Recent Trip to Colorado!

"The Alma King" Rhodochrosite chunk

I spent last week in the Denver area visiting my sister. She moved there a year ago this August. Since she is my best friend, I do not miss any opportunity to spend time with her, so being in between day jobs has given me the opportunity to visit more often than usual! Gotta keep looking at the bright side, right?

Landed on Monday, and keeping with tradition we went straight to Larkburger from the airport. It was pretty delicious per usual and I'm already craving it again. Larrrrrrky, Come Baaaaaaack!

Tuesday we went into downtown Denver. Went to a few shops and Melanie got a beautiful tapestry for the wall above their couch. We both got some beautiful chunks of blue/green Kunzite from the special selection the owner got for us from the back (typically it's pink so to find alternate colors was a real treat!)! We had lunch, then went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science! There was so much to see, and we didn't even make it through all the exhibits before closing time! We had no idea, but they have a permanent Gem exhibit which we were most interested in! There where the most gorgeous crystals and the largest we have ever seen in person. We were in so much awe that day. There was also a Native American exhibit, Entomology (bugs), Egyptian, and the evolution of earth including Dino bones! There was some kind of astronomical exhibit too, but it cost extra and we were already out of time so will have to check that out next time! Definitely plan for a full day if you're going to check it out, we arrived around 1pm and hardly got to see everything before rushing out at closing time! It was well worth the $15 to get in! 

Minds = Blown

You can't really tell,
but this wall of Rhodochrosite is 6 FEET tall! 

Mel with a giant Amethyst geode!
This was HUGE and super Deep, picture does not do this justice at all! 

Not the kind of nug I'm used to seeing!

Malachite (left) is one of my Faves!!! <3

You can't NOT feel the effects of this many large pieces!
So much energy in this exhibit! Whoaaa

<3 I LOVE Fluorite! <3

cavern of white gypsum crystals and stalactites

cavern of white gypsum crystals and stalactites

Again, pics do no justice! 

Gorgeous Aquamarine chunks!

PETRIFIED Tree Trunk!!! Crazy beautiful! 

Gorgeous Sunset Moth from Madagascar

Not a T Rex... but some kind of carnivore eating a herbivore 

T-Rex Skull

Dino room! 

A Peak into the back room where they're actively "Unearthing the Past"!

Native Pottery- only about 3000 years old or so. 

Man in the Maze 

Never miss an opportunity to hug a tree! ;) (580 + Yrs old!)

A trip to Denver isn't complete without a day in Boulder, so that's what we did on Wednesday! Stopped at Redstone Meadery for a mead tasting. Yummy, as always! Since I learned how to make Mead during my United Plant Savers internship, I have a new appreciation for these beverages! We went to Pearl Street Mall to visit our favorite crystal shop where I got a gorgeous Labradorite (haha.. seeing a pattern here?), stopped at Shine for a potion to go (Mmmmmm!), and then went to visit Josh, our brother-lover/Mel's roommate, at work at Petes Coffee, for an afternoon pick me up! 

My new Labradorite
Ocean Jasper Mel gifted me
my New Blue Kunzite
(Top to Bottom)
Terrible Lighting- NO JUSTICE!!

Coffee in Boulder with my favorite human!

We have cousins in Denver, and my cousin Sara welcomed her baby boy into the world the week before I came, so we went to see them on Thursday. My aunt and uncle were also in town from Napa visiting my other aunt who just moved to the Denver area also, so they came over to see baby Ashton too. It was great to see everyone in one place welcoming our newest family member! 

My sister, Melanie, is a Board Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) and she sees clients on Fridays, so I got to tag along with her at work. I got to see the beautiful studio space she works out of in Loveland, and hang out in one of the empty studios while she did her thang. I am so proud of her accomplishments, and it gives me so much joy to see Melanie in her element. Every day of her life my sister has inspired me and it won't stop anytime soon. For those who don't know, in layman's terms, music therapy is essentially using music and instruments to achieve a non-music related goal. You can learn more about her career by clicking here and here! 

Gorgeous Behrs at Work! 

Hilly plays piano! 

Gorgeous, soul gazing, Hilly! 

Saturday we went to my aunt's house to have dinner with family. It was a great, relaxing evening. We had grilled shish kabobs, yummy sides, and ice cream! It was so nice to see them and catch up, especially since the last time we were together it was for more unfortunate circumstances when my grama passed away this past winter. Love these people!!! 

My cousin Jake had a birthday grill out on Sunday, so we had a great evening with more family and more baby time. Awwwww! Almost forgot! Earlier that day we saw Finding Dory! It was pretttty good! A little drawn out in my opinion, and NEMO definitely can't be beat- but it was really cute with a good message. All those little fishy misfits! Weirdos need love too! haha! The weather has been beautiful during this whole trip and we got to see a gorgeous view of the sun shining through the clouds over the mountains that evening. Ahhhh Colorado!

LOVE!

Hi, Handsome!!! 

Monday we just vegged out, watched some netty, and spent quality time together before my flight home on Tuesday. If you feel like falling in love with and crying about a baby orca, I suggest you watch "The Whale". Also, I don't "Snap" but my sissy does, so she sent me some funny ones we did. We're such dorks, and I love it. I'm uploading a few below, hope it works! Never blogged a vid before... 

It's always sad when we have to say goodbye. My sister is my soulmate and truly my best friend. I'm so happy that we have such a strong relationship and are so close. There are so many people who don't get to experience the kind of love we have for each other, and it kind of makes me sad for them! Just counting down until the next time we get to see each other, which I hope is sooner than later.

The pups were happy to see me when I got home, of course, and I was thrilled to see them. ENDLESS shoutouts, thanks, hugs, and kisses to my mom for allowing us to basically go wherever we want, whenever we want, by using her flight privileges, and her housesitting/nannying my dogs skills!!! I hope she takes an adventure soon so I can begin to repay her for all my excursions this year! 

Beautiful Liatris at my Sister's apartments
I can correctly ID this thanks to my UpS Internship!!! 

This week I've been catching up around the house, and I'm also going to start downsizing by selling household items I no longer have use for. If you are in DFW and need anything like a four top dining room table or queen size mattress, to name a few, let me know and I would be happy to send you photos of the items or we can set up a time for you to check them out or pick up. We had a full moon on Monday/Tuesday, so naturally all the gorgeous crystal babies went outside to cleanse and charge in the moonlight. I know, I know- this is getting a little new-agey for some peeps with all my crystal and meditation talk, but just bare with me! We all have something to learn from each other, right?! ;) Believe it or not, folks can be interested in science AND spirituality of all kinds, GASP!  

Have you been to Denver? If so what is your favorite place or best experience there? Let me know in the comments below! 

I hope everyone has a great remainder of the week and wonderful upcoming weekend! Thanks for reading!

-Linds