My Cousin's Wedding

My cousin got married in Las Vegas in October.  (As a side note this is my second cousin to get married in Vegas).  It was a nice opportunity to get out of town and visit somewhere other than Colorado, I LOVE Colorado, but like to visit other places also!

Here are some photo highlights:

First dance

This is what happens to your feet when you don't wear shoes.

My brother and his friend enjoying the festivities.

My other cousin and I.

While we were in Vegas we also did a lot of walking, some gambling, rode the New York, New York coaster, and went through the 13th Floor Haunted House at Circus Circus.

We also spent some time with my friend, right in time, just a week before she moved to San Diego.  We enjoyed some all-you-can-eat sushi, yumm!

At MGM we played in the lazy river, watched Ka (amazing!) and enjoyed some time watching the lions.

Birthday Surprise

For my sister's 30th birthday I flew to Colorado to surprise her. It is always great to visit family! I especially miss shopping and working out with my sister, so of course we did some of each. The weekend was also full of eating...

And surprises....

And snow...

But no sun like I had been missing and hoped to soak in. Notice the sun Mars is basking in when I arrived home to the apartment in rainy Washington.

Cute Picture

I just found this cute picture of Summer, my mom, Brewster and Haley (left and clockwise).

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday

I honestly can't remember what we did most of Sunday. I do know that we had reservations at Salty's. When leaving Seattle we had some extra time so we stopped by Pyramid Brewery to have a beer.

We then had dinner at Salty's. Here is the view from our table. Beautiful!!

The group.

Large martini glass full of seafood.

On Monday I went into work and my boss found out that my family was still here, so she sent me home. I met up with Mom, Dad and my brother at Mercer Island and we headed into Bellevue for lunch. My brother grabbed Chipotle and the rest of us had California Pizza Kitchen, I love their BBQ chicken salad! While we were eating we had some fun watching security guards try to chase down, what we assumed to be, a shoplifter.

After lunch my dad and brother headed off to find a tux and get my brother to the airport. My mom and I went shopping in Bellevue.

That evening we had dinner at The Whistle Stop.

The next morning we hung out at the apartment for a bit. Mars really enjoyed another warm lap.

We went to the Ram for lunch and then my parents' headed to the airport. It was great having family visit and I miss them!

Saturday

I tried posting this before, but ran into complications with the photos and gave up...sorry for the delay.

My sister and her husband flew home very early on Saturday morning. Big B and I didn't set an alarm so we could catch up on some rest. Once we woke up we met up with my parents and then made a plan to meet up with my brother and a friend of his visiting from Vancouver.

We decided to meet at Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame. We really enjoyed the Experience Music side of the museum. It had a lot of history, especially musicians based out of Seattle. My favorite part was the top floor where you could play different instruments, mix your own music and sing...although I think this was a lot of people's favorite area.

Tower of Guitars

An old guitar that I thought was very pretty.

The Science Fiction area wasn't as interesting to me, but still neat to look through. There was a special exhibit of glass sculptures done by an artist in Italy. This one was my favorite, although hard to photograph with the lighting in the room.

After the museum with met up with my brother's friend's sister and their friend at the Elysian Brewery. We went to the one on Capitol Hill. The brewery had a wide variety of beer.

I can't remember the name of my favorite beer, but my dad thought it was too bitter.

After the Elysian we walked down to Cupcake Royale and enjoyed some cupcakes before heading home. These were good cupcakes, but not as good as the ones at the Buttercream Cupcakery in Fort Collins or the Tee & Cakes in Boulder.

Black Friday

My mom and sister met me at my apartment early in the morning. We first headed to Target, but decided it was way too crowded. After that we hit Kohl's and Old Navy and made some purchases. We ate breakfast at Panera and then had to grab some coffee at Starbucks.

After our shopping we met up with the boys at the rental house, they ate breakfast at Beth's Cafe. We all headed into Seattle, but had to stop on Alki Beach for a photo op. Check out my sister's blog to see a photo were more of us actually got some air.

In Seattle we wandered around Pike's Market, ate lunch (and if you know my family you can guess it, tried some beer) at Pike's Brewery, placed gum in Post Alley and got more Starbucks at the original store.

After Pike's we went on the Underground Tour, this has great insight into the "whys" that occur after you are in Seattle for more than a day plus is fairly entertaining.

We had planned on doing dinner at Salty's, but didn't call ahead for reservations. We ended up eating at the rental house, playing more games and drinking some wine. Eventually we decided we should go out, so my dad dropped us off at the Celtic Swell. The atmosphere was great and the boys especially had a good time.

On the walk home Big B and my brother brushed up on their Parkour.

The day everyone remembers to give thanks, hopefully.

We played lots of games and enjoyed some great food! It was great having family in town and I was so thankful for the chance to spend time with them.

We also had to check out the Black Friday ads and come up a plan for the following day.

My Brother joins us - Wednesday

Wednesday was supposed to be the "nice" day so we decided to do the outside stuff we had wanted to do. The plan was to visit the falls and to hike around the area, but only my sister and brother-in-law were ambitious enough to follow through with the hiking thought.

After the falls we visited the Snoqualmie Brewery. Their beer was more along our taste (a favorite was the Harvest Moon) and the food hit the spot!

After the brewery the plan was to visit a few wineries. We ended up spending a lot more time getting there and ran out of time, so we decided to visit the Novelty Hill/Januik winery so we could "kill 2 birds with 1 stone." The wine was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. The design was very modern, but warmed up a bit inside.

After the winery we went by Big B and I's apartment to have more wine and play a few card games. Later we picked up my brother from the airport and then had dinner at Duke's Chowder House (one of Big B and I's favorites for clam chowder and seafood).

My Family Visited Me for Thanksgiving - Tuesday

My family rented a house in West Seattle for Thanksgiving and everyone came to visit! My parents arrived during the day on Monday. After work I met them and Big B at their rented house, talked and then later picked up my sister and her husband from the airport.

Tuesday we visited Pioneer Square. We looked around a bit, spent a good chunk of time at Elliott Bay Book Company. After that we visited Pyramid Brewery, including a bunch of beer tasting...there were a bunch of good ones to chose a beer from.

After lunch we went to the Locks (this is a popular place to visit with visitors because the scenery is always changing). After some boat watching and flower viewing we headed back towards the city center. On the way out of the Ballard area we visited Hale's Ales. There beers tasted pretty good, but weren't quite our family's style (as you can tell from my sister's face).

We ended the day with a visit to the Husky stadium and dinner from Metropolitan Market.

The week (about) of my move in recap

I had a lot of help preparing for my move, but I especially had help cramming in all the stuff I "had" to do. (Check out my sister's and dad's blogs for slightly different recaps).

Wednesday
One of my friends, my sister and I went to Cheese in Estes Park. We saw some elk on the way in and enjoyed some delicious wine and food (especially the cheese).

Friday

I attended my friend's graduation party from vet school and then we enjoyed some beverages at Zquila and Old Chicago with some other friends.

Saturday

Breakfast at the Rainbow with some friends from Larimer Humane Society. Then my sister and I enjoyed Easy Streets from Odells (my favorite beer), while my friend kept us company. Then we grabbed some food at Coopersmiths (I will miss their hobgobblers and pub chips) and watched a chick flick (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past).

Sunday

Breakfast at the Silver Grill (I love their cinnamon roll bread french toast) with the bookclub that eats instead of reading books. Then my sister  and I went shopping and I got a massage while she had a pedicure. Then later that day I went camping at Red Feather with some friends and one of their dogs.

Bookclub that eats instead of reads

View near camp site.

Haley teaching Sienna how to get as dirty as possible.

Monday

It was back to reality and time to get packing.

Tuesday
My sister headed over early to help me wrap up packing. Shortly after two friends also came to help me out. Then to round out the group two other friends came by. I don't know what I would have done without their help....it would have been much later nights (mornings)! One last friend also came by after work to wrap up the night.

The back of the moving van about 10 pm.

Wednesday

My dad drove up and helped me finish loading the truck. I rehomed my rat with a boy who sounds like a great home and the trip to Bennett should have been much less stressfull then the one to Seattle would have been (thanks Danielle!) Then it was to the Elephant Bar for dinner with the newly graduated Big B, his mom and stepdad and my parents. Much later that night my parents, my sister and brother-in-law helped me clean.

Thursday

Finished the last minute cleaning and headed out around 6:30 am. Drove to Sun Valley, Idaho with lunch at a great rest stop in Wyoming. My brother welcomed us with a delicious dinner and brownies baked by his roommate.

The moving van with my car in tow.

Clover hiding.

Curious Mars.

The seasoned traveler, Haley.

Friday

Spent the day in Ketchum including a hike, wine, appetizers, and dinner.

Saturday

On to Seattle with a very small detour to drop my brother off at the Boise airport to pick up his new truck. We arrived at the hotel in Kent around 6 pm. After checking in we enjoyed dinner at The Ram (they must be somehow associated with CB Potts because they carry the same beer...I enjoyed the Wit) and watched the Nuggets game (we were the minority cheering for them).

Sunday

I signed my lease and moved into my new apartment. There was some excitment in the parking lot that made me a bit nervous, but it helped me meet some of the neighbors.

I am excited about exploring a new state, but miss my friends and family! Come visit any time.

Running in Fort Collins

Before I moved I decided to run in my two favorite 5 Ks. I have ran in both of them for at least the last 3 years. The first one was the Fast & the Furriest which benefits vet students at CSU. The weather wasn't great (and it had even been rescheduled due to the weather the weekend before - at least we didn't have to run in the snow), but my sister and I did fairly well. After the race my sister and I snapped some photos of the campus during spring time (although the cloud cover isn't usually present).

Outside the Ammons building.

The oval.

In May I volunteered at the Fire Hydrant 5, which benefits the Larimer Humane Society. I really enjoy doing this because I get to run with a dog and interact with lots of people. My companion was a boxer (and I think husky) mix named Yoshi. If I could have kept up his pace we would have ran my fastest time, by far. However, he wore me out in the first mile and I had to walk a lot the last 2 miles. I haven't been that sore from running that distance in a LONG time.

My parents and my sister with their dogs, and Yoshi and I.