Tuesday, March 31, 2009

All things thankful for: March


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I just can't look at this picture and not laugh. It's too funny.

... warm weather. Okay, so maybe it's cold now but we did have quite a few warm days. I'll be here ... waiting for more.
... checking things off of our "wedding to-do list". invites ordered. invites addressed. invites out!
... watching daffodils bloom. [and then getting killed by the storm.]
... our winter storm. yeah, I love warm weather but I also love playing in the snow.
... watching snow build up on the windows. sounds stupid but looks so cozy when you're sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket by the fire, drinking tea.
... midterms. well not the midterms themselves but knowing that the semester is more than halfway over.
... booking tickets for trips home.
... friends getting engaged. :)
... reading fiction.
... drinking champagne for no reason at all. [the boy is now hooked.]
... reading and drinking coffee in Corner Bakery between classes. now that my gift certificate is all used up I am boycotting Starbucks. ok, maybe just the one on Larimer Street. The people there were so rude and they have mice. Eww.
... crossing Bear Mountain off our list of things to hike.
... it's March 31st which means we're getting married in exactly 2 months. :)

Monday, March 30, 2009

Dear,

Dear Mother Nature,
It is SPRING! You know, the season where it rains, not snows and flowers bloom, birds chirp, and temperatures warm up. I get that we had a warm winter. However, it was still winter and I am over it. If you could pretty please work on bringing some spring weather to Colorado I'd love you forever.

P.S. That last storm was kinda cool. But lets save the next one for next year.

Dear slackers,
You suck. No seriously. Asking me to do your work because you were on vacation and I "already did the research" is just not cool. I'm guessing that the reason you think the work "would be better done by me" is because you just don't feel like doing it.

Dear plug-in-the-wall,
Please stop breaking all of my stuff. TVs and DVD players are not cheap.

Dear friends and family,
I cannot wait to see you all soon!

Dear North Face,
Thank you for making ridiculously warm clothing. I promise to keep you in business.


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A little motivation for mother nature. Two things spring needs: rain & flowers.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Weekend Recap

C and I had a great weekend! Friday night we went out to dinner with some friends and ended up closing down the bar (oops!). I tried an awesome new beer called Breckenridge Avalanche Ale. Two thumbs up. I'm definitely loving all the microbrews in Colorado. [Side note: I cannot wait until summer when I can sit outside and drink beer.]
Saturday we had a relaxing morning and then ran some errands in the afternoon. We ended up at REI (no surprise there) and looked at canoes all.day.long. We've talked about getting one before. C likes to fish and I love to canoe and there are tons of drivable places we could take it. We decided to look around before we made any final decision. We also were able to get some gifts for our wedding party. We're still not done, but we're making progress.

Saturday night we came home and 'discussed' our canoe options over 2 bottles of champagne. Needless to say after 2 bottles I'd pretty much agree to anything.

Sunday we relaxed. C bought the canoe, which was on backorder, so we won't be getting it for a few weeks. I was fine with that anyway. Our weather hasn't exactly been perfect for outdoor water sports lately. Then we went out for a walk and came back to find that while we were gone our t.v. had died. :( Of course this happens after we buy a canoe. Keep in mind that I practically hyperventilate when making large purchases and have been second guessing this decision all day long. Oh well ... I guess we better make sure we get our money's worth.

think the dogs are going to like it?

Friday, March 27, 2009

More white stuff...

I hope you're not sick of snow pictures because I have a whoooole bunch for you. We had a blast in it ... I think C went out to shovel the driveway about 5 times. :) Hey, I shoveled it twice if you're thinking how lazy I am ... I'm just more interested in wrestling with the dogs than clearing a path.

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This was C last night.

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Dunkin and I. It wasn't too deep here ... but it kept snowing.

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Poor Henry! Being the short one he had a hard time. Yes, he's wearing a jacket but only because otherwise he shivers uncontrollably.

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This is how much snow we had on our windows last night!

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I'd say this is about the average in most places and proves two things: 1. I am short and 2. we got a lot of snow!

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Henry found a better spot to stand.

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The Rockies.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Snow Day

Since we didn't get much snow this year I had to go out in the storm/blizzard. I used the excuse that I had to take the dogs out and shovel the driveway. Really, I just wanted to play in the snow. The dogs go nuts in the snow and aside from a minor incident involving some geese, a pond, and the parking lot at the mall everything went well. Let's just say it's a good thing that dogs leave tracks in the snow.

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This is what our window looked like around 8 this morning. Oliver was trying to catch the snowflakes. Pretty hard to do when you're on the opposite side of the window.

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think he's excited?

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not nearly as excited as this guy.

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and off they go!

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time for a game of tag. Dunkin always wins.

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and this is what the window looked like after we got back inside. You should see it now ... it's almost completely covered.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

It's the little things ...


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... climbing into a bed with freshly washed sheets.
... the boy beating the storm home.
... the smell of a vanilla candle.
... facing a winter storm with plenty of food in the house and a large bottle of wine.
... my new, cute wallet.
... getting packages in the mail.
... my dogs, who think it's their job to protect us.
... our super comfy couch. So glad we picked comfort over style.
... A trip home in 3 weeks!
... Martha Stewart. The decorator not the jailbird.
... Delicious brownies from Chick Fila.
... Cheap, funky art.
... Spring. [Which hopefully will make a quick appearance after this storm.]
... how excited C gets when it's supposed to snow.
... Kitties sleeping in front of the fire, cuddled together.
... writing a paper.
... mailing all of the invites. please reply soon!
... crafts.
... robin's egg blue.

Name change

I have decided to change the name of my blog. No real reason, I just feel like something new. So don't be surprised to see something different tomorrow ... or the next day ... or whenever I get around to it. Just changin' the title, not the url.

Side note: I'm not changing changing my name when we get married. I will always and forever be a Ms. D. :)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Wedding Countdown

Okay, I know that a few weeks/months/days, whatever, ago I promised this wouldn't turn into a wedding blog and I swear it won't. But I'm just so excited right now. :) I finally finished and sent out our invites (except for a few that I'm still searching for addresses for) and I can't tell you how relieved that made me feel. Now all I have to do is sit and wait for the responses.

We also got our first shower gifts yesterday (champagne flutes and glasses). Yay, also very exciting. Also, if you know anything about wedding etiquette (since I don't) and want to help me out. When do I send out thank you cards for anything we get before the shower/wedding. Do I do it now? Or do I wait until after the event? I'm clueless.

I also cannot wait to take a trip back in April and see family and friends. Some of whom I haven't seen in years. I'm actually glad that we decided to get married after we moved instead of rushing to get it done before we left. It's been a good excuse to come back and see people. It's also helped that we've had a lot of visitors.

I'm really looking forward to the week of our wedding. We took a lot of time before and after so that we wouldn't feel rushed and would have a lot of time to spend with people. I'm definitely looking to catching up with everyone.

Oh, and I'm pretty excited about marrying that guy I've been living with for the past 2 years. The past 4 years together have been amazing and I can't wait for the next 4, and the ones after that, and the ones after that ...
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this guy.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Flickr says...

gotta love Flickr's do's and don'ts.

Don’t be creepy.
You know the guy. Don't be that guy.


The story of Love Part 3: The year of long distance

We last left off with The Year of No Money. Fun times. We were now looking for jobs that paid enough to allow us to make rent. Not exactly the easiest thing in the D.C. area. To be honest Charlie had a better time of it than I did. He interviewed and got a job with a company in early May so when he graduated at the end he started his job the next day. He got hired in Northern Virginia and made plans to move in the summer which meant for the first time it was going to be harder to see each other. Still ... his new diggs were about a 35 minute commute from where I was working so we still saw each other on some weeknights and weekends.

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I told you he graduated! And in the same cap and gown I wore the year before.

Me ... well it definitely wasn't as easy for me to find a new job. I was still working at the Dermatology office and while it was fine it wasn't something I could stay in for much longer. I had applied to PA school in North Carolina and was waiting to see what happened with that. I was also applying for every job that I could find. On a whim, I applied to the school system in a rural county in Maryland and in one week I found out that I got into PA school and got offered a teaching job. I took the teaching job and deferred my acceptance for PA school for a year.
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This was the view from my bedroom. How can you not love waking up to a view like that?


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We celebrated our 2nd anniversary. Hands down the most romantic trip ever.

C and I were now 2.5 hours away from each other which meant that we were doin' the long distance thing. Now if you ask C about that year he'll tell you it was really hard. Me? I loved it. I loved my job. I loved the people I worked with. I loved having new friends and to be honest I really loved living in the middle of nowhere. [And when I say nowhere ... I'm not kidding. I literally lived in a one stoplight town, except I didn't live in town. The high school I taught at was nicknamed 'cornfield high' on account that it was surrounded on all sides by cornfields.] Sure it was hard only seeing C on weekends. We would trade every other weekend who's turn it was to drive and come visit. Every Saturday and Sunday morning we would drive to Panera and sit for hours catching up on the week. I have lots of good memories from that time. Still ... as the end of the teaching year approached there were a lot of decisions to make. We both knew that we couldn't do the long distance thing forever, I had to decide if I wanted to keep teaching or move to NC and go to PA school. And to be honest I wasn't too sure what would happen if I moved 8 hours away from C for two years ... onto [Part 4].

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Bear Mountain, don't go changin'!

Well I finally made it up Bear Mountain and let me tell you, it was rough. I felt like crap the whole day and really was in no mood to hike it today but I just wanted to get the whole thing over with. Usually I really like hiking just being outside, getting exercise and hanging out with C and the dogs. Not so much today. I think I said "fuck this mountain" about a hundred times during the hike up. The view when we got to the top was awesome. C wants to hike this twice a month until we hike our fourteener this summer but I'd be glad never to hike it again. Onto other mountains!

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kick-ass view!

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H-dog in action. The dogs had a blast and are now so tired they can barely move.

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Henry and I at the top. Please excuse the fact that I am grinning like an idiot.

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Stalking chipmunks.

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Finally made it!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

puppies playing.

So we took the dogs to the reservoir this afternoon so that they could go swimming. They're labs so they're definitely at home in the water. I was also trying to get some pictures of them for us to use later. I don't think we ended up with a lot that were good but here's just a couple shots from the day. It was worth it just to have two tired dogs at the end.
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C trying to get Henry interested in his stick.

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He was far more interested in doing this the whole time. Poor Dunkin.

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Henry waiting for Dunkin's return.

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In action.

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Weekend 'o fun!

... Saturday brunch with friends at my favorite breakfast joint.
... taking the dogs to the reservoir to go swimming and hopefully taking lots of pictures to use later.
... hopin' the Terps win this afternoon. :)
... reading Firefly Lane.
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... hopefully finishing up these guys and getting them in the mail.

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sadly these are just the response cards ... i have yet to start on the actual invites.

... possibly hiking up Bear Mountain which kicked my ass a few months ago. (Hopefully not getting left behind this time.)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

It's the little things ...


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notice the light bulb sticking out of the top? classy. :)

... the boy getting back from a long trip away. [not so happy he's gone again]
... getting our wedding invites in the mail.
... watching things get bought up off our registries. [I feel like a greedy, ungrateful brat for saying this but it really does make me happy and I really am thankful for the gifts.]
... reading a book that finally I can agree with.
... warm weather which means that C will now come for walks with me.
... my kitten who refuses to let me sleep without him.
... watching dogs dream.
... a long, hot bubble bath.
... finally buying lamps for our bedroom [even though I got the wrong lightbulbs].
... country top-40 countdown.
... seeing a kick-ass sunrise.
... coffee and bagel sandwiches from our favorite place.
... family owned businesses.
... a nap on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
... discovering How I Met Your Mother and watching it via Netflix.
... my presentation getting pushed back 3 weeks!
... class field-trips that involve breweries.
... taking the dogs swimming this weekend.
... going home and getting to see all my friends and family in less then a month!
... one day 'till spring break. [unfortunately I will not be jetting off to Mexico to spend an entire week drinking.]
... puppies. especially ones that I can play with but don't have to train.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

I don't care...

... if it is St. Patty's Day. It's still not cool to show up drunk and barefoot to class because you were at Keggs and Eggs. I mean it's grad school ... at least scrounge around for some flip flops before stumbling to class.


Monday, March 16, 2009

Small weddings


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This card is not a joke. People get seriously offended when they don't get invited! C and I decided it wasn't worth the fights. Anyone who's remotely related to us can be expecting an invitation in the mail in 2-3 weeks.

Randomness of the day.

... I am officially discouraged about finding a dress for our rehearsal dinner. I went to J.Crew and tried on a few dresses there but they made me look like I had 3 feet wide hips. Damn you J.Crew and your fabulous clothes. Why can't you make clothes for people with curves?

... C came back from Hawaii with presents. Yay! His present for me was a $150 dress that he got so I could wear it when I came with him to HI next year. Now ... the idea was sweet. Very sweet. According to him he told the saleswoman that he "wanted a tight dress for his fiancee". He got what he wanted. The dress was tight. After trying it on I decided that there was no way I would wear the said dress enough to make it worth the $150. He then suggested that I wear the dress to our RD. I laughed. My family's pretty conservative. The dress definitely showed off my bootylicious ass. I'm sure that's just what our minister will be hoping to see that day. Along with my father. The dress got returned. Sorry C. He claims I never keep any of his presents. I think he's right, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?
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... I have been putting off reading this book for class. As a result I have to read half of it today just to finish it in time for tomorrow. Ugh ... why can't I plan ahead like a normal person?

... The weather is SOO nice outside. All I want to do is go hiking. Instead I'm stuck inside studying.
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... I officially ran out of toilet paper this morning. Again, maybe if I didn't procrastinate so much this wouldn't be an issue. Must run to Target.

... It was so nice to have Charlie home yesterday. Aside from having a buddy around to split stupid house chores with I really missed him.

... I really with people would stop asking us if we're going to have kids and how many kids we're planning on having. I also really wish that people would stop giving their opinion about it. If I had $1 for every time someone said, "You can't have just one. You have to at least have 2." I'd be a rich woman. Well maybe not rich ... but I'd have enough money to buy the quilt I want. I just don't understand it. First of all, you can have just one kid. They are not something that generally comes as a set, like boobs. And second of all, why do you feel like this decision is something that you should be a part of?


Saturday, March 14, 2009

My untrained dog.

I've mentioned that my dog is crazy and gets a little out of control at times. I swear he could run all day long and never get tired. There are days that he gets to prove this to me, but lately since the weather's been so cold (for my standards at least) he's been cooped inside a lot.

Two days ago I was letting the dogs run around the field behind us before I left for school and this woman came walking up with her dog. Henry immediately ran up to her and then grabbed her dog's leash in his teeth and yanked it out of her hands. I wanted to crawl into a prairie dog hole and die. I gave her the leash back as Henry ran off and stuck his head down a prairie dog hole. Great. Let's just hope there's no bubonic plague in that field. I've contemplated signing him up for obedience training but the problem is that he really does know everything I just need to work with him more. Hopefully with the warmer weather coming up I'll get off my lazy butt and work on some training.

However, what he lacks in training I think he makes up for in cuteness.
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Can you believe my mother thinks he's part pittie?

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Yes, this is how he sleeps. Not the most modest of pups.

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Look how polite he is.
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Yep, he used all of those to yank the leash from that woman's hands. She had no chance.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Springtime shopping...

Ahhh, Anthropologie, how I love you so. If I had all the money in the world (or maybe just a little more than I actually do) then I'd be shopping at you a lot more.

I am on the hunt for a quilt for our bed. We have a duvet that we use in the winter but it's too hot in the summer especially because I refuse to turn on the a.c. Yes, you heard right, I'd rather sweat all day and night long than turn on the air conditioning. Poor C ... at least he knows what he's getting himself into. Anyway ... we have a lot of blues in our room so I've been looking for something with blue in it but nothing that says "this is your mother's Laura Ashley bedspread" (read: I hate florals).

So I've been looking at C&B, PB, BB&B, Target, and everywhere else ... which led me to check out Anthropologie where I found a whole bunch of things that I want:

Check out these cool measuring bowls. I think I'd be spending a lot more time in the kitchen if I had these babies to measure with. Eh, probably not but I still think they're cool.
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How cool is this bowl? Way too cool to actually put anything in.
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I found this quilt which I love. It's even reversible so if you get tired of one set of colors you can switch to another. It's a little too funky for C though. It might take some serious convincing (and a price reduction).
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And these coasters would be perfect for spring. I can just picture myself using one to rest my margarita/corona/mojito on. :)
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In case you didn't notice everything I picked out is a springy color. I am definitely ready to say goodbye to winter, snow, ice, and wind. I'm ready to plant some flowers, get a hammock, and spend a lot of time soaking up some sun.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Don't mess with the dress!

I need a dress for our rehearsal dinner and I've been looking around. It's going to be pretty casual and I want to get a dress that I can wear again this summer which means I'm definitely looking for something casual and something I don't have to dry clean. Here are a few that I'm thinking about:

From the fabulous J.Crew

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I love this color pink. :)

From American Eagle


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I like this one a lot. The straps are removable so I can wear it with or without straps and it's about 1/3 of the cost of the J.Crew dresses.

And lastly ... from The Gap.

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Pretty similar to the AE one.

So, what do you think? Any opinions?