the last four weeks...

It’s been nearly a month since I blogged and I’m finally getting back into the swing of things.

Four weeks ago my best friend and sister got married. The day was beautiful, relaxing and fun, filled with laughter, excitement, nerves, beginnings and dancing! A fantastic time was had by all. And now, Mr. & Mrs. Steinke have been married for one month and three days. They are working to transform Dan’s bachelor pad into their home, organizing all the gifts and writing thank you notes.

The week of Kel’s wedding I began feeling the slightest hint of a cold. The minute the wedding was over, it hit me….hard, exhausting and long! I fought it for three and a half weeks, which is the biggest reason for the absent blogger. I’m finally over it, thankfully. It was probably the worst cold I’ve ever had, and all I wanted to do was sleep.

The Bye week is one of my favorite weekends of the season because Kyle and I get to actually do something! Our annual trip to Nashville changed this year since we will see the entire gang at Rich and Penny’s wedding in February. We were invited to spend the weekend with our friends Chris and Courtney at her parent’s ranch in South Dakota. I was very excited about this trip, because it was a state I hadn’t been to (only 10 to go). We had a fabulous time and Mr. & Mrs. Ward were incredible hosts.

They have a real working ranch, like nothing I’ve ever been to. There are hundreds of acres of rolling hills, cows and barn after barn of horses, indoor arenas and people. It was so much fun to see all that goes on, on a ranch. The guys went pheasant hunting two days and the ladies relaxed, shopped, rode horses, got my boots dirty and enjoyed a evening out to Sutton Bay. Her parents belong to this hunting and golf club that was spectacular. The views are amazing, and the golf course looks beautiful. The guys had a great time hunting and Kyle killed 7 Pheasants. We came home with four and I have no idea how to make a meal out of this meat….so if you happen to have a great recipe that includes pheasant, pass it my way! I did have the opportunity to taste it, and it was pretty good, more flavor than chicken.

On the way home we drove through the Bad Lands, the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. It was pretty cool, although the weather didn’t cooperate. A great weekend with many memories!

A couple of weeks before BYE week, we decided to start looking for a house. After a few trips to look at some bad ones….we found one. It was a bit of a whirl wind and 24 hours after we saw it for the first time, we were under contract. We have the hurdle of the inspection to get through tomorrow. Other than that, we are over the moon about this house and I’ll post pictures as soon as we feel it’s official. We have purchased furniture, have a growing “to do” list and are ecstatic to be in a house before the holidays…that was our goal.

That’s the latest from Denver…