Good friends, good times

This past weekend Robin flew out to visit us and it was WONDERFUL! It was so great to see a friend in our home...it warmed our hearts. We did SO MUCH! On Friday Robin and I went to Georgetown. It's an old mining town with lots of cool shops and boutiques. Robin got a great ring and we made friends with the jeweler....who said that from now on we get the jewelry at whole sale cost! SWEET! I was looking for an old British Fern book at an antique bookstore. I want it in order to tear the pics out and frame them (thank you Martha Stewart), but I soon had to cover up my reasons as the owner said a lot of people ruin those books by taking out the pics! So I had to act as though I was truly interested in British Ferns...hmmm...
Friday night we went and ate at D'Corazon for some Mexican food and 'ritas, then went to the BEST Jazz club! It was awesome and I can't wait to go back. It was just a little hole in the wall, but we had so much fun.
Saturday we went to Rocky Mtn. National Park and saw tons of elk. They were bugling and it was really neat. Then we just walked around Estes Park for a while and went to The Stanley! It was such a beautiful hotel! So much history. I really hope we can go their for our (7 year!) anniversary this November. We HAD to go home and watch The Shining after that though.
Sunday we went to Colorado Springs and took in the sites there. Monday Robin and I went to Red Rocks, Golden, and downtown Littleton - which had very chic boutiques and a great antique store. Then....Robin had her first Sonic drink!!! I have raved about Sonic for YEARS, and I was finally able to share it with her.
I can't wait until she comes back out for a visit, and hopefully Jesse will be able to make it too.
Oh - and I also made a discovery this weekend - CRATE AND BARREL! What a fantastic store! I can see that store taking me to the poor house. But at least it would be decorated really well!

Home inspection went through and now we are just playing the waiting game. The date for closing is still the 29th...just in time for a Halloween party. It will have to be BYOC (Bring your own chair), but fun none the less! We do have lots of plans for the house though....it is so exciting to be able to paint and decorate. I'm really hoping my folks and sister can come up and help us. Not to make anyone feel guilty, but we will be decorating the guest bedroom ASAP...so that way you have a cozy place to stay when you come visit....WHEN YOU COME AND VISIT.....not to make you feel guilty, but it would be really great IF YOU COME AND VISIT! Robin, Cherie, and Craig are off the hook for a little while (i'll say until after the holidays), but as for the rest of you, we REALLY miss you guys!

Busy busy busy!!!

I haven't posted in a while - but things have been crazy.
Last weekend I had to go on a retreat for one of my college classes and didn't get back until Sunday night
....and college, it's not really hard, it's just a lot of work.
And of course work has been nuts with the end of the fiscal year (so glad tomorrow is 1 Oct).
I want to write all about it, but right now I have to write a paper about last weekend, so the blog will have to wait.
I want to post pics from this weekend with me and members of my team, but do you think it's ok to put pics up without permission? Or do I tell my new friends/class mates about my blog and ask if it's ok? hmmmm....
Home inspection is Thursday!
Robin is coming for the weekend on Friday!!
And my house is a wreck! It's not like Robin hasn't seen my house in a complete wreck (and still loves me in spite of it), but still...I have laundry out the wazoo from this past weekend and everything looks so cluttered....oy vey.
Oh yeah - and Sean if you read this - Happy Birthday my friend! Hope it was a great one! Sorry I haven't emailed you yet, but I will.

Good NEWS!

We are tentatively homeowners!!!!
We put in an offer and they countered about 2 hours later and we accepted!!!
So now if everything goes well we could be paying a mortgage by December! I'm kind of in shock. Wow. Something of our own. It's so permanent. I'm not as scared as I thought, I'm just so pleased. I only slept about 3 hours last night I was so anxious.
Thank you so much for all your warm wishes and prayers!!
I can't wait to show it to you!!
I wish I could write more...but I'm so tired and it's almost 10pm.
More later......

Beautiful Colorado Weekend

Yesterday we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. We needed to go up to the mountains, get away from the heat, relax. It was amazing. It was our first time to RMNP. The weather was so nice and we got to see some elk. We took a picnic lunch with us and hiked around. The views were great. We can't wait to take Robin up there when she comes out to visit us in two week! YES!!!!
Today we went and looked at some more houses. One we like VERY much....that's all I'm going to say so as not to jinx us.
It's going to be a nutty week. I have a lecture tomorrow night, a meeting on Wednesday night along with class afterwards, 2 meetings on Thursday night, then on Friday I have to leave for a retreat with my class until Sunday night.
I've still been pretty good with going to spinning in the morning before work though, and I'm going to try and keep up with it this week. We'll see. I really enjoy going. Don't get me wrong, when the alarm goes off at 10 till 5 I DO NOT WANT TO GET UP, but after I'm up and around, I look forward to it. It's nice to get my workout out of the way in the morning, even if it means I get into work later and have to work later in the day than usual. My evenings have been so consumed that I know I won't work out otherwise. And mentally, I really need to work out and release some stress. It keeps me on an even keel.

Where were you?

I got the idea for this post from Trisha.
I can remember all the details from my day on 9/11. I know that someday my kids will come home from school and ask me about it, about my feelings, my fears. Just as I remember asking my parents about where they were, what the reaction was, when JFK was assassinated.
I had a 7:20 math class, and I was listening to the radio on my way in. They were saying that a plane had flown into one of the twin towers, but no one knew why or what had happened. What? How does a pilot do that? Was the plane crashing anyways and it accidentally hit the building? Not once was my thought that someone had done it on purpose. Who would do something like that? I asked my peers if they had heard the news, but only a couple had, and they were as bewildered as I was.
I went home to pick up Tony because we were meeting my dad in Alamogordo to trade cars. Before we left we went over to Tony's parents house, where Deb and Dan were watching the news. By this time a second plane had hit the other building, and both buildings had collapsed, everyone knew this was no accident.
Tony and I were in shock driving to meet my dad. I don't think we even really spoke, just listened to the news. We met my dad and just solemnly spoke about what had happened. Why had this happened? We had to go back to Cruces, as we both had classes that afternoon. I felt so far removed from everything, but heartbroken that someone had created so much pain and loss. All those families that had lost someone they loved, in such an act of violence, it was inconceivable. Those rescuers were trying to save people, and so many lost their lives too.
I remember that classes had optional attendance for the rest of the day, but they encouraged students to go to class, talk about what had happened. Everyone sat in class with lumps in their throat, or weeping openly. Weeping for people we didn't know, for the lives of people far removed from our little New Mexico town. Because this affected all of us, it reached out and gripped all Americans and brought us to our knees. How dare these people, these terrorists, think they can come onto our soil and take away so much. I was so angry and also afraid. What's next? White Sands Missile Range is just over the Oregon Mountains from Las Cruces. What if they wanted to hit that too?
I am choked up now remembering that day. It changed all of us forever, the way we look at the world and the way we look at our own country, with pride abounding. We are Americans, we knew we could pull together, aid one another, and build back up some of what we had lost. Because that is what the people in this great country do, we join together and we rebuild. We find strength within us that we didn't even know existed.

Offer Denied

We just found out that the sellers have gotten another offer and it is higher than ours, so they want us to bid higher. We aren't going to. We just don't feel it's necessary to go into a bidding war in this market. Yes we loved the house and it was the best we've seen so far, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Our realtor said it wasn't worth it to go back unless we were willing to pay the asking price, and we are not. It is a lot higher than we said we wanted to pay, and we aren't going to stray from our original number. I've been praying really hard since yesterday that if it was meant to be that we would get the house - so I know we got our answer. There will be another house out there for us. I'm still kind of sad though.

We've made an offer

So we are putting in an offer today. It's exciting. It is the home we want. Andi and Adam told me that we can't get emotionally involved in a home...but it's so hard! We can't help but really like this home. It feels right. It's beautiful. It looks like us, and it has everything we want. Hopefully they will take our offer, but I have a feeling they are going to counter.
So now it's pins and needles time until tomorrow!
So exciting!!

Tired....so tired

This week was crazy....I think it is finally catching up to me. It's 7:30 and I am hoping to go to bed ASAP.
Tuesday - Thursday I had orientation until late and then Friday we went to a grad student social downtown at a bar and then went to the ballgame. We couldn't even stay for the whole game because we were so tired. We hadn't been to a pro baseball game since B-more. And it was bittersweet. I LOVED going to Camden Yard. We always had such a great time....going to see the Rockies reminded me of how much I miss going to those games with friends.
Yesterday I had orientation again until 12:30, then we had a meeting with the realtor.
I woke up early this morning and went grocery shopping, then we went and looked at homes ALL DAY with Bob, the realtor who is helping us. We looked at 12...and it was about 6 too many. I was exhausted and discouraged. Who the hell doesn't clean their house when it's on the market? How do you live in filth....I was disgusted by some of the homes we saw. I figured the foreclosures and the short sales were going to be kind of bad...but the regular homes? Seriously, how long does it take to make your bed or hang your clothes up? I know that is all superficial, but it is still a turn off. We really didn't see anything that we liked, but we did rule out an area, so at least now our search is narrower.
Hopefully this week we can look at some homes in Littleton. That is really the area that we had our heart set on anyway. We probably need to make an offer in the next couple of weeks in order to have a move in date before Thanksgiving. Ahhh, the stress. But it's a good stress, it's exciting to think of being a homeowner. Having a backyard....a nice kitchen...something that is our own.

A Taste of Colorado....disappointing

So yesterday after my class we went downtown to go to the Taste of Colorado festival. Vendors set up booths and offer samples of their food for a small cost, and then you can also buy larger portions. I thought it was going to be many of the higher end restaurants....but there were only a few of those. And there were so many odd balls there....middle age women in midriffs (sp?), teenager girls with their butt hanging out of their shorts...sickening. It was so disappointing. The food was not that great and it was super hot. We left after a little while, walking back down 16th street to the train station.
Now, we lived in Baltimore city for 2 years. And a couple of times I did get lost driving around and I was scared....but I was in my car and I just got out of there as quickly as I could. Walking downtown yesterday, I was more afraid (being on foot), than I ever was in Baltimore! We saw a lot of drugged out people...some hippies begging for money, and just some straight up sketchy people. I was so uncomfortable, gripping my purse close to me while trying to walk around the masses of weirdos. It was for about 2 blocks that I had that nervous anticipation that someone my accost us. I HATE that feeling. It's just unnerving, not really in control of the situation. Seriously......it's Denver! Even walking around Philly or NYC, I haven't felt that way. In NY we would see people that we would want to avoid being close to, but never clumped together like that! So I don't think we will be going to another fest downtown. It's the second one we've been to, and both have be bad.
If we wanted to see bad parents, drunks, and kooks we would stay home and sit on our porch, not go all the way downtown.

College 101

This is a little something I journaled tonight, while waiting for my statistics refresher course to start (it is kind of random, just a hodgepodge of thoughts):

I'm nervous, anxious, scared.
Do I belong here? Already I feel like everyone is smarter than I am. What if it's too hard? What if I fall on my face? What if I fail?
On the verge of tears.
I am now realizing that everyone brought their laptop. Except for me...shit.
I feel out of place. I know my anxiety is apparent I hear other languages being spoken. This is a part time grad program...Great, even the guy with highlights that just touched down from Cali has his laptop.
At least everyone looks older like me. That's comforting.
I am so intimidated right now. What am I doing? The girls sitting in the row in back of me are fast becoming friends, I can hear a couple of them giggling. Sitting in front of their brand new dells....man, new technology scares me.


So I feel ALOT better now, after the class. The professor was very interesting and engaging. And it wasn't over my head. I remembered my t's, z's and probabilities some what. I walked out feeling like maybe I do have something to offer. I just doubt myself sometimes. This is going to be a big dedication, but if I put my whole heart into it, I know I can do my best. It was just scary to start something new. Walking through the campus to class today reminded me of the first days of my freshman year of college. Feeling small in a great big college. Wondering if I was going to be as smart as the other students, if I was going to make friends. Is everyone going to be dressed up? You would think 10 years later I would be so much more confident....but I think everyone is apprehensive when they are starting a new chapter in their lives.

Soy Rey Del Mundo!

We went to the top of our first 14er today, Mt. Evans. Although I hesitate to say we 'bagged' it, because you drive to the top and only have to hike about 10 minutes up to be on the peak. But it did feel like we were on the top of the world. The views were great! And we got to see some mountain goats, one right on top of the peak! And we went geocaching while we were up there, and we found our first cache. It was kind of obvious, and it had been compromised and broken (it was an enclosed pipe), and some little brat kept shaking out the log entries, (all the while his mom telling him how cute he was - urghhh, but I digress). We were still excited to find it. Then we looked for the second one but didn't find it. Oh well, we'll have to look again next time.
What a wonderful day. These are the kind of days that really make me appreciate Colorado (even more than I thought possible), and all the outdoor activities it has to offer. I need to keep doing these things, experience new adventures, because it makes me miss Maryland less, and lifts my spirits. I've been in kind of a funk, just missing our friends and the things we got to do in Baltimore. Today made me feel a million times better. Everything is just an adjustment, especially moving 1/2 way across the country. Living in Colorado has been what we wanted for so long, and days like today are one of the big reasons why.

Roasting, Green Chile that is

I found some Hatch Green Chile at the grocery store. That's right, HATCH GREEN CHILE! Only one of the best things ever. EVER. I roasted it over our tiny camping grill, cleaned it, put cheese on it, and then had my way with it. And IT WAS AMAZING. I almost cried when the smell of the roasting chile started permeating the air. It is by far one of the BEST smells in the ENTIRE WORLD.
It is a smell of my past. It brings about so many pleasant memories. It makes my mouth water to even think about the smell. It is a signal of the start of fall in New Mexico. Even if it is still hitting the mid-90's, you just know that Fall is around the corner. The welcome relief from the heat is soon, along with scarecrows on front porches, surrounded by pumpkins, your house smelling warm and welcoming like fresh baked snicker doodles, school supplies, football games, sweaters. All these memories and more flood back to me with one wiff of the roasting chile. I wish everyone could know this amazing smell, and the even better taste of a FRESH roasted green chile. Oh the possibilities...rellanos, green chile cheese burgers, plain on a fresh tortillas, fresh green chile enchiladas, green chile stew!!

GMAT - no longer taking up every breathing moment

Ahhh, I finally took the GMAT. So very glad that is over! I've been studying like mad for the past month, and finally Monday I took the test. It was hard...just as hard as I thought it would be, but I did A LOT better than I had anticipated. In fact, after the test was over and my unofficial score popped up on the screen I sat there in wonder as silent tears rolled down my face. I was/am so proud of myself. For actually doing it, for studying so hard, for trying so hard. For taking that first big step in going back to college. So I'm doing it. I found out today that I have been accepted to the University of Denver. I will only be going part time (still working full time), so in a mere 3 1/2 years I will have my graduate degree! I know it's going to be hard, time consuming, and at times miserable, but I also know that I HAVE to do this, if I want to move up in my job, or move on to a better job maybe, and there is no time like the present. I am only getting older and it is only going to get harder. So here it goes. Look out world, Melissa is matriculating.

visitors from a far away state - postdate

standing in line for the bus to Coors


on the booze tour


Craig said it was the altitude....hmmmm

(Craig - thanks for the not so friendly reminder that I needed to update the hottest blog on the net with your visit - this is for you.)
In June we got our first visitors, after that the computer broke, and I didn't update the blog to include our fun!
Craig and Cherie had to come out on business, but they flew out early to see us!! It was so good to see friends.
We went on the Coors Brewery tour, awesome. We went to eat at a funky resturant downtown and then the next night they got to experience all that is holy, Little Anitas. We also hit up Six Flags...not as much fun as I rememebered. I also don't remember getting motion sickness as easily. I thought I was going to barf all over Craig on one of the swing rides. After 4 hours we all needed a nap.
It was so nice to see familiar faces. And it meant alot to get to see friends. I can't wait for you guys to come out again!

Running at Red Rocks

The first time we went to Red Rocks it was on a Sunday morning. It is so beautiful there. And we were surprised to see so many people working out! Running the stairs, all kinds of excercise. So we made a promise to ourselves to go back and do it too. And today we did. It was wonderful! Running zigzags across all the benchs from the bottom to the top is a 5K. We probably ran about half then did some other workouts, but it was definetly one of the funnest workouts I have ever had. Being out in nature, surrounded by such beauty, you forget you are working out (besides the insane swamp ass). One of the coolest parts was there was some guy playing that Ricola horn (no idea what the real name is). It just added to the entire astetics. I think we are going to try and go back there as much as possible. It's a bit of a drive, but totally worth it. It definetly beats the gym ANY day.

Side note, we went to Red Rocks on the 4th of July to see Collective Soul, Live, and Blue's Travelers. The first two were great....ahhh, the 90's were such a great time. So many memories!! We only stayed for about 40 minutes of Blue's Travlers though, they came on late, and by that time the cloud of MJ smoke (coming surprising from the 40+ crowd) surrounding us had gotten to me. Still, it was such an awesome venue! Look at the website to see the pics. For some reason I can't find the ones we took in June.

Diets Suck

So I saw this book on sale at Target, and it looked like a do-able diet. Losing those stubborn last pounds.....something I've been needing to do. So I started this week. It's only a 30 day diet and I've only been doing it since last Tuesday, and it SUCKS! The workouts are challenging and I enjoy them, but the DIEt part....miserable. First of all most of the receipes take a lot more time than I am willing to give. Second of all, they don't taste that great. And third, most important, NO CHIPS AND SALSA on this DIEt!! What??? Chips and Salsa is a mainstay....it has been part of my life forver!! Almost every single day I have it. I can live for a while without sugar, and it's a struggle, but I can give up coke for a bit....but no chips and salsa and NO ENCHILADAS either! Oh, and no booze. I am not pregnant, so giving up the wine is really not clicking. This DIEt has no 'off' days or 'off' meals. You are supposed to follow it religously for 30 days...yep, I lasted a whole 4 1/2 days....I gave in. I couldn't take it. I had to go to Little Anitas for a plate of Green Chile Cheese enchiladas and some chips and salsa. It was AMAZING! Everything I've dreamed it would be all week. And I feel SOOOO much better. A bit guilty, but mentally I feel better. I've been bitching all week, part of it hormones fault, but I really think the big part is the dumb diet. I have a Catholic guilt complex, so of course I feel bad even thinking about deviating from this diet. So I don't think that at the end of these 30 days I'm going to feel comfortable "running on the beach in a bikini" as Jillian says. But even if I lose a few pounds I'd be happy. Still, my money is that is Little Anita's is going to come out the winner.

Welcome to this World Evan!

Renata, my really good friend from Maryland, and her husband Jason welcomed a sweet little blessing into the world this morning!! Weighing in at 7pds and 8 ounces. WOW! This really makes me miss Maryland.....I can't wait to meet Evan!! I am so happy for them!! I have been anxious since last week, thinking Renata was going go into labor last Friday!!! But Evan must have been super comfy in there.
Renata - much love and happiness being sent your way from Colorado!!!

New Cars Lead to Dispise of Salespeople

So I thought it was time to get a replacement car. My Avenger had seen me through a lot, and her time had come. So we did my least favorite thing, went car shopping. And seriously, how skeezy are car salesmen? Geezzz.
This guy was completely no pressure - at first. Everything went fine and I thought that the buying, although it would be painful, wouldn't be that bad. Man was I naive.
It was one of the worse experiences of my life! They get you to the 'negotiation' table, and suddenly it's a completely different person selling you the car. It's some creep, looking at you with dollar signs in his eyes. I had a sinking feeling the entire time....I should have walked away. I KNEW we were getting screwed, yet I sat there and took it like a good girl. WTF?
We bought the car on Thursday night. I cried a lot of Friday....I felt so taken advantage of...I feel so taken advantage of. I am SO mad at the dealership. They get off on people who don't REALLY fight back. People who are honest and expect honesty in return. I'm pretty sure that when we left Thursday night they high fived each other yelling 'suckers'.
But it's a done deal now. And the car is really nice. It's a four door, something I've been wanting a long time, and it's new and reliable. And hopefully it will last me 10-12 years. Then I'll have to go through this whole process again. Until then, I'm going to try and enjoy my beautiful new car, and get over the regret of over paying.

Backpacking - hazardous for my Health

Destination: Upper Turquoise Lake; elevation 11,500 feet
Via: Beaver Creek Trail
Stats: 7+ miles, climbing from 8,000 ft. to 11,500 ft.
Me: First attempt at backpacking in to go camping. Carrying 60+ pounds on my back. NOT A PRETTY SITE!

I went into this overestimating myself...and underestimating the trail. I have hiked before, but never carrying the necessities to camp for a night. I thought I was completely prepared, right down to my plush hiking socks. Boy was I wrong. At one point I told Tony and Justin that if they would just push me over a cliff everyone would know it was a mercy kill. I've never done ANYTHING that physically hard in my life. EVER! My hips were the most painful. Every step....searing pain, so of course poor Tony had to hear me bitch the ENTIRE 6 1/2 hours of our journey up. He was so sweet and just kept encouraging me. Anyone else would have jumped at the chance to push me over into the creek. Part of it was probably the fatigue at being at such a high altitude.
I'm hoping this trip hasn't ruined me forever with backpacking....but I'm not making any promises at this point, a mere 3 days after returning.
The lake was BEAUTIFUL! I still would have appreciated it just as much had the journey not been as hard though. There was still ice in the lake! And snow patches everywhere. The lake is only accessible on foot (or by horse), so in that way it is pretty special. Very serene. And I do love camping. It was just me and 5 other guys though. 3 of them were Tony's friends from Minnesota, and they were great to hang out with! We also got to see a ginormous porcupine and some marmots.
I really can't believe I made it. I can't believe I didn't give into the urge to break down and cry and demand someone get the forest service to perform a rescue for me. I made it to the top, and it was gratifying.

COMPUTER ON THE BRINKS

Our laptop is sick and is in the geek squad hospital. We are hoping for a full recovery in 2 weeks.....will post back log of blogs then.

O Fair New Mexico

Tomorrow I am going home for the weekend. Tony can't come because he can't take off work yet. :(
I'm so excited to see my grandparents and aunts and uncles...it will be great. I haven't been back to NM since last October.
I'm sure I will have lots of pics and stuff to talk about.

Also, Craig and Cheri came to Denver!! So we got to hang out with them a few days. It was so nice to see friends! I'll try to post the pics of our time together later.

Beautiful Song to share

I've loved this song for a long time. Then I was you tubin' Sufjan Stevens (another one thanks to Sean), and saw that he had done a version of it. And it's beautiful....just beautiful. The video is cool too.
Hope you have a minute to listen to it.
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Storms a brewin'

I'm sitting out on our balcony watching the most beautiful storm brewing. The clouds are changing by the seconds, rolling towards us. Every once in a while you can see the lightning and hear the thunder.
I had forgotten how much I loved a good thunderstorm. In New Mexico they were always amazing. And you could see the storms so far away, in a whole other town. Sometimes all you could see what the lightning. It is so romantic.
One of our first nights in Colorado we got to see a great storm off in the distance. The roll of thunder took me back to all those storms of my childhood. I remember the feel of electricity in the air. It was always so exciting, especially after a warm summer day.
I could sit here and watch this all night. Unfortunately Kirby had breathing problems last night, so no one in Casa de Richards slept well, and the closer it gets to 9pm, the heavier my eyelids get.
Here's some pics of what I'm looking at right now.



Kirby the asthmatic wonder dog

A day of Hiking

So this morning we decided to go on a little hike. We went to El Dorado Canyon, outside of Boulder. We both thought the hike was 3.5 miles.....no, it was 7, it was 3.5 one way!! We were kind of unprepared as far as water goes, and I am so out of shape!! I wasn't sure if I was going to make it at some points. But it was still great. Being up there was just beautiful. The creek is really flowing now, as the snow is rapidy melting. There were a lot of people rock climbing too, we could see someone really high up on one of the cliffs, and driving up to the park, there were quite a few people climbing as well. It gave us both the itch to get back into climbing/bouldering.

A touch of Politics

While on this blog today, I linked to one of Fish's favorite blog's, which led me to this article.

I don't read Ari's blog often, actually I've only read it a couple of times, but I really liked her opinion blog regarding this article. The article was short, read it for yourself, what do you think?

Feels like Home

This is what our apartment looked like for the first weekend we were here. Very comfy!


And this is what it looked like after the movers left.....




So needless to say, we've been busy. And I think we are finally done! Many many trips to Goodwill and still renting a storage unit, and our apt. now looks decent. It was good for us to be forced to go through what we had and really decide what was important.

Yesterday we went up to Estes Park. We just walked around and got something to eat. It was really crowded, but it has tons of cool little shops. We are hoping to go up there for our anniversary in November and stay at The Stanley. It's the hotel from The Shining. Yeahhhh!!!

We are really happy to be here. It is just beautiful, and I can't wait for people to start visiting us!! (hint hint hint)

We are home.....

We made it and are so happy to be here. Everything is great with the apt., and the movers are scheduled to be here Monday with all our stuff. And I know we are going to have to get rid of even more, the 1 bdrm is just too small. The apt. does stink really bad like curry, although today it is not as potent as yesterday, but I don't think Tony or I are going to be eating Indian food anytime soon. I'll take some pics and put them up so you know what the apt. looks like!

A day away!!

Here's a pic of Tony and our nephew Connor and Daniel.

We are in Kearney, NE tonight, tomorrow we will be in Denver. We can get our keys and move in tomorrow, and our drive there shouldn't be too bad.
Everything has been going good, although we did have one passenger drop out. Amy got really sick in Indiana and had to fly home out of Chicago. I'm sad that she hasn't been with us, but I wouldn't want to be sick away from home either. And at least I got to be with her for a few days.

Road Trippin', Melissa Flippin'

We made it to South Bend, Indiana. We left about 2 hours later than we had wanted...but that is no surprise. The drive was good, weather wasn't bad and neither was the traffic. The hotel was only 5 miles off of the interstate, didn't seem too far last night when i was trying to plan and find a dog friendly hotel....but it is kind of in the ghetto, we had to turn around twice, and this was all at 10:30 at night. I just try so hard to plan everything, then it turns out crappy. But God is watching over us, and we got the LAST hotel room at the hotel I had planned for us to stay at, and she gave me the Govt. rate even though it's a suite. But i feel bad b/c i was totally bugging and i took it out on Amy. She is doing us a HUGE favor by driving out with us. We really needed her, and now I'm being a raging psyco. I just get nervous and worked up. Hopefully a nights sleep will do us all good.

Tomorrow - Duluth.....

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!!!

Music & Lyrics

So the new Millencolin CD - Machine 15 is coming to America on May 6th!! I've loved Millencolin since the first time I heard No Cigar. I've heard a few of the songs from the new album....amazing. I'm going to have to get this CD for the Road Trip!

These lyrics to Turnkey Paradise kind of fit my current situation, with leaving the city and moving to the burbs...

You saw it all on TV
You read it all in magazines
No doubt that you could go on

You found a way to be free
This is what freedom really means
You found a place where that you belong

So welcome to suburban home
Welcome to a life only in chrome
For those who can't afford the market price
This is your paradise

Waiting to be found
Safe from the, far from the city
Your life when everything is pretty wack
And you're never looking back

Faraway from problems and fights
You'll learn what life is all about
In a place where we're all safe and sound

You had it all planned out right
Already you know it will turn out
No second thoughts, you are on solid ground

So welcome to suburban home
Welcome to a life only in chrome
For those who can't afford the market price
This is your paradise

Safe from the, far from the city
Your life when everything is pretty wack
And you're never looking back

You're never looking back

Safe from the, far from the city
Your life when everything is pretty wack
And you're never looking back

Looking back..
Looking back...
Never looking back...

This song is great, typical Millencolin. I highly encourage you to check them out!

Rocky Mountain High

view from look out at A-basin
Tony and Justin


Yesterday was kind of a cruddy weather day. It snowed most of the day (none of it stuck) and it was windy and cold. Later in the day it got nicer so we went up to Boulder to walk around the Pearl Street Mall and eat dinner. It was such a nice evening. The people walking around were just like you would expect, eclectic - no one really looked the same (except that most men had facial hair), everyone dressed differently, originally, it was refreshing. Everyone looked really casual.

Almost everyone we've encountered here, from the McDonald's workers to the car rental guy have been super nice too. Everyone gives you a smile and tells you to have a good day.

Today we woke up early and drove up to Silverthorne to meet up with Justin. He lives in Avon, so we met half way. We drove up to A-basin for the view. AMAZING! The runs are still open and are going to be running until late June, early July!! That's crazy! But there were tons of people up there. The wind chill was in the teens, so we couldn't stay out of the car for too long, but it was beautiful. Then Tony and I decided on the way back to take the back road to Estes Park...too bad we didn't know that 2 hours in the road was still closed until June! Oh well, at least the drive was scenic!

Tonight we went and got some amazing Mexican food....New Mexico mexican food, or as close as you can get. Best part? The sophapillas came with the meal! I love that!!

So tomorrow we fly home. Time to start really going through and tossing stuff. Our apt. is only 700 sq. ft., so we need to go through a lot.

Apartment Hunting

Well, we found an apt. I'm so relieved that it is over. We looked all day yesterday and then some this morning. The first two we looked at were disappointing, but livable. We really didn't want to spend that much money, since we are going to be trying to buy a house this year. There wasn't a price difference between the sub par ones and the nice ones. We are really happy with the one we signed with. It's in Englewood, so my commute shouldn't be that bad. It's only for 6 months, so even if it turns out not to be the best, we don't have to live with it for that long. The last apt. we saw yesterday was in the most beautiful area. It is in the foothills, on the outskirts of Littleton, but the commute for me would have been one hour on a good day. And i just can't commit to that. I've already been there and it sucked!

Now we have the next couple of days to relax and explore around. Maybe we can go into the city and find a cool place to eat tonight. On Sunday we are going to meet up with Tony's best friend Justin who lives up in the mountains.

I'll try to take some pics and upload them.

Tony's interview went well yesterday, so we'll see what comes of that. In the meantime he's applying around like crazy. We have faith that something will work out though.

I can't believe we only have 2 weeks left in Maryland! There is still so much to get done! I have heart palpitations even thinking about it!

We made it!!

We made to Denver! Of course I cried. I'm just so happy that this is happening! Our flight was good, once again though the rental car place wanted to give us a PT Cruiser....thankfully we got a Ford instead. Tomorrow we are going to go apt. hunting and Tony has a job interview. Keep us in your prayers!

Farwell Parties

Sitting around the table chatting after dinner at Cherie's on Saturday

Diego and Irene, Jesse and Nathan at Cherie's a couple of weeks ago
Irene, Jen, and Heather at Jen and Adam's house for dinner
Renata, looking very preggers!!! I love it!


The past few weeks our friends have had a few going away get togethers. The parties have been so nice and have meant so much to us. Everything has been happening so quickly that it still hasn't sunken in that we are leaving. I know that we will be back to visit and I'll be back for meetings and classes, so that makes it easier, knowing that we will get see our friends again. And I'm really hoping that (hint hint) they will come out to CO to visit us! I want to keep in touch and not lose the connections we have made. Especially since our friends are starting to get married and have children, life just changes so much and I'm really hoping that we don't become just Christmas card friends. I promise I'll try my best, good friends are really hard to come by. And without our friends here, I don't think we could have made it the 3 1/2 years that we did. Just thinking back on how lonely and how sad we were when we first moved here, just that sick feeling of being so homesick, and having no one here to ease that. I REALLY cannot say thank you enough to the people who stretched out their love to us and made being so far from home easier. You guys took us into your homes and into your lives, you have shared our sorrows (losing Arnold) and our joys (moving to the city, getting this job in Denver). You have allowed us to be with your family and closest friends, bringing us into your existing circles, giving us a chance. You did so much, I really can't thank you enough for accepting us (especially me, Tony is pretty easy to love) for who we are, for the invites to your special moments (Renata and Jason's wedding) and for always thinking about us and inviting us into your homes for the holidays, when you knew how sad we would be. You have been a blessing to our lives.

In the moving arena...no new news....unfortunately. We were supposed to go to CO for our House Hunting Trip this coming Wednesday. Then Kirby got sick and we thought he was dying, then laid down $500 all for the vet to say every test was inconclusive, but to continue shoving antibiotics down his throat.....needless to say this was not the added stress that we needed on top of everything else. So hopefully we will make it out there either this week or next week and we can sign a lease on an apt. Tony has an interview tomorrow, hopefully he will be able to find a position before we get out there.

I'll try to keep the blog updated as we learn more - and as I get more and more weepy.

Book Review - East of Eden

East of Eden took me a little while to read, but it was well worth it. Amazing book. I love John Steinbeck, so I knew I was going to like this one. I would highly recommend this one.
Then I started reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac. It was ok at the beginning, but I got lost in the details and had to put it down. It was just too much. What I did like were that there were several quotes about Denver, and Rock Island (interviewed for a job there about a year and 1/2 ago), and a tiny little town that Tony and I stayed in about 7 years ago, Ogallala, Nebraska. I didn't think anyone else had ever heard of the place (there's a good reason why, if you blink you miss it), but there it was in the book! Here's a couple of the quotes that I liked:
"then I took over the wheel and, though I'm not much of a driver, drove clear through the rest of Illinois to Davenport, Iowa, via Rock Island. And here for the first time in my life I saw my beloved Mississippi River, dry in the summer haze, low water, with its big rank smell that smells like the raw body of America itself because it washes up".
This quote below touched me because in some way, I had felt this when we moved from the West to the East Coast
"I woke up as the sun was reddening; and that was the one distinct time in my life the strangest moment of all, when I didn't know who I was - I was far away from home, haunted and tired with travel, in a cheap hotel room I'd never seen, hearing the hiss of steam outside, and the creak of the old wood of the hotel, and footsteps upstairs, and all the sad sounds, and I looked at the cracked high ceiling and really didn't know who i was for about fifteen strange seconds. I wasn't scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost. I was halfway across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future, and maybe that's why it happened right there and then, that strange red afternoon".

"And he sat on the boards, crosslegged, looking out across the fields without saying anything for hundreds of miles and finally at one point he turned to me and said, "Where you headed?" I said Denver". - YES I AM!!!!! :)

"And there in the blue air I saw for the first time, far off, the great snowy tops of the Rocky Mountains. I took a deep breath. I had to get to Denver at once".

I'm sure there were some more great quotes, but I had couldn't go on reading it. I was too bored.

Now I'm reading Cold Mountain. I loved the movie, so I figured I would like the book even more. And so far I am. It's really descriptive and beautiful. Given how much I love learning about the Civil War, it is set in the perfect time period for me to enjoy.

Now I'm off to do more cleaning, going through stuff, throwing stuff away. Yuck. Moving is such a stress. The move date has been set for May 5th, but I'm not sure if we are going to be ready by then, so it might be pushed back to the 12th. There is just so much to do!! We are giving away one of chest of drawers today, and then we have to take our spare bed to the Salvation Army (I'm still upset with Good Will), along with some other clothes. We have a stack of magazines and some books to take to The Book Thing and while I'm there TRY not to take any books home. We are trying to clean out of freezer as well. I'm exhausted just thinking about doing all of this. Why am I such a pack rat? I can totally admit this, yet even now I have sentimental value attached to all these material objects that I know I have to throw away because I don't want to move all the way to CO with them. But I still have trouble giving or throwing the stuff away!