FALL CLOTHES

I am working really hard to update my wardrobe so I can be more hip and with it.

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Making this was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. It made me really think about what I would buy, and what would be a good mix of items and colors. They are all reasonably priced. Hmmm... Maybe I should just go shopping now!

What are you planning on buying for fall?

WEEKEND LESSONS: SEPTEMBER 21-23

Instead of the regular weekend recap, I prefer to share with you a few truths that I learned this weekend.

This is Lucy. She is very energetic!

1. We are at our pet limit. As much as I want more animals, I don't think it's possible at this moment. We are currently dog sitting to make some extra cash, and I'm actually really glad it isn't premanent. I think I would go crazy!

Just a little sneak peak at the work on the trim.

2. Renovations are hard. I really thought that I was just going to be a pro at stripping the woodwork in our upstairs bath. No problem! Well, I guess I put too much faith in myself, and I ended up frustrated and with a window only partially finished. Ugh.

3. I'm not 21 anymore. On Friday night, we went to my cousin and his wife's housewarming party. I tried to keep up with all the cool kids, and I failed miserably. Beer pong, you win! Andrew came home to find me sleeping in bed with all the lights on and the tv turned up really loud. Fail!

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! I'm already looking forward to Friday when we host some friends who are in town for a wedding. Here we go again!

ONE YEAR

On September 4, Andrew and I celebrated one year of wedded bliss.

Andrew and I both had the day of our anniversary off, and I am so glad we did! If I would have went to work, we would have gotten to see each other for less than an hour... Because we had just gotten back from CO and we did A LOT of celebrating there, we decided to forgo gifts and a meal on the town.

Although we didn't do anything really special, we were able to just hang out together and enjoy perfectly aged cake and champagne from our wedding day.

Andrew,

Thanks for being my husband.

Love,

Ashley

WEEKEND RECAP: SEPTEMBER 6-16

Well, we have been so busy around here that I haven't even had time to post an update on our weekend adventures! Time to catch up.

September 6-8
Friday night: We spent some time visiting Pops who is currently in a nursing home trying to regain some strength after an infection left him weak and unable to return to his own home once he was discharged from the hospital. (I'm glad to say that he is recovering quite well, and I think he will be back home in no time!)

Andrew and I were supposed to take a pic together...

Later that evening (way later!), Andrew and I carpooled downtown with our neighbors for Omaha's annual Midnight Run! A young lady in our neighborhood helps to put it on, it benefits local nonprofits, and it sounded like a good time. Why not do it?! I'm proud to say that I (with Andrew's help) ran the whole 5k! I know I'm just tooting my own horn, but this is something that I have never been able to do before. During previous 5ks, I would walk parts of it, but not this time! Go me!

Saturday: We met up with my parents and attended my sister-in-law's sister's wedding. Catch all that? The wedding was very cute and the reception reminded me a lot of my brother, Chris's, wedding. It was nice to spend some time with the family, but we didn't stay long after dinner.

Bro and I - Lisa giving her Matron of Honor speech

We went back to Omaha, cruised a couple of downtown bars before we ended up at Side Door Lounge. I love that place! The music, atmosphere, and people are pretty amazing. It's also nice that we can walk home!

We share a driveway with our neighbors. Their daughters like to decorate!

September 14-16

Thursday: Didn't you know weekends start on Thursday now? Earlier in the week, I won free tickets to Brew Ha Ha. It's a local event to benefit Habitat for Humanity and is put on by the young professionals group. Andrew and I had a lot of fun running from table to table to get in all the eats and drinks before we left at 7. We couldn't be late for the Packers game! The game was a great way to end the night.

Missy!

Friday: I felt like I was still recovering from the previous night, and I needed food. Grilling out and a movie were just what I needed! Later that evening, we met up with my coworker, Emily, at the Slowdown for the Missy Higgins concert. Good stuff! I have been really excited to see this show, and she did not disappoint. Unfortunately, I went to bed almost immediately after the show.

Empty theatre!

Saturday: We didn't waste any time getting back into a busy schedule! We took in an afternoon showing of Lawless where we were the only two people in the theatre. I think I like doing things while the Husker games are on! After the movie, we strolled through the art festival that was happening right outside the theatre. Before I knew it, it was time for the Czech Club Ladies' Night Steak Fry! Whoop!

The food was great, but I was sad to see how much thinner the crowd was this year. I challenged my bro and Andrew to both recruit two more guys before next year's event. We need younger blood up in here!

Sunday: I made Andrew breakfast of waffles and bacon. This is what happens when you players suck it up in fantasy football and you lose by four points to your husband. The rest of the day was spent watching football and getting some facetime in with Emily and friends. We were supposed to go to a play in the afternoon, but I told Andrew we should just skip it. I feel bad that we wasted the tickets, but it would have eaten up our whole afternoon... Oh well! We enjoyed ourselves anyway.

ROAD TRIP 2: FORT COLLINS, CO

Well, I wasn't planning on doing so many posts for CO, but I guess that's what happens when you have too much fun.

As you can imagine, we were running in slow motion Sunday morning. Because our hotel was next door to a coffee house, we knew exactly what we needed to start the day. Their coffee was strong (not the best I have had) and their food portions were huge! I would probably hit it up again if for nothing less than the atmosphere and outdoor seating.

I was hoping we would be able to do some hiking at Horsetooth Reservoir on Sunday, but becuase of poor packing it ended up being just a drive through. Horsetooth was beautiful. Unfortunately, the drought had caused the water levels to drop dramatically, but it was still a sight to see. Colorado is so serene. I could definitely see myself living here. Because we were far less than prepared to do anything physical, we headed back to the hotel to check out some bikes and cruise around town.

The Armstrong hotel provides these awesome beach cruises for guests to check out for the whole day. I didn't realize how fun they would be! We road down and around CSU campus and then over to a nearby floral garden. The pictures don't really do it justice, but I think they capture how much fun Andrew and I had. I think we will try to make bikes a must for every vacation.

After dropping off the bikes, we make a quick stop at Beau Jo's for some pizza. It was so good (and I was so hungry) there were no time for pictures. Whoops!

We were really thirsty after our ride around town. Time for another brewery! Equinox Brewery was dreamy! I say this because Andrew and I spent the majority of our time there talking about how we wanted to open something exactly like this. I think Andrew could be really good at brewing, and I would fully support something as cool as Equinox.  It was fairly busy for a Sunday, and I wasn't surprised. Their beer was great! I didn't even mind the IPAs or dark brews. That says a lot!

We had such a good time a Equinox, we didn't want the fun to stop. So we took ourselves on a short bar crawl that eventually led us to dinner.

Andrew's cousin Kayci had worked at Austin's while she was in school at CSU, and it was highly recommended. OMG! This place was perfect for celebrating 365 days of wedded bliss. The food and drinks were amazing! I would recommend Austin's to anyone that asks.

Because we had such a full day, our evening was short lived. We took our full tummies on a short stroll back to the hotel, said goodnight to Oreo, and hit the hay. Goodnight, CO!

We had so much fun on our trip! We will be going back to catch all the breweries and sites we missed. Until next time CO...

ROAD TRIP: FORT COLLINS, CO

Hello, Fort Collins!

A short trip to Fort Collins was exactly what Andrew and I needed. Fresh air, mountains, lots of beer, and quality time together.

Awesome art/cultural project!

We headed to FC first thing in the morning on Saturday. We wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to check into our hotel, grab some beers, and see the town.

Oreo: Good at being awesome, bad at posing for pics

I was so excited when we checked into the hotel and saw a cat! Oreo has been living at the hotel since 2004, and she is so sweet. Her favorite spot is in the chair at the front desk, but she did follow us to our room one night. We were best friends!

Armstrong Hotel

So after we checked into the cutest room ever (no seriously, I would prob just move in if they let me) took a stroll through Old Town and ended up at Coopersmith's Pub & Brewing for lunch.

We watched all the Tour de Fat riders during our lunch.

It was just okay. The atmosphere was lacking, the soup was good, but the beer was lackluster at best. Oh well, we quickly moved on to bigger and better things... Odell Brewery!

We were hoping to jump into the 1 pm tour, but when we got there at 12:30 pm it was already full. Bummer! Oh well, we know how to pass the time. Beer flights! We just had to try them all! Since we were waiting around for a little over an hour for the next tour, the staff was nice enough to ask us first. Odell was quickly becoming my favorite brewery. The tour was pretty b.a.

They had some cool little nooks and crannies filled with new beers, they showed us some big ass fans, and there was even a monkey on the ceiling (it's the little things that count).

Because we had enjoyed one or two beers before the tour, we were full of questions. One question asked about their beer distribution in Iowa. Alas, they aren't there yet (but they are in Nebraska, yippee!). This led us to meet a fellow Iowa Stater in the group. We struck up a good conversation and learned that he still lived in Iowa and was just as excited about the game as we were.

Onward! We were ready to catch the second half of the CO v. CSU football game. Per Andrew's cousin, Ryan's, suggestion we went to a local bar called Lucky Joe's. This is exactly what we were looking for. Bar food, beers, and lots of CSU fans. It was a typical college bar with lots of random decor on the walls, peanuts, and plenty of tvs to watch the game. We cheered CSU to a win and decided it was time for a nap. Bad idea!

We slept too long and drank too little water. Holy headache! The cure? More beer! We were off to Funkwerks, a local brewery that was open late. I chugged a bunch of water and then kept chugging along. I had something that I can't remember the name of, and Andrew had a flight. As usually, we left with some merchandise and love for another brewery. Thanks for an awesome day, CO!

 So I guess my time in FC can't be summed up in one blog post. Hold on to your pants! The next one will be coming soon.

ROAD TRIP: DENVER, CO

Hello, Colorado! It has been too long!

Last week, Andrew and I took off for Colorado to celebrate the wedding of Kayci and Brian in Denver and our wedding anniversary in Fort Collins. While I wasn't looking forward to the drive, I was very eager for everything that came after it.

Our first night in town, we were greeted by almost all of Andrew's family for dinner and drinks. It was so great to see everyone and get a little catching up in before we hit the hay. Unfortunately the day before we left for CO, I came down with a cold that knocked me out early most nights of our trip. So while Andrew got in a little extra time with the family, I got some extra ZZZzzz.

Grandma Mary Lou, Jody, Kayci (bride-to-be), Debra, and me!

Thursday: Andrew left quite early in the morning to play golf with the guys. This gave me some much needed "me" time at Target. I picked up a few things and treated myself to a pumpkin latte before getting ready for the day. I'm so glad I did, because I needed the energy for the awesome lunch that was planned for the girls. We went to an amazing restaurant called Creekside Cellars. Seriously! Can this place be in my backyard? The food and wine were fantastic, and it was great to be able to spend quality time with Andrew's family.

Clockwise from top left: Ian and Meghan, Mary Lou, and Chris's head; Ryan and Olivia; Jim and Andrew

That night was the rehearsal dinner. We talked, laughed, ate too much, drank, played tag/hide-and-seek, and had a great time. Thank you to Brian's family for the wonderful evening!

At the Continental Divide

Friday: We took two cars, nine people, and lots of gum and water on a scenic drive into the mountains. Winter Park, Colorado must been a hopping place in the winter, because on the day that we visited there wasn't a whole lot to see. Maybe we just weren't looking in the right places? Our lunch place was great, but the shops were lacking. Mostly because they were full of winter gear... I'm willing to give it another shot sometime.

Friday night was the wedding, and what a great wedding it was! Kayci looked gorgeous, the ceremony site was almost magical, and everyone had great time. There was dancing, wine, and lots of good memories. Weddings like this should happen more often!

The happy couple! Congrats Kayci and Brian!

Thank you Flater family for another unforgettable time. I'm already looking forward to Florida next summer!

Jenny and Andrew take a nice picture, and I capture Flater time before the ceremony.

The second half of the vacation will be coming in part two!