It's the little things ...

... camping.

... hiking with my favorites.

... a cold, rainy, cloudy day in the middle of july.

... a cup of ginger tea.

... apple spice candles.

... a husband who knows physics ...

... and is willing to draw me circuits.

... cuddling up in quilts.

... not turning the t.v. on all day.

... studying.

... 2 hour phone conversations with my mom.

... waking up in the middle of the night to my animals piled on top of each other.

... veggie loaf and mashed potatoes on a cold day.

... my cat snuggling under the covers with me.

... our teeny, tiny tent. [looking forward to using our big one in a month. thanks AJ!]

... my phone fixing itself.

... BPA free nalgene bottles.

... clouds in the mountains.

... dreaming of a home with curtains.

... phone calls from C when he's away on business.

... giving things to the Salvation Army.

Pikes Peak

So I think I mentioned a few times that we were planning on hiking Pikes Peak this weekend and that I was a little nervous about it. We were planning on hiking about 7 miles to Barr Camp where we stayed the night and then hiking to the top the next day and down the mountain. It rained all but two hours of the 24 hours that we were on the mountain, which meant wet gear, wet dogs, dead cell phones, and thunder and lightening.

Well we made it to Barr Camp the first day, even though we spent 2 hours on the mountain hiding from the storm. I don't know why I was so worried about the hike, it really wasn't bad at all.

The next day, after 2 hours of breaking everything down and attempting to dry everything off while it was still raining, we started to summit. We made it about 2 miles before I made everyone turn around. Henry was limping pretty badly, and I didn't think he was going to make it up the whole way. I honestly think everyone was a little relieved that we didn't keep going. It was a good thing for the dogs that we didn't. They both are so sore that they can't even walk. We had to carry both of them out of the car and I've had to carry food and water to them since. I'm a little surprised that they're this sore and hurt and I feel pretty bad but I'm glad we turned around when we did.

This poor guy can't even walk and no, it's not because his backpack was too heavy.

And this guy couldn't even get out of the car when we got home.

Maverick was annoyed that I was taking his picture instead of hiking.

Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs.

Don't cut the switchbacks! Or fall off the side of the mountain.

There was a big storm coming ...

... so we got to hike through the clouds.

My favorite part of camping: The middle of the night listening to the sound of the rain hitting the tent, when I'm warm and dry inside my sleeping bag, smushed inside a too-small tent with my three favorite guys.

Wedding Recap: Details

The last wedding post. Don't lie, I know you're a little sad. Here are all of the things I forgot to mention in the other posts. Most of these things meant absolutely nothing to anyone there but a lot to us.

Here's my dress and I have to be honest, I never had "that feeling" that you're supposed to get when you try on a dress. I knew I wanted something white, light, and not pouffy. I did like this dress as soon as I tried it on but I didn't get all sad or weepy. I think my exact words were "eh, I like this one and I don't feel like trying on any more. Let's just get it." I will say that I had to get my dad's approval before officially deciding on it. Once he okay'd it, I was good to go.

Our colors were somewhat of a controversy and they basically were built off of my bouquet. When I was little every Valentine's Day my dad used to bring my mom home a dozen red roses. He would also always bring a pink one for me and a yellow one for my sister. I knew I wanted my bouquet to be red, pink, and yellow roses ... for our family. Then Charlie decided he wanted to wear a yellow tie and my mother talked me out of red or yellow bridesmaid dresses, so pink it was. I let our florist do whatever she wanted with the bridesmaid bouquets. She did try really hard to talk me out of my bouquet but I refused to budge.

Our cake was a carrot cake. Yum! Seriously, I love carrot cake. So does Charlie. It was definitely not the sturdiest thing but it tasted so good! Definitely worth the giant crack in it.

I made our table numbers out of pictures of the dogs. Oddly they were the most popular thing. Everyone wanted to know if they could take them home and at the end of the night they were all gone. Not really sure why people wanted pictures of someone else's dog but I'm glad they were a hit.

Our centerpieces were another thing that I really loved. We wanted something that people could take home and plant and that wouldn't die in a few days. We did small pots of miniature roses and ivy mixed together and most of those disappeared, too. My parents took the remainder home and planted them in pots.

And that's it ... all the random details you never knew you wanted to know about our wedding.

Photo Gallery?

Our new place is going to have A LOT more wall space than our current one. Good for arranging furniture, not so good for trying to figure out what goes on the walls. Currently we have zero wall space, which means we have just about nothing to hang in our new space and I really hate empty walls.

I'm trying to think of ways to decorate on the cheap, which of course led me to photo galleries. I was thinking of doing one above our couch, like this:

And here are some of the pictures I was thinking about using:

July Confessions

... I seriously HATE packing. And am really dreading lugging all of these to our new place in 2 weeks.

... I should have listened to my dad when he said "Danielle, DO NOT put polyurethane on those chairs outside. Do it in the garage". Um, yeah .... not such a hot idea.

I'm going to add my own advice here: don't have your black dog hanging around outside when you are coating white chairs with polyurethane.

... I'm a little scared of hiking Pikes Peak. It's a lot of climbing and I have done a lot of sitting outside and drinking beers lately. Not exactly the best way to get in shape.

... I'm the most anti-social person on airplanes. I think it's because once you start making conversation with someone there's no way to stop and 4 hours is a long time to talk to someone.

... I'm worried we didn't do the best packing job and not all of our stuff will make it 10 minutes down the road.

... I can't sit through Harry Potter. Any of them. Sorry, they're just way too long. I did read all the books, though.

... I hate Charlie's air purifiers. They're ridiculously ugly.

... I'm eating chips and dip for lunch.

... I should be packing right now.

Wedding Recap: The husband

For me, this was the most important "wedding detail" of all. And frankly, I think I did pretty well and here's why:

1. He loves animals.

2. He's not afraid to make a fool of himself.

3. He climbs mountains with me.

4. He's thoughtful, caring, & can always make me laugh.

5. He moved across the country for me and never makes me feel guilty for it.

6. He's most definitely, without a doubt, my best friend.

... love you, dude.

Wedding Recap: The pics you don't frame

You know when you look back on the pictures from the day ... even the ones from the photographer who generally took out all of the awful, embarrassing pictures ... there are ones when you think "wow what was I doing/thinking". Here's a few of mine that I've collected. They're too funny not to share.

We'll start with the ceremony. There's one I'm still waiting on getting from a friend & it's priceless.

I'm putting the ring on C's finger in this one & this is my "are you suuuuure? Because once this baby's on your finger you can't ever take it off" face.

And after the vows ...

This was after the ceremony when we were about to take pictures. I look pretty angry but I assure you I was excited.

No idea. Bad, just bad.

When Charlie saw this he asked, "Did I really get on the ground like that?" Uhh, yeah ... the camera doesn't lie.

We may not always take good pictures ... but at least we have fun making fools of ourselves.

It's the little things [Maryland Style]

I took zero pictures back home but this picture was taken in MD.

... walking on the C&O canal. One of my favorite places.

... eating lunch alfresco with my mom & then wandering around neighborhoods.

... reading a book outside all.day.long. [When I should have been studying.]

... tiger lilies in bloom.

... sleeping on a plane. makes the trip so much faster.

... coffee & The Washington Post in the morning with my dad.

... reading for hours before going to bed.

... seafood on the grill.

... fresh pesto made from basil grown in the garden.

... dessert & tea every night.

... breakfast at an old spot with a good friend.

... driving the same car I learned how to drive in.

... cornfields on the eastern shore.

... blueberry pies.

... berries for breakfast.

... Rio Grande Cafe. Best fajitas ever. And their margaritas aren't bad, either.

... National Velvet. The novel.

... re-reading books I read as a kid.

... grilled carrots.

... just hanging out with family

It was a good trip back east. Now ... back to reality.

Wedding Recap: Us two

One of the reasons that we choose our photographer was that we liked his style (obviously). We were looking for a photojournalist, someone to capture the moment. I didn't want to look back on our wedding pictures and see a bunch of posed pictures; I wanted to see pictures of what was really going on. We wanted something similar with our "portraits". Nothing with us standing next to each other with a cheesy grin on our faces. Although I think some of my favorites of the two of us were just ones taken through out the day.

Wedding Recap: Music

I've already mentioned a few of the songs that we jammed out to at our wedding, but I figured they deserved mentioning since most were pretty significant (at least to me).

Charlie and I were introduced to "Better Half" by Keith Urban. [Told you I loved country]. When we first started dating I made the boy a mix CD with a bunch of country songs on it & this was one of them. In a way this became "our song" but we didn't pick it for our first dance because it's pretty fast and I'm not that skilled of a dancer. I think I mentioned that before.

Our first dance was to "Someone Like You" by Van Morrison. I've mentioned my love of Van before. We listen to him all.the.time.. Seriously love him. Tupleo Honey is my favorite album.

My dad and I danced to a shortened version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" & "What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo. Personally I like the second half of the song the best.

Charlie & his mom danced to "A New Day has Come" by Celine Dion. This was a surprise for her, we had originally decided not to do parent dances and when we changed our minds Charlie wanted to keep it a secret from his mom. The two of them bawled the entire time along with pretty much everyone else.

I mentioned that we danced to "Green Grass Grows" by Tim McGraw.

... and Charlie and his buddies danced to "Call on Me"... the remix. Lovely.

Of course "Shout" made its appearance ...

... as did "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green. Not sure why I like this one so much.

And my personal favorite of the night, "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks.

The last dance of the night was Van again, "Have I Told You Lately".

Most of the pictures are credited to Joseph Allen. The rest are from friends.

Wedding Recap: Speeches, Songs, and Poems

I could include all of this in with the ceremony & the reception, but that would make for some LONG posts. We were lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family celebrate with us and even luckier that they were part of the celebration.

During the ceremony instead of a traditional reading my sister read the poem "The Gift from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. We chose the poem for several reasons. 1. It wasn't too sappy or corny. I'm more of a realist when it comes to relationships and 2. The reference to the sea. [Did I mention the original plan was to get married at the beach? At least we got to sneak it in a bit with the poem.]

Charlie's sister and her husband are both musicians. They performed the song "When you Know" by Shawn Colvin during the ceremony. Did I mention how talented they are? Oh, and they're also awesome people. Definitely one of the reasons I wish we weren't so far away from family.

And of course during the reception my parents made a toast. My poor Dad. I had talked to my mom about it before, just so ask her if they wanted to say something, etc. Apparently, she forgot to tell my dad so it got sprung on him about 2 minutes before he was handed a mike. It was sweet, though.

Charlie's best friend growing up made a speech. I think he was the only person who actually prepared something.

And my sister, who was my Maid of Honor, made a speech. I think between reading the poem and making the speech she was a little nervous. She did a great job.