Goin' to the Chapel- wait we can't get in

Minus a minor snafu involving an Air Force Academy checkpoint and unwittingly expired car tags, Eric and I had a great weekend seeing his sister, Ruth, and her now husband Kent get married off this weekend down in Colorado Springs.

They came up from Texas to get married in the Academy chapel, and it was an absolutely fun and gorgeous wedding.

Two random tidbits were that we spent a lot of time around AF people this weekend which was a new experience as well as interesting given Eric's future career path leanings, and I got to meet someone who I have known only in the blogger world for the past couple of years.

But most importantly, welcome to the family Kent. From in-law to in-law, you've made a pretty good choice.

Why I Can't Follow Ol' Ben

I found some kindred spirits in my RtI meeting that met early on Wednesday morning before school. As we showed up with coffee and yawns, we began discussing the problem all but one of us have of staying up too late. I get a second wind around 9 pm, another coworker agreed, and another admitted to taking afternoon naps after work to supplement his late night lifestyle. I know it's possible to be early to bed, because I have friends and meet people who say "I'll go to bed at 8:30 if I'm tired." "I love sleep so I don't stay up late." "Just go to bed." Well folks, I love sleep just as much as the next person, but I can't.do.it. If I even try to go bed "early" at say 10, I lay in bed almost falling asleep but not quite. For some strange reason, my brain has to know it's at least 10:30 before it's hasta la vista world.

However, lately I have been feeling the effect of at max 8 hours of sleep. My tiredness is catching up with me, though that may be related to weird dreams involving babies that leave me awake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Thank you to all my friends with small children. Whatever the reason, I will relish the fact that soon I will be able to go to bed "on time" and sleep in gloriously when Christmas Break hits! Let's raise our espresso shot coffee- here's to sleep!

On the First Day of December...

It is now the Christmas season, or way into it, depending on your view. It will be a busy month with a wedding, a drive to Sedona, and the usual Christmas holiday cheer. Not to let the "Busy Monster" down, Eric and I were prompted to completely rearrange our living and study area after buying our Christmas tree. I'll post pictures soon. But for now you're left with the-completely-staged-I-already-put-this-ornament-on-the-tree-once pose!

Thanksgiving Eve

I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday. I've been trying to decide why this is, and I've come up with a couple of reasons (over-analyzing yet again).

1. Growing up it was the most "drama-free" of the major holidays, at least in my child-like perception. Christmas always had bigger hopes and bigger let-downs, but Thanksgiving was almost always good. We always ate the exact same things- it wouldn't be Turkey Day without cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes... so of course I'll be bringing them tomorrow. Did you know I crave tradition?
2. Thanksgiving marks the beginning of party season, and being an avid party thrower, I like that I can savor the day and still look forward to more, since boring ol' January is still eons away.
3. Thanksgiving is a more unassuming holiday that often is almost overlooked, and as a fighter of injustice, I like to champion its cause. I will not put up my tree until the fourth Friday in November.
4. It is a good reminder to be thankful for the many blessings the LORD has given to Eric and to me. Because they're a lot. And really, if we're being thankful- which means, as I teach my kindergarteners, "We are happy to have it, and we want to say thank you."- it's all kind of meaningless with out having Someone to be saying thank you too.

Tomorrow, I will not be playing football to wet my appetite- can I get a shout-out for 10 degrees Fahrenheit!- but I will be joining friends and friends of friends for a Thanksgiving feast of epic proportions.

What am I thankful for? That Eric agreed to get up and watch the Macy's parade with me in the morning!

No Blog November

And just like that one month and 3 days later, I'm back with a mediocre blog post. Where have I been, you either faithful checker or person who has me on their blog roll asks. Well, folks I have been here. I thought November would be a lovely, relaxing month but the answer to that was... well No. This month shall hereafter be called Vember.

Unless you are a literary person, you might want to skip the rest of this post... but reading books has been something I've been wanting to do more of... and so I will do "one of those posts." Because after a somewhat exhausting month, thinking of books makes me feel happy... and pine for a fireplace.

So here's the BBC book list- let's see how I fare- in the spirit of this exercise I will bold ones read, italicize ones started, and do nothing (but perhaps read) to the rest.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - Liked the second movie better-
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - We can thank Eric for this-
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte - Used to be my favorite book in HS-
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling - umm YES! On book five- yes I'm running late for the movie-
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - Absolutely favorite book of all time-
6 The Bible - Though the answer should be yes, I'm pretty sure it's no... book supersedes a favorite list-
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte - Yes, long long ago-
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell - Nope, but that was a great year-
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - Haha... collective freshman English groan-
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - Loved it as a girl-
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy - Thanks to Ms. Love my Senior HS English teacher, I can expound on the roads motif in this quite depressing novel-
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare - I prefer the abridged ones... -
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - See Eric note-
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger - Odd huh-
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger - I loved this book! But really disliked her 2nd novel.-
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald - So funny story- I've read this twice. The first time was in 6th grade. I found it on my parents' bookshelf. It went way over my head. Made more sense in HS-
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - 42-
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - Who never take a bath...-
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - Weird, weird, weird, weird, weird. -
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame - But I love the Disney ride! -
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens -This might be my favorite one-
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - Smiling with fondness-
34 Emma - Jane Austen - I don't know? Sometimes they run together in the mind-
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen -See book 34-
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis -Sweet! Two for the price of one!-
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - Loved Thousand Splendid Suns even better-
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres - Just the movie-
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - Just the movie-
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne - I always like Paddington better-
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell - Oink!-
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery - ahh... Gilbert-
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan -Gosh, I hated the ending of this movie!-
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel - Just finished for October's bookclub!-
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - but of course-
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zifon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - Nah, this might be my favorite one-
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon - Excellent-
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas -Actually, I have-
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville - Not gonna happen-
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens - Eric does a great impression-
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - I can thank my prolific childhood reading for this-
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray - Started once. Finished with the movie-
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - I think we might be reading this for bookclub-
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White - But of course. Trumpet of the Swans, even better-
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -I heart S.H.-
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad - I detest this book.-
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery - Thanks to my parents' bookshelf-
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams -
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare - A certain HS cram session comes back to me-
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factoy - Roald Dahl - I really have never loved this book. Is that odd?-
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo - Love. love. love. love. love.-

So, what should I read next?

13.1

Well, I did it. 13.1 miles of Denver pavement have now been graced by my feet. It was a good run, though my body is currently not very happy with me. Not only did all the music make for a good run, but it was fun to run through Denver. Because I like Denver- a lot.

So, the question is... do I try for a full? I have to admit I was pretty happy to be turning right toward the finish line at mile 12.

And this is just because I'm in a happy Denver mood right now.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day the last two months of sweat, side cramps, and tired legs has all been for- the Denver Rock n' Roll 1/2 Marathon!

Let's go run for fun!

Yo Ho, Yo Ho

Remember that post about my hobby being people? Well, let's just say pirate parties are a lot of fun. ARRRR!

Also, special guests jack-o-lantern pirate Andrew and the two week old new Dread Pirate Roberts were also in attendance.

A Little Scary...

How well I related to this article. How I laughed out loud at how it pin-pointed what I consider my strengths and weaknesses (albeit incompletely). Very interesting.

Thoughts?

Next Steps Towards Ordination

On Thursday of last week, Eric traveled up to Cheyenne, WY to meet with the Rocky Mountain Presbytery (spanning Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana), come under care of the Presbytery, and become an intern of the Presbytery. What all of that boils down to is that I've officially got some degree of oversight, accountability, and support while finishing up my last two years at Denver Seminary and pursuing ordination in the PCA following graduation.

In addition to passing the ordination exams following graduation, I also have a number of ministry-related items to undertake while I'm an intern of the Presbytery over the next few years (preaching, teaching, planning various types of services, etc.).

Aspen Lovin

Last Saturday, we went with our good friends to see these.






Enough said.

Happy One Day Birthday!

Dear Caleb,

You don't know this yet, but you are one lucky kid. You have two amazing parents- trust me. I'll remind you of this as a teenager! Your mommy and daddy have been friends with me for 8 (eight!) years and have been there for me in good times and hard times. And they'll do an even more amazing job of being there for you.

So trust me Caleb- you're super blessed. Especially because your parents didn't pick any of their friends' lovely name choices- like Job or Duck or Bear or Treasure or Scavenger.

Love,

aunty nicole

I Run for Bread

And reusable bags... It's true. This morning Carissa and I embarked on the pre-race of our 1/2 marathon race journey- the Panerathon 10k, where we also met up with Carissa's roommate. It was a beautiful a.m. and a rather uneventful run. But we made good time and got to eat delicious bagels, which in my opinion always makes for a good morning. I ran this race with my friend Susan two years ago. At that time, the 10k was our goal. It was fun to see how much easier the race was this time around. I'd like to think Susan was running with me in spirit though. After all, she's currently at the hospital doing something much harder (no thanks to Eve).

On Hobbies

So unless you're a complete stranger, it won't come as a surprise to you that Eric and I are very different. It's good for us- trust me- but it also has its challenges. Especially when trying to connect our social calendars.

During the past year, Eric used to play nerd games on Sunday afternoons. I don't really consider myself "needy" persay, in my humble, biased opinion, but to be honest I would miss our ability to hang out and relax together. Eric took a hiatus from that hobby earlier this summer and took up a new one- playing soccer on Friday nights at a local park. I love soccer and am glad he has this recreation, but do not so much relish the idea of playing it after a long week of work. So he and a friend often go together. This works well, except when I try to fill his Friday night with a double-date or when my extroverted-ADD self is trying to break free from Friday night boredom.

As we made a compromise a couple weekends ago on this point, Eric looked at me and said, "You know what. You need a hobby." He then proceeded to list a couple of ideas that didn't quite light a fire under me. I explained that I love planning parties and things for us to do, which he said didn't count. It was then that I came to this realization: My hobby is people. Anything involving people, I am all about. Which didn't quite solve our problem. Though it did aid in my mid-twenties self-discovery. And that's just what you get when an introvert and extrovert tie the knot.

Why My Students Will Say, "Why Teacher, You Look Like a Lobster!" Tomorrow

Saturday morning we hiked our last 14-er of the season. We started a little bit later than we normally do (pushing 8 am) since we got lost on the way up to Mt. Quandry. For you non-Colorado-ins, the reason for the really ridiculous early start is because afternoon thunderstorms usually move into the mountains by late morning. (Yes, I realize the irony of that sentence.) And really, who wants to be a lightning rod on the top of a mountain???

However, there was not a cloud in the sky the entire day, making for a beautiful hike. It was pretty rocky trail, which made it slow going, but like always, the view was worth all the calf pain.

I did, however, make one mistake.

For those who know me well, you know that I am always slathering on the shield of outrageously high - numbered sunscreen- and telling all you tan people to do the same. So like always, I put it on my face first thing as we got out of the car. Yes just my face. In my five hour sleepy brain dressed as I was mini-Eskimo style, this was the only exposed skin to be seen or thought about at all. Which would have been fine … except for the fact that I left the sunscreen in the car.

This realization dawned on me a couple hours later at the summit. I decided not to worry. After all, I was 3,000 + feet above my sunscreen- not much I could do. Except hike down and get it. Oh, wait.

So, here I sit with the entire back of my neck slathered in alo vera writing this post. There is no moral. It just is what it is. Though I probably will never forget my sunscreen again.

p.s. A special shout-out to our friend Aaron who just conquered his second fourteener and took gorgeous pics all day!

From There to Here, From Here to There

In addition to learning 25 + new faces, we got to see quite a few familiar and familial faces in August!

First up was an undocumented visit from several members of Eric's family- Mom, Dad, sister Rachael, sister Ruth, and along for the ride- boyfriend Kent. We hung out with them briefly. It was good to see them!

Next up was a visit from Nicole's family- Mom and Dad (celebrating 30 years- congrats), brother Garrett, and Grandparents from Tennessee. We hung out with them over the weekend and showed them fun sites such as Rocky Mountain National Park (Bear Lake to be specific), Cheesecake Factory, and our house!


Lastly, we had another visit over Labor Day (technically September I know!) from sister Ruth and her fiance Kent. Big congrats to those two. We enjoyed low key hangout with them, when they weren't busy doing wedding planning down in Colorado Springs.


We love company- so please come see us!! I promise to even make you famous on our blog :)

Happy Grandparents' Day!!

Yesterday, I received a phone message from my Grandma, also more affectionately known as Gram or GM. She was calling to check in on me, particularly because I have been MIA from the blogging world for over a month now. So in honor of her and of all our grandparents out there on this lovely Grandparents' Day, I will dedicate my first post following the black hole month of the year, otherwise known as August, to them.

Here's to you, Grandpas and Grandmas- Eric and I owe all of you much thankfulness for years of wise advice, lots of love, past spoiling, and of course the fact that we're here :)

To Nicole's GM and GP in Arizona

To Eric's Grandma in California


To Nicole's Grandma and Grandpa in Tennessee

And to Eric's Grandma and Grandpa in Ohio (who for some silly reason I couldn't find in a picture together!)

The Year of the-

Wally-less shopping.

I'm putting it on my blog which is the closest thing for me to signing in blood or carving in stone.

I am NOT shopping at the place for the next year- starting now.

Here's to keeping my sanity.

I Live At School and Other Common Misconceptions

Tomorrow I will be welcoming 25 kindergartners into my classroom or (as in their minds)- aka my home. Besides having pre-operational brains, they are probably apt to think this because, well, I do spend a lot of time there. The beginning of the year involves a lot of planning, bulletin board decorating, and quite frankly I'm not sure what quite zaps all my time. But it's worth it to get the year started right. ABSOLUTELY. In fact they make a kid's book about it: Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten. You're groaning- I read it :)

This year I'm particularly excited since I'm going to be working in a school district I've been wanting to teach in, at a school I'm enjoying, and with a population of students that is near and dear. I'm thankful for this opportunity and am praying that I will be able to love each and every one of these kiddos well.

And now... I will go punch holes and put yarn through my nametags!

Two Things

One because I'm a nerd, and one to try and erase that image by making me seem cool:

1. I found Candy Land!! And- I scored the Saturday ARC deal and only had to pay 50 cents. Granted, I think most of the cards were missing, but that's okay because what I really need is the board. To help my students (who I will begin meeting this week!!) memorize their color words, I will be writing the color words on new cards. First in their corresponding color, and then in black. They will pull a card, read the word, and move to the matching square. I am too excited about this....

2. I am now an official participant in the the Denver Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon! This will be the second one for me, but the last one was almost 5 years ago, so it's been a while. I'll be running with my friend Carissa, and we spent and hour and a half planning our running schedule, much to the amusement of Eric. Well, we both are teachers. Hmm... now I am definitely coming full circle back to teacher nerd. So yay! I'm running a 1/2!!!

Middle Class Moment

"They" say that different characteristics are generally true of the different socio-economic classes represented in the United States. For example, most Americans who would consider themselves "middle class" take great pride in finding good deals and bargains, so much so that a compliment on an outfit, furniture piece, etc. is often followed by "And it only cost me ___ because...". The inherent "cheapness" for which said object was acquired generally boosts the value of the item in the owner's mind.

So, if you would spare me this vice...

Yesterday, I went to the local ARC thrift store to find this:

(I want it for my classroom to teach color words.)

And I came home with this:

Before you, you can see my two good as new pairs of Lucky and Ann Taylor jeans, a NY & Co. pair of black capris, and two pairs of pants from Target and once again Ann Taylor. Now lest you think I paid full thrift store price for these beauties, let me clarify that all of these pants were 1/2 off due to the Saturday tag sale for a grand total of about $20.

Now you know my secret, and I value these five pants all the more. The only additional cost I should mention is that while I was waiting to try on my finds, I saw a kid walk by carrying... you guessed it... Candy Land. Lesson learned: Hit up the game section first before moving on to deal diving.

You Can Only Drink Fake Coffee With True Friends

Eric and I were so blessed by a visit from some of our dearest and best friends, Julie and Chase, early last week. We got lucky and got 2 days of their short time home visiting from Nicaragua where they serve in a ministry called One-by-One.

Not to worry, though, we maximized our time! In less than 48 hours, we managed to play Settlers, Bang, and Puerto Rico almost to our hearts' content; cook a meal together; watch hilarious You Tube videos; stay up ridiculously late*; and even hit up some Denver establishments.

The only unfortunate part of this experience was that it was way.too.short. I am looking up the cost of plane tickets, and Eric is looking into teleporting devices.



*This tradition was happily started long ago by Julie and Nicole. For years, Chase and Eric have attempted to scoff at this practice, but secretly, they like it too.

Today Began at 3:45 a.m.

But it was worth it. Thanks Mt. Bierstadt for making us really tired and really happy, and giving us a top of the mountain view.

Also of note, our not pictured friend/man behind the camera, aka Aaron, also joined us and climbed his first 14er today. He also well documented it. So maybe you can see more of my Colorado 14er travel guide tomorrow!

3,000 feet below


3, 000 feet higher

Mixing Family with Vacation

In addition to taking a work break and enjoying the ocean, we also got to see some family! Two uncles, one grandma, and one new aunt later ... we had seen some lovely sights with some lovely people!

There's Always Money in the Banana Stand

So check it off for year number four. While we were actually together on our anniversary this year, we waited a few weeks and took the July 4th weekend to go celebrate. This celebrating our anniversary a month late thing has become a staple for us, so much so that I actually forgot our anniversary was in June and not July.

With our swimsuist packed, we headed out to Laguna Beach, CA and did some exploring.

In addition to the beach, we explored a farmer's market ...

Downtown Disney ...

A red phone booth ...

Balboa Island ...

and while we managed not to grab one good picture of just the two of us, we did get a lovely picture of our two frozen bananas from competing banana stands. Don't worry, both of them are actually from the Original one. And sadly, neither are a Bluth.

Jeremiah 17:9

Eric always gets on to me because I am a people watcher... okay maybe people starer. I never mean to- I just find people so interesting. Today though, I promise, I was not staring. I simply had a conversation shoved down my ears.

I was eating my lunch at Chick-fil-a, while watching the little girl I nanny play in the playhouse, when some teenage girls sat down behind me. After discussing Twilight and how Harry Potter should not have named - spoiler alert- one of his sons Albus Severus because that name "is just awful," the following conversation took place.

Girl 1: I really love the feeling of new socks. Yep you read right- new socks.
Girl 2: Yeah, new socks are nice.
Girl 1: So, I have a question for you. If there was a machine that would give you nice, new fluffy socks every day, and the only thing was every time you got a pair a kid in Africa got punched... would you take them? Yes, still reading correctly.
Girl 2: Uhh, I don't know.
Girl 1: Yeah, I think I would. I mean at first, I thought no way, but then, I really like new socks a lot.
Girl 2: Well, would you have to punch the kid?
Girl 1: Oh no, you wouldn't even know the person who did it.
Girl 2: Would it be the same kid every time?
Girl 1: No, probably not. That would suck. I mean, there's lots of kids there. And we wouldn't even know them anyways.
Girl 2: Yeah, I'd probably take the socks.

As I choked down an expletive and resisted the urge to say something in my best teacher voice complete with stare, I was suddenly struck by how I am the same as those girls. I like convenience, and I like nice things. Now I may be able to take or leave new socks, but there are a lot of other ridiculous, petty things that I enjoy. And quite frankly, while I feel there is nothing wrong in wanting good coffee or nice clothes or a wedding ring or whatever, I also don't really go out of my way to see how what I buy or do affects those around the world. I just let the machine punch the African kid and turn a blind eye. I think that may be one of our common sins as Americans. Greed aside, in accumulating life, liberty, and happiness, we feel that ignorance is our moral get-out-of-jail-free card.

Now, you will not see me tomorrow wearing only my bare feet with my GAP (RED) t-shirt and a skirt I sewed from blades of grass in my front yard (frankly I'm not doing enough watering to procure that kind of crop). But living honestly with my heart as I go about my day to day actions is a direction in which I want to walk. Today was also a reminder that I want to raise children who care deeply for others, who are empathetic, and who value all persons as of worth in God's eyes (and no, this is not a pregnancy announcement). And most importantly, it calls me to my knees to thank the GOD who searches my heart for his grace and mercy upon my life and to ask HIM to help me live in HIS direction.

Being Alexander

So... this week has had l0ts of wonderful blessings in it... but if you don't mind, spare me a brief rant for just a second.

In the past 48 hours:

- I lost my keys.
- My phone died randomly, and I can't turn it back on.
- The little girl I nanny had one of those days. I'm pretty sure if I had asked her to breathe today, she would have thrown a fit.

Some days are like that... even in Australia Denver.

Visit from little sister

Had a great weekend with my youngest sister, who just graduated from high school and is off to college in the fall. This is the two of us at Snooze, a breakfast place here in Denver.

My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.

We at least were prepared to watch one of the best movies of all time.

A week ago Tuesday... (I know, I know- and I still have to post about little sis-in-law's visit!) we crossed another To Enjoy off of my list. It's definitely beating out the To-Create one.

We headed up to the Red Rocks Amphitheater to enjoy some Wesley and Buttercup action and to enjoy the beautiful scenery. It was amazing! I was happy to be joined by lots of good friends, including some last minute additions. It was fun to watch the movie with a sold-out crowd and to hear the cheers, boos, and along-side quotes as the movie progressed.



The only warning I would give would be to watch out for aerial attacks. I was half-way through my dinner when I heard a SPLAT and received a protein rich bundle of well .... For your viewing pleasure, see below. I guess I can take a gift from a bird over an ROUS though.


So... what's your favorite line?