Early Birthday Present

So many of you know that in March I will be going with Emily, Brett and Hannah to see The Avett Brothers in Wichita, which I am so excited for! The Orpheum will be such a great venue to see a band like them. It will almost be perfect. However, ever since I saw Incubus play at Red Rocks Ampitheater outside of Denver I have wanted to go to another show there. If you haven't ever been there or seen pictures of this place, please check it out. It is probably the most beautiful venue I have ever seen, rivaling Royal Albert Hall.

Of course when I saw The Avett Brothers were playing Red Rocks I immediately asked Emily if she wanted to go see them again (knowing full well that she wouldn't say no to that question) and then started planning the trip. But I also knew that my parents enjoy The Avetts as much as I do so I asked them to go as well. And to make a long story short, the four of us are going to see the concert at the end of June for my birthday! We are going to stay in Fort Collins with Andy and Sherri one night to see their family because we don't get to see their kids very often.

The day of the show we are going to travel through Big Thompson Canyon up to Estes Park, into Rocky Mountain National Park and over Trail Ridge Road into Grand Lake, shop a little, travel up through Winter Park, Berthoud Pass, down through Idaho Springs, and then come out of the mountains right at Red Rocks, just in time for the show! My goodness doesn't that sound amazing? Just to make my mom even more happy, we got a hotel about five minutes from Colorado Mills Shopping Center, which is host to one of the biggest Eddie Bauer Outlet stores. I really know how to convince them to go on a trip! So that is my good news of the evening. I hope everyone is having a spectacular weekend.

Valentine's Day

So tomorrow is Valentine's Day, which is a pointless "holiday." I just read that people will spend upwards of $17 billion on gifts, dinner, and other things on their significant others. Why? Are there not enough designated holidays for gifts already? What's even worse is when people expect extravagant, out-of-this-world gifts. If anything, Valentine's Day should be a day of simple gifts that are personal. So what did Emily and I do for the day? We got each other simple gifts and spent the evening watching movies. Perfect! Many people asked me what I got her and when I responded that I got her screwdrivers, I could tell they wanted to just say "What the hell are you thinking?" (I got a lint roller) I was thinking that we don't need to spend money to show each other we enjoy each other's company. But I thought, what else could I do for Valentine's Day? Well Emily, here is another gift that will hopefully make you laugh at the silliness of "romance."

Gamble Chocolates and Antacid Hearts! (Skip to 3:42)

Bacon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Anxiety

It is late and I cannot seem to fall asleep. For the last few nights I have really struggled to sleep. I seem to be anxious at the time when I need to be calm the most. I'm not sure of the reason for this but it sucks. I have been trying to do a better job of getting to bed earlier and it seems to not be working at all; in fact it is backfiring. I have also been just lacking motivation in my classes this week. Again, it has been a real struggle for me. It has happened all of the sudden and I have been searching for answers. It's something that isn't completely new to me so I am not too worried about it passing but I just wish it was something I didn't have to deal with right now. The cat is fighting me for attention so I will leave you with that. Just remember to slow it down.

Painting

I found this on Donald Miller's blog the other day. I just loved the quotes from it.

“I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.” – Vincent van Gogh

I only ask you to remember this: even in the darkest nights and the rainiest of days, moments of light and color mysteriously, majestically, and sometimes whimsically (like a rainbow of flowers disguised as umbrellas) shine through. Paint that truth.