Memorial Day weekend festivities

I DID IT! I raced in the BolderBoulder 10K on Memorial Day and beat my personal time record for a 10K by 14 minutes! The finish was inside the Buffs' stadium, so as I sprinted across the finish line there were thousands of people cheering me on. It was a surreal and elating experience! Bill and the Koschmanns were there to support me, and there was video taken of my finish which I will try to post later. But here I am after the race, glowing and ecstatic!

Since it was a Memorial Day race, all servicemen and -women were being honored. Many people raced in honor of someone who is currently serving in the military or served in the past.

During the 4th mile of the race a lady ran up next to me and said, "Excuse me, miss, but who is Steven?" I proudly replied, "Oh! He's my brother!". And she said, emphatically and sincerely, "Please tell him THANK YOU." I was very moved by that gesture. So, Steven, thank you for what you do - not only from me, but also from random people in Boulder. :)

More Memorial Weekend fun - while our neighbors were BBQ-ing, Bill and I were enjoying "PJ day" which is a beloved occasional pasttime of ours. During Bill's nap #2 on that day, I snapped this shot of the kitties. Bill said he was just trying to "walk in the kitties' shoes" for a day. I can't tell if the cats were enjoying Bill's presence during their nap time, or annoyed by it.

Joy of joys!! Also this weekend, two of my dear friends from back in my Gainesville, Florida days came to Colorado to visit Amy and I. We all hung out together Friday night and all day Saturday. It was just like old times...




It was so nice to have some "family" visiting, especially those whom I haven't seen in a LONG time. It was just like not a day had passed. My cheeks were sore from laughing so much! Nick and Jules - we miss you already!

"Braving the Bear (Market)"

I rarely post a blog since Liz does a great job of keeping you in the loop on our lives in Colorado, but I thought I'd give a little commentary in my world.

This blog moment is coming from the other half of the BLIZ team (Bill) and is brought to you today by the letters "L", "D" and the number 10.

As you can imagine, I've been doing a lot of "hand-holding" with clients who are concerned about their investments. Consider these news headlines:

"STOCKS SLIP AND CRASH - Violent Plunge Brings Panic"

"PANIC RAGES IN MARKET"

"NO PLACE TO HIDE - It's been a rough year on stock exchanges around the globe"

"ANOTHER BIG COLLAPSE OF BUYER CONFIDENCE"

Sound familiar? When do you think these were published?

The first two headlines featured in the Los Angeles Times on October 4, 1929. The third was published in Barrons on January 9, 1957. The last one was printed on November 23, 1974 in BusinessWeek. What can we take away from this?

If your long-term goals haven't changed, your investment strategy shouldn't either. The letter "L" is for Long Term Strategy. Many people have abandoned their long-term money and put it into short-term positions (i.e., savings, money markets, CDs). While their money is protected from investment loss, it is actually losing purchasing power due to future inflation. A CD earning 2 percent at the bank will never catch up to the inflation rate of 3 percent!

The letter "D" stands for Discipline. Instead of buying low and selling high, people tend to to just the opposite during a market correction like what we're experiencing now. We are emotional beings, and even the most logical people will stop investing or pull their investments when things feel uncertain.

The number 10 represents the rate of return in the stock market over the past 75 years. Our most recent bull market was one of the longest runs we've ever seen. Historically, the market has responded dramatically every year following a bear market. It's anybody's guess what kind of jump we'll receive from the next bull run. People who have taken themselves out of the market are going to miss it.

At the end of the day, it is time IN the market, not TIMING the market, that is going to carry your long-term investments forward.

Enough money talk :) Have a great week!

** Bill's mugshot can be found at http://www.edwardjones.com/en_US/fa/index.html&CIRN=313269

And now to the most famous National Park...in Colorado

Last Sunday, Bill had a most excellent idea for our "day off" activity - to spend the day at Rocky Mountain National Park! Imagine my surprise when I realized that the RMNP is only 1.5 hours away from my house! I immediately packed up our sandwiches and Gatorade in the day pack and we began our Rocky Mountain adventure.

Look what we found on the side of the road just outside the park! There were half a dozen male elk just hanging out in somebody's yard! I was impressed.

This was, of course, before we got into the RMNP when I realized that elk are more numerous than prairie dogs. And there are A LOT of prairie dogs. But they're still cool. :)

We drove around the park for a little while admiring the amazing views and searching for other little wild creatures. The park brochure listed some featured hikes for the time of year, so we decided to hike the Bear Lake Trail to see a waterfall.

Snow! It was in the 70's and very sunny that day, and we hiked the entire trail through the snow. Luckily for me, I am an experienced 'snow-hiker' (remember the Royal Arch hike?), so I did fine. I could hear Bill, however, slipping and sliding all over the place behind me. It was great fun.


The waterfall was beautiful - powerful and loud! It wasn't a very long waterfall, but it was wide and resembled a very steep river rapids. It was pretty impressive. Unfortunately the only picture Bill took of it was the above close-up of the water. Hmmm... maybe I should carry the camera from now on... :)


Here we are being goofy at the summit of the hike with a very small portion of the RMNP behind us. We tried to take some serious, more romantic pictures - but that's just not our style. They came out totally cheeseball, so we stuck with our more comfortable goofiness. Why pretend to be something you're not?

The picture below was my favorite spot during our visit to the park. Just gorgeous.


We had a fantastic day at the park. We even purchased an annual pass, so we can go back any time. There are so many trails to hike, and campgrounds to stay in, and creatures to find, and fish to catch, and...

Wow. What a great day.

Just for fun: this is my friend Soren on the day I we hung out in the giant sandbox at the mall. Jen (his mom) and I both had coupons to use at the VS store. Soren decided that it is very fun to play with drawers (pun intended). ;)

And here is another amazing Colorado sunset. Have we mentioned how much we love it here?

In other news - if you haven't already heard, I passed my NAVLE (my 2nd of 3 licensing exams)! Bill is still doing great with Edward Jones and has opened several accounts. I'm running the Bolder Boulder on Monday, so think fast and enduring thoughts for me! In 2 weeks we're going to NY for my graduation ceremony and Bill will meet my mom's side of the family for the first time. That should be good.

I bet you didn't know that we like to hike...

I just want to start out by saying that God has been so good to me. I have dreamed of many things in my life, and I would have to say that out of those dreams God has fulfilled *at least* three. And those three just happen to be my biggest dreams.

1. Marry a handsome, funny, Godly man who fits me perfectly - check!
2. Graduate from Veterinary school and become a Veterinarian - check!
3. Live close enough to the mountains that I can drive no more than 20 minutes and be on an amazing trail - double check!!
   

Enter: Eldorado Canyon hike in Eldorado State Park. Ever since we hiked a short trail in Eldorado State Park with the Koschmanns, I have been wanting to get back there. My new friend, Brooke, who is a Physician's Assistant in Denver, just happened to have the same day off as me last week. It was a glorious day, and we took the opportunity to hit the opposite side of the canyon on this day.

The trail we planned to hike actually continues outside of the park for many miles, so we intended on just hiking an out-and-back trail for a few hours. The spot I wanted to get to was 3.5 miles in, and since we were on a little bit of a time constraint, I didn't think we'd get that far. Next time!

That's Brooke - isn't she cool?! We have become fast friends; in a bittersweet moment she told me that she is moving to NY for a year to complete a surgical residency, which is awesome! But also sad, because my new friend is moving away.


We were very surprised when after only 1.5 hours of hiking, we ran into the river which is the 3.5-mile marker that I had wanted to acheive! After this point, the trail goes outside the state park. We were so proud of ourselves!



After that we turned around and hiked back to the parking area. All in all we hiked 7 miles in about 3 hours - record time! We just had such a great time talking and admiring creation that we had no idea we had traveled so far. This has become one of my top hikes so far.


Prepare yourself for the obligatory gratuitous kitty shot. Packages arrived. New smells filled the vicinity. The kitties could not resist.


And now for hike #2 in this post - The South Rim Trail at Roxborough State Park just west of Castle Rock, Colorado. After weeks of trying, we finally were able to meet up with one of Bill's fellow financial advisors and good buddy from Edward Jones. Andy and his wife, Emily, live in Colorado Springs, about 2 hours south of us. We met at the halfway point for lunch and a short hike.



It was a little foggy and chilly that day, but we had a great time anyway! The hike was only 1.8 miles (balloon shaped), but takes you through some amazing red rock formations in a little valley.


This was the first hike where we have actually encountered quite a bit of wildlife - we came up on a herd of Mule deer, rabbits, several types of birds, and even a Red Fox!


We just couldn't take enough pictures! Unfortunately, they don't do justice to the beauty of the scenery in this park. I can only imagine how much more amazing it would be on a sunny day!




Andy is a pretty funny guy- he especially makes Bill laugh, a lot! Proof: this picture that Andy shot while Bill was hiking behind him...


Andy also managed to get this candid shot of me and Emily. I have no recollection of why I was making this face.


Andy did redeem himself by taking a lovely picture of me and Bill. Good job, Andy!

In other news...I'd like to tell you all that Bill is doing a bang-up job with Edward Jones! He made his first sale just the other day and has had several quality meetings with other potential clients! I am very proud of him; he is working so hard, and it is paying off. Keep it up, Babe!

Upcoming events: I am running in the BolderBoulder 10K race on May 25th, we are traveling to New York City for my graduation ceremony from Vet School in early June, we're being treated to a long weekend in Steamboat Springs at the end of June by Edward Jones for Bill's regional meeting, and we're excited about having some visitors this summer! Life in the DeWandeler household is always full of adventure!