January 2012:
-Tommy got a job (at Patagonia!)
-I turned 26
so far so good.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
enjoying the amenities
Aside from working, finding stolen cars, dressing up Munson in different outfits and savoring every square inch of our house we have been exploring and enjoying every bit of adventure that Colorado has to offer.
A big push for us moving back to the mainland (specifically Colorado) was all of its amenities; climbing, snowboarding, hiking, backpacking, the list goes on and on. In the past few weekends alone we have been climbing (twice!), hiking, snowboarding and snow-shoeing (my new favorite past time).
Tommy is as happy as a clam every time he puts on his climbing shoes and I am a giddy school girl strapping in to my new snow shoes or lacing up the hiking boots. Not to mention how absolutely wild Munson gets when we pull out her bright red vest, protective paw wax and harness. She really is a mountain dog now.
The mountains continue to take our breath away and we are so glad that we are here in Colorado, the sunshine state. Of course there are still the occasional (okay, constant) feelings of nostalgia and longing for Hawaii and the ocean air. But we agree that if we can't be in Hawaii, Colorado is absolutely the next best place. We love it here and can't wait for you to visit and share our joy with us.
Friday, January 6, 2012
new wheels
For those who didn't hear, not even a week after moving into our new home, some local members of the community decided that our Jeep would be better located on the other side of town. And would be better used as a medium for anti-police and pro-marijuana sharpie art. And who are we to argue? So we made the best of a rather terrible situation and pooled all of our extended resources and contacts and got a new car. A lovely car. Just lovely.
And here it is.
Her name is Frau. But she also answers to Greta, Wienerschnitzel, Jerry and The Sonnekönige.
love and miss you all,
d& t
Monday, December 26, 2011
c'mon we just got the tree
For the past few weeks (pretty much starting November 29) we have been living this video:
Christmas is my favorite time of year. Lights, bundling up in warm sweaters with hot cocoa, giving and receiving gifts, santa! I just love Christmas. This year was very different than others. It was our first Christmas away from family. We didn't do any travelling... not to Iowa, the east coast or any islands this year....we just stayed home. In our house home.
We were a little sad to not wake up in our childhood home with the siblings/nephews/kids around. However, we were very excited to have our own Christmas together in our new home.
We got a tree and frantically started decorating the house. Christmas music played 24/7 and Home Alone was quoted at least every hour.
As the big day approached our living room got more and more full. Presents filled the living room and Munson sniffed out every one that was full of food.
The Thursday before Christmas, Denver was hit with nearly a foot of snow. Which meant not only an extra day of vacation, but a white Christmas! Munson went psycho, per usual, in the snow and got even more excited for Christmas.
On Christmas morning the three of us woke up before dawn (because we're still 7 years old) and jumped over to the couch to let the festivities begin. The hot cocoa brewed while we opened up our presents from family and each other.
Christmas was perfect. We spent the day lounging, over eating and just enjoying our time together. It couldn't
have been more perfect.
Munson got a giant ham bone for Christmas which she ate within 2 hours and then had extreme diarrhea later that day. Needless to say, her Christmas was perfect.
After overindulging on cookies and candies we decided to eat some substantial food and made a grand Christmas dinner. Ham, asparagus, homemade macaroni and cheese and stuffing! A delicious feast and perfect end to the day.
The next day we cleaned up the house, and said goodbye to our tree. We would have liked to keep it up longer. However, the falling pine needles were beginning to take over the entire living room so we felt it was time to say goodbye.
It was a good tree....next year....
It was a wonderful Christmas. Some would even say, perfect.
Friday, December 9, 2011
WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!
Hello Friends. We are in Denver now. Have been for a bit.
Here's how it happened.
2:37p – Ready to give up, after weeks of tempting yet fruitless searching, calling and emailing on Craigslist for a house in the Highlands of Denver, Tommy emails Dani an ad for a charming little bungalow in the perfect location. The subject line reads “This one’s a real tease”. He debates not sending her the ad in order not to get her hopes up.
2:44p – Dani reads the email and gets her hopes up. Way up.
2:45p – Dani calls their friend Lindsay in the
9:15p – Tommy and Dani go to bed thinking of the home. Dani is excited. Tommy is rolling his eyes thinking it’s a scam and or will get snatched up by the next morning.
8:32a – 4:46p – Several emails are sent between Dani and Tommy about what restaurants and bars are near the house.
6:12p – Lindsay visits the house and its current tenant.
7:06p – Lindsay calls Dani and Tommy and informs them that the home is adorable and tells them “… that place IS Tommy and Dani’s home…”. She also lets them know that there will be an open house in 2 days during which the current tenant will be screening applications from potential tenants.
7:45p – Tommy and Dani make the decision that in order to have a chance at their now dream house, they would need to be there in person at the open house. They decide to drive to
9:39p – Miss Munson looks confused.
11:30p – Dani and Tommy go to bed after packing up supplies for the weekend, their Halloween costumes (Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf) and a load of belongings to move to
October 28th 2011
5:45a – Tommy arrives at his job and explains to his boss that he is there 2 hours early today because he needs to leave after lunch to go to
1:17p – Several pounds of sunflower seeds, Gatorade and Reese’s Cups are purchased at Casey’s in
1:18p – 10:53p – Dani sees a total of 83 deer that she is sure will careen into the side of the Jeep at any moment.
10:54p – Tommy, Dani and Miss Munson arrive in the
3:30a – After rehearsing their story in order to make them look like the coolest, most responsible tenants in history, Dani and Tommy finally fall asleep
5:01a – Dani and Tommy wake up in order to be ready for the day. Only 3hrs and 59mins to open house.
6:30a – Munson practices her adorable well-behaved yet playful face. Cleary she knows today is A-Game only.
8:55a – Tommy and Dani arrive at open house, along with close to 30 other applicants. Schmoozing ensues. Munson plays and snuggles with current tenant’s dog. Tommy and Dani learn from current tenant that its preferred that the future tenants have a dog. Dani and Tommy high five when he turns around.
10:22a – Neighbors spot a young couple and a dog jumping up and down in the street and shouting “ADORABLE!!!” and “I LOVE IT!!!” and “IT COULD HAVE AN AWESOME MAN CAVE!!!”.
11:00a – 3:00p – Dani and Tommy tour three other houses and pretend to be excited about them, still thinking about where they will hang which pictures in the house they fell in love with that morning.
4:14p – Tommy and Dani receive an email from the current tenant and landlord of dream house informing them that they are in the top three for the house and a decision will be made by the next day. They flip out.
9:15p – Fully costumed (see previous blog), Dani and Tommy hit the town of
October 30th 2011
1:48a – Back at Lindsay and Ryan’s Dani falls asleep with visions of home décor dancing through her head. Tommy eats half a McRib and lurches into bed.
9:30a – Dani leaves to have a wonderful brunch and catch up with her dear friend Oats. Tommy wakes up to learn that lack of sleep, the cold he was recovering from, the altitude, multiple gin and tonics, half a McRib and general stress have developed into the perfect storm of flu bugs. He realizes that he will not be leaving the bed today except to speak directly to his porcelain friend, ‘John’.
11:24a – 3:49p – Dani checks their email a total of 54 times to find nothing new except messages from Barrack Obama and coupons for J. Crew.
4:12p – Tommy rejoins the living.
4:45p – Dani and Tommy receive an email thanking them for their interest in the house in the
October 31st 2011
11:10a – Tommy and Dani drop off the rental applications for the other houses they toured and quietly, sullenly depart for
November 1st 2011
9:55a – Tommy returns to work the late shift at the job he was hoping to give two weeks notice to. Dani resumes the online house search. Munson makes a bed out of dirty clothes.
10:46a – Every house on Craigslist sucks.
12:30p – Dani receives an email from dream house landlord. The email says that the other applicants that were chosen cannot get out of the current lease and Tommy and Dani are next on the list – “… are Tommy and you still interested? Can we meet up tonight?”
12:30.46p – Tommy receives a frantic call from Dani explaining the aforementioned email. They discuss.
12:40p – Dani replies to the landlord explaining that they had returned broken hearted to Iowa once they learned they didn’t get the house; but after Tommy gets off work at 7:00p, they could do a phone meeting or perhaps a Skype session. Proving that she’s not a nerd, the landlord agrees to a phone call at 7:30p.
12:41p-6:50p – Numerous texts are sent between Tommy and Dani. Most of them intelligible, with the majority saying merely “AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!” with happy emoticons sprinkled throughout.
6:59.59p – In order to make it home to Dani for the 7:30 phone meeting, Tommy sprints out the door of the office. He finds that the Jeep will not start.
7:02p – Wells Fargo workers are appalled at the curse words echoing through their normally peaceful parking garage. Dani leaves to meet Tommy at his work after learning the Jeep will not start.
7:16p – Following multiple “almost electrocutions”, Tommy identifies the problem as a loose battery terminal. He mends the connection, starts the Jeep and calls Dani to meet her halfway in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
7:35p – The dream house land lord, Dani and Tommy begin their phone meeting. Tommy and Dani are unsure whether this is a “confirm lease terms” conversation or more of a “do I want you as tenants?” type of conversation.
7:39p – Dani and Tommy learn that it is the former of the above choices. They know they got the house. They have trouble listening to the rest of the conversation because of their excitement. Luckily, unlike most
8:09p – After agreeing to move in
8:10p – Customers in the in the northeast corner of the West Des Moines Wal-Mart parking lot are startled when screams of “WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!” fill the air. Customers in the southwest corner of the West Des Moines Wal-Mart parking lot are curious why people are shooting mice and yelling about it.
A roller coaster of emotions, but we got the house. We love it. Every bit of our home. The quirks, the cracks, the colors... everything.
Dani moved out here a week before me in order to go to some interviews. I stayed behind in Iowa to finish up my job and save a little more moolah. But we're all out here now in the Mile High City.
We have spent the past few weeks making the house our own. Though it wasn't hard. It already felt like home.
Would you like to take a tour?
Hi there. Come on in.
Welcome into our kitchen. Dani has prepared you a delicious dish.
Enjoy. Now lets continue the tour into the living room.
But first a stop in the bathroom. You ever see "Elf"?
Here we are in the sink room. You see, much like the Parisian Flats of fancy yore, we chose to have our sink separate from our kitchen. A touch of class. Now we're ready to head to the basement.
Come on down!
Ah, that's better. The not scary part. Or as we call it - "The Male Room" (also known as ManCave in some cultures).
And back upstairs we go.
Farewell. Thank you for touring our home. But before you leave, some one else wants to say goodbye.
Arf. Thanks for visiting. Ruff. I got to go play with my best friend senor now. Bark. He's visiting too. Don't forget to check out the tree swing on your way out! Arf.
We love and miss you all.
-d & t.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Hey there little red riding hood
Very last minute we decided to drive to Denver on Friday to check out some houses and hit the city. We packed up and drove 10 hours to be welcomed by good friends, city lights, the mountains...and snow.
It felt so good to be back. The weather was perfect and we explored the city with such joy eager to move here. Munson even got her taste of real powder snow. (Which is the cutest thing in the entire world). We stayed with friends as we went to open-houses and Munson wrestled around in the snow and played with her new best friend, Senor, all weekend.
We saw several adorable houses and put in applications for a few in hopes that we can get the ball rolling on moving there, sooner.
Saturday night we got all dressed up and hit the city. A feeling we hadn't experienced in quite some time. This year, we put the Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers costume on the shelf and dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. We were a hit.
It was great to be out in the city, but what was even better was being with our friends.
We all danced the night away and geared up for a big move back to Denver.
We left Monday afternoon watching the Rockies in the rear view mirror for as long as we could. We were so sad to leave but even more excited to go back.
It just felt right. Ever since we decided to move back to the mainland we debated on where we were going to move. The list was extensive and went from California, to Vancouver, Virginia to Tennessee. But we just kept coming back to Denver. Being there this completely confirmed our decision. We love Denver and can't wait to make the city our own.
Monday, October 10, 2011
T-PLUSH!
Phew! What a weekend it was. Brewers made it to the playoffs, Susan Spivey drove 13.5 hours and Tommy and I ate our weight in
cheese curds and fish fry. We had an absolutely fantastic weekend in Milwaukee. We got to the Snyder's around 11:30pm on Thursday and quickly jumped in to party mode. The pidgin started rolling and Braddah Jumbie even made an appearance. Next thing we know it's 3:30 in the morning and we need to rest up for the Brewers game.
On Friday we picked up the cousins at school and headed over to Miller Park. We ate brats, played some corn hole and Tommy even got to be on tv with a few T-Plush fans.
We didn't have tickets for the game so once the tail gating died down we headed back home in anticipation for the mauds arrival.
Half of us waited at home while the other half scoped out a table for the traditional friday fish fry and conclusion of the game. The bar was packed with crazy brewers fans. After the big win, it's pretty safe to say that we are devout Brewers fans now. (sorry Phillies)
The rest of the weekend was jammed pack with card games, drinks, more family and a lot of squeaky cheese curds.
I hadn't been to Wisconsin to see the fam since 2006. It felt so good to be back and made us even happier to be back on the mainland. We were even tempted to consider staying in the mid-west until we remembered how terribly cold it gets in the winter. The Tundra just isn't our style. However, family time is.
We have really missed the family get-togethers, sporting events, and yes, even the cold. We plan on making several more trips back to the mid-west and Milwaukee once we move to Colorado. (especially when the Brewer's make it to the World Series!)
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