2012 is off to a good start!

That's right - 2012 is going well so far!  I haven't been the best blogger, but I'll try to catch up with you today.

1. Snowboarding Copper Mountain - Drew and I went up in January and then again in February with a bunch of friends.  Boarding, snow tubing, great food, relaxing, and a little adult beverage consumption.  :)  I made my first run down the mountain without a fall - and even tackled a short blue run!

1. Colorado Mammoth - Again with the same group of friends, we witnessed the indoor spectacle that is professional lacrosse.  :)  Someone equated it to classy NASCAR - loud, raucous, awesome, with a crazy halftime show involving cheerleaders/dancers, bikers, and furry mascots.  Uh huh.
2. Liam's Birthday - Well, I'm a few days early but all the same it's exciting.  One of my best friends, Dawn, and her family are celebrating her son Liam's second birthday - and the anniversary of his surgery to remove a rare tumor.  This little tyke has been through so much in two years, he could tell us a thing or two.  We'll be celebrating around the country with a balloon release, and Colorado will be represented.  Check out the story at http://briananddawnfudge.blogspot.com/.
3. 365 Project - Still going strong!  We're 60 some days in right now, and over the hardest part - winter.  I know, pretty snow and all that jazz - but when you're off to work in the dark and back home in the dark there's not a whole lot of natural light for nice pictures.  We've collected quite a study in macro (up close) shots of household items.  Regardless, here are some of my favorites.

1. Women's Big 10 Gymnastics Championship - We'll be headed back to Iowa City in March to take in the Big 10 gymnastics meet and support our Hawkeyes.  And, we'll be bringing the Killians, Swansons and maybe a few more to the party.  Can't wait to see you all, fellow Hawks!

What has everyone else been up to lately!?

Ever the Student Affairs Professional...

I had to share.  :)  This has been floating around facebook for awhile, and it's worth the laugh.  So true!  Enjoy, all you student affairs professionals out there!

And maybe this one, too?

These are for you, Grandpa!

Last summer my grandpa gifted us his canoe.  And we thought we'd try it out.  What, you thought I had some funny story - are we that predictably uncoordinated?  :)  Let's just say we had our moments, but everyone stayed dry. 

Didn't really touch up the photos at all, but they're still not bad!

2012 Goals

Drew and I started a tradition a few years back on a return trip after Christmas.  Driving nearly 12 hours home to Atlanta was taking it's toll, and I was cranky.  Drew could tell, and yet I wouldn't tell him what was up.  And to be honest, I don't even know that there was anything "up".  I just felt off, or maybe stuck, or something.  Life felt sort of stale.  Long story short, Drew got me talking, and 6 hours later we'd decided to give ourselves a little direction each year and take advantage of long drives home after the holidays.  The new year's list was developed.  And no, it's not a set of resolutions - those are too easy to get rid of the first time you mess up.  These are more like things to work on over the year, and remind ourselves of when we get that "stuck" feeling.  Dorky as we are, it works for us.

So, enter the 2012 goals.  These came on the drive home from Iowa to Colorado - a relatively new trip for us.  From what we wrote down, it seems to be the year of "Colorado strong", expanding our artistic talents, and finding our "home" amongst the mountain-goers out here.  I won't list them all, but never fear - if you ever venture to our house they're proudly displayed in a frame each year (and yeah, I keep the old ones to see where we were and how far we've come).  :)

• Colorado Strong - Living in the mountains means feeling like you could tackle a 14er, or a week long camping trip, a 5K, or a river run, etc.  You just never know what might pop up!  And so, it's not about looking good as much as it is feeling strong.  And we all know one follows the other, right?  Loui, the spoiled retriever, requires an exhausting outing a day - we've settled on giving him 6 runs a week.  He's staring at me right now and I can see it in his eyes...he's waiting not so patiently for today's adventure.

• Friends - Yeah, I said it.  We're homebodies, but this is the year of expanding our network and finding some locals to hang with.  We've got coworkers, former Hawkeyes, even family nearby.  For goodness sake, we're gonna get this one done.  :)  And keep up those old relationships too, since a phone call shouldn't be hard.  Miss you, peeps!

• Artistic Outlets - We each have our things.  For me it's gardening, cooking, painting, photography, and not singing.  You heard me.  For Drew, it's music, recording, and his business ventures.  Breaking out of our own heads is hard to do, so I've committed myself to finding an art show or two locally to show in - and Drew even has aspirations of recording another CD!  I'm even back to implementing the photo-a-day project to see how far I get....(so far we're still on!)

• Community - Aside from making new friends, we want to explore the area around us, maybe venture back in to home-ownership, and in general connect to a community.  From finding a doctor (Mary Janet - we're on it!) to finding a farmer's market to finding ways to give back, we want to make it home out here.  :)

 What is everyone else out there working on this year?  Let us know!

Introducing Goose!

:)  In lieu of a long-winded post, I'll revert to showing you pure cuteness, and mischief, in pictures.  His name is Gus, or Goose...or if you want to get formal (or make him think he's in trouble) it's really Blackwaters Blu-Chip Goosedown.  Awwww.......  Mom and Dad got a new puppy in October and are loving him up - and I think sometimes they're wondering exactly what they got themselves in to.  He's all puppy - a hurricane of feet and teeth, shall we say.

When we went home for Christmas Loui bounded into Mom and Dad's house all gangbusters expecting to find a whole gang of people ready to pet him and give him cookies, and chewies - and all that jazz.  Instead, he skidded right into Gus, who'd apparently not been told that a bigger version of himself in the chocolate variety would be visiting.  After a quick mop of the floor (oops!) and a recovery of their wits the two were fast friends (like siblings, squabbles and all).  And in no time at all Gus was already stealing Loui's things...

Grown Up Thanksgiving...

A few signs I've made it to a "grown up" Thanksgiving...

1. Purchasing the turkey when I was supposed to.  Meaning, not the day before.
2. Witty banter with a fellow Thanksgiving shopper over the turkey display.  And, scoring a great deal while donating a turkey to those who might not otherwise enjoy one...
3. Thawing out the turkey when I was supposed to.  No panicky reading of instructions on how dang slow a turkey thaws out.
4. Not everything came out of a box, or bag.  Points to me for homemade onion rolls, sweet potato pie, pecan pie, mashed potatoes and scalloped potatoes, and green bean casserole.
5. More points for using things right out of the garden - like onions, brussel sprouts, potatoes and rosemary!
6. Wine made it on to the menu - sparkling cider and egg nog, too - with nutmeg!  Dad would be so proud.
7. Timing dinner to coincide with the break between football games.  :) 
8. Contemplated buying a gravy boat.  But it still didn't happen.  What's so bad about serving gravy out of the glass measuring cup?  It has a pour spout!  Maybe next year...
9. Everyone fell asleep by 8pm.  Job well done.  However, that leads me to my last comment...

And finally, one big sign that Drew and I are still "new" to Denver...

1. Everyone fell asleep by 8pm.  And by everyone, I mean Drew, Loui and me.  We need to make some friends!!!  Goal for next Thanksgiving - serving more than two people and a dog.

Thankful...

In this season of thankfulness and giving, I think it's nice to challenge myself to express what I love in my life, and who helped make it so...  Since I'm all about lists, here we go:

1. This year number one is easy...a healthy Liam.  If you haven't been following my friend Dawn's story, check it out here.  This time last year Dawn and her husband received the awful news that their little one, Liam, had cancer.  I couldn't be there to help, but I could cry over the phone and tell her I was thinking about all three of them all the time.  This year they are lucky, and thankful enough, to be celebrating with family portraits. 
2.  My family - from the Swanson's and the Whalen's to the Killian's, Kolb's and the Krebs'...and beyond.  :)  And I'm thankful that we're all willing to sell a body part of which we have multiples to see each other at least once or twice a year.
3. Health - We're blessed, I'll just say that.  Aside from minor calamities that Drew is prone to having, we're all good. And we know where both Urgent Care and the local hospital are in Arvada - so we're prepared for the next round.
4. Loui - who new a fuzzball could be so darn loveable?  I think I'm in trouble - kids aren't that fuzzy.
5. Colorado.  I'm pretty sure Drew and I were born to be Colorado-ans.  Colorado-ites?  Perhaps if I was born to be here I should learn how to say it...  ;)
6. Employment - In a year in which I left one job, crafted another from a distance, became unemployed and then re-employed, I'm thankful to have landed something I really do enjoy.  Not everyone is so lucky.
7. Friends from afar.  Pretty much everyone is from "afar" right now, but I am thankful to have kept some semblance of a relationship (however horrid I am at calling) with NicWo, Kenny, Annie, Dawn and the like.  I'll try harder next year, too.  I promise.
8. Goals - big ones.  I'm a planner.  I'm thankful that I have the luxury of dreaming big, and actually making things happen.  Most of my daydream plans revolve around vacation (don't roll your eyes) because hey, anything's possible.  Checking out New Zealand books at the library?  Nothing wrong with that.  It's actually made it onto the real time calendar for us Swanson's!!!  And that far-fetched one about climbing Half Dome?  Check.  Done.
9. Marrying my best friend.  Cheeseball, I know.  We do incredible dorky things together, and no one seems to mind - particularly us. (Anyone remember the "No Power Wednesday's" story? That's what I'm talking about).
10. Pretzel bagels at Einstein's.  They're my new obsession.  What?  Something had to replace the green olive cream cheese I used to obsess over at Breugger's.  I'm perfectly normal.

So, what are you thankful for?