July (so far!)

There shouldn't be much more stuff happening in July, so I feel safe blogging about it so far. If I do anything else, I can always add a blog!

I took Friday, July 1st off to hang out with my sister and her kids, and we went to the zoo!! I always have fun there! July 4th was nice because I was also able to take the day off from work, so we mostly just hung around the house and had a small BBQ with my mom and dad. Susanna, our HR intern, came over and joined us as well! She was a huge hit with my sister’s kids, mostly because she played the “pretend” games with them and let them crawl all over her! I was also a big hit because I had gotten quite a few glow sticks from the Dollar Store and gave them to the kids as a surprise – it was a HUGE hit! They were SOOO excited! They had bracelets and necklaces, and each kid had their own wand. I learned from last year that those definitely keep them entertained while we’re waiting, plus it’s always easier to see them in the dark when you know where they are!

That week was also the week of the US Women’s Open! It was pretty slow for us in the Administration offices, but we got out to the Merchandise tent to help at the register. It was packed, and it didn’t help that it rained all 4 days of the Championship and everyone came inside to do some shopping! It was crazy, but it added to the already memorable experience of saying that you worked at a property that held a National USGA golf tournament that got worldwide recognition. I even came out of it with “credentials” and a free Cutter and Buck t-shirt! So I would say it worked out well!

I also went with Katy and Susanna (both from work) to a Sky Sox game! The Sky Sox are our Minor League team that feeds into the Colorado Rockies. The stadium is really close and it’s really affordable – the seats closest to the field are only $12 plus tax! Then the food and drink are priced what you would expect, between $6 and $8 but that’s not bad! We had a blast, and we stuck around for after the game when we saw FIREWORKS!! Nevermind that we just saw them a few days earlier for the Fourth, but they shot these off RIGHT outside of the ballpark, which is relatively small.

I also went to another Rockies game, this time with Susanna and friends from her school program, Sarah and Lumi! We had a great view from Right Field, but we were in direct sunlight the entire time – IT. WAS. SO. HOT. Thank goodness Susanna had 50 SPF sunscreen in her purse, or we would have burned skin off – it really was that hot. The only breaks we got were when we got up to get food or beer and when a large cloud covered the sun for a good chunk of time. We also decided to go to the gift shop and buy the first white sleeveless tank top we could find to help allieviate some of the heat from our black cotton t-shirts! 3 out of the 4 of us got a new tank top that day, and changed in the bathroom. The shirts fit a little funny, but it was worth the $27 to have even a little bit of relief! On a non-baseball related note, I think that I had the most amazing cheeseburger I have ever eaten at the game – SO yummy!! They also gave us so many French fries that I couldn’t eat them all, and I didn’t even need dinner! My dad also gave me an old camera of his – the camera wasn’t really that old, but he wasn’t using it and didn’t sell it in the garage sale they had that weekend. But, it has 12X zoom and I was able to get some really cool shots! The only bad thing was that the closer you zoom, the fuzzier the picture got. But it was still cool!

Finally, I completed my 5K!! You can read about that here. I bought a 5K sticker to put in my car’s rear window and might even continue running – might even do another 5K!

So, with that all finally being said and done – here is a highlight of July so far (with a few more photos to come – the next few weeks are busy too!):

Thanksgiving tomorrow

It's a late night in my house, but it's been a nice day. Mostly because I don't have to work tomorrow, but also because I got to spend the nice with my family. We went to see Tangled!

It was VERY cute! It brought tears to my eyes at moments, and lots of good laughs. I could have done without the songs - they seemed a little forced - but then again, that's part of the Disney movies that I grew up with that I liked (Aladdin, Cinderella, Lion King, etc.) so I give them props for going back to that. Plus, I'm 26 now, and I'm sure I see those songs differently than I would if I was 5 or 6.

I recommend this movie!!

200th Post - Road Trip to Missouri!!

200th Post – Road Trip to Missouri

So 2 weeks ago, my dad and I had lunch at Schlotszky’s on Thursday and he was telling me about a camper that he was interested in getting. He had been dreaming of getting one for years, but my mom has always been opposed to it. One night, he happened to show this camper to my mom and she said “ok”…and then he had the green light to get the camper!!

So then on Friday, August 27th I got into work and had an e-mail from my dad. The subject was “Are you up for an adventure?” In the e-mail, he invited me to take a road trip with him that weekend. He was able to get an amazing deal on a camper that someone was selling, who had only used it once. The only problem –

He lives in North Carolina.

He either wasn’t willing or able (or maybe both) to ship it or bring it to Colorado Springs, so he and my dad worked out a deal where they would both drive halfway (about 12 hours) and meet in St. Louis, Missouri. My mom couldn’t go because they had a house guest staying with them who was flying out at noon on Saturday and she was taking her to the airport, plus she had a dinner party on Saturday night. So my dad asked me to go! It took me all of 2 minutes to realize that I had no plans and I was going!!

Friday night I went over for dinner at their house, planning on staying over so that I could leave with him really early the next morning. We had a great dinner and then I convinced my dad that if we drove a few hours that night, then we wouldn’t have to spend the entire Saturday in the car, and we’d get to St. Louis earlier. He loved the idea, so we started out at 6:45 on Friday! We drove through the night and ended up at a hotel in Colby, Kansas. Boy – there was NOTHING out there. It was about 11:30 pm (10:30 Colorado time) but I was starving and we hadn’t eaten in about 6 hours, so we stopped at the McDonald’s next door for a late night snack.

We decided to get up at 5 am (4 am MT) to be on the road by 6, and then we were on our way again (after, of course, another stop at McDonald’s for breakfast). I’m not really into audio books, but thank goodness my dad had one with him, because it really helped the time fly by. It also was great to just talk with him and catch up on things, and tell funny stories and memories and between all that and the several stops for gas and bathroom breaks, we were in St. Louis before we knew it! Throw in another stop at McDonald’s for lunch, and I was starting to feel like the guy from the documentary “Supersize Me”.

The man’s name who was selling my dad the camper was Jeff, and he was really nice. We got to St. Louis around 4:15 (3:15 MT) and spent about 1 ½ to 2 hours getting the rundown of all the features and hooking it up to my dad’s car. Then after driving it around the parking lot to get used to it, we were ready to get back on the road. Seems kind of silly to drive 12 hours just to spend 2 hours in St. Louis, and then drive back, but it worked out so well driving a few hours Friday night, so we were ok with it. Plus, it was also equally silly to set up camp at 6 pm and then just sit around, waiting for the next morning to arrive.

After only about 2 hours of driving, my dad and I decided that we should probably start looking for a campground before we got to Kansas and there were practically none. Plus, we also wanted to set-up the camper and make sure it all worked, and we didn’t know how long that would take (since we’re both first-timers). So around 8, we finally got a campsite and I convinced my dad that we should probably eat something other than McDonald’s for dinner. The campground host recommended a 50’s Diner close-by, and since we didn’t want to fiddle with un-hooking and hooking the camper from the car (since we didn’t know what we’d do if we couldn’t figure it out!) we took it to dinner with us. But, it was a little rushed so that we could get back and settle in. Thank goodness for electric hook-ups and A/C in the camper – it was so humid and muggy that the A/C was awesome! After checking Facebook and watching an episode of Law and Order SVU on Netflix, we headed to bed.

We got up again at 4/5 and made our way back home and, for convenience, had McDonald’s for breakfast one last time. For those of you counting, that’s 4 times in 2 days we had McDonald’s. So it was a mutual decision to get Quizno’s for lunch that day, so we could actually say we had fresh veggies and whole wheat bread at least once, and to feel better about our food choices.
We finally arrived back in Colorado Springs around 5, had dinner with my mom, and then I had to rush home to finally take a shower!! Whew…

It was a great weekend, and it actually went by too fast. I love road trips!! I can’t wait for my next one! Here are some shots I took on the way back so that I could share:

Dad test driving the car with the camper...

Good morning Kansas. Really??

Here's my dad getting the run through from Jeff...

Here's my dad at the campground on Saturday night getting everything ready...

Place in Kansas where we stopped for gas had this in the window - thank goodness they were closed.

More of Kansas...it was actually kind of therapeutic...

Driving through Kansas...

My dad drove the whole way - what a trooper!!

Always the photographer, never the subject.

Thank goodness for audio books...this one was great!!

Bales of hay in...you guessed it...Kansas!

Finally back to the mountains!!

Thanks for reading!!

4th of July Festivities

As I pass the one month mark from blogging (*GASP!!*) and realize that my last blog was about camping, I have recently gone on another camping trip - so be sure that there will be pictures to follow.

But on that note, let me share a few pictures from the 4th of July festivities from my parent's house. I hope you had a great 4th!!!

Baxter and Bailey hanging out while we ate.

Sophia (my niece) and I - great self-shot, if I do say so myself!
We ate outside on my parent's new patio!

My sister , brother-in-law, and their kiddos!

Bailey with my parent's puppy, Cody. My dog has a big butt.

I always have pictures of Bailey, but NEVER me with my dog - this one turned out great!

It's nearly impossible to get all three dogs in one shot looking at me - so I had to take an "action shot".

One of the only good shots of fireworks from my balcony...they were pretty far away so they're all pretty small.

Hope you had a happy 4th!!

More puppy love

Even though he's not mine, I just can't get enough! And...he finally has a name!!

CODY!!!

Here's Bailey playing with him at my parent's house - he was so sweet and actually brought Cody toys!

And in typical Weim fashion (those who own one know what I'm talking about), he's already sitting like a person at 3 months!!

I puppy-sat for my parents on Sunday night while they went out for dinner. They didn't want him to sleep the entire time they were gone, so it was my job to keep him awake for 2 hours straight so he would sleep the whole night. It worked! My parents even brought him over with his toys to keep him occupied...they bought him little plastic keys, like what you get for babies!

Bailey wasn't too sure about Cody being in his "territory" - my apartment, but he did play with him occasionally. I swear he isn't being mean in this shot...

Bailey checked Cody out everytime he came near him - here he is deeming if Cody is worthy of sharing his water bowl.

Cody did have one accident inside, but I caught it as it was coming out so after shouting "NO" and immeadiately picking him up and running outside, he was fine the rest of the night. I hope he got the point!

My dad is crazy...

So while my sister and I are inside the house the day before Christmas Eve, wrapping presents, we hear her kids outside shouting and giggling. I peak outside to see what's so funny, and here's what I see...

There's a kid wrapped up in that parachute. A 3 1/2 year old kid. Sophia.

She's most definitely still in there...

And then over the head - still a kid in that parachute!

Here's a live action shot of Sophia in the parachute...

And now Emma gets a turn!

Sorry this last one is sideways - I went to take a vertical picture, and forgot I had left it on the movie feature. But it turns out to be worth it, because in this shot he is actually swinging BOTH girls around in the parachute at the same time...

Newest Creveling addition!

First off, let me clarify - he is not mine!

He's 2 1/2 months old, about 12 pounds, and has yet to be named!

Yesterday, my parents called me at work and told me that they were at the mall and they had 4 Weimaraner puppies at the pet store! They have one already, and we're all just suckers for Weims. I told my mom I would just have to drive by after work and play with them to get my puppy fix.

Well about 20 minutes later, my dad called back and wanted to know if I would be at work for much longer because they wanted to come by and introduce me to someone. Oh boy...my boss is listening in on this conversation and as I slowly (and loudly) realize that they bought one of the puppies, she's waving at me like "HAVE THEM COME IN HERE...BRING THE PUPPY HERE!" We're a dog-crazy office for sure!

So they arrived and he was freaking adorable, of course, and it took 30 minutes to get around all areas of the office with all of the women swooning. And I think I really scared Justin when I walked around to his cubicle with a puppy in my arms!

They haven't named him yet, but it's only been about 24 hours, so cut them some slack!! I will definitely keep the blogging world (those of you who read this) up to date on the little man!!

My very first "official" White Christmas!

It's definitely been a while since I've posted and Christmas has come and gone! I was able to spend Christmas in Texas with my family, and believe it or not...

We had a White Christmas!!!!!

It started raining pretty heavy in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve, and pretty soon, I was sure I saw snowflakes. No one believed me.

Until - it started picking up and sticking to the ground! And it got to the point where it was freezing on roads and they had to shut a few down!
So enjoy some highlights from my trip, and I hope you had a very Merry Christmas yourself!!

It wasn't much, compared to snows I've seen in Colorado Springs, but this was the most I had ever seen in the Dallas area where I grew up, and to top it all off, it was actually snowing ON

Christmas Eve!

This is in my sister's backyard in Aubrey, TX...

This is at my sister-in-law's childhood home in Plano, TX...

Christmas morning at my brother's apartment!!

Christmas morning - my brother showing his daughter Allie some of the gifts from "Santa"...
Allie with the snowman she built (with her Uncle Tim's help) in their backyard on Christmas Day...
An up close shot of the snowman - I just couldn't get over the cowboy hat!
My dad learning about a make-it-yourself Crayon maker Allie had gotten.
And Allie with Kat (her mommy/my sister-in-law) and my mom after completing a puzzle Allie got for Christmas...

And I'll leave this parting shot - my brother, in Target, the day after Christmas, pretending to be a cheerleader. Don't ask - it was hilarious!!

Thanksgiving Memories

For more detailed descriptions, see yesterday's post. But...I do want to point out a couple of more things:
- Justin made the pumpkin pie (and he hates it!). I only read the instructions but he put it together!
- That turkey was 25 lbs! It could feed up to 18 people!