93. Get Dressed Up and Go To a Ball

There are tons of balls that you can go to, most of which are at least $100 per ticket and filled with stuffy people.  Not exactly the price I want to pay to hang out with people that are rather uninteresting or uninterested. 

A newer friend of mine, DeAnn, (she plays Ultimate Frisbee with Brian) posted a link to the 4th Annual 1940's White Christmas Ball which was held at the Wings Over the Rockies museum and it seemed like a good fit for us.  We were not only going to get to dress up for a ball, but we were going to get to dress up in a theme costume which is always fun!  We went by ourselves as none of our friends opted to join us.  They missed out on a fun evening filled with fancy dresses, a few freaks and a fabulously good time! 

I narrowly avoided a dress catastrophe - I ordered my dress and it was on the proverbial slow boat from China.  It did not arrive by Saturday so we had to make an emergency trip to ARC.  Thankfully, and this probably never happens, I found a red dress with white polka dots that fit me perfectly!  I was able to scrounge up some vintage gems that were my Great Grandma Armstrong's and a faux fur shoulder cover up to give me a more authentic look.  Brian rented his uniform and also got lucky as most were already rented.  We looked fabulous and I think maybe Brian should have a uniform in his closet at all times now, you know, just in case.  ;)

The evening started out great - Brian and I opted to take a picture with Santa, which I haven't done since I can't even remember.  Literally, no picture of me sitting on Santa's lap exists, at least to my knowledge.  I did make a wish, I wished for snow!  While most people will be like "why?"...the skier in me had to! 

Photo taken by Sheila Broderick Photography

From there we promptly headed to get drinks, which the bartenders were making strong!  We met a cool, newly engaged couple, Lisa and Steve, while loitering near the bar area. Steve couldn't take the strength of the drink and had to get some more mixer added, which is what prompted us to talk to them in the first place.  From there, Lisa and I hit it off and we found out that we live in the same area of Denver.  I'm hoping she calls me (yes, it does feel like I'm waiting for "that guy" to call after a first date, hah!)

Finally DeAnn and friends arrived so we had some more company other than random people.  We boogied the night away to jazz bands, drank our dinner and took some really fun pictures with lovely Christmas scenery.  We also watched Wanda Jackson, the Queen of Rock, perform and watched people attempt a conga line.  Being the 72nd Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there were some veterans in the crowd.  I couldn't resist and had to smooch one on the cheek - he was so cute - he smooched me back!  All in all, it was a really lovely evening and I am definitely interested in going to the WWII Ball this summer!  I also want to take pin-up shots for my husband someday, I really do think he'd enjoy that!  :) 

A big thanks to DeAnn (pictured) for the shots below! 

 

These shots were taken by The Vintager:

 

 

63. Learn Calligraphy

In choosing this goal, I actually thought it was going to be really easy to do.  Turns out, not so much.  Calligraphy isn't like typing, where once you learn to do it, you know how to do it and that's it.  You actually have to learn different styles of font, how to make different strokes, how to use different pens/inks and how to have patience.  I wanted to start learning how to do this because I've always been artsy and I've always had great penmanship.  I practiced using a book and lined paper and eventually got brave enough to go ahead and put my learned skills to the test on my wedding invitations.  Here is a sample of my beginner's calligraphy:

While I was happy with the way they turned out, I also realize that this skill will continue to be developed.  Therefore, the goal of "learn calligraphy" is inevitably an ongoing pursuit.  I will count this as being completed for the purpose of this list, knowing that I will need to refine my skills and keep practicing until I've perfected the techniques.  Eventually I would like to use it in some art work and am looking forward to when I can do that! 

3. Take a Yoga Class

I haven't taken a yoga class since I was in high school and all I remember is that it was challenging and I was sore for about 5 days after...and I was in peak fitness back then!  So to say I was slightly intimidated by the thought of it now, about 16 years later, is an understatement.  That being said, I had to take the bull by the horns and just go for it.  Lucky for me, I have had lots of support from friends during this goal accomplishing time and one of said friends invited me to join her for a class.  Not wanting to put off getting this goal taken care of (and honestly, what better time to start getting in shape than pre-holiday!?), I took her up on the offer! 

I have no idea what the instructor called the type of class we took, but I can tell you it wasn't as bad as I remember it being.  Am I good at it?  Definitely not.  I lack some strength in my arms and core that I could work on to transition thru the poses better.  Am I bad at it?  Definitely not.  But I also don't plan on being a yogi anytime soon so that doesn't really matter.  I guess all that really matters is that I can say I did it and that I would do it again.

A big thanks to Racheal for giving me the motivation to sign up and "get 'er done" and also a big thanks to Monica for letting me talk her into doing it with us!  She was a trooper and I hope she had a good time too!  :)   

24. Grow 3 Vegetables, 25. Grow 3 Herbs

These two goals go together as I did them both at the same time...or better said, attempted to do them at the same time. 

I have a black thumb.  I don't know what exactly I do wrong, every time, but I kill plants, vegetables, herbs and pretty much everything else that is green and grows from the dirt (with the exception of those stinky, ugly red, white and purple flowers you see in the summertime - I'm pretty sure you can't kill them!)   

Knowing this info about myself, this year I decided to try to pick things that would be harder to kill...or at least I thought they would be.  I also have a plan that I don't want to dig up a portion of my yard for a garden if I can't grow anything in a container first.  Makes sense, right?!

So, I planted and harvested the following:

Planter Cherry Tomatoes  - they produced 2-3 actually edible tomatoes before the 100 year flood hit and drowned the plant completely.

One of the lone survivors!

Brussel Sprouts - got them to sprout but never got a brussel.  I can attribute this to the flood, however even with the proper care and if planted in the right time, I don't think I was going to get an actual veggie to grow. 

Beets - got some green stuff to start coming up out of the dirt but pretty sure they didn't have enough room to keep growing and died before any vegetable formed. 

Heirloom Tomatoes - I knew these were a long shot to begin with but we love them so much I had to try.  Not only once, but twice.  The first plant died so we bought a second, only to have it suffer the same fate.  It was pretty though and I did get it to bloom, only to have my dog break the one branch that had blooms on it.  Oh well, better just buy those from the store I guess. 

Cilantro - I was able to get one full harvest of cilantro and we used it in pretty much everything of Mexican flavor.  That plant didn't last long though as it died shortly after the first harvest.  The lesson I learned there is...learn what to do with the plant to keep it growing after you harvest. 

First Harvest of Cilantro!

Basil - I was able to grow basil for a little while as well and we did use it in some caprese salads, but that was about it.  I think our plant did not like being in the sunlight with the other plants and wanted rather to be an indoor plant.  It died...from heat exhaustion and drought (pre-100 year flood, where it likely would have suffered the opposite fate). 

Ate a few leaves with fresh tomatoes but didn't get much else from this basil plant.

Mint - I wanted to grow mint because people tell me there's no way that you can kill a mint plant.  Well, they can take that theory and throw it out the window!  There is a way and I did it.  If you ask me what it was, I couldn't tell you.  All I know is that I was successful at it and the mint did not make it into mojitoes for the 3rd Annual VanDeed Field Day as I had hoped it would. 

So, what did I learn from this?  1.  Don't dig up the yard next Spring as I'm definitely likely to have a mud pit instead of a garden.  2.  Money would better be spent on Farmer's Market produce vs. trying to buy and grow myself.  3.  I'm a horrible gardener and need some serious help.  4.  On my next 101 goals list you will probably see "Take a Gardening Class".

89. Run the Steps at Red Rocks

While this goal could have been attained, on my own, on pretty much any day I chose, I decided to up the ante and make an event out of it by entering the American Heart and Lung Associations Run the Rocks race.  I also managed to talk a couple of friends into joining me, or beating me, but whatever. 

 

This was a relatively easy goal to accomplish as I didn't train for it or really have to "get ready" for it.  The run was a 5k, mostly down hill...except for the last mile.  The last mile, of course, is where the race bites you in the ass!  It's all uphill, to the very top of the Amphitheatre.  I don't know how many actual steps I went up, but by the time I made it to the steps, I was ready to be done.  Good thing I've completed a marathon, as it gave me the inner confidence and drive to suck it up and get to the top!  I finished in 36 minutes and 58 seconds, placing 668th out of 1706 overall, 115th out of 352 in my division and 320th out of 1094 in my gender.  Right in the middle of the pack is fine by me! 

 

On to the next goal!

 Pre-race photo with Megan and Aubree

Post-race photo with Megan and Aubree

19. Read Anna Karinnina or Give It Away

Well, I give up!  I was cleaning the "office" to make it into a studio for ShadyWolf Designs...and I came across this book, once again.  Instead of opening it and pretending I was going to read it (again, for at least the 10th time), I have officially decided to just give it away.  Somebody else can give it a read, or attempt to read it...I'll just watch the movie instead.  :) 

100. Take Kona and Petra to Bark and Splash Bash

For years now I have read about the Lakewood Rec "Bark and Splash Bash" but I have never made it to one with my dogs and I've always been a little mad at myself after the fact.  This year was going to be different!  Even though I had been to a raging bachelorette party the night before and I might have still been a little tipsy, I took my dogs to their first Bark and Splash Bash at Glennon Heights Pool.  Upon arrival we were treated with doggie schwag and ushered into the pool area.  Immediately, they were excited! They had so much fun running around, barking and jumping into the pool!  It was fun for me to watch, but also fun to meet some of the other dog owners that were there.  We had so much fun at this one that I'm planning on taking them to another one this weekend and we may even possibly squeek in one more. 

Here's a picture of my little sea otters, Kona and Petra.  They swam together the entire time we were there!

82. Go to City Park Jazz With a Group of 10 People or More

I accomplished this goal with the help of Brian and his University of Colorado MBA Program Alumni.  We met on the last night of Jazz in the Park at City Park.  It was a nice evening but there was a hint of monsoon rain in the air, as always when Brian and I go to jazz.  Luckily enough, it didn't rain this evening so we were able to enjoy our conversations with this group of new and interesting people.  Well, they were new to me anyways!  Short blurb for this one and no pics unfortunately.  Will probably have to do this again next summer! 

91. Go on the Durango Alpine Slide

When trying to accomplish one goal, I'm always trying to find ways to tie in other goals.  My "Visit National Parks" goal helped me get down to the Durango area, which in turn helped me get to Durango Mountain Resort where they have an alpine slide. 

I have wanted to ride all the alpine slides in Colorado for awhile now, even before I made this official goals list.  Durango was the last one I needed to ride in order to check this goal off my list.  With nowhere else to be, we stood in line for an hour to go down a pretty short but nonetheless, pretty fun slide. 

The ride up the chair lift with the beautiful view behind me!  Tried to take one of both Brian and I in it, but the two-seat chairlift didn't want to play along.   

Here we are at the top with our sleds and gorgeous vistas! 

Here's a picture of me that I took while going down the slide...good times! 

 

So, now having been on all the slides in Colorado, I can officially say that while they are all different rides, my favorite is the Winter Park slide.  :) 

17. Visit a never before visited National Park

This year, the 4th of July fell on a Thursday which allowed me to only have to take one day off of work to get a 4 day weekend.  So what does one do with a 4 day weekend?  ROAD TRIP! 

I love National Parks - they truly are "America's Treasures"!  I have been to quite a few already but there are still so many more that I would love to visit (Bucket List goal is to visit them all!).  Living in Denver, we are pretty close to some of the bigger ones, but also close to some lesser known ones.  We had to decide between going to Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons (both in Wyoming) or going to The Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Mesa Verde (both in Colorado).  Since it was a holiday weekend, we opted to go with the lesser known ones and stay here in Colorado.  The added bonus is that our good friend Monica volunteered to watch our dogs so we were truly free to go and do whatever we wanted without having to worry about our 2 little responsibilities.  

So we started off on Wednesday night and made it to Delta, Colorado, just about 30 minutes from The Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P., where we planned to hike and tour on Independence Day. 

 

A picture of us by the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park sign...I have one of these for almost all the parks we have visited and can't wait to get them framed and put on display!

Once we got to The Black Canyon, we stopped into the visitor center to get a backcountry permit for hiking.  The ranger was very helpful and really tried to help us figure out the best hiking trail to take.  Brian is not one to shy away from challenges and really wanted to hike down to the bottom of the canyon to get to the Gunnison River.  The trail we took was a one mile hike, which isn't normally too tough, however the elevation change was 1400 feet within that mile, which put us at quite the decline/incline for the duration of the hike.  We hiked on loose rocks and boulders called skree for most of the trail and there was one point where you had to use a chain to repel down as well as pull yourself back up the trail.  This was actually my favorite part of the hike as the chain allowed you to use your arms instead of just the legs, giving them a much needed break!   

 

Here's a picture of us at just about the halfway down point...still looking fresh!  You can see the Gunnison River down below as well as the skree we were climbing up and down.   

We made the round-trip trek in just about 3 hours, which left us plenty of time to check out some other areas of the park (the Painted Dragons were very cool!) and then get on the road to the next destination...Durango!

But first we had to drive on the Million Dollar Highway, which took us thru Ouray and Silverton.  It was a beautiful drive, however the highway was a bit scary as it goes up and down a couple of mountain passes with steep dropoffs, tight pin turns and no guard rails.  I definitely gripped the steering wheel extra tight while I was driving!  

Here's a picture of us with a mountain range that is somewhere between Ouray and Silverton.  It's gorgeous!   

We eventually made our way safely to Durango where we planned on watching the fireworks display - a must for me as I LOVE fireworks!  But first...a camping spot needed to be found and we also needed to see what was going on with our vehicle, as we had heard a weird noise on our way down from the mountains.  We couldn't figure out exactly what the problem was with the truck, but Brian thought it was the front shocks so this meant we would have to take it into the shop immediately the next morning.  Being 8+ hours away from home on a road trip and having car issues is not ideal.  However, we managed to make the best of it anyways.  We found a free campsite with some relatively quiet neighbors and headed back to Durango to get a bucket of chicken and watch things explode.  Nothing more patriotic than that!  :)  

The next morning we took the truck into the bustling car shop (Firestone).  The shop manager, Mike, was extremely nice and helpful and was busy helping lots of tourists in town, but was still able to take care of us in a relatively quick manner.  Turns out, our back passenger side shock had come unbolted and had been rubbing on our back tire for we don't know how long.  But it was long enough that it wore the tire down to the wires and at any point in time, we could have had a major blowout and flew off a mountain side.  :-/  Not cool.  Regardless though, we were able to get it bolted back on and they put on the spare to get us back on the road!  Thanks to Mike and the guys at the Durango Firestone, we were off to the next National Park - Mesa Verde!     

Here is a picture of Brian and I at the Mesa Verde National Park entrance. 

I have wanted to visit Mesa Verde for a really long time.  We actually tried to drive there on our trip to Pagosa Springs last December, however we bailed when we found out that the cliff dwellings were inaccessible and we weren't going to be able to see much.  This time, that was not the case - nothing was going to stop us from seeing this unique place and I was going to make sure of it!

When we arrived, we had to sign up for the ranger-led tours in the visitor center.  We opted to visit Long House and Cliff Palace and we were pretty much on the last couple tours of the day.  I was super thankful we made it in time to sign up for them, even though it was going to be a scorcher of an afternoon. 

Our first visit was the Longhouse Cliff Dwelling.  It took us an hour to get there via a very scenic drive, with lots of fire burn scar areas which were interesting to see.  The cliff dwellings themselves were really cool to see in person, especially since I love visiting ruins.  The Longhouse was really interesting to see and there is a lot of mystery on why they built their dwellings into the cliffside, but the biggest mystery of all is why they left them after only living in them for a short period of time (I believe it was just a couple hundred years).  The ancient Puebloans really were very smart architects and builders and made some amazing structures that have withstood the tests of time!
 

A picture of me with the Longhouse ruins behind me. 

Brian and I with a view of the Longhouse behind us.  We are standing near one of the kivas.  You can see the Sipapu right between us.   For more info on what a kiva is, etc, you can read the wiki page here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiva

Brian and I are at the Cliff Palace dwelling in this picture.  You can see one of the towers to the left of me as well as a good glimpse of the dwellings built all the way up to the where the rocks overhang.  This dwelling was amazing and gave me an eerie sense of calmness while walking through it.  I think it's important to understand the significance of places like this as they are also important pieces of America's history, especially to native peoples.  I hope that we can continue to preserve places like this for future generations!  I really enjoyed my visit here and look forward to returning with my children someday!

With these two parks all wrapped up, it would seem as though the vacation was over, however that was not the case at all.  We still had two more days left of our trip and were back on the road, off to our next adventure - Durango Mountain Resort to ride the alpine slide! 

80. Run the Bolder Boulder

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to accomplish another goal - Run the Bolder Boulder!  The Bolder Boulder is a 10K that has happened every year for the last 25 years and winds thru the streets of Boulder, Colorado.  I wanted to do this race because I had never done it before and so many people who live here talk about it being one of their favorite races.  Not to mention, exercising is easier if you have a goal!  I was also fortunate that my friend Megan and fiance Brian also wanted to run it, so I didn't have to go it alone.

Picture of me, Brian and Megan, post-race victory! 

The race went really well, though it was a little on the warm side.  We all stayed together until about mile 5, where I had to walk for minute due to an aggravated knee.  This put my finishing time 3 minutes behind Brian and Megan's time - I finished at 1:05 and they finished at 1:02.  Not bad, especially considering I gave myself an additional 10 minutes to finish prior to starting the race. 

Here's a link to my results:  http://bolderboulder2013.onlineraceresults.com/individual.php?bib=FL261

I would definitely run the Bolder Boulder again - it was a lot of fun and the distance is just about perfect for me!

79. Go to a Kentucky Derby party wearing a fantastic hat

I actually had the Denver Derby party in mind when I added this goal to the list.  However, I didn't go to the Denver Derby party (tickets are actually pretty pricey).  Instead, I went to a Bridal Shower that doubled as a Derby party.  My friend, Monica, invited me to her bridal shower which was held at her aunt's fabulous home in Highlands Ranch.  Upon arrival, I was immediatly served a delicious glass of sangria and made some new friends who were also wearing fabulous hats.  The bridal shower portion of the day was great - it was one the best bridal showers I've been to and was so good that I would love to hire Monica's aunts to throw my bridal shower in a few months!  (Only kidding...unless they would want to do it, ha!)  They served cute mini foods like sandwiches and fruit tarts, and who can forget, more sangria to wash it all down with!  We played a fun mad libs game and then read our answers out loud to Monica while she opened each of our gifts.  We also took individual pictures with the bride-to-be wearing our fabulous hats. 

Just when you thought the party was nearing it's end, we were escorted to the media room for the Derby party.  For a $5 wager, you picked a random horse and were entered into the betting.  I drew Golden Soul who had 50-1 odds so I was not necessarily feeling too sure about a win.  To ease the pain of any impending losses, we were served blackberry mint juleps. 

I've never had a mint julep before, but after just one I can confirm they are delicious but sneaky little buggers as they have Maker's Mark in them!  Nevertheless, I had another one and enjoyed every sip of it!  Soon the race was on and we were all cheering and yelling for our horse to win!  Orb took first place, and lo-and-behold, Golden Soul took 2nd place earning me a $30 prize!  All in all, I'd say my first Derby party was a great success and I would like to thank Monica for helping me accomplish this goal!