Productivity brought forth by a little downtime...

Since moving to Colorado, Mr.Wonderful has been enjoying his job immensely, I have been keeping busy- getting us organized as I get us unpacked and settled. For as much as I detest driving in the snow, I'm thankful that I don't have to work right now- i may in spring; we shall see. But this is a once in a lifetime opportunity- the chance to get my head on straight. The downtime has given me many opportunities, the first of which is the time and the patience to better my yarn working skills (something I constantly wish I'd have paid more attention to when Grandma was trying to teach me). I plan on taking up embroidery/ needlework - I'm so grateful that my momma has offered to teach me!

Today I accomplished a few feats; I read an entire book cover to cover- getting caught up on my Janet Evanovich book collection is always a plus! I also learned how to crochet headbands/ear warmers (something I will get many uses out of out here), and something I never had the patience to do while I was working.

Fresh from Santa Paula, California!!

We were at the grocery store and found Meyer lemons, fresh from Limonera Ranch in Santa Paula, California. These little lemons traveled all the way from home so I could make Lemon Cookies with them. I was very excited to see something from home way out here in the sticks, now if I could just have some strawberries from Driscolls I'd be set.

A mundane errand turned not so mundane

"Workin at the At the car wash, woooOoo ooooooooOoO working at the car wash yeah"


Washing the car, you would think "simple task" but no. My white truck was so dirty, that the entire bottom half was BLACK! Its apparently called the I-70 sludge, and boy was it! We pull into the DIY car wash to get the salt & nasties off the truck and there is 3" of ice in each bay (so I think to myself, why don't they salt this??? ) Mr. Wonderful gets out to wash the car and slips and falls. It looked just like a cartoon, first he was there then GONE- down he went. Great. Luckily nothing was broken, just maybe a bruised ego. And lucky for me he's extra cranky cause this work schedule makes him not hungry, but his brain doesn't remember that he's not hungry, so it does nothing for the crankiness.

Truck is clean, time to store it for the winter since it gets terrible traction in the snow.

And now to keep my trap shut about Mr. Wonderfuls graceful Bambi on Ice incident.

Shhhhhh- it will be our little secret!

2013 Resolutions, plans.. Goals if you will

2012 was a pretty good year for me & us; let me run down some of the highlights & things I'm so thankful for:

• Our first year of marriage- for those of you that are married you know how amazing and chaotic that can be. I wouldn't change any of it for anything, and I can't wait to live out forever with that wonderful man.

• One of my best girlfriends welcomed twins into the world- they are amazing & growing up soo fast, she is the wonderful mother that I knew she would be.

• I lost my job but landed the best one I could have hoped for- filled with the most amazing women and 1 man (he was either brave or crazy I still haven't decided), I'm so thankful for the friendships I made the short while I was there because I know that we will be forever friends.

• At 30 years old, I finally learned the true meaning of forgiveness. Forgiveness from the bottom of ones heart, with their entire being is something that rocked me to my core, I always thought I knew- but I don't think I had a grasp on it at all until this year. For that I am eternally grateful.

• I reconnected with a friend I thought I'd lost, which everyday makes my heart soar, knowing that we are back together. I strive to live with no regrets, but I will admit, I wholeheartedly regret the time we lost, the major life events that we will never get back- both of our weddings, the birth of her daughter; all I can promise now is that we will be together forever from here on out, no matter what. 

• Spending not just time but quality time with family & friends- making memories that will last us a lifetime.

A friend of mine wrote the best post on New Years and the silliness of traditions like resolutions, and why we as a people choose to do the same thing over and over expecting different results. Here is her blog: My dear wise friend Lini love her.

That being said, my goals for 2013 are:

• Be the amazing wife that Mr. Wonderful deserves. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me, he takes care of me in every sense of the word, and he deserves nothing but the very best from me. He will get it, not just this year, but every year. <3

• I will Move, everyday, no matter what- increasing my activity & level of health everyday. Yes this means taking the dog for walks in the snow, even when I don't want to. ;)

• Improve my family relationships, both for the family that we left in California & the family that we now live closer to, and all of the rest of the family all over the US, family is to be cherished.

• Remember more birthdays, I know it seems silly, but there is a lot to be said for remembering birthdays.

• I will Grow something- I've already killed my mint plant that I moved the million miles from SoCal, but I blame the weather. In spring, I will grow something, I hope. 

I was going to add learn to cook, but I'm currently stumbling through that and have been since we moved out here. Maybe learn to cook healthier meals that Mr. Wonderful ( aka Mr. I don't eat health food) will actually like. 

2013 will be a great year, and I am looking forward to it!

Welcome to 2013!

I can't be the only one who is feeling a little mystified that it REALLY is 2013. I feel like I'm not sure that its real, not that there is anything super amazing about 2013 yet, except that we survived those idiot Mayans thinking the world was gonna end (again). I don't know if this New Years is different from previous years, or if for the first time in my adult life I didn't have to jet off to work the next day and get back into the grind and I have more time to think about things like this.

We spent NYE surrounded by family & new friends in Denver, it was a great time and we hope to do it again next year. I ended 2012 by attempting to make Grandmas WORLD FAMOUS Cinnamon Rolls (alone).

Good news!! I nailed it!

Toto I don't think we're in California anymore

To say that this is our biggest adventure yet is putting it mildly. We are beginning to settle in to our little "mountain-town" as the Denver folks call it. We are seeing animals on the side Of the road that I'm used to only seeing in enclosures at the local zoo.

On our way home from Costco last week we saw a family (mini herd if you will) of big horned sheep no joke not 10 feet from the car. And I simply cannot get over the Canadian Geese, the noises crack me up, at least for now; they're sparse where we are but plentiful on the eastern slope. Yesterday on our way home from visiting the fam-bam in the Denver area for NYE we saw a herd of buffalo!! (While I couldn't convince Mr. Wonderful to pull over so I could get a photo, I'm sure you all know what buffalo look like.) They were just so amazing, and majestic just standing in this field. I do hope we get to see more things like that, it makes living over here so much more fun knowing that I get the "zoo" experience without the herds of Asians & children. I may be singing a different tune when the local bears come out of hibernation and are sitting on my back deck one day. Until then I will enjoy the Wildlife watching.

A good friend of mine keeps reminding me to "Embrace the Journey" and that I am. At least that's one of my goals for 2013.

Happy new year everyone, I wish you all health, peace and happiness in 2013!

XOXO

Home on the Range

Colorado is an "open range" state. Basically that means the cattle, sheep & other barnyard critters have the right away and if you don't want livestock on your property, you must put up fences to keep them out. The cows have gone, I'm assuming until spring/ summer. This is what we saw when we got here last month.

We also discovered a brontosaurus & a pterodactyl in town!!