living life

steamboat springs, co

2009-10-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

little walk down the railroad tracks

my souvenir

some kind of random berry....they seriously looked like strawberries from far away....riiiight

welcome to the rodeo folks

fly fishermen were everywhere...

what do you see?

just what I needed after a longggg work week!

that's what ski slopes look like during the off seasons

great little coffee shop

Photo Adventure in Denver

2009-09-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

....just a few shots of things that caught my eye as I drove around town before the rain came....

this reminded me of marriage...except maybe they should be holding hands.....hmmm

somehow found a few things in sets of 3....not intentional

ordinary things.....hope you enjoyed.....now to get a big fun camera for another adventure at step up the quality a few notches :)

Meet Cici

2009-09-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

My new ride: 2009 Honda CRV EX-L Black on Black!

We'll call her Cici, here she is all pimped out with her accessories. We're ready for ski season :)

Cash for Clunkers Bill

Thank you, Washington, D.C.

wedding bells, baltimore visitors, and running shoes

2009-05-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

Chicago, IL with my cousin Jenny and a surprise arrival of cousin Audrey!

Jenny and roomie us

Navy Pier the city

the bean @ Second City Comedy Club

tulips cityscape from Hancock bldg

art institute cathedral cafe

(stranger than fiction)

windy city tulips audrey & I on public trans

cubans with the zapp boys rehearsal dinner

family

gma micah beautiful

grant adorable

aunt adel

romantic dip cousin matt and his bride

aunt del & uncle dave sarah, uncle billy, jenny

(happy parents of groom)

"k" is for kammerer ladies love my sis

Greeley with Audrey and The Posts

BolderBouder 10K in style

house of possibilities

tough.

runners plus one shirtless fan

10K, what?!

OT co-workers!!

mountain time

Elk in Rocky Mtn Nat Park, below is a baby

Many of these speak for themselves....

these little chipmunks are fast, can you tell?!

a marmot, in the tundra....hardcore

he's photogenic

we hiked to the highest point on Trail Ridge Road and took a picture to prove it :)

watch out for the hardcore rock climbers

swelling river waters in Estes Park

the end.

welcome spring!

2009-05-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Vail was open, and I got to ski powder in the back bowls....yesssss!

Mike Li posing before we head down into the Blue Sky Basin

Catching up with my favorite Towson natives, in Charlottesville!

Roadtrip from VA to NC with Donna and Christin

Bachelorette Party! Did we mention it was "Bike Week" as well?! Ha!

Duck, NC....I couldn't resist a picturesque early morning run on the beach

There's something about the ocean and beach that quiets my soul.

Married!

Beautiful bride, Jill, and her Baltimore girls!

Then, back to Denver I went....

iCinco de Mayo en mi casa!

Tim and his girlfriend Lesly!

The next morning I had an early bird flight to Chicago.....

i heart visitors, denver, and traveling

2009-04-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

A tribute to all three from January through March...

Okay so this first one is from a fun night out in Denver....Heather just moved back to Iowa, so technically she'll be a "visitor" when she comes back in May and June.

Mike Li "works" remotely from Colorado.....here we are "working hard" at Keystone with Mollie. A little Baltimore reunion.

GO NUGGETS! That's the Denver basketball team, for those of you that don't follow sports. Carmello Anthony...a Maryland native is on the team, of course I had to shout a "Holla"

(my friends had the awesome headbands too....just not on for the picture....are you surprised that I was excited about the free headband night?!)

One Saturday, I worked for a few hours....then on my way home decided to join some fun in Las Vegas, NV....afterall, I'd never been there, and you only live once right?! So, off I went for a 24ish hour adventure with Alicia, Jess, and Baltimore Birthday crew.

We stayed at The Flamingo

The ladies

Lish and I

Nice view from "Wash Park" at sunset, not far from my house....

Skiing Vail with Susie, my fellow east coast transplant.

I had the privilege of hanging out with Marsha Dunn Klein, OTR one of the well known OT Feeding Experts and author of text books I bought for OT school. The conference was in Tucson, AZ where she practices. There were cacti everywhere, like trees line streets of other cities.

Beautiful sunset in Tuscon....not a bad view as I waited at the airport for my plane.

First BLIZZARD in Colorado....and it was in March. Leave it to me to move to Denver and they have the least amount of snowfall in years, ha! The sun is so intense here that the 8-12inches, that covered the city and caused many places to shutdown including roadways, all melted within a day or two.

Julie's first time skiing EVER....and she got to go to VAIL on a fresh powder day. Go big or go home, right?! Thanks for bringing the snow Julie...the mountain snow was waisting away until Julie arrived in Colorado.

Ladies and Gentleman...Denver, Colorado. Yes, yes it is... the cityscape. I want to capture this view across several seasons and on a clear day when you can see the mountains better. This was taken from the Nature and Science Building near City Park. Lovely, isn't it?!

So there it is, the past few months in Denver....with a dash of traveling to Vegas, Tucson, and of course jet setting to Baltimore for my brother's successful heart surgery.

life in DVR or Tivo mode....several months in one blog...sweet!

2008-10-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

Below is my, yet again, mass update in reverse order from most recent October to way back in August. This further defines that I am a slacker with blogging. If I weren't so inconsistent the pictures might be in a better order, sorry! Please note Di I have held to my "at least one blog per month" haha, I'm trying.

October

"Major updates" would be reaching a quarter of a century.....and short hair!! I had enough to donate my hair again, so I went for the chop! Oh AND I got a NEW job with The Children's Hospital!

My sister Julie will appreciate this photo because it was taken from my computer in a coffee shop so I could email her while she is in Acapulco, MX for her Yoga Training with The Bikram School of Yoga...she's amazing...and I will get to visit her for her graduation in November!

Hysterical....a flower birthday cake! Are you surprised that one of the first things I did was pull out a flower to see if there was real cake underneath?! There was not, haha!

HUGE thank you to everyone that made my 25th birthday so special here in Denver, love from Baltimore, Severna Park, the greater Maryland areas, Virginia, New York, etc!!

The cards, flowers, balloon, package, phone calls, blogs....so thankful for each of you!

Part of the birthday crew hanging out in the kitchen :)

Alex and Sonja in town my birthday week!!

(Sonja and I sporting our recent thrifty finds...mine is a 1987 Broncos crewneck sweatshirt, awesome I know! ...don't worry I still am supporting the Raven's....c'mon Flacco...lead that offense...and Ray Ray...keep your boys on top of their game to defend that defensive title)

View from our rooftop at sunset

The bright yellow are Aspen trees, gorgeous.

This was along the drive up Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs, CO

Jeeper made it all the way up Pikes Peak, at 14,110 Feet!!

Yummm....famous doughnuts at the top of Pikes Peak...they were a bargain, we couldn't resist. Delicious too!

19 degrees at the top....yes it was cold and there was snow everywhere

Nice scenic point along the mountain

Close up of an Aspen...lighting wasn't the best to capture the golden/bright yellow color.

Sonja and her home as her and Alex travel the West Coast then back to the East Coast...woodie!

Kathy and Kyle came to visit!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Huge Elk just chilling in the field in Rocky Mountain National Park while visiting with the whole Young family

Little lady hanging out near the road on the way out of the park

September

Roomies take the Light Rail downtown to celebrate KC finishing the National Counseling Exam which she passed!! Congrats!

Sunrise at Mt. Evans

Julie and I at Summit Lake at Sunrise....it was cold....good thing I brought the fur!

This was as far up that we could drive because of the weather they have already closed the top of Mt. Evans (above 14,000 feet aka "14er" in Colorado language)

Check out those peaks in the background

Julie along one of the many stops on the way down from Mt. Evans

Gorgeous views all over, this was a random lake on the way back down the mountain.

Angie and Rob also were in town one weekend, but that was when my old Casio camera was on the fritz

Susie (new friend here in Denver) and I on a hike to Bergen Peak through Elk Meadows Park in Evergreen, CO. You may notice two cute little pups in carriers with us.....so these are Susie's dogs Bentley and Ziggy, they were great sports and hiked most of the way with us. We were determined to hike to the top before it got too late or stormy....so we decided they should rest a little as this was there first "big" hike. Anyways, we laughed hysterically and entertained many other hikers while we were carrying them!

This was the hike where I met Amanda, OT....a divine appointment....and so began the process of my new job developing with The Children's Hospital here in Denver!!

August

1624 S Logan St...the house of possibilities....photo courtesy of Matt's photo shoot

The Crew out at PF Chang's celebrating KC's bday!

Jill and I at the gardens in Washington Park aka "Wash Park" near my house

Hanging out on Lookout Mountain with Baltimore visitors...Lauren, Jill & Ed

Ed, Jill and I

Brilliant Rainbow seen while visiting Red Rocks with Lauren

Lauren and I after Rafting on Clear Creek

Hitting some class IV rapids along Clear Creek!

Old Colorado City/ Colorado Springs

meeting up with Mark and Kate Richa while Lauren was in town

One of the many gorgeous views from The Broadmoor at the base of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs. We enjoyed a nice lunch there as we were treated so nicely "Ms. Kammerer it will only be a few minutes before we have your car ready for you" Note to self....future girls trip?!

After camping in Moraine Park of The Rocky Mountain National Park, Lauren and I hiked to Cub Lake....known for the lily pad covering.

What a great week off with one adventurous girl willing to explore so many parts of Colorado with me!!

The fun has just begun....

2008-09-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

Kicked off July with a trip home....caught some crabs fresh from the Eastern Shore :) Time with family:

Dustin ready to scoop crabs with the net...he's focused

*The Amazing Aunt Donna*

check out her measuring skills while the crabs hang in the air!

Apple doesn't fall far from the tree?? Uncle Rick and Cody

Brian and Melanie

Daddy and I

Momma Lil and Joey

And time with friends in Bmore:

Little Havana

Congrats LT you are officially an RN now!

Marina and Melanie

Roomie, Her Hubbie, and Mr. Miami

Eating some of those fresh crabs caught with the family!

Lovely Ladies

Then, back in Colorado...

Laura tears up 120 miles and 3 mountain passes on her road bike!

"Triple Bypass"

Go Hammy!

(roomie picture plus Brandy)

Ben and Laura after the race...yeah they dominated

And the last documented adventure of July was a rafting trip near Canon City, The Royal Gorge trip along the Arkansas River....amazing, sorry I don't have more pictures!

Group shot with our helmets on backwards because apparently that's how Laura thought they were supposed to go on, haha! (not really, she just picked up the wrong helmet that was a few sizes to big and so not knowing this was the wrong helmet, she proceeded to try to "make" it fit until we broke out in hysterics demanding she wear one that fit correctly!) Yeah, guess you had to be there to appreciate the humor?

Little chow time after an amazing day on the river...nachos and beers, yum.

And so that concludes July....visitors from Bmore come to Colorado in August!

Taking in all that Colorado has to offer....May and June

2008-09-11T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hiking in Chataqua, near Boulder, with Sue (left) and Julie (right -- roomie)

TEVA Mountain Games in Vail

Extreme Kayaking

Beautiful scenery...still white caps in June, love those Rockies

Note, this dude is not attached to a rope....he's "bouldering"

Next comes July.....however the way these blogs work, you will probably have seen July before you catch this post....ahh oh well, at least I've finally been able to get pictures up!

Where did July and August go??

2008-09-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

A quick step back to the promised pictures to finish off the road trip to Colorful Colorado. Then I will catch up the rest that I've missed....maybe one day I can stay on top of this :)

You can see beautiful layers of the land in this one

Strike a pose in the BadlandsA prairie dog - if Alicia could have taken one home, she would have...Bode needs a friend, right?!

The advertisement totally worked!

after the Bad Lands and numerous billboards, we FINALLY made it to WALL DRUG

5 Cent Coffee

(and of course I tried some, only added Splenda!)

Mt. Rushmore

Crazy Horse, many years in the making...

This picture explains itself....entertainment on a long road trip

AND

drum roll please.....

This is in the middle of the night, stopped on the highway....after 2 intense energy drinks that left my heart racing until the next morning (only on desperate measures, those drinks are scarey!)

Okay one post down and several to go before I catch up to September!!!

Updated house pictures

2008-06-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

1624 South Logan Street

The bedroom...

The bathroom...

The sunroom...

Random day in Golden....check out the view behind me-- Denver, in the distance! :)

Me, Lucas, Drew, KC (roomie) --more pix of friends and roomies to come!

Don't worry....trippin part 2 is coming also....

Trippin....part 1

2008-06-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

I'm a thinker....sometimes a dweller, it's true....and I can't help but feel guilty that things have been going so well here in Denver, but I've "failed" to keep a mass update.

For starters....some pictures from the roadtrip out here:

Let the roadtrip adventures begin....and oh they did....we weren't even to the end of Oak Lane when one of the back windows started rolling down because of all the items shoved tight inside the Jeeper. Good thing I have child locks to keep that from happening again!

One of the many stops for bathroom and gasoline....

First official stop: South Bend, IN to see one of my many cousins from the Kammerer side, Matt Zappasodi. Matt led us around a little tour of South Bend before we left the next morning, complete with a stop at the famous South Bend Chocolate Company and then a classic pancake house. We also had a behind the scenes look at Notre Dame's baseball facility (shhh!) and college life the night before.

...turn your head to the left (sorry!)

Next stop that very same day was Chicago, IL to see another cousin from the Kammerer side, Jenny Kammerer. She's a doll and met Alicia and I during her break from work. We saw the "little Mexico" of Chicago and had a delicious lunch complete with some red lollipops for dessert.

Then began the longest leg of the cross country drive.....so we shared the wheel....

YES! Alicia is drove stick! Wahoo!

Some of the random sites from the road....I guess we'll call this large scale western "lawn" ornaments?! Haha!

The Infamous Corn Palace!!! Shout out to Steve Curry for the heads up on one of South Dakota's random tourist attractions along the way.

Bad Lands National Park....and I am now an official Park Pass Holder, let the fun begin!

Where the buffalo roam.....correction...that's BISON.

Below: Gassing up at Cowboy Corner (in the middle of nowhere) before the long ride through the Bad Lands.

Again, sorry for the side ways picture...Alicia and I hanging out in Bad Lands National Park, gorgeous....(the park that is)

...to be continued...

slacker

2008-05-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

....i'm failing miserably on this blog deal. Fact is, I love the idea, but right now my computer is having some trouble and my internet connection....isn't really "mine" it's "borrowed" if you will :)

apologies everyone. i promise new updated pictures are coming and such.....as of this weekend the place is pretty settled and my room is FINISHED decorations on the wall and everything!

i miss Maryland....but Denver truly has been wonderful so far and time is flying....about 1 month this weekend. crazy. this weekend we had a graduation party for laura and julie (roomies), went to an outlaws game, adullam this morning and then i went to see the Lippizaner Stalions perform (random but are you surprised I went?! it really was a wonderful event!).

love you all!

wild wild west-bound

2008-04-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

My bedroom door....entry way...my "wing" of the house, as people like to refer to it....
Bed and bedside drawers/table.....awesome furniture on loan from Neumann!
And the furniture continues.....little wall cut outs for some added detail to the master bedroom.
The walk-in closet with a few feet of more closet area to the left and right as well.....it's almost like a room in itself...

So, I've enjoyed calling Denver the "wild wild west" after one of the kids I used to work with at the clinic asked where I was moving and responded with "Oh, is that in the wild wild west?" in his little Baltimore-ish accent. Anyways, I thought it was about time for an updated post, but then I remembered my pace that I've set....1 per month. Haha! Well, I hope to be a little better, but at least this is a start. A friend asked if my blog was a writing blog or a picture blog, I know I've written quite a bit on previous entries, however I hope to start a more balanced set of postings with pictures and writing.

The trip is set for an early Thursday morning departure from Baltimore. Alicia and I will head straight to South Bend, IN to see my cousin Matt. We'll spend the night in IN and then head out to Chicago, IL the next morning for a midday rendezvous with my cousin Jenny. Then from Chicago we'll trek through a few states to get to Sioux Falls, SD where we will spend the night in a hotel. Saturday morning we'll head straight for the Badlands area and Mt. Rushmore for some national park and land mark exploring. After a few hours in that area we'll muster all the energy, adrenaline, and sweet IPOD mixes to drive straight to Denver for a late night arrival!!!

That's our plan and we're sticking to it! :)

I will post some more pictures of the house and trip when life settles down....for now I need to go to sleep so that I have energy to get a ton of packing done tomorrow!

a plan

2008-03-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

So....the official date that I leave Maryland is April 17th, 2008! My friend Alicia has offered to keep me company and join the cross country adventure to Denver. I wanted take a little extra time and enjoy some scenery of this country, seeing as I've never driven this direction....nor have I visited states between here at Colorado. So, we will make stops in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota and then to my new home in Denver. Alicia has a flight booked to fly back to Baltimore the evening of April 21st, so the plan is to arrive in Denver sometime that morning. I am so excited to spend some time catching up with friends and family along the way. This is a wonderful opportunity to see their stopping grounds. I think by the end of the month the trip will be confirmed for all stops with a little more detail as to how long, but for now I've drawn up a nice little estimate of visits/sleepovers and of course the travel time between destinations. The jeeper is officially in the shop now, so we'll see after inspection with a fine toothed comb (literally, haha you should see the comb....nah just kidding). She will be tuned up, maybe get some new wheels and tires....we shall see. Pimp my ride?! Haha. This is all bittersweet.....it is a wild mixture of emotions between absolute excitement for this new "adventure" that is really coming together in Denver.....and then being surrounded by everyone here in Maryland between roomies getting married, all kinds of parties to see people, and some quality time over dinners, coffee, etc.

By the way, one day I'll learn to control this blogging.....I always seem to start off simple and end up with a LONG post! I know I know...more frequently might help with the length.....and pictures....well....one day. :)

a home in Denver....

2008-02-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

Yep! That's right, a home in Denver. I can actually say "I'm moving to Denver" no more "It's tempting" or "It's possible." It's safe to say, I am in fact moving....unless some huge "door to Denver" gets slammed in my face. As of right now I feel the doors are wide open.....one foot in through the doorway. In the matter of one week, I now have 3 roomies and 1 pimpin house in Denver!!! I can't believe this is happening. This is the first "official" step towards my move to Denver. I will be enjoying the Master Bedroom/Bathroom of this lovely little house. Some friends of ours (actually I only know one of the guys) live directly across the street from the house! There is a fabulous little park less than a block away from our house....not to mention lots of other fun people.....supposedly this area, Platt Park is up and coming.

http://www.trulia.com/property/1044529826-1624-S-Logan-St-Denver-CO-80210

That's the house. Check out "See more photos & details" for a little slide show. Unfortunately, the lady is really into her gardens so there is a lot of the landscaping....and not as much of the rooms in the house as I'd like, but I'm trusting Laura and KC's raving reviews. I must add that thankfully we will not be responsible for tending to the gardens (that was a large concern of ours, that's like a full time job!).

I should probably explain how this all came together because it is a really amazing story! So Laura, KC (currently in Denver and roomies), and myself have all secretly been totally pumped for an opportunity to live together....all the while trusting the Lord with our future knowing that he is in control. Up until this point we didn't want to talk too seriously in case things didn't work out for me to move to Denver. Well about a week ago Laura, KC and friends were heading over to a friend Brad's house to pull a prank while he was out of town. As they pulled up to his house they noticed the place directly across was now for rent. So Laura and KC thought they might as well call even though they were sure that this house could be way out of our price range. So, like several others that day they called and left a message of interest. After completing the prank and hanging out for a little, they talked about living situation and decided to pray over the searching process. I love their hearts, really looking to give up the control and trust. No joke, after leaving the house, they saw the couple in front of the house for rent and went over to learn more about this place! The couple then invited them in to take a look and the girls fell in love but tried to keep the excitement bottled up as they took in all the information and asked more questions about the house. Laura and KC then left without any idea what would happen next because within the few hours the rent sign was up, this couple had already received about 8 inquiries! Laura and KC called to tell me all about this great place but still trying to figure out if it was even a possibility financially as well as remember we hadn't even been offered the place so we had to stay open to the idea that it might not work. Much to their surprise the lady called Laura later that night and offered us the place (we were given a week to decide)!!! So then came more crunching of numbers and brainstorming for a possible 4th roomie. Anyways....did I mention I'm a little long winded when it comes to telling stories?! This past Friday we filled out the paperwork and today submitted our deposit to secure the place!

So the next question is when!?? Well....my current roomie of 4+ years is getting married April 12 so I will leave sometime after the wedding. The official date has yet to be determined, however I will definitely be driving across the country with a vehicle packed to the max! The ol Jeeper goes to the shop in March to see if she's ready for the cross country trek. I'm hoping that she has a lot more left in her to endure all of the Colorado adventures that I have in store!

Job possibilities will take a little more time to determine......to be continued....

opportunities

2008-01-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

Life is full of opportunities to seek out living. Here's a new opportunity I am checking out, after much encouragement from my close friend Diane (an avid blogger), I have decided to start this blog of my own in attempt to keep everyone updated on life, living life. There's a great debate out on these blogs, my hope is that it will be helpful to stay connected with people, no matter where we are or how "busy" our lives get. I've come to understand that life has allowed us so many opportunities to meet people from all walks of life and the internet has definitely increased our capacity to have relationships of all levels that can still be meaningful. Blogs come in to help us skip a few less beats of each others lives.

Right now living life is a little less conventional for me then most would imagine of a 24 year old single woman. I recently changed jobs within the same field of Occupational Therapy, I am working part time while I research opportunities in Denver, CO and seek God's direction for my life. Life is more than a job, but jobs take up the majority of your life if you think about it. So if there's more to life than a job but you don't have time to do anything besides your job and some basic activities of daily living (self-care, eating, laundry, etc)....then something clearly needs to change to truly live, right? Well, opportunities presented themselves and my heart said "go for it" and so hear I am. So, I'm seeking answers.....

I'm living for truth, for adventure, for my potential, for a "greener" world, for relationships with people, for learning, for everything in between those and for all that helps me understand why I've been given this life to live?! Life is a privilege, so let's learn how to LIVE! :)