Refreshed

This week was a short work week for me. I took a 5 day weekend starting last Friday through Tuesday. I came back to work on Wednesday feeling incredibly refreshed and productive. Since I hardly ever take that much time off work at once, it was great to get away from the office for a while and just enjoy the company of good friends. I certainly made the best of my "staycation."
So what did I do with my 5 days of freedom? Here is a short recap:
Thursday evening, Matt and I attended the Great American Beer Festival in downtown Denver. We went to this last year and had a great time. This year was no different...SO MUCH FUN!
Friday, Matt and I drove up to Ft. Collins to watch the KU football game with our friends Ted and Susie, who just moved to CO about two months ago. While the game didn't come out the way we would have liked, we did enjoy some fantastic homemade chicken enchiladas made by Susie. And Bagel (their beagle) even treated me to a few of her cute playful howls that I love! While the guys played video games, Susie and I discussed home decorating strategies and planned a short camping trip for this weekend. Can't wait!!
Saturday was filled with more time with college friends. Carlene and I went out and did some fun shopping. Later that evening, we met Jim, Becky, Carlene and Nick downtown for dinner at the Rio Grande and ended up prowling around the 16th St. Mall for a few hours after that.

Sunday was another busy day. It was time for Matt and I to do our "long run" for the marathon training: 8 miles. Unfortunately, it was a hot and sunny morning. But a slight breeze made the run bearable and we got through it in an 1 hour and 24 minutes. Each week, we add another mile to our long run, which means this weekend will be 9 miles! So far, my body has not had any objections to the physical challenges of running for hours on end. But more on that later. I am forming a blog post about our marathon training thus far.

After the run on Sunday, I had to take Matt to the airport. He went to Madison, WI for a conference from Sunday-Thursday. Luckily, my friends Tazz and Jenn, and their 14 month old son Landon came in for a visit shortly after I got back from dropping Matt off, so I didn't even have a chance to be sad or lonely!

We spent Monday and Tuesday doing fun Colorado-y type things such as having lunch in Boulder at the Walnut Brewery, doing the river walk in Estes Park, and hiking Table Mesa in Golden. We also went to the Denver Aquarium. Landon loved all the fish--it was so cute to watch him get excited about them all! I made Tazz run a 5K with my on Tuesday evening. He was such a trooper because running in the higher altitude takes some time to get used to and he set a pretty fast pace! It was great to have a temporary running buddy in Matt's absence.

The picture below is Tazz, Jenn and Landon at the bottom of Table Mesa. It was so great to have them out here.

Matt is home now and we have a lot to look forward to this weekend: a short camping trip with Ted and Susie, and a 9 mile run to be specific! I am glad to have him home. We are watching season 6 of Grey's Anatomy right now and it was hard not to watch it while he was gone. I guess I missed him a little too. :)

And of course, I couldn't end this post without posting one of my favorite recent pictures of the beagles. I snapped this one with my phone's camera on one of our daily walks in the neighborhood park.