Please forgive me for such a long hiatus!!! I'll try not to let it happen again! October was a crazy busy month and as much as I wanted to find time to update you all on the hectic month we were having, I just couldn't find enough time to do so! When I wasn't working I was either traveling or jam packing my schedule with this and that. I don't even know where October went! To make up for it, I'll be blogging consecutive days in a row to fill you in on everything has happened since we got our apartment ready for fall back at the beginning of October.
Towards the beginning of the month, Rup was lucky enough to head out west to spend 10 days in Denver for two back to back emergency medicine conferences. One of the many advantages of being a physician's spouse is being able to travel to these conferences with them :) I went out to Denver to meet Rup in-between his two conferences for about four days of sightseeing and fun! While we were there, we packed our agenda full to make the most of our time out in the beautiful state of Colorado! Our itinerary included trips to Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak & surrounding Manitou Springs, Golden, Boulder, Estes Park, and the Rocky Mountain National Park in addition to downtown Denver where we were staying. In the midst of all the traveling we made time to experience some of Denver's fine dining and breweries, enjoyed a couple's massage, and I fit in a 10 mile run in the mile high city in preparation for my upcoming half marathon. Here are a bunch of photos from our trip:
The Denver Zoo :)
Colorado State Capitol Senate Room
Colorado State Capital Exhibit
Colorado State Capital Mile High Marker Point
Colorado State Capital
Coors Field (Above & Below) ~ Denver, CO
Coors Brewery (Above & Below) ~ Golden, CO
Pike's Peak 11,000 feet elevation ~ Manitou Springs, CO
Pike's Peak Observation Point (Above & Below) ~ Manitou Springs, CO
Garden of the Gods (Above & Below) ~ Manitou Springs, CO
Olympic Training Center ~ Colorado Springs, CO
Of course no vacation of ours is complete without a trip to a winery! Here we are at Bookcliff Vineyards in Boulder, CO where they were awesome enough to let us "punch" grapes, a necessary part of their harvesting process, it was such a blast and unique experience!
Inside the beautiful Brown Palace Hotel where we stayed and enjoyed a couple's massage at the Brown Palace Spa. This is before we were heading out to dinner one night.
Estes Park, CO (Above & Below)
The last few pics were all taken at the Rocky Mountain National Park, a beautiful landmark that anyone visiting Colorado must see!
We even managed to experience some elk sightings!
Shortly after coming back from our awesome trip and getting back into the work grind, my best friend Joyce came and visited for a weekend. Bella was so excited to finally meet her aunt Joyce and have her around for a few days. While I wish we lived closer, I'm so grateful that we are only a 4 hour car ride away from each other.
Bella being spoiled by Aunt Joyce!
At On the Boarder! We can NEVER go without some mexican food & margaritas when we're together.
Carolina Panthers tailgate at the Bank of America Stadium (Above & Below)
Bella & Stiches in Panthers & Steelers gear!
As if I wasn't having enough fun for the month yet, my best friend Melissa and I headed to the Zac Brown Band concert with a fellow Rite Aid pharmacist Alyssa at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater here in Charlotte the day after her birthday, they are amazing in concert and this was my second time seeing them perform live!
As we approached the end of the month while working a lot to make up for days we'd taken off earlier in the month for traveling we still managed to fit in a few fun things with our friends. We were convinced by our friends Sherri & Brad that since it was our first fall in Charlotte, we had to experience Scarowinds at Carowinds amusement park to prepare for Halloween festivities. It was quite the fright I must admit going thru 8 haunted houses/attractions and a couple coasters, but we had a blast nonetheless and I'd lost my voice the next morning.
The creepy scary guy managed to sneak into our picture without us knowing which makes this photo so much more perfect!
And what's some time spent at an amusement park without winning a stuffed animal? Here is the new penguin addition to our family who shall remain unnamed ;) (You had to be there to understand the situation!)
A few days of work went by and my husband surprised me with tickets to the Kellogs Tour of Gymnastics Champions as they were stopping in Charlotte! I was a gymnast growing up and it is my absolute favorite sport in the whole world. He knew how much it would mean to me to be able to see olympic gymnasts perform right here in Charlotte and got me such a thoughtful gift of tickets to see the Fab Five from London perform live!!!!! While Kayla Ross could not make the tour and McKayla Maroney had injured herself, it was still awesome seeing the rest of the group and some previous olympic gymnasts as well. The women's gymnasts were of course joined by the US men's olympic team and they were so amazing as well! One of the many things I love about my husband is how thoughtful he is and for that I am so incredibly grateful :)
The arena
Opening show introducing the mens team and the Fab Five
Ali, Gabby, and Jordan
The mens team
Gabby, Jordan, Ali, and Chellsie Memmel (2008 Olympic gymnast)
Gabby, Jordan, Ali, Chellsie, and Nastia Liukin (another 2008 Olympian)
The mens team
As the month died down, we found ourselves both working the night of Halloween, but that did not stop us from celebrating a little early with our friends :) Bella was so excited to celebrate her first Halloween as well, with her boyfriend Stitches nonetheless.
Miss Cow
A ferocious Shark
Cutie
The lovely hosts of the party! Mermaid, Shark, and Fisherman
Our little Thing family
Oh look at these adorable lovebirds <3
With a November Presidential election soon approaching Rup & I were so grateful that North Carolina had early voting in place where we could perform our civic duty :) Even Bella participated as she kept us company in the short line!
Lastly, I just wanted to share my favorite "new" recipe for the month of October:
And thats a wrap for October! Stay tuned for how exciting November has already been for us ;) I promise I won't leave for so long again!
