Tag: Colorado

A Weekend in Colorado Springs

So remember that Colorado Springs trip I said was coming up? I’m just wrapping it up right now! The Springs is such a fun town in my opinion and if you’re ever looking for a true Colorado gem, please visit!!

My sister, dad, and I drove down on Friday morning, meeting my aunt and uncle for lunch at The Golden Bee. The Golden Bee is probably one of my favorite restaurants of all time. It’s a gastropub restaurant located near the Broadmoor (which is one of my favorite areas in Colorado Springs) and it has a bee theme to it, in a way. We usually sit inside on the first floor but this time around, I got to sit up top outside. It was incredibly pleasant up there and it rained (we were under a nice large cover though, so we were all good there) which I enjoyed. This time around, I ordered their shepherd’s pie which is gluten-free, by the way, and just asked that no cheese be put on it. It was very tasty. 😊 Good service, good food, and good company!

We then had planned to do Seven Falls because we haven’t done it yet but the weather wasn’t all that good so that didn’t happen. Instead, we checked in at our hotel, visited the National ProRodeo Museum/Hall of Fame, grabbed dinner, and then visited Helen Hunt Falls at North Cheyenne Cañon Park. The ProRodeo Museum was a cool little spot and it was interesting to learn a bit about a world I know very little about. Helen Hunt Falls was a lovely little spot in a pretty area of the mountains. The falls were small and there wasn’t a lot of water, but it was good to be outside and get a little hike in.

Saturday was Cheyenne Mountain Zoo day. I looooove the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. There’s a lot of walking at the zoo and it can be a pretty long day, but it’s so fun. We got there right at opening (9 am) were there til about 1 pm. I highly highly recommend ordering your tickets in advance because I actually think that’s the only way you can get into the zoo there now. So to save yourself any trouble, just get online and get those tickets. At the zoo, some of my favorites were the giraffes (DUH), elephants, mountain lions, and the wallabies. If you’re looking for some animal interaction, you can feed the giraffes ($3 for one thing of lettuce, and $5 for two things of lettuce), and I know that the zoo does a bunch of other different animal encounter things! The giraffes are my favorite though. They’re such interesting, cute animals!! We also rode the carousel and did the Sky Train (I think that’s what it’s called), which is basically just a ski lift up and around and then back down. You get a pretty good view of the zoo and Colorado Springs while you’re up there!

After the zoo, we visited the Will Rogers’ Shrine to the Sun which you can only get access to by having Cheyenne Mountain Zoo tickets. Again, there were some pretty great views from up there! The shrine itself was a beautiful building too. If you’re planning to see the shrine, make sure you check out Cheyenne Mountain Zoo first, and then also know that the last cars can go up at 3 pm MST. You can stay up there as long as you’d like, but they just don’t send cars up after 3.

So after our zoo and shrine adventures, we visited Panino’s for lunch where I got a delicious chicken and pesto panino and an Arnold Palmer. There are gluten and dairy-free options here and the food was good again! Our service was really good here too, so I highly recommend this spot in the Springs as well. 😊 Later that evening, we stopped at a fun, different spot for ice cream called Frozen Gold and I really enjoyed it!! They have a couple of really good looking non-dairy options, and I really enjoyed their Nutty Redhead coconut milk ice cream!

And today, we spent a wonderful half-day exploring Pikes Peak! We took a cog train up and down Pikes Peak and spent some time up top. More great views here for sure! And if you’re looking to see Pikes Peak’s summit, there’s also some great high altitude donuts at the visitor center. While I didn’t try them, my sister and dad thought the cinnamon sugar donuts were excellent, so I’ll take their word for it! A tip with the donuts- if you’re visiting the visitor center when coming off the cog train, don’t hop in line for donuts right away. The line will be pretty long and you don’t want to spend all your time in line! So take some time to look around, see the sights, and then when you have about ten minutes left of your forty minutes at the top of Pikes Peak, go get some donuts! My sister found that there was no line when we did it that way.

Our Pikes Peak trip was followed by a late lunch at Black Bear Diner. There are two locations in Colorado Springs, that I’m aware of at least, and from what I’ve seen, both have pretty decent reviews! We visited the location closer to Garden of the Gods. The food here was pretty good. I ordered orange juice (which they hand-squeeze and make!) and their Shasta veggie scramble. I just wish that our service was a bit better and that my request for no cheese was actually honored. It’s not that hard to scrap off melted shredded cheese though so that’s not too big of a deal. Overall though, I would recommend a visit to Black Bear Diner. They have great orange juice and the atmosphere of the place is so cute!

The rest of our day yesterday was pretty low-key. We did visit the World War II Aviation Museum which was fun to see though. While I know absolutely nothing about planes, let alone aircrafts from WWII, this was a very educational museum. It was really cool to see the restoration processes with each of the airplanes too. Most, if not all, of the planes were recovered and put into working and flying condition! After our trip to the museum, we had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and stopped for ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Baskin Robins has a really tasty non-dairy mint chocolate chip ice cream, by the way, if non-dairy ice cream is something you’re looking for.

And that has been the trip! Sometimes I think it’s pretty fun to be a tourist in your own state. I love Colorado and it’s little trips like this that make me even more grateful to call this wonderful state my home. Colorado Springs is a lot of fun and I think that it’s a great spot to visit if you’re looking to come to Colorado.

Unfortunately, I’m still having issues posting pictures to my posts, but if you wanna check out a couple of pictures from this weekend, feel free to check out my Instagram anahorvathh. Hopefully I can get the picture issue fixed soon… I miss sharing photos here!! Well, I hope you have a wonderful week and I’ll see you all next weekend! ❤️

Update as of 8/14/22: Pictures are now posted! The issue with me posting them has been resolved. 😊

July 24, 2022
South Dakota, You’re So Sweet!
So I just got back from South Dakota for a family friend’s wedding, and let me tell you, South Dakota is so much fun! I really enjoyed getting to travel and more specifically, I enjoyed being able to go on a road trip again and get to spend time with so many wonderful people in such a fun part of the country for the past three days. Like it says on the South Dakota license plate: Great faces, great places!

We left on Friday for Spearfish, South Dakota which is a little over six hours of driving from Denver. We made that drive much longer however, which was totally fine, because we had plans to visit Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse on our way into town. Crazy Horse was impressive, but it was somewhat disappointing to see that only the head of Crazy Horse is really complete. The land is privately owned and so the only funding that the massive project receives is by donation. No wonder there has been so little progress. I really enjoyed getting to visit Crazy Horse though and I hope that some very generous people out there are able to contribute in the near future and push for the incredible vision of Crazy Horse to be completed.

Next stop: Mount Rushmore. It was nice that Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore were only about 30 minutes apart. It made our travels a bit easier especially with us trying to get into Spearfish eventually. I think Mount Rushmore was my favorite part of the trip. It was MAGNIFICENT. Yes, it was definitely smaller than I thought it was going to be, but oh my goodness was it incredible. As you walk in, the flags of all 50 states hang along the path and then you look up to see the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. My dad, sister, and I spent a good amount of time taking pictures around Mount Rushmore. On our way out, I ran into the gift shop and grabbed a South Dakota keychain (I collect state keychains for those of you who don’t know!!), we went in and got some ice cream (which was also SO good and SO much ice cream by the way), and then we were on our way out of there.

On the drive into Spearfish, we drove through a fun town called Deadwood which we would later come to spend a bit more time in. Definitely a tourist trap, but it was still fun to see! And then we arrived in Spearfish! I think it was a little past dinner time when we arrived. While we could have stayed in a hotel, Boo, my sweet little dog, came along with us on this trip which made things interesting, but all in a good way! It was important to us that he had a comfortable place to stay as well where we didn’t disrupt too many people around us if he was to bark and howl a bunch, but thank God that wasn’t too much of an issue. We stayed in an AirBnB for the first time and it was honestly so comfortable and so much fun. We had an entire house to ourselves, which was pet-friendly of course, and it was wonderful to be able to control everything in our own space and eat from the kitchen we had at the house. The house we stayed at was in a pretty isolated spot too which was really nice and peaceful. Loved it.

Saturday was wedding day! The wedding wasn’t until 1:30 in the afternoon, so we had the morning to ourselves. We decided to trek back to Deadwood to experience the fun little tourist town for ourselves and I will tell you, it is such a fun little town. We didn’t do any of the bus tours or super touristy things that the town has to offer, but we did really enjoy walking around and seeing everything. Boo came with us too and he really enjoyed getting to experience so many new things and smell all the new smells. He actually came with us for a lot of our little South Dakota excursions not including Mount Rushmore. He had to stay in the car for that one but thank goodness for sheltered parking so that the car could stay cooler for him! After our little walk around Deadwood, we stopped back at the house for lunch, got ready for the wedding, and then we were off to the chapel in Sturgis. Sturgis is another interesting town in South Dakota and it’s famous for hosting a huge motorcycle rally every year. And when I say huge, I mean that they’re expecting over A MILLION bikes for this upcoming rally. WOW.

Anyway, back to the wedding. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and I feel so honored to have been able to share that special day with my friend and her family. For those of you who don’t know me personally, I’ll just let you know that I am a pretty emotional person. Like I might hear a song a certain way and that will make me cry. So you can probably imagine how I was with the wedding. Before my friend had even started walking down the aisle, I was crying. Weddings are just such a blessed and happy time. 🙂 After the ceremony was over, we had about an hour before the reception which was back in Spearfish so we went back to the house to check on Boo and make sure he was doing ok. When it was time for the reception, we headed back out and to the beautiful barn the reception was held at. While we didn’t stay too too long at the reception, it was great to celebrate my friend and her family and spend time with some of the other people that we knew there. The food was great and the venue was incredible. I just wish all the best to the bride and groom now. 🙂 They deserve all the best! <3

And now here we are with today. Today has been quite the day, let me tell you. We hit the road about eight this morning but we left Spearfish, we had to stop at this one restaurant we all had our eyes on the entire trip, Red Water Kitchen. It had always been busy as we drove past it, but this morning, we got there right when it opened so there were no problems getting in. The food was incredible. I had what I think was the best quiche I’ve ever had in my entire life and I know for a fact that the rest of my family also really enjoyed their food. If you’re looking for great food and even better people, please visit Red Water Kitchen in Spearfish, South Dakota when you visit!! With full bellies, we were on the road. The trip was pretty uneventful until we decided to stop at Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.
Area 18. If you aren’t familiar with the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Devil’s Tower is featured in the movie in a scene where the alien mothership descends upon the massive monument. Devil’s Tower is also considered the first national monument in the United States, so it’s a pretty cool spot. To me, it kind of looked like a giant tree trunk with all of the vertical cracks in the formation. We hiked around Devil’s Tower a bit, stopped at the gift shop (always a must for me haha) and then we were on the road again.

And this was when things became exciting, but I mean that in a not-so-good way. We were about three hours away from home when the air conditioning in my mom’s car cut out. And get this, it was between 92-96 degrees the entire rest of our drive. It. Was. HOT. We just drove the rest of the way home with the windows down for as long as we could handle and then stopped for food, ice cream, and a break in a nice, air-conditioned restaurant when we were about an hour out. And then we pushed to get home as fast as possible. Getting home has never felt SO GOOD. As much fun as we had on our trip, it felt really nice to be in a familiar, comfortable, and AIR-CONDITIONED house in the end.

Reflecting on South Dakota, I would definitely go back. In the future, I would love to visit Rapid City and the Badlands. I had a lot of fun and I think that South Dakota is a really special state that has a lot of good things going for it. Until next time, South Dakota!
July 25, 2021
Heya, Houston!

Hi everyone and Happy Fourth of July! This past week, my mom, sister, and I made a quick trip to Houston happen so that my mom could visit the Consulate General of Russia for a couple of things. While that was the main thing to be done on the trip, we had some time to experience a teeny bit of Houston.

We flew out of Denver early on Tuesday and it was definitely exciting and eye-opening to be back at the airport. We were required to wear masks the entire time we were in the airport as well as the entire time we flew. On both flights, I really appreciated the cleanliness of the airplanes and the concern for cleanliness and safety. Really really appreciated!! We landed in Houston around lunch time and then it was a 30 minute drive to our hotel in the area around The Galleria. We stayed at the Royal Sonesta Houston, which might I add was a very nice hotel! It was within walking distance of The Galleria (10ish minutes) and they also had a shuttle service.

After we settled into our room, we went to check out The Galleria. It was about a 10 minute walk and we were instantly welcomed to the area by the extreme humidity and a nice, light rain. While it was nice to get out and stretch our legs, I was not a fan of the environment we were in. Yes, I was with family, but I did not feel safe walking as we did. Not only were there people along our walk that said things that made me uncomfortable, but there were some very interesting and particularly shady groups of people within the mall, once we arrived. We were safe the entire time, but I was quite put off by how a mall with such high-end stores could be a place that attracts such a strange crowd.

While in the mall, we grabbed Chick-Fil-A for lunch which is definitely a favorite between my mom, sister, and I. We then walked around for about three hours and that was a good amount of time considering how absolutely MASSIVE the mall was. While we didn’t go into any of the super high-end, luxury stores, it was a lot of fun to walk around and see some of that stuff. There was a Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin, Tiffany & Co., Tesla (unfortunately no cars were in the store though), and Burberry to name a few stores. We stopped by the LUSH and Lululemon in addition the Free People stores, which are some of my personal favorite shops as of right now and we ended up getting some stuff from LUSH. My mom likes to joke that we flew to Houston just to go to the LUSH store, and honestly, she isn’t wrong! That was probably the most exciting part of the trip!

After our trip to The Galleria, we bunkered down in our hotel for the rest of the night, taking the advice of our hotel staff and taxi driver to not go out at night. We ordered food from the hotel’s restaurant and watched HGTV the rest of the night.

The following day, I had a fantastic omelet from the hotel’s restaurant for breakfast and then we were off the the Consulate General. After my mom finished everything that she needed there, we were off to the airport and that’s about it! While I would say that my small amount of time in Houston involved sketchy people in parking garages and strange people at a mall, there was still much more positive and fun time to focus on with my mom and sister. It was a short but sweet little trip and I hope I have a chance to visit a different part of Houston and the state of Texas again sometime soon!

And before I wrap this post up, I just wanted to say that I hope my fellow Americans out there enjoy a good and safe Fourth of July today! Today I am reminded of how grateful I am to live in the country that I do. Living in Colorado, I feel so lucky, especially, to be able to experience my country’s beauty on a daily basis. The Rocky Mountains are something special! 🙂 I am so thankful to all of the amazing men and women that have served our country to protect our freedoms. Freedom is not free and we are not the land of the free without the sacrifices of the brave. Have a wonderful day and an even better week. See you next Sunday!!

July 4, 2021
Snowmageddon 2021

So we’re currently snowed in. Earlier this week, a massive storm front was headed our way and today it finally decided to get ugly. I call it Snowmageddon 2021. It has been SUCH a long time since we had a true blizzard and it has been really nice to see so much snow. Shoveling it has been another story though. We woke up to a decent amount of snow this morning. Heavy, wet snow. It just kept coming and coming and continues to do so. I’m not sure what total amount we were expecting, but I would say we definitely have a foot by now and that’s honestly more than I was expecting. Maybe even two feet.

It was kind of funny to see how many people thought this storm might not actually be that big of a deal. It was supposed to start snowing hard yesterday, but all it really did was rain with the occasional frozen rain. I was able to get a good normal workout in and I also got to play tennis with my dad and sister. It felt like another March morning in Colorado. It was cold yesterday but not at all what it is today. We were all joking that this storm was going to be nothing and then overnight, Mother Nature, was like WABAM! YOU GET SNOW AND YOU GET SNOW. Mother Nature sure didn’t fail to disappoint today and presented us with Snowmageddon 2021, my goodness.

I went out and helped my dad attempt to shovel the driveway after lunch and that was an experience. The snow was heavy and wet, the wind was blowing, and the snow seemed to come down much harder especially when we tried to shovel. I was working to clear a path and it felt like I would shovel a bit, only to look back and see like half an inch where I had just cleaned. The struggles of shoveling during snowmageddon!! I’m also pretty sore from my workout yesterday (yay for leg day!!) and so that was a fun experience. It did feel so good to get out and move around though.

We haven’t heard whether or not I won’t have school tomorrow but I’m hoping that’s the case because we definitely have way too much snow to deal with and I’m not sure that it’ll be safe to get back to campus tomorrow. If anything, I’ll plan on going back to Fort Collins tomorrow in the afternoon if the roads are clear or Tuesday since I don’t have class til 3.

On days like today, I am reminded to be thankful for a warm home to stay cozy in. To be able to go back inside and warm up with some tea and my favorite fuzzy blanket after shoveling was a wonderful feeling. I’m also thankful for snow blowers and good shovels. Those make quite the difference!

Let’s all pray for a snow day and I hope that you’re all staying warm and cozy this weekend! Have a good week and I’ll see you next Sunday!

March 14, 2021
Fall Colors in Nederland

It’s October, everyone! Life is weird but the sun still comes up every morning and fall is in full swing. Speaking of fall, my family and I made a quick little trip up to Nederland last weekend to take in the beautiful fall colors of Colorado!

We didn’t see as much color as I had hoped, but things were definitely changing especially with the aspen trees. Regardless, it was really nice to be OUTSIDE and enjoy some fresh air with my family. We even brought our dog, Boo, with us and he really seemed to enjoy the new scents and the lake. We didn’t let him go in or really even let him get near the mud, but he was veryyy interested in the water. It was really cute actually. 🙂

There’s this lake not too far into Nederland that we stopped at and walked around for some time and it was really nice. There were other families out and we all just really seemed to be happy to be doing something other than sitting or staring at a computer screen. I’m not all sure what Nederland itself has to offer, but I personally felt that going to the lake and walking around was a good enough trip.

On our way up, traffic was disastrous through Boulder and then up into the mountains. If you’re planning a trip to see the fall colors, plan on at least being in the car for an hour heading up and then an hour coming back. Obviously, things will depend on where you’re coming from, but if you’re coming from the Denver Metro area like I was, it may take you awhile. Totally worth it though!

I feel like this weekend would have also been a great weekend to go. Fall is always so pretty. I’m especially a fan of the trees with the leaves that turn red on top and then a more orangey-yellow on bottom. So pretty!! I hope you have a chance to get out this weekend, wherever you are and enjoy the pretty fall colors too. Have a good week!

October 4, 2020
I Go to Argo and We Spend Time in the Mountains

This past week, my aunt and uncle visited from New Mexico and it was wonderful to see and spend time with someone other than my dad, mom, and sister for a change. While they were here, we spent some time in Idaho Springs and Georgetown and also at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. I go, you go, we all go to Argo! Let me share. 🙂

My aunt and uncle drove in Monday afternoon and that evening was a pretty chill one. We hung around the house and caught up with one another. After all, the last time we saw each other was around Thanksgiving! We usually see each other over Christmas break and sometimes spring break, but things were different this past year, and so those visits didn’t happen. Fortunately, we were able to make this work, with all of the craziness in the world, especially with this virus.

Tuesday morning, we drove up to the small town of Georgetown to catch the Georgetown Railroad Loop train ride. We were required to wear masks at the park, which was an experience in itself, but it felt wonderful to be with family and to be outside! We were the first on the train and it was fun to pick where we sat before anyone else got that chance. We chose to sit in an open top car, which was ultimately a great choice because we got to experience a little bit of a breeze and the sun which was nice. I didn’t realize how much I missed the beauty of the mountains until this train ride. Colorado is a beautiful state and I feel so lucky to call such a gorgeous state my home. Following the train ride, which was about an hour and fifteen minutes long, we stopped for lunch near a lake where some fishermen were hard at work. It was a pretty spot and the chicken croissant sandwiches were a perfect lunch that day. Side-note: If you’re ever looking for something yummy to try, I HIGHLY recommend the chicken salad and croissants from Costco. That’s a pretty good meal if you ask me.

Following lunch, we drove about twenty minutes back to Idaho Springs for a tour at the Argo Mill and Tunnel. This was a place that reallllly taught me not to judge a book by its cover. Driving in, I’m not going to lie, I thought the tour was going to be horribly boring and lame. It was actually quite the opposite. The Argo Mill was the only mill in the United States around the time of the gold rush to pump out any gold products with 95% efficiency, which is a REALLY high number, especially for its time. The Argo Mill was able to produce so much gold because they used a combination of mercury and cyanide to pump out A LOT of gold. The mill’s interior was built from the wood of EIGHT redwood trees and still stands today. Most if not all of the mill is maintained to this day and it was incredible to see how permanent, strong, and truly powerful the mill was. I can only imagine what it looked like in its glory days. While there, we had a wonderful tour guide, named Brooks, so if you ever get a chance to check out the Argo Mill and Tunnel, I recommend it and if you can get Brooks, he’s a super knowledgeable guy, both on mining and on the Argo itself!

There were two stories I really enjoyed from our time at the Argo. The first was about a teacher. At a time when the mill worked consistently, women were not allowed to work there let alone travel in the mine. There was a young woman who could not get to teach at her school without traveling through the Argo Tunnel, so she took a mine cart to then get to a platform that would take her to her classes. There was one day where her skirt got caught on a part of the wooden platform as she was headed up from the tunnel and to escape doom, she twirled out of her skirt, exposing the wire hoop under. Luckily, someone was able to lend her another dress and she got to class. Now, THAT was dedication. The second story was about a water burst at the mill. There are a series of pockets or wells near or under or around the Argo Tunnel and while working in the tunnel, it was assumed that there was twenty feet of dirt and rock between the tunnel and wells, when it was actually only ten. There was a bunch of water in the wells and the pressure was so great that it burst through the layer of rock at an insane velocity. Four men working in that area were killed. Three miles down the tunnel, near the entrance, another man was working and heard the sound of the water coming. Fortunately, this man made it out, but the water had caught up to him by the time he made it to the mouth of the tunnel. I’m horrible, haha, I don’t remember any names! The water shot out of the tunnel at such a velocity that it crossed the valley and sprayed across the valley at the same velocity and with the same insane amount of force for six days. It was apparently, A LOT OF WATER. A really, really, really, strong and supported concrete wall now holds back all of that water.

Stories like these and more are some of the things you will hear about and learn about if you take a trip up to the Argo Mill and Tunnel. While the mill may really not be the most exciting thing in the world, it was certainly interesting and a good change of pace from what I usually like to learn more about.

The next day of my aunt and uncle’s visit we went up to Rocky Mountain Arsenal and walked around Lake Mary and Lake Ladora. It was pretty, but very dry. It was also hot because we made the foolish mistake of heading out around 10 am, when the sun was already really starting to beat down. Thank goodness for water bottles though, am I right? While the views were great, and the company was even better, let’s just say that I was really happy to get out of the heat. When we got home and when my mom got home from work, we had a really good dinner and then played Just Dance together on our Nintendo Switch. It was a lot of fun.

My aunt and uncle had to head out on Thursday morning which was sad, but it had still been great that they got to come. And if you guys are reading this, we look forward to having you again and I’m so glad we got to spend a couple of days with you!!

If you get a chance to and you’re in Colorado, check out the Georgetown Loop Railroad, Argo Mill and Tunnel, or Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Or all three! Do what you please. 🙂 Have a good week and I’ll see you next Sunday!

June 28, 2020
COVID-19 in Colorado: Our Current Situation

Credits to the artist. 🙂

Maybe you’re all sick of hearing about it by now, but we’ve got a global pandemic on our hands. I think it’s important to stay informed and educated during a time like this and more than anything, I think it’s important to stay positive and driven. Here’s how my story on COVID-19 in Colorado.

As I write this, Colorado is way over 200 cases of COVID-19 and the United States has declared a national emergency. New York, Washington, and New York have been the hardest hit as of right now and I send prayers to all of you reading from those states right now. This whole situation has been unreal.

Colorado is currently in a place where a lot of businesses and services have shut down until late March or April, but I honestly have a feeling that a lot of things are going to be closed for longer. I come from a place of observation, not pessimism when I see this. Seeing how fast the virus has spread in the United States, I just have a feeling that we’re just seeing the beginning of things in the U.S. From what I know, most, if not all schools have switched to holding some form of online classes or provided families with homeschooling content and it’ll be interesting to see what comes from this as far as education opportunities go, once this clears up.

There’s a lot of talk about a stay at home order or shelter in place order. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, we need to do what we can to flatten that curve. As a biology major, I have been very interested in this entire situation. Of course I’m saddened by the effects this is having on so many people and honestly scared in some ways by the power something that’s not even as large as skin cell can have on the world. I’ve also been so interested in how this virus can survive on surfaces and how it affects our bodies. I’m also really proud to say that my university, Colorado State, has a research center that is currently conducting research to find a vaccine for this little monster that has sent our world into the state it’s currently in.

COVID-19 in Colorado has turned grocery stores into an absolute nightmare now. My family has been trying to find rice and flour for the past week now, and we’ve had zero luck because of all of these people stockpiling their food and additional household supplies. I can understand that there’s a lot of uncertainty regarding our current situation but you do not need the large amounts of toilet paper stashed in your bathroom or all of the frozen foods you can fit in your cart. Trust me. There are some people who haven’t even had a CHANCE to grab any of that and the only food they have is what was in their fridge before this whole mess started, and these stockpilers have left those people with zero options. My mom and sister went to the grocery store this past week and there was this dad there with his son. They were throwing a birthday party and couldn’t find chicken ANYWHERE because so many other people had run in, taken as much as they could, and left. As mentioned before, I understand that this situation is scary to many and new to all of us, but we need to be rational with our decisions and consider others, especially when it comes to what’s available for purchase.

And still on the topic of grocery stores, my mom and I got back from Costco earlier today and dealt with some extremely nasty people. COVID-19 in Colorado has turned some people into monsters, oh my goodness. I understand that this is a tough time and again, it’s scary and new, but no one deserves to be yelled at over barely bumping into someone with a cart. My mom barely caught the heel of this lady when we were getting into Costco and this lady turned around and screamed at my mom, yelling, “WOULD YOU STOP RUNNING INTO ME WITH YOUR CART?!” First of all, that lady rudely asked me before we even entered the store and asked why there was a line. Costco created a 30 person in, 30 person out policy to comply with CDC guidelines. She then proceeded to cut us in the line after we were asked to sanitize the cart and when my mom just barely ran into her, this lady blew up on us. I don’t know what her situation was or what she has been dealing with, but I believe that regardless of whether or not you’re having a good day, you should put your feelings and thoughts aside and be kind to others. No one deserves to be treated with that sort of unkindness EVER and especially in a time like this. Some people were even fighting over the food and stuff available in Costco, which I found ridiculous too. Good Lord, it’s a rotisserie chicken. The sign said that each shopping party could only grab one chicken, so accept it. Those are the rules. And the way that some people treated the employees was absolutely disgusting. The employees are more at risk than anyone because of the amount of people they interact with and you have the audacity to scream at them for there not being any cleaning supplies in stock? That’s just unacceptable.

From this post, my goal is not to scare you or worry you. It is simply to educate you on what we’ve been dealing with in my state. I hope that you all are staying healthy and smart out there. Please take care of each other and listen to what your local and national governments are saying. Stay informed and most importantly, take care of yourselves and stay positive. And in addition to that, we need to be kind. My life quote is “Have courage and be kind.” In a time like this, that is SO SO SO important. We do not have time to be blaming some poor employee at Costco for not knowing where the Naked Juice is. We don’t have the resources to be hoarding toilet paper and napkins and other supplies. We SHOULD be treating each other with respect and lifting each other in this uncertain time so that we can get through this.

So have courage and be kind. Stay healthy too. 🙂 See you next week.

March 22, 2020
Reflecting on 2019

Photo by Chinh Le Duc on Unsplash

This year was quite the year. A lot happened. A lot always happens, but I feel like this year was especially good and also especially sad and hard. With that said, I’m reflecting on 2019 and looking back on the year I had.

January: My family and I rang in the new year from our couch and I got to play a lot of tennis with my dad, sister, and friends that we’ve made at the Ranch Country Club. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to play at such a nice facility and have courts year round to play at. Does anyone remember my shrimp project for ecology last school year? That happened in late January too. 🙂

February: I went to a dinner to celebrate my academic achievements for my freshman year. We also celebrated my mom’s birthday. Marty was starting to get pretty sick around this time but he was still a happy, wonderful dog.

March: School was definitely in full swing again and I got to celebrate my sister’s 18th birthday. Her birthday was during the week, so I didn’t get to be home for it, but we celebrated over the weekend. We also had those two big bomb cyclones in March. I got school off twice so of course I remember that! 🙂 My aunt also came to visit during spring break and we had a great time at the Denver Art Museum (at least outside it), touring Regis, and eating at BurgerFi.

April: Boo turned eight in April and I got to watch Allyson at a couple of her high school tennis matches. She was 1 singles so of course I had to be there to be her cheerleader! Allyson also had her senior prom and I had so much fun helping her get ready. She looked beautiful. 🙂

May: Bobo turned two and I finished out my first year of college. Allyson also graduated from high school and my aunt and uncle came to spend some time with us around then. We had a wonderful party for her at the Ranch and it was so good to be around so many friends and family members to celebrate her. We also sent Allyson to Hawaii then!

June: Allyson started working at Build-A-Bear, so I was one proud sister then, haha. We also spent a lot of time at the pool and on the tennis court for leagues, tournaments, and just some good family fun. My grandma also flew back to Georgia in June and my summer classes were in full swing. Woohoooo.

July: Boo rang in July with his big dental surgery. He needed a bunch of teeth extracted so that was his way to celebrate our nation’s independence. In July, I played a lot more tennis and explored Colorado with my family. We went to The Inventing Room, saved a bunny from our window well, and Allyson and I won a couple of tournaments. I also visited one of my best friends from school in California. We had a lot of fun. 🙂

August: We celebrated my dad and aunt’s birthday as well as Marty’s tenth birthday and then shortly after Marty’s birthday, he passed away. 🙁 I still miss him so much. If I’m being totally honest, I’ve struggled more than I thought I would with his loss. Beside that, I started my sophomore year of school and we also made a trip to Farmington to see my grandpa, aunt, and uncle before school started. My family and I also went and saw Anastasia in August and it was a beautiful show.

September: My dad and mom went to New Mexico for my dad’s high school reunion and while that was happening, I was in full study mode already. Organic chemistry and physics were an intense combo! Despite our distance, we also celebrated my uncle’s birthday. 🙂

October: I turned 20! We also celebrated my grandma’s birthday. My family and I went to Phil Collins’ concert when he was in town and I also competed in the Miss Colorado USA pageant.

November: My family and I went to the Denver Art Museum for a project Allyson needed to work on. Early in November, my grandpa passed away too. 🙁 It was tough and still is tough to deal with his death. Over Thanksgiving break, we went to New Mexico for Thanksgiving at my great aunt’s house and we also celebrated my grandpa’s life at his memorial service. My sister and I had the honor of speaking at it. We also visited the Salmon Ruins while in New Mexico. This year, one of the things that I truly took to heart is that family is the most important thing to me. I don’t know who I would be or where I would be without them.

December: The last few days of 2019. We spent Christmas at home this year and it was different, but it was good. We had my great aunt’s famous cheesy potatoes on Christmas morning and that was fun. Different, but fun. We also went to Gaylord, the new hotel/resort out by DIA and saw their ice display. It was really cool. I’ve enjoyed a lot of time with family while I’ve been home since winter break started and I finished strong with my sophomore season at CSU.

So that was my year! I know there are still a couple of days, but I felt like reflecting on 2019 now was a good idea. This year sucked in a lot of ways but it was also an incredible year. There will always be good and there will also always be bad. With every new year, I just remember that and see how I can improve my responses and attitude toward new challenges, obstacles, successes, and downfalls. I hope these last few days, you all spend some time reflecting on 2019 and enjoying the last days of this decade. I’m looking forward to 2020!

I won’t be posting for the next two weeks due to a study abroad I’m doing in Ecuador, so I’ll see you all in the new year when I get back. Have a great week and again, Happy New Year!

December 29, 2019
The 2020 Miss Colorado USA Pageant

Just woke up in Greeley. And how fitting, the wallpaper was literally just a bunch of cows. 🙂

This is definitely a Monday post. Sunday was too much. I had an organic chemistry exam this morning too and that was too much. Anyway! This past weekend I had the opportunity to compete in the Miss Colorado USA 2020 pageant. Those of you that have been around will recall that I also competed last year. Yipee!

My mom, sister, and I arrived in Greeley on Friday night and from there, the weekend flew by. I competed in interview, swimsuit, and evening gown and also got to be on stage for a big introduction which was super fun. This year I wore a yellow (maybe more on the orange side though) two-piece swimsuit (eeeeee) and for evening gown, my dress was very sparkly and gold. I will post more pictures of all of my outfits to this post when they come in. 🙂 Or I can make a separate post about that. Just let me know what you all would prefer!

In my interview, I talked with the judges quite a bit about my published academic work on Pyrrhura molinae (aka Bobo and his green cheek conure crew) and kickboxing. They asked about Hawaii and I shared a lot. It went really well. I also got to be in the room BY MYSELF because the girl before me dropped the pageant which was sad. More time for the judges to listen to me though I guess.

Out of the entire weekend, I feel like swimsuit was my favorite to compete in. I was absolutely terrified to go out on stage wearing a two-piece swimsuit but in the end, I was proud of myself for doing that. I don’t know many other people that would do something like that! I’ve been working incredibly hard to get my body to a place that I’m proud of and I’m still not quite where I want to be but I am incredibly proud of myself for coming to where I am after being injured for so long.

It was so fun to meet so many other amazing young ladies and I wish them all the absolute best in everything they do. It always feels so good to be around so many other good people. In addition to this, I would like to thank Future Productions fo putting another fun and flawless weekend and show! It has been wonderful getting to know your staff and getting to work with you all. I would also like to congratulate the new Miss Colorado USA, Emily DeMure. You crushed it, girl! You’re going to be amazing. 🙂 If you’re interested in checking out the pageant, check out the official website!

Now the question comes, will I compete again? I’m really not sure. I had fun and I’ve enjoyed being at Miss Colorado for the past two years, but after being extremely stressed about school the entire weekend, I don’t know if I want to put myself through that again. Yes, I still had a wonderful time, but school is also incredibly important to me. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Have a wonderful week everyone! And to those of you that are also in Colorado, stay warm! We’re about to get some cold, cold weather and snow! 🙂 Woohoo! See you next Sunday.

October 28, 2019
Teaching Tennis… I’m in Love!
I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to grow up playing tennis. I feel like I learned so much in terms of the fundamentals and strategy. I learned a lot about how to be a good athlete and how to also just be a good person in general! Now I’ve been able to share that knowledge with young players trying out tennis and I feel so overjoyed with the entire experience! Who knew teaching tennis could be so fun?!

In Fort Collins, there’s this wonderful facility I’ve been playing tournaments at since I was like twelve, and a little over a month ago, I became one of the instructors for their Saturday classes. Since that first day, teaching tennis on Saturdays has become a highlight of my week.

Lessons start at 10 for the first group, which includes 4-6 year olds and their class goes for forty-five minutes. Being with the little littles is so cute and so fun. They’re all so excited to tell you about the new dinosaur toy they got or that they went to the park this past summer. And the littles are always so curious about tennis, or at least the ones I coach are. They really want to try and get good and I love it!

The next class I teach on Saturdays starts at 11 and goes for an hour and a half. That group is the 10U class. We have from 2nd-5th graders in that class and that’s a pretty good group too. With this class, there’s a lot more variety in the skill even though I would still classify all of my players in that class as beginners. It’s challenging, but I enjoy finding different ways to help different players. Getting to share little tips and tricks that have helped me is always a lot of fun. This group LOVES to play games and I love their excitement for that, but I’ve really learned that you have to lay down the law and establish the fact that you’re the coach and you’re going to do things in a certain order. If you don’t lay down the rules and set out a schedule, you’re going to get trampled by those 3rd graders, let me tell ya.

After that class finishes, I have a short lunch break and then I’m back on the courts for two hours with the middle school and high school kids. Once again, a majority of the players are just getting into tennis, but this group can understand more of the terminology I’m used to hearing so I feel like this class is where the fun really is and where the potential really exists. It exists with the younger kids too but it’s amazing how vocabulary and just being a bit older makes such a difference when trying to explain something! We hit a lot of groundstrokes and do a lot of feeding with this group because most of them can’t hold a rally but that’s ok! Teaching tennis is about tailoring to the needs of the players and also the coaches, as I’ve found out.

With all of my classes, I’ve really enjoyed getting to see players progress throughout the weeks I’ve worked with them. There’s this one little girl in my 10U class, and when I first started working with her, she could barely get the ball to the net. Two weeks ago, she hit her first tennis ball over the net and I was THRILLED for her. I don’t think she got what all my excitement was about but it’s fine. 🙂 Today, she hit at least five balls over the net and her strokes are looking much better and stronger in general and I LOVE THE PROCESS AND PROGRESS I GET TO SEE AND BE A PART OF!

Being in the teaching position now, I really have to thank my dad for his patience and ability to work with my sister and I. Now I know what it really feels like! To sum it all up in three points, I’ve learned that:
1. It’s better to break things down so the kids can follow some basic steps and I’m not spending a majority of the lessons talking.
2. It’s important to spend a little bit of time with each kid, helping them find one or two things to focus on.
3. City Park isn’t nearly as fun as the park at Fossil Creek in Fort Collins after going to the Denver Zoo. (Thanks to one of the kids in my little lobbers class for letting me know!)
I know that teaching tennis won’t always be easy and fun but I’ve really enjoyed my introduction to the teaching world so far. We’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks and months!

I hope you all have a wonderful week. If you’re in organic chemistry, physics, or both (like unfortunate me), stay strong and good luck with any exams you have coming up. I have both exams Tuesday, back-to-back, so we’ll see how that goes. See ya next Sunday!
September 22, 2019