weekend of fun

The long weekend of thanksgiving is one i look forward to with joy every year. I love the laid back, relaxed feeling of a heavy meal, football and no pressure to find the perfect gift. I love the idea that you gather with those you love to reflect on what you have to be thankful for.  A wise friend of mine always tells me the key to a happy life is a grateful heart and i could not agree more. There is always something to be grateful for, I just need to slow down more to take notice of all i have.
So as i was saddened over the thought of not going home to the beauty of a Tennessee Thanksgiving,  i gave thanks that i had a partner by my side to celebrate the holiday with. And we celebrated !

On thursday morning we hopped in the car and drove to our friends the Clarks which was a sweet thing for me considering it was my first thanksgiving with out my family and the Clarks are the closet family we have in CO.  It was a truly bitter sweet day. it was so good to hold little bosten, to swing elle in circles  to sit in the kitchen with one of my best friends and peel the sugar off the ham when no one was watching.
 


It was incredible to watch a community of people come together who all live in this magical little town of Buena Vista and do life together as they serve jesus at Frontier and trail west
With that our hearts were so sad.  we got in the car after being inside with this community that we were so close to being apart of " were we supposed to be here?" Did we miss the wagon??
For the next two hours as we drove home we talked about what it looks like to trust Jesus with your whole heart to believe he prompts our every decision our every move and is writing a story we get to live out. Im still sad over walking away from a dream town and a dream job but am expectant for what Jesus has in store for us next. Trusting God does not always look like life making sense, but we put our trust in him knowing he loves us and wants to lead us where he desires. It was not Buena Vista, It was not Frontier for now it is Denver. And our journey, our calling is to lay a foundation for our marriage that is about being intentional, slowing down and being thankful for where we are . 


Friday was my 25th birthday ! wow 25 how did that happen. It was my first birthday with out friends around me, family birthday parties and being streched in all directions.  it was different it was sweet it was right where i needed to be. I was surprised by taylor with the camera i have been wanting for years:) I was woken up by streamers out the door and a birthday breakfast setting.Taylor did everything he knew how to make it the perfect day and it really was !





 


Then last night our favorite new friends in Denver, Riley and Katie invited us to the SHREK  the musical !!!  I was ecstatic i luv luv luv musicals ! Shrek did not disappoint it was hilarious, and when we walked out of the play it was a winter wonderland !
 




not my best shot hahaha to say the least but its documenting life here !!!
my favorite song in the musical said let your freak flag fly .... guess im learning to do this :)

happenings

Lots of happenings some small some big . mostly just life !
Halloween.... Taylor was a banana and road his bike all out in a banana costume . It was one of those moments i knew i would laugh at for a long time to come. I chuckled all day halloween and am still chuckling as post this.


Can you imagine sitting at a traffic light and seeing a banana fly by HA.

We got a dog we fell in love and we just could not handle him! we wanted it to work so bad but it just was not meant to be. When taylor was laying on the floor every night to keep the dog happy instead of snuggling with me on the couch i drew the line. We both agreed we just werent ready and found sweet scout a home on a ranch where he could roam and play with wide open spaces and eat many more varmints.

Taylor's old friend Doug moved to Colorado and stayed at Casa de Ratliff for a week. I love having company. I miss having friends a lot! i think i talked Doug's ears off when Taylor was not around hopefully he will come back to visit :) we went on a pretty little hike on a perfect afternoon in the town of golden



We commited to getting out of the house and exploring fun things in the city . We ventured down to the free night at the art museum and ate a little diner and shared a yummy milkshake.


I got rid of all the thousands of leaves covering our yard, while taylor with his bum knee blew them into a pile for me. I <3 mowing the yard so much not sure why !

A fun picture i found on taylor's camera from our fishing day in estes park.  actually all these pictures were on his little point and shot
LAST but not least i have started decking the halls and listening to christmas songs .... its the most wonderful time of the year! I cant wait to live a cozy christmas season curled by this fireplace. this fireplace is on my list of the best 10 things that happened to me this year .

day one

Today was the first time  i have snowboarded in almost two years, it was a blast . it poured snow the whole time we were there and the conditions were phenominal other than the 19 degree weather & freeezzzing cold wind brrrrrrr!
Taylor had surgery on his knee last week,  he has had trouble with it for as long as i have known him .  The Doctor discovered he had a lot of cartlidge in the wrong place but nothing turned out to be torn. Which was great news!
He is recovering wonderfully. I wanted to baby him but he would not have it . he refuses to even take the pain medcine. You can pray he will continue to recover.. he still is walking with a strong limp .

so sadly he was unable to snowboard today but didnt want to miss the mtns and the snow so he taxied me and Bailes on up to breck. have i ever said im crazy about him :)

im crazy about her too! we had a blast and are looking forward to many more days on the slopes together

i look like a fool.... but its snowing !

back in june

i find the sad thing about digital photography is i take pictures, load them on my computer, and thats the end of it.  I never develop them and put them in a photo book to sit on the counter and flip through to remember. I have only developed one picture from my wedding even not good.

I occasionally decide to flip through old pictures on my computer.

I came across some pictures of a  fun visitor that goes by the name of PARG . we have been friends since we were 14 crazy who knew the friends i made in middle school would last a lifetime. 

That the friend same friend i dressed up to go to cotton eyed joes with would help me put on my wedding dress and stand by me on my wedding day. That the same friend i babysat with through my teens would dream of having babies, being neighbors and homeschooling our kids together . That the same friend i laughed at 11 years ago can still make me pee my pants.  that the friend i discovered who I was along side would help me to continue to know who I am by sharing life with me. 

I have been blessed with margaret and many other dear friends im not sure what I would do with out. 

As i have journeyed into this new season of life and been cut off from all my friends by thousands of miles i have to say i treasure them more than ever. I miss her, I miss my friends but i feel blessed to know they are life friends. That miles do not have the power to separate hearts 

while parg was here we went back to frontier for the first time since highschool to visit our younglife leader and for her to experience buena vista one of the most beautiful places in the world

she was all smiles when we arrived

“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.”

xoxo miss you parg

last but not least i love any excuse for this guy to kiss me 

pursuit of a passion

Well i have loved photography since i was a little girl . i had one of these long skinny cameras in first grade. My gracious mother would support my need to take pictures. She would buy 100s of the long rolls of film this bad boy called for and pay to develop the work of a 6 year old.  I think from a young age i loved to capture emotion, smiles, and events in my life. It has not changed at 25 I love taking pictures more than ever . I had a wise friend who is a  phenomenal photographer and brilliant business woman tell me to just enjoy the hobby for a while and see what comes of it.  so i am going to just that take pictures of whoever will let me and use this family blog to share the ones i love.

Maybe someday i can make a dream a reality and do this as my job... for now im gonna practice practice.
here are some pictures of my favorite little girls

anyone who knows me well has probably heard me talk about these little girls.
they feel like family i have known both of them since the day they were born. I often wonder if i can love my own kids as i love these. I miss them more then most anything in Knoxville
meet liza she is the second of two that i love with all my <3 !  She is a free spirit! From the time she could sit up she loved to dance She looks at the world through rosey eyes, she has never meet a stranger, she loves with out fear. In October she turned four i was lucky enough to capture her little spirit







This little one has stolen my heart since the day i laid eyes on her! I have begged her mom to keep here on many occasions.


the two little pumpkins together