State Fair 2009!

i spent the next few days hanging out with my parents in Wilmington and did a whole lot of sleeping! It was really relaxing and a great time with my parents. Then Andy flew in Thursday night and I met him back in Raleigh. His friend Jay got married that Saturday and Andy was an usher in the wedding so we did lots of fun wedding festivities over the weekend. And it just so happened that we were home at the start of the State Fair!! (coincidence? i think not!). Since we missed it last year, we were pumped to get to go this year. And we kept another food diary which looks eerily similar to the once from a couple years ago ... we are definitely creatures of habit!

Greta's wedding

I had a week of vacation in October and we got to head back to NC. I left first post-call on Friday and got to Raleigh to have some fun girl time with Brandy and Christina then play with all the kiddos Saturday morning before heading down to Wilmington. One of my college roomies Greta got married Saturday night and it was a lot of fun! it was a little lonely not having Andy there with me though...

Greta and James got married right down on the water and the weather didn't exactly cooperate. It really was a beautiful spot but it started POURING about 10 minutes for the wedding. So we all piled onto the porch of the house and waited it out. The wedding was a little damp and a bit abbreviated but they were still married at the end of the day



the high school crowd


Greta was the perfect roomie for me as a college freshman and I am so thankful I was able to be there.

Serious SNOW!

I took this picture last week because it was snowing for the THIRD time here in October! We probably got about an inch accumulate and it melted within hours.



Little did I know what was in store for this week! This is what we woke up to yesterday morning. About 4 inches on the ground yesterday morning.


And the snow just kept coming! When I went to leave work yesterday, there was a solid 6 inches on my car - total 10 inches so far...

Lil LOVES playing the snow. She is like a little kid rolling around in it and sending it flying.




She also loves having to dig for the frisbee in the snow






I was pretty frozen so we came inside but Lil had not had enough. So my solution was to stand at the side door to the deck, open the door, throw the frisbee, close the door and run finish cooking dinner while she dug through the snow trying to find it. We repeated this cycle over and over until andy came home from work and decided to take her for a walk and check out all the snow.


this is me standing INSIDE in the warm!








And it just kept going all night long. Andy said there was over a foot this morning when he left for work and it covered up all of Lil's tracks from last night.


And it's STILL snowing! We get our milk delivered to us by a local dairy and I went out about lunchtime to check on it (I was sure they didn't deliver early this morning like normal because of all the snow!) and i couldn't believe but the milk man came through! The milk and eggs had been sitting outside all morning in the box but given that there was about 3 inches of snow on top of the milk box, i think it stayed plenty cold. So by my calculation, we're up to about 15-16 inches total. Maybe we'll get a measuring stick out tonight and see for real!
(ps - i'm home because the clinic i'm working in canceled their patient for the day so even i'm getting a snow day!!! can't say that's the case for most other residents.. i just got lucky!!)

Vail in the Fall

The first weekend in October, I had the whole weekend off and we escaped to the mountains to hang out and see the changing Aspens. They only turn yellow (no pretty reds or orange like home) but they are my favorite tress out here so I really enjoyed it. We were on the early side so still a lot of green.

It was so nice to just hang out and relax. A fellow resident's family has a condo in Vail and were very gracious to let us stay there for the weekend. We went back down to Breckenridge for Oktoberfest on Saturday afternoon. JR and Lindsay also joined us for the weekend and it was great to be able to spend time catching up with them. Work makes it hard for all four of us to spend any considerable time hanging out.

Moroccan night

We went out to dinner with some friends from work to a Moroccan restaurant.. complete with a belly dancer

September happenings

We enjoyed some beautiful sunflowers!


still found a few traces of family now and then! hope sam isn't missing this one


I think it's hilarious to watch andy play his Wii. He gets really close to the TV and will literally stand there for hours at a time


We had dinner with our friends JoAnna and Zach and since this picture, they had added a beautiful baby girl to their family.

august visitors

three little people invaded our house waaaaay back in August (with their parents) and we LOVED it! Andy's brother Gray, wife Brandy and three kids Sarala, Jack and Sam came out to visit us for a whole week and we had such a good time. Andy and I had to work during the week but still managed to spend a lot of great time with them and they got to do a little exploring of their own during the work days.

We did end up getting a new camera (just a little one) so we have LOTs of pictures to document the week. If you read G&B's blog, you've probably seen a lot of them already but here goes...

They flew in on Friday and we rounded them up at the airport. Then Saturday morning we headed up to the mountains for a hike. Our intended nice easy hike was closed because of a rock slide on the road headed up to it, so we had to have a change of plans. We headed out to Breckenridge to the Mohawk trail which is one of my favorites but definitely not a walk in park. They all did great though! especially Sarala, SO many people couldn't believe she had done the whole hike herself, in Crocs nonetheless.


For the rest of the week, Andy and I had to work but they kept themselves pretty busy with the zoo, playgroud, and visits south to garden of the gods and the air force academy. We had lots of fun playing around the house though in the evenings.


Jackson helping Uncle Andy mow the grass


eating watermelon on the porch (sorry its sideways)


We love yall and are SO SO glad you were able to come out for a visit. Now just Jake and Christina and kids and Michael and all our family will have seen our life out here!

First snow of the year

We had our first snow a couple weeks ago ... Crazy! We've actually had another, bigger snow since this one. Andy documented the event. It sure put a hurting on our yard.. it definitely looks like winter now

going strong

Mom Gainor gave us girls a gerber daisy for Valentines day quite a few years ago.... i would guess maybe 5?! Anway, Andy has much more of a green thumb than i do and he adopted our little daisy and it has bloomed beautifully every year since. We actually thought it had died when we moved out here - it was struggling last summer, but you'd never know the difference now!

It made this crazy bloom the other day

chilly willy

While our families are cheering on the Wolfpack in 80 degree sunny weather (wish we were there!), this is what andy was doing this morning.

It was chilly here!

and this is what Lil was doing... shocker!

RMNP

I'm working on a post from G&B's visit but gotta figure Flickr out first. Till then...

Andy and I went out to Rocky Mountain National Park for the day on the weekend before they all came. We hadn't been up there yet, mainly because you can't have dogs out on the trails and we can't camp and hike without Lil! We just drove around this big loop mainly and got out to see the sites.. kinda touristy but glad we did it.

It's really beautiful up there and different from the other parts of the mountains we have been. We were using our camera phone so the pictures aren't great

A Taste of Colorado - take 2

This is what Andy spent Labor Day morning doing...

Then later we went back to a Taste of Colorado again this year and had a good time walking around "tasting" things. You buy tickets and lots of local restaurants have booths and you can buy full portions or small little tastes with your tickets. Here's a sampling of our tastes:

cupcake

crawfish etouffee
funnel cake

fried plantains
not pictured in between:
Shrimp taco and curly fries

and then something that lit my mouth on fire!

here's the culprit - a bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeno. i loved the taste but could hardly talk!



tastes of fruit cobbler and ice cream for both of us... yumm i love cobbler!
and we finished it off with a chicago hotdog!

my handsome hubs


as we were walking back to the car, we passed this little apartment building that i just thought was really cute
a fun day out in downtown!

MK comes to visit

Back in July also, my momma came for a visit at the end of the month. We mostly just hung around the house but we did get her up into the mountains for a pretty hike one day.

hanging around cooking dinner one night


Mountain woman tackling the hike!


two peas in a pod


Andy orienting us to all the peaks we could see


it was an uphill climb but a beautiful view in all directions!

for some reason that's all the pictures we took while she was here but a great visit

Crazy Coloradans just don't know

they just don't know what they are missing .... only FOUR Chick-fil-a's in the entire Denver metro area including all the way up to Boulder. These people are crazy. As a result, it's quite a treat when we get Chick-fil-a and we usually make a date nigh t to the sketcho mall that's the closest location to us. Andy gave me a Chick-a-fil gift card for my birthday so it looks like more mall dates are in our future =)

(with vegetables of course, tomato and basil from the garden)

flower envy

I love hydrangeas. Aside from tulips, they are definitely some of my favorite flowers. Our neighbors have these big beautiful white ones (this is the poop house by the way) and some also have the blue ones that are more like what's at home in NC.


So last summer I convinced Andy to buy and plant a pretty big hydrangea bush in our yard too. And here she is..... (it's that tiny little thing in the middle by the way)

well, i love it for trying. It even bloomed ... just didn't grow very big.

just to put things in perspective. sad.

our vegetables have been a little slow to get going this year because we have had a relatively cool summer. It didn't really start getting hot and sunny until well into July and we got a TON of rain in May and June (apparently the 8th wettest summer in like a 100 years here). So we've had just a handful of squash and zucchini but our tomatoes are starting to ripen now finally.

John David's visit

John David came up to the mountains with some friends from Texas and Andy got to meet them out there for a hike one day.

(we've been using mainly our camera for pictures since ours died so they quality isn't nearly as good)

of course Lil got to go hang out with the boys. she totally knows when we are going hiking these days and will whine SO loud until she's in the car and sure she gets to go.

they hiked the mohawk trail which is one of my favorites so far, relatively short but beautiful. and because of time restrictions, they didn't even make up to the top lake which is even more awesome.



Andy and John David (who's married to JoNeel who I went to visit back in May)
We are so thankful for our friends and can't wait to get back to Austin to see them and their two little girls (Ellie and Josie)

Gainor visit

lots of pictures to follow of our time with the Gainors....

our camp site off the Guanella pass, right by the river

short hike on the first day
a few visitors
traditional Friday night dinner of hotdogs and smores ... here's andy trying to figure out how we broke our camera


they really didn't believe us when we told them it was going to get chilly
Ed and Andy heated up creek water for their nightly baths (Mom G and I just went stinky, too cold for baths! =)
Our big hike on day 2... at the beginning


lots of beautiful wildflowers this summer






first snow sighting the hike... on July 4th!



Finally at the top... Summit Lake



lunch break




Still alive back where we started!

it really did get cold.. but no frozen precipitation this trip anyway

our beautiful backyard these days
we stopped in Golden where andy works and had lunch Sunday afternoon at one of our favorite little pizza placesAfter the Gainors traveled a bit during the week while we worked, we reconvened and went to a Rockies game Friday night. A huge storm blew threw and we only got about 6 innings of the game in before a long rain delay and we decided to head home before the game restarted well after 10:00




The next day, Ed and Andy went hiking and Ed climbed a 14er! they didn't take the camera with them so instead, Mom G and I took pictures of the mess we were making at home. She helped me recover a bench cushion for our room (actually she basically did that entire progject on her own.. let's be honest)
while i wokred on Roman shades for our kitchen windows (which also i couldn't have done without some major help.. not exactly a beginner project for me and my little sewing machine)
Ed really helped a lot with the curtains too
Here's the final product... one of them at least. I'm ALMOST done with the second one. Just gotta sew the top little covering together (it took me forever to remember how to do that part and finally get it folded and pinned the right way =)) and then get it hung

We had a GREAT week with them and can't wait for them to come back to visit! I think our weather out here won them over =)

July in review

So it appears I am only capable of updating the blog about a month behind when actual events occur.... so here goes July.

Not long after we came home from Jamaica, the Gainors came to visit! It was their first time out West and it was fun for the to get to see and picture our life out here. We spent the first weekend camping (where we broke our camera some how...) then they traveled a little bit during the week while we worked and then we all hung out the next weekend again before they left. Here the very few pictures from our camera before it died - which was only day one of camping, good thing the Gainors brought a camera with them.

Out on the first trail





And the rest of the week from Mom G's point of view:

well i've been trying for a few days to get the bubble share album made and now they say that bubbleshare's going away - that's not cool... now what? back to posting the long way?

Educating the Unlearned

As any proper NC native knows (this question is always part of the NC drivers license exam so pay attention), BBQ is a proper noun. It refers to a specific food item.
It is pork prepared in a certain manner as only we can here in NC. (we can fight over the whole eastern/western style later. Although, per my main man and SEBTS Biblical scholar, Jay Veverka, there is an obscure Hebrew translation of the word “manna” that would strongly suggest a vinegar base)

It is not a grill.
It is not an event.
It is not synonymous with a cookout.
It is not something you do. (One does not BBQ a hambuger any more than one would hushpuppy an egg)

As L will tell anyone, I can get a little… ummm, animated (yea that’s an adequate term) when it comes to discussions over BBQ. We’ve had several such convos here in Denver due to the serious misuse of the term “BBQ” as a non-specific noun and, even worse, as a verb. (Gasp! I know! Who knew such ignorance still existed here in the information age) More than once Lauren has had to gently back me out of an “animated” conversation with (and one time drag me off of) an unsuspecting soul who attempted to engage me in a BBQ/pork related tête-à-tête.

With that info in mind, the following is an email conversation I got into at work.
(you’re missing the first few back and forths, so just jump right in)

Go Email

From: Gainor, Andrew
To: Hilary; Eric
Subject: RE:
Last time Jacobs broke out the big bucks and set up the BBQ spread (well, whatever that mess is that yall non-southerns try to pass off as BBQ. I mean, it was beef, not pork, and there was no vinegar or red pepper to be seen. These are majors where I come from. Anyone ever heard of The War of Northern Aggression?? Hello, BBQ issues! Sorry. Tangent. I’m a little passionate/psycho about my BBQ) so you might be missing out on more than a hotdog and the goose kicking contest.

From: Eric
To: Gainor; Hilary
Subject: RE:
I have learned not to question the zealotry of southerners when it comes to BBQ. Punt a goose for me.

From: Hilary
To: Eric; Andrew
Subject: RE:
Eric – You may be missing out on a smack down, I’m a tomato base lover and believe Andy’s taste buds must be broken.

Andy – Don’t even bother making a crack about me living in Nebraska, I learned to eat BBQ in Georgia where they know how to make it properly.

From: Andrew
To: Hilary; Eric
Subject: RE:
Those are fighting words, woman. There’s even a KM move, THE EASTERN STYLE BBQ FACE SPLIT OF VINEGARY DEATH, that we learned at winter camp, which I won’t hesitate to open up on you even if you are a chick.
And it’s upstate GA. I bet it wasn’t even pork. The only thing that squeals up that way are the out of towners dumb enough to be caught alone in the woods.

From: Hilary
To: Andrew; Eric
Subject: RE:
You said it..Eastern BBQ. Proper Southern BBQ is better.

And of course it was pork, only retards use beef.

p.s. You are all talk, you would never hit a chick because you’d be afraid your southern mama would find out and show you what pain really is.

From: Andrew
To: Hilary; Eric
Subject: RE:
Hahahahahahahhaa, true true. I can feel Daddy’s hand coming for the back of my neck every time I don’t say Sir or Ma’am.
And “eastern” refers to Eastern NC (as opposed to Western [NC] or SC style [that nasty mustard based crap] or all the other heathen abominations). Home of the original. Haven’t you ever heard of the Lost Colony?? That’s what happened to them jokers. Some fool tried to “improve/deviate” the recipe and use a tomato base and… well… the result… it’s too gruesome to recall here but let’s just say they were “lost”.
I mean in the Occoneechee tongue “Croatan” roughly translates “the evil came from the tomato”. Enough said. Learn from the past. Know your history!

From: Hilary
To: Andrew; Eric
Subject: RE:
Eric – Andy is using the Southern Mind Trick of babbling on and on until your opponent gets tired and gives up.

Andy – We can most definitely agree that SC mustard BBQ is an abomination on BBQ. (I think I just threw up a little in my mouth just thinking about it.)

From: Andrew
To: Hilary; Eric
Subject: RE:
It’s called the filibuster! Jesse Helms! Represent!

From: Eric
To: Hilary; Andrew
Subject: RE:
Quick Questions,
1.) Is proper BBQ only served in a Styrofoam take out box or on a paper plate which virtually ensures that half your food will fall on the ground before you get back to your table?
2.) How many murder cases per year are opened as a result of BBQ competitions?
3.) Does there have to be a mobile home somewhere in the vicinity to make the BBQ really authentic?
4.) Is the BBQ better if the guy making it has two first names. Joe-Don, Billy-Bob, Sammy-Joe …?
5.) Is it required that “Freebird” has to be played at some point during the meal?
6.) Why do they put tires on the roof of those mobile homes?
7.) Is it really ok to marry your cousin?
8.) Should dueling banjos be the national anthem?
9.) What are pros and cons of the Mullet?
10.) How many teeth are required to properly enjoy BBQ?

From: Andrew
To: Eric; Hilary
Subject: RE:
Good questions from the BBQ beginner. See answers (in red) to your questions below.

Quick Questions,
1.) Is proper BBQ only served in a Styrofoam take out box or on a paper plate which virtually ensures that half your food will fall on the ground before you get back to your table?
Absolutely. Styrofoam is a must. See your problem is that you’re not placing the foam box on your sweet tea cup properly. The cup, and subsequent sugary stickiness around the rim, is imperative to the process.
2.) How many murder cases per year are opened as a result of BBQ competitions?
Brawling is pretty typical, especially if you mix the (true) eastern style and the (red-headed step child) western style clans. It’s usually a pre-meal occurance though. Afterwards we’re too full. Actual deaths are pretty rare as it’s usually proper etiquette to leave your shotgun at the door.
3.) Does there have to be a mobile home somewhere in the vicinity to make the BBQ really authentic?
Can’t hurt! The best places always look the most sketch. (ain’t you never seen Fried Green Tomatoes?)
4.) Is the BBQ better if the guy making it has two first names. Joe-Don, Billy-Bob, Sammy-Joe …?
Naa, the 2 name thing is a misnomer started in TX (jackos). It’s usually a single name and but a single syllable. Bud’s, Chuck’s, Mel’s, Ernestine, etc. Most times this is done on purpose so that you can aptly communicate the origin of the Cue through a proper mouthful of Cue, bun, and slaw.
5.) Is it required that “Freebird” has to be played at some point during the meal?
Only in GA. For the real deal, see Question 8. Truthfully though, there is usually at least a banjo or mandolin involved.
6.) Why do they put tires on the roof of those mobile homes?
You tell me. That’s totally a WY thing. I did hear that it had something to do with cold winters and nobody wanted to make the trek to the outhouse.
7.) Is it really ok to marry your cousin?
First cousins, no. Unless you’re in upstate GA, if they’re adopted, or if the linage is unclear/muddy. When in doubt, take em out (on a date). Now, second cousins are totally fair game. No worries, you’re in the clear.
8.) Should dueling banjos be the national anthem?
What? It isn’t? Maybe you’re right. It was a close contest between it and Dixie there in the CSA and I don’t think we ever settled the matter fully.
9.) What are pros and cons of the Mullet?
Pros:
• Your bangs don’t drop into your BBQ, but you can still head-bang to the bluegrass accompaniment.
• It’s an easy cut for the kids. It’s kinda like the bowl cut but you only have to cut halfway around. Timesaver!
• It’s the only haircut that really matches the fastback styling of the 80’s camaro.
Cons: (Hmmm, this is a harder one)
• Guess, you don’t get noticed by those uppity chicks. Maybe this should go into the pros column.
• Doesn’t look the greatest in combo with the whole work casual, short sleeve, button-up. Hmmm, again debatable. Pro or con?
• You do have to deal with the hassle of a blowdryer. Definite con.
10.) How many teeth are required to properly enjoy BBQ?
None when it’s done proper. Hence eastern style being the real deal and why you can’t call chopped meat with a sauce on it true BBQ.

From: Eric
To: Hilary; Andrew
Subject: RE:
Dude that’s hilarious, everybody in the office thought I had lost my mind I was laughing so hard. And you’re right it is hard to find anything wrong with mullets.

End Email

Jessie Helms! Represent!

Lil Jake! Here's a little randomness for you.
He looks like an owl!

Psst!

L-Boogie is 27 today!

Call the girl.

Andy's Monday...

I got this email from Andy this morning and it just made me chuckle... gotta love him =)

Monday has begun. So as I got out of the truck this morning I dropped the phone and of course it bounced up under, well under near the middle, the truck next to me. Now the sprinklers had been on so the ground was thoroughly wet and there was no way I was dropping to a knee of my clean pants to go after it. This meant I had to do this goofy one handed push up thing to reach the phone and stay clean/dry. Mission accomplished though a lady from the office stopped to laugh at me. And as I brushed the gravel off my hands and turned to fish one of the rags out of the back of the car only to realize that somewhere during my macho push-up the door had swung to just enough to barely latch, locking my keys in the car. Dang!

Blessedly I had cracked the windows so after searching the office for a metal hanger (you’d be surprised how many folks are using wooden and plastic ones) it was a fairly quick and easy fish to retrieve the keys and force them through the crack. Could have been worse. If I’d dropped them off the hanger to the floor while in transit to the window, I’d had to give it up and ring you to come pick me up this evening or call AAA for me or something. I gotta get a key strapped to the frame again.

The day is looking up though!

Intern week in Jamaica!!

We were so lucky to have a week to escape at the end of June. All the interns at the Univ of Colorado get the last week of June off each year when the new interns start and I could NOT wait! It couldn't get here fast enough for many reasons: 1) vacation = no work = Jamaica! 2) I'm not an intern anymore! (I'm more excited about that than anything else!)

We had been planning all year to go to a National Park with Lindsay and JR but the longer the winter went on... the more we all needed a beach. JR found us a great deal in Jamaica and we had a great week of vacation with them. It also happened to be during the same week of our 5 year anniversary so it was a great celebration of five great years also.

We ate a lot, slept a lot, read a lot, and got to go diving too. Here's a summary of the pictures...

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Happy Anniversary!

Andy and I are celebrating an amazing 5 years of marriage today!







The Lord has richly blessed me with my one and only

Fun with Dog

Goofy dog + empty paper bag of corn chips = fun at her expense.

As a disclaimer, I (Andy) did not put the bag on her head. I tossed the empty bag on the porch, Lilly popped her head right in there to finish off the crumbs, and then found she couldn't back out the same as she got in.


We laughed pretty hard. I can't wait to have kids.
(Disclaimer #2: So that nobody freaks out... I meant, I can't wait to have kids so that I can mess with them. No allusion to us having kids/being preggers intenteded.)

May vacation

I had a week of vacation way back in May and now we are finally posting some pictures! I first went to Texas to see my great friend JoNeel and Ellie and their new baby girl Josie. We had a great time in Austin and I can't wait to see them again (maybe October?!)

Then we headed to home to NC and it was SO good to be home! We got to see all our family in Raleigh and we were so glad that G&B made the trip to Raleigh to hang with us and J&C and the Gainors. And Andy did a great job being sweet Uncle Andy =)

Then we went down to Wilmington and hung out with my family and Michael made the trip down with us for a least a couple days. We love all our family and are missing them all ready!


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Oops (or more like Poops)

Random funny story from a few weeks back.
Those of yall with dogs should be well aware of the practice of picking up the dog poo when you’re outside in public spaces and those of yall without can probably well imagine. We use the bags that the newspaper comes in, which aren’t as sturdy as, say, tupperware but are reasonably adequate for poo removal and containment.
So one day a few weeks ago, after picking up the offending pile, I was tying the knot (standard overhand on a bight; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bight_(knot) ) and due to unknown brain lapse decided to tighten the knot by inserting my finger into the loop/bight and slinging it in a circle, using the weight of the contents to do so. Somewhere around the first quarter of the turn (starting from the vertical hanging position) the bag become decidedly lighter. This was shortly followed by a hollow sounding “thunk” coming from the neighbor’s house some 20 yards away.
Needless to say, the bag busted and dogpile was transformed from ground dweller to high velocity projectile which stuck directly to the neighbor’s gutter. Right on the front of the house. The beige house. With whiteish trim and gutters.
Hilarious! (I couldn’t stop laughing for like an hour) I couldn’t have made that shot if I’d picked it up and chucked that joker bare handed. And the fact that it actually stuck?? I mean come on, that junk don’t really happen. So instead of fixing the problem, I did the next logical thing. I ran and got Lauren and the camera. Now it was right around coming home from work time and that neighbor is a single woman so I didn’t want to open her gate and go all up in her yard. Besides, maybe no one will notice and I’ll fall off in a few days. So we waited… that bad boy was stuck fast.
Lauren said, "No" that I couldn't ignore it forever so a few nights later while giving dog her end of the night walk (around 11:00) I grabbed the broom, jumped the gate, snuck onto the porch, and did my best to quietly knock it down. It wasn’t too different from trying to knock down a hornets nest. You’re in a funky position, stretched out trying to reach one armed and make an effective blow all while being on the defensive both from the dislodged member falling on me and being ever ready to make stealthy and rapid retreat if discovered. I ended up getting most of it down (successfully undetected too though a DPD patrol car did drive down the street sometime later) but there were still some remnants if you looked closely. Oh well, good enough and wife approved. I'll also make the argument that once the tree (see pics) leafs out and fills in you won't see a thing and I’m counting on a summer season of rains will clean up the rest.
I still laugh daily when I look that direction.

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Last One of the Season??

Lauren had last Thursday and Friday off before she starts her 6-6 night shift service for the month of May, so we headed up to the mountains for another day on the slopes. Skiing in April (late April)… maddness. A-Basin is the only thing open still and conditions weren’t too bad. I mean, in SE snow condition terms it was spectacular, but we’re getting spoilt here.
It’s odd, too, to ski in the morning and drive back into Denver where it’s nearly 70 degrees.
So then Sunday after church I was rocking the shorts thinking about cutting the grass that afternoon when around 3 it clouded over, the temp began to drop, and then the rain rolled in. And then we woke up to this (see pics)Mon morn. Shorts to 4” in less than 24 hours. And I thought NC weather was fickle.

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April madness

Lauren here. still alive. barely =). I just had the whole weekend off (first time in over a month) so i am feeling rejuvenated ... only to work 30 hours again tonight but whatever.

As if March snow madness wasn't enough, we've had crazy april madness as well. Last week the temperatures were in the 60s and it was sunny and beautiful. And then starting Thursday night, we got dumped on with snow. There was a lot more accumulations up in the mountains than here since it's been so warm here recently otherwise.

We probably ended up with only about 6 inches total accumulation but if the ground had been cold, we think we probably would have gotten up to a couple feet. It snowed for almost two days straight and it just all melted for the first whole day.

This weekend we took Lil out on Saturday to play in the snow. It was REALLY wet by this point and was actually raining on us some too.






Lil didn't seem to mind or care that there was snow on the ground and the water was freezing.. in she went


She sure is cute though =)





The crazy thing is though that yesterday and today have been sunny and in the 60s again and there's hardly a trace of snow around! The weather here really is crazy... i hope we're done with snow for the season though. My tulips are blooming and spring is here!

March Madness, Colorado Style; Part 2

So yea, after 2 weeks of 65 degree weather, 12-14 inches piled up between 7:30am and noon last Thursday. It was truly blizzard conditions as the wind gusts made it so that you couldn’t see more than 10ft at times. And all I could think was, “Dang what a crappy time to have put my board in the shop!” (Totally chunked a rock a few weeks back)
No worries though! All ended well, I got it back, and we made an early (long before 0-dark-thirty) morning run for the mountains for an awesome day in the trees. Oh yea, post script, Lauren is still alive and made it home from work safely though she thought she might have to spend the night there at the hospital for a while.
And in true CO fashion, Sunday it was sunny and 65 and you could only find trace snow in the shade. Only to drive to work again Monday morning in a fresh 2”.
As I post this (6pm Wed) I'm getting ready to drive home in another 3"-4" that has dropped out since 4:00.
Apparently this is normal for March.

Random pics from the last few weeks.
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March Madness, Colorado Style

Another first for the southerners. Our first official blizzard.
More to come soon...
14" in 5 hours and though it's slowed, it's still doing it's thing out there.

snow legs

Time to play major catch up on the blog!

At the end of January, my parents came out for a visit and tried out their snow legs. We grew up going on family ski trips with the Andersons but it's been a pretty good handful of years since either of them had been on skis, especially Mom. But they did a great job and we had a great weekend with beautiful weather on the slopes. The time went by way too fast.

On Saturday we went to Beaver Creek and all was going really well until...



Mom proved to be a lot harder to get up once she went down =)




Provided some good entertainment though and we did get her back up =)



At lunch...





And somehow that's all the pictures we took the whole time they were here! We went to Breckenridge on Sunday and were all completely worn out before the weekend was over. It went by so fast but we were so glad they came to visit! (and it's been so long ago that they were here and i'm just now posting about it ... mom is actually coming back this weekend! yay!)

sweet hubs

I do have the sweetest husband - when i came home from work, Lil had a balloon, there were flowers and dinner and the ugliest cake ever. I laughed hard (which was nice after working all day) and i have to say, the cake tastes AMAZING!! it really is really good. (how can it not be with all that butter). I however made Andy a card at the hospital... that's been pretty much my life lately and hence the non-existent blogging. I was talking to Killa the other day and realized I have had a grand total of 7 days off work since Dec 21st. pretty ugly. anyways, i have an easier month coming up so more blogging to come!

The Ugliest Valentine Ever

So we’ve never been big Valentines Day celebrators, but somehow we always end up doing something small anyways (dinner, small gifts, whatever). So this year I decided I’d cook up a little something cause L was working all weekend long. One of my friends at work is a big cook/baker and she was talking about some of her favorite cakes and one caught my eye/ear, The Darkest Chocolate Crepe Cake. So I figured I’d give it a go.

I was warned that this one would take a while so Friday night I stayed up past when Lauren went to bed (which was not a struggle since L was solidly snorking by 8:30) and whipped up the crepe batter. I did my best to be quiet and had to clean up/ wash and dry all the bowls and utensils so that there was no evidence of my nighttime kitchen escapades.

After putting a few Saturday OT hours in the office (yea yea I know many of you are wondering, “Andy, how could you skip a week of shredding the powdery gnar?!” But sacrifices must be made for those you love… aaand it was Presidents Day weekend which is the most crowded ski weekend of the year. So I took my first break of the season.) I rushed home to bang this joker out. I won’t bore yall with all the details, but they weren’t kidding about the intensity involved in baking this bad boy up. I started around 2 and between making the crepes, the filling, and the choc glaze and then assembly it barely had time to set up in the fridge before L walked in the door at 7:30.

The girl at work who gave me the recipe insisted that I take pics so here goes.

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Told you them jokers were ugly. Lauren laughed real hard when I brought them (I think it was supposed to be one, tall cake, but once it started doing a decent impersonation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa I made the management call to make a second cake) out of the fridge. But she said liked em more looking like ugly stacks of funky pancakes (her words not mine) than if they’d been all pristine. (But I think that’s kinda like your Momma telling you that you looked good in those olive, corduroy britches.)
But the cakes tasted great. I mean there’s enough butter, sugar, and heavy cream in this bad boy to clog up the arteries (among other anatomical regions) just by looking at them, so you can’t go too wrong.
I took the shorter cake into work along with the pics and received good reviews there too.

If you’re interested in your own attempt, http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/darkest-chocolate-crepe-cake.

New Things

Another week. Another 4-6 inches.
Another new experience for the southern folk.
Pushing my first official snow shovel.

Another chilly morning low.

It was so cold this morning that while brushing (yea the snow is so dry that you rarely have to scrape) the snow off the car Dog’s feet got so cold that she lay down on her stomach and held all four paws up (picture dog in a superman pose). When I called her over she slowly got up but wouldn’t come. She stood there, head down and pitiful looking, switching which feet were on the ground, always keeping one of the front and the alternate rear foot up so that only two touched the ground at a time. I had to go over and pick her up and place her in the car while I finished. You know its cold when the dog who likes to roll in and burrow through the snow is acting like she’s standing on a hot frying pan.

True Dat!

Praise the Lord for the simple pleasures of being a man.