first snow

Omaha had it's first snow fall this winter a couple of weeks ago. It was a lazy sunday and we could see big fluffy flakes out our window. I had to do some convincing to get Ben out of our cozy apartment to brave the cold and to take some photos at our favorite park (Hanscom Park). We set up the tripod and poor Ben ran back and forth to the camera to assure we got our shot.

breckenridge family vacation

 

 

 

 

Two of my brothers live in Colorado, so once a year the whole family makes their way to the mountains for a visit.  The USA Pro Cycle Challenge was going on during our visit and the race happened to be down the road from where we were staying. I had never experience an event like this and I think it caught my family by surprise on how thrilling it was! The next day we headed to Summer Fun Park where we spent the day riding gondolas, ski lifts, alpine slides and a little hike on top of a breath taking mountain. The last day we headed down to lower elevation (which, is deceivingly high in Breckenridge and took a bit of a toll on all of us) to stay with my brother where we had a picnic in Washington Park and then checked out the Denver Botanical Gardens. It was a great relaxing trip and I think Ben and I fall in love with Colorado more and more with every visit.

jazz on the green

Every Thursday for six weeks our neighboring park hosts Jazz on the Green. Spectators set up their camping chairs in Turner Park, drink a lot of wine and listen to some jazz... or in our case, do some major people watching. It's a nice little walk from our apartment and we usually make stop at our favorite craft beer store to pick up some cold ones. 

anniversary trip to chicago

For our first anniversary Ben and I decided to make a quick trip to Chicago. We took the Megabus down to use the money saved on a nicer hotel. We had no idea what to expect and I feel like we can't complain for how cheap it was (even if the air conditioning didn't work on the way down). We headed to Wrigleyville to catch a Cubs game, and I actually surprised myself with how much fun I had. On our actual anniversary we did some shopping and took an architectural tour by boat along the Chicago river. It was absolutely incredible! What I don't have photographed is the amazing restaurants that we ate at, specifically Farmhouse & The Publican. I made a vow to myself to not post any iPhone photos in hopes take I take more photos with our nice camera. You know what? Lugging a big camera is kind of tough, and for whatever reason I hate pulling it out at restaurants. Some day I will treat the camera as another appendage and build more confidence shooting in resturants.

our first anniversary

When we picked our wedding date we based it on what was available at the hall, not particularly caring about the date itself. We knew in the back of our mind that it would be on Fourth of July weekend, but celebrating our first anniversary we realized how great it is that it lands around a holiday. With a paid day off from work, why not take the entire week off and do a quick trip to Chicago? We got back into town just in time for some festivities and it felt like those fireworks were meant for us. 

I was determined to pull out some of our wedding decorations (that our dear friend worked so hard on) every anniversary to decorate our apartment with. I only made it to this one banner. I feel like we JUST packed all those decorations away and it kind of killed me to take them out again. 

balcony nights

 

 

We try to make the most of our tiny balcony at our apartment by eating dinner every night on it. This mild June night kept us outside for hours in good company with some local brews and the changing light as our backdrop.