I'm on Friday's Five!

Some good news for you lovely folks today! I'm being featured on Friday's Five Link Up over at
Coffee Beans and Bobby Pins and FACE IT Catalog with my post about our first wedding anniversary! Big things, my friends, big things!

Aaaand, I figured out how to make a "button" work on this here blog (above). Applause? Oh thank you, thank you, you're too kind!

In other news, my parents voluntarily evacuated their home last night and they are safe. My in-laws are safe, and so far their home appears unaffected.

We're heading to a friend's wedding this evening, and then my handsome Mr. will be completing the Tough Mudder on Sunday with friends (I'm going to be "Team Mom," complete with orange slices & juice boxes for the competitors). One of those friends being his bestie (do boys use the word "bestie"?) who lost his home in the Black Forest Fire - how's that for true friendship & comradery? Those two have been friends since kindergarten, and he was the best man at our wedding.

We're looking forward to some downtime & fun to take our minds off the fire in our hometown. However, we will be checking in on the news here.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay safe!

30 for 30: Day 10 & Day 11

Day 10

 

Day 11

Not a lot of words for you today. The fire is still raging. My parents just evacuated their home, along with several thousand other people. I know too many friends & their families that have lost their homes. I'll be watching the news coverage all evening, and all day tomorrow to stay updated.

30 for 30: Day 9

  

photobomb

This is what I wore Sunday. It was SO. HOT. 

I waited all day for it to cool down so I could go running, but it never did! So, as soon as we took these pictures, I threw on my running shoes and new running skirt (from Marshall's!) and headed out. I had planned to do 4 miles, but since I didn't even get going til 8:20, I ended at 2. It was still warm out, but I didn't want to be running by myself in the dark. 

I'm trying to get up early and go running before work before it gets too hot, but my bed and I have this really great relationship where we like to spend as much time together as possible. Any tips to becoming an early-riser so I can be a morning runner?

I hit up Old Navy & Marshall's this past weekend - Old Navy  had a great deal on running shorts for the whole family. They had 2 pairs left in my size, so I scooped up 1 pair, and then headed to the men's section and grabbed 2 pairs for my Mr. He's doing the Tough Mudder this weekend and wanted some lighter shorts for the big event. And at Marshall's I picked up a running skirt for $15 and a running bra in mint - pretty exciting things! I think my skirt makes me run faster...maybe not. Either way, I FEEL really fast & cool, so, that counts for something.

As for the Black Forest Fire, I've been following the news here. They just released a list of homes lost to the fire - some of my good friends have lost their family homes. My heart is breaking for them.360 homes lost to this fire, 14 partially affected.

Fire in my beautiful state

Hi, I'm still here. I haven't disappeared or anything. It's just that there are several fires burning in my beautiful mountain state of Colorado.

One is in Colorado Springs, and started a mile from my in-laws home - they were evacuated last night. I normally hate to watch the news, but since yesterday afternoon I've been glued to the TV, or constantly refreshing the live feed on my computer, calling & texting friends who live in the area, or have family in the area. Thousands of people have been evacuated, 8,000 acres burned, with zero percent containment so far.

A wildfire broke out by the Royal Gorge (south of Colorado Springs), which is heartwrenching. It's a beautiful park area, and I have rafted through the Gorge several times.

Another fire broke out in Rocky Mountain National Park Monday evening. Yesterday afternoon was a haze of smoke, and the smell of fire.

that's the sun as I was leaving work yesterday afternoon - from the smoke from the fire in Rocky Mountain National Park

this is the smoke & haze from our apartment, looking west

We still went to play our weekly softball game, even though our hearts weren't in it. We were missing quite a few people, and played short-handed. We lost. Big time. D & I were OK with that though - we went straight home to watch more news.

Last summer there was the High Park Fire northwest of Fort Collins - the smoke made the air quality terrible. The fire crews had a staging area right next to my work, so I drove through a check point every day. There were a few days where we could see homes going up in smoke, just across the reservoir. 

And then, just a few weeks later, the Waldo Canyon Fire broke out on the west side of Colorado Springs. My parents were on pre-evacuation notice with the cars loaded. We were ready for them to come stay with us. Fortunately, they were not evacuated, as the fire stayed on the other side of the interstate from them. However, tons of families lost their homes & livelihoods in the fire.

After last summer's fires, and now this summer's, I feel like I'm learning so much about fire: what makes for "perfect" fire conditions (heat, wind, low humidity, and fuel), evacuating (I have only ever evacuated before for hurricanes in FL), air quality, the hard work of firefighters, and waiting. Waiting for news, waiting for no news, waiting for updates, waiting to help evacuees.

That being said, it feels frivolous to talk about my clothes, and what I wore, and why I wore them. Knowing my in-laws & several friends had only a few hours to evacuate their home has made me ask myself:

"What would I take? Could I leave it all? I should leave it all. Why am I so attached to THINGS, when PEOPLE are what matter?"

So, that's what's on my mind today...