Whirl-wind Trip to Iowa

Hello again, we're back in Colorado after a 3 and 1/2 day trip to IA.

A great trip but fast.

The reason for the trip was my friend, and former bridesmaid, Stacie's wedding. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding on a lake in Panora, IA. It was great to see so many friends again and catch up. It seems like such a rarity and something I really enjoy. Although I can say, the humidity was a rude awakening since it's just hot in Colorado and we don't have the humidity.

Ted, Jeremy and I golfed on Friday. I once thought I'd joing the LPGA tournament and now I'm resorting to the idea I'll be the cady with the clubs.....maybe just the water girl. I'm not to the cady level yet. It was fun and I think we were 1 of 2 teams on the course. Great time though, although frustrating for me at times.

We stayed with Uncle Ted in Greenfield, which worked out great. My parents even came over to visit for Saturday. Again, we went golfing and this time Mom and Dad joined us. I can honestly say, they're not that bad at the game. I again, was not that great. Maybe this is why people take lessons. I've included a few photos from golfing....one is a reaction to my golf abilities...it's called frustration (perhaps this is when I realized I was only going to be a water girl versus the golfer in the LPGA - ha)

Jeremy and I stocked up on some IA meat. No offense to the Coloradans who think the meat here is great, but it's overpriced and has no flavor. When I say it's expensive it's 2x as much for meat here than in IA. So, Jeremy and I ended up with 4, yes 4, big coolers of meat on the return trip to Colorado. Have no fear, this was planned. I've included a photo so you can see what the deep freeze looks like.

All is well though, we returned to Colorado to some tornados (again a rarity) in South Denver. Funny thing is one came within 10 min. of our house. Cool, huh?

Next week we'll update you on the home improvements coming from the water damage. As of now it'll be a 2 week process and we get to move all the furniture off the first floor and move out for 4 days during some improvements. Could be worse.

On a side note, I resigned from my job and accepted a new one with the University of Denver starting on Sept. 8. I'm pumped!

Update II for weekend

Aside from the waterproofing blog below, we do have fun in CO.

A week ago we took Elvis and Sadie to the nearby State Park. We had heard there was an area specific to pets where they don't have to be on leashes, etc. Our intention was to allow Elvis and Sadie the opportunity to learn to swim.

Sadie has no fear of water and darn near drowned herself while retrieving the tennis ball 10 ft. off shore. She doesn't understand if she loses sight of the ball that she can't breathe underwater while submerging her head looking for it. I'm not sure what was more funny, that or Jeremy tossing me his keys thinking he would "save his little girl." I laughed knowing that she would sink him before accepting help. Stubborn girl!

Elvis headed into the water and quickly retreated.....chicken! He's a lab and is supposed to like water and swimming......we laughed comparing the two dogs! Elvis decided it was only okay to go in the water but only ankle deep....dare devil.

Sadie still dislikes car rides....Elvis loves them....especially in Jeremy's Jeep (a new adventure).

Of course we forgot the video camera and regular camera for the adventure, but next time we'll grab some shots and post them.

Waterproof

Homeownership is fun.....that's what we're calling it.

We're beginning to think our house is jinxed when it comes to water....any sort of water.

As you may remember our Water Pressure Valve went out earlier this year and has now been replaced twice because we've had continued challenges with it.

As of this weekend we started having pressure valve problems again and......we found out when we get 3 inches of rain our house is no longer water proof. Yep, instead of the water running down the outside of the window it runs down the inside (I'm guessing that's not a good sign). Also, Saturday morning while Jeremy was traveling back from Panama I noticed that our front area rug in the foyer was damp and looked up to see paint bubbling/running down the wall above the front door covering a 6 ft. area....hmmm....I don't think Plumbers fix this like the pressure valve. So after grabbing all available towels in the house and moving the rug the day was spent swaping towels in and out of the dryer. We've decided that when Jeremy travels to Panama that's when the challenges occur, first Sadie now this. We've also agreed that the previous family sold at the "right" time! Anyway, it'll be taken care of and hopefully is the last serious home improvement project for the year.

Aside from that, we have a wedding in IA this weekend so we'll be on the road for a couple days. Hopefully we'll have some fun photos following.