Tuesday, December 30, 2008

My New Year's Resolutions

I thought I would take this moment to compile a list of my resolutions for 2009. Hopefully I can actually cross some things off this year.

- Orginize my house
- Downsize, get rid of things I don't need
- Keep the inside of my car clean
- Take my dogs for more walks, more often
- Lose weight, blah blah blah
- Stay in better touch with family
- Try not to shop too much, save my money
- Go hiking, 4 wheeling, and fossil hunting with Matt more
- Get new mountain bikes and do more biking
- Finish our basement
- Take a minute to stop and smell the roses
- Marry Matt
- Go on wonderful honeymoon somewhere

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Whew It's Over..

So here it is Christmas night. I remember when I was a kid Christmas night was always sad, cause even though you spent all day playing with your new toys etc, you'd have to wait 365 days till next Christmas!

Christmas is always about traditions. New and old traditions make the holidays so fun. My family has never really had to many traditions. But this year was a whole new experience. I got to do everything I wanted to do this holiday. I bought gifts, I made the holiday dinner, spent Christmas Eve driving around looking at Christmas lights, and now on Christmas night I am spending it tucked in my house with the love of my life. Usually we spend Christmas Eve with Matt's family down in Canon City, then Christmas morning we wake up early and drive 2 hours up to Loveland to spend Christmas day with my parents. But like I said this year was a whole new experience. In previous posts I mentioned Matt would be on call and we would have to work around his schedule. Matt can't be more then 15-20mins from Colorado Springs, just in case he gets a call and he needs to go to it. So we could not spend Christmas Eve down in Canon City, and defiantly couldn't drive to Loveland today to spend Christmas up there. So this year, my parents drove down Christmas Eve to spend it with us. They came over yesterday and we had a little dinner at IHOP. Then of course Matt gets a call and we had to drop him off at home. So my parents and I drove around looking at Christmas lights. Then today after staying in a hotel room my parents called and wanted to meet at IHOP again for breakfast. It was a fun experience to have breakfast on Christmas morning at IHOP. Then we came home and had a very nice afternoon opening presents and playing with our new toys.

I started making dinner around 1:00. We had a pork roast glazed in Catalina dressing, with potatoes, carrots and onions next to it. Then along with the regular green been casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing and sweet potatoes. I decided to throw in a few new dishes. So I made a corn & broccoli cheese casserole and a cranberry sipper, which was cooked in a crock pot for 2 1/2 hours. It tasted just like a cider almost, but cranberry. Everything turned out absolutely wonderful. I felt like a queen eating all that food. Then my favorite was my dessert. I made a pumpkin pecan cheesecake. It turned out amazing.

Unfortunately, after dinner my parents had to head home. After an amazing holiday I was very sad to see them drive away. We laughed about sharing a new tradition, of eating at IHOP on Christmas morning and eating pumpkin pecan cheesecake for dessert!! I very much enjoyed everything about my holiday. And look forward to many new traditions with my family.











Wednesday, December 24, 2008

T'was The Night Before Christmas....

When all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

I love the way Christmas Eve makes me feel. I still get this feeling on Christmas Eve that Santa will be coming to my house. It's sad when you realize the truth about Santa Claus. It's amazing that the whole world has this belief of Santa. And the parents keep this huge secret from us so we can dream and believe.

I can not wait until Matt and I can be Santa for our children. I remember nights when my brother and I would try to stay awake on the living room couch waiting by the fireplace for Santa to come. In the morning he would come flying in my room to wake me up. I didn't care what time it was, we would run down the hall and look at all of our gifts just a huge mound of wrapping and bows. Then we would run to the kitchen table and see that some of the cookies had been eatin and the milk was half gone. It was the most incredible feeling in the world. I am so happy my parents gave that experience to my brother and I. It was such a feeling, that like I said, I still get this feeling on Christmas Eve night that Santa is going to be coming to my house and delivering gifts.

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Monday, December 22, 2008

I Love Holiday Baking!!

I work for a local trash company, and every year, I try and out do myself by baking stuff to take to work. I love making cookies, brownies, etc to feed the guys. I have about 15-20 guys that I work with, and they are big guys, and it's fun to bake for them. So this year, I pulled out my Grandma's recipe for sugar cookies. The first batch didn't look too good, so Matt and I got this crazy idea to dye the dough blue. Blue is the color of the trucks etc at my work. So we dyed the dough blue and then we frosted them blue. They turned out pretty dang cute.



I did go all out on them too. I made the sugar cookies, and I made my own butter cream frosting to frost them with. It I must say is pretty good. Then Matt and I decorated all the cookies. I also made some chocolate covered cheesecake bites and mint frosted brownies. I will take them to work tomorrow. Can't wait to get their reactions. Better save one for my boss when he gets back on Friday. (Yah, I am a bit of a suck up!)

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Can I relax yet?

Seems like the last week or so has been so hectic. I had to get my packages ready to go to Seattle for my older brother. Finish up my shopping for everyone that I will be seeing on Christmas. And baking, just cause I love baking at the holidays. Finally I see a light at the end of this tunnel.

And to make the stress worse. Matt does heating and cooling for a company here in town called Parkey's. Anyways, his boss scheduled two of the service techs off this whole next week. And it was going to be Matt and one other guy, but that guy retired on Thursday. So Matt will be the only tech from Sunday 21st - Sunday 28th. To make it worse, he will be on call all day and all night. So Christmas Eve is up in the air, and Christmas day we are having my family down and I will be hosting my first Christmas dinner etc. I am so hoping Matt isn't swamped with calls, it will just ruin his holiday.

On a happier note. I got my Uncle Mark's Christmas card, and found out that my cousin Levi had his first baby. It was a baby girl Dec 7, 2008 and her name is Abigail Caroline Lamfers. What a beautiful baby she is. He's excited!! And so am I. I guess that would make Abigail my second cousin?



Sunday, December 14, 2008

Damn That's A Big Burrito

Have you ever been to "The Black Bear Diner?" If you haven't I highly suggest that you go. They are a little diner, about 40 restaurants in their chain, and they are dedicated to home cooking. Their motto is "When we bring your plate to the table you will defiantly say WOW!" And that's an understatement. Every time we go there you would not believe the portions you get!! The side salad is a meal in itself!

So we went there today, after our Christmas shopping at the mall. We were so hungry we thought we were going to die. I ordered the Turkey Club, Matt the breakfast burrito. The burrito was only like $6.99 or something. And they bring it to our table, and well you can see for yourself.



Where in the world did they get a flour tortilla that big? Surprisingly, Matt got through the whole thing! He probably wont gain a pound either. HA! And we were so full when we left there, we didn't eat dinner.

http://www.blackbeardiner.com/

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Another New Blog...

I'm addicted I guess..

I made another new blog, called Boo's Bakery. It is going to be dedicated to baking/recipies etc! Hope you enjoy it!

Boo's Bakery



Tuesday, December 09, 2008

A Special Day

So today is 12/9/08 and while to some people it's just another snowy day in December. Today is a very special day for Matt and me. It was on this day in the year 2000, that we began our life together. We had just had a wonderful time at Chuckie Cheese Pizza with another one of our co-workers Heather. I drove Matt back to the Petsmart parking lot from Chuckie Cheese, so he could get his car. We giggled and fumbled around for words, then Matt finally asked, "Would you like to be my girlfriend?" I could barely speak, and smiled with a nod. We then leaned into kiss, but every time our lips would almost touch I would giggle. I will always remember that night.

I knew Matt had liked me, cause we had this inside joke at work, that he was my work husband and I was his work wife. It's funny how he would sneak up to the front just to talk to me, and our manager would keep yelling at him to get back to work. We would pass little notes back and forth to each other with the stupidest things on them. Those were such fun times. Look how young Matt looks in that picture, it's hilarious. I also remember trying to sneak kisses in the back store room, or break room. Hehe!

So we dated for awhile in December. I remember Matt asking me what I wanted for Christmas. He didn't expect me to say "A German Shepherd!" And I didn't expect him to get me one! Matt had just got back from Christmas with his family and he called me and told me to come over so that I could open my gifts. I got to his house and knocked on the door. He freaked out and told me to go around the corner really quick so I couldn't see in. When I was able to come in he told me to hurry up and open the box. It had a big red bow on it. Before I could even kneel down next to it, it started crying and whimpering. I looked at him with big ol' eyes. And in my head I'm thinking "My mom is going to kill me!!" So a little black nose pushed open the lid of the box and a German shepherd came bouncing out. The cutest little puppy I had ever seen in my life. At first I wanted to name him Brody, I always wanted a German shepherd named Brody. But the next morning we drove into town to have breakfast at Burger King. That's where we thought of the name Indiana.

A week or so later, Matt had brought up the idea of moving back down to Canon City. He had come to Ft. Collins to be with his x-girlfriend Sarah, and wanted to be back down with his family. I was a little concerned things were moving quickly, but I didn't want to loose Matt. So I agreed to move to Canon City with him. We found an apartment in Canon City on Main Street. We had no furniture and no jobs, but we didn't care. Matt quickly got a job about a week later for some home remodel place. I applied everywhere, but no one called me or anything!. My savings went quickly with no money coming in, and 3 months had passed and I was running on empty. About that time Matt had mentioned that he needed some time to himself, and needed to sort out his feelings. I was heart broken, how could he bring me here and then decide that I wasn't worth keeping around anymore? I reluctantly gave in and packed up everything I owned, including Indiana, and drove back home to Loveland. When I made it to Loveland, it was almost like Matt had disappeared. I attempted to call him several times and he never returned my calls. I basically gave up on Matt, and I went back to work at Petsmart. I tried to eventually move on with my life.

Three months later I received an email from Matt. It was like all the sudden he wanted to talk to me again. I bawled and bawled, and read his letter 100 times. I wanted to be strong and ignore his letters. After everything he had done or said to me, why should I give him the time of day? But something inside me was so excited to see him. I wanted to be his girl again, and be with him. He was working for a company that would stay at hotels in Denver for the weekends. So every Friday night I would drive down there and we would eat dinner at Denny's. I felt so good to see him again and be with him. After that job, he worked somewhere in Canon City, and so him and I would meet in Colorado Springs almost every single weekend. We would do all the touristy things, like Seven Falls, The Zoo, Garden of the Gods, and Manitou. He'd take me out to dinner at nice restruants and buy me little gifts. I remember this one time I came down, we went to the mall he bought me this skirt and blouse, and told me to wear it to dinner. It was so romantic to get all gussied up just to go to dinner.

Matt eventually moved in with his friend Dan in Colorado Springs. It made it easier for us to see each other on the weekend, and saved us a lot of money in hotel bills! On February 14th, 2002, I had just spent Valentines Day with Matt. We made a dinner together and watched movies. I remember telling Matt, "Awww, I wanted to go back to Loveland with a ring on my finger!" He smiled and said, "I will be right back!" He came back with a little ring, a blue heart stone in it. It was cute! He asked me marry him right there. And I said "Yes!" We were engaged!!

It was probably around March '02 we decided to get an apartment in Colorado Springs. I was so excited our life was moving forward. We found a nice place with a gorgeous view of Colorado Springs. So I quit my job in Loveland and moved to Colorado Springs for Matt. And we moved into our little apartment. Matt beat around the bush for awhile and wouldn't move in with me right away. He said he didn't want to give up his bachlorism with Dan at their place. Call me crazy but I waited for him. He finally came around and moved in with me. We loved our little apartment, but 2 dogs and one bedroom apartment just was too small for us.

In September we moved into a little rental house on Cedar Street. We were so excited to have a little house. Our landlord let us pretty much do anything. So we painted etc. Tried to make it ours. The dogs loved the big back yard so they could run. Matt had a garage and I had my little office. Things on Cedar Street were pretty quiet. We got sick of paying rent and started to look for our own home to buy.

We found a cute little place on St Vrain St. We looked at it on 12/26/08 and the bidding for it ended on 12/27/08 - it was a HUD home. We put in a full offer bid and found out a few days later our bid had been excepted! There we were "HOME OWNERS!" We moved in February 19, 2004. The first couple months were the best, we tore down walls, painted walls, redid, removed, and remodeled everything in that house. The house is cute now, but you should have seen it when we moved in. The lady that owned the house before us, had like 17 pets! Yikes!

You're probably wondering, if Matt and I were engaged so many years ago, why is just now we are talking about marriage. Matt had some things come up in 2002, that I don't really want to talk about, because to me it doesn't change the person I think Matt is or who he will be. So they are not worth talking about. But basically the engagement never felt official, if that makes sense. And with some things going on his life, he wasn't sure for awhile what he really wanted to do. So it wasn't until this year, Matt and I decided it was time we got married. We have been through so much in our short years and we deserve to be with each other. Matt appreciates everything I have done for him in the past, I have been there for him thick and thin. I have stood next to him in times where most women would walk away. Maybe it takes someone like me to be there for someone like Matt. I am not out to make Matt look like the bad guy. Matt is one of the most caring and compassionate men I have ever met. And I think it took everything I have been through to finally see that side of him. I hear from people that it takes Matt awhile to finally let someone into his life. I honestly think, it wasn't until the last 2-3 years I have fully felt loved by Matt. He has finally let me fully into his heart. He knows I'm not going anywhere, as long as he isn't.

Time has flown by here on St Vrain St. We have spent Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays and Anniversaries in this home. We watch the snow fall outside our window and we listen to the rain. We play in the sun, and rake leaves in the fall. There are so many memories wrapped up in this little house. Today is the last time we will celebrate 12/9 as our anniversary. It has for so long been the day we take aside for each other. But next year and every year after we will have a formal date to celebrate. A day we said "I Do!"

I found this little note in the notes Matt and I used to write back and forth at Petsmart. I thought it was funny that he wrote that. Maybe he could tell the future?



Monday, December 08, 2008

What's In A Day?

So when picking a wedding day, you're probably wondering where I came up with the day 09/26/09. Why is that symbolic to our relationship? What do the numbers mean?



The 9 to me is the day Matt asked me to be his girlfriend. He asked me out on 12/9/00. Nine is also one of my lucky numbers.

The 26 is the day Matt was born. His birthday is very special to me. It is also a day he will be able to remember. Ha!

It happens to fall on a Saturday, which is awesome!

And if you really want to get into it. The wedding location is reserved for us from 4-11. Four is my birthday, and also the month Matt was born. It is also another one of my lucky numbers.

The wedding is going to start at 6pm. Six is the month I was born.

If you add up the numbers, 9, 2, 6, 9 you get "26"


Other wedding facts:


Matt will be 30 (HA) and I will be 27.

At the time of the wedding, we have been together 8 years!

Our colors will be purple, orange and yellow.

Flowers will be sunflowers and other wildflowers.

Looking at past years in the Farmers Almanac, there is a very slight chance (like 10% or less) that it will rain on my wedding day.

I might write my own vows.

We picked the location because of the view. (Outdoor wedding)

The aspens will be changing.

The sun will be setting when we say "I do!"
Let's hope for a beautiful sunset that evening!

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Christmas Eve Will Find Me...

Today I was out in the shed gathering up our Christmas decorations, but it was 65 degrees out! I felt like I should be planting flowers, listening to the robins sing, or mowing the lawn. But it is December 7th, and it's time to get out all the exciting Christmas stuff. I love looking through all of our stuff, I just don't like putting it all up! But lucky for me it was a beautiful evening, and Matt helped me out. He never really likes decorating the house, he's more about just doing the inside, but I love going all out on the outside. So tonight he actually hung the icicle lights on the front of the house. I have wanted to do that for 4 years! So he hung up those and I decorated the front porch with some garland and bows. Our house is so adorable when it's all decked out. Then we have these snowflake lights that fade in and out and we hung those along our fence line. The house looks rather festive I must say. Then we were done outside and decided why stop there tonight, and we went ahead and got the tree all up. It's so cute, Matt found a set of bubble lights and put those on the tree. I never had bubble lights growing up, but they are pretty darn cool. It's always fun to get the Christmas tree out. It's like this moment in time where the house feels so warm and Matt and I are helping each other decorate the tree with lights and ornaments. We have this ornament on our tree that says "Our First Christmas Together - 2002" That was the first year we shared a Christmas together at our old place on Cedar Street. How fun to sit back and look at the memories we have created together. There will be an ornament added next year, Newlyweds 2009! Can't wait to pick that one out! After the tree was finished I wanted to try and get a picture of my dogs in front of it. Like children ya know! That was a disaster. I did end up getting this funny picture.



So then I topped off the evening by making some gingerbread cookies (from a packaged roll, ha) and now the house smells of gingerbread. What a wonderful evening.

Friday, December 05, 2008

Surprise!! I Thought Of More!!

Here are a few more things about me, you may not know! I had so much fun last time, I wanted to think of some more.

- I buy baby clothes and keep them in a hope chest.
- I know my mother does too.
- I secretly want twins.
- I have twin genes on my side, and so does Matt. (HeHe)
- I want a daughter so bad, so I can play dolls again.
- I talk about our future children by name. (HeHe)
- I hope our children have Matt's eyes.
- I have painted our living room 3 times.
- I am not scared of spiders.
- I am scared of grasshoppers.
- I have never been late on ANY bills.
- I have a pond of Koi fish.
- I went to Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
- I didn't show "myself" for beads.
- I watch King of Queens every night.
- I played the trumpet in high school.
- I was NOT a band geek though.
- I switched to flute to sit next to my friend.
- I thought the flute was too hard and quit.
- I had a wonderful childhood.
- I have no tattoos.
- I have my ears pierced twice in each ear.
- I laugh at the sound of popcorn popping.
- I like to have picnics in the cemetery, it's peaceful!
- I sleep on my side.
- I used to do web page design, I taught myself.
- I love animated movies.
- I think butterflies are the most beautiful thing.
- I went to Las Vegas for my 21st birthday.
- I love the song Bette Davis Eyes.
- I sing in my car, really loud.
- I have seen the ocean twice, I want to take Matt there.
- I was going to be named Dayna.
- I collect shot glasses from the states I've been.
- I've had 3 speeding tickets.
- I had two rabbits growing up.
- I like to eat cookie dough, brownie batter etc.
- I love bubble baths.
- I do not keep a check registry, I keep it all in my head.
- I'm embarrassed to dance at my wedding.
- I think I have a song picked out for our first dance.
- I most want to teach my children to be outgoing.
- I was too shy and I feel I missed out on a lot.
- I don't regret any choices I have made in my life.
- I see more and more of my mom in me everyday.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Winter Is Here!!

Well if you're unlucky enough to look outside and see nothing but white, then you're in the same boat I am. I am a Colorado native, never moved out of the state. Been alive for 26 Colorado winters, driven through 10 winters and I still get white knuckles and drive 5mph when it snows. I don't know what it is! I have never been in an accident, never slid off the road, nothing! I just can't get over the fear of driving on icy roads. I will look out the window at work all afternoon, planning my route home, should I take this way and avoid the traffic, or take this way, it may be more icy. I make myself sick! To make it worse, there is this huge hill on my way to work! Last year I tried to stop at the top and look both ways before turning, but I slid all the way down the hill. Lucky for me there was no traffic coming on the road at the bottom of the hill!

I drive a 2005 Ford Focus. Great car if you're looking for a good car on fuel, leg room, and butt warmers!! Hehe!! But when it comes to winter driving that's another story. The thing probably weighs about 1000lbs, haha! And to make things worse, I think it still has the stock tires on it. They are so bald it's not even funny! Today I checked my tracks in the snow and they were just flat, no tread! So I bit the bullet and bought new tires today. They wont be in until 12/13, so I am praying for no more snow storms! Hopefully this will help me get through this winter ok! Other than that, I think the snow is gorgeous! (To look at!) Haha!! :)

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Oh Happy Day?

I don't know if you were lucky enough to witness this rare occasion. But on Monday night, 12/1/08 the moon, Venus and Jupiter were supposed to put on a pretty cool show. They were supposed to be really close, and they wont be this close again until the year 2052.

Some saw a smiley face like this,



But from my house, I saw this,



How sad, he was frowning on us! I guess it depends which hemisphere you are in which way he was looking at you. Weird...

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Sisters

The last couple days have been pretty boring, so I haven't had much to blog about. But today something really awesome happened. I have been emailing back and forth to Matt's little sister, Ruthie, quite a bit. She's right around my age, but her and I have never really had a chance to just sit and talk. So tonight I thought I would call her. It was such a great feeling while her and I were talking. I just wanted to talk to her forever. We talked about everything, mostly making fun of Matt. Hehe. But it was so great to sit and talk to someone that I have been wanting to talk to for years.

I really want to become much closer to Matt's family then I have been. Emotions from the past have always kind of held me back. Alot of things were said and done to me that hurt me and I often wondered why I even held on to Matt the way I did. But I knew deep down that Matt and I would be together forever. And I am so glad I stuck through it all. And now that the past is the past and we are living for today, I am glad I am able to enjoy Matt's family the way I should.

So I am so excited to have started this realtionship with Matt's sister. She's such a great mother, friend and person. I want her to know that I will be there for her no matter what. I am a great friend and will never let her down. I will make sure and be there for her if she ever needs me. And if she ever needs to talk, she can call me, midnight if she needs to. I can't wait until she moves back closer. I have a feeling there will be alot of fun times! I think it's so great that we are both born under the gemini zodiac, cause that practically makes us sisters. And if I could draw up or make the perfect sister, it would be you Ruthie. Sorry if that was alittle too mushy. I am just so excited about the last couple months and the new relationships I am developing with Matt's family. I always had a relationship with them, but lately they feel like they are getting deeper, like they are my very own family.