Goodbye Old Faithful

The Jeep has served me well for 11 years, and though it was tough to part with, it was time to say goodbye. With a little one on the way, we decided it was best to get rid of a vehicle that could not transport a baby safely (note the plastic windows and a Jeep's notorious reputation for "rolling") and get something more practical. No folks, we did not buy a mini-van. We're not at that point in our lives, and really, hopefully never will be ;) 

As Chris became excited about the possibility of a different vehicle, he was so great about being patient with me in my mourning of this loss. After all, Jeep had be in my life for longer than he had (I reminded him of that) and for longer than many of my closest friends. Jeep has been with me through many adventures, good times and bad.

For high school... dance photos

hot summer days driving to Royals games

6 am "Survivor" workouts

countless swim practices

snowday donuts in parking lots

trendy zebra seat covers

Young Life shenanigans

For college... sorority bid days

late nights making Quik Trip hot cocoa runs with Chris

deafening 3 hours (countless times) driving Springfield - Kansas City

 multiple stolen stereo face plates 

(faceplates: dad started buying them in bulk on Ebay at one point) 

count them - 5 - total "break ins" into the Jeep in college

my first job out of college

And after college...the big move to colorado

2 apartments and 1 house

marriage, new jobs, grown up lives, and new friends

I will miss you my friend, but maybe someday we will reunite with a newer Jeep...

with fewer than 215k miles

that starts on the first time instead of the second time 

(though, it started on the second time, every time)

that has a horn that works, and turn signals that turn off after you turn a corner

that doesn't break down at 14,000 feet on a mountain

that doesn't fall out of 4-wheel drive climbing up a mountain

that doesn't get broken into repeatedly, or sat in by homeless people on Colfax

... like I said, the good times and the bad!

Canvas and Cocktails

The Rocky Mountain Alumnae Chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha hosted a social night at Canvas and Cocktails. We had a great time and come home with beautiful works of art! The studio is set up with mini easels and everyone gets their own canvas, brushes, water and paint. The instructor selects a painting to teach that evening and then instructs the class on how to create the painting. You also have the option of creating your own masterpiece, and straying from the "lesson." I have really wanted a painting of aspens for our second bedroom, so that is what I created, and Ashley painted a chandelier!

Snow Day!

Well, we finally received some snow in Denver... 24" of snow! We had our first official snow day of this winter and worked from home. We had 14" against our front door when we woke up Friday morning, and by Saturday had at least another 8 - 10". I've never seen so much snow in my entire life. The sun came out and it was just beautiful and glowing. Enjoy!

Denver Lit Up at Christmas

A few photos of Denver lit up at Christmas time!

The courthouse downtown:

Belmar shopping area:

Cookies and Cocktails

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I love to bake and one of my favorite things to do at Christmastime is bake cookies. I have such wonderful memories from growing up baking with my mom and with Grammie (my dad's mom). I also enjoy showing love through baking, so I'm looking forward to bringing cookies back to Missouri for our Christmas visit!

We hosted a "Cookies and Cocktails" party this week and enjoyed celebrating the holiday season with our Colorado friends. Here are a few photos from the cookie spread!

Pretzels with a rolo and pecan on top. Pretzels with a Hershey's Hug Kiss and M&M on top.

Gingerbread men.

Our tree!

Sugar cookies rolled in red and green sugar, with a Hershey's Candy Cane Kiss in the middle. Sugar cut-out cookies, recipe from a sorority sister's mom.

Gingerbread stars with yellow royal icing. Chocolate dipped peanut butter Ritz sandwiches - these are a Gilstrap family tradition, so Chris made these for the party!

Peanut butter reindeer.

The coffee table with a center piece, carmel pecan pretzels, chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz sandwiches, and Hershey's Hugs pretzels.

The cookie tower...

A canvas I painted that says "O Holy Night, the Stars Are Brightly Shining, This is The Night Of Our Dear Savior's Birth" - I will have to post another photo that is close up.

Snow, finally!

We had a snowstorm on Thursday last week, and it continued through the night into Friday. This is our first big snow of the winter, which is really odd to be this late in the year.

Chris braved the -12 degree windchill and swept off our porch - its is probably the biggest difference we've noticed between Missouri and Colorado winters. In Missouri, this snow storm would have meant a thick layer of ice covering everything - streets, sidewalks, trees, cars and your house. And then there may have been some snow on top of the ice. In Colorado, we just receive lots of fluffy, white, beautiful powder that you sweep off your porch and car with a broom! It's so much nicer than having to scrape through the ice with a shovel and de-thaw your car with cans of de-icer spray!

This was our street at 10 am on Friday when I was leaving for work. As you can see, not many people went to work that day! I went in late because it was a "snow emergency day" at the hospital, and only those needed for patient care were required to come into work. I'm not a clinical staff member, so I was only expected to come in if I was able to make it in. Driving a Jeep Wrangler gives me no excuses to not be able to make it in, so I waited until the streets warmed up, then went in late.

We were worried that we would have to take our Christmas decorations down without being able to see them with snow on the house! Fortunately, it finally snowed!

Chris LOVES to decorate for Christmas. We had white lights lining the roof, and red and green light bulbs replacing our usually white lights on the front of the house.