We've Caught The Pug Bug

This is our new puppy, Carl. He's a purebred pug. Some people think pugs are ugly. But I think he's too cute for words. And we have done nothing but laugh since the day we got him.






Here he is with everyone else. They get along beautifully :)



Yes, we love him

A Place To Call Home

You may have heard me talking about us "looking for a new house". Well we have out grown our little starter house here on St Vrain St. What a great house it has been for us. And we have crammed so many memories into these short 5 years we have been here. But the time has come for us to move on.

We have started to see what is out there in our price range. I always thought Matt and I would live in old victorian home, but a decent victorian home with at least 3 bedrooms, and a decent yard is like 450,000$ - just a tad out of our price range. So we have started to look at newer houses, under one condition I don't want to see all my neighbors when I step into my back yard!

So here is our wish list-
3 car garage
Privacy
Finished basement
Huge backyard, with room for a hottub, and pond.
Gorgeous kitchen, perfect for baking :)
At least 3 or 4 bedrooms, plenty of room for our family to grow.
A studio, or office for Matt
A house with character
The yard doesn't have to be perfect, we will probably redo anyways
Room for a shop in the garage
Open floor plan
Wood floors and carpet

And a few other things, but if you find our house let me know! :)

Random Posting

Answer these questions with one word answers!!

1. Where is your cell phone? Charging
2. Your significant other? Hilarious
3. Your hair? Ponytail
4. Your mother? Bestfriend
5. Your father? Funny
6. Your favorite thing? Sunshine
7. Your dream last night? River
8. Your favorite drink? Diet Coke
9. Your dream/goal? Family
10. The room you're in? Den
11. Your fear? Ghosts
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Happy
13. Where were you last night? Couch
14. What you're not? Rich
15. Muffins? Banana
16. One of your wish list items? Baby
17. Where you grew up? Loveland
18. What are you wearing? Fleece
19. Your pet? Many
20. Your computer? HP
21. Your life? Great
22. Your mood? Stressed
23. Missing someone? Mom
24. Your car? Focus
25. Favorite thing to wear? Pajamas
26. Favorite Store? Old Navy
27. Your summer? Gardening
28. Your favorite color? Pink
29. When is the last time you laughed? Tonight
30. Where do you go over and over? ARC
31. Where would you like to go right now? Hawaii

Happy 30th Birthday My Love

Well today is Matt's birthday. I can't believe he is turning 30!

And I would like to dedicate this song to him: Tim Mcgraw "My Next 30 Years" I feel it sums up everything. My favorite line is "Raise a little family and hang out with my wife."



Here are some pictures from Matt's birthday. I got him a little cheesecake, and then I wrote 30 on it in frosting and put sprinkles on it :) Then today we went to Cripple Creek with his mom and did some gambling. Matt had a blast. Then we were leaving and there were donkeys all over the street, they came right up to the car. It was funny :)

Dear Seattle, I miss you...

So this past weekend Matt and I spent the weekend in Seattle, WA. My big brother James lives up there and his furnace had gone out and he wanted Matt to install a new furnace. He said he would fly Matt out there, so I thought I would tag along to supervise.

Our trip started Friday at 4:00am. We had to wake up early, to drive to DIA in Denver, Co to catch our 8:35am flight. We made it in perfect time and got great seats on the plane. Our flight there was nice, it was cloudy coming in to Seattle, but you could see Mt Rainier poking through the clouds, it was an amazing site.

We landed in Seattle, WA about 11:00. My brother picked us up. It was spitting snow, and was about 40 degrees. From there we went to his house to check out the furnace etc. We went and got lunch at Dairy Queen, and we took it just a few blocks from his house to the Puget Sound, which is a huge body of salt water that runs all through Seattle, WA etc. It was so amazing! There were seagulls and seashells all over the coast. Here pics of us at the Puget Sound.




Then we went to buy the furnace and came home with it. About 5:00 James and his girlfriend Jennifer took us to our hotel room to get cleaned up for dinner. We were going to ride a ferry for an hour to Bremerton, which is across the Puget Sound, west of downtown Seattle, WA. We had dinner reservations at Anthony's Seafood restaurant there, where they wanted Matt to try the King Crab legs. We rode the ferry, over to Bremerton, here are some pics from the ferry ride.







Unfortunately, when we got to Anthony's, they no longer carried the King Crab legs. Awww, so Matt got the crab cakes. He said it was the freshest seafood he had ever had. We had a great dinner. James paid for our dinner in appreciation of Matt doing the furnace. It was the best night. After dinner we had to wait for the ferry to come in to ride it back to Seattle, so we killed some time walking up and down these walk ways with these cool volcano fountains, and Matt walked down to the Puget Sound coast and found star fish. He was in heaven. We then rode the ferry back to Seattle, WA and enjoyed the Seattle skyline all lit up. It was very cold, probably in the 30's and being on the water didn't help! It was amazing. Here are some pics from dinner and the ferry ride.




After that, they took us to our hotel where Matt and I were definitely NOT sleepless in Seattle, I think we slept harder then we had ever slept before.

The next morning they met us at 8:00am. It was about 50 degrees in Seattle, partly cloudy. We had a 2 1/2 our drive to the Pacific coast to Ocean Shores, WA. For those of you who don't know, Matt has never seen the ocean. So I wanted to take this opportunity to take Matt there and show him one of the most amazing sites in the world. We had so much fun in the car there. Laughing and joking and hanging out with my brother and his girlfriend. We made a pit stop in Aberdeen, WA where Kurt Cobain of Nirvana lived. When Matt got out for this pic, you could hear a million frogs.



When we made it to Ocean Shores, we came down this straight long dirt road that led right to the ocean. And I said "I see the ocean!" And Matt stared and stared, and he said "Where?!" I said "Right there, it's the horizon!" Just then we could start to see the waves crashing. The look on Matt's face was priceless. He looked like he had seen a ghost or something, but in a good way. We drove right up on the beach and walked around it for awhile. We found a ton of seashells and sand dollars! I felt bad telling Matt we needed to go. He was ready to move in. Here our our pics from the beach.





After the beach we were hungry and found this little pizza place. They had awesome pizza. And we took the oppurtunity to warm up a little bit. It was probably in the 40's there on the beach, and windy. But the sun was shining. After lunch we started to head back to Seattle. Matt slept the entire way home. We kept laughing, and saying "We tuckered the little guy out!" He was like a kid in a candy store out there at the beach.

When we arrived in Seattle, it had warmed up a little bit into the upper 50's. We took some awesome pics of Mt Rainier - it had made an awesome apperance for us.



We made it back to James's house about 5:00 and they started work on the furnace. Everything went perfect and they had it all installed by 9:00pm. Meanwhile, Jennifer and I watched Airplane, what a funny movie.

The next morning was bittersweet. We knew it was our last day in Seattle, but we had so much fun stuff to do today. It was a gorgeous 70 degrees all day. Partly cloudy, but just an amazing day. You could see for miles, which is rare in Seattle I guess. James picked us up from our hotel, and took us to his house where Jennifer had made us a breakfast of Swedish pancakes (they were awesome) and sausage. We shared some good times and then we got ready to start our event filled day. We started by going by James's work. He works at Boeing in Renton, WA. Here they make every single Boeing 737 that has ever left the ground. Huge place right on Lake Washington. Then we drove around to Bellview, where Microsoft is and where Bill Gates lives. Which took us over the floating bridge on Lake Washington, and led us into downtown Seattle. He took us up to Queen Anne Hill which is a great overlook spot. Here are our pics from Queen Anne Hill. If you look in the second pic, you can see Mt Rainier in the background.




Then we went to the Space Needle in downtown Seattle. We rode an elevator to the top. The top was about 520 feet. And the elevator only took about 10 seconds. From the top you could see everything. Gorgeous site. Here are some pics from the Space Needle.






After this we went to have lunch at Red Mill Burger, which is supposed to be the number 1 burger in all of Seattle. Matt and I had seen a show about it on the Travel Channel. We got there and there was a line out the door. Turns out the burgers were pretty darn good.



After this we went to the world famous Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. There were so many cool little shops etc. But we were here to see the fish be thrown. They were very busy so fish were flying everywhere. Matt wondered around for awhile looking at the fish etc, and then fell in love with a little crab and have to have it. So the guy came over and Matt ordered it. It was so funny they picked up and yelled something and then threw it to the other guy. It was amazing to see them throwing that stuff. Fun atmosphere. Here's pics of Matt getting his crab. In the third pic, his crab is sitting on the counter waiting to be packed up for check in luggage lol. And yes it made it home ok!





Also, all over the market, Daffodils were growing everywhere. They had flower boxes all over the roofs, flower beds etc. It was beautiful.



After the market we headed to the airport to catch our 5:15 flight home to Denver, Co. We were so sad to leave this beautiful state. If I could tell someone about Washington I don't know where I would start. And considering I only saw a small section of it. The woods were what woods should be. They put Colorado woods to shame. They were so much thicker and taller, and every pine tree had vines growing up it and ferns growing on it. Such beautiful woods. The water, oh the water was amazing. The Puget Sound, a huge salt water bay in Seattle where in the summer months Orka's come to feed. Can you imagine seeing a wild Orka? Oh I would be in Aw. The mountains were gorgeous, old volcanos now left dormant, but graced with snow atop them and when they make an apperance, it takes your breathe away.

Here's a pic of us flying out of Seattle. You can see 3 of the volcanos. In real life you could see 4, but the 4th one didn't show up on the picture. Mt Rainier (center), Mt St Helens (left), and Mt Hood (right).



Now that we are home. We are left with the memories of the sights we saw. Gorgeous! And for those of you wondering about Matt's crab. Here he is.



And Matt said he was so fresh and wonderful. And I'm sorry, but I thought I was going to puke!

Boys And Their Toys...

Ever since I met Matt he has talked about dirt bikes, and how he used to have one. He's always wanted one. And today we found one for him. It's a 1976 Kawasaki Enduro (street and dirt) It needs some work but that's what Matt is best at. He took it for few spins around the block. He was having a ball. Even I hopped on the back for a ride.

An Open Window Opportunity

Being a home owner gives you certain advantages over renting, obviously. So today Matt and I got a crazy idea about putting a window in our basement laundry room. We have a 100+ year old house with a rock foundation, and it crumbles easily. So we already had this window well cemented in, like it was old coal shoot or something. We thought it would be fairly easy to just knock out the old stucco and rocks and throw in a new window... We were sorta right.

We started about 2:00pm, knocking out the old stucco etc.



Yikes, we better finish this today! There's my basement!


Then we framed in the window.


Then after going to Home Depot for some framework, foam and dinner. There you have it! A new window!

Matt is sure handy to have around. I think I may keep him a little longer :)

200 Days And Counting

So my wedding countdown hit 200 today. So that means tomorrow will be 199 and then 198? Yikes. I am getting a little better with dealing with the stress. Especially since we are crossing things off our list. My bridesmaid did end up backing out, but luckily I have the most awesome future sister in the law in the world. Ruthie! Who is going to step in for her. And when I think about it. I should have asked Ruthie in the first place. And I want Ruthie to know that I do not consider you "A Backup!" Matt and I are so honored that you will be sharing that day with us and standing up with us.

In other news, my brother in Seattle, WA, James. His furnace went out at his house and who you gunna call? Matt... So he will be flying Matt out there to install a new furnace etc. So I get to go along for the ride. Our first trip to Seattle! I can't wait! Matt really wants to eat the fresh seafood. I think I will just have the chicken :)

I still have some growing up to do..

It seems like the last couple years, I've taken huge steps towards adulthood. And yes I have been an adult for awhile. But I find myself doing responsible adult things. Go ahead and laugh, but I'm proud of myself. It started about 6 years ago when I started paying for my own car insurance. Go me! And then Matt and I bought a house we've lived in now for 5 years. And then just other little things I have started to do to take care of us. I had my eyes checked about 6 months ago, because I had trouble seeing far away. And then last Friday... I did it, I called the dentist! Matt and I have dentist appointments on Monday the 16th at 5:30 and 6:00. Right after each other. We still haven't decided who gets to go first. But I haven't been to the dentist since I moved out (7 years, eek!). It's always been an issue of money. So now that we have health insurance we are going to get back in the 6 month routine. So wish us luck on our dentist adventure.
Also, in other news. Tomorrow at my work, we are going to be on TV! The company that does our computer system has developed a GPS thing to monitor the trash trucks and he can mark people not out, etc. So anyways, we are the test site for this program so tomorrow, CNN business is going to come for like 6 hours to film a couple things. I don't have a script or anything to say, but I will be in the background working hard in my Springs Waste Systems polo!!

I need to vent, and my blog listens!

Well, here I am in tears. I am planning my wedding for September 26. The biggest day of my life. And yes to everyone else it's just another day. They'll show up to a party have some fun dancing etc, and go home. I told Matt tonight, that I don't want to get married anymore, I don't want to go to my own wedding!! I am so stressed out about all the little details of wedding planning and all the stupid little knitpicky things that need to be done and I just want to scream. Don't get me wrong, I love Matt to death and want to spend my life with him, but it's this anticipation of the most stressful day of my life. And when it comes down to it, who's going to notice if something isn't right, or it's the wrong color etc? I can't wait until the day after my wedding, when I can just sleep in and not have a care in the world. That will be the best feeling in the world. But until then, I warned Matt, I am going to be a bitch. And I can't help it, I have people calling me to ask me this and that. I always tell Matt, we are two nice people, we do nice things for everyone else, and we don't get anything back. Matt is way to nice, he lets people walk all over him, because he is so nice. I am the same way. I don't know what it is about me. I will do anything for anyone, and I never get anything back in return. Yah, I have my health and love, but a good honest deed someone has done for me? It's been awhile. I get burnt every time.