And raise money is exactly what they did! Their Kickstarter was funded (170% worth!) and they were able to donate ALL ticket profits and other donations to the school. The school ended up with over $7,000! Holy smokes, is right!

Now, I’m working on a DVD of the full show! So, if you missed the show, but want to see what these inspirational people are up to: email them for a copy! Until the DVD is done… enjoy the trailer!

I’d really like to thank Jordan for being my right hand girl and Charlie Smith for shooting the night of the performance as well. It takes a village.

But this pairing was something else!

I got a call from a friend – Chuck Sullivan – over at Something Independent who asked me to write a blog about the collaboration of Grace Skis and Denver Beer Co. Both companies are small Denver companies. More Colorado love, so how could I resist?!

The collaboration meant that the owner of Grace Skis would spend a day at Denver Beer Co. learning how and actually making a vat of beer, followed by a day of the DBC guys learning how and actually making a pair of skis at the Grace shop.

Thursday night the beer and skis premiered (along with a great video) at DBC. So I snapped a few pictures – I had to. How could I resist the beauty!? *Fact: there are actual hops inside the skis! *Fact #2: the beer was absolutely as delicious as the skis were beautiful.

I spent the first day of 2013 on the couch – admittedly a little tired from the Eve’s activities, but more so reflecting on how 2012 seemed to pass with the blink of an eye. But what an amazing blink it was!

2012 introduced me to some incredible people. My favorite stranger of the year was Colin – I met the 11-year-old water slider while on a business trip to Vegas. His courage touched my heart and his video footage of his first trip down the slide is nothing short of priceless.

2012 was also the year for new businesses and ideas. I got to take part in several Kickstarter campaigns – including the duo creating nail-less, screw-less, tension-based furniture. Chaz and Max have since packed their furniture (which actually pulls apart and stacks together to fit into the trunk of their car) and headed east to the Big Apple to make their mark on the industry. I have no doubt they will ROCK IT.

It was also the year for fantastic weddings. My BFF, Jordan, tied the knot and I got the chance to capture it on video!

Most importantly though, 2012 was a year of fun. Quality time with friends and family was at the top of the list, followed only by epic days of bike racing. I witnessed a generous handful of brilliant sunsets (I think sunsets set a record number in Colorado this year) and yellow aspen leaves. I spent entire days listening to others give thanks and exchanging words of love.

So, if 2012 brought so much learning and laughs, I’m ecstatic to see what 2013 has in store.

Cheers!

Katie

Other than the cotton candy and popcorn, I would say the feeling of amazement. The gravity-defying, pliable, colorful, and entertaining acts never cease to make my eyes open as wide as tortillas and my jaw drop. But, as I’ve learned from my brother (who just graduated and will be teaching his first high school physics class this coming semester), science is often at the root of amazement, especially in the circus. Gravity, Newton’s laws of motion, centripetal force, acceleration, mass, friction, and so on. One just can’t escape it – even if more inclined toward writing or videography – which is why I had to say YES to helping out this group of teachers, scientists, and circus folk.

Visindi Circus is a talented group of people who started a science-focused circus to help educate kids on the power of science. Um, AWESOME! Maybe I would have been more interested in studying science if I had been educated via circus in addition to text book… especially if popcorn was included!

Anyway, Visindi started a Kickstarter campaign to help get their project off the ground (AND! raise some funds for a local Colorado elementary school). Go check ‘em out, donate some dollars! If you fall in love with their ideas and their love of kids + science + circus tricks, they will be showing off their stuff on February 1 & 2.

- Featured Image: iRack (friend of Visindi Circus)

But, it wasn’t until we sat down to plan out this video that I discovered how cool Joel really is. Joel spends a bit of time each morning verbalizing what he’s appreciative for, general life awesome-ness, and who is a part of it. He literally begins each day on a positive note. Cool, huh?

He challenged entrepreneurs around the Boulder area to spend a little bit of time each day for a week writing thank you cards to friends, family, mentors, and anyone else they’d like to thank. At the end (or close) of their 7-day experiment, I got to sit down with them and talk about who they chose to write thank you cards to and why.

So, with a bit of inspiration from Joel and the crew, here is my Thank You.

Thank you, to everyone, who holds that little spark of passion inside. Your little spark makes these videos inspiring. Capturing your smiles, laughs, tears, and personalities fills my soul to the brim. Telling your stories adds to my own personal story and I hope we can share many more special moments together. Huzzah!

Last week Jordan got married. Here’s a little bit to catch you up, if you don’t know the story already…

Jordan has always been one for romantic movies (especially anything that is so old I don’t know the actors’ names), so I should have known that Kiel and Jordan’s relationship was destined to play out as such when they had a quick night of heart-pounding, love-stewing, mind-altering chatting and cuddling only to be followed by Jordan’s swift 6-week departure to France shortly thereafter. I should have known when they rendevouxs’ed at the airport. I should have known after the first time Kiel made Jordan a cup of tea (with plenty of honey… because that’s one of her favorite things in the world) that their love was like an old-time flick. But, as real life would have it, they have seen their ups and they have seen their downs and they have grown even closer and stronger together. Which is better than any movie, if you ask me.

Kiel – who I met in college through Bryan – emailed me just over a year ago asking to help choose a ring for Jordan. A little under two months later, they went to dinner for her 25th birthday, drank a bottle of Jordan Cabernet (as she will say, is her namesake), and he found himself on one knee asking Jordan to spend the rest of their lives together. Jordan was ecstatic and of course said yes – sorry for lack of romantic detail, I only saw them after dinner. (On a side note, it was extremely difficult to keep that exciting of a secret from my best friend.)

So a large contingent of Boulder-folk found ourselves on a flight to the Pacific Northwest – Canada, pretty much – to watch our best friends get hitched.

The location and decor were unforgettable, the ceremony was incomparable to any wedding I’ve ever witnessed, the reception was a blast (and I got to see some dear friends) and the love bursting out of Jordan and Kiel as they said their personal vows could have unfrozen the polar ice caps.

Here’s our journey to their wedding.

From the Boulder group, with love, to you – Jordan and Kiel. May you both forever see stars in each other’s eyes, drink plenty of tea and honey together, and continue on with the overwhelming love you felt the first time you met,

I quickly grabbed the camera yesterday to shoot a little of the costumes that came out of “the bubble” this year. Not a feature film, but you can see the amount of effort and passion that is translated into each costume. My favorite costume of the day? The rabbit in the hat… you’ll see:

Fall creeps in quietly, almost overnight, but yellow roars at us to enjoy it while she’s here. Yellow shows us her beauty against Colorado’s clear blue skies. Yellow is not so mellow.

And just as quietly as the season creeped in, it’s gone. The winds take yellow away, she’ll smile with us next fall. Winter is on the way.

More time with yellow:

Overall, though, there is just something about weddings that makes my heart pitter-patter. It could be the love between the two getting married or the fancy dresses and shoes that come out for the event (or the stress of it all… to be determined).

I think on this day it was the love – although I did see some great shoes! That being said, the love made the video process go so smoothly. The day was full of laughs and super special moments – my personal favorite being during Britney’s vows (just watch, you’ll see what I’m talking about).

Cheers!