{Its Starting To Feel A Lot Like Christmas!}

With the help of my friend Ashley, who just came out to visit, I was able to get up a few decorations. We had quite the adventure getting my Christmas tree this year (details to come). I got the creepy Mrs Clause from a friend at work who always manages to find me something ugly for my ugly sweater party every year. The manger silhouette came from Lynn last year, and the mini tree set came from Dustin's mom this year. Snow is in our forecast for the next few days so it should be a white Christmas!

Ugly Sweater Party!

(From top Left clockwise- Chris and Katie, Justin and Amanda, Me and D, Larry and Carma, Jordan and Rochelle)

(Amy and Sky, Laura (with a bun in the oven) and Scott , Cayte and David, Christa and Brennan, Andy and Sara)

(Andy and D, Tina and Me, Jordan and Sky, Michael Brad and Sky)

(Amy and Link, Kristen, The whole gang, creepy lurking Sky)

There is nothing quite like being in a sea of ugly sweaters! This years bash was held at Carma and Larry's home. We had quite a few people show up as you can see from the photos above. I think the sweater I found this year is probably my best ever...I mean look at it it had a purse knitted in! And the purse is functional! The best male ugly sweater went to Sky, hands down that homemade vest (which he picked up at Goodwill) and the creepy turtleneck really pushed the awkward look over the edge! It is sad to say the vintage girl in me found a few of the sweaters actually kind of cute (like Rochelle's).

{1 year}

Dustin and I have been dating 1 whole year! I don't know where the time went...but I do know that I have enjoyed every minute of it. He and his family have helped make this new state really feel like home.

(Click to enlarge picture)

Dustin took me to his new favorite restaurant called Chit Chat Bistro located in Arvada CO. It is the cutes little European feeling restaurant with great food and very personable service. The ower's Nicko and Julie are right there in the mix. Nicko is the head chef, he makes everything from scratch right as you order, and Julie is out waiting tables and getting to know her customers. We had a wonderful dinner great wine and a little guitar serenade.

Thanksgiving

Road Trip!

Dustin and I ended up hitting the road on our own the day before Thanksgiving because D's dads back went out. In order to make the long 13 hour drive through the night we were armed with sugar in the form of jelly beans and some good tunes. It was quite comical when one of us popped a tiramisu jelly bean in our mouth...the pic of D bellow pretty much sums up how they taste.

We arrived in Phoenix AZ around 6am and slept in that morning. We headed over to D's Brother-in -laws (Mark) family for turkey dinner. We had a great time and I met a lot of new people.

To work off all that food we went out with the extended family on a desert MTN hike the next morning.

We filled our last night there with homemade pizza, competitive round of Mad Gab and a little pool fun. The progression above is hilarious, it was really funny because Bailyer (D's nephew) would copy every thing Dustin was doing. Below you can see us girls getting hit by the awful smell of Seba's (their dog) gas!

Bailyer kept taunting me that girls were better then boys and that the boys would win! So I had to throw down a wager...losers jump in the pool. Remember the nights get chilly in AZ, it was about 40 degrees out and the water was not much warmer. The older boys did not agree to to the bet (good thing b/c they lost) but Bailyer still wanted to try it. His dad didn't think there was any way he would jump in, but as he walked away all he heard was a big splash (and I caught it on film!) The dares continued to grow until eventually all of us were in the cold pool.

For some reason the videos will not work...sorry!


We headed back up to CO via Utah this time. It was a beautiful drive home, so much to see but no time to stop and enjoy.

Catching you up!

I know it may seem that I have fallen off the face of the planet...but i am still here! I will try and catch you up over the next few nights!

Snowy Sunday

I am spending a snowy Sunday night in with a great guy. I just downloaded the new Train album recommended by my friend Jess...I could listen to it all night. I am looking forward to my Monday and Tuesday off. No plans, I just want to enjoy my free time and not rush it away. I find myself doing that too much these days. I can't wait to tell you about this new volunteer organization that I just heard about and want to get involved in! Oh and we saw the new Warren Miller film...you know what that means...ski season here we come (They make powder look so good in this movie)! Hope you have a great week!

Happy Early B-day D!

It is Dustin's 28th birthday this Friday but we celebrated last night because I got tickets to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I wanted to make him something for his wall (b/c I guess men could care less about the fact that they stare at blank cream walls their whole adult life). I figured it had to be sort of manly, and fun...I have seen ideas similar to this before so I decided to have go at it.

-I collect pics that I love of us...and a great Mountain shot (b/c he loves the Mt's) and then made them all black and white.

-I found a friendly HomeDepot employee who was willing to cut 4-5x6, 3-5x7, 1-8x10 and 1- 4 1/2x11 thin pieces of wood for me to mound my pictures on. (This is one of those days I still wish I lived only 10 min from my grandpa)

-I went to the local art supply store Meiningers and bought some two tack sticky paper that transforms your pictures in to a large sticker.

-I also picked up a 2x4 stained it ebony (this made it a little more manly...and it went well with the black and white pictures)

-I then stuck the pictures to the thin wood and arranged them how I wanted them on the board. I placed a spacer on the back of each picture using Gorilla glue.

-I pre-drilled holes in the 2x4 and the spacers.

-When everything was good and dry I screwed the pictures to the 2x4.

-Voila

We went to D's favorite restaurant Texas de Brazil and enjoyed some to the best meat on this earth.

Posing for the camera and the blog above...with one of the gouchos below.

After dinner we enjoyed an awesome show by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra...if they are coming to your neck of the woods you should go check it out. One of the coolest things about the show...besides the pyrotechnics, was the fact that they actually keep our Saviors birth as a main theme of their production. It made the songs and the show even better.

We could feel the heat from the stage all the way back here!

The lazer show was unbelieveable!

I was a wonderful night out!

Trick or Treat

Happy belated Halloween from Indiana Jones, and his nerdy girl friend...

Saturday night we were invited to our friends Larry and Carma's for a Halloween bash. I was impressed by the fact that nearly everyone dressed up...costumes are so much fun! Here a just a few from the party...

Mac and PC {you know from the commercials}

A pilot

A Greek goddess

Johnny Appleseed

The Angel of death

Winner of the cutest and best costume..."A bun in the oven", made by Laura's hubby Scott {they are expecting in 3 months or so}

A hunter and beat up Badger hockey player {remember Brennan and Christa ? They are from... you guest it, WI}

A shot from up stairs

A face off before the apple bobbing contest.

I don't like to brag...but I won.

One of the best parts of the night was when I put my glasses on Owen. He was really digging them and the fact that he was getting so much attention. He knew exactly how to push them up with the palm of his hand right in the middle...priceless. I wish I could show you a video of it all!

{Quite Simply, a Lovely Day!}

I walked home to this @ 8am (we got over 2 feet!)...

Slept till 12:30, had a chat with my friend Becca...

Found my car buried in snow! Ran some errands...

Made dinner (Chicken dumpling soup a cold glass of milk and some wine), popped in a movie, and enjoyed my night off, being snowed in!

Oh and practiced wearing my nerd glasses for tomorrow. Can't wait to show you the full get up!

Heading out on an Elk Hunt

I think most people thought I was pretty crazy, going on a hunting trip alone with my boyfriends dad. The fact of the matter is, I knew It would be quite the adventure because his dad is so sweet and a more fun then most 50 year old men. We headed out bright and early (3am) to Platoro Valley. I was quite surprised that not all the leaves had fallen off the trees, there were still some bright yellow ones left.

We ended up in the very southern part of CO right near the New Mexican boarder. We pitched our tent and then headed into the tiny lodge area to have a hearty breakfast. I think one of the funniest thing about the trip was the fact that Rick had his pistol with him wherever we went (on a hike, into town, next to our pillows at night).

It stayed pretty warm the whole weekend, sunny and 50's mid day and down to about 20 degrees at night. Each morning we woke up around 5:30am to begin our hour walk before sunrise. We headed about 1000 vert up and about 2 miles in, to the pastures where we sat. Most mornings we sat from 630am until about 1030am. It was a beautiful peaceful experience having nothing to do but scan the horizon. A lot of good quite time to reflect and talk to God and contemplate life.

I have never really felt like a hick...but putting on the blaze orange and camo has that effect. We stayed Friday until Monday morning, saw tons of tracks...including a bears, but never saw an Elk. I enquired at the lodge everytime went into the little town to see if anyone else had gotten an elk. As it turns out no one else had seen or gotten anything either. I can't lie and say im not just a little disipointed that we didn't get anything, but bottom line is we had a lot of fun.

I was just nice to be camping out again cooking hot dogs over and open fire and getting to know Rick. During one conversation Rick was pointing out an old building which he said was an

"old pawer plant"

"A what" I said

"A pawer plant" he told me,

"A what plant"

..."pawer" he said

"Oh POWER" it hit me.

...you've gotta love his thick Texan accent.

I WON!

Since there were 229 other contestants who entered the "Unruly Things" give away I knew my chances were pretty slim...

{Photo :Unruly Things}

but I won! Thanks Martha for the beautiful scarf.

Double Dinner Date...

Warning: flouring of the back side may occur when your having a blast making home made pizzas on a crisp fall night!

Brennan and Christa came over last weekend for a much needed hangout night. Its amazing how busy life can get. So many little things get squeezed into life and in turn push out the fun hang time that we all need and love.

We had a great night with these guys making our own personalized pizza, sipping on the delicious Oktoberfest by leinenkugel, and playing a hillarious round of pictionary. Do me a favor, make sure your making time for friends!

Craft Fair

My Friend Amy Peterson signed up to sell her dog bandannas at the craft fair in Littleton last Saturday. Knowing how much I love to craft she asked me if I wanted to make a few things to sell. I had a lot of fun thrifting for old frames and vases to revamp and sell at the fair. It was a crisp sunny Saturday morning the perfect day for an outdoor fair. D drove me down to Littleton and had breakfast with me at a cute little bakery.

We got things set up by 8am and the people started flooding in!

I made baby shower gifts...these little egg cartons filled with all kinds of baby goodies.

A couple of refurbished framed goods, and homemade chalk boards

And some vases that I added some wire and beading to.

Amy P sold dog bandannas, baby blankets, and some Santa tree toppers. We both did fairly well. I made way more then I ever would have expected, and we had a lot of fun.

There were tons of other vendors. Amy and I would take turns running our stand so the other could shop and browse.

People are so creative!