Colorado (aka: Starbucks haven)

This last week-ish I went on a vacation with my parents to Colorado. 2 of the things I LOVE about Colorado:

1. No humidity: my hair looked great EVERY day!
2. Starbucks on EVERY corner (I do not exaggerate)

Anyway, we checked out the Denver and Colorado Springs area. It was VERY beautiful up there-- so I wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures/moments.

Mom, me, and Dad

One of the first places we went was to the oldest standing house in Denver, Colorado... Sadly I don't remember the name. And for some reason they had a teepee on the property... Anyway, you got to walk around and see old buildings and carriages and animals. They hold big celebrations there-- like an old fashioned 4th of July celebration. We took a tour of the house and our tour guide was VERY knowledgeable about all things OLD.

 

 

Root cellar where they kept ice and food-- supposedly it's like 50 degrees inside.

The next day we hit up the Denver zoo... Time for classic animal shots!

Then we headed up to an old mine... Maybe the Argo Mill? And we took a little tour. At the end of the tour you get to pan for gold and keep what you find... I found a stiff back and sore neck from leaning over. I don't know how those miners handled it.

Old mine cars

Inside the tunnel!

Panning for some gold to take home!

The next day we hit up Garden of the Gods-- basically a free national park where you can walk around those awesome rock formations-- some people even climb them!

Garden of the Gods

That same day (we were in a nature kind of mood) we drove up Pike's Peak. It was freezing up top, thanks to the wind. On our way down we even saw Bigfoot (see picture below)...

Dad at the peak

View from the top

A deer we saw on the way down-- it posed perfectly

Bigfoot and me

The next day we explored the United States Air Force Academy and (my personal favorite) the US Olympic training center! We actually saw a gymnast practicing-- and they said he was already on the US Olympic Gymnastic Team! I loved the tour!

All their worship centers are located here

STOKED! Love the Olympics!

Our trip also consisted of visiting various touristy shops and small towns-- I did not photograph these... On our way back to Missouri we stopped by and I got to see my nephew and niece, always a treat!

All in all, it was a great vacation-- and a big thank you goes out to my parents for allowing their adult daughter to tag along with them!

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7 days of HAIR

The other day I was looking at my hair... then I looked at some photos... and then I realized, I tend to do my hair in exactly the same 3 ways.

1. Down and straight
2. Down and wavy
3. Ponytail (for exercise or sleeping)

Well, that's boring. How can I get better at doing my hair and learn to do different things? And then I realized: Practice.

If my students have trouble in math-- what do we do? We practice. Maybe it's time to practice what I preach-- I mean-- teach.

So, I was texting one of my best friends, Heather, and I told her I was going to do 7 days of different hairstyles. She helped to keep me accountable. I apologize for any bad photos-- the camera I used is my iphone camera. Don't hate on me :)

DAY 1: Side fishtail braid (click here for the tutorial)

I had to pull my hair up and braid it while it was still wet because otherwise my layers tend to fly out everywhere. This takes about 5-10 minutes to do-- depending on how fast you braid. 

DAY 2: Half-up/Curled ends with flat iron

I want to try and learn to use my flat iron to curl my hair... but I'm too scared to do ALL of it-- so I just practiced a little on my ends. 

DAY 3: All over curls

Today I practiced a new way to use my curling iron-- all over my head. It was a good hair day.

DAY 4: Straight with side braid

I really want to learn how to french braid my bangs back... But sadly I can't get it to work just yet. I will keep practicing. In the meantime, I did a little side braid that made me happy! 

DAY 5: Pulled back bangs/Naturally wavy

This was a disaster of a day. I don't care for my wavy hair-- I almost always blow dry it straight. But I was tired and this seemed like an easy solution. Probably my least favorite day... 

DAY 6: Headband with bun

Today was day 2 hair (which means I'm too lazy to wash) so I pulled my hair back into a bun and added a headband. Here is a tutorial I used.

DAY 7: Ponytail

Sadly, today in fact, I had to go with the age-old traditional ponytail. I got up a little late... and it was Sunday... and I was running out of time before church... and my hair just didn't feel like cooperating.

I felt like overall it was a good experience. It is REALLY hard to change your normal hair routine and try new things-- especially if you aren't very good at doing them. I do think, however, that I will continue to try newer things with my hair. If you have any advice or want to share your hair styles-- please do!

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