Yurting

J, Kels, Josh and I all went up last weekend to State Forest State Park for my first yurt experience (Josh's too!). We stayed at the Clark Peak Yurt and were happy to be enjoying a crisp, autumn experience in the mountains. 

Mother Nature had other plans for us.

As J and I settled in to the yurt to enjoy the warmth of the fire and await the arrival of K and J, it began to snow, and then lightening, and then thunder. K and J made it safely to the yurt that night, but it was still snowing. As it was the next morning. A foot of snow or so later our autumnal getaway had turned into a surprise winter wonderland. Lesson: always pack snow pants!

The view from the deck of the yurt.

That bright light between the trees and the sky is the snow on the mountain reflecting the sunset.

Ah, warmth.

Our kitchen. Rudimentary, but we still cooked up a storm (literally?)

After it started snowing we used snowmelt for our water needs.

Our winter wonderland.

The landscape nearby (from the car as we left).

Photo op!

The group.

Late nights with Skipbo, good friends, and The Kraken (rum). ;)

Our New Home

It's official! J and I signed a lease in our new neighborhood of Arvada. We are right next to Olde Town so we have lots of restaurants and shops at our convenience. This time we hired movers (who showed up, loaded, unloaded and left in under two hours) and went shopping at Ikea. We are even in a condo now, rather than an apartment complex. Moving on up! 

Here are some photos from around the neighborhood. We have not taken pictures of everything so we have left out of our photo essay creamy cheesecakes, rich breakfasts, funky shops, and some awesome people (seriously, everyone is so nice!) but we hope to cover all of that in later posts. :)

We are near the water tower, which is fun because we can see it well from many parts of the city and we can always find home!

Yay, beautiful day!

J and I stopped in at a nearby tavern and grill and had some amazing food (crab cakes and veggie burgers). (Grandview Tavern and Grill)

There is also a place that serves nothing but Belgian fries and Belgian beers. They have 22 different sauces in which to dip said fries. It's pretty amazing. (Manneken Frites)

A section of our new Main Street.

New home pictures...this is a panorama of the bathroom.

Here is the bedroom/closet area. It's really the perfect size for us as far as storage is concerned. We also feel like adults with a bedframe that is not just made out of metal.

And here is the kitchen/dining/living/balcony. Handsome gentleman cooking in the kitchen not included.

Close up of the living area. We were very excited to be able to hang our photos up once again.

Our kitchen and dining have most of the items from our travels, and the maps work well there too.

J and I threw a small housewarming shindig the other night and we decorated the balcony with a fun strand or two of golden stars lights. Here they are at sunset.

Time to cook!

So wonderful...finally feels like home!

Thank you to everyone who made it over (and we miss those who weren't able to make it!)

Teaching Jett to pound it and blow it up.

Night has fallen!

We capped off the night with strudel from a German bakery nearby. We were festive with both pumpkin and cherry plum. (Rheinlander Bakery)

We could not have been more excited to see everyone again, nor could we have been more thankful to share our new place with everyone. <3 br="br">