Highest Bridge in the World - SURPRISE BDAY TRIP

I wanted to go on a birthday trip but didn't have time till this past weekend. Jimmie had told me about Royal Gorge months ago and I hadn't been so...he drove me there. It was super cool! Even though, I am a tad afraid of heights I loved seeing God's creation. I wonder if this is a mini version of The Grand Canyon. 

We took the gondola over and then walked the bridge back. The bridge had the flags of every state and had to find my dear old Connecticut flag. There was also ziplining and no...I didn't try that. I would have had to have given myself a long pep talk just to get into the contraption. While we were walking back toward the bridge, there were little goldfish you could feed and a slingshot kind of "ride". Looked a little freaky. Who would voluntarily put themselves into it to be flung into the air back and forth? Crazy people. 

The view was freaking amazing! I loved seeing the mountains, the Arkansas river, the train, the sky...just everything. It was neat to see and I got a souvenir sticker to put on my suitcase! Glad the weather was cool and not hot. The sun played peekaboo for a while. It did get a bit windy but super happy the bridge was solid. Jimmie kept looking down and pointing out things to me, which I looked at for .05 seconds before backing up. I think he enjoyed seeing me squirm. 

If you ever get a chance to go, it is well worth the drive. We watched a video in the museum about a fire that happened here years ago and burned almost everything around this bridge, yet the bridge was barely touched. How amazing is that! This bridge was built before our grandparents' time and is still standing today! Men were a lot smarter back then than they are now...just saying. 

Welcome 31!

 I am officially 31. Dang! Feels weird. I kind of miss my 20s but at the same time, I am way more sure of myself and what I want then when I was in my 20s. I feel like those years were for exploring. 30s are for accomplishing goals. There are so many things that I have done in my late 20s into 30s that I am super proud of. I couldn't have done those things without the support system that I have, which consists of family, friends, Jimmie and God. I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Him. 

It's crazy how fast time flies but I am enjoying the journey. While there were mistakes made and choices I wish I thought through, I am happy to be where I am now. I am happy that I made the choice to leave Connecticut and explore Colorado. I am happy that I made the choice to apply for a teaching position at a new private HS. I am happy that I applied for the promotion of Department Head. I am happy that I made so many friends in the hearing and Deaf worlds. I am happy that I finally found peace with how God created me. It took a long time to get to this place and while I wouldn't wish my upbringing on anyone, I am happy that God and people in my life helped me get to age 31. 

If you know me, you know I don't like stand around and chat type of parties. I like DOING SOMETHING! For my 30th, my friends and I went to Rockport, TX. This year, I had a paint party where we all painted clothes. It was soooo much fun! Even though it rained, Josie and Rachella saved the day by offering to host my party in their garage. We ended the day with cake, which of course was mailed to me by my awesome mother. It's been a tradition since I was in college. This time, however, my mother refused to tell me what kind of cake it was! "It shall remain a mystery" is all she said. Sigh. It was delicious though and then my friends decided to put magic candles on it, which meant I had to blow on the candles 5 TIMES before they went out. SMH Are they really my friends???? My bf was behind this too....

The paint party was such a hit that I want to host another one, maybe in the spring! Stay tuned!

Here's to 31! Cheers! Praying for another blessed year. 

Paddle boarding/Rafting Time!

Jimmie and I love love love the water so we decided to buy a raft! Originally, we were thinking paddleboards then realized we could do a whole lot more adventuring if we are able to take stuff like food and our phones with us. I happened upon a raft on clearance while I was wandering around Walmart...I know I know one of the things we should NOT do BUT I wouldn't have seen this raft otherwise so...

Anyway, we took it out for the first time last weekend and just as we finished blowing it up, it rains! And I don't mean sprinkling I mean pouring rain with thunder and lightning!! Sigh. We looked at our weather app and it said the rain was only supposed to last an hour. Being that it's Colorado aka unpredictable but at the same time bad weather doesn't last long, we waited. Wound up waiting a little over an hour but the rain finally stopped and the sun came out a little bit so we took it out on the water. 

It was really peaceful since not many people were there. The water was frreeeezziinnngg! Thank goodness we hadn't gone to the lake for swimming. We hopped into the raft with our snack bounty of chips and candy. 💓

A couple weekends ago, we went paddle boarding in Horsetooth near Fort Collins. SO HOT and SO CROWDED there but we had fun. Gorgeous views of the mountains as well.

Paddle boarding!

Dragon Boat Festival

 After two years of this being cancelled and three years of it being on the same weekend something else I wanted to go to, I finally made it to the Dragon Boat Festival! YAYAYAYAY! 

It rained all weekend and there was some thunder and lightening, but we were able to see some races. Later, I found out that a friend of mine, Mike, was racing that weekend. Didn't know until he commented on my Instagram post. The boats of course had dragons on the front of them. I didn't know they had someone beating a drum to keep the rowers on pace. Super cool to watch! 

Apparently, one of the boats got hit by lightening and the nonprofit that runs this festival had to ship one overnight from Iowa for the tune of...wait for it...you're not going to believe this..$10K!!!! You read that right! I hope they were able to make enough money during the festival to make up for that cause that is ONE HUGE CHUNK OF CHANGE! 

Overall, it was a fun day and some ducks decided to come visit. We also saw a fish do a flip, which scared the heck out of me. 

I have no idea which boats won but it was cool to see a real dragon boat! 

1st Anniversary!!

 WE MADE IT! I never seemed to be able to find a guy who was will willing to spend more than eight months with me. But...Jimmie decided to do a whole year!? WHAT?!?! Granted, the previous guys either did something stupid or said something stupid so...here we are. I wouldn't want those other guys back anyway.

Since our anniversary falls on the 4th of July, we of course went to see fireworks. Before that we tried going mini-golfing but wound up at the pet store because the indoor mini golf place was closed for whatever reason. We had a blast looking at the animals there and we even got to play with a miniature poodle! So cute! If we had 5k, we probably would have bought it! 

We also saw some ferrets. Cutest animals I've ever seen. We watching them play for a minute or two. I'm getting ferrets someday! 

We exchanged gifts and Jimmie bought me some jewelry and I bought him some Hulk house slippers since the ones I bought him a few months ago didn't fit. Now those are mine! haha

The finishing touch was when Jimmie decided he wanted to paint my toenails! Honestly, he likes my nails to look good more than I do. At first, he wanted to take me to get a manicure and pedicure but I am not a fan so he decided to do it himself. He even cut and buffed them before painting! I have such a sweet boyfriend :D