Is August here yet?

Soo close to August! I'm ready, it will mean I will be back on Day shift schedules will be the same, and my summer will officially start.  Ready to spend some more time in the sun!

We haven't been up doing too much the last couple weeks.  We did attend the Pikes Peak or bust Rodeo once again this year.  It did rain the day of the rodeo just like last year when we went, but held out while at the rodeo.

Tonight we went to Margarita Fiesta! A great night, and a lot of laughs and delicious foods and of course Margarita's!!  Sam was awesome and cooked up the taco meat, as I accidentally slept in a lot (there was an alarm set, must have turned it off in my sleep).  One of the difficult things of working nights.  I did get ready in 20 mins and out the door we went!

Last weekend Sam took place in UpaDowna's ROAR in the city event.  This was a type of scavenger hunt that took place throughout downtown Colorado Springs.  All the hunting was done on bikes.  These pictures I pulled from the linked webpage from the event.

Some unfortunate news.  Our pups had there annual exams/shots on Tuesday.  Logan is healthy, good weight, clean teeth, and did well with the vet for his shot.  We found out that Brooklyn has a heart murmur, just developing over the past 10 months.  This we have known is common in her breed, we will be going in for an ultrasound/x-ray later August to find out if what the status is and the level she is at.

Brooklyn has no change in attitude, appetite, or activity level.  We will be watching her closely for any symptoms that may arise, but still enjoying all the time we can with her.

Happy 4th of July!

This year we actually celebrated our 4th of July on the 3rd.  Our small town we live in outside of Colorado Springs had an event on the 3rd.  What a great way to extend the celebration.  Here is a photo taken prior to us leaving to avoid the rain!

Like I said, we left before the fireworks actually started at the Golf Course.  Lucky for us, we were able to see them from our Front Porch Perfectly!!

The last couple months I have been working night shift, it has made for a different summer, defiantly less time spent out and about, and usually starting my day about 5 pm, not much time to get anything done if shopping is needed.  Not to much longer till I will be on days again!!

One thing we did get to do, was see a Lacrosse match in Denver at the Mile High Stadium.  I was fortunate enough to win tickets to this while at an expo in May.  We had a great time attending and watching!  We also discovered an awesome small place that served some great chicken wings!

In mid June we were able to make a quick trip to Texas to go to Sam's Family Cousin Reunion.  It was a great time, beautiful weather, and some beautiful views.  This was also the weekend of the Honey Moon.  Unfortunately I did not get a good picture of the moon coming up over the water, but it was a great site to see.  The humidity was a great welcome, really is a great thing after living in Colorado and having to invest in hand/body lotion all year long!

Unlike last summer here, this summer we have gotten soo much rain!  It has been pretty consistent raining every afternoon.  It has been great, our grass is now green, and the afternoon rains provides some great view for photos.  This one I snapped on the corner of our street.  A awesome double rainbow!

Some very exciting news for us! Sam is getting promoted this year!! It will be a few months till the new rank, but we are excited!  Like I said up top, we haven't really been doing too much this summer.  I have some days off for the holiday hope to catch up on some things, around the house trying to keep quite as the rest of the house sleeps.

I leave you with two pics of Brooklyn and Logan.  Brooklyn is now 3 years old and Logan is coming up on 2.  We haven't had Logan yet a year, despite his shyness, he has learned quite a bit in a short time!  This photo has him doing a high five, he hardly ever does this when new people are around, I have proof of it now!  Love the way he is looking at the camera in this one as well!  And we have sleeping Brooklyn!

Haven't Forgot!

Hello

I haven't forgotten that I do have a blog, just temporarily not looked at recently.  There has been a lot going on. A short recap with some photos.

Well I was about to start my Masters Program this month, unfortunately when I was accepted, to the Systems Engineering Program at Penn State, it wasn't noted that I hadn't had calculus which was highly encouraged for the program.  So starting the first course was a bit rough, and in the end I had to drop it and will have to rethink where I will be going with school.  Something that I feel I may be better at is project management, IA/cybersecurity, so looking into more programs available to continue with school! Sam has also recently started school at Ashford.





April (26) was an exciting month, My cousin Andrea was married, probably on the nicest day of the month in Wisconsin.  I was privileged to be a part of their wedding party.  Had a great time helping with decorating and wedding day.  To the right is a photo of Sam and I at the wedding. Looking snazzy!  Congrats Andrea and Jason!!

   A random photo of Logan and I. He has grown up a lot since first getting  him.  He has learned lie down, and he sure is quiet obedient when treats are involved.  He is still a bit hesitant around new people and sometimes around Sam.   He has become a better companion and fun to be around.  His  his second shedding season has started, so the vacuum and furminator are my friend with him.  Brooklyn and Logan, mhh I would say tolerate each other, they are not ones to lay together, which is fine.  Logan can be a bit more excited and playful when Brooklyn just wants to get away and relax.

A fun photo of Sam and I at the Air Force Appreciation night at the Sky Sox Game.  We are  big kids in this one! The Sky Sox is the Colorado Springs AAA team.  Hear is the Air Force Falcon from the Air Force Academy and Sox the Fox, the Sky Sox team mascot.





Sam probably didn't realize I took this photo.  This was taken at Phantom Canyon in downtown Colorado Springs.  A pretty fun place we don't go to often.  This was probably the best game of pool I ever played, I did though scratch on the 8 ball but soooo close to winning for once!  We stopped here this night after a friends birthday dinner.

SELFIE!!!  Our unit on 15 May, had a down day where we went to the incline in Manitou Springs.  This was my first trip up the incline, and WOW, I don't think I was ready.  I did get to try it out, who knows if I will ever be ready to climb the incline.  Check out the link of Manitou Incline to learn more and see what I'm talking about!  Sure was  a beautiful day and beautiful view looking down over Manitou and Colorado Springs!

Colfax Urban 10 Miler took place 18 May, only three days following my hike up the incline.  My first ever 10 mile race, not my longest race, but different goal distance.  It was a fun race, running through Mile High Stadium in Denver and through different parts of the city. Finishing time was 1:32, just over my goal of 1:30.  The day was beautiful, with temperatures at 9 in the morning I believe up in the 70's.  It was great.  My friend Molly wasn't able to run during this series, but she came along to support my run and see me at the finish line! A great girls weekend.

The last couple months I've started Scrapbooking.  All those photos from our travels throughout Europe are finally going into an album, I never realized how many I took!  It has been fun, and I'm happy to again be creative in this way.  I have noticed I spend less time in front of a television, which I'm happy with.  There are always those days that I do nothing and watch way to many HGTV House Hunters episodes but, hey why not!!

WELCOME Jackson!! We are excited to be Uncle Sam and Aunt Jane to our nephew Jackson!  At this date he is about a week old now and soo tiny, cute! Sam recently went to visit, while I stayed home with work and the pups! We are excited to welcome him to the family! Congrats Maggie and Jeremy on your addition!

That is what I got so far, I will probably do more of these summarizing posts during the summer, we are going to do as much stuff in the area this summer, despite our unique work schedules.  We are excited to be coming up on our 4 year wedding anniversary and our 1 year living here in Colorado Springs area!

Hobby has returned

Many know one of my most passionate hobbies is running.  Endurance running.  I have been more and less interested in the sport since I've began this Journey, really starting when I lived in Okinawa and continuing while in Korea.  The hobby always returns, and in new ways.

This past Sat I joined a team from a local running store.  This once again has started up my motivation for fitness and running.  Our first group run, wasn't with the best weather, but it was great to get out and participate with so many ladies in the area.  All at different levels, but joining for a common interest and motivation to live a healthy life.  The spring season of the team training has just started, I'm sure I will have a few more posts on it as well.

To check out more about the BRC Women's FIT Team Check out there Facebook link.

In addition to my running hobby, I have another hobby that has returned to my interest.  I started scrapbooking almost eight years ago prior to joining the Air Force.

It has been almost three and half years since I had done any scrapbooking.  It may be living in an apartment in Germany with not to much room to spread out and and be creative.  Possibly working on my Bachelors Degree.  And all the travel we did in Europe.

The interest has recent returned, and I'm having fun being creative and finally looking through all of our travel pictures from Europe.  I'm hoping that some point, I will be able to scrapbook in near real time to current events going on.

My blog has been very useful starting on my European pages.  I am able to go back look through dates and what we were doing.

I've attached some recent work, haven't mastered my photo skills of these pages, but to come.  I'm still perfecting my style and unique processes that work for me.  

Special Olympics Polar Plunge

February 1, I and my friend Molly took part in the Colorado Springs Special Olympic Polar Plunge. How Ironic, the previous week, and day were one of the coldest and snowy so far this winter.  The event went on.

Molly was the one that found out about the event and signed us up!  We were a bit late in signing up and raised about $300 for the Colorado Springs Special Olympics.

We were one of the last groups to plunge, and it was miserable waiting, as it was difficult just staying warm before the plunge.

We did have a blast despite the chilling temperatures of the water.  The after Plunge party was also a blast!

Unfortunately we did not get any personal photos of the event, but to pictures of us and the event check out the link below.

Photos from the Day

At the time, I said I wouldn't do the Polar Plunge again, but we had a great time, there may be another Polar Plunge in our future.

Facebook Link to Colorado Springs Polar Plunge

WebLink 


http://montowski.smugmug.com/SOCO/COS-Polar-Plunge-2014/i-zFVGRkh/A

Use the above link to reach the series of photos we are in, be sure to click the arrow to view all of them.

Locks of Love

Locks of Love is a Non-Profit Organization that provides hair pieces to financially disadvantages children throughout the United States.  These hair pieces are created from real human hair, all donations to the organization.

I have in the past donated my hair to Locks of Love twice.  First time while still in high school and the second while in Germany.  I just recently, January 24 donated my hair once again to Locks of Love.  I was going to wait till this summer but the opportunity arose to have it done now.  I donated about 10" of hair, and am loving my new do.

The opportunity came up through a base organized event, that brought in stylists from the Paul Mitchell School here in Colorado Springs.  Providing free cuts/styles to those that donated there hair.

The story has been posted on the Peterson AFB website.  Read about here Give a little, Give a lock.

I'm loving the new style, makes getting ready a whole lot faster,  not sure how long I will keep it short, we will see.  To find out more about Locks of Love, check out the link above, will bring you to a lot of information on the organization.

Jane

Phoenix We Run!

A few weeks ago, we made a trip to Phoenix.  While it was frigid temperatures here in Colorado Springs, were lucky enough to enjoy the beautiful warm weather of Arizona.

Planned this trip the beginning November following, the Denver Rock N' Roll Half Marathon.  My friend Molly and I decided to start the year off right and get a half-marathon in January.  This was the beginnings of planning for this trip.

Our guys also began a golf weekend in Phoenix as the season has slowed down quite a bit here in Colorado Springs.

Made it a long weekend trip, and were able to enjoy a good time with great friends.  Were able to see a few areas of Phoenix, some during our 1/2 marathon as well as a bit of exploring we did the day before the run!

My goal was to run the half marathon in 2 hours, had a great run finishing in 1:55.  Molly also meet and surpassed her goal.  This will be my 6th half marathon, the year is just about planned out on what will come next to include a 10 miler race here locally, a number of 5K's, and two potential half marathons in the fall!