Saturday, September 29, 2012

Saturday Meanderings

Happy Saturday!  I'm loving today! 

Meanderings on...

My new phone!! -- I woke up with my new iPhone so spent lots of time rearranging all my apps and downloading new ones, resetting all my ringtones, organizing my photos and just playing around in it. I even got to talk to my mom this morning (on the new phone with my new headphones!)  I'm in love.  It's really nothing too special but its new to me and not shattered all over a lot faster...and white! :)

Breakfast -- Jason also brought me breakfast in bed while I was playing with the phone, what a sweetheart. :)

Messiness -- I have been all morning cleaning and organizing which has been a long process.  When did it get so incredibly messy and out of control? There's so much laundry to do, stuff everywhere and a very messy kitchen and living room!

Order -- Having a job really has been soooo much better for me.  I really need routine and order so having a job and the same schedule has helped. But with me actually having to work and still having busy evenings things have gotten way way too messy around here!  So I am super thankful for today and having the time to just stop and clean and organize and get life back in order.

Friends and Fellowship - I already blogged about my time with Donna this week.  It was such a fun time and that combined with my job and a few other gatherings with others here in Colorado has really made life here much better! A friend from high school even invited us over last weekend for Game Night which was a lot of fun!  Still looking for ways to get plugged in with groups...possibly meeting up with a book club or cooking club through meet-up the next few weeks but things are slowing progressing in that area!

A Little Bit of Company -- My friend, Jolene, is visiting next weekend so we're planning a trip into the mountains along with a pedicure an other girly/shopping time.  Cannot wait!

Illinois -- 2 weeks we'll be back in Illinois for my nieces baptism. Words cannot express how excited I am to see my nieces, family and just be back in Illinois.  I'm very worried it'll be way too short of a trip and it'll just make me more homesick but for now, I"m looking forward to it! 

Weather -- It's absolutely gorgeous outside!  72 degrees and not a cloud in the sky!  I'm excited to get out and enjoy the weather.  We actually had rain this past week and a lot of it.  I loved hearing the thunderstorm and we so needed the rain.  Cooper got to enjoy two days at the dog park this week swimming. Plus since it rained it doesn't feel as dry here.

On that note, I think I'll (finally) go shower so we can enjoy the rest of this gorgeous day!  Still lots of errands and things to accomplish before Monday including Revenge that needs to be watched, caught up on other shows from this week, and an iPhone case that needs to be bought.  Jason's grilling out tonight - YUM, I'm happy to have some quality time with him this weekend! 




Catching up with a Dear Friend!

Tuesday night I went out with a friend I haven't seen since 8th grade!  Back in middle school there were about 7-8 of us that were a close group of friend.  Sadly at the end of 8th grade, 4 of them moved and went to a different high school and we never all saw each other again. Yeah, talk about a depressing year!  LOL

One of them, Donna, was one of my best friends. She was one of the nicest and most loving people I knew. She moved to Minnesota but then later in life we were able to connect through Facebook when I learned she was now living in Texas.  I've always been so glad we've reconnected through Facebook as I could see that we still had a lot in common and she seemed not to have changed much (in a really good way) since I last saw her.

This past week I learned she was going to be in Denver for a week so I was excited to hear she was able to get together for dinner!  We met up at a local Italian place that she researched and we had so much fun catching up for a couple hours. Sadly the restaurant closed at 9:00 so basically kicked us out and I have to be up too early for work to stay out much later but I felt like we could have talked forever. We had so much to catch up on!  It's amazing how much much has happened to both of us in nearly 20 years. It was like no time had passed since we last saw each other and just picked up with where we left off!

I'm sad that she has to go to back to TX and that we don't have more time to catch up or that Jason wasn't able to meet her, but know that we will not go another 20 years before we see each other again!  Donna you are such a wonderful person filled with so much love, I am so glad our paths were able to cross again!  Look forward to keeping in touch and seeing you soon! And next time I'll remember to get a picture!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Obsessed with Revenge

I'm hooked on Revenge.  Actually both Jason and I are.  My brother, sister-in-law and parents have been watching since it began and raved about it but we were too busy to watch it. I'm really weird when it comes to TV shows and have to watch them in their entirety or else I get annoyed.  In fact, my mom was visiting and watched the season finale and I locked myself in a room so I wouldn't hear any of the final details.

Well we finally got around to watching it and are catching it on Netflix before the season premiere this Sunday.  Oh my gosh I love it!  And as a side-note  I am also so obsessed with Emily's wardrobe. Pumped to watch the rest of season one and even more excited to have a show we're both into for some quality time together this fall.

Okay back to episode 10 and I highly recommend you all check it out too if you haven't already!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

House Hunting in Colorado

Jason and I have a lease signed that goes through the end of March but being that the houses and the market are completely different here in CO I wanted to start looking at homes in areas we like to get a better idea of the costs and a feel for the different neighborhoods. Unfortunately, ever since I have started the process I've been nothing but discouraged.

When we moved here, we knew the area we wanted to buy in so we rented an apartment across the street from that subdivision.  We are both so thankful we did that because after a couple months of living here we realized we are way too far from the mountains and everything we want to do we have to drive on this really expensive toll way and we're just too far east and/or south.  On the plus side we do love our building and all the amenities but as for the location it is just not for us.

So for our future (and permanent) home we're looking to buy in one of two different towns and they're very similar in some ways but also very different. Whats funny is that those who live in one, bash the other and the ones who live in the other bash the first. So it's been interesting and super stressful to try to figure out where we want to live.  The perks of seriously each outweigh the negatives of each other!

We've been looking in both towns hoping we'd be able to narrow it down by finding "the house."  So far we have found two houses that we've loved and put offers in.  Long story short on one was that after putting the offer in I was sleepless and restless that night.  I was incredibly uneasy about the offer and the house. I had no real reason for how I felt since I did love it and Jason loved it and it had everything we wanted but just felt God was telling me it wasn't "the house."  After telling Jason and our Realtor how uneasy I was, we learned that we didn't get it anyway as our offer wasn't high enough but it was still a super emotional and crazy ride which I only could point towards God to.

The second house we put an offer in on we knew was a total long-shot.  It was a foreclosure and listed for way way under what it should have been and we were outbid by a number that was much higher than we'd have even been willing to go.  Again, emotional and a let-down but knew God had something better in mind.

Along the way we have looked at about 20 other houses and I have taken house hunting on as practically a full time job.  (sadly, I have become almost obsessed with it.)  The housing market is the complete opposite of what we came from in Chicago.  Houses are off the market faster than we can even get into them to see if we like them.  People are getting their asking price which means that the houses we want are in a different price bracket than we're really willing to spend.  (see my post about our new budget and how we're really trying to plan for our future and live well within our means)

In the past couple weeks we've really been leaning toward one of the areas more than the other but then that means we don't get as big of a house and the yards are tiny! It's been so confusing and overwhelming and part of my serious sadness that past few weeks (as it seems nothing is really going my way lately in this whole Colorado adventure we've been enlisted in!)!  Yesterday we got an email from our Realtor (who has been amazingly patient with us and determined to find us the perfect house) telling us that she is resigning as a Realtor and has accepted a different position still in real estate but no longer as an agent.  I felt like she was the one thing that was going right in the house hunt!  This to me was the final confirmation that I needed to give this whole idea of house hunting a rest for a while.

Jason and I discussed it last night and while I have felt like I've been being told to wait on the process I am finally convinced that I need to truly stop looking for a while and just see what happens.  I am sad to say that I have felt the nudge from God the past couple weeks but I wasn't ready to give up but am now finally ready to hear Him and wait.  As I said here...waiting seems to be the lesson I'm being taught this year, so waiting on our future house is going to have to be one of them too.

I'm confident we'll find the right house when the time is right.  I want it now...since we moved here for a house and yard and everything else but the timing isn't right. There may be some foreclosure or short sale that we can find but as for my serious house hunting, I need to wait.  And we will.  In the meantime,  we do live in a super nice, cozy apartment that has everything we could ever need at this time in our lives.  So it's not such a bad deal knowing our Lord has something else up his sleeve.  Some other (hopefully better!) reason that we need to wait and I'm thankful I am finally ready to listen.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Anniversary Weekend in the Mountains

Last weekend we took a weekend trip into the mountains and stayed in Breckenridge to celebrate our 2nd anniversary.  It was a bittersweet weekend as it was my cousins wedding back in Iowa but I was so thankful to have something else to distract me while also being somewhere fun with the love of my life!

Saturday we went to Octoberfest in Breckenridge, walked around our hotel outside in the evening with Cooper then went into town for dinner.  Sunday we went to church then to lunch with Jason's friend and his girlfriend in Frisco.  In the afternoon we went to Keystone in hopes of taking their gondola up but learned they weren't running it but we still got to take in some beautiful views before going back to Breck for their gondola.  It was Coopers first ride in a gondola.  Too funny...what won't that dog do with us?  Love you Jason and thanks so much for planning such a fun weekend! It was one I will never forget!

  
Love


Mmmmmm pretzel!


Our Steins


 Breckenridge


Happy 2 Years Jason!!


On our walk 


In Frisco


Drive to Keystone and then back to Breckenridge


Beautiful


Roadtripping buddies -- we're getting better at roadtrips together, practice makes perfect!


More beautiful views


Coop and Jason in the gondola :)


Coop loving the views in the gondola ;-)

Fill in the Blank Friday



Happy Friday!  We made it to the weekend!  It's a gorgeous day here in Colorado, 74 and sunny so a little warm for fall but I am not complaining!  Thanks to Lauren for Fill in the Blank Friday!  

1.  Something I am very proud of is    is that I moved here. It's been a really hard couple of weeks and it only seems to be getting harder.  But I know this is where we're supposed to be so I am proud of myself for following through and sticking with it while relying on Him    .

2.  My favorite thing about myself is   how much compassion I have for others    .

3.  My favorite color for fall is    dark purple -- I think I will have to go out tomorrow and buy me a dark purple shirt! .

4. Something I've been learning lately is     that a moment can change in an instant, whether it's a bad day or a good day, only one minute can change that...I'm learning a lot from the students I work with at school :) .

5. A book I am reading now/have read recently is    the book of Genesis...it's what we're studying at BSF so the only reading I've been doing.  But I have a book on hold at the library, "Leaving" by Karen Kingsbury, we'll see how it is, I don't nomally read Christian fiction but it looked like a good series.  Any recommendations of good reads lately? .

6. My favorite Pandora Station is   I don't use Pandora...I have Spotify and my favorite stations change all the time.  I love anything I can run to! .


7.  This weekend I will   ENJOY and try to get out of the funk I've been in the past couple weeks!  I had today off work so I got to sleep in (yay!)and painted my toenails but then spent most of it at the Apple store -- more on that later. Tonight Jason's grilling out then we're watching Revenge trying to get caught up for next weeks season premiere. We're going one of my high school friends house tomorrow night for Game Night.  Sunday I have a meeting for the ministry I am going to start serving in so super excited about that  .

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  What are you all up to?

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Tuesdays Meanderings

I don't think I've ever done a "Tuesday" Meanderings before but I am so behind on posts, so here we go!

Tuesday Meandering...

On Labor Day weekend --
We had a pretty low-key weekend because we were dog-sitting and uncertain when we were sitting until but we did get up into the mountains for a hike on Monday.  It was a gorgeous hike and not too far from home so will definitely not be our last there!

On BSF --
My good friend, Virginia had recommended Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) back when I was still in Chicago but already looking for ways to meet people here.  Once I got here, I had to wait all summer before it started up again but last night was the first meeting. I was kind of dreading it for a number of reasons. It goes until almost 9:00 and is a long drive which means late bedtime for me. Of course it's another thing I'd have to go to alone and "put myself out there for." I was tired and I had a million other excuses not to go but I did and am so glad I gave it a shot.  It seems like something I am really going to enjoy.  We will read Genesis in its entirety over the course of about 9 months.  We meet with (the same) small groups for half of the time and then hear a sermon or lecture for the other half.  Excited to dig into the Word and grow closer to God...also hoping I may meet a friend or two in the process. :)

On Cooper --
He's healing but managed to pull another staple out.  So now we have one left hoping it'll last and heal!  Jason found another tooth mark on him last night so the dog did bite him. I'm still not convinced it was an aggressive, mean bite but I am really not excited to take him back, ever. The cone is just dumb.

On the Job --
Still loving it.  It's pretty tough, I don't really get a break at all so I feek like I have to be "on" for 7 1/2 hours straight. We're working on that so hopefully I'll get one but right now poor Jason has to deal with me after work.  I am trying to figure out a way that I can get some downtime after work so I can adjust and veg a little before coming home so I can be the good wife I hope to be. But for now I'm still adjusting and trying to figure everything out with my new schedule.

On Ellen -- 
Ellen is back and I love her more than ever!  That woman can always put a smile on my face so I am pumped to get to see new episodes every day!

On Football --
I tried getting into football this past weekend and totally failed.  I said that now that we're in a new state I'd hopefully get to go to some games but they're just as expensive so no tickets as of yet.  Sunday on Facebook all anyone posted about was the Bears game or the amazing fall weather Chicago had.  Had I been in Chicago I wouldn't have even noticed all the Bears posts and would have been hating the fall temps because fall temps means it lasts two days and then it's freezing for month and month on end.  But this past Sunday I was totally jealous of everyone watching the game and cooking their chili and other fun fall appetizers. I was completely homesick.  And to make matters worse, we couldn't even get the Bears game here AND our power went out so I really had nothing to do to distract me.  That evening the Broncos were playing which I tried to get into and wasn't feeling it.  I went to bed around 9:30 and apparently our (very loud) neighbors are big Bronco's fans so I was fully aware of the score all night long.  Next week is a new week and I shall try again!  Bears play on Thursday and Bronco's on Monday...cooler temps are in store for us so bring on the chili and fun football appetizers!

On CPS -- 
It is so weird to have just student taught there in March and now I'm 1,000 miles away and completely removed from everything that's going on at CPS.  I barely even hear the news about it here. All I will say about it is that I support the teachers 100% and really hope the mayor can get his head out of his you know what and get this resolved. I'm very happy to not be affected by the strike but also sad that I am so far from all that's going on in a city that is to dear to me and a school system that is so beyond messed up.

On More CPS -- 
Speaking of CPS and student teaching...for all of you who knew about my situation last year, I found out that the original teacher I was teaching under is GONE.  No idea what happened, of course I have my ideas but let me just say that a little bit of my faith has been restored in CPS.  From what I can tell there is a new women around my age (probably much younger) who seems very excited about teaching the kids I loved so much.  I am soooooo happy for them!!!!  YAY, prayers have paid off for those sweet kids!

On my Computer --
Yeah, it only lasted about 2 more days so now I have Jason's computer.  Hes in the process of getting all my stuff transferred to this one.  I'm being a bit of a baby about it being a "hand me down" but as he reminded me, this computer is actually nicer than my original one.  Being that I know nothing about computers I just know this one isn't mine...but in reality I need to be really thankful for such a loving and sweet guy who is willing to give me one of his so we can save the money for whatever else comes our way!  Thanks Jason. :)

On Houses --
We've looked at so many houses and I've taken house hunting on as a full time job.  The market here is just the opposite of Chicago's.  Houses are only listed for a day before they have many offers and are under contract.  As I shared in a previous post, I'm being taught to wait and know God has the perfect house for us so I will wait on Him.  It's so hard but I'm trying!

Hope you all had a nice Tuesday and took a minute to remember 9/11.  This is what one of my students did to remember those lost; he drew the twin towers and then had everyone sign it. He was only 7 in 2001 so I thought it was pretty cool he took time out to do this. :)  Thanks to all who are and have served for our country!






Friday, September 7, 2012

Cooper's Staples :(

Wednesday night Cooper and I went to the dog park like we do every other night.  And just like every other night I worry the whole way there about him getting into a fight with some aggressive dog. While we were there he was running around as he loves to be chased and a German Shepherd was chasing him but Cooper made a sharp turn and the German Shepherd kept going straight and had his mouth open and Cooper got his tooth to his hip.  He yelped and came running to me.  At first I thought he just got hit hard but then he started bleeding.  Cooper seemed fine after that though and we only left because I was a little worried about other aggressive dogs.  I still thought he was fine until we got home and Jason convinced me that he should go to the vet.  3 staples and $300 later, Cooper was all healed.

I felt so bad!  I'm not in any hurry to go back to the park now. I am so worried all the time about him getting hurt from another dog and though I really don't think this dog was being aggressive I always think it's just a matter of time. We need a yard! Soon enough.

He did fine for the first two days but we just found that he pulled one of the staples out so I bet he'll get the others soon.  Ugh.

Cooper in his cone....

 He was sooooo sad that night so Jason got him a more comfortable one...


Haha, he looks like a girl with a bonnet on! But now that he was able to get one out the hard one is back on but I don't think it'll do him any good. Wish us luck! Hoping he heals quick!

Fill in the Blank Friday



Happy Friday!  I cannot believe it's already Friday but am glad it's here.  It's been a long week and even longer day.  I haven't even had time to blog about last weekend but I'll try later this weekend.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  

Linking up with Lauren for some Fill in the Blanks to kick off the weekend!

1.  My favorite grade in school was    5th grade because I loved my teacher and the projects we did, we were now in middle school instead of elementary school and I got my first horse!    .

2.  My favorite teacher was   Mr. Bohrer     because he made learning fun    .

3.  The highest level of education I have completed is   Masters of Arts in Teaching - Special Ed  .

4. School lunches for me were usually     made by my mom - even in high school she still made my lunch!  Wish she was here in CO with me to make my lunch for me every day still! :).

5. The amount of money you'd have to pay me to go back to high school would be   $500,000 for a nice house and car. :)  But I feel like I'm back in high school every day again now that I'm working in one!.

6. A few things that will always remind me of going back to school are:    new clothes, all the stores having their school supplies out and cooler temperatures.


7.  The first day of school was always    the best.  New outfit and got to see all my friends again but by day two I was already hating it and wanting school to be over.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Happy September!

I thought I posted this on September 1 but just realized it was still in draft form!  So only 6 days later...I cannot believe it's already September, I feel like I was just trying to figure out our plans for New Years Eve!  Instead it's Labor Day which of course symbolizes the end of summer and today also marks 5 months that we've been in Colorado!  Wow!

Now that summer is almost over, I am really excited for September.  It's a good month with some pretty great happenings:

  • Parenthood, my favorite show will have new episodes beginning on September 11.  YES, so excited! 
  • Also on September 11...DMB is releasing their new CD!! It's been over three years since they've released a CD so I am ready!  I don't buy CD's anymore now that I have Spotify but I'll definitely be on this one. :)
  • Our anniversary is on the 18th. Not sure what we're going to do to celebrate but the milestone alone is awesome. As much as I always say, "I love love" of course I'm excited to celebrate a day of love. :)  
  • The end of the month our church will be starting new small groups so I am excited to hopefully get into one which I have really been longing for since even before we moved here.  I miss the community and accountability of a women group.  Praying I'll find that here.
  • I am pumped to see the fall weather here.  I have always hated fall because with fall means winter but from what I hear, winters here will be different plus we actually experience 4 seasons here so bring on the fall with bulky sweatshirts, homemade chili and lazy Sundays!
  • The iPhone is supposed to be announced and released this month and I couldn't be more ready!  Since I wrote this...I have dropped my phone about another 100 times and have managed to crack the front of it now.  Time for a new phone! 
Happy September!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Thanks Jason!

A couple weeks ago my computer wouldn't turn on.  Jason looked into it and told me that it was probably because the graphics card wasn't connected to the mother board because of the heat that my computer produces. Yadda yadda yadda, those were all just words...all I cared about was that my computer wasn't turning on and I needed to use it! I felt like Carrie in Sex and the City where she learned all about backing up. I guess it's a pretty common problem with my model of computer but it's only 2 years old so I'm pretty ticked about it.

However, after doing some research, Jason learned that if you bake the computer it may bring it back to life.  Yeah, literally bake it...in an oven.  So he took it all apart and baked it then reassembled it all back together and it's working again!  We'll see how long it lasts but for now I'm typing on it so I am a super happy girl! :)

Thanks Jason for knowing all about computers and being able to fix my computer that I've realized I'm a little too attached to! :)  Best husband award goes to you!!