derek

Monday, May 11, 2009

Colorado Springs with family

I took mom, dad & Carla down to Colorado Springs to spend the day. We visited Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods & the Cliff Dwellings. It was a beautiful day & they just loved seeing all of this stuff.

Here's mom & Carla close to the summit of Pikes Peak. They did not have the road open all the way to the top. We lacked about 1 mile being at the summit. Believe me though, it was cold & windy.

Here is a cute little fox on the side of the road as we were coming down the mountain.

The 3 Amigo's in downtown C Springs. I took them to eat at one of Cammie & Jeff's favorite places called Sontera Grill. It has hands down probably the best guacamole I've ever had. Love it!

Carla got stuck in one of the cliff dwelling windows. Just kidding :)

Brother and sister pose for a photo op.

Outside the cliff dwellings. They all liked these because you can actually go in the dwellings where as you are only permitted to go in a few places in Mesa Verde.

The girl has been working out. Here Carla is moving the balance rock in Garden of the Gods.

Anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you :)

Here Carla and I are acting silly showing off all of our muscles. We had a great day in Colorado Springs and my family's visit was fantastic.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

So I finally got to see one of my all time favorite groups Fleetwood Mac. I have liked them ever since I was a little kid & regretted not getting tickets to see them 12 years ago when the full group was together. Christine Mcvie is no longer with them anymore, but they still sound great.

I told my buddy Steve that the tickets I bought were in the nose bleed section. He was quite surprised when the usher told us to go down on the floor. We had 8th row center stage. Sweet!!!!

Here is my girl Stevie Nicks. Her voice isn't as strong as it used to be, but she still sounds pretty darn good. My favorite song of hers that she sings is Rhianna. Great song & she didn't disappoint.

I must say that Lindsey Buckingham is incredible. He was the only one who stayed on stage the whole time. His voice is still amazing and when he sang "Big Love" he brought down the house. Fantastic!!!

Never get a midget to take your picture :). Here you can see Stevie Nicks right over Steve's head to the left. It was a great concert.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

40th Surprise Birthday party

I knew my friends and family were throwing me a 40th birthday party, but thought it would take place on my actual birthday (16th of May). They surprised me by moving it up one week and totally caught me off guard. It was a great evening and one that I won't soon forget. I would just like to say a special thanks to two of my closest friends for pulling this off. Cammie & Ruben did an outstanding job & I feel so lucky to have them both in my life.

Here is my birthday cake. It was so GOOD. It had rasperry layers in the middle. Yummy!!!

SURPRISE!!!!!!! So Jeanne came up with the idea to have only my family in the room plus 5 friends to make me think that no one had shown up for my birthday party. I must say that I felt like a total loser. As you can see at the start of this video I thought Cammie was just taking our picture, but she was really recording everything to get my reaction when everyone came through the door. Mission accomplished & I must say that I was RELIEVED. :)

Here I am with my family. From the left are my sister Carla, myself, mom, dad & my brother Clark. The only person missing is my sister Cynthia, but she is pregnant with her 2nd child and has her hands full with her 2 year old.

Here I am with the rest of my family. My sister in law Jeanne, myself, my niece Jennifer, my nephew Mithcell, Clark, mom & dad.

The two blond bombshells. Here I am with Jeanne & Jennifer. Hard to tell that one of them is the mother of the other. They look like sisters.

Three of my favorite people. My friends Joe, Jeff & Cammie. They are the best.

THE best mother in the world. A lot of friends got a real kick out of my mom. They thought she was spunky, gracious & very funny to which I certainly agree. I am so lucky to have a mother like mine. I love you mom.

My mother loves to tell a story and here is her toast to me. She tends to be a little long winded, but it is all in good fun. Us southerners are known for talking slow & dragging things out. Everyone seemed to especially love it when she snipped at me about half way through. haha

Here is a photo while my mom is holding court in the above video. Everyone seemed to really love her.

Here my mom is with the 3 people that helped her put this all together. Cammie, Ruben, mom & Jeff. Great job everyone.

I smell trouble. Here is my nephew Mitchell with my best friend Cammie. Is that a smile I see on Mitchell's face? Surely not.

Here I am with my 2 friends Luke & Matt. Matt will be carrying on the tradition of Colorado riders this year in the Aids Lifecycle ride. I hate that I won't be able to participate this year, but CO will be well represented with more riders this year than last. Way to go team.

My buddy Peter who moved out of Stapleton. Boo!!! We hardly get to see each other anymore since he travels all over the world. If he's not in Denver, he's probably in Dubai or Argentina. Lucky guy!

My brother Clark who takes every opportunity to point out just how big my head is. What is funny is look closely at this picture. His head actually looks bigger than mine. Hmm....

Here my mom is with 2 of my favorite people. My friendship with Scott and Jeff has really grown within the last year & I just love these guys. Scott is a fellow southerner and when the two of us get together we have to watch our language. Funny stuff!!!

Hands down, one of the funniest guys I've met in a long time & absolutely adorable. That would be Chase on the left who brought his buddy David to the party.

I love this picture. Here is my buddy Ronnie with Monica and Natasha. These are 3 great people that I met through my good buddy Steve. Ronnie keeps me in stitches with his warped sense of humor. He is the only person who gets my off the wall comments.

Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffrey. What would I do without my little vixen? I have more fun with this guy. Whether it is seeing who has the bigger muscles or doing a photo shoot for the Rodeo Association, this is one fun guy to have around. Our buddy Kevin about hurls when the 2 of us get together because he can't stand the way we feed off of each other. It is actually quite comical to behold & now it has become our mission to make Kevin even more uncomfortable. Good times!!!

So for those of you that knew me in high school, you probably remember me being the biggest Janet Jackson fan EVER. Well I met my match with my buddy Peter. He beats me in a landslide. The guy flew to 2 different cities this past tour to see her perform. Now that is dedication. Next tour we'll have to catch a show together. "Who's that thinking nasty thoughts, NASTY BOYS" :O)

Dig-o-matic!!!!!! Here I am with my buddies Clint & Matt. We played volleyball last season together on Team Digomatic & will be playing this summer on the Finger Bangers. Don't ask!!! These guys are a lot of fun and I think Matt is just about as competitive as me. In other words, we both hate to lose.

Beam me up Scottie!!! Christopher & Curtis know how to keep a secret. We all went to see the new Star Trek movie 2 days before the party & not a peep out of either of them. Argh!!! To think they could have given me a hint so that I wasn't wearing this sweater.... :)

It would not be a party without Randi & the girls... :) Randi is one very inspirational person. This will be her 6th year I believe doing the Lifecycle ride from San Fran to Los Angeles. AMAZING!!!! Our buddy Neil is going to be in LA for the close of the ride to welcome all of our Colorado riders home after their long journey. Way to go Team Colorado!!!!

Todd & Kevin were some of the first people I met when I moved to Denver. We live in the same subdivision and you could not ask for better neighbors. I simply love these guys. So funny that a week before the party I bumped into them at the Atlanta airport coming back from Key West. Not a word about when the party was taking place.

Jeanne fell in love with Radleigh & Lee. Radleigh is a fellow southerner from Tennessee & we used to be neighbors. You should see their beautiful home. Lee is an artist and most of the artwork in their home is his. Absolutely stunning!!!!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

San Francisco/Monterey/Carmel

I traveled to San Francisco to meet up with Cammie & Jeff. My buddy Jeff entered the Sea Otter Classic which is a huge mountain bike ride in Monterey. This trip was a lot of fun. I finally got to meet one of Cammie's closest friends that she has talked about for years (Scott). Rachel was also able to make the trip and it was great seeing her after about 2 years. Good times!!!

No trip to San Francisco is not complete if you don't have pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I met up with Cammie & Scott and we were off to meet my cousin Dana and her youngest Lauren for lunch at Ozumo.

Cammie & her friend Scott. He was a lot of fun to be around on this trip. I can see why they are such good friends.

My beautiful cousin Dana and her youngest Lauren. I simply adore my cousin. She is as pretty today as she was when we were kids.

Something obviously was funny. Love Dana's reaction.

Cammie & I on the drive from San Fran to Monterey. This is the same route I have ridden the past 2 years on the Aids Life Cycle ride. It was kind of neat to see it by a car instead of on a bike. A lot easier too.

Fantastic pic of the Pigeon Lighthouse right off of Hwy 101 towards Monterey. This lighthouse is right outside Santa Cruz.

Rock me Amadeus!!!!

Cause she's giving him something he can feel. :) Cammie trying to loosen up Jeffrey before his big race.

Cammie & Rachel at the finish line. Jeff's time was great as he did the 19 mile course just over 2 hours.

Cammie & I taking care of Jeff's bike after he finished. He was scarfing down some carbs for quick energy as he felt light headed after the race was over.