I can hardly believe it has been a year since Joe and I said our wedding vows and tied the knot! We will be celebrating our anniversary this weekend by traveling to Valley View Hot Springs in southern Colorado for some bonding time, relaxation, and hiking! This past year has been full of surprises, happy moments, laughter, adventures, and challenges that have strengthened our marriage. Here are some pictures that tell the story of our first year!
For our honeymoon, we traveled to Steamboat Springs for a mini-vacation and stayed in a very nice bed and breakfast for the weekend. We enjoyed some relaxation time at Strawberry Hot Springs and hiking at Fish Creek Falls (above).
October was a busy month for us. We traveled to Glenwood, MN to celebrate my grandparents 55th wedding anniversary and celebrated my 27th birthday. Also, I took the plunge and applied and got accepted into the Masters of Non-Profit Management program at Regis University. Grad school was challenging at first, but I am almost half way through the program, and I am enjoying my classes!
We celebrated Christmas with Joe’s family in Ohio. Joe’s mom made some delicious meals for us! Joe also took me on a tour of his college campus OSU in Columbus, OH. 
Joe and his younger brother, Paul
Joe and I with the OSU campus in the background.
In February, I made the decision to leave my job of 3 1/2 years to focus on school full time. It has been tough to find part-time work with the economy and the competitive job market, and I have been out work for about 5 months. Joe and I have made the decision that it’s best for us financially if I go back to work full time, so I am currently sending out resumes and hoping to find a job soon in the non-profit field!
In March, Joe found a great deal on a fly-and-drive deal to Ireland, so we decided to travel and finally have an extended honeymoon! Dublin is a very busy city, especially the week before St. Patrick’s Day, which most people take as an extended holiday to travel. After arriving at the Dublin airport at 6am and picking up our rental car, we set off to find our bed and breakfast for the night. Little did we know how confusing driving can be in Ireland! We ended up stopping at a few stores and asking for directions, and then somehow we wound up at the airport again! Finally, after putting our heads together and carefully reading the map and street signs, Joe and I found our bed and breakfast.
The next several days we drove around the southern and western part of Ireland and saw some amazing countryside!
Wiclow National Park
Lake at Wiclow National Park
Killarney National Park
Killarney National Park
Cliffs of Moher – This was our favorite part of the trip!
Croagh Patrick – Don’t let starting at sea level fool ya! This is a tough hike!
After returning from Ireland, we settled back into life and got ready to move in May. We are now living in Congress Park and love it! I also started running and training for some races this summer. So far, I have participated in the Colfax 5K, the Boulder Boulder 10K, and the Steamboat half marathon! Our other big news is that we are now proud parents of…….two cats (no kids for a while!). Their names are Earl Grey and Stoli, and they are both Blue Russians. After a lot of ruff and tumble, they are finally friends, with the occassional knock down fight! They keep our lives interesting, that is for sure!
At the end of May, Joe’s brother Paul and some of his friends came out to visit for a week. We had fun showing them around Boulder, Denver, and the Rocky Mountains!
Finally, our most recent news is that Joe bought a ‘75 VW Bus in June! He’s planning on doing some engine repairs himself, and then we want to transform the interior of the bus into a camper so we can take it on the road! I’ll let him post some updates about his repair work.
Well, there you have it! This first year has been an adventure! Joe and I are looking forward to what this next year will bring for us :)
