The male version of a baby shower....

The male version of a baby shower does not include friends getting together or a gift exchange of any sort. Heck, in Jeremy's case it didn't even include beer with his friends. It only included a day of shopping at our favorite sporting store, REI.

Amazingly, we still had giftcards from our wedding so we thought we'd use them on a hiking pack. It's something you can carry a baby or toddler in while hiking in the mountains or just around on a walk. Jeremy was rather excited about this purchase. When we found out we were expecting he saw one of these and wanted to buy it then. However, I was only 3 weeks along and thought it might be best to make it through one or two ultrasounds before we rushed out to purchase this absolute necessity of an item. (never mind the fact we don't have a carseat or crib, but heck this baby can come home from the hospital in style riding in the "hiking pack" although it would be a long walk).

Anyway, we headed downtown to REI and Jeremy tried on the 3 or 4 different styles they had. This isn't your everyday hiking pack, it includes a sun/rain cover, diaper pad for changing, a storage area for carrying diapers, etc. One pack even had a mirror so you could check on the status of your baby while hiking. I find this rather amusing......are they expecting us to be on 4-5 day hikes and carrying all the baby supplies in the pack? Anyway, I made the deal since I get to carry the baby for 9 months, Jeremy can carry the baby all he wants in his hiking pack. So we finally made our selection.....we were getting the one with all the bells and whistles on it so we were prepared for anything/everything....and then got near the front to check out and saw another man with one much simplier and what appeared to be lighter. So, we turned around and went back to begin the selection process again. This time we walked away with one half the weight of the first one and without all the bells and whistles (still has the sun/rain protector).

We were proud of our decision and then realized 1/2 the hiking pack equaled 1/2 the price, which means we were not going to use much of our giftcard......our ultimate goal since we really don't go to this store often for it's location. So Jeremy put on his hiking pack and we proceeded to walk around the entire store looking for anything else we could add to this purchase. I'm not going to kid you - Jeremy was very proud of this hiking pack and insisted on wearing it. Since it adds depth to a person I was convinced he was going to take someone or something out while turning and looking at other items. It was like watching a kid with a new pair of school shoes walk around showing them off.....rather cute. Anyway, we came upon a youth outdoors water bottle and some other random things. Finally we called it quits and left......with money still on our giftcard.

On our way out I looked at Jeremy who was still wearing his "hiking pack" and said "this must be the male version of a baby shower!" He laughed. It was fun to see him so excited about something for this baby that he could envision using on a regular basis.

*I must note, we have looked at multiple cribs and that in itself is an adventure. Whichever one is selected really should be posted here as well because we are 1) rather picky 2) safety conscious 3) price realistic 4) ultimately over protective parents-to-be of a baby who will not be able to roll over by themself at birth and we are worried about them jumping out of the bed on day one or jumping up and down and the thing falling down. ha ha

A quick update on Sadie......

She is doing much better and in the middle of last week was able to have 3 of the 4 bandages taken off. However, one paw wasn't healing as well so they rebandaged it and sent us home with instructions on Sunday to take it off....... Well, Saturday afternoon Sadie decided she was better and pulled it off by herself. We just laughed and went with it. She's doing well and still desparately wanting to play ball.....however, she's on restrictions through this week. Don't worry, Elvis and Sadie have now rejoined me for jogs in the evening so they're using energy.

Have a great week!

It all started with a ball...

Poor Sadie - she has certainly had better days.

Upon arriving home from church Sunday 5 of the cul-de-sac dogs were playing outside chasing balls. Very rarely do Jeremy and I bring Sadie and Elvis out to join in the fun; partly because Sadie is still young and we don't know if she'll stay close by or take off and Elvis.....well, he'll pee and/or poop in everyone's yard and that's no way to make friends. But yesterday I was feeling giving so I brought Sadie out and started throwing the ball for her. She was in her height of glory! I throwed the ball for nearly 15 minutes and she'd sprint past the other dogs to get it first and then bring it back, dropping it nicely at my feet. Jeremy came out to join me and that's when I noticed red spots on our driveway.....it was almost a paint I thought but then I realized what it was. So we tackled Sadie knowing the blood was certainly from her. I thought, she must have torn a pad on one of her paws. Little did we know, but she tore through all the pads on her paws. 4 Paws with blood.

I did was any logical, crazy, pet owner would do. I called the vet and asked if we should bring our dog in. Based on her "war wound" (from an innocent game of fetch) they said yes, right away. So Jeremy and I loaded Sadie in the car for a trip to the vet. Now don't forget, we're talking about a dog who hates, absolutely hates, car rides. Well, she did better than expected but I think her paws were stinging so badly the car was the least of her worries.

Jeremy carried our bleeding pooch into the vets office and they said it would be awhile so to stop back. When we did, we were greeted by Sadie with all 4 legs/paws wrapped with pink and purple bandages. At least she looked cute. However, she was rather sore and hobbling along. She's on some nice pain medication now and it's a good thing. She slept the remainder of Sunday at home after that adventure. Funny though, the one time Jeremy went upstairs Sadie tried to follow and then realized she couldn't get back down. The pressure must not have felt good on the paws, so Jeremy saved her and carried her down. (She's milking the injury for what it's worth).

This morning she was slow moving again and really was confused when we put the cone on her head. When we are gone she has to have the cone on so she doesn't pull the bandages off. She wasn't a happy camper when we left today.

Life will be slow moving for Sadie for 2 weeks. No playing ball or running.....you tell that to a young lab who lives to play ball. Also, we have plastic booties for if it rains/snows to keep her paws dry. If we thought getting the cone on was fun, I can only imagine putting booties on her. We will find out on Wednesday if she's recovering well or what they want to try next.

And to think, it all started with an innocent game of ball in our cul-de-sac!

2009 is full of surprises!

It only seems fitting after a massive delay of blog posting to educate all you readers.

I've decided to write a reflection about what I've learned in 2009.

1. I love naps! Over the past 2 months I've learned how to multi-task during my lunch break. 15 min. = eating, 45 min = reading book or sleeping.
2. I like crackers! We have them everywhere; on the night stand, in the bathroom, in the closet, in my car.
3. I can and do eat every 2 hours. I've learned if I do not that bad things happen. In light of this discovery I added 5 pounds in 2 months. (there may be another factor too) Oddly though, in gaining 5 pounds we've discovered Jeremy has lost 5 pounds. At this rate, 6 months from now he'll be a "skinny-mini" and I'll be a waddling duck. ha ha
4. I do not love steak anymore or eggs. Steak now tastes like chalk and eggs, well it's just a bad story. Good thing we bought a cow and have a freezer stocked full of IA beef!
5. Wine, coffee and bourbon are sad friends to let go of. However, Jeremy has stepped up to the plate and helped fill my shoes. Now though he gave up bourbon for Lent so the poor bottle is all by itself.
6. Waking up at least once a night allows me to perfect walking around the bedroom to the bathroom without stepping on 1 of 3 dogs. It's good training I guess.
7. Snug pants. It's allowing me to feel like a present-day teenager and experience the delight (?) of wearing their clothing style. (it also is presenting me the opportunity to buy new clothes - although I'm bound and determined to wear MY clothes another month - wish me luck)
8. Naps. Yes, I love my mid-day naps but I also enjoy my evening naps. Jeremy is good at waking me up and telling me the ending of my favorite shows since I "meditated" for a bit of it....ok, I was asleep at 7:00 PM. Evening naps are good though.
9. I have new favorite foods. The spicer the better! Bring on the Thai food. I love Strawberry ice cream! I love it so much we now have Non-fat Yogurt because I'm a regular at eating it. I love popsicles! Red is my favorite.
10. I love to snow ski and have been banned from it by my doctor. (I tried to negotiate and lost miserably, I even promised not to ski blacks or in the trees) Along with snow skiing they also banned softball, soccer, bike riding, water skiing, and any other potential sport I love. I'm allowed to jog still (for awhile) and swim.....but really, who wants to be seen in a swim suit when you're waddling like a duck? (just kidding - that may be my saving grace in the summer heat)
11. Jeremy really is supportive of these changed habits, etc. He willingly takes naps, eats all the new foods and drinks my wine for me.
12. My due date - September 12, 2009

Other things that Jeremy and I have learned is that cribs are rather expensive as are carseats and strollers and diapers and whatever gadget they think you need for a baby. Who new a baby could cost so much?! (we've been lucky though as many have offered for us to use their stuff)

To answer the #1 question we receive - No, we do not know the gender of the baby.....Yes, we might find out....and no, we're not planning on telling.....we have to have one secret. The secret of being pregnant didn't last long since I stopped drinking coffee and wine and then stopped eating steak. That and the bump in front is becoming a little giveaway.

I must confess, we did lie a bit over the past 2 months. Although I had to work in Florida, Jeremy and I flew down early to tell my parents of the new addition this year. I think they were a bit shocked. We also lied to Jeremy's parents about my "work trip" to the Cleveland area. The only agenda item we had was telling them about the family addition as well. They were shocked a bit as well and then couldn't believe I really didn't have to work. So yea, no blog updates for a reason. Now, we're back in business and you may receive updates on a regular basis.

Next week we have another ultrasound and if I'm technically inclined I'll post a photo. Wish me luck on that one!

You live and you learn..

I know I said the posting would be sparce right now since I'm traveling for work, but these travel adventures are too good not to share.

FL - It came, it went, it's gone.....thank heavens.
As you may recall I had a business trip to FL about 2 weeks ago. Okay, so I mixed business with pleasure since my parents are down in Naples for the winter.....but it's warmer there. Anyway, it was a great opportunity to spend a few days in Naples, bum the local market, pick up my favorite giant cookie, eat a pint of ice cream from my favorite ice cream parlor (all in one sitting too), and play some golf. I was hoping to go deep-sea fishing since I've never done it before but the weather wasn't looking favorable so that will have to wait until next year. Anyway, after a few days in Naples I headed to Fort Lauderdale for my conference which went great. I had this great plan of how the trip home would work.......I'd leave Naples by 1 PM, get to the Ft Meyers airport for my 6:30 flight, enjoy a 1 hour layover in Dallas, be back in Denver by 10, in bed by 11 and at work by 8 the next day......I know...it seems too good to be true.

The trip started off great, I made it to Ft. Meyers, returned my car, checked in for my flight, got through security and only had a 30 min. delay on my flight to Dallas......although I was skeptical about making Dallas due to an ice storm that hit that day.....well, I made Dallas.....then, I sat.....I sat until Midnight when Dallas finally decided to cancel all the flights they had delayed since 7 PM that night......hmmmmm....now what I thought. I didn't the most logical thing, I called Jeremy thinking he could solve this problem.....just kidding. I did call though to get the #800 for American Airlines and then for a hotel number in the area knowing everything would book up quickly. I was lucky and got a flight for the next day and a hotel within 2 miles of the airport. It seemed too good to be true. Then I went to find a taxi or a shuttle.

It was 8 degrees outside at this time and I was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans....yes, it was a little chilly. Also, there were only 5 taxi cabs running and non of the drivers knew how to drive on ice/snow.....thrilling....fabulous!!! So, after waiting about 1 hour for a taxi I finally got one and with other people headed to the Holiday Inn Express.....oh wait, they were 3 different Holiday Inn Express' and I was the last one to get dropped off. it was an adventurous drive with my driver, new to America and his first time seeing snow. The other passengers and I told him it's best not to slam on your breaks or speed when the city is shut down due to ice packed roads....it really was bad I must admit. However, by 2:15 AM I made it to my hotel and got checked in with my bag on my back. All I wanted was a nice hot shower but I didn't have anything except for what the hotel gives you. Needless to say when I made it to the airport the next day I was clean and had 6 hours of sleep, but that was about all. Jeremy was a trooper and didn't even laugh when he saw me in my two day travel adventure outfit.

I thought Dallas was a safe bet to travel through in January when the midwest is getting pounded with snow/ice. Who knew they would actually shut down the one night I was in town.

I was home for a whooping 36 hours before heading to Albuquerque, NM for another recruitment event. That trip was much smoother.

This weekend though I'm headed back to Dallas.......and it's supposed to snow.....ALOT.....in Denver.....perfect timing!

PS. Jeremy, Elvis, Sadie and Dibs are doing great......maybe one of these times I'll have one of them update this thing.

Economy

We are weathering the economic times in Colorado. Here is prime example of how to reuse your perfectly good items. I told Jeremy he was very resourceful for using duct-tape....the king of all tapes.











I can't lie though, I'm happy I wasn't seen with him in public that day. What wife would ask her husband to put duct-tape on his dress shoe to hold it together?! I'm sure it looked classy at business meetings. In addition to the heel falling off his shoe, he also ripped his dress shirt the same day. Both clothing failures happened in the morning. Nothing but the best for my husband! I believe he was going to try mending the shirt......I told him to throw it away, we are not that bad off......seriously people! As for the shoe, I recommended we get them resoled, he said he wants to try glue on it. I just laughed.

However, a broken shoe and ripped shirt is a creative way to approach your boss for you raise. ha ha

Hope your week is going well!

Photos as promised

Ok, again a bit delayed but better late than never. Here are some photos from Christmas when skiing with Debbie, Autumn, Amber, Jeremy and I.



Debbie, Autumn and Amber right before skiing - Day 1






Debbie and Amber - the first time Amber did it by herself









Debbie and Autumn - Autumn ROCKS at skiing! No fear.








Amber - one of the falls where she sits and giggles











Jeremy and I










Amber enjoying some hot chocolate after a day of skiing





Enjoy!

Happy New Year....

.....okay, I'm slacking on this blog and I'm willing to admit it.
It not that I don't enjoy writting a "journal" for all of you to read. It just takes time and being lazy is more appealing sometimes.......that and skiing in the mountains.

A lot has happened since I last updated this.

Christmas
We had the Gacnik family here for Christmas. It was our first experience with a full house but it worked out well. Everyone arrived from Ohio and Texas the Sunday prior to Christmas and moved in with gifts and clothes to last awhile. I think back to when Jeremy and I were looking at houses knowing this first Christmas we would have a house full. I remember us regularly talking about how many bedrooms each house had and if it could accommodate guests well. After this experience, it's safe to say our house can hold a whopping 13 people......no we will not be having 11 children to fill it. ha ha ha

It was busy week though. Some of the adventures included the Denver Aquarium, the Kid's Indoor Waterpark in Highlands Ranch and St. Nicks (great shopping). We were pretty lucky too, Santa found our house so the kids were thrilled Christmas morning. It was cute watching them open presents and get excited knowing St. Nick found them all the way in Colorado. The biggest downer of the week was not having any snow. Jeremy and I had picked up a few sleds before everyone arrived in hopes we could take them to our....well, my.....favorite sledding hill by the house. No such luck though. Oh well, everyone was busy as it was.

The funniest gift to watch being played was a Nintendo Wii. The adults beat the kids at the first opportunity to play. Bowling was quite the success by kids of all ages.

We enjoyed tons of food, wine and coffee thoughout the week and a great game called "the dollar game." I'll teach you if you don't know how to play. The dogs learned what it meant to have house guests but I think they miss the attention. Every day they played ball for hours on end with Tyler, Mckenzie, Amber and Autumn. Amazing the dogs did very well with all the kids....even Dibs....we're proud to announce he never bit anyone (or at least I was never told).


The week following Christmas Debbie, Autumn and Amber stayed to enjoy CO a bit more. So we took to the mountains and taught the girls to ski. I must admit, once it clicks in a kids head, they take off. Autumn was a speed racer down the mountain and had no concerns for turning. The faster she could go the more she smiled. Amber....once Amber caught on she giggled the entire way down the mountain.

New Years
For New Year's Eve we went to Red Robin and then to the Denver Zoo lights. They city does a great job with this display and it's something you should see if in Denver between Dec. 1 - Dec. 31.

Now, well it's been back to work for Jeremy and I. This year is definitely going to be a great one. There is a bit of travel in it for each of us, some work and some fun. In the next month I'll be in FL for a conference, TX for student interviews, NM for a conference and then OH for student interviews. Then this summer Jeremy and I are hoping to make Alaska and then to Minnesota at the cabin. (based on the economy neither Jeremy or I are turning down requests from work to travel....I don't think either of us are in the position to argue when so many others are being cut from their jobs) We really are fortunate and have to stop and count our blessings.

As for visitors.......we are expecting Rita, my cousin, to be in town the weekend of February 15. It'll be a great visit.

We hope you had a great Christmas and New Years! Hopefully this year treats you and your family well. I'm guessing my New Year's Resolution should be to update this a bit more regularly. Hopefully after this weekend we'll have more photos for you, because we're going skiing in 2 feet of fresh powder. Wish us luck!

(I'll post photos later of the vacation so you can see the fun everyone had)

Let the countdown begin...

....we're getting closer to Christmas, and I've delayed on the update since Thanksgiving. It's amazing I'm still allowed to write these things since I'm so prompt on the updates...ha ha ha.

First off, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving...2 weeks ago...(better late than never for my wishes to you). We were busy with family in town. Tom, Mary, Katelyn and Caleb decided to spend the holiday in CO with us. It was a great visit and a delight to see them. The kids have grown so much and developed great personalities that light up any room they walk into.

We did the Turkey thing...surprise, surprise....were you expecting anything different?

We then planned out the "to do" items while they were in Colorado. Go to the mountains...this task proved to be more difficult than anything else.

The weatherman said we may have a few "flurries," which I thought would be great for the kids since they were in CO. Now, when someone says "a few flurries" I think of a light dusting, still see grass.......I don't think of 8 inches of snow. So Saturday when we woke up to see the ground covered we did the logical thing, instead of going to the mountains, we went sledding. It was great and I've come to identify that I may be the biggest kid on the block, seriously, I went down the hill more than anyone else and was smiling the entire time. Katelyn loved it, Caleb on the other hand enjoyed being pushed in the stroller by Tom. Tom informed us he was teaching Caleb how to "flirt with the girls." Gotta start 'em young. ha ha.

Since Saturday backfired for visiting the mountains we then decided to try for Sunday....I should know better than to plan anything....because it snowed again and the weatherman then said "if you have guests from out of town, don't let them leave." So much for "a few flurries" so we decided to drive anyway and go the the Denver Aquarium. Everyone had a great time and Santa made a surprise appearance at lunch. We then decided it was as good of time to let the kids sit on his knee and tell them what they wanted for Christmas....a pink computer in case you're wondering.

Caleb LOVES lions and thought this exhibit was great.

This is a photo of Tom and Katelyn making homemade doughnuts. Can't lie, they were great.

Overall, it was a great visit and one we appreciated. I guess we'll consider it our training run for Christmas in 2 weeks when 11 people move in for the week.

You're probably wondering about the updates with the mice, jeep and fridge......

Mice - we've caught a few more non-rent paying nor meal plan residence.....they have gone to Mouse Heaven.

Jeep - still sitting at the shop, the "cool" part we ordered online was delivered but without the piece we needed.....I guess someone before us needed it too....so Jeremy may have the biggest Christmas gift of all, a brand spankin' used Jeep or something....we're working on it.

Fridge - the appliance serviceman said it needs to be inside and will continue to stop working when it's below 40 degrees outside, who knew?

A nice funny update....Jeremy laughs that since I've moved to CO it snows a lot more in the Denver area and things break a lot faster. In fact, to support this statement he says that's why he lived for 10 years here without a shovel and then he met me......I move in with 4 shovels and 1 snow blower.......the snow blower now doesn't work.....see I bring the snow and I break stuff....anyone looking for house guest should remember that before inviting us....ha ha...anyway, we've shoveled 4 times this year and it's not even Christmas.

Also, a correction to the previous post....I forgot to include two additional things that broke this year.

Grill - literally caught on fire on the outside. Yes it was mine before we got married.
Lawnmower - that too was mine before we got married and it spend 5 weeks in the shop earlier this year, I guess it really kicked the bucket.

Have a great week and a holiday season! I'll be sure to update you soon.

Roll the dice...

What are the odds something else could break for Jeremy and I? Very high apparently!

We just received the bill for the water repairs, which insurance covers aside from the deductible, and thought we were home free. No more major purchases for a year was our plan.......that was until yesterday.

Jeremy called an informed me that his Jeep decided to stop working. Okay, into the shop where they informed us the part was on backorder.......National Backorder and no timeframe available. I addition there is no temporary fix for this since it's the steering column/ignition area. hmmm......we pondered our options for a bit - rent a car and hope the part arrives in 1 week, however realizing it may take 3 months.......not a good option....3 months of a rental car could be ~$2,000 not including the repairs to Jeremy's Jeep which total the value of the vehicle if we fixed them all. Option 2, look at a different vehicle. While standing and trying to decide what we should do, the service man at the shop offered to buy Jeremy's Jeep as is. (we were in shock) After pondering the options we decided to stop by a few places and see what a new/used vehicle costs these days. After looking around we realized you can get some pretty good deals on Jeeps, used/new, now because the economy is not doing well (in case you hadn't noticed). We didn't do anything other than look before heading home.

Now as you can imagine, a new car means more money this year and a part seems like a favorable fix. So we decided to rely on our friend......Ebay.....a reliable source at sometimes and it proved to be last night. The part, which is on National Backorder, appeared and we bought it immediately. Hopefully it will be here in a week so we can get the jeep up and running. We were thrilled. (I should note the disclaimer that we will find out today if the part we ordered is actually the correct part from the repair shop - otherwise we may be the owners of a 2006 Jeep)

After the whirl-wind experience of "to buy or not to buy a vehicle" we were beat. We were thinking that was a close call, not very funny and we should call it a day. Jeremy went to the garage to get something out of our 6 month old extra fridge and came in to announce it died. I looked at him and said, "you've got to be kidding me." The TURKEY and everything else in it.......what are we going to do? My brother Tom and his family are arriving tomorrow (now being today). Perfect timing! You're probably saying, use the warranty.....good idea but we bought this from a warehouse sale.....you get what you pay for I guess. So, today at 2:00 I'm heading to public transportation (yes, in Denver) to ride to Jeremy's office and then we are off to find a quick fix and get everything switched over before Tom arrives tonight.

I'm thinking Jeremy and I will have a glass of wine before they arrive......keep your fingers crossed that we make it through one more month without anything else breaking........2008 has been a learning experience for home ownership.

Incase you forgot everything that has broke or is just expensive in repairs, here they are:
Water pipe pressure non-existent (4 times we had replacements, etc)
Water leaked through the roof to cause damage to foyer, etc.
Double oven broke/replaced
Refridgerator broke
Jeep Dead

It's almost funny.....almost.

Have a great Thanksgiving though. Seriously, even though we have things breaking we're pretty lucky. We both have jobs we love and are doing well. We have great friends and family. We are able to be with people we love during the holidays and aren't in harms way like many service men/women. We have a roof over our head (when it doesn't leak), clothes and food and those are the main necessities. I guess it's pretty hard/ridiculous to complain about the little
things when I passed a homeless man this morning who doen't have a roof over his head or a warm meal. Be thankful for the little things, they add up!

Unexpected & Unwanted Visitor

We had a visitor and there's certain to be more.

Last night Elvis was on hunting duty and keeping a close eye on the kitchen.....which told me we had a visitor. He/She/They are not paying rent and are not on a set meal plan like Elvis, Sadie, Dibs, Jeremy and I. So, they have to go.

To lay down the law, Jeremy set a friendly "trap" with cheese. (I don't know if friendly is the best word) This morning I found one in the "trap." HA! Show's them who's boss.......(however, I'm leaving the remains for Jeremy)

I'm leaving a photo out since you can probably imagine the scene.

Maybe tonight will be lucky as well!

HOUSE UPDATE!

On a side note, we got our new entry installed yesterday and it looks great!

It will be stained on Monday. We're almost done with the rain damage repairs.

Yippie!

To Florida and Back...

I may not know what time zone I'm currently in, but I do know I'm not on vacation anymore.

Jeremy and I took a little break this fall from the rat race and headed to FL to enjoy a bit of wine and relaxation. The vacation plan was simple really, fly to FL, stay with the Kiefer Parents, drink wine, take naps, and read a book. I took two books and can honestly say they have not yet been opened. I also can honestly say I didn't take a nap. It was fun and busy. By the time we returned home I was in need of a nap and Jeremy had acquired a good chest cold.






For some reason 1/2 way through the wine experience I thought it would be "cool" to jump up on these boxes and take a photo. whoever said white kids can't jump obviously didn't know my potential......heck, I didn't even know my jumping potential. Probably not the smartest thing I've done, but it seemed like a good idea at the time



It was a great trip though. We headed to Epcot on Thursday for the Wine and Food Festival. Always a great time! There we ran into Matt, Stacy and the 3 kids, who were also on vacation. We chatted for awhile and then went on the boat ride at Norway (I think - but we had drank a few glasses of wine by then so it could have been somewhere else). We are pleased to say we made it all around the world at Epcot trying all sorts of wine and food. I would be remise if I didn't mention the spilling of wine.....at the 3rd stop....to think we were just getting started! However, dad (who spilled it) recovered nicely, bought another glass and caught right back up. Nice work!













Thursday night we went to the Hoop-de-Doo, a dinner musical event at Disney. We had a great time. I can also say I'm happy we didn't have to cook that night because I've never seen Jeremy eat so many chicken wing, etc. That in itself was amazing.











Friday and Saturday were low-key days. We swam with Mackenzie, Nolan and Kelsey.....correction, I swam with the kids while everyone else watched and laughed when I said it was cold. Jeremy got pushed in by Mackenzie so he got a taste of the temperature. ha ha




Since Matt's family spent 2 nights at the camper with us my parents brought along 2 tents to accommodate all the guest. Well, this green one hasn't been opened in......a really long time....I'm thinking 20+ years and has a great scent....so great, we gave it a day to air out and then closed it back up. No one was willing to stay in that one. Sell it dad - E-bay




Friday the kids prepared for trick-or-treating at Disney. That is the way to go. I've never seen so many decorations in a campground nor have I seen kids reap the benefits of candy. We "cleaned house" trick or treating and even used the golf cart to help us get around a little faster. More bang for the buck, right?



























Saturday we took the little 2-seater boats out on the lake. Jeremy was in one and Mackenzie and I in the other. I joked before saying we'd get drenched, knowing that you can't get wet in these things. I must have jinxed us though because the next thing you know a wave came over and I was sitting in a cold puddle. Then, on the way back to shore it began to rain......and not lightly, it downpoured so we were soaking. That's the last time I joke about staying dry.

We explored downtown Disney and found some fun shops to bum around. of course we found a few things too. Other than that we didn't do awhole lot. Great trip though, we may need to go back next year and see if we still like wine.


I'll toss photos up here. however, I'm not going to write clips for them all. Use your imagination!

What's next to come for us, well more travel.
I head to DC later this week and Jeremy will be leaving soon for CA and then Panama. (Yeah for frequent flier miles.....I hope)

Update - it's not broke

There must be a God because for a first this year, something is not broke in our house. YEAH!!!!! My manly-man of a husband tore apart the pipes under the sink to discover the reason the garbage disposal wasn't working was the pipes were clogged and backed up. I'm sure that was a pleasant smell, but he did it without complaining once.....which I think I know why.....he's the one who clogged it with the potato skins......priceless, it gave me something to chuckle about. However, I hope he's as kind about it when I clog it. Or else it will become the "you clog it, you tear it apart and fix it" projects. ha ha.

Life in the fast lane

We spent our weekend like every normal couple working around the house. Nothing exciting to it. We put our paintings, photos and clock back on the wall, moved the furniture a little more, mowed the yard, cleaned, cleaned and cleaned. Sounds exciting I'm sure.

One more thing..........Garbage Disposal = Broke. The hits just keep on coming. It seemed about time for that since the repairs from the water damage are almost done. It was time for something else to go.

Maybe in a week or so we'll add some photos again, which would mean I need to take some photos again.

However, our outlook is good. We're headed to FL on the 30th to the Wine Experience and to visit family......or should I have said to visit family and, if time permits, stop by the wine experience. We'll toast you all at 10 AM while drinking a glass of wine in Argentina or maybe Canada.

Renovations Continued and Estes Park

You're probably dying from suspense to know the updates from our water damage and see the improvements. So, here they are.....shortly followed by photos from our trip to Estes Park this past weekend (which was an adventure in itself).

We are back in the house officially and although nothing is on the walls or shelves, it is better than a hotel. All that remains are some minor repairs........and the entire front door entry which will be torn out in about 3 weeks and then a serious cleaning job. We can donate a heavy coat of dust/saw dust to anyone interested. Here are the photos from when we were in the hotel. They showed up a little better than the camera phone photos.

I think you understand the disfunction of having a fridge in the living room and toilet in the office next to a dishwasher. Something just doesn't go here.

Anyway, it's coming along and in a week or so we'll have update photos with the fridge in it's rightful spot and photos on the wall. It will look like we have lived her for 8 months......wait, we have.

Moving onward, we went to Estes Park this past weekend. Since we hadn't camped this past weekend I recommended it about a month ago; which seemed like a great idea at the time. Jeremy loves to camp so this would be something he would thoroughly enjoy. Again, it seemed like a great idea at the time until the weather man told the forecast. A high on Saturday of 46 degrees, fog, rain and then SNOW Saturday night into Sunday. What perfect weather for camping .....in a tent.....sleeping on the ground. However, I could not pull the whimp card since it is something I thought Jeremy would really enjoy. I was thrilled on Friday night when he agreed it did not sound fun so we opted for the cabin rental option.

We had a great time, aside from the fog on Saturday. Heck, you couldn't even tell we were in the mountains. There are a few photos which show the dense fog for you. The bright yellow are the Aspens turning colors, quite pretty. Then there are a few photos of the Elk.....I thought of my cousin Leon and his love for hunting when seeing a few of these animals....we did wake up to snow on Sunday and it had cleared off rather well so we enjoyed Rocky Mountain National Park. One additional photo I tossed in is of Jeremy taking photos, this was my view for much of the weekend (ha ha - it wasn't painful). He loves photography so we took advantage of the outdoors. Overall, a relaxing weekend, almost too relaxing since it took more coffee to get going this morning.

Renovation - Part II

The story continues........

Our house is offically a disaster scene.....well, sort of.....the contractors are finishing the floors this week so everything is moved from the main floor living area (aside from the living room/dining room which are now known as storage units). There are three photos below to highlight the new look our house took.

This is notably called the family room.....a perfect place to place catch with our dogs Elvis & Sadie.....as you can see there is nothing to knock over...in additioin, the fireplace and bookshelves are covered in plastic......it's pretty, don't you think?

This is called a bathroom in CO. Indoor plumbing is optional in homes now-a-days, don't you know? Can you see the places the painters missed by painting before removing the toilet and sink? (on a side note I didn't realize these were removed until I went to use the bathroom, that was a shocker!)

They say when you are married you are supposed to be domesticated....meaning cooking, cleaning, etc. I like to use this photo as my excuse why I can't do anything......to the left my fridge has been removed, in addition to the dishwasher.....oh yes, and I have no access to my cabinets where the food is stored.....and (yes, there's more) the pots are missing from the hanging rack above the center island.....see, this environment creates a problem.

These are all the photos for now, they are actually from my phone since I don't have access to the office where my camera is located....actually the office is now home to the kitchen table, a toilet, sink and dishwasher....I always thought the toilet belonged there. The living room and dining room now house a refrigerator, couch, loveseat, tv, kitchen table chairs, garbage, etc, and the bar..........

The joy of this "redecorating" was my misinformation of the start-date. To my knowledge, the floors were going to be done on Wed-Fri. which meant I would pack Tuesday night and move the dogs to boarding Wed. morning and myself to a hotel. Seemed like a simple plan until I arrived home Tuesday night to have my house looking like this....hmmm.....dinner?....a chair to sit on.....or maybe a drink from the bar.......yep, amid all this mess, I didn't have access to a glass of wine....that's a crisis in my book!!! The challenge was everything, as the photos show, was taped off and much of the area was with black tarp-like material and tape to keep the dust from the work from filtering thoughout the house. Overall, the dogs and I survived the night, the only seat in the house was my bed, so it was an early night and an early morning to escape before the workers showed again.

Moral of the story......no matter what the situation, always have a bottle of wine accessible (perhaps store it in the garage w/ a wine opener and plastic cups). Wine makes everything better.

Oh yes, Jeremy is still around......he's been traveling for work for the past week to San Diego and Panama. He's scheduled to arrive home tonight......Welcome Home Honey, it's called the Residence Inn in Highlands Ranch!

Hope all is well in your world friends and family!

Renovations - Part I

sorry for the lack of photos this week. The camera is buried below all the plastic used to tape off areas of the house during repairs. So use your imagination as I try to explain what improvements are in store for this week at the Gacnik household. (please contain your excitement)

Last week the workers showed up to repair our hole in the wall with insulation/drywall/etc. It almost looks normal. At that time they also installed the french doors in the office.

Over the weekend we had a nice rain shower and were pleasantly surprised when our roof didn't leak. Jeremy still plans to "caulk the heck out of it" as he says. I'm guessing it will have a nice layer on by the time he's done; which I'm not complaining about at all. The roofers claimed to fix it a second time but a little extra protection can't hurt, right?

At 7:00 AM today the workers showed up to begin taping off the house and start the paint job. They envision this to be a 3 day process. I'm sure it will smell great when we get home! Next week I'll be out of the house for a few days living in a hotel, the dogs will be at the vet and Jeremy will be in Panama on work. You're probably wondering why a hotel for me....well, that's when they're fixing the damage to the floors and we can't be there then.

In about 6 weeks we should have the new front entry. That will be a site to watch while they install it in 1 piece. Hopefully I find the camera before that so I can really update you with all the photos during what I will call "Renovation II"

Aside from that, all is calm on the homefront. I was in DC last week and found it educational. I don't think I would make a good politician, it's all networking and kissing other's rears. I think it would get annoying. Awhile back I thought I could be the next Sarah Palin in 12 years (same age then) but realized I wouldn't get to live in the White House, so that options out. It was a productive and tiring trip though. I think I saw a few important figures, but since I'm not political I can't tell you who they were exactly. .....but I've seen them on television.

You're probably wondering how my better half is doing.....he's doing well. Maybe I'll get him to type the update next week and then you'll really hear what's going on versus my random stories.

South Dakota

Well yet again, a delayed blog posting. Sorry about that. It's been busy though.

We traveled last weekend to South Dakota....they say it's the "hot" spot to be, so we ventured on a not-so-scenic drive to see the lovely state. I should also mention we were visiting my Cousin Rita, Jeremy's Parents and an Aunt and Uncle. So, I guess there was more to the trip than just to see some faces carved in a mountain. (ha ha)

We departed on Thursday to allow us a day with Rita and a day with Jeremy's family before driving back on Sunday. Again, it was a fast trip for us but really it turned out quite nice!

Friday we toured the Wild Horse Sanctuary outside Hot Springs, SD. Since Rita volunteers there we had a great tour guide and really learned the in/outs of the Sanctuary. I'm attaching a few photos from the Sanctuary. Also we went to the Mammoth Site; it was discovered in 1974 by a housing developer and was then turned over to the state. It's quite interesting to see the true remains from 27,0000 years ago. If you tour in July you can actually watch the digging take place live. Pretty cool. There's a photo attached of that as well.

To Rita's request we left the 3 dogs with her for 2 nights while we went to Mt. Rushmore to visit Jeremy's parents, Aunt Jan and Uncle John. I still am shocked Rita dared to watch 3 crazy dogs with 4 horses on her land. However, Sadie found that 5 acres was plenty to run on and she managed to sniff a little to close a Cactus (that was fun). Elvis, he loved chasing the Rabbits and hunting on the land. Dibs......well Dibs isn't the sharpest tool on the block so he went up to the horses and barked....dumb dog. I'm shocked he didn't get stepped on for going too close.

Continuing on, so we headed to Keystone, SD which is close to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. we met Jeremy's parents there as well as John and Jan. Within 5 minutes of their arrival we had a bottle of wine open because we were all "thirsty?" After visiting and breaking our FIRST wine glass we hit dinner and then called it a night. Saturday we visited all the monuments and then headed to Deadwood thinking a "great deserted ghost town." Little did we know the town has no problem with their population......they are officially a gambling town. So we visited a casino for a bit and then headed back to our hotel. As you can imagine we were quite "thirsty" after another day of traveling so we opened another bottle of wine. After the SECOND wine glass of the trip broke we headed to dinner. (Thank heavens the wine glasses were the hotels) Anyway, we had a great time and it was a complete fluke the wine glasses broke; it was completely unrelated to the amount of consumption, but it was rather hilarious the second time around.

Sunday we headed back to Rita's to get the dogs who were exhausted. You'd never know they were running 5 acres the entire time.

Aside from that, I started my new job with University of Denver this past week and it's going well thus far. It will definitely be challenging but that's a good thing. I'm headed to DC this week so I'll update you after that.

We are in the process of our home "renovation" due to water damage. Although the roof was "fixed" a week ago we had water inside again on Thursday night........that was fun. So, Friday the contractors were back to try again. Sounds like Tuesday the interior work will begin. We'll update you with photos here.

Today we went to a Denver Broncos Football game. It was fun and also exhausting knowing tomorrows a work day.

Until next time.....think dry thoughts for us...we've had enough water damage this year. ha ha

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!