kurtis worked, Mom, Dad and I hung out in Fayetteville.

We went and looked at the house, but we couldn't get in because it was locked. They liked the yard and what they could see peeking in the windows.
Afterwards we drove around looking at pretty fall foliage and then ate pizza at Tiny Tim's on Fayetteville's square. The restaurant was where Kurtis told me we were going to go the night he proposed. He needed an excuse to get me up to the square. We later had dinner at a fancy-schmancy restaurant.
Here's some of the pretty flowers still in bloom there:

Mom's taking a picture of the spot where Kurtis proposed.

Weekend Treat

It's always fun to have our families in town visiting. This weekend, both the Masons and my parents were in town.

Kurtis and I spent yesterday in Joplin helping the family celebrate his grandpa's 70th birthday. We spent the day shopping, eating, talking, playing and even snuck in a pedicure for us girls.

Toby especially loves going to Grandpa's because he lives on a ranch where he can play and run all he wants. One of the highlights of the day for me was when the cows came in from the pasture with Toby nearby. He growled and barked and snarled as much as a not-even 3 pound dog can. Here is a picture of Kurtis' cousin, Nicole (left), and his sister, Kelly, keeping Toby at bay while the cows picked on him.

Mom and Dad pulled in late last night after visiting my aunt in Springfield, Mo., who was recovering from surgery. So far the most productive thing we've done today was downing some donuts. We'll be off soon to gaze at my soon-to-be first house.

You've been hijacked

While Lori is off vacationing, I'm taking over LifeisGolden.

Mer mer mer. When Lori's away, lil' sis can play (this is Lori's younger, fun and spunky sister, Amanda).

Life is Golden here in Arkansas, where I'm figuring out married life and getting ready to (gulp) buy my first house. So glad the stock market crashed.

It's not been easy living four hours away from family during such a tremendous year. Our blessings have been great: a healthy mom, a healthy baby and of course, my wedding rocked.

Lori's been on me to start a blog since I've moved down here. I have to admit, with so much going on, the blogs have helped me stay in touch with Lori and Jen. But for now, this will have to do. Maybe I'll like doing this so much, there will be a spin-off of LifeisGolden ... if you're lucky.

Here's a picture of Kurtis and me on our honeymoon in August. Viva Las Vegas.

Picture this ...

... since I don't have the pictures I wanted to post tonight.

I went to lunch with co-workers today at Sabor to celebrate my last week on the features team at the paper. We got a great group shot of all of us together ... but something happened to my memory card and the image is lost. Boo!

And Brian and I fixed Jen & Ryan dinner tonight and spent some time at their home, where Jen took a photo of me with Kaden and a baby quilt I made for him. That image is lost, too. Double boo! (I was much more upset about this when it first happened. Now I'm just sad.) Hopefully all of the bad mojo with my camera is out so I can snap pretty pics on my vacation.

Anyway, here's a picture of Mom's cat Lucy that I took last week. She looked very regal: