Fall is here!

Fall....ohh how I love it. This lovely season is my favorite, there are just so many wonderful things about it: the smells {anyone smelled Leaves from Bath and Body Works? mmmm}, the changing trees and all the vibrant coloirs, the food {warm soups, pumpkin pies, cinnamon, nutmeg, butternut squash...}, the crisp air, cozying {made up that word} up in warm hoodies and blankets....the list goes on!! Here are just a few pictures of what fall looks like here in CO:

DSLR

We got a new camera!!! Well, technically it's Ryan's...but he found it {for an amazing price} and had it shipped to me so I can play with and and fall in love with it. Which I AM. It's incredible, and fast, and smooth, and clear/crisp, and shoots amazing shots!!!! Stay tuned for a lil taste of what it can do!!

He stole my heart

I've fallen in love with someone. His name is Quinn, he weighs about 8 pounds and is 1 month old. He's got blond hair, big blue eyes, and the cutest lil nose you ever did see. He is absolutely amazing in every way possible. He stole my heart before he had even made his way into the world, and by the time we were introduced to each other my heart had melted completely.

He has made me totally weak, in every way....I cried when I first found out he had started growing in my sister's belly, I cried on and off all day while he was making his grand entrance into the world {even though I was thousands of miles away from him}, I cried when I first got to see his tiny body via skype {amazing how great technology is these days}, meeting him in person for the first time was incredible... the instant I saw my sister and him in the airport my breath was literally taken away from me....and then I cried {it would have been more of a whaling (perhaps like a baby) if I wouldn't have controlled myself, that's how excited I was}, we shared 5 quick phenomenal days together and then it was time to say goodbye....and boy did I cry. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions; I went from one of the best days in my life so far of meeting my only sister's firstborn to one of the hardest days, saying goodbye to this new person who had captured such a huge part of my heart. I love him. To death. He is just marvelous. It's just incredible to me how full my heart felt when I was with him; it makes me excited to have my own kids someday, because if I feel this much love for my nephew I can't even fathom how much love I'll have for my own babies!

As hard as it is to leave him, it makes it easier for me knowing that my sister and he will be coming out to Colorado the end of Oct for a week to visit. I can't WAIT!! Oh and his mommy and daddy asked me to be his Godmother, which guess what.....made me cry :)

Wahoo, completed my first triathlon!!!

Welp, today I did it...I finished my FIRST triathlon!!! And I can proudly say my training paid off and it went well! I had more butterflies before the race started than I think I've ever gotten. I had trained, taken care of myself, eaten the right things the last days before the race, but was I really ready?

The swim is what I was most nervous for...I know how to swim, and had done some open water swims to prepare... but there's just something about swimming a half mile out in the middle of a lake, with people swimming over you and kicking you and you can't see or touch the bottom if you need to that just really freaked me out {I can say past tense 'freaked' now cause I conquered it!}. With this triathlon they send you out in waves of 125ish people and have you start actually in the water {some triathlons have you run into the water from a location away from the water} and as I walked down the dock ramp to get in the water I think my heart must have been racing 180 beats per minute, no matter what kind of breathing I did I couldn't slow it down. I was SO nervous! So I'm in the water, have gotten myself wet completely to get used to the temperature and then they send us off. Soon after we started swimming I started having a major panic attack and couldn't get any air in {let me tell you, this isn't the greatest feeling in the world when you've trained so hard for something and you feel like you might lose it all in a few seconds because you can't breathe...I was worried for a split second that they might have to pull me out of the water. Now this whole panic attack prob only last a few min and once I composed myself I was fine, but it felt like forever.} After I finally caught my breath and my heart slowed down a bit I was able to start doing some strokes {during the attack I was just sort of floundering as I was trying to do a side stroke or back stroke}. But soon after I actually started swimming I realized one side of my goggles was leaking a ton and no matter what I did the whole swim I couldn't fix it....so I did a lot of the breast stroke for most of the swim because that's what kept the water out the best. {I have no clue what the issue was, I haven't had that problem before} Even with my minor issues though I think I did the swim in about 21 minutes, I was hoping for 20, so only 1 min over wasn't too shabby!

The bike was a breeze {especially with my new sweet bike Ryan got me for my birthday} and I was able to recover from the swim a bit, hydrate and refuel for the run. I gotta tell you, those energy gels are amazing!

The run went pretty well....the whole first half of the run was uphill, so I ended up walking a bit, which I had thought I would and then after the half-way point it was all down hill. My goal for next year is to run it all....which I maybe could have this year but I really just didn't know how my body was going to take to it all.

So that's it, I finished and am extremely happy!! I'm hoping I can get in much better shape between now and next summer, maybe do a few triathlons over the summer and shave off some time from this one....I'm trying to recruit people to do it with me next year, any takers!?! I'm working on my mom and sis!

Here are a few pictures from the big day:

Ready and nervous for the race to start!

Coming down to the finish line!

Yippie!!!

4th of July

Here are a few pictures from my trip out to DC over the 4th of July....


The original flag flown at Iwo Jima, absolutely spectacular!

Ryan took me to the cutest little are on the river to eat dinner


Who doesn't love Albert Einstein!?

Arlington National Cemetary

We got to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just as they were changing the guards

My first 5k...and Ryan got first in his age group!

Back at the cute little river

After we had already ran a 5k and went rock climbing we decided to do his 5 mile Endurance Course...talk about intense!!

And then we hit up Virginia Beach for the fireworks!

Tri for the Cure

So I'm jumpin in feet first and have decided I'm going to do my first triathlon this summer!! It's the Tri for the Cure, an all women sprint distance triathlon here in Denver. It will be a 1/2 mile swim, 11.4 mile bike and then a 5k (3.1 mile run). It's Aug 1st, so that only leaves me 5 solid weeks to train for it. I've been doing some stuff, but really need to hit the ground running from here on out.

Ever since the first time I watched a triathlon 2 summers ago I've wanted to do one but never gave myself enough credit in being able to do it. Welp, I've given up on excuses and finally am just doing it!! I'm registered for a 5k over the 4th of July that I've been training for so that will help out some {especially since I have terrible shins, it's been a slow process to build up their strength but I think they're finally ready for a little distance}. And hopefully I can get a little expert advice/tips from my brother-in-law who does triathlons, he did an Ironman last summer!!

I'm posting this on here because I figure if I get the word out there then it's a great way for me to hold myself accountable and actually do it!! Since it's the Tri for the Cure it's part of Susan G. Komen and many of the participants raise money to help find a cure. I'm putting a link on here so if you're interested at all in giving a little you can click on the link below and donate to help me reach my goal!

http://www.active.com/donate/triforthecure10/donateforacurekatie2

Lattice and Trellis...LOVE it!

There's this trend in home decor recently that I'm totally obsessed with and would love to have in my home. It's the lattice/trellis/Moorish style of patterns that have become really popular over the last year. Need some samples of what I'm talking about? Oh, OK!!!

I love this great DIY art done over at The Shabby Nest

This bedding over at Young House Love is SOOO yummy, I would luuuurrve to have this in my bedroom, but West Elm doesn't sell it anymore :( {By the way, have I mentioned how much I'm obsessed with YHL's blog?! It's UH-mazing!}
How 'bout these lovely pillows I've seen on Etsy?!! I've looked all over for the perfect fabric to purchase so I can make my own but I haven't found much within my budget....so I may just be ordering me some of these some day...
What do you think?!! Are they as wonderful to you as they are to me?!!