Art-iversary

Concert t-shirts and ticket stubs.  Kitchen towels embroidered by family members. Trinkets and souvenirs collected from vacations and trips taken together as a married couple.

My scanner came in handy for the gift I made for Mark for our third wedding anniversary.  Although the pictures below are blurry and it's tough to decipher the detail in the piece, I hope you get a general idea of what it represents.

It's very special to me, and one-of-a-kind for my amazing husband.

Happy Third Anniversary, honey!

Your wife,
DTL

Beer...STAT!

If you would have asked me five years ago if I'd done any "fourteeners," I'd say, "Fourteen what?  Shots at the bar?"

My Colorado friends might roll their eyes at this post, because most of them have at least one fourteener under their belt, and others have a goal of completing as many of the 53 fourteeners in Colorado as they can. (Those not familiar with Colorado, hiking or mountain elevation can learn exactly what I'm talking about here.)

Me?  I'm just happy to say that I completed ONE.  I hiked Grays Peak last July with my husband.  I didn't make it to Torreys Peak which was less than a mile from the summit of Grays, however.  Instead, I opted to take a 30-minute nap on a boulder, 14,000 feet above sea level,  the spectacular view of the Rockies spread out before me, as Mark ventured up to Torreys and back.  Eh, you win some, you lose some.

Well, I hiked my second fourteener with Mark yesterday (his 4th!) -- Mt. Bierstadt.  Here's a handy map, courtesy of 14ers.com:

Needless to say, I'm a little sore today.  Not "I just ran a marathon" sore, but definitely close.  It's a good kind of hurt though...knowing that I accomplished something that was, frankly, really really tough!  On the way down as I gasped for the little oxygen that the altitude offers, and tried not to slip and fall into the river we had to cross over on a log (dirty-dancing style!), I resorted to repeating a simple mantra to myself.  "Sleep, beer, Beau Jo's pizza.  Sleep, beer, Beau Jo's pizza.  Sleep, beer, Beau Jo's pizza..."   

Mark and I stopped at Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs for an amazing meal on the way home to Denver.  I took a much needed rest when we got home.  Annnnd...we knocked back a few beers last night with friends in celebration.  Mission accomplished.

Here we are at the summit (14,060 ft.):

(Check out the rest of the pics from our 6-hour climb and descent on Mark's Picasa site here )

Sure, by Colorado standards, it's really not that big of an accomplishment.  People out here run a marathon UP Pikes peak.  They ride their bikes from Denver to Boulder and back.  Some choose to rock climb in the summer and ice climb in the winter every weekend.  Etc., etc. Well "Chrissy standards" are considerably lower.  I'm pretty damn proud of making it to the top of two fourteeners.

And yes...it was the best beer I've tasted in quite some time!

-DTL

Some Staple It Together...

...and call it bad weather.

I call it... ART!

Meet my new passion, MMA.  No, not mixed martial arts.  Mixed Media Art.  I've been toying around with canvas, paint, glue, paper, oil pastels, ephemera, etc.  I thought I'd share my very first pieces, even though they're very amateur and I have no idea what I'm doing (hint hint...go easy on me!).

Here goes:

"Inspire"

"Wren"

"Orange Crush"

Orange Crush is a bit blurry, but yep, those are red pepper flakes and rosemary leaves.  Mixed Media at its finest!

Hope you enjoyed my three new babies,

-DTL

Picture This...

Well, I'm no longer on Facebook.

I am, however, still addicted to photography!

Would love for you to check out my Picasa site here.

Annnnnd....

If you like what you see, become one of my "followers" on Picasa so you'll know when I add new photos. 

Here's a sneak preview of some of my photos that you'll find there:

 One of my favorite girls!

 and my favorite boys!

 Strollin' in Denver, CO

 Puppies in Lakewood, CO

 Denver's City Park

 Mumford and Sons concert, The Fillmore, Denver, CO

 Mumford and Sons Concert, The Fillmore, Denver, CO

 Lake Powell

 My husband Mark, camping in Mesa Verde National Park

 Four Corners 

 Hiking Arches, Moab, UT

 Our dinner table at a restaurant in Moab, UT

 Tour de Fat, City Park, Denver, CO

Pearl Street Mall, Boulder, CO 

Thanks for your support!

-DTL

Runnin' on Empty, But Runnin' Nonetheless

Sure, I'm not in high school cross country shape.  Or college track shape.  Or even post-college marathon shape.  I'm 32, I've slowed down quite a bit, and unfortunately have more gray hair than I know what to do with (thank GOD for my hair colorist...)  

There was a point when I thought my running days were behind me.  For a few years I simply just did not enjoy it.  Perhaps I was sad because I knew I'd never be as fast or as in shape as I once was.  Or the fact that I ran sans i-pod because I didn't have one and I became bored to tears.  And then a few injuries came into play.  Etc., etc., etc.

Despite said excuses, I'm back.  Not sure for how long, but at least until this October.  My husband and I are signed up to run the Denver half marathon on October 9th this year, and although I'm a bit nervous about staying healthy enough until then, I'm definitely pumped for the training.  Mark has been my training partner over the past few months (along with Tucker), and so far, things have been great.

For as long as I can remember, running has been a constant in my life.  Well, not exactly "constant," per se, but I know I can always turn to running after a long hiatus, jump right back in, and pick up where I left off.
(Boy, am I going to be sad down the road when I can't say that anymore!) This time around, I'll be doing it in Denver, with my husband by my side, for 13.1 miles.

Wish us luck!
-DTL