The First of Many, Many, Many, Many, Many (You Get the Idea) to Come...

Yesterday was our very first wedding Anniversary. One year ago yesterday, we gathered atop a mountain in front of our closest family, and pledged to spend the rest of our days together, in good times and in bad, for richer and for poorer, ...well you know. While we have had a little of every extreme in the past 12 months, it has truly been the best year of my (Jaimy's) life and I can't wait to see what the rest of our life together brings.

Chowing Down: One of our favorite activities.

To celebrate, we went to brunch at one of our favorite restaurants in Denver, Bistro Vendome on Larimer Square, after church. We took our time and thoroughly enjoyed every moment and every bite of the roasted yellow beet salad with Haystack Mountain goat cheese dressing and the Asparagus and Eggs on Brioche with Bernaise Sauce. Literally one of my favorite meals in this world, and certainly my favorite in Denver.

After brunch, we wandered the shops on Larimer and commandeered a bench from which to people watch. Since cooking is one of our favorite activities to enjoy together, we planned our evening meal from our new cookbook, the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Ms. Julia Child.

Though I forgot to snap the pictures to prove it, we cooked an awesome meal-- Veal in a Brown Mushroom Sauce (Julia's recipe), Potatoes Au Gratin (also from Julia), and Belgian Endive a la Meuniere (from the Professional Chef, 8th Ed. Cookbook). I'd love to tell you that we enjoyed it by candlelight, but the truth of the matter is that we enjoyed our delightful French meal while we watched the U.S. men's relay team pull out their amazing win over the French for the Gold Medal. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to spend our first Anniversary.

This week, after Bret completes his dreaded Tax Accounting final, we will be taking an Amtrak to the Colorado Wine Country in Grand Valley for two days of relaxation and proper celebration of my completion of the Colorado Bar (even though I won't know whether I passed until October), our birthdays, and our Anniversary.

Side Note: Having had my head in the books for the summer, I had missed the city's preparations for the Democratic National Convention that will be held here in August. Not only are there banners on every lightpost downtown and tents covering the majority of the Pepsi Center grounds, but Larimer Square is decked out in flags from every U.S. state and territory and the shops are buzzing with preparations for the crowds. It promises to be an exciting time to be a Denver resident!