Golden, Colorado is a quaint town which is nestled up to the Rocky Mountains eastern front, not too far from Denver. It's one of those towns that offers everything while maintaining the "small-town feel" and intimacy. Of all of the day adventures I have gone on in Colorado, Golden is still one of my favorite places to visit.

On Sunday, January 6, 2019, I shot my first session of the year: An engagement session for the stunning couple, Ria and Darrell from Michigan!

Anteria reached out to me on The Knot and had scheduled their session with me. Ria told me that she wanted mountains in her background, so of course I advised that we take the portraits at Chautauqua Park in Boulder!

They were such a fun couple to photograph. They posed so naturally that they needed little direction. 

And oh... that beautiful diamond! Seriously stunning <3 

I just love the fact that they agreed to do a session at this park. Such a romantic moment with the flat irons right behind them!

But that's all I'm going to share with you on here. To see more, keep an eye on my Instagram feed!

​@imbeccableimages

Session Price: $100
Session Time: 1 Hour
Amount of Images Edited: 45
Amount of Images Not Edited: 64
Total Images Received by Client: 109

Beautiful view. Beautiful lake. Ugly beach.

I wish the city and suburbs of Denver could appreciate what they have a teensy bit more. This beautiful lake with these breathtaking mountain views was surrounded with a beach covered in trash. 

Jeremy and I took the golden girls to this lake today for an adventure. It was enjoyable getting out into nature. Per usual, Jeremy took charge of walking the puppies, his backpack full of water bottles and a collapsable dog bowl, while I carried my photography equipment.

Sequoia, the little one, has been learning to walk on her leash, and we have her wear a leader to help slow her down. When she becomes full grown we will get them harnesses so that they can't get tangled in their leashes on these walks (we had to untangle them a couple of times).

As you can see, the lake was very blue. It was gorgeous. There were several people boating and fishing, enjoying the water. I just wish the beach was more well taken care of.

At the end of the beach we had to climb up to the main trail. The trail itself is very pretty, with nature surrounding you on either side, and there were plenty of benches for people to relax and enjoy the view of the mountains and the lake.

There were several picnic areas as well. It's definitely a place with a lot of recreational potential! I can definitely see why it is a popular trail, now for the beach to become more clean and enjoyable!

I have a mental list in my head of parks I love and will or have returned to repeatedly, and a list of parks that I'll never go to again. Sorry, Daniel's Park of Castle Pines, Colorado, I won't be returning to you.

I personally felt that Daniel's Park was lacking a lot of potential for the amount of land it has. Basically, you enter the park and follow a gravel trail that runs alongside the road. There were only two place to leave this trail that went out to overlooks, but they were short and the two overlooks gave the same view.

I'm not trying to be snarky or anything, just realistic. I won't be going back. It's a great exercise park (for walking or biking back and forth on the trail), but not much for photography purposes.

With that all being said.... I still had a wonderful time with my honey bunches of oats, Jeremiah, his brother, Nathan, and the Golden Girls, Autumn and Sequoia.

If there had been trails that went into the canyon or more trees (shade, please), we probably would have been in love with this park. 

Also, it was Sequoia's first big walk on the leash. She did relatively well. The lead (the part that goes around her nose) helped a ton with her pulling, but she kept trying to get it off. What else would you expect from a puppers?

I did enjoy that we got to see bison, even if they weren't wild. They were so far away that even my telescopic lens had a little trouble getting a closer up shot.

I also really enjoyed this farmhouse. Not sure why. I think it is adorable.

My birthday is June 23, so this is being released a tad bit late.

Jeremiah is a wonderful boyfriend, and this year he took me to Steamboat Springs for my birthday weekend! We took off to Steamboat Springs on Friday, June 22. The drive out to SS is beautiful. You definitely get to see a variety of landscapes on your way out there. The valley between the mountains in which you are driving in for the majority of the way there is filled with open fields, lush greenery, and several cattle and equine ranches. 

It took us a few hours to get to SS, and the first thing we did was check into our hotel room. We stayed at the Fairfield by Marriott. After Jeremy changed into his button up, surprisingly plaid shirt, and I changed into my summer dress, we headed downtown. We shopped the historic main street area, which was filled mostly with tourist shops as one would suspect.

On the way into town we had seen a plethora of yellow signs advertising F.M. Light and Sons, a store. We each ended up getting cowboy/girl hats from there.

We stopped in several other shops. I ended up getting a tank top and a long sleeve hoodie shirt. Jeremy got candy. Ha.

We ended up having dinner at 8th Street Steakhouse. I was disappointed to find that we had to cook our own food if we ordered off of the main menu, and the side dishes were extra. It's over-priced for having to grill your own meat, and the free salad bar was not that great. It's safe to say I was frustrated. The glass of wine I had was yummy, and Jeremy ordered the crab (which he didn't have to make because it was off of the special menu) which was delicious.

We drove over to the Safeway to look for a birthday cake. I ended up getting a variety cheesecake, where all of the varieties included chocolate (yesssss). Jeremy insisted I get the number candles, so he bought me a "2" and a "6". I guess when I turn 62 I can use them again....

The following day was full of adventures. We started off my birthday with breakfast at the hotel, and when we walked out the doors there was a hot air balloon in the sky! I have never seen one in person, so this was very exciting for my young soul.

After Fish Creek Falls, the plan was to head up to Hahn's Peak. Travel Advisor said you could drive to the top. What it did not tell you was that the drive is all "gravel" (big rocks), and it's scary as hell. We made it about half way to the top of Hahn's Peak, debated on hiking the rest of the way, but decided that if we wanted time to do the other adventures on the list, we better not.

Hahn's Peak is not in Steamboat Springs, it's North of it, so we drove out there. Jeremy was betting on this mountain being Hahn, I wasn't sure if he was correct, but as it turns out, he was.

Jeremy is such a good sport. When we realized how rough of a drive it would be, he kept saying "let's keep going". I was terrified. The road was not wide at all, and I kept wondering what would happen if we came across another driver going the other direction. It happened, twice. Once, a large truck pulled over for us since he had the inside and could pull over into the brush. We had the edge of the mountain on our side. The second time was with a small four-wheeler, and they easily pulled out of the way. It was so scary seeing the edge of the mountain outside of my window. I tried not to look, and I kept being thankful that Jeremy was driving and not me.

We made it to the point where Siri said we were at Hahn's Peak. Another lie. We were only half-way up the mountain. Thankfully, there was an area for us to turn around. Jeremy pulled the nose of the car towards the mountain and backed towards the edge of the cliff. My knuckles were white from holding on to the handle on the door.

We got out of the vehicle and explored a little. This flower reminded me of a Bird of Paradise with the way it fans out. I'm not sure what it actually is.

For the amount of dislike I had towards the "road" we had just driven up, the view was breathtaking.

Look. At. This. "Road". Robert Frost would be so proud.

When we got back to the base of Mount Hahn, there was an Aspen tree grove. I think Aspens are absolutely beautiful, so I asked Jeremy to pull over so that I could go take pictures. Being the perfect gentleman he is, he did without question.

After Hahn's Peak it was time to go to Steamboat Lake State Park.

It's a smaller State Park, with not very many trails to wander on. It's mostly a recreational park for boating and swimming. With the mountains surrounding it, it is a beautiful place to be.

The last place we went to was Pearl Lake State Park, which was very close to Steamboat Lake. This was more nature-based, as no swimming or boating was allowed. There were a lot of people stand-up paddle boarding. I saw my first columbine flower here.

We ended up having lunch in Steamboat Springs and then heading back to Denver. We drove over to Jeremy's parent's house to pick up the puppies, and his parents took me out for birthday dinner! I certainly was not expecting dinner, and I thought it was very sweet of them to take me out for my birthday.

Thank you everyone who wished me happy birthday.

To my family, I miss you.  It is hard living away sometimes, but just know that I love it here in Colorado and hope to see you all soon.

To Jeremy's family, thank you for always including me in. You have become my Colorado family, and I appreciate everything you do for me.

To Jeremy, thank you for making me realize I deserve more, that I can achieve my dreams, and for always supporting me. I love you, and I appreciate you more than I will ever be able to say. Thank you for a wonderful birthday weekend.