Fun giveaway!

With it being all cold and snowy, I've gotten into the crafty mood once again. One of the benefits of scouring blogs for crafting ideas is a giveaway. Here's the latest from Tea Rose Home. You must sign up before Jan. 5 for your chance to win this removable chalk board. Very nifty design.

Doin' Fine in 2009!

Wow! What an unforgettable year!

January - At the beginning of the month I made a trip out to Grand Junction, and much to my surprise, I returned to Kansas City engaged. Yipee! As soon as I return, I put my house on the market. The next week, I made my way out to Washington, D.C., with four school groups to witness the inauguration of President Obama. Keeping track of 40 kids amongst 2 million of my closest friends in the freezing cold is an experience I'll never forget.

February - The wedding festivities begin with a wonderful shower hosted by my friends at the Independence Church of Christ. Thank you!

March - The monumental task of packing my house up begins. This month is also filled with outings with friends and visits with my family in preparation for my move to Grand Junction. There's also a shower thrown by the Hamilton church, a bridal bash with my girlfriends and the most fabulous tea party shower with family and friends that a girl could ask for!

April - The end of March and the first of April I made time to take my favorite EF Smithsonian tour group from Manchester, England, on a tour through NYC, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Once I returned, the movers were there to pack my house into a truck and drive it out to Colorado. I also had one final shower with the ladies from the Braymer community. Then I was out to Grand Junction a couple days prior to our wedding. My mom and nephew came out a day later and John's parents were out prior to the wedding as well. We unpacked the kitchen and got somewhat settled, did a little touring, and on April 11, we were married at the Gateway Canyons Resort in beautiful Gateway, CO.

May - In May John and I couldn't stay away from Gateway. We traveled down to the car show and participated in a fly out for breakfast at the resort's restaurant.

June - I started out the month with my final student tour, which was one for the record books ... sending kids home, being constantly late for appointments, no-show chaperones, etc. We ended the month my starting our journey to Texas to visit John's family, which threw us the best wedding bbq and we trekked on down to Galveston/Houston to enjoy the hot humid weather.

July - This month brought a visit from my good college friend Lisa and our outing to Arches National Park in 100+ degree heat. It was hot fun! At this point, I'm getting very nervous about not yet finding a job, but by mid-month I'm working at Sports Authority, and within another week, I'm the assistant manager at the Gap. When it rains, it pours!

August - It seems that I'm working the oddest hours, and never home when John is. By some miracle, we're able to celebrate our birthdays - born on the same day! - on our actual birthday. Donna also comes out for a visit, and we have a great time touring around town and catching up.

September - After a torturous selling process, the contract on my house is finalized, and my house is sold. At the end of the month I'm offered a job at a local marketing agency, and I can't refuse a job in my field where I can have normal hours.

October - Now that John and I are on the same schedule, we enjoy weekend treks to the national parks and fall flights.

November - I'm excited for Mom's visit. She comes out to stay with us over Thanksgiving, and I make my first Thanksgiving dinner. It was a great success, but the leftovers lasted ages!

December - I'm told it barely snows in the desert and when it does, it melts in the afternoon ... We get 10-ish inches of snow Dec. 8, and we still have it on the ground and some roads. It hasn't warmed up enough to melt. As I write this, another couple inches are falling ... I'm ready for spring!

This has been a full year of amazing changes, and after writing it all down, I see that I'm even more blessed than I realize. I have an amazing family, the most considerate friends and I get to spend the rest of my days with the best man a girl could ever ask for. God is good! To happiness and health in 2010!

Merry Christmas!

John and me vs. Mom and my in-laws ... Funny stuff!

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Thanksgiving Recap

I'm going about this a bit backwards, but I thought I would share some of the photos of my Mom's Thanksgiving visit. It was great to see her and we got to be tourists at Arches National Park. It was a wonderful time to go to the park because it was nice and cool.

Mom blending into the landscape.

Mom and I at the Double Arches.

Making the climb to Delicate Arch, which neither John or I had done before. It was quite a hike up hill most all of the 1.5 miles and with some treacherous ledges and such. This is the hike up the slick rock portion.

This was the prize at the end of the hike. Check out how small the person is under the arch. You can't tell all that well, but the rock that is around the arch slants to the right, much like a roof and then there's a ledge. John starts walking toward the arch and I hesitantly follow. Once I get three-quarters of the way to the arch, my knees are literally shaking and I wonder how in the world I'm going to get back to the trail, but I do with my knees knocking. I will never do that part of the trail again. If you come to visit, I'll hike out there with you, but I'll view the arch from a safe distance!


Me and Mom


Me and John at the Double Arches.

*S*N*O*W*

Snow is pretty until you have to get out in it. John told me when I moved out here that I wouldn't need to bring my snow shovel. We'll probably purchase one today. I backed out of the drive only to get high-centered in the snow. And rear-wheel drive is not my friend... I'm doing as much work as I can from home, but I'm sure I'll have to get to the office tomorrow.

John trying to shovel the drive with a tiny shovel.

It's deep!

At about 7 a.m.

Parade of Lights

John and I just got back from the Grand Junction Parade of Lights. The downtown area is pretty all lit up, but I was a bit disappointed by the parade; it was all businesses. This photo's from the carriage ride folks.

The courthouse is all decked out for the holidays.

On our way back to the car, we walked past the wind-up Mini Cooper. Had to share!

Happy Holidays ...

From my neighbor to you. No joke, this is my neighbor's house.