Dreams to Reality

Yesterday Mike went to Metro to meet with an Aviation department counselor to discuss his goals and the classes he needs to take to get there. The counselor he met with was really nice and helpful, and she was able to register him for four classes for the fall! He’s taking public speaking, english, and two aviation courses. One is on weather, and one other that I can’t remember. I think he called it ground training or something. But the really exciting thing is that he can actually start flying his first semester if he wants!

This first semester is going to be nutso. He was able to get all of his classes in the late afternoon/evening. He has two on Monday/Wednesday, and then two on Tuesday/Thursday. So that means he’ll continue to work at the job he’s at now and then head to class immediately after Tuesday through Thursday (he has Monday’s off). So for the first semester at least, he’s going to continue to work fulltime while having a fulltime course load.  I know it’s going to be a ton of work, but I’ll help him out however I can. I know a thing or two about English. We’ll see how this first semester goes and then if he needs to he’s going to scale back at work. School is definitely the priority right now.

I couldn’t be more proud of him! And I’m already daydreaming about all the fun trips we’ll take when he starts working for a commercial airline.  Wish us luck! This is going to be quite a journey!!

In other news, we had our first softball game last Friday. I actually did much better than I expected! I was able to get a hit every time I was at bat, and I even scored a run! Our team ended up losing. Only by 4 or 5 runs though. I was expecting much worse as we had never practiced together, and at least half our team had never even played. Oh yeah, and I was the catcher! hahahah… I had no idea what I was doing. Good thing the backstop was there! I probably only caught about half of the pitches. But there were no injuries and we had a lot of fun so I count the game a success! Oh yeah, and Mike and I were able to get gloves from a guy on Craigslist who ran a league and had a bunch of equipment. Two gloves for less than $30 — score!

Oh yes, and I am ashamed to say I have finally jumped on the Twilight bandwagon. I tried to stay away because I knew I would get hooked. Curiosity got the best of me though and on Friday night I watched the movie. Funny thing is Mike watched it with me too and even though he had to work early the next morning, his eyes were glued on the t.v. and he wouldn’t go to bed until it was over. He won’t say he liked it — he says it was “interesting.” He so liked it!

After watching the movie I was immediately hooked and started reading the first book in the series the next night. I’m about halfway through, and already have the second one lined up to start reading immediately after. I don’t know why it’s so intriguing. I wish I was creative enough to think of a book idea that could hook so many people. What a fun career!

Let’s Play Ball!

Mike and I are joining a softball league that starts next Friday. We’ll be playing on a team with some of the friends we’ve made through church. I’m really looking forward to it! I haven’t played any team sports in forever and I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I’m a little nervous though as I have weakling arms and can’t throw at all. I’m not sure if I can really hit either. I can stand in the outfield though! =) I hope our team isn’t too serious, or I might not make the cut!

We have to buy softball gloves so I’ve been doing a little research online. I have no idea what to look for though. We don’t need anything super fancy because we’re obviously not serious players. I do want something that won’t fall apart though, because if it’s fun I’m sure we’ll play again at some point. We have a Play it Again Sports right by our house that I’m thinking would be good to check out, or Craigslist. We’ll see!

Peep

Yes — I’m still alive. I know it’s been well over two months, and I really don’t have any great excuse for being MIA. I think the longer time passes, and the more I have to catch up on, the less I feel like doing it. Not to mention my workdays have become incredibly busy, and since I’m on the internet 40+ hours a week Monday through Friday for my job, I try and disconnect on the weekends. That leaves little time for blogging.

But here I am. I’m not even going to attempt a real catch-up. I can’t even remember what I did last weekend, let alone way back in February since I last blogged. The main theme of the activities over the past few months have been wedding-related. With my sis’s wedding quickly approaching (two months from today!), we have been in major wedding planning mode around here. Between three wedding showers (one thrown by Dani’s work, one by her bf Mary in California, and a tea party thrown by my Mom and I), bachelorette party planning, invitation addressing, Maid of Honor shoe shopping and more, our lives have been overtaken by everything wedding. It’s all fun stuff though (although the hubby might beg to differ). I’m really happy that we live near each other now and I get to share in all the preparation for my sis’s special day. Oh yeah, and Nick’s. =)

So Dani and Nick’s June 27 wedding is the start of a flood of upcoming summer/fall weddings. In mid-July Mike and I will be heading to Florida for the wedding of some of our best friends out here in Denver — Jourdin and Melissa. I’m really looking forward to their wedding on the beach, and the following week Mike and I get to spend in Disneyworld. I’m in dire need of a vacation and July couldn’t come soon enough! The third wedding on the list is my cousin Amber and her fiancé Dustin. That wedding will be taking place in September in Grand Junction, about a 4-hour drive over the mountain. Mike will be standing with Dustin as a groomsmen and I’ll be one of Amber’s bridesmaids. And last but not least, our close friends Kim and Brandon will be getting married back in California in early October so we’ll be rounding up the wedding season with a trip back to the Bay Area. And again Mike will be a groomsmen, and I’ll be a bridesmaid. If anyone’s counting, that’s three groomsmen roles, 2 bridesmaids, and 1 Maid of Honor between Mike and I. Yikes! Thankfully they’re all somewhat spread out, but no one else is allowed to get married until 2010! =)

So other than weddingpalooza 2009, Mike and I have been busy preparing for him to enroll in school full-time in the fall. So far, that has meant making cuts financially where we can and paying things off in preparation for Mike’s looming part-time work schedule and associated pay cut. We’ve also starting fixing up our basement into a little apartment and plan to rent that out once school starts as an easy way to bring in some extra money. We have way more house than the two of us need, so it really won’t be much of a sacrifice on our end. Our basement is pretty large, around 1000 sq. ft., so Mike built a wall down there and has made it into two rooms. One side has a big walk in closet so we’re imagining a renter would use that as a bedroom, and the other side can be more of a living room/lounge area. It’s separated from the rest of our house so I think it’ll be a good rental situation for someone looking to save some money. We had someone from our church who was interested in renting, but that fell through, so now we’re just focusing on fixing the space up and will continue to look for someone who might be a good fit. With so many unknowns, and me being a person who likes to have everything planned out, I’m surprisingly at peace over the whole situation. I think we’re making the right decisions and I’m confident that God will take care of us and provide.

In the long run, after we’re done renting out the basement, it’ll make a great guest suite! Hopefully good for resale too. =) I’ll post pictures when we get further along.

Another home improvement project we’ve been working on as of late is the backyard. Mike and I gave up on salvaging what grass there was last year. It wasn’t in very good condition, and with two large and energetic dogs added to the mix, that poor grass had no hope. So basically we didn’t water it at all last year and let everything die. We didn’t think it completely through though as the aftermath was a mud pit that we had to deal with all winter. Everytime we let the dogs out in the backyard, before we let them back in we had to wash all 8 paws with wet paper towels at best, and give them full on baths at worst. It was such a pain!! So a few weeks ago we took advantage of the nice weather and cleared out the backyard of all debris, tilled the ground, and planted grass seed! Oh yeah, and we put up a plastic fence so that our dogs couldn’t go on the lawn and ruin our progress! For the past few weeks Mike has been dedicated to watering the backyard twice a day and watching for new growth. It’s been a much slower process than we thought it would be, but it’s coming along. I’m sure the random snow storms and up and down temperatures hasn’t been ideal for growth, but we’re determined to grow a full lawn! I’ll post pics of the before and after once we have something more to show in the after shot. =)

That’s about all that’s going on in the Passantino household right now. Life has been pretty uneventful lately. We wake up early, carpool to work, head home, eat dinner, watch some tv and workout (me), play with airplanes and cars (Mike), and then head to bed. May sound boring to some, but the stability is comforting. And we do sprinkle in some spontaneity and fun activities into the normal every now and then too. =) But I’m learning to slow down and appreciate the here and now. Must be growing up!

Adventures in the Big City

I’ve been MIA for the last almost-month because we’ve been super busy. Plus, apparently I’ve used all my picture space on WordPress and blogs just aren’t as much fun without pictures. In my opinion at least. I think I can purchase some more space though so I’ll look into that. Meanwhile, here’s a pictureless update. UPDATE: I posted a link to all my NYC pictures below — enjoy! =)

Since I’ve last written, there’s been both good and bad. I’ll start with the bad so I can get that out of the way. So with the awful economy situation we’re in right now, the effects have carried over into an area in our life that I never thought would have any kind of correlation — church. Shortly after my last blog post, the leader of our young adults group that we’ve been going to announced he had been laid off. The church is hurting right now because people are cutting back on their giving, and they decided they couldn’t afford to keep on a full time young adults pastor. This was such sad news as Bryan (the young adults pastor) and his wife Anna have become such great friends of ours. We’ve met so many wonderful people through this group and it’s sad that it might be coming to an end. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Even if the group ends, we’ve made some great friends through it and I know nothing will change there.

As a sort of “last hurrah” for the young adults group, we took an impromtu trip to the cabin in Fairplay that I blogged about in September. We spent the last weekend in January there. The turnout was smaller then the first retreat but we still had a blast. It was pretty cold up there so we spent most of our time in the cabin. We were re-introduced to the game Mafia and spent many hours playing that, along with multiple games of poker. I’ve discovered that I’m actually not too bad at poker! I played in two games, and took first and second place. Not too bad for a newbie! =) Each game started out with about 12 players.

After the retreat, I had to get through three days of work and then I headed off to New York!

Check out all my NYC pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=77521&id=508162480&l=a0271

I flew into Long Island, took a short shuttle ride to the Long Island Railroad, and then took a 1 hour and 15 minute train ride into Penn Station in Manhattan. I was a little nervous about that as it was my first time in the city. Thankfully I met some people at the train station who were super nice and heading the same way I was so I was able to hang out with them during the 2 hour train delay. Once I got to Penn Station, my friend Caitlin was in class so her good friend picked me up and we walked a few blocks to a restaurant called Resto where Caitlin met up with us. This place was DELICIOUS! Caitlin and I both had burgers and they were probably the best I’ve ever had. The flavor was amazing. It didn’t even need ketchup! I also had a raspberry beer. I’m not a beer person, but it was so yummy! It tasted like juice. And as an added bonus, Caitlin’s friend Erin and her roommate Michelle (who also joined us for dinner) both work in the food industry and saw someone they knew there. So at the end of dinner our waitress informed us we were being sent desserts “compliments of the chef.” He sent out these really yummy waffle ice cream sandwiches. The ice cream was cinnamon and so delicious! Afterwards the chef came and introduced himself to us. It was a really cool introduction to New York — and made me realize how important food is in that city! Everything’s about food, and there’s a million different delicious restaurants to choose from.

The next day we got up early and had an amazing bagel and the best Chai Latte ever at the cute little coffee shop right under Caitlin’s apartment in Brooklyn. Then we took a short subway ride to Manhattan and spent some time walking around and checking out Soho, shopping in H&M and some other cute stores, and eatting cupcakes at Magnolia’s. We went to Chelsea Market for lunch. It’s an indoor market place with lots of restaurants and shops and has a really cute vibe. We decided to have lunch at Hale and Heart Soups. They had tons of different soups to choose from. I had a chicken noodle and it was probably one of the best flavored soups I’ve ever eaten. For dessert, we had cupcakes (this became a theme of the trip!). =)

Afterwards we headed down to Times Square and purchased tickets for the Lion King on Broadway. The show was for that night at 8 p.m. but they still had plenty of tickets left and we were able to get seats in the fourth row! Since we still had about 5 hours until the show, we spent some more time walking around Times Square. It was amazing! It was so surreal being there. We headed over to the NBC Studios and saw where they film the Today Show. We also went to Rockefeller Square and went ice skating there! It wasn’t very crowded so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. We skated for about an hour (without falling once!) and then headed to dinner. We ate at this Italian place right across from the theater that served family style. I can’t remember the name of it but we shared pasta a la vodka and it was SO yummy! And the portions were so huge that we both ate until we were stuffed and still had left overs. After dinner we crossed the street and headed into the Minskoff theater to watch the Lion King. The costumes were AMAZING! They were so detailed — you couldn’t take your eyes off of them. All of the actors and actresses did such a great job. It was definitely a cool experience. By the time the musical ended it was just after 10 p.m. and we were exhausted! We got back on the Subway and headed to Caitlin’s house and passed out. That was pretty much the story of the trip. We spent our days doing so MUCH and came home and crashed.

Saturday we woke up pretty early again and headed over to the Stone Park Cafe in Brooklyn for brunch. It was in walking distance from Caitlin’s house, and along the way we passed a bunch of cute stores and stopped in to do some shopping in some of Caitlin’s favorites. Brunch was yummy. We both had eggs benedict which was delicious. I think all the food I had in NY was delicious! Afterwards we took the Subway to downtown Brooklyn and made our way over to the Brooklyn Bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Manhattan. We walked across the bridge, which I was kind of nervous about at first because of my fear of heights, but I’m so glad I sucked it up and did it! The view was amazing! You’re walking along and all the sudden you get to the bridge and there’s the Manhattan skyline, the statue of liberty, multiple bridges — it’s such an amazing sight! I’ll post pics when I can, but the pictures don’t even do it justice.

We walked into Manhattan and headed over to Ground Zero. We went into the church that housed all the volunteers just after the 9/11 attacks. The church has memorials, cards, commemortive writings, etc, set up inside and out. There’s also a detailed account of the timeline of the attacks, and everything that took place in the year following. It was so touching to see all of this, and to look out the backdoor of the church and see a big empty space in the middle of Manhattan. For anyone who’s been to Manhattan, you know that big empty spaces aren’t typical (except Central Park). You can’t see the actual site of Ground Zero right now because it has walls set up all around it since it’s a construction site. It was crazy to see the area in person though. 

Next Caitlin and I made our way over to the Staten Island Fairy. The fairy is free and passes right by Liberty Island so we were able to see the Statue of Liberty up close. The thing that surprised me most about it was its size. With everything in Manhattan being SO big, the statue didn’t seem all that big. It still was really cool to see it in person though. After our adventure on the Staten Island Fairy, Caitlin and I headed back into Manhattan to do a little more shopping. We went to Century 21 and then she took me to the BIGGEST Macy’s ever. It’s like 8 or 9 stories, if I remember correctly, and it’s where the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade passes by. We did a little shopping inside. One of the cool things about it was it has wooden escalators. I don’t know how old they are, but I’m pretty sure they don’t make wooden escalators anymore.

We ended the night at a place that serves Ramen Noodles. It sounds funny, as I’m used to Ramen Noodles being a cheap dinner from a colorful plastic package, but these were authentic and really yummy. Afterwards we had a drink at a really low key bar down the street, and that put Caitlin and I over the edge in exhaustion so we got back on the Subway and called it a night.

Sunday we decided to sleep in as we were so exhausted. Since you get everywhere by public transportation over there, you do a whole lot of walking! I ate so much during my trip but I think I burned it all off and maybe even more! My legs were so sore by the end of the trip. It was nice though as I felt like I was getting in a good workout. =) Once we got out of the house on Sunday, we headed over to Central Park. It was almost 60 degrees so it was a perfect day for the park! Tons of people were out and it was fun to see all the places in the park that are commonly featured in movies set in NYC. After walking around there and listening to a small band playing for money, we got lunch at a nearby pizza place that sold pizza by the inch!  We got 8 inches of pizza and they served it on a wooden board covered in wax paper, and like usual, it was delicious! =) Afterwards we did a little bit of souvenir shopping and headed over to the HUGE FAO Shwartz. That place would have been paradise when I was little! We saw someone from Gossip Girls there with her son — but I don’t watch the show so I don’t know who it was. Caitlin was the one who recognized her. Afterwards we checked out the 5 story Tiffany’s on 5th avenue. A little bit out of my price range. =) We ended the night with dinner at a place called Firehouse with a bunch of Caitlin’s friends. They’re all New York City transplants that she knew from school out here in Colorado.

My final day was Monday. Caitlin had to work, so I went with her to work and saw her office. Then she showed me which subway I needed to get on, which conveniently was right in front of her office building. I went and had breakfast by myself at a place called the Grey Dog. I had French Toast, hashbrowns, bacon and an egg — YUM! Afterwards I got on the subway and took it to Penn Station where I purchased my ticket for the Long Island Rail Road. I had some time to kill so I ventured outside and found myself right in front of Madison Square Garden, which conveniently had an H&M right in front of it. I did a little shopping, made my way back to the train, and got to the Long Island Airport without a hitch.

So that was my trip! I had SO much fun and am SO thankful I was able to go. Caitlin was such a great tour guide! It was so nice being with someone who knew how the subways worked and knew all the higlights, because if I was by myself I think I would have been lost half the time. The only thing that would have made the trip better was if Mike was there to enjoy it all with me. He’s not a fan of big cities though, so I have a feeling it wouldn’t have been as enjoyable for him. It’s probably best he stayed home. Maybe some day we’ll get out there together. =)

So this blog entry is becoming a novel, but I have one more bit of news. Mike has decided to go to school full time in the fall! He’s going to be attending Metro to get his bachelor’s in aviation. He wants to become a pilot! I’m SOOOOOOOO excited for him! It’s a little daunting to think about four years of school, but this has always been his dream and I couldn’t be happier for him that he’s finally pursuing it. He’s such a smart guy and has so much to offer and I think it’s amazing that he finally has the confidence to do this. He has been so unhappy in his job for so long. Life’s too short to be stuck doing something you hate! Right now we’re busy with preparations because he won’t be able to work full time anymore come August/September. It’ll be a sacrifice for now, but it’s an investment. I’ll post updates of his progress!

If you made it through that whole novel, congrats! I’ll try to not go another month without posting an update. =)

Christmas, New Years, and Everything in Between

 Christmas Re-Cap
So now that Christmas is long over, it’s about time I write something on it. It feels like it was months ago already. Where to start? How about with Christmas Eve. Mike and I hosted Christmas Eve at our house this year. I didn’t have to work so I spent the day preparing food and cleaning up the house. I made a turkey — my first ever! Although it started off roughly (I couldn’t find the giblets sack and had to call my Mom and Mike for instructions on where to look!), the final product turned out deliciously. My family decided to switch things up a bit this year and go to the earliest Christmas Eve service our church was offering. Usually we go to the evening one, but we decided to go early and spend the rest of the evening eatting and hanging out. Bad idea. The service we chose was supposed to be the “family friendly” one, but we didn’t know exactly what that meant. Well, it meant that instead of having a candle lit service, we received neon glow sticks at the door. And everything was definitely directed towards children. If we had kids it would have been great. But we didn’t. And I kind of felt like I was gipped out of our Christmas Eve service. Oh well. Next time we’ll know not to go to the “family friendly” service! =)

After church the whole family headed over to mine and Mike’s house and we spent the evening eating and watching Christmas movies. The next day, Mike and I woke up around 8 a.m. and headed downstairs to see what Santa brought us. He definitely spoiled us this year! My favorite gift was the boxed set of Friends — the entire series! I’ve been watching it every night before bed. I want to watch the entire series in order. I’m still on Season 1. =) Mike’s favorite present was his new RC airplane. That’s all he’s been talking about for forever. I actually hid it under the guest bed because if I had wrapped it and put it under the tree he would have known exactly what it was. He’s the worst at guessing presents! Give him any wrapped package and he’ll tell you what it is within five seconds.

Mike and his airplane

After Christmas morning at our house, we headed over to my parents. We opened presents there and then continued the Christmas movie tradition and headed over to the theater to see Marley and Me. Marley and Me was sold out so we ended up seeing Bedtime Stories — which was surprisingly good! The rest of our day was spent hanging out with the family. We were also joined by Nick’s parents visiting from Las Vegas, and my parents neighbors. My Dad outdid himself with Christmas dinner. We had the BEST prime rib I’ve EVER eaten! It cooked most of the day because it was such a big hunk of meat. I’m not usually a huge beef eater but I ate so much that night I literally couldn’t stuff another bite in, even though I wanted to.

After leaving my parents that evening we headed over to a friend’s house where a bunch of our good friends had gathered. After taking a group shot of peppermint shnaupps in edible candy cane shot glasses, we ended the night playing games with some of our favorite people in Colorado.

Good Friend, Good Fun
After Christmas, my next big thing to look forward to was my good friend Alice’s visit. Since neither of us had to work between Christmas and New Years she came out the Monday after Christmas and stayed through Friday. We did a lot of fun things while she was here, including sledding in Winterpark, lunch at D Bar (a DELICIOUS dessert restaurant, that also serves lunch. YUM!), shopping, watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and plenty of Wii! She was also here for New Year’s Eve, which deserves it’s own little section. Keep reading. =)

New Year’s Eve
We rang in 2009 at a party thrown by some friends of friends. The theme? White trash New Year’s! It was hilarious. Everyone had to dress to the theme and bring a dish to share that fit in. Some of the dishes included macaroni and cheese, cheez whiz, fried chicken, flaming buffalo turds, pigs in blankets and more. Quite a spread! =) Alice and I went to the thrift store to find our outfits. I ended up looking more like a farmer girl in my overalls, plaid shirt and pigtails, but I thought Mike looked great! I just tried posting pictures and apparently I’m at my upload limit on this site. Bummer! I’ll have to get that figured out, but meanwhile I uploaded a bunch of pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34434436@N08/.

And the Fun Continues
My friend Alice left the Friday after New Year’s, and Mike’s Mom (also named Alice) flew in that very same day. This was her first visit to Colorado and we kept her very busy. Saturday Mike had to work so we had a girls lunch at the Brown Palace followed by a tour of the hotel. That night we all went to my parents house for a very yummy dinner made by my brother Chad, the future chef. That was the night we got to meet their cute little puppies for the first time too. Sunday we took a daytrip to Estes Park. It’s a cute little town nestled just outside the Rocky Mountain National Park. We had lunch at what claimed to be the world’s best burger joint and then went over to the Stanley Hotel for a tour. This was the hotel that inspired Stephen King’s novel “The Shining.” The popular Jack Nicholson movie wasn’t filmed at this hotel, but King did film a made for t.v. mini series there. And he stayed there and apparently had some ghostly experiences, similar to some of what he wrote about in The Shining. But anyways, we took a ghost tour that tells you about all the hauntings and weird things that happen at the hotel. It was pretty creepy! Before the tour I always thought it’d be a fun place to stay for a weekend — not so much anymore. I thought the tour was very interesting, but Mike thought it was a load of crap. True or not, it made for an interesting afternoon. After the tour we did some shopping downtown and got some of the best cookies I’ve ever had. Yum!   

The chandelier at the Brown Palace. It's only on display during the Christmas season. Off season they keep it in an airplane hanger!

 

The Stanley Hotel

 

The most haunted room at the Stanley. It's also the honeymoon suite!

Monday was back to work for me. =( It was very hard, as I enjoyed my vacation so much and it felt like I had been off for much longer than a week and a half. I survived though, and I’m getting back into the swing of things. Mike and his Mom spent the day going to Chick Fil-A, visiting Outdoor World, and touring the Coors factory in Golden before we dropped her off at the airport that night for her flight home. We had a really good time with her and hope that she enjoyed Colorado as much as we do!

Now everything’s back to business as usual. My Mom and I have started planning my sister’s bridal shower and I’ve been keeping very busy with that. I won’t say what we’re doing yet because it’s a surprise and my sister may read this, but after March 21 there will be plenty of pictures of the event to post. I’m also going to help my friend Melissa as she begins planning her July wedding in Florida. We’re supposed to go look at possible decorations/ center pieces this weekend which should be fun. They’re getting married on the beach so they’re thinking of carrying the theme over into their reception which I think would be really cute. I love weddings. =)

With the holidays over, I’m counting down to Feb. 5 when I leave for NYC! I’m so excited! But at the same time a little nervous. I have to take a train all by myself from the airport in Long Island to the city. Yikes! Hope I don’t get lost! This will also be the furthest I’ve been away from Mike, and the longest plane ride by myself. I just can’t think about that part!

New Puppies!

I’m back! I was off work starting Dec. 24 up until this past Monday, Jan. 5. I pretty much stayed off the internet during that time since I have to be on it EVERY day, ALL day for work. It was such a nice break. I was only off for a week and a half but it felt more like a month. Very rejuvenating. But I enjoyed it so much it was very hard to come back to work. Its been a few days though and I’m starting to get back into the swing of it.

I don’t have much time to update right now, but I wanted to post a picture of my parents adorable new puppies! Their names are Rocket and Reilly and they are 11 week-old lemon beagles. They’re brothers and just the cutest things ever! Puppies are so much fun!

I’ll update on our Christmas, White Trash New Years party and family/friend visits soon!

The Dog Whisperer

Last weekend some friends of ours went out of town and we watched their dogs. They have two, or should I say 1.25 because the second can’t weigh more than a few pounds. Add that to our two dogs and we had a pack! It was hilarious though because all of the dogs loved to follow Mike around. We joked that he was the dog whisperer. The little one especially loved Mike, and surprisingly enough, Mike became quite attached to her as well. He’s usually not a small dog person but he would carry Annie around the house and whenever he sat down she was right there hopping up on his lap. Now that our friends are back and we’re down to two dogs, Mike has asked, “Do you think Annie misses me?” =)

Mike and his adoring fans.

 

Annie in Mike's boot.

Buddies.

 

 Both of our dogs got along surprisingly well with the two additions. We never have to worry about Bailey because he’s so sweet and gets along with everyone/thing, but Shelby is another story. She’s a little more feisty. She did fine for the most part though. Bailey was so cute though. He was actually looking out for Annie. It was super freezing one night and because Annie is so small, she can’t handle extreme colds. Mike let all of the dogs out to go to the bathroom and when they came back in, Annie wasn’t with them. Mike started calling her name from the door and when Bailey heard him, he ran outside and went right over to our side yard and showed Mike where Annie was and led her back inside. It was the cutest thing! He’s such a good dog.

Speaking of freezing, lately we’ve been having a VERY cold spell. I don’t think I’ve EVER been in such cold weather. Over the weekend the highest the temperature got at our house was a whopping 1 degree. And at night it hit -18 degrees! Now that’s cold!! We’ve been staying bundled up and spending a lot of time indoors. 

As promised, here’s some some festive pictures of our house, both inside and out. Did I mention we LOVE this time of year?

Our house, all lit up. Mike already had to do a light repair. Stupid squirrels chewed through some wires!

The view down our street.

 

Stockings are usually hung where the bows are in front of the fireplace, but not while there’s a fire going!

Big stockings!

A Taste of the Big Apple

Yesterday Mike and I were driving to work and I heard a commercial on the radio that said all Southwest flights out of Denver are currently 50 percent off. I was half asleep so I wasn’t sure if I heard right, but when I got to work I checked out the website the commercial mentioned, www.southwest.com/denver, and it was true! If you book a flight before Dec. 12 for travel dates between January and the first week of March, it’s half off!

My friend Caitlin moved to New York City over the summer, and since I’ve never been there, I’ve been really wanting to go visit her and check out New York. Since we have so much traveling to do this summer/fall for weddings, I figured it wasn’t going to fit into our budget. BUT, with this Southwest deal I was able to get a roundtrip ticket to Long Island for only $160! A price I couldn’t pass up! So in February, I’m flying to Long Island, taking a 1.5 hour train ride to the city, and meeting up with Caitlin for a long weekend touring around New York! I’m so excited! I’ve always wanted to visit the city but have never had the opportunity. I’ve never even been on the East Coast! It’s going to be quite an adventure, and I can’t wait! Mike’s not coming as he’s not really into big cities, and he doesn’t really have any vacation time. I’m a bit disappointed he won’t be there to experience it with me, but I know I’m still going to have tons of fun. And I know my friend Caitlin will be a great tour guide! 

Now I just have to decide what I want to do and see while I’m there. So much to choose from! Any suggestions?

In other news, yesterday I did something really embarassing. Mike and I had just gotten home from work and I walked down to the mailbox at the end of our driveway to check the mail. I’m walking back up, with the mail and a dish from my to-go breakfast that morning in my hand, when all of a sudden I step on a patch of ice and I’m going down. One minute I’m standing, the next I’m laying flat on my back on our driveway. Mike was standing right there looking at me in shock. It all happened so fast — he said I looked like I just gave up. And I actually did. The second I felt myself slip, I knew there was no stopping it so I concentrated on falling in the least painful way possible. I lifted up my hands and head and went down right on my cusion-y butt. I didn’t hit any other part of my body against the pavement, and I didn’t even break the glass dish in my hand. So I guess if I had to fall, at least I did it with the least amount of damage possible. It was a little embarrassing though. Luckily Mike was the only one who saw! I guess high-heeled boots aren’t a good choice for a snowy day…

In the Spirit of Spontaneity

So yesterday I was talking to Alice, one of my bestest friends, on gchat. We were talking about our upcoming company-wide shutdowns (different companies) between Christmas and New Year’s and what we were going to do during that time. Neither of us had much planned, and the next thing I know she’s booking a flight to come visit me during the week of New Year’s! I love spontaneity! Totally made my day. And now I have something to look forward to during my break from work (aside from the obvious–not working). The countdown is on: three weeks and three days to go.  Can’t wait!

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My favorite time of the year has finally arrived — Christmas season! I just love all the festive lights, music and decorations popping up all over. And the best part about living here in Denver? We get a white Christmas season! We’ve had so much snow lately and I love it!

I’m getting ahead of myself though. Before I get into Christmas, here’s a quick recap, pictures included, of our Thanksgiving. Mike woke up at 6 a.m. to start cooking his first turkey ever. It took a lot less time than he realized though, because by 10 a.m. the turkey was done, along with the green bean casserole he made. It was good though because we had to gather up the food and the dogs and drive over to my parents where the rest of the family was meeting to have a Thanksgiving feast. And what a feast! We had two turkeys, a ham and tons of sides. YUM! We spent the day hanging out and eatting. With everyone gathered, we took the opportunity to take some family photos.

The whole Visger/Passantino/Bever gang.

The Passantino's.

Mike playing with the dogs in their lovely Christmas sweaters, or in Bailey's case a Christmas midriff.

They just love Mike.

After a day of relaxing and stuffing ourselves silly, my Mom and I decided to brave the shopping crowds and we headed over to the Castle Wood Outlets for Midnight Madness. We got to the outlets just before 11 p.m. and didn’t leave until 2 a.m. We were exhausted! They had some great deals though and the whole experience was fun.

So that was Thanksgiving. Overall it was a  good day spent with people we love. What more can you ask for? 

Now on to Christmas. Mike and I have been busy decorating our house for the past few weeks. We LOVE this holiday, which is very obvious when you step into our house. The only thing that we had been waiting on to make it all complete was the tree. We wanted a real one, so the Sunday after Thanksgiving, Mike and I set out with my Mom and Nick to hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. It was just the four of us because my Dad and Sister were gone visiting the Grandparents, and my Brothers were much too cool to cut down Christmas trees. No one was in the mood for a drive to the mountains so we decided to check out a tree farm about 45 minutes away that lets you walk around their lot, choose a tree, and cut it down yourself. It was super snowy so we got all bundled up and set out. It turned out to be quite an adventure. On the way, we came across a VW stuck in a snowbank on the side of the road. Mike pulled over and him and Nick, along with some other nice strangers, helped tow the poor lady and her two kids back onto the road. Once we made it to the tree farm, we ended up having to help another family in a 2-wheel drive truck who had gotten stuck driving around looking at the Christmas trees. Mike was very proud of his truck that day. No getting stuck for us! =)

I think the sole purpose of us going to cut down a tree was just to help those people. Once we got to the tree farm and looked around, we realized there weren’t any nice looking trees there. So we headed home and picked up three very nice trees at Home Depot. Hey, we tried! =)

Nick and Mike on their quest for the perfect tree. This one was really tempting.

Brrrrrrr!

We love snow. Silly Nick in the background.

Me and my Mom. My Mom's scarf was covering her face too but she pulled it down for the picture. That's how cold it was!

Me and hubby took our Home Depot tree home and went to work decorating. After about 15 minutes of hanging ornaments, Mike got bored and ADD and decided to just watch me finish by myself. That’s okay, I’m a better tree decorator than he is anyways.

Hanging the garland.

 

Bailey and Shelby were fascinated. They kept staring at the tree.

 

Ta da!

I’ll have to take pics of the rest of the decorations and post them as well. Coming soon.