Brief updates

Okay, so we'll see if I can sum up the past 2 months in a post that is short enough to keep your attention!

I don't really remember what else happened in December after our last post and before our trip South, but I'm assuming it included work, snow, hiking, and Christmas festivities. In the middle of the month, we headed to Memphis for BIZ AND TIM'S WEDDING!!!
The bride and groom (hi biz! (and tim!)).
Chuck and Joel constructing their last Butler wedding speech...and Parks...


The visit was short but sweet and full of Canadian jokes. We also enjoyed Butler Christmas 2K9 before heading down I-55 to Johnston Christmas 2K9. Much fun was had by all in both locales.



I found out that I didn't have to work Christmas Eve Eve, so I changed my flight to return westward Christmas Eve, while Joel headed back to Colorado Springs. Meteorologists and Dallas International Airport had other plans, though, because we received a call on the way to the airport letting me know my flight was canceled and there were no other options besides leaving Christmas Day....so I spent one more night in Mississippi! Which was wonderful, except that Joel was in Colorado...but we survived and I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve with my parents, grandfather, and uncle!
Johnstons enjoying the restored King Edward Hotel in downtown Jackson

I finally arrived in Denver on Christmas night and we had our 3rd Christmas at my aunt and uncle's! Quite the whirlwind adventure.
Hurley and some of her Christmas presents.

Let's see....from there, we had New Year's Eve...our friends Andrew and Kelly (and their dog (Hurley's boyfriend) Wyatt) came over for snacks and libations, and we barely stayed awake for midnight, at which time we walked down the street in the freezing cold to watch the fireworks on Pike's Peak. Now this sounded wonderful on paper, and I'd looked forward to it all week, but I didn't think about the fact that the summit of this mountain is 15 miles west and 8000 feet above us, so the fireworks were sorta hard to see without binoculars (which of course none of us took down the street).

January pretty much flew by...we went on some great hikes around Colorado Springs, almost lost Hurley on one of them (she ran off after some scent and we found her after dark...not a good thing!).

Hurley walking on Stanley Reservoir...this made me a bit nervous!
My arm bruises from hitting about every rock down the Stanley Canyon trail (the trail follows a creek which is currently a 2.2 mile long block of ice).
Not even sure what to say about this...just saw a limo with a "hamburger holder" on the way to the mountains.
Ski poles showing the depth of the snow on one of Loveland's slopes.

A balloon on the way to Sol Vista.
The view from our lunch in Sol Vista.

And now we're in February! Joel and I took our first intentional vacation in over 4 years this past weekend. We've been trying to figure out where where wanted to go for awhile, so we finally chose Glenwood Springs, CO. I wanted to go somewhere with hot springs (actually, Glenwood has the largest outdoor hot springs pool in the country FYI) and hiking and Joel wanted the option to ski. We had a great time soaking in the 104 degree pool, skiing at Snowmass, touring Aspen (and sticking out like a sore thumb- I forgot my fur coat to wear with my cowboy boots!), and hiking to one of the most picturesque spots I can recall- Hanging Lake.
The Hot Springs Pool.
In downtown Glenwood Springs.

Hanging Lake photos:

(a beaver in the lake- he probably doesn't have much competition in this frigid water)
Thank you, public, for the bench you placed along the trail.

"Spouting Rock" was the source of the water for Hanging Lake...Joel kept thinking it was "Spittin' Rock," and said that if it were in the South, that would be the name. (FYI: pictures don't do it justice!)


A little place called Assssppppennn....
Aspens along the slopes at Snowmass.
A view towards Hotel Colorado and the Glenwood Hot Springs pool at night.
A medical marjuana dispensary in Glenwood Springs...these are the hot topic in the news around here recently.

A view eastbound on I-70 on the way back to the real world.

We returned to Colorado Springs rested and refreshed, enjoyed a Superbowl Party with friends from our Sunday School class, and then Joel hit the town for snow duty...and hasn't really been home since! He left last night around 11, came home for about 1.5 hours today, and doesn't think he'll be home until tomorrow...and we've only had about 3-5 inches! I don't even want to know how much he'll work if we ever get a huge storm!




One of the 8 deer I ran across in Palmer Park December 30, 1 mile north of our house when I was playing with my new GPS. I had to scare this one so that it wouldn't come between me and Hurley!