Monday, September 17, 2012

Weekend Recap Comin' Atcha!

And low and behold, I didn't just sit around and eat chocolate chips all weekend, so let's get to it!

On Friday I was a cleaning-freaking-machine. Because I've felt depressed for the last few weeks, the cleaning around here had gotten pretty minimal. However, God sent me some energy on Friday afternoon and I was able to vacuum, clean the kitchen and bathrooms, and even mop the floors! This was much more satisfying than I expected. I even washed my sheets and duvet this afternoon because I wanted some of that cleaning accomplishment feeling back.

Lucky for you, Saturday was more interesting. David and Haruki and I had plans with our blacksmith Will to go up to Nederland, Colorado to hike the Fourth of July trail. On the way through Nederland, we saw this little sign:




This was funny to us because we call my little work space "Nikki's Nook." Actually, that was prolly the first time our architect got a feeling for David's sense of humor, since when we first started calling it my "nook" David said it in a way that made our architect doubt if David wasn't actually talking about my "bizness," if you know what I mean.

The aspen trees were soooooo beautiful. Here is a sampler of the shots I took of the trees:









My new computer desktop:-)

And some shots of our hike and final destination:


Haruki helping herself to the treat bag.

Our blacksmith (and friend!) Will









Living in Colorado isn't too shabby. We had a great hike with cool temps, after which David and I hurriedly showered in order to make it down to Boulder in time for dinner at our friends Rob and Rebecca. R&R have twin boys, whom we hadn't seen since just after their birth about two years ago. Needless to say, they've grown.

Rob made us some delicious pasta.




Don't let the lighting and my poor photography fool you--this.was.so.good. I don't even like pasta and I just wanted to keep eating more. Rob gave us a loose recipe, so I'll share soon.


Despite the fact that Saturday was pretty packed, I was still really looking forward to my Sunday plans, which included spending the day at my parents' house with my brothers, sisters-in-law, and nieces. If you'll recall, I have two nieces from my brother Chris, named Morgan and Riley. They are three and six years old, and absolutely hilarious. (Sidenote: how does one keep a straight face when siblings fight? I mean, with R&R's boys and with my nieces, it just kills me when they punch each other in the face!!) e.g.:







I also got to spend time with another special girl, my niece Ella, who is only five months old and almost painfully cute:

Ella with her Dad Brian. Just look at how round her head is and how plump that belly is!

Whew! For obvious reasons, the weekend went by f a s t! I'd say the highlights were (in no particular order):

1) Driving through the aspen trees with the windows down and Haruki next to me doing this:


2) That pasta...mmmm

3) Feeling motivated to clean. Actually, feeling motivated to do anything.

4) Playing with my nieces and seeing how much fun they have when I let go and really get into playing with them.

*Care to share your weekend highlight(s)?

2 comments:

  1. My weekend highlight was sorta similar to yours - I conquered the mighty mountain of dirty dishes in my kitchen - washed, dried AND put away! Isn't it strange that feeling down makes cleaning up seem like such a massive task - even though if we actually did it, it would make us feel better??

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  2. Having piles of dishes in your sink is reason enough to feel down! You're no longer getting any benefit from the plates/dishes (i.e. they don't have a giant piece of cake on them), but you still have to clean them. It's a lot like feeling irritated when you have to pay back some money for something that you no longer have or enjoy.
    Umm, on a less creepy note, high-five on tackling that dish mountain!

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