Manitou Incline

........AKA Stair Master on CRACK!!! ;)

The Brown family is all happy and healthy!!! We are taking advantage of the cooler weather lately, and by cooler I mean 84 degree average.  It's so weird to us that we think 84 is cool now.  It's been warm in the mornings and afternoons and would get cloudy and rainy in the evenings.  It's been a WONDERFUL break.  Next week it's back to the triple digits.

So since the weather has been ideal to do activities outside lately, we decided to try our luck at the Manitou Incline.  Let me tell you.....it was the most difficult activity we have done since moving out here.  Manitou Incline is located in Manitou Springs, just outside of Colorado Springs.  It use to be an old railroad.  It is 4 miles total, there and back.  But the first mile feels like 10.  The way up is only a mile long but inclines by TWO THOUSAND feet.  There were times I was basically crawling because the incline was so steep.  But when you turned around and saw the site, it was well worth the hardy work out.  It was BEAUTIFUL!!!

We then spent the rest of the afternoon in Manitou Springs being tourist.  We went antique shopping, one of my favs!!! And we even got ice cream! haha :) All in all it was such a wonderful day.

We are going camping and hiking next week near Breckenridge.  It is my 29th (OMG!!!! I'm getting soooo old!!) birthday next week and that's what we decided to do.  We can't wait to escape and spend some awesome quality time together.

Well we hope all is well with you all!! We miss and love u tons!

Love,
Nic & Bruce xo

The beginning....

Taking a break to admire the view

B lovin' it

View from the bottom. Yes, we climbed alllll the way to the top

Beautiful! 

Yup. Extreme

                                                  

WE DID IT!!! 

Kinda rough some times....

SO BEAUTIFUL! 

Waiting to go back down. 

Sweet Summer Time

Hello everyone!

So I know I have been terrible at updating.....BUT in my defense IT'S SUMMMMMMER TIME!!! I just have a very hard time staying indoors when it's so beautiful outside.  But I am taking a little break from the 98 degree weather and pool right now for a quick update.

We are all healthy and happy.  We are also currently counting down the days until we are in Michigan for a visit......a little less then two months! YAY! :)  We spend most of our time off by our beautiful pool lounging and soaking up the sun.  When we aren't pool side we are in the mountains, exploring!

Lindsey was here for a visit a few weeks ago, and it was so nice to have her! We sat by the pool daily, shopped, ate, shopped, and ate some more! We also went to a ball game and did the Color Run 5k.  It was soooo fun! I recommend that everyone do a color run if possible.  Everyone was so upbeat and full of energy, all 10,000 people that ran it in Denver.  Bruce and I will be doing another in August and we can't wait!!

We hope you all are enjoying your summer as much as us!!!
Love,
Bruce and Nic xoxo

HandyMan :)

Hi Everyone!

Quick update to show some love to my handyman and Pinterest!

So ever the bargain shopper I am, I found some really cute knobs for dirt cheap at Michaels Craft Store about two or so months ago.  I didn't exactly know what I was going to do with them, but had to buy them anyways, figuring that I would eventually find something.  I mean that is what Pinterest is for right?! Well low and behold I stumbled upon a pin that was exactly what I was looking for!

So I showed my handyman hubby and he of course said he could do it for me.  Well I came home last week to the beautiful finished products and I absolutely LOVE them and had to share!

Scarf (or jewelry/purse) Rack! 

He was able to make me two beautiful racks.  We put one up for my scarves and I am saving the second to put up in our first home.  I plan to put the second in our bedroom for a jewelry/purse rack.  Bruce said it was relatively easy.  And it was definitely inexpensive.  I fell in love with them mostly because it's homemade and something that is unique and made from love.  Instead of buying the regular old racks from department stores, these have character and add a "homie" feel.  

Here is the original link to the pin.....  DIY RACK  

What we used:

• Wood. We bought a piece of scrap wood from Home Depot and it was only $0.52!!
• Sand Paper 
• Paint & Brush
• We used wood fillers (I'm not really sure what they are officially called but they are the cute blocks that the knobs are on) to add space in case your knobs are long. Also at HD for only $1
• And of course cute knobs! (I paid under a $1 for each of mine!)
• Tools (drill and a saw if you have to cute your board)

Well we hope you are all well!! We miss and love you tons!

Love,

Nic and Bruce xoxo

Fake Flowers.....

Hi Everyone!  We had a fantastic few weeks and are all in good health!!

First and foremost we had an absolute BLAST at the Yankees Rockies game and The Zac Brown Band concert at Red Rocks!!

We were able to go with a couple friends to the game.  It rained the entire time and wasn't postponed or delayed at all, but we lucked out and didn't have to fight the weather! Bruce and I were given our tickets as a gift and each ticket was worth $125 and combined we were able to pay for ourselves and our friends to be moved into the VIP bar section.  This involved very comfortable seating, tables, out of the rain, $20 worth of free food and drink, and our own waitress! It was one of the most comfortable games we have ever been to! And of course we had a blast!

The concert was simply amazing.  I have no other word to use to describe it.  Even if you aren't a country fan (because even I get annoyed with some of it!) and you have the chance to see the Zac Brown Band live, GO!!! I'm completely serious.  They put on one of the best shows I have ever had the pleasure to see.  And not to mention it was our first time seeing a concert at Red Rocks.  It is true what everyone says, it's an EPIC VENUE! I doubt I'll ever find another place that is as amazing as Red Rocks is to attend a concert.  It rained allllll day, but stopped literally 10 minutes before the show started and didn't start again until we were getting in our car to leave.  It was cold, but after the show started, you didn't care or even notice.  We are already plotting our next purchase to another concert this summer.

OK. Fake flowers.  How do you all feel about them?!  I have always had a bad attitude about them and never wanted anything to do with them.  I'm a person who absolutely LOVES real plants and always thought fake flowers or plants were tacky.  I know, I know completely snobby of me.  I think I just always envisioned gross plastic cheap looking ones and never took the time to find the well made ones.  But Michael's had a HUGE sale last week on their flowers, so of course being the bargain shopper I am I had to go and take a look.  I also had this awesome vase I bought at Ikea a couple months ago that I was dying to put out for show, but needed to fill it.  So much to my surprise there are some really beautiful fake flowers out there.  The key is to find a good sale on the "nice" ones that are usually ridiculously expensive.  I am still a little unsure and admit to over analyzing it every single time I walk by it, but it's definitely growing on me.

We have a housewarming party to attend in a week so I went on Pinterest in search of a good gift, because I had never had the pleasure in giving one before.   I found the MOST adorable gift and I just love it! (so if you are planning to buy a home anytime soon, you see this gift here and also end up getting it, please don't be offended.  I just love it that much!) I will post the link to the original idea I found online and a picture of mine (with a few tweaks I made) below, but here is a list of what is in it and the saying that goes along with it........First get a cute basket to fill (Michael's carries adorable ones and they always have a sale!).  I used dish cloths to wrap the items in just for an extra gift.  Then add a bottle of wine, a bottle of olive oil, a candle, salt and pepper, honey, and a loaf of bread from the bakery (or if you're ambitious homemade!).  The little saying that goes along with it says..... "A Candle so you will always have light, A bottle of wine to share with good friends, Salt and Pepper so there will always be flavor and spice in your life, Honey so you always enjoy the sweetness of life, Olive Oil so you'll be blessed with health and well-being, and Bread so you'll never go hungry.  Wishing your family many wonderful years in your home!" Now isn't that just adorable?! In my picture I obviously don't have the bread yet and I will also wrap the entire basket in clear cellophane and tie it with a ribbon and the cute saying attached.  :)

Well we hope all is well with you! We love and miss you all!!
Love,
Nichole and Bruce xoxo

Such a cute idea! Original link 

Here is my first fake flower display! 

Rockies vs Yankees game

Zac Brown Band at Red Rocks! 

Quick Update

Hi Everyone!!

Just a quick update.....we are all doing well. Loooooving the beautiful weather! We went to a couple baseball games last wk, and had so much fun. :) Our super comfy big bed got delivered yesterday.  We sold our king size bed when we moved back to Denver to accommodate to the smaller room and took the spare bedroom bed, a full.  Needless to say, it was not comfy! Poor B's feet hung off and we just didn't have enough room. So we consolidated our things in our bedroom and bought a big king bed. It's wonderful!! It's taken over our room, but well worth it!

I was also able to complete a few Pinterest projects this week.  I always feel so accomplished when I do.  I pin so many things, that when I actually complete one of them it's awesome.  It's just great knowing I didn't just pin something, but actually completed it.  I'm sure my fellow pinners understand :)

We hope all is well with all of you!!
Love,
Nichole & Bruce

Oreo Rice Krispie Treats.  I made these delish treats for B & his coworkers. 

Ticket Frame.  I bought this shadow frame from Ikea and B

drilled a slit on the top so we can drop all of our tickets inside and display. :)

Frame locations of where B & I met, got engaged, and married. I marked each spot

with a tiny heart sticker. It'll be hung next to our framed dates.

My lazy Sunday afternoon today at our pool! ahhhhhh ;) 

Cravings

Everything has been wonderful.  We got a bit of a cold front that moved in, but it's quickly warming back up, thank goodness!!

We went to the Wings Avs game last Friday.  It is always fun for us because we are on opposite ends of the spectrum during this match up.  I LOVE the Avs and Bruce LOVES the Wings.  This year he gets to claim bragging rights as the Wings scored to win with 13 seconds left in the game. We also went out downtown Denver with some friends afterwards, which we rarely do.  It was a lot fun.

We are going to a Rockies game Monday.  The games are a lot of fun, not as fun as Tigers games, but fun nonetheless.  We absolutely love baseball games.......beer, peanuts, snacks, and the ball park, nothing like it!  We also bought our first tickets to a concert at Red Rocks!!!! We are sooooooo excited about this.  Red Rocks is an AMAZING place, there's nothing like it.  So we bought tickets to the Zac Brown Band concert on May 8th.

This past week we were also able to take the kids to Garden of the Gods.  It was so beautiful and the kids had a blast! :)

So I've had some intense cravings lately......Last week it was sushi and this week I wanted some sort of pound cake.  So last week I made California Rolls, starting off simple since it was the first time I was attempting homemade sushi.  I also wanted to start with those because Bruce has never really had sushi and I wanted to start him off easy.  He ended up loving it! So now we can move on to better stuff! YAY! Fingers crossed he keeps enjoying it.  And today I made a cream cheese pound cake.  It was the first one I have ever made, and although it wasn't as pretty as the one pictured in the recipe, it was very good.

Anyways, we hope you are all doing well! We miss and love you tons!!!

Love,
Nichole & Bruce xoxo

Homemade California Rolls

Our beautiful Easter flowers

Garden of the Gods

Wings Avs game

Cream Cheese bunt cake 

Pinterest Recipe

Happy Easter!

First and foremost....... HAPPY EASTER!!!  We love this time of year.  It's so beautiful in CO, 65-70 degree weather, sunny, and breezy! Perfect Spring weather.

Anyways......we are doing well, our little family is healthy and happy and Pudge is still loving life at Grandpa Browns.  I made an impromptu trip to the Soo a few weeks ago to pay my respects to a WONDERFUL man and be with one of my best friends and her family.  As much as it is always wonderful to see the ones I love, it was not a trip I looked forward to going on and hope the next trip up is for other reasons.

Our last snowshoeing trip, right before leaving to head to the Soo, was by far the most beautiful.  It was the perfect trail and day.  It was calm, quiet, and beyond gorgeous. We snowshoed up as far as the trail would allow, then hiked the rest of the way.  It was hard, but definitely worth the effort.

Last week we had visitors.  One of Bruce's best friends from High School, Joe and his girlfriend Ashlie came to visit for a wk.  We had a blast with them.  We were able to explore Denver, going to places we hadn't been in quite some time.  We also shopped and explored the mountains.  We went back to the sight of our engagement for the fist time in three and a half years, and it was still as beautiful as ever.  We also were able to go to Loveland, which was breathtaking.  All in all it was so wonderful to have a piece of home here.

This week we are hoping to make one last snowshoeing trip to Estes Park, praying they still have enough snow for us to get in one snowshoeing adventure.

We hope you all have a beautiful holiday.  We love and miss you all very much!

Love xoxo
Nichole and Bruce

Our engagement location, three and a half years later....

Joe and Bruce at Loveland :)

The group at Red Rocks.  P.S. We just got our tickets for the

Zac Brown Band concert at Red Rocks in May! YAY! :) 

I am one seriously lucky girl! This is what I came home...

RIP Joe Daddy!!! 

Homemade granola bars! Turned out delicious!

Our reward! At the top

On our way up....

Clearly exhausted....

Knee deep trying to get to the top. Bruce thought it was

sooooo funny! ;) 

climbing up up and up! 11,150 ft up.