A Few of My Favorite Things--2009 Edition

I did this list last year, so I guess that makes my list of favorite things a tradition of sorts. Well, here it is, my tops for 2009. Enjoy!

Music

Best Concert: I would have to say the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show during the Monolith Music Festival. Despite the hours of freezing rain before, during and after the show, it was a lot of fun.

Favorite CD: Girl Talk's Feed the Animals. Even though it came out in 2008, I didn't stumble upon it until this past summer. The best part, it is free online.

Favorite Song: Matt & Kim's Daylight. I don't know why, I just like it. Isn't that the best reason??

Movies/TV

Favorite Movie: The Hangover. If you haven't seen it, rent it. It's not profound, its just funny. I appreciate that.

Favorite TV Show(s): It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. To be honest, I didn't really get stuck on any show this year. I guess that is a good thing.

Food

Most Frequented Restaurant: Hard to say, but I think it has to be Billy's. Since it is within walking distance, it is hard to stay away.

Favorite New Restaurant: Root Down. It is delicious!

Favorite Food: Definitely the filet Josh cooked me for Valentine's Day. It was encrusted with peppercorns and was covered in some sort of bourbon-peppercorn cream sauce. My mouth is seriously watering right now.

Favorite Dessert: The croissant bread pudding at Root Down. It is topped with a bourbon sauce and sour cream ice cream. To die for.

Favorite Drink: Lately it has been Bloody Marys, most of the year however, it is Pepsi, Miller Lite, and any type of red wine.

General

Favorite Article of Clothing: boots! I've also taken a liking to various hair accessories.

Accomplishment of the Year: I hiked the Inca Trail (over 26 miles in 4 days)!! It was such an amazing experience.

Favorite New Activity: I went through a few phases this year. For several months I was really into Geeks Who Drink Trivia, that was followed by a mini burlesque obsession, and now I'm set on learning to play the keyboard. Hopefully, I can try that out during the new year.

Trust Your Instincts

Do you ever get that weird feeling that something bad is going to happen or something is going to go wrong? I do, and I almost always ignore it. Well, from now on, I'm going to try to start trusting my gut more often.

On Monday morning I got in my car to go meet Josh for lunch. Since we had unloaded Christmas presents the night prior, my car was parked in the back of the house behind the gate. Lately I have been lazy and have parked on the street in front of our house. As I was pulling out into the alley I told myself, "I need to stop being lazy and park my car in the back more often, we built the parking spot and fence for a reason (to protect the car from potential break-ins)." Later that day, I also pulled out the file I keep on my car to do a little research on our warranty and what it covers. I swear I haven't pulled out that file for over a year. It was really strange. What was stranger was that I discovered Nissan never sent me a coverage bookelt. I told myself I would call the next day. Here is what is even stranger, about 12 hours later, around 3:30 am, my car alarm went off. Yup, I parked my car in the street in front of our house and someone decided to smash the window out. Luckily, the car alarm scared them away and nothing was stolen. I didn't have much in there to steal in the first place. Now, $257 and a day taken off work later, everything is back to normal and I am parking in the back of the house again. However, if I had just listened to my gut and parked in the back in the first place, none of this would have happend.

Sadly, this is not the first time I ignored my instincts. The first time my car was broken into in Denver I had a feeling something bad was going to happen. That day when I parked my car in front of the house (pre-backyard parking spot), I put my sun shades up on my windshield and thought to myself, "I really shouldn't put these up, it is almost dark, and if someone wanted to break into my car the shades would totally conceal them." That same night someone smashed my window and stole the faceplate off of my cd player. Yes, just the face plate, not the actual cd player. I never said these people were smart--I just admitted that I have made a few mistakes. But, from now on, I am going to try and trust myself more often. That might be my New Year's Resolution, among other things I probably won't follow through with. . .

Merry Holidays!!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had as nice of a Christmas as Josh and I. We had a great time with all of our family and friends and got some amazing gifts! Hopefully we gave out some sweet gifts too.

We spent three days down in Pueblo with my family including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. While we were there we had a fun lunch with some of my uncles at Coors Tavern. I love their schooners and burgers!! Josh had a slopper, of course. We also got to celebrate Christmas Eve at my Uncle Steve's house. This included bloody mary's, a great gift exchange, meeting new relatives and getting excited about a few on the way, and a few traditional beer pong games. Fun was had by all. On Christmas day we celebrated at my parents house and ate tons of delicious food with my grandparents.


We drove back to Denver on Saturday and had re-do Christmas Eve and Day with Josh's parents, Nicole, and Erick. We also tried our hand at the Feast of 7 Fish. Everyone took on a dish and we invited over some neighbors and friends to help us eat it. Everything turned out great, but I thought I was going to explode!! We ate way too much.

Here are a few of our favorite gifts from this year. Josh really couldn't decide. He loved all of his gifts, but he is really excited to use all of his new beer brewing gear and his miter saw. He also hasn't stopped flying his remote control helicoptor. PS--if you are interested, the first batch of beer should be ready in about 6 weeks. I am most excited about my new down jacket, karate kid bandana, perfume sampler, and boxing gloves. I don't know when I'm gonna use my boxing gloves yet, but I can't wait to punch! Really-- we loved all of our gifts!! Thanks everyone!! Wait, I take that back. There is one gift that creeps the shit out of me. See the frightening image below. It is supposed to be a spagetti holder. Yeah right. That will never hang on my wall. Look at its eyes!!!!

How Could I Forget!!

I honestly don't know how I forgot to post this sooner. . .

You may recall my blog from February 24th of this year entitled: Hogs, Hobos and Earth Raping. Well, to my surprise and delight, Monster Hog and Mini Monster Hog escaped while I was visiting Pueblo last month. Luckily, I was able to snap a few photos during their wild escape. Thank god they never made it to my parents house. Riley and Stanley might have been lunch.

It's Beginning. . .

. . . to look a lot like Christmas!! The tree is trimmed, the lights are up, and Stan is dreaming of a white Christmas.

I Just Read That

A strange trend is developing. I don't do a lot of reading, but I've noticed that almost every book I have read recently was made into a movie and was released shortly after I finished the book. I'm pretty sure this is due to the fact that I typically don't buy or check out many books that aren't recommended to me--therefore already established as relatively good. However, it is kind of strange. Here are a few examples:

Twilight: I read the books last September & October--the first movie came out in November

The Time Traveler's Wife: I read the book in July--the movie came out in August

Eat Pray Love: I'm almost finished--the movie comes out next year

Considering I have only read 8 books in the last 15 months, it is pretty crazy that 6 of them have already been made into films or are planned for films (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, Time Traveler's Wife, and Eat Pray Love). The only other books I read were: Are you there Vodka? It's me, Chelsea. and Water for Elephants. Since one is already basically a tv show I wouldn't be surprised if the other transitions into film someday. . . .

I'm all outta luck, I'm so lost without you . . .

It turns out I'm not very good about blogging during the holiday season, however, that doesn't mean a lot hasn't been going on. Josh and I have been spending a lot of time with our friends and family, and it has been great. So, even though we are a few weeks past Thanksgiving, I would like to take a minute and note a few things I am thankful for this year. Typically, I am not a fan of odd numbered years or ages. Naturally, my birthday coordinates so that I am always an odd numbered age on an odd numbered year. Despite this fact, 2009 has been full of many wonderful events, people and luck, so I am quite grateful. Here's a quick list of reasons:

1. New friends: We met a few new friends this year that I truly hope we can keep for a very long time. They have inspired us, challenged us, shared beers with us, and helped us through some hard times.

2. Old friends: I am so happy that Josh and I have been able to maintain our long-standing friendships. Even if we only get to see some of you a few times a year, we really do appreciate your caring. Many of our best memories together also involve you all. 3. Family: I am always surprised by the strength of my family!! You are all so wonderful! I feel very loved and protected; I hope you feel the same. I don't know what I would do without you. We were so lucky to see so much of our family this year! 4. Relationships: We attended several weddings this year that were soooo beautiful. I am ecstatic for all of our friends who found each other and tied the knot (Tim & Jen, Sofia & Aaron, Rita & Eric)! We are also looking forward to some very exciting weddings next year (Gina & Seth and Nicole & Erick). I can't wait!! Josh and I are so happy for you!!!!
5. New Little People: Josh and I had the pleasure of meeting several brand new babies this year: Zoe, Landon, Elyse, Grant, Madeleine, Lucy, & Altai. Three boys and four little girls with tons of potential--they are sooooo cute! In addition, we already know of 4 more on the way--all in the month of May.

6. Health: Even though everyone had their ups and downs this year, I am thankful for our general health, good treatment, early detection, persistence, and strength.

7. Adventure: At home and afar, I am very proud of myself, my friends and family for having the drive, the courage, and finding the means to pursue fun and adventure. We are so lucky!!

Coozies. A Necessity

Happy Halloween!!! Oh, come on, I'm only 2 weeks behind!

This year Halloween was a blast! We missed my Aunt Linda's annual party while we were out on the east coast, so we had the opportunity to try something different. Our friends Brynn and Jason forwarded us an evite to a party in Grand Lake. Strangely enough, our friends John and Susie were invited to the same party through an entirely different and unrelated set of friends. By the end of it all, we knew at least eight other people. Life is weird, but sometimes it all works out for the best!

The girl who organized the party set up a block of rooms at a hotel, so before we went out, we had a potluck hotel party. It was a ton of fun. I ate way too much because everything was delicious (from powdered doughnuts to meatballs to green chili, I ate it all). It was also a lot of fun to get dressed up with all of the girls. I think at one point there were five of us in one room applying fake lashes and glitter. As you can see in the photo below, I had all of the essentials: a coozie and can of Sparks in one hand, and glitter and eyeliner in the other. If you can't tell, I was a mermaid. Josh was a hillbilly fisherman.

Catch of the Day!

Brent was Spock and Cat was a very lovely green alien.

The boa was supposed to be seaweed.
Michael Jackson and a frightened school boy!
The bar we all walked down to later was an old Saloon, complete with a live band, elk horns mounted on the wall, and a ton of people in costume. We danced and drank all night!!


It was a little scary how easily Josh pulled off this costume.Awesome Reno 911 costume!
Overall, it was a great weekend spent with fun friends!!!

October Update Round 2

During the second half of the month, we flew out east for Josh's cousin Rita's wedding. Josh actually spent an entire week out east for work and drove five hours to pick me, his parents, and his sister up from the airport in New York. From there we drove to his Grandma Lynn's house in Connecticut. Despite some rain, the weather was very nice and we got to see lots of fall colors. Somehow, I didn't take any pictures of the scenery except on my phone?? This is a pic from outside Lynn's window. She lives next to St. Mary's by the Sea and you can see the Long Island Sound. Josh went on a walk with his mom and grandma and came back with this (see below). It is a chestnut! I had no idea that is what they looked like??
While we were there we got to eat some delicious seafood. Lynn suggested a little place about 20 minutes from her house called Westfair Fish & Chips. It was a tiny, discrete place with about 7 tables and a big window to place your order. We all ordered way more food than we needed and it was all very good. I had fried shrimp, a crab cake, and a cup of lobster bisque. . . and I didn't need to eat for about 8 hours.

On the 24th we attended Eric and Rita's wedding. It was very pretty and the reception was a blast. We sat at the "cousin's table," so we got to catch up with some of Josh's family we haven't seen in about 2 years. We also got to do plenty of dancing. My favorite part of the night was when they announced the bride and the groom. The groom is a New York State Patrolman, so the DJ played the song from COPS, "bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? whatcha gonna do when they come for you?" Classic.

When we returned from the east coast Josh and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We decided to mix up the evening by going out to dinner, but returning home to make our own dessert. It snowed 18" on our anniversary, so we braved the snow and went to dinner at a place near our house called Shazz. We thought we would be the only people out in the storm, but there were actually about 8 other people out and about too. The meal was very tasty and the wine was excellent. We ordered braised oxtail and butternut squash soup (with a seared scallop) to start. I had never at ox tail before, but I will again. It was soooo good! For dinner, Josh had a pork chop and I had the Ahi Tuna. Both were good, but Josh's was the best!! We will definitely go back sometime.

For dessert, we decided to try our hand at Red Velvet Bread Pudding. I found a Paula Dean recipe--so I was pretty sure it would be good. We made the red velvet cake from scratch--a first in my book. It was a lot of fun. We used the KitchenAid for the first time and I finally sifted something.


Josh thought it would be a good idea to taste the cocoa-food coloring mix, but it didn't turn out well for him.


Here is the tray of our fluffy cake, before we turned it into pudding. It was sooooo good!


Last year I bought Josh a small photo album for our anniversary. It has 25 slots for photos, so we decided to take one picture every year on our anniversary and add it to the album (our wedding picture is the cover). Then, on our 25th anniversary we can look back and see how we have changed over the years. This is the picture we will use for 2009. We tried to show the snow, but it was really dark.

The day following our anniversary we both got snow days (well Josh got a snow day and I got a delayed start that I turned into a snow day). It was the perfect day to catch up on laundry, watch movies, make snacks and snuggle. Here are the puppies sleeping on the lambie. The lambie is a lamb hair rug/blanket Josh got for his birthday this year. Supposedly, his parents had one while Josh and Nicole were growing up, and the kids would always sleep on it. They deemed it the "lammy." I guess it is irresistible.

Turn Up the Heat

This was too good to pass on. I was just eating my lunch, listening to Pandora and this picture popped up on my iphone screen. These are the guys that sing the song people always play at sporting events, you know: Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye. This cover brought 3 items to mind:
1. I never realized there were 6 guys in this band
2. I never realized they were white
3. I never knew they were so gay/creepy, especially that guy in the far back

Are four layers of pants enough??

I am pleased to announce I am writing to you from my brand new laptop. I know it's shocking, but I have never even had a laptop before--this is my first, thanks to my amazing husband!! I didn't write for awhile because I lost access to the drive that had all my photos saved to it, but now I'm back in action. So let's start with Part 1 of the October update.

This month has been very busy--mostly in a good way. We had a fun event every single weekend. The first weekend of October I organized a movie night for a group of my friends. We went and saw Whip It and dressed up like bad ass roller derby chicks. We ended up going down to Belmar for the movie and I'm pretty sure we confused a lot of people. Especially because it was the same night as Homecoming and we passed several groups of ladies in formal dresses.


We all picked roller derby names. Mine was Punky Bruisedher. Cat was the Lone Star Stalker. Nicole was Helda Pay, and for the life of me, I can't remember Liza's name, but I'm sure it was something along the lines of Ivana Pushenshove. Liza gets extra kudos because she went all out and wore legit knee pads and a helmet. Here are a few pics from our Roller Derby extravaganza.

We continued our month of fun by attending the CSU Homecoming game the following weekend with our friends Chris and Lauren. The day of the game was FREEZING. It was literally 27 degrees all day long. Our tailgating consisted of the four of us huddling around a space heater using a blanket to block out the wind while trying to hold onto our beers with thick mittens. I literally wore four pant layers, 5 shirt/jacket layers, a scarf, a rabbit hat, and used a blanket from the back of my car. Neverless, the game was fun and we got to eat some of our favorite Fort Collins foods: sandwiches from the Pickle Barrel and hot wings from Jim's Wings. YumAfter all of the snow and cold for the Homecoming game, we finally got a little sunshine during the week. I took a day off work to look at wedding dresses with my friend Gina and had the added bonus of being about to go to the Rockies vs. Phillies playoff game with Josh, Brent and Franco, who was visiting from Philadelphia. The game came down to the last inning, but the Rockies weren't able to pull it out. Hopefully they crush the Yankees in the World Series.Finally, on the 14th, Josh celebrated his 28th birthday. We went out to dinner with his family at Firenze a Tavola (better know as the nice restaurant in the lower level of Parisi). It was delicious!! Plus we all had plenty of wine. A luxury you get when you can walk home. We had a great time. However, I woke up the next day with some sort of terrible cold or flu. It lasted over a week. Luckily, Josh never caught it.

Here he is preparing for his meal. Who knew they made napkins with button-holes? Clever.