Colorado in Pictures: Cripple Creek

I always struggle with picking my very favorite photos from our adventures to share on the blog, & my recent trip to Colorado Springs to visit my hometown friend, Liz, with my other hometown bff, Tara, was no exception.

Part of the reason blogging about this trip was so difficult is because we packed so much into our few short days out West. In an effort not to inundate y'all with 500 photos, I'll break up this little photo-journal into at least three posts to spare you from the longest-blog-post-in-history. Can't wait that long? (Although I highly doubt anyone out there except maybe Tara & Liz care all that much). Click here to see my entire Smugmug album.

After arriving late Friday night, we woke up early Saturday & headed west to a cute old mountain town called Cripple Creek. They were having a little winter festival, complete with a couple blocks of ice sculptures. We meandered around, checked out the sculptures, ate some homemade fudge & then did a little photoshoot (aren't girlfriends fun?) before heading back to the Springs.

Stop by in the next few days to catch a photo recap of the rest of the weekend including stops at the Air Force Academy, Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs & Denver! All of our adventures are proof that Liz is a fantastic hostess! We couldn't have packed more into our short weekend trip!

Wondering where Matt was this weekend? He was also in Colorado for his brother's bachelor party. The wedding party (groomsmen/bridesmaids) spent the weekend skiing in Winter Park! So we both had pretty great weekends!

In the air...

Almost there...

Off to Cripple Creek...

The ladies (Suz, Liz & Tara)...

Cripple Creek, CO...

This local cracked me up...

The ice festival...

They even let us sit on the sculptures...

Our little chocolate break...

My girls were kind enough to let me practice my portrait skills on them!

First up, Tara...

Tara was fixing her hair as I clicked away. I think she looks so dang beautiful in this shot.

And Liz...

I even let them take my picture...

See y'all later for the rest of the photo-recap!

Photo of the Week: Liz

Guess where I just got home from? Visiting this lady in Colorado....

My friend Tara & I headed west this past weekend to visit Liz in Colorado Springs (or as the locals-- a.k.a. Liz--call it... "the Springs"). I have tons of fun photos from our adventures, but this was my favorite of our fabulous hostess. I will share some others later this week after I catch up on life. Stay tuned!

[In case you're interested: unedited/SOOC photo shot at the Airforce Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. 66mm, 1/30, f9, ISO 250]

Liam is ONE!

(well, he will be tomorrow, which is really just an hour & a half away!)

 
Happy birthday, little dude!

We can't believe you made your entrance a whole year ago! Sorry we're missing your birthday bash on Saturday. Shame on us...we are double booked. Hope you know we love you tons & will be thinking of you today! Give your mommy, daddy & Wrigs a hug for us, k? Love, Aunt Suz & Uncle Matt (okay-okay, we're not technically related, but we claim you, you furry brother, & your folks as family!) P.S. I'm going to share some of the photos I snapped of you back in November with my blog friends cause you are so stinking cute, even when you're eating dirt! Happy birthday, buddy!

This one deserves a caption.... I call it the "Praise Jesus!" pic!

Smoothie Queen

I am on a serious smoothie kick right now. And I blame it on my Grandma. You see, my sweet Grandma Shirlee bought me an immersion (or hand) blender for Christmas. It was arguably one of my very favorite gifts (1) because it was unexpected & (2) because I'd secretly been wanting one for my kitchen. Grandma = generous mind-reader.

This hand blender is a game-changer. Besides being able to blend soups in a jiffy (& if you've ever tried to do that in batches in a regular blender you know how messy/time-consuming/annoying it can be), it also can be used as a mini-food processor, electric wisk, chopper, & most importantly ... single-serving smoothie/shake blender! I rarely made smoothies in our regular blender because there were too many parts to wash & often I couldn't get all the good stuff out of the bottom of the blender. With my new blender, I can make the smoothie in the same cup I drink it out of & I only have one part to wash.

While I'm gushing about my new favorite gadget & treat, I have to let you in on a new smoothie secret of mine: throw some vegetables in your otherwise fruity smoothie. I'm telling you, it's an amazing way to pump up the nutritional content, get some extra vitamins & supplement an otherwise fruity, sugary, blended drink.

My favorites? Carrots & spinach. If you're thinking, "YUCK, no way jose"... I'll challenge you to give this little recipe a try & tell me if you can taste the veggies. I'll bet you can't!

Suz's Go-To Smoothie
Mix the following in your blender. Note that I'm not specifying measurements because that's not how I roll. I just eye ball & adjust if it's to thick/thin for my taste. It's how I live on the wild side.

• Vanilla or fruit-flavored low-fat yogurt (I'm not a fan of non-fat yogurt, but you could certainly use that)
• Frozen berries (I stock up on the big bags at Target when they go on sale -- note that you can buy frozen fruit in a sugary syrup, but you definitely don't want this. Just the regular frozen whole fruit will do.)
• 1/2 a banana
• A couple handfuls of baby spinach (I'm getting more & more adventurous & adding a lot more every time I make a smoothie. So far, I can't taste it!)
• Milk or Juice (I usually go with OJ)

Enjoy! I've also made this carrot smoothie a few times. I substitute frozen peaches or mango for the pineapple (it makes my tummy upset). Definitely has a bit of a carrot consistency so you know it's there, but it's still delish. Try it!

Matt used to have the reputation of smoothie king in our household. In fact, we've had overnight guests specially request a Matt-McA-smoothie. Move over, Matt...there's a new smoothie queen in the house.

[Photos from Real Simple (a.k.a. my favorite magazine). I can't be bothered to take a picture after I make myself a smoothie, I dig in too quickly! Also, I've gotta give credit where credit is due. The January issue of Real Simple prompted me to try throwing some veggies in my smoothies. You can check out all of their smoothie recipes here... just enter "smoothie" in the search box.]

XOXO

Sending hugs & kisses to the ones I love this Valentine's Day! (Especially this one).

 ....and if you don't have someone to kiss tonight, remember you may have to kiss a few frogs before you meet your prince! (Not sure why my prince is kissing a frog...but that's a blog post for another time!)  Happy Valentine's Day!

A Shower for Shann

As you may have noticed, my presence here on Simply Suz has been pretty light the last week & I will probably only sporadically pop in over the next month. I'm completely overwhelmed with everything move & dental-school related & that takes precedence! Priorities! In the meantime, here are a few snap shots of last weekend. I had 6 of my favorite ladies from our Summit small group over for a baby shower for my sweet friend, Shann. 

Suz, Lori, Shann (& baby Belle in her belly), Denise, Arevig, Kim & Denise

Of the 7 of us, 3 are either expecting or adopting in the next 12 months! (And no, I'm not one of them). An exciting time for all & I am sad I won't be here to meet all of their little bambinos! These ladies have truly been such a blessing during our short time in North Carolina & I will miss them & their spouses/families dearly. Congratulations, Shann!

An Adventure & An Announcement

Let's start with the announcement because it's been a long time coming (3 years to be exact). Here's a clue:

That's right.....We are moving to Florida! Matt is going to be a Florida Gator & attend UF's Dental School in the fall!!!

We are so overwhelmed with excitement to move "back home" to the Sunshine State, anxiety for all of the logistics that come with a move, sadness to leave our wonderful community in North Carolina, but most of all gratefulness for the Lord leading us right back where we need to be. Home.

Phew, now that I've got that off my chest, the adventure. 

In the spirit of "enjoying right where we are" in 2011, we spent last Saturday skiing in the N.C. mountains with our great friends Lori & Dave.

You may remember this happy couple from our fall camping trip. Lori & Dave also happen to be Florida alums (Go Gators!) & they've been so helpful already as we start to figure out a transition plan. Despite our early morning wake-up call (5 a.m. on a Saturday), we had a great time skiing at Beech Mountain. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with great friends.

Because I wanted the day to be about skiing & not photography, I left our big-boy camera at home & took our old digital, which (naturally) we discovered had almost-dead batteries. We took 2 very quick photos & then hit the slopes.

The memories with 2 of our favorite NC friends trump any photos I could have taken. Sometimes it's freeing to leave the camera behind.

Lori & Dave, we are so thankful for your friendship & are already sad to say goodbye to y'all in a few months! We're expecting to see you guys as you pass through G-ville, okay?! Go Gators!