Linda Rokos Watts

So many beautiful houses and so many cool ideas. Today we drove all over Breckenridge getting a glimpse of some of the new houses built here this year. Some were spectacular and some were eh! One theme that I loved throughout all the houses was the incorporation of wood and steel beams, it's a great way to break up the monotony of one or the other which a lot of mountain homes have.    I want this copper tub.   The custom work put into the smallest of details is the stuff I love.  The door from my favorite house.  All the pretty lights.  Same favorite door with the coolest latch. We left the boys at home to watch football, a perfect Sunday!  Love and Gratitude!! 

If you haven't been outside you may not have noticed how freaking spectacular this Fall has been!! So much so that I haven't been taking my camera with me, instead I've just been soaking it all in. Ok, maybe I've taken a few picture because I just can't help myself. Here are a few of my faves from one day on the lake and on the mountain behind our house. We are so blessed to live in this place!  Wide open spaces!  I have to admit Troy snapped up this gem. Not that we ever compete in picture taking!!   :) Amazing early morning paddle on lake Dillon on the same day. Pic courtesy of our GoPro!  One happy doggie! Love our Gus!  Hope you all are enjoying this awesome Fall as much as we are.  Love and Gratitude! 

It's that easy right?!? Love and Gratitude! 

It seems as though my last few posts have been "catch up" posts......this one is no different!!! Although this one is a bit different in the sense that I finally feel like I'm in a place and time that I can sit back and really enjoy all that is around us.  A snapshot of the last few months include a move across town to Troy's childhood home in Blue River, some changes at work (all good things), a quick trip to Moab, a few birthdays and everything that involves being on summer break! Troy is currently in Hood with Jordan and Stella and I are nesting in our new home. So many projects and fun stuff ahead of us.  Stella turned 14 a few weeks ago.....crazy how time flies!  The tarn. About 200 yards from the house. So far we've gotten the canoe out and I just acquired a paddle board for my birthday. I think we are out here at least once a day! It rocks! Steve has found his spot in our new home!   So many toys and so little time...... I think...

Happy Summer Solstice!!!! Love and Gratitude! 

Days like to today make me really appreciate the life we lead. A beautiful sunny day, great training, focus, hard work, and smiles.  I was hiking in between Stella training on one run and Troy watching his FIS kids race on the run next to it. Of course I had my camera in hand and couldn't seem to stop snapping. I looked at Stella today and it scared me at how grown up she looked then she started giggling with her friends and all was right in the world again......in the blink of an eye she grew up! Eeekkkk!  Troy (two weeks after having his pelvis plated together) was back on the hill. These last few days he's been sliding around watching his FIS kids race. He amazes me daily and today I truly got to see that he is WAY more comfortable sliding around on skis then walking in the parking lot. The human mind and body is an amazing thing and my husband is a rock star!  Tomorrow Mollie and Barry tie the knot at the top of Vail Mountain. So excited to be part of...

My darling husband bought this sweet sewing machine for me about a month ago. I know 'nothing' about sewing machines but being the amateur that I am....this thing ROCKS! It's kinda dummy proof, in other words, super easy to use.....just what I need. Over the last month I've become immersed in all that is sewing, from fabrics to patters to threads.....OH MY! I've already bought the fabric for some new curtains, pillow covers and neckies!   The Singer Heritage 8768......kinda obsessed!  I could also spend hours finding fabrics online. Here's just a few that came in this week.  Pillow covers. I have a new problem.....HELP!   ;) Next house.......this is what I want!  Troy's on the mend and doing far better then I could have imagined a guy with a broken pelvis could do 10 days out of surgery. That's to say.....baby step everyday are awesome.  Hope y'all have a fantastic week.  So much love and gratitude!  ...

 Sooooooo it's been about to 2 months since the last time I checked in. Life's been one windy road these last two months with some major incidents, minor incident and EVERYTHING in-between. This is what it's all about......the good, the bad, the amazing, the fantastic and the scary all rolled into one. I think I've stayed away from blogging because frankly it's been a little hard to keep up between all the races and training that Stella and I have been to, and to all the traveling that Troy had been doing. But as some of you may know life slowed down drastically 10 days ago in the Watts house, I'll get to that in a minute but here is all the in-between..... Late January....both of us not smiling much,  but can you tell which one has a broken rib and which has a majorly bruised ego and bruised coccyx from the first run of the day? February....major highlight, Jordan came for a 13 day visit. Lots of training some racing and all sorts of awesomeness ...

The balance of being healthy and being sick is a very fine line. Something so simple as a tooth can wreck your entire system. Who knew?.......I didn't, until now!!   For about the last month and a half I've been having some pretty insane headaches, loss in appetite, not sleeping, and feeling awful. Fighting through the first month thinking maybe I just had the flu something like that, by was I wrong. The last few weeks have been pretty miserable. I've never really had headaches in my life and to go from that to blinding, wanting to gouge my eyes out....SUCKS! I finally broke down and thought I'd start at the dentist, because the other option was to go check to see if I had a brain tumor.....a bit dramatic but that's seriously how bad it was.   The verdict....total face infection, stemming from my #11 k-9 tooth being dead. Apparently a few years ago when I fell and chipped that tooth it started to slowly die from the impact. Some steroids, antibiotics, and a s...

Stella and I drove to Steamboat this weekend for a speed-element camp, which turned into a powder camp....... soooooooo much snow (it was pretty awesome)! We drove over Friday afternoon in some white-out conditions. I was half way up Rabbit Ears when I realized I forgot to pack my ski boots and skis, major BOOOOOO (it was a bit of a crazy week leading up to leaving on Friday)! According to some of the other parents I missed out on some pretty great skiing. Grrrrrrrrr As long as we followed the car in front of us and as long as they didn't drive off the road (because we would have followed them) we were all good!  Not many pictures from the weekend because I didn't ski and all the skiing took place in the trees. The best I have was from the girls getting ready for a tubbing party at Howelsen. Temporary tat stashes! Woot!  Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. 

This weekend Stella had her first race on her home hill at Loveland. We had some super highs and some super lows. Saturday started off with two top 10 finishes and lots of smiles. Stella has made leaps and bounds from last year and all her hard work this pre-season has paid off and has made a huge difference. I think she saw that and I could tell that it clicked. It was awesome!  Saturday first run on the pitch. I have TONS of pics but I'll keep it short and sweet.  We got tons of fresh snow Friday night so Saturday morning there was a lot of corse prep before the kids could start racing!  Stella second run on Saturday down on the flats carrying some speed! Woot!! It didn't go too great after this pic. Big fall but all good!  It was -10 and super windy, second run Stella came down with a white nose and a smile!  *sigh*, yeah I'm one proud mama.  Marta on the left won a few runs this weekend, Maddie (center) had some top 10'...

Aaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!  What a spectacular, awesome, fantastic year. SO much to be thankful for but looking ahead I'm ready to kick some booty in 2014.  We got the chance to spend the holidays with family and I hope you all got to do the same! We've been on the go-go-go schedule so it was nice to slow things down a bit and enjoy each others company. I feel like there is so much to catch up on in the last few weeks but it seems like it's best to just move forward!!! Lots to look forward to in the next few weeks of the new year, Stella has her first race coming up this weekend, a race the following weekend and to add to the mix I have two of our largest shows of the year coming up for work. Flying by the seat of our pants..........Woot! Christmas Day skiing has turned into one of my most favorite family traditions!!   ....and of course Christmas Eve with the family is always great too!!!! It's so rare that we end up at the same mountain (not on a race ...