The Great Christmas Tree

Last year, Chris and I thought it would be a great idea to drive 60 miles to cut down our own Christmas tree. See - we had never done anything like this and thought it would be a unique Colorado adventure. It was so fun to look through a huge variety of live trees, literally cut it down with a saw and drag it back to the car. Yeah, the one who doesn't have to carry the tree can say that it was "fun"! Ha!

Looking for the perfect tree wasn't as easy as we thought it would be though. We had an idea of the size we wanted, so the first trees wouldn't do it - they were too big. We saw so many huge ones, lop-sided ones, short stubby ones, ones with bald spots, sticky ones with too much sap, ones with needles that were too pointy... after a while of searching we found a spot with several good ones. I stayed behind to "claim" the area as Chris explored to see if he could find us a better tree! This one would do the job (see below)! Chris had quite the workout to cut the tree down, but once we got it we were ready to welcome it to our home. The pictures below pretty much summarizes our adventure.

This year, we decided not to get one since we'd only be able to enjoy it for a couple of weeks. I think as silly as this may sound, we may have to get our tree up before Thanksgiving (yes, I heard the shreeks and gasps!) next year so we can at least enjoy it a little longer. I miss having a tree... until then, my other tiny decorations around the house will have to do... :-)

By the way, Hook'em Horns!

Pumpkins Galore!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Oh, wait... it's almost Thanksgiving. Ooops. By the way, could you believe it's going to be Thanksgiving in a little over a week? I can't.

Well, going back a few weeks on 10/30, we had our first pumpkin carving get together with a few of our friends. It was great because last year was my first time carving a pumpkin ever and a majority of our friends this year hadn't carved a pumpkin. So, we got to introduce them to a fun activity. Plus, we got to eat all of the pumpkin seeds from all 6 pumpkins. Chris seasons and roasts them just right. Below is what came out of that night - 6 great lookin' pumpkins! Chris' was the scary tree and mine was the cute monster - both are in the middle area.

On Halloween night, we saw all these flashing lights and people lingering out in our front yard. Lo and behold, the neighbors were taking pictures of their kids in front of our snow pumpkin. Taking advantage of the unusually large October snow storm, Chris quickly and artistically (as always) rolled up a huge ball and formed it into a pumpkin. He even bought a red light to shine on it that night. He received so many compliments on it. We had a lot of fun passing out candy to the little kidos - and the big kido (aka Chris) got to have lots of leftover Reese's peanut butter cups to enjoy at work afterwards. He's so funny because he was intentionally not giving the Reese's out to the kids with the hopes of keeping them for himself. It's not like we can't buy our own candy later - Ha!

Snowflakes

Ah - Winter is peaking his head a little too early! It's been lightly snowing on and off since September, but we received a nasty storm today. The crazy thing is that I don't even think it's THAT cold outside. It's uncomfortable and you have to walk much much slower, but it's definitely not bone chilling. Is this a sign that I'm getting used to the cold weather in CO after almost 3 years of living here, or is it that my ski jacket works really well? Ha!

All the more reason to sip on a nice cup of hot chocolate, put on a snuggly sweater (notice, I didn't say a Snuggie), and write a blog entry.

Our front yard:

Our winter wonderland (aka backyard):
Our sidewalk - look at the depth of the snow!

Summertime has come and gone...

It's raining...it's snowing...

Ah, yes. It's that time of the year again. In reality, it started snowing in Denver in September. We barely had any sort of transition this year. Actually, the Summer felt more like Fall, but I'm not complaining. Last year, Chris and I had a full week of no sleep because it was so hot inside our air conditioner voided home. This year, we barely had to use Chris' homemade swamp cooler.

Perhaps now that the cold weather is approaching, I'll start to blog more. Maybe.

Well, what in the world did we do this Summer? It was a bit different than other Summers as we did a lot of house work trying to get ready for family to visit us in late August. Either way, here are the top 10 things I'd like to remember about this Summer.

10. We completely had a landscaping overhaul in our front yard. It looks beautiful - we'll have pictures next Spring when the tulips, iris's and lily's are in full bloom.

9. Whitewater rafting - our yearly tradition.

8. Camping in Rocky Mountain National Park. Pictured are two beautiful male elk.

7. Chris climbed a 14er with Chancho (see previous blog to read all about it).

6. Chris built the lower half of our desk completely from scratch. It looks beautiful. Chris insists we don't post it until the upper half is designed and built. Sorry!

5. Family Reunion in Manzanillo and Guadalajara, Mexico (this is a picture of mom's side of the family).

4. We had family visit in August/September - we love visitors. They got to try out our new guest room accommodations.

3. We receieved wonderful news that my brother and sister-in-law are pregnant. Soooo exciting! We can't wait to meet our neice or nephew.

2. We added a new member to our immediate family... Lola the spunky puppy.

1. Chris and I celebrated our 4-year wedding anniversary in the San Francisco area - Napa, Muir Forest, Big Sur and San Fran. Future blog to come once we've developed all the pictures.

Garden Update: It will no longer grow anything after today, but we did get a nice mix of fruit this year. We had just enough concord grapes to make a full jar of jelly, a few zucchinis to make wonderful zucchini bread and stir fry, a good amount of tomatoes, few apples (enough to make a little apple butter). We didn't get any bell peppers this year... a bit of a bummer, but we kept the plant in a pot inside and will replant it next year. This is a picture of our beautiful tomatoes.

We're ready for our Fall adventures... pumpkin patches, corn mazes, more college football, Thanksgiving...

Instincts

It's quite humorous how our instincts kick in when we least expect them to. I guess that's why they're called instincsts - because you're born with that sort of behavior.

Take Chancho. Lola and Chancho play all the time. She really likes to play rough and he gets into the action, but in gentle sort of way. If she is pulling really hard for something, he lets go as if to say, "here you go, you can play with it, little puppy." He almost knows how rough he could play with her and that if he gets too crazy, he could hurt her. He knows how gentle she still is. He almost treats her like his little child. When I correct her when she's digging holes in our backyard, he comes up to me as if to say, "It's okay, mom, she didn't mean to." Ha!

I also learned that my motherly instincts kick in with a puppy. I used to be a super duper deep sleeper. I could get in bed and be completely out within 2 minutes. It was impressive! I could still fall asleep super fast, but now, I wake up when Lola makes noises. My deep sleep has left me. I wake up to hear that she's okay and that she doens't need to go potty outside. Who would have thought that I would have these instincts with a puppy! Woooow! I hope I get my deep sleep back before having kidos though. I'd like to enjoy my sleep for a little while longer. I also can't wait for the day that I get to sleep in again. It's been getting up at 5ish or 6ish on weekends to let her out... and let them back in so they could cuddle in Chancho's crate... and then be let out again in about an hour for water and more outside time.

Needless to say, I've been exhausted with my little pup. I'm enjoying her though either way. I could tell Chancho couldn't live without her. They're best buddies! Here are more picture of our munchkin:

... And then there were Two

Happy August!

It's been a happy August indeed! What a surprise we received this week when Chris got a call from the Colorado Vizsla Rescue. They had a puppy Vizsla they wanted to give us since we requested to get another little one earlier this year. Never in a million years were we expecting this type of call. After talking about all the pros and cons, we decided to visit her on Friday.

We were expecting a bigger pup, but when we saw her itsy bitsy body, we melted. She was so sweet and very much a puppy. A 4 month old puppy at that. We proudly introduce you to our newest addition to our growing family... Lola.

We decided to take little Lola the same day we met her. We just were given some of her food, some treats and we were on our way home. Chris and I were a little worried about how Chancho would receive her as he's not so great with new faces - as some of you know. They met in the backyard and they became instant buddies.

Those two played and played the whole evening. Now, Chancho is getting adjusted to his new life with his new little sister. She's quite energetic. yet he's mellowed out (even though he's only 2 years old), so he's had to bring out that zeal. She loves to follow and watch him all the time. I'm surprised I got her eyes off of her brother for this picture.

Ahhhh... so nice to see our two stinkers enjoying a nice Sunday nap together.

The mothers reading this blog may snicker at this comment - I feel that with this puppy and the 2-year old, that we have a preview of what's to come during parenthood. Phew. It's very tiring. Chris and I got to spend some time outside of the house yesterday and it felt almost as if we were on a date - just the two of us. Ha! Having to watch the puppy to make sure she doesn't get into trouble, to make sure she's not playing too rough with her brother or avoid an accident in the house - it's a job in and of itself. It's so nice when I have to get something done and she's playing with a toy. I don't even have to check on Chancho - he's such a good boy.

It's time to go to bed - so nice - on to the next day!

Mount Massive

Colorado is home to many 14ers...a term used for mountains soaring past the 14,000 feet mark. One of our Colorado adventures to do has been to summit one of these beasts. Unfortunately, Mariana decided not to take this one on, so this is the story from Chancho and my (Chris) perspectives.

A group from Church invited us to hike Mt Massive. Oh, and it is massive. This mountain is the 2nd tallest in Colorado, and the 3rd tallest in the lower 48 (14,430 by our altimeter reading). The above picture is us at the tree line. Past this elevation trees cannot grow. Any place where conditions are too extreme for trees should be a sign that humans (and dogs) should not be there as well.

Everyone in the group agreed that the toughest part of this trek was the length of the trail, nearly 14 miles round trip, and as you got closer to the top, the trail got exponiently harder. Oxygen was in short supply when you needed it the most (40% less oxygen than at sea level). At just under half the height of Everest, I had to stop about every ten steps to keep from passing out. Chancho kept looking back at me as if to say, "Come on, you can do it!" I now have a taste for just how insane Everest must be.

Chancho had his own doggie backpack and shoes, which he wore out by the time we reached the summit. He took on most boulders on his own like a billy goat. Personally, I don't think he cared for the windy, steep summit, as he was thrilled when we began heading back.

The experience was more challenging than I could have imagined. You left this place with a sense of accomplishment and respect for the mountain.

A tribute to Camo

Here here to Camo our chameleon. May he rest in peace.

Chris bought Camo when he was a little baby. He was Chris' second chameleon... the first one being Ooga - Camo's girlfriend. Camo lived a life full of change and adventure. Chameleons are mostly quite shy and don't like much attention, but Camo seemed to be a bit different. He was sort of a monkey in that he was always climbing all over his cage, was very energetic and was a bit feisty. He was guilty of "licking" my dad's nose a few times. He loved a challenge... so much so that when his food was too easy to get to he would refuse to eat. He wanted to hunt for his food. He loved being by the sun and would watch the world go by. He also loved it when he was allowed to wander outside of his cage... I remember when his cage was in our bedroom in Dallas, we would wake up and he would almost ask us if he could be let out to go see his girlfriend Ooga. Oh, Camo... little stinker. We're going to miss you!

He had quite the romantic life too. He wasn't quite the gentleman, but he did end up having two chicas...Ooga and Mona. Pictured below is Mona when she was just a baby.

Below are a few other pictures of camo...he was quite the photogenic fellow.

Camo

Approx. 2004 - 2009

Something old, Something new...

Today, I had the pleasure of rediscovering something wonderful. Something that some countries adopted as part of their culture. Ah, yes, the siesta. I really can't remember the last time I took a nap. I must admit it wasn't my idea. I was happy looking for new recipes on the net and Chris prompted me to an afternoon nap. So very nice.

But I must report the sad part of the day. I discovered something new. I usually LOVE new things, new discoveries. This is something that people get a different parts of their life, but we all get them. I'm talking about gray hair. I got out of bed this morning wanting to quickly get ready to get my oil changed and I saw something very shiny on my head. I got closer to the mirror and to my dismay found it! Well, it's not quite gray yet...it's more like bronze. But if you know me, you know that I have jet black hair. So, any other color hair on my head that came out naturally just means that I'm losing pigment. YIKES! I wanted so much to pluck it, but remembered someone told that if you pluck one gray hair out, you get 3 more in it's place. I don't really believe that, but you never know. I don't want to wake up tomorrow and have 3 little bronze hairs sticking out of my head.

I wish the "gray" hair was borrowed.... but it's not. So, now I'm blue.

The Need for Speed

This will probably be the shortest blog entry I'll write because the title and videos say it all. This is how Chris and I express our need for speed:

Ha! Gotta love it!

The Mind

I am so amazed at the power of the mind. Your thoughts really do play a huge role in what happens. I'm really realizing that more and more. I've heard it said before, but it hadn't truly sunk in. Take skiing for instance... I'm a big weenie when it comes to speed and falling. When I think that I can fall and hurt myself, I go so slowly and am so cautious. I get stares from people. I could see them thinking to themselves, "What's wrong with that girl?" But when I let go and enjoy the mountain, the crisp air, the snow, the laughter of people around me, the time I get to spend in a place where so many come far away to be at... I tend to go faster, make less mistakes and truly enjoy myself. Chris would tell me, look and focus on where you want to go, not at all the "bad" things that in ahead.

Also, take mountain biking. I remember the days when I would take big risks when going mountain biking. I remember just thinking that I wanted to give it my all when in the middle of a challenge. Then... my mind started to interrupt my courage and would make me think... "I don't want to hit that tree and if I do I'm going to fall and really hurt myself." And what would I do? Hit the tree.

You get my point.

There is so much out there that you can't control. So many uncertainties that I just hope that you look at situations on a positive note. In a way that makes you excited about the possibilities and ready to take on any challenge in front of you. Changing your way of thinking (I think) can truly change how things end up happening.

I can't say that I'm great at thinking positively all the time. But my prayer is that you start to, if you don't already. Just think to yourself - I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

Tomorrow is a new day. Enjoy it!

Hike!

Valentine's Day... Now that I'm older, I see this day a bit differently than when I was in grade school and would buy Snoopy trade cards for my friends and a special one for the person I had a crush on that year. Ha! Got to love the heart-shaped lolly pops, those heart-shaped candies with the little messages - that I didn't really like, but I bought them because they were so cool.

Yesterday, Chris and I tried to recall how we spent our previous 6 valentine's dates.... they were full of flowers, well-planned out theme days (like a rainforest theme), presents, dressing up. I had fun trying to recall each year... and Chris kind of got disinterested after thinking of the first year. It's hard to go back each year and try to think of what we did. Well, this year, we did something kinda different and SUPER fun!

We went dog-sledding. It was something I wanted to do this winter. Kind of a goal for this winter, actually. We got up to the mountains and got the place...where we had to weigh in before being admitted into the celebration. Yikes! I stressed out for a bit, but we passed as a couple and we were off!

We were introduced to our sled-guide and were put into our sleigh together - it was super cozy and romantic. The guide selected the dogs, strapped them and he yelled, HIKE, and WE'RE OFF.... they went so fast.

We were amazed at how much they loved to pull us and how much they loved to run. As they ran, they opened their mouth and ate the snow for water. And when we stopped to give them a break, they would dive into the snow to cool off. It was so funny! And like any adventure would be if you're right behind 9 butties, we would get the occational stench of a dog fart. It was so funny. We had a great time.

We were with the dogs for about 45 minutes and from there went to have a nice lunch in the mountains before heading back.

Ah, it was a super nice day with my wonderful and super thoughtful husband.

2008- Year of Change

First of all, Happy New Year! It's been quite a while since I last wrote. Not to blame it solely on this, but I really need to start taking pictures with my digital camera. I have a really nice film camera, but it takes so long for me to finish a role, develop and get them on this blog. I don't like having blog entries without pictures. For the sake of time, I'll just go ahead and do it. :-)

I'd like to recap 2008 before I start blogging our adventures in 2009. Here it goes:

January: Chris and I decide it's time to get serious about getting a dog. We submitted our application and went through several interviews with a Vizsla rescue group. My brother and Lisette celebrated the new year in Steamboat Springs, CO.

February: My last day at my agency job was at the end of the month. Chris got sent from his job to Switzerland for 3 weeks...I decided to join him. WOO-WHO! We also signed the rescue papers for Chancho, but left him with his foster family while we were in Europe. We got to go to Switzerland, Paris, Venice and Pisa.

March: We got Chancho!!! What a blessing. Our little guy joined our family and this blog began (I think)! I joined Dish Network as a Marketing Manager, but didn't start my first day until the end of April.

April: My parents came to visit at the end of the month and Chancho immediately decided he didn't like them and just would growl and bark at them the whole time they were here. Sigh. I started at Dish Network and immediately took to my role.

May: Our friend, Dominic came to visit us from Texas! It was great to have him with us a few days. We went white water rafting, hiking, toured the Coors brewery and a lot more. We love having friends visit.

June: Chris went mountain biking. hehe.

July: We went camping for the 4th of July near Winter Park, CO (in the mountains) with friends and Chancho. I started my job at Chipotle as a Culture & Language consultant - helping people grow in their career at Chipotle.

August: Chris turned 28! I had my first experience working at a restaurant for 1.5 weeks. Phew! That was absolutely exhausting! I taught my first culture class at Chipotle in DC.

September: Mariana turned 28! At the end of the month, we took a tour of the West. We drove to Arches National Park and Grand Canyon (the other places are in a previous blog).

October: Chris, a few friends and I went to our very first corn maze. It was fun, we'll have pictures of that day later.

November: We went to Austin and Corpus Christi with my family for Thanksgiving. We actually bought most of our Christmas gifts during the after-Thanksgiving shopping sales - who knew? We painted our downstairs library/sitting room.

December: We searched for and cut down our very own Christmas tree. Very very fun. Again, I'll have pictures later. This was our very first tree Chris and I have had since we've gotten married - could you believe it?!?!?! We bought furniture for the guest bedroom. Chris drove and I rode down to Houston for a grueling 17 hour ride. I was happy to say that Chancho did wonderful the entire way down. He didn't do so great with people, until he warmed up to Chris mom and sister. He loved the treats he got there too. Crazy dog!

Phew. A year of change, indeed. ;-)