Small Town: Evergreen...

Nate and I had Monday off, so we pulled out a map, picked a town, and got excited about Evergreen!  Evergreen is only an hour from the city, and it was gorgeous.  They are known for Evergreen Lake, which this time of year was frozen solid.  People from surrounding towns come to ice fish, ice skate, and play ice hockey on the lake.  Nate and I walked out onto the lake, and I demanded a picture to prove that we did it... and Nate says I'm not adventurous, HA!

Lunchtime crept up on us, and there were so many options for holes in the wall.  Based on recommendations by the locals, we went to The Little Bear Saloon.  It was a cute little place, definitely a dive, but they had good burgers.  We tried to engrave our names on the table, but there was zero space.

My favorite part about small towns are the sweet shops!  Every small town has some locally owned sweet shop, and this town was no exception.  In downtown Evergreen, "Seasonally Yours" had everything we needed.  What we needed today was SALT WATER TAFFY!!!  We found my favorite candy with loads of mouth-watering flavors.  

Feeling adventurous, Nate tried a new flavor of salt water taffy... Maple Bacon!  It was surprisingly good, and Nate couldn't leave town without getting a few more.

Evergreen was awesome.  We spent the rest of the day shopping in downtown, and driving up the mountain to check out the view.  Colorado is sprinkled with these small towns, and we sure love the feel of them.  Our day trip felt like the perfect escape we needed.

Trip Treat: Nate has spoiled me with picking something from each small town for our home!  This trip I picked this little owl.  It looks perfect in our kitchen, and it will always be a reminder of the memories we made this weekend.

Pinterest Exchange Club...

Macy had this great idea to start a "Pinterest Exchange Club".  My sisters and I pin a million things, but hardly have the time to make anything.  So we each took one week out of the month, and we are supposed to make something off a pinboard, then you share your creation with a special delivery to each sister.  Easy enough... I'm in!  Which leads me to this week's creation.

Cake pops.  So cute, so delicious, and so easy, right?!  WRONG!!!  I wanted to make these...

But with a realistic thought, I knew I needed to start with something more simple.  So I lowered my expectations to these...

I stumbled upon a humbling experience in the kitchen (which happens all too often) when this was the best I could do...

Nailed it.

Hiking with special shoes...

I guess if you live in Colorado, there is a certain list of activities you must participate in.  Snowshoeing is one of those activities.  Nate and I ventured out of our warm apartment for a snowshoeing adventure with my sister Brook and her friend, David.

Snowshoeing was like hiking with special shoes.  We lucked out with the weather, although it was really windy and cold at the top!  

On our way down, we ventured off the trail... which made me plenty nervous!  I don't stray from a recipe and I don't venture off a trail.  What's the phrase?  Hold to the rod?!  Yea, that's me.  We finally found the trail again, and the rest was easy sailing!  Nate and I had a blast, and enjoyed the adventure.

We ended the day with Beau Jo's pizza, hot tubbing, and cuddling in a million blankets with our space heater.  Home sweet home :).