The part where Carrie Underwood sings from a pick-up truck hanging from the ceiling

Last night I took a break my typical evening full of chores, cooking, and prying apart random items that had been super-glued together to go see Carrie Underwood at the Broomfield Event Center in Colorado. I loved her on American Idol years ago and she has proven without a doubt that she deserved every winning vote she received. Whether you like country music or not, one thing is clear - THAT CHICK CAN SING!

The best part was where she sang from a moving baby blue pick-up truck that was hanging from the ceiling. The crowd went crazy. I caught a few moments of it on my iphone below:



My sweetie had gotten "us" these tickets for Valentine's Day but casually mentioned I was welcome to take anyone I wanted. I assumed he wanted to go and was just being generous so I pleaded that I wanted to go with him. As the date got closer, he asked several more times if I was sure there wasn't someone else I wanted to take. Then it hit me how clueless I had been. He knew I would enjoy seeing Carrie Underwood but the only remotely interesting thing to him about her was her hockey playing fiance (Mike Fisher, an NHL hockey player for the Ottawa Senators). So I let him off the hook and took my cowboy-loving, horse-training, CruelGirl-wearing, country music-loving girlfriend, Jen. We had a blast! Though it was a late night for this early-bird, it was worth every minute!

First snow

Over the holidays, my brother, his wife, and their 5 year old daughter came to stay with us for a week. It was one of the best holidays I've had in years for several reasons. One, it was wonderful to have family with us. I grew up in rural Maryland, on the water, in a family of seven. My siblings and I now live all over the country, from Maryland, Arkansas, Colorado, to California. We all have families of our own and get together every few years for family reunions and special occasions but there is nothing like having them around for the holidays.

While I wish my parents and siblings, and our families could all be together (there would be 21 of us!), I felt grateful to have even a handful of us.

Another reason it was special was my niece had never seen snow before. Maybe as a baby, but she had no recollection. So guess what it did the second night they were here - IT SNOWED! Big, fluffy flakes that fell for two days straight. Here are a few special pics from that week:



Look closely and you'll see that my brother his writing his daughter's name in the snow with his tracks.

What the kids wanted to leave for Santa - Soy milk, cookies, cheese, and cranberries :)


Evidence that kids have been playing in the snow all day.


The house was a mess, there was mud and snow everywhere, gloves were lost and noses frozen. And I hope it happens again soon.

Wordless Wednesday: You know summer is officially over when......

Wordless Wednesday was started by the fabulous ladies at 5MinutesForMom.