Heidi- we hope you have a wonderful birthday! We love and miss you! (Gunner and Porkchop, too!)Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Happy Birthday Heidi!
Heidi- we hope you have a wonderful birthday! We love and miss you! (Gunner and Porkchop, too!)
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Busy week ahead...
Tomorrow- Monday- is a big day for us! MacKenzie has to go back to Camp Bow Wow (after Mommy promised she did not have to go for a long time- oops!) because I have class and Jackson has a work dinner. I am hesitant to call it "work" since it is at the ESPN Zone in downtown Denver with a bunch of dudes. Whatever. He has to go. That would mean a long day in the cage for MacKenzie. Instead of feeling guilty all day for our dog's legs being crossed we just decided to fork over the cash and send her to camp. I have not told her yet. I am waiting until the morning so she will continue to cuddle with me on the couch tonight. ;) It is really nice though because she gets dropped off tomorrow morning and we won't get her until Tuesday evening and we'll only pay for one night! We'll miss her for the little time that we are home between those times though! She is so much company!
I begin my new job tomorrow, too. I go in at 8:30. I already purchased a bottle of 5 hour energy to help get my through what promises to be a long day of firsts! My first day of work and school. Nothing in my life ever comes gradually. I should work on that. Luckily (or unluckily- it depends on your view of the world) I only have a 4 day week because of my knee surgery on Friday. I have not been to the job yet, but I hope it beats having my knee cut open. I am betting it will. Susie flies in on Thursday night and Jackson cannot wait to see her. I mean I love her and all, but this kid is amped for his "mommy to come visit." I am aware that he is 31 and that is mildly pathetic, but I'll take it.
We spent today running a few errands before our busy week. I had to buy some flats to wear out and to work after my surgery (and possibly before since they're so cute and my knee kills me in heels anymore). Jackson enjoyed driving us around in his new unit. I even drove it. It is like a tank. I'll stick to my luxury Mazda. ;) Oh and new on my car: the tire place lied and told us something was bent that was not. I got the whole thing fixed for an additional $70 instead of $500. Not bad! :)
I feel that God has really blessed us lately. I hope the same is true for all of you.
Have a GREAT week!
I begin my new job tomorrow, too. I go in at 8:30. I already purchased a bottle of 5 hour energy to help get my through what promises to be a long day of firsts! My first day of work and school. Nothing in my life ever comes gradually. I should work on that. Luckily (or unluckily- it depends on your view of the world) I only have a 4 day week because of my knee surgery on Friday. I have not been to the job yet, but I hope it beats having my knee cut open. I am betting it will. Susie flies in on Thursday night and Jackson cannot wait to see her. I mean I love her and all, but this kid is amped for his "mommy to come visit." I am aware that he is 31 and that is mildly pathetic, but I'll take it.
We spent today running a few errands before our busy week. I had to buy some flats to wear out and to work after my surgery (and possibly before since they're so cute and my knee kills me in heels anymore). Jackson enjoyed driving us around in his new unit. I even drove it. It is like a tank. I'll stick to my luxury Mazda. ;) Oh and new on my car: the tire place lied and told us something was bent that was not. I got the whole thing fixed for an additional $70 instead of $500. Not bad! :)
I feel that God has really blessed us lately. I hope the same is true for all of you.
Have a GREAT week!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Jackson's new ride
Today we felt a little spontaneous so we bought a new car. Yep. We bought a new car on a whim. I know. It is odd. We got a heck of a deal though. They way overpaid us for Jackson's trade-in and we also got the employee discount thanks to our brother-in-law. (Thanks, Tom!) Jackson was so excited. He was like a little kid. He kept calling me the coolest wife ever. I'll take it. ;) (Quite a turnaround from yesterday's grump, I might add!)
Smiling with the new unit. It is a Toyota FJ Cruiser. The thing is honestly uglier than sin, but Jackson thinks it is rough and tough looking. Whatever works. :)
Jackson and MacKenzie posing next to the new unit. It snowed a ton here today so it was a perfect day to get Jackson into a 4wheel drive. I think he will really enjoy this ride.
Smiling with the new unit. It is a Toyota FJ Cruiser. The thing is honestly uglier than sin, but Jackson thinks it is rough and tough looking. Whatever works. :)
Jackson and MacKenzie posing next to the new unit. It snowed a ton here today so it was a perfect day to get Jackson into a 4wheel drive. I think he will really enjoy this ride.Like I said, I know it is weird to randomly buy a car.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Wash Park
Today I enjoyed my last weekday of "freedom" before school and work starts again. Sad. I am excited for this semester though. And starting a new job is always interesting. Notice I did not say fun.
Jackson had a short work day so I met him at his office at 2:30 and we went to Wash Park. (I have posted about how cool it is before- you may or may not recall. If you don't recall then you better be happy that you do not have to sit for the GMAT, GRE, SAT or LSAT anytime soon because reading for comprehension and memory are important.) Being that is was January 2nd and 60 degrees (again with the love for CO) the park was FULL of dogs. No one had them on leashes! YAY! MacKenzie ran wild for a long time. She loved it! We found an old tennis ball (there are tons of tennis courts there...Jackson is going to join a league this summer! I'll stick to tennis on the Wii) and Jackson threw that ball as far as he could for as long as he could. MacKenzie was in heaven! I got to chat with some fellow dogs owners. Mainly about Marley & Me and how funny it was that MacKenzie can jump so high to get a ball. She impresses people. Except when she won't stop playing ball when we are ready to go. Then Mommy and Daddy are less than impressed. And we matter. We hold the food. ;)
Other than that we did not do much. Jackson seems to be coming down with a cold and has been a bit grumpy this evening. Tomorrow is a new day. I am thankful for that.
Jackson had a short work day so I met him at his office at 2:30 and we went to Wash Park. (I have posted about how cool it is before- you may or may not recall. If you don't recall then you better be happy that you do not have to sit for the GMAT, GRE, SAT or LSAT anytime soon because reading for comprehension and memory are important.) Being that is was January 2nd and 60 degrees (again with the love for CO) the park was FULL of dogs. No one had them on leashes! YAY! MacKenzie ran wild for a long time. She loved it! We found an old tennis ball (there are tons of tennis courts there...Jackson is going to join a league this summer! I'll stick to tennis on the Wii) and Jackson threw that ball as far as he could for as long as he could. MacKenzie was in heaven! I got to chat with some fellow dogs owners. Mainly about Marley & Me and how funny it was that MacKenzie can jump so high to get a ball. She impresses people. Except when she won't stop playing ball when we are ready to go. Then Mommy and Daddy are less than impressed. And we matter. We hold the food. ;)
Other than that we did not do much. Jackson seems to be coming down with a cold and has been a bit grumpy this evening. Tomorrow is a new day. I am thankful for that.
Cabbage Rolls!!
For as long as I have been alive my Dad has been making cabbage rolls like this on New Year's Day. There is some superstition that cabbage brings one good luck in the year. I won't argue with it because my life has been pretty smooth sailing for the past 24+ years. I know. I'm getting old. Let's move on.
The rolls in the pot! After I finally convinced Jackson that these are not baked and that I'd seen Dad cook them for years in a pot, we got started. I also had to convince Jackson that I didn't have to cook the rice beforehand. Again. I've seen it done before and he hadn't. After that he gave in and let me lead. Thank you. ;)
Yum! The finished product! A cabbage roll is just hamburger (I know. I do not like hamburger but I make an exception for cabbage rolls), onions, white rice (UNCOOKED!) and salt. You roll that mixture into a ball and stuff into the cabbage leaf. It is quite easy and really fun!
And I have added a photo of MacKenzie because she was looking sharp for the new year.
The rolls in the pot! After I finally convinced Jackson that these are not baked and that I'd seen Dad cook them for years in a pot, we got started. I also had to convince Jackson that I didn't have to cook the rice beforehand. Again. I've seen it done before and he hadn't. After that he gave in and let me lead. Thank you. ;)Yum! The finished product! A cabbage roll is just hamburger (I know. I do not like hamburger but I make an exception for cabbage rolls), onions, white rice (UNCOOKED!) and salt. You roll that mixture into a ball and stuff into the cabbage leaf. It is quite easy and really fun!
And I have added a photo of MacKenzie because she was looking sharp for the new year. Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year's Day hike
Since we were blessed with a beautiful, sunny 55 degree day on January 1st, we decided to hike at Red Rocks. It is a gorgeous area of Denver. (We'd take you there if you visited! Hint, hint.) I took a ton of photos because my sweet husband bought me a digital picture frame the other night. Why? Just because. Collective Aww. Thank you. I know. He's awesome.
This is looking down into the Amphitheatre built into the rocks. It is awesome. We ran the stairs. That was not so awesome. We intend to go to a concert in the summer because the venue cannot be beat!
This is the view of downtown Denver from to top of the Amphitheatre. Gorgeous.
I call this one "A Man and his Dog." This is normally my view during hikes because MacKenzie has never ending energy and pulls Jackson along. (I cannot lead her during hikes because my knee is still too unsteady! BOO!)
This is MacKenzie sitting on a huge rock. She looks so peaceful. I love this little mountain dog.
Today is one of the days that makes us just love being in Colorado. Half-way through of hike we removed our jackets. In January! It was just too awesome. I love that all of this outdoor adventure is right in our backyard. We are truly blessed.
Happy New Year!
Our trip to Indiana
Saturday night Susie picked us up at Indy's new, fancy airport and we headed to dinner downtown. We ate at Harry & Izzy's. It is a sister restaurant to St. Elmo's and has the same shrimp cocktail. YUM! It was so good. Thank you, Susie. After dinner we dropped Jackson off at a bar to hang out with some of his guy friends. Susie and I went to Kroger then headed back to her place. It was so nice to be in Fishers after a few crazy days in NYC!
Sunday morning we woke up and cooked breakfast: Jackson's famous french toast. It was great. Then we headed to church at Grace. It was so nice to be back in our home church. Susie went with us. It was baptism day so she didn't get to see Dave Rod speak. Bummer. After church we ran some errands at Hamilton Town Center. I cannot believe that they built that place as I was leaving. Jerks. We then went back to Susie's house and has Christmas. YAY! Who doesn't love to open presents?! Thanks again, Susie.
My Uncle Duane had some spare front row IU tickets for Sunday's game so we ran down to Bloomington to see our beloved Hoosiers lose to some school we'd never heard of. What a bummer. We still loved seeing our Hoosiers play. While we were in Bloomington we ate a Moe's Mexican Grill and they had-wait for it- white cheese! I was so pleased!
Monday we slept in because Sunday was so busy. Leave us alone. We were on vacation. We went to lunch for Mexican again because it was so good the night before. We took Susie to see Marley & Me. It was a really cute movie. We went from seeing no movies since we'd been in CO to seeing 3 in two weeks! After the movie we headed up to Marion to see my dad and step-mom. We visited with them for a while and saw all of their new toys! We met Christina and Ben for dinner at Pizza King. What a treat! I gave in and went to see my parent's new house. I got to see Macy and Madison so that was a plus. It was nice to see my parents even if the conversation was extremely strained.
We got back to Indy and had 4 hours to sleep before we needed to head to the airport. Sweet. Susie had a flight to Orlando at the same time that we did to Denver so we carpooled. It was nice to get to spend the morning with her. Our flight to Denver felt like it took a lifetime because we were so tired! I dropped Jackson off at his office and headed to get my little dog. I was so happy to see MacKenzie! She was happy, too. I think she thought we had forgotten to come get her. Poor little girl. She was so dirty! We came home and showered right away!! Jackson only had a half-day so I went to get him and we went to lunch. After a quick, but brutally expensive trip to the grocery store we went to bed! Yes, it was about 4pm. We were so tired. We got up for a bit that evening, but not much. We pretty well slept into the next day!
Wednesday Jackson didn't have to be at work until 12:30 so we were lazy and loved it! We had nowhere to be and didn't feel guilty for sleeping in. (Not that the guilt hurt us much on our vacation, LOL!) MacKenzie went for a haircut at Petsmart. She was so mad that I was leaving her again. She screamed and cried. I felt awful. She looks so cute now though. She has a real schnauzer haircut. I did some shopping, but the mall was still insane. I thought by New Year's Eve the mall would have calmed down some. It had not. Where is the recession when I need it?! The rest of our day was spent running errands and catching up after being gone for a week. We never vacation for that long so it really threw us off schedule. We cooked a turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy for a New Year's dinner. (We missed Christmas dinner and had a cold pizza so we felt it was fitting to do it up for New Year's!)
We made it to see the ball drop on NYC time, but were in bed before it was officially 2009. We're old. What can I say?
Happy 2009!
Sunday morning we woke up and cooked breakfast: Jackson's famous french toast. It was great. Then we headed to church at Grace. It was so nice to be back in our home church. Susie went with us. It was baptism day so she didn't get to see Dave Rod speak. Bummer. After church we ran some errands at Hamilton Town Center. I cannot believe that they built that place as I was leaving. Jerks. We then went back to Susie's house and has Christmas. YAY! Who doesn't love to open presents?! Thanks again, Susie.
My Uncle Duane had some spare front row IU tickets for Sunday's game so we ran down to Bloomington to see our beloved Hoosiers lose to some school we'd never heard of. What a bummer. We still loved seeing our Hoosiers play. While we were in Bloomington we ate a Moe's Mexican Grill and they had-wait for it- white cheese! I was so pleased!
Monday we slept in because Sunday was so busy. Leave us alone. We were on vacation. We went to lunch for Mexican again because it was so good the night before. We took Susie to see Marley & Me. It was a really cute movie. We went from seeing no movies since we'd been in CO to seeing 3 in two weeks! After the movie we headed up to Marion to see my dad and step-mom. We visited with them for a while and saw all of their new toys! We met Christina and Ben for dinner at Pizza King. What a treat! I gave in and went to see my parent's new house. I got to see Macy and Madison so that was a plus. It was nice to see my parents even if the conversation was extremely strained.
We got back to Indy and had 4 hours to sleep before we needed to head to the airport. Sweet. Susie had a flight to Orlando at the same time that we did to Denver so we carpooled. It was nice to get to spend the morning with her. Our flight to Denver felt like it took a lifetime because we were so tired! I dropped Jackson off at his office and headed to get my little dog. I was so happy to see MacKenzie! She was happy, too. I think she thought we had forgotten to come get her. Poor little girl. She was so dirty! We came home and showered right away!! Jackson only had a half-day so I went to get him and we went to lunch. After a quick, but brutally expensive trip to the grocery store we went to bed! Yes, it was about 4pm. We were so tired. We got up for a bit that evening, but not much. We pretty well slept into the next day!
Wednesday Jackson didn't have to be at work until 12:30 so we were lazy and loved it! We had nowhere to be and didn't feel guilty for sleeping in. (Not that the guilt hurt us much on our vacation, LOL!) MacKenzie went for a haircut at Petsmart. She was so mad that I was leaving her again. She screamed and cried. I felt awful. She looks so cute now though. She has a real schnauzer haircut. I did some shopping, but the mall was still insane. I thought by New Year's Eve the mall would have calmed down some. It had not. Where is the recession when I need it?! The rest of our day was spent running errands and catching up after being gone for a week. We never vacation for that long so it really threw us off schedule. We cooked a turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy for a New Year's dinner. (We missed Christmas dinner and had a cold pizza so we felt it was fitting to do it up for New Year's!)
We made it to see the ball drop on NYC time, but were in bed before it was officially 2009. We're old. What can I say?
Happy 2009!