Hi everyone...
As many of you know by now, we have finally taken a job and are settling down in Los Angeles, California. While this part of our life will probably also prove to be pretty adventurous, I have created a new blog that is devoted specifically to our new urban journey. Feel free to check is out at aplaceinla.blogspot.com and follow along with us as we figure out just what it looks like to live in LA.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Spring in Boulder
I can't believe that it is already April! The last several months have been a great time here in Boulder working, playing, and spending some fun time with friends.
Not so long ago, we were still snowshoeing and enjoying all the "white stuff" that the Rockies have to offer. Admittedly, however, after a cool summer and a rather long winter, we were pretty happy to see the snow move on. Rare for us, but we were really itching to get outside again (minus all the winter gear). :)
The picture of the cabin is a winter shot of the lovely place that we were able to live our first two months in town. It is up at the Chautauqua that backs right up to the Flatirons. Check out this website if you would like to read more about this amazing place. www.chautauqua.com Let's just say that hiking trails and mountains right outside our door were perfect. I had lived up there the year before Rod and I got married, but it was so much nicer to be up there in a little cottage together.
After two months, however, our lease there was up, and we moved across town to another apartment. Why all the moving you ask. Well, we are job-hunting, and we are waiting to hear back on some jobs, so we are officially still in limbo. In fact, if the post office delivered to Limbo Lane, that would be our address. We are learning that traveling is great, some limbo is good, a lot of limbo is, well, limbo. There is a reason that word looks weird.
We have found some really great ways though to spend this limbo time, and below are a few pictures and descriptions of our adventures.
That furry white long-necked animal is an alpaca. Given my fairly recent infatuation with all thing fiber and wool, I jumped on the chance to get to go to an Alpaca Extravaganza in Longmont. It was such a cool afternoon. We went to a lecture on alpaca farming and another on all the ways that you can use alpaca fiber and we got to see a lot of the cuddly creatures. Let's just say I feel in love, and I can't wait until I have a few of these living in my backyard. In the meantime, I picked up some gorgeous alpaca fiber to spin, so that will have to suffice for now.
We have also recently become addicted to Settlers of Catan thanks to some friends of ours. Having avoided playing the game for so many years, I was intending to make it a streak and never play until I died. Our friends had other plans. We have had an awesome time hanging out with some great people and bartering for brick and sheep. I'm glad I played, and even more glad that I managed to sweep the board once. :)
But the real news lately is that I finally went on my first backpacking trip. Yes, you read that correctly. I have driven to Alaska and back, but I had not strapped my tent on my back, ventured out into the wilderness, and slept in the wild.
I'm hooked! We had an amazing time right outside Moab, Utah in Canyonland National Park. If you have never made it to Utah, it is worth checking out. The scenery is amazing, and they do not have bears! I was in camping heaven. The weather was perfect, the hiking was great, and we finally got to sleep outside again. While the weather here in CO is still a little chilly, we jumped at the chance to get back outside while it was warm in UT, and Rod planned the perfect trip. Good times.
Well, it looks like we will be here in CO for the next several weeks, so we are looking forward to when it gets warm enough to camp in our "own backyard." Until then, I guess we will just have to hone our Catan skills. But these days I'd given all my brick for a warm night. Soon enough.
Not so long ago, we were still snowshoeing and enjoying all the "white stuff" that the Rockies have to offer. Admittedly, however, after a cool summer and a rather long winter, we were pretty happy to see the snow move on. Rare for us, but we were really itching to get outside again (minus all the winter gear). :) The picture of the cabin is a winter shot of the lovely place that we were able to live our first two months in town. It is up at the Chautauqua that backs right up to the Flatirons. Check out this website if you would like to read more about this amazing place. www.chautauqua.com Let's just say that hiking trails and mountains right outside our door were perfect. I had lived up there the year before Rod and I got married, but it was so much nicer to be up there in a little cottage together.
After two months, however, our lease there was up, and we moved across town to another apartment. Why all the moving you ask. Well, we are job-hunting, and we are waiting to hear back on some jobs, so we are officially still in limbo. In fact, if the post office delivered to Limbo Lane, that would be our address. We are learning that traveling is great, some limbo is good, a lot of limbo is, well, limbo. There is a reason that word looks weird. We have found some really great ways though to spend this limbo time, and below are a few pictures and descriptions of our adventures.
That furry white long-necked animal is an alpaca. Given my fairly recent infatuation with all thing fiber and wool, I jumped on the chance to get to go to an Alpaca Extravaganza in Longmont. It was such a cool afternoon. We went to a lecture on alpaca farming and another on all the ways that you can use alpaca fiber and we got to see a lot of the cuddly creatures. Let's just say I feel in love, and I can't wait until I have a few of these living in my backyard. In the meantime, I picked up some gorgeous alpaca fiber to spin, so that will have to suffice for now.
We have also recently become addicted to Settlers of Catan thanks to some friends of ours. Having avoided playing the game for so many years, I was intending to make it a streak and never play until I died. Our friends had other plans. We have had an awesome time hanging out with some great people and bartering for brick and sheep. I'm glad I played, and even more glad that I managed to sweep the board once. :)
But the real news lately is that I finally went on my first backpacking trip. Yes, you read that correctly. I have driven to Alaska and back, but I had not strapped my tent on my back, ventured out into the wilderness, and slept in the wild.
I'm hooked! We had an amazing time right outside Moab, Utah in Canyonland National Park. If you have never made it to Utah, it is worth checking out. The scenery is amazing, and they do not have bears! I was in camping heaven. The weather was perfect, the hiking was great, and we finally got to sleep outside again. While the weather here in CO is still a little chilly, we jumped at the chance to get back outside while it was warm in UT, and Rod planned the perfect trip. Good times.
Well, it looks like we will be here in CO for the next several weeks, so we are looking forward to when it gets warm enough to camp in our "own backyard." Until then, I guess we will just have to hone our Catan skills. But these days I'd given all my brick for a warm night. Soon enough. 
Thursday, January 28, 2010
On the Road Again Again
After an eventful and many-miled 2 and half months, I’m figuring that our blog is in need of an update. Last we wrote, we were in sunny Taos. During our time there Rodney worked on journal articles and job-hunting, and I had a great opportunity to freelance for the Visitor’s Guide that is put out by the Taos News. It was really fun to have an excuse to drive all over the area and research the history.
The week of Thanksgiving, our time in Taos came to a close, and we headed to Colorado to meet up with my family for the holiday. We had a great time with them in Colorado Springs just hanging out, going to the zoo (which is an awesome zoo by the way), and of course, doing a lot of eating.
December 1st, we headed to Missouri to visit with Rodney’s family. We had an early Christmas there and just had a great time relaxing. Our activities ranged from dragging a dear out of the woods to me learning to embroider to riding around in the back of a pickup truck in the cow pasture so that I could get some up-close cow photos. Our time also included my first trip to Branson and an 2 and ½ mile drive through a light display.
After 2 weeks that just flew by, we hit the road again to head toward my family in Pennsylvania by way of a few other states. We stopped in Alabama to see my grandmother, and it was so nice to be able to spend time with her and my aunt, uncle and cousins there. I was excited to show Rodney my grandfather’s shop that I logged many hours in as a child, and we even had a chance to breeze through the Space Center.
We left Huntsville and headed North to South Carolina to visit Rodney’s sister in Greenville. Her little guy, however, had a fever, so we made a slight re-route and hit Charlotte first to see my grandparents while we gave his fever time to exit the scene. We got to see both of my new little second cousins and had a nice time catching up with family there. After a day, we headed back South to Greenville, where we had two days visiting with Rodney’s sister and family, and I got to touch base with my dear friend michele. We had a great time getting to see the new downtown in Greenville (which is lovely), and then chatting, playing, and eating amazing steak.
With our Southern Sweep completed, we again headed North to PA to see my family. While there, we celebrated Christmas. We also had a lot of time to just hang out, play, talk, and eat and visit with friends. Our time there included giving Rodney a tour through the town the I grew up in (that is about an hour away from where my family lives now), me taking yarn spinning classes with my mother, helping my little brother select songs for the album the he is now in Nashville recording, and a blitz-tour of New York City (Rodney’s first time in the city). It was a whirlwind tour of seeing friends and family, and we had a great time connecting and re-connecting with everyone.
About 2 and a half weeks after arriving in PA, we headed out for Missouri again. This holiday season was the ultimate in going back and forth between families, and ours are about 16 hours apart! We were blessed to be able to spend almost a month with each of our families.
Our second pass through Missouri was nice. We spent a little more time exploring the area, and Rodney took me out to his great-grandmother’s house, where I got to hear a lot of the history there. We also spent quite a bit of time cooking, and I was able to mess around long enough to figure out how to make caramel buttercream meringue icing (that we had had in NYC). What a victory when those egg whites do what they are supposed to do! I also had some time to re-discover my love of knitting and much of my week was spent knitting for a local craft show and then for friends. Rodney and his dad spent a lot time walking, and his mother and I spent a lot of time talking. Funny how that works. ☺
But with all this visiting behind us, the current questions seem to be “where are you now,” and “what are you doing”? Well, right now I am at my old haunt, the Brewing Market in Boulder. We just drove in this morning. Rodney has a temporary project to work on here, so we are getting to hang next to the Flatirons for a few weeks. I’m super excited to be living up at Chautauqua (right next to the mountains where I lived the year we dated), and we are looking forward to getting to see friends. We are still job hunting and hopefully interviewing, and we honestly do not know where we are going to end up. But the ride has been amazingly fun so far, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
We will update again, hopefully sooner than last time. Keep checking to see where we end up next month, but for now, the “on the road” thing seems to be where we are, and our road is driving past the lovely town of Boulder. I can’t complain. The sky is blue, the mountains are right there, and I have a place to sleep.
The week of Thanksgiving, our time in Taos came to a close, and we headed to Colorado to meet up with my family for the holiday. We had a great time with them in Colorado Springs just hanging out, going to the zoo (which is an awesome zoo by the way), and of course, doing a lot of eating.
December 1st, we headed to Missouri to visit with Rodney’s family. We had an early Christmas there and just had a great time relaxing. Our activities ranged from dragging a dear out of the woods to me learning to embroider to riding around in the back of a pickup truck in the cow pasture so that I could get some up-close cow photos. Our time also included my first trip to Branson and an 2 and ½ mile drive through a light display. After 2 weeks that just flew by, we hit the road again to head toward my family in Pennsylvania by way of a few other states. We stopped in Alabama to see my grandmother, and it was so nice to be able to spend time with her and my aunt, uncle and cousins there. I was excited to show Rodney my grandfather’s shop that I logged many hours in as a child, and we even had a chance to breeze through the Space Center.
We left Huntsville and headed North to South Carolina to visit Rodney’s sister in Greenville. Her little guy, however, had a fever, so we made a slight re-route and hit Charlotte first to see my grandparents while we gave his fever time to exit the scene. We got to see both of my new little second cousins and had a nice time catching up with family there. After a day, we headed back South to Greenville, where we had two days visiting with Rodney’s sister and family, and I got to touch base with my dear friend michele. We had a great time getting to see the new downtown in Greenville (which is lovely), and then chatting, playing, and eating amazing steak.
About 2 and a half weeks after arriving in PA, we headed out for Missouri again. This holiday season was the ultimate in going back and forth between families, and ours are about 16 hours apart! We were blessed to be able to spend almost a month with each of our families. Our second pass through Missouri was nice. We spent a little more time exploring the area, and Rodney took me out to his great-grandmother’s house, where I got to hear a lot of the history there. We also spent quite a bit of time cooking, and I was able to mess around long enough to figure out how to make caramel buttercream meringue icing (that we had had in NYC). What a victory when those egg whites do what they are supposed to do! I also had some time to re-discover my love of knitting and much of my week was spent knitting for a local craft show and then for friends. Rodney and his dad spent a lot time walking, and his mother and I spent a lot of time talking. Funny how that works. ☺
But with all this visiting behind us, the current questions seem to be “where are you now,” and “what are you doing”? Well, right now I am at my old haunt, the Brewing Market in Boulder. We just drove in this morning. Rodney has a temporary project to work on here, so we are getting to hang next to the Flatirons for a few weeks. I’m super excited to be living up at Chautauqua (right next to the mountains where I lived the year we dated), and we are looking forward to getting to see friends. We are still job hunting and hopefully interviewing, and we honestly do not know where we are going to end up. But the ride has been amazingly fun so far, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
We will update again, hopefully sooner than last time. Keep checking to see where we end up next month, but for now, the “on the road” thing seems to be where we are, and our road is driving past the lovely town of Boulder. I can’t complain. The sky is blue, the mountains are right there, and I have a place to sleep.
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