Jeez....I need to update this blog eh???

Ok, so I keep saying I will update this thing, and I don't.  I HAVE BEEN ONE BUSY SUCKAFOO!  A quick overview:

Our tomato plants grew .... then got hit by hail...then grew again...and we got small tomatoes this year because we didn't plan on weather complications.  The ones we got were good...and we learned what NOT to do so next spring should go better.

I am in college now...have been since ...well pretty much my last post.  Great grades (all A's) for the first time in my life.  Was hard for the last half year due to not having a desk...which we now do (came in today!).  Will be finished with the semester in a month.

Been working our tails off...and the kids are doing great (as usual) in school.

Dobby (our dog) is a great dog...and we have purchased a Thunder Shirt for him to help with his panic attacks when we leave the room.  When we put it on him...he is no longer Dobby....but instead he changes into "Chocolate Thunda!"

Old silver car died...and we bought a new blue car (great gas mileage) - which I love.

We are canning jam and making wine like crazy...and in fact, we have one batch of red wine working through the fermenting process as we speak.

Halloween is over...and we have officially started listening to Christmas music and are looking forward to a Branson trip soon.

-Bryant

Christ is Risen!

 

He is Risen Indeed!

 

Happy Easter to everyone!  Just wanted to let everyone know that I still do intend to keep this blog alive!  Several have sent me emails or texts in the recent past asking when I will start working on this blog again, and I do have great intentions to keep it up to date.

This weekend, we went to the local farmers market and purchased our first organic additions to the home garden we have started to ponder....and I say ponder, because frankly we are not sure how we want our garden to look just yet.  So for now, we have planted each of our plants into pots and set them aside our garden spot to get them going.  For those of you out there who are saying "...sure plant a garden in a dry, low humidity state...." I want to let you know that I have done my research and am planting only Colorado grown fruits and vegetables to begin with.  Also we will be planting many flowering plants and flowers themselves to bring in what is left of the bee's in this country to do what they do.  For our starter fruits, we bought a local "everbearing" Royal raspberry cane (only one for now as I hear it grows like weeds once it takes off), some peppermint, and two kinds of "everbearing" Strawberries (Seascape and Albion), which I have learned how to create new plants from the "runners" so I will have more soon.  For our first vegetables, we purchase 4 types of heirloom tomatoes that the local farms grow around here(Hillbilly, Pink, White and Pineapple).  We also have green bell peppers, cucumbers and jalapenos.
We will be planting them in raised beds so we can provide the correct soil.  Below you will see the plants themselves and our little garden spot.

Strawberry in top pot, Mint on bottom

Bottom pot is the Raspberry

2 smaller on top left is Bell Pepper and Jalapeno, 4 larger pots are the Heirloom tomatoes.

So far...only some idea as to how we want to put them in this garden to be



Home Found!

Ok..so the last time I posted, we were looking for a home.  So we found one that we wanted a couple months ago and we have been waiting for it to be built so that we could finally close and move in.  As of Wednesday of next week, the house will have been built...and we will finally be moving into our new home on the day before the 4th of July!  It has been rough getting the bank stuff all figured out and in doing so I had to sell my motorcycle to cover some of the expenses to cover the loan.  Not a big loss...the house was much more of a priority.  It is a beautiful home and we are lucky to have found one so perfect in the time frame that we did.  So excited for the move!  This is our last weekend in an apartment.  We will be home owners from here on out and this will finally be a permanent place for us to hang our hats.  The last 7 and a half years have come and gone so quickly and it is finally time to slow down and take time to build on what we have started.  Let the new life we started together begin!  Updates and pictures to come.  Stay tuned for many updates and changes to this blog!

House Hunting TOP PRIORITY!

We have now officially started looking for a home.  We have a GREAT real estate agent and are thumbing through some really good possibilities!  We hope to have some really good news on that topic soon.  For those of you who are planning to come see us.....the houses we are looking for will have a guest room so that your stay will be much lighter on the wallet. 

Gnomes in the Denver Museum???

A little known fact about the Denver Museum is that the mural artist, Kent Pendleton, painted many of the murals for the museum in 1971.  He left his "secret signature" in some of the murals in the form of a little "gnome" or "Elf" hidden in the paintings.  Once we found out about this, we decided to go on a search for these little guys.  We found some of them and I took a picture of the ones that we found and posted them below.  I will not however provide the whereabouts of these little dudes because I would not want someone to ruin the search for me...so I will not ruin the search for you.  There are also other "secrets" in the museum.  One that is fun to look for is locating the "moving butterflies" in some of the diorama's.  They are small and intermittently move their wings...so these are hard to find.  We found one of them in one of the same diorama's that we located a little gnome hidden in the bushes.  We did not provide a picture of it though.

 

In this last picture, you will find another hidden character...though he is not a gnome.  Look hard in the large mountain and you will find the little guy...Hint: in order to find him..."The force will have to be strong with you!"  We found him where he belongs....in a mural in the "Space Odyssey" section of the museum.

 

Happy Birthday Rae!!!

Happy 11th Birthday to our little Roo Roo.

 

For her birthday, she wants to go to the Denver Museum and then to hit Casa Bonita for some food and fun.

 

We can't believe she is getting so big.

 

She lit up when she saw all the cards and stuff that came in the mail today.

Eh....sorry again :)

Ok, so its been like what...darn near half a year since last I posted.  Well not quite, but its been a bit.  Its been a whirlwind out here since we got here and now we are looking for a permanent residence....needless to say, we will NOT be buying a house just to get out of an apartment.  It will have to be one that we either can see us living the rest of our lives in...or one that is nice enough to stay in at least until the kids grow up and out.  Either way...its going to be our place for a long haul...and not just something to fix up and move out of.  We are now both in jobs that we like and are living in a location that is not only beautiful, but safe.  As we speak the kids are out on their bikes exploring the area on these things that we have come to find out are called "Side Walks".  They are a great invention!  These so called "Side Walks" are paved paths that are off to the side of roads and they are everywhere out here!  In fact, if we decided to bike or walk to any place in this city....there is a way to get there using these things!  Imagine a world full of these paths...people could actually get around without using their cars!  Anyhow...I am back to what I would like to consider almost normal.  I don't have trash for neighbors anymore and I have once again found time to pick my camera up.  I will post more pics from here on out.

Both Deidra and I have had our moms and dads come out to see us so far and we had a really good visit with both.  I wish it would have been in better weather for them but out here it is windy as the seasons change.  Now that spring has officially set in, there are lighter breezes coming off the mountains in the evenings...but nothing that would blow your hat off.  Snow on its way this Wednesday I hear ...well flurries possible but after that a warming trend.  I believe this will be the last cold snap of the season so I will enjoy it.  The grass is getting green out here and that is due to the snow that we have been lucky to have these last couple months.

Signing off for now, but will be on again soon.

Pray all is well with all of you.

Oh...and for those of you who would like to see a picture of what a "Side walk" is...I have posted the following pic for your viewing pleasure.  They DO exist!  When I was younger I read this book called "Where the Sidewalk Ends"....loved the book.  A must read for anyone who likes little children poems and stories.  However once I moved to Missouri...I actually found out where "The Sidewalk Ended"....the border of Colorado.  I must warn you to be careful looking for more info on them though...its like taking the red pill that Neo took in the Matrix movie.

 

Hard to tell in this picture, but the snow is coming down!  Looks like we are going to have a white Christmas!  Also looks like it will be snowing ON Christmas!  That is quite rare.  Looks like Missouri has a good chance for a white Christmas as well which it needs.  Not seen many at all in the years that we spent there.

 

We just got done watching "The Nativity Story" which is our annual movie tradition.  If you have not seen it...I suggest you go out and purchase it without any hesitation. 

 

 

I would like to wish each and everyone a wonderful Christmas!

 

Luke 2:1-14     In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.  So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 

This is one awesome video

Make sure that if you are in an area that you cant listen to music, that you turn this down...but I suggest you turn up the volume if you are in an area where you can listen to music...and ROCK OUT!

 

Click on the picture of the pug and enjoy the video and music!

HAPPY DOOMSDAY!!!!

 .....see you tomorrow.

DOOMSDAY EVE!

Welp!....Been nice!  Guess by this time tomorrow night, we will all have gone up in a blaze of glory as the apocalypse pulls its dark shroud of death over our world.  Weather forecast for the next 24 hours.....

Partly cloudy tomorrow morning with a 80% chance of falling asteroids after 10 am warming up to 5,897,000 degrees by the evening and cooling off to a crisp -890 degrees by midnight.  Allergy alert....those with asthma will need to stay indoors as dogs and cats will spontaneously combust causing higher than normal pet dander levels.

Just an FYI..

I    LOVE    MY   NEW   JOB!

 

Another year coming to a close.....

We just returned from our annual Branson Silver Dollar City Light Festival.  It was a hard thing to accomplish this year due to the fact that Deidra has no PTO saved up from her new job as of yet and I just started my new job Monday.  We bit our lips, rounded up the kids, hopped into the car and made a 12 hour journey to Missouri just to hang out for two full days and hop into the car for the 12 hour journey back to our new hometown.  Twas quite the haul, but worth every minute to be able to see our families and enjoy the traditional holiday event that we have come to love and look forward to.  Next year we should be ready to make the haul again and we be able to stay much longer.  None the less, we are approaching Christmas and are gearing up for our first New Year in the mountains.

Snow on the way!  Tonight I hear.  Should reach Missouri next week in the form of a cloudy, rainy and icy day or two.  Can't say I'll be missing that much.

For those of you star gazers out there....you will be happy to know that the "Geminids" will be blazing up the sky and it is supposed to be a doozy.  You should be able to see 120 or more "falling stars" every hour on the peak night of December 13th!  Click (HERE) to learn more.  Also wanted to mention some pretty crazy news I found out.  A HUGE comet is going to make its 1st known appearance to our little planet next year fall/winter.  Apparently it is the biggest, brightest ever to have been seen historically and is going to be brighter than the moon in our sky as it passes by.  Want to see what I am talking about I have included a link if you click (HERE) that will take you to a page that will go into details about this once in a lifetime extraordinary stellar event!

In other news:  It appears that a local weather man mistakenly predicted a massive tornado in Oakland due to the sucking noises coming from that area...found out in fact that that was just the Raiders team...they SUCK!  We beat the Raiders...again....no shocker here.  I was a little confused that they were still even an NFL team.  What do they call their home stadium again?  Oh yea...the "Bung Hole".  Anyway.......we used them to "pad the stats" so to speak...on to next week!

Go Broncos!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

We, as many of you know, start our holiday season at 6:00 am November 1st every year and this year we started at about 5:47 am because we just cant seem to get enough!  Last night I prepared the home made stuffing that has been passed down to me that started with my grandparents....it is "goooOOD!" as "Uncle Eddy" from Griswolds Christmas Vacation would say.  Deidra prepared the sweet potato souffle and both will be going in the oven soon!  The turkey is all buttered and seasoned up and is in the roaster as we speak!  Wine and sparkling grape juice is chilling in the fridge and the rolls are rising on the counter!  Santa is on the sleigh in the parade in the background which means that the parade is coming to an end and the season has officially started and we are revving up our holiday motors to begin the Christmas season and let the joy of the season shine!  This weekend we are off to Estes Park to do a bit of shopping and sight seeing.  Next week we shall get ready for our annual Old Fashioned Silver Dollar City Christmas that we look forward to every year! 

Happy Thanksgiving from your Rocky Mountain Family!



Let the holiday season begin!

 

First real snow today! We have had several "frosty" mornings...but nothing like this until today. Deidra is making up a pot of chili and the kids stepped outside to get their first experience of a Colorado snow. We got the Christmas stuff out and are decorating today. For those of you who forgot what snow was....its that white stuff falling on the kids in these pics. Going to get the fireplace going and enjoy some cozy time with my little family with some delicious bowls of chili. Hope everyone is doing well.

 

We made it!

We did it!  Our goal has been achieved!  Now it is time to make a new goal.  Currently we are happy with our new mountain surroundings, but would love nothing more than to purchase a house.  Deidra is very happy in her new job and I have a part time job unloading trucks.  The part time job will finally give me the opportunity to go back to school and get my degree.  This is something that we decided we would do several years ago.  She went first...now its my turn.  It is funny how much you want to find a way to go back into time and smack your younger self around for some of the decisions you made isn't it?  Anyhow, it is never too late to start enjoying life the way you want to.

Here in the mountains, the leaves are turning as fall is now on top of us.  The mornings here are crisp at 42-48 degrees and it warms up to the mid 80's by mid day only to drop into the 50's before bedtime.  I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!  As you can see by the pic above, the aspens are looking wonderful.  At this point they are green/gold and getting brighter by the day.  Taylor found a pretty good walking stick on our hike and we went to the store to get some sandpaper for him so he can turn it into a great one.

Well, its time for me to go get some things done.  Ill post again soon.  More pics to come and I will be periodically changing the look of this site.  Deidra will also start posting soon and a Flickr link will be added to the right so that we can post all of our pictures.  In order for you to be able to see those pics,  you will need to join Flickr.  It is free and many pics are on there already so get to it!

Have a great week!

Oh...I forgot....

Home under contract!

The house has been under contract for about 2 weeks now.  We are so excited that this chapter of our lives is about to come to an end, bringing the exciting future we have been working toward closer than ever!  I should find out this week if the people wanting to purchase our house have final loan approval from their bank.  Once I find that out, a SOLD sign will be placed in the yard and we will be moving into the apartment that we just rented this weekend.  Good thing is its a short lease and has enough room to put all of our things that we will be moving out of our house into one place making it much easier for us to make the final move from here to Colorado.  We have boxes all over and the kids are starting to pack all of their things.  We have to be in our new apartment by June 1st.  Closing on the house takes place in about 4 weeks.  Deidra is about to pull the trigger on applying for a job out west.  We already have our Colorado apartment picked out.  So excited!

This last weekend my daughter got her first soccer goal of her life.  Just thought I would post that here.  Proud of that little bugger.

Wine gets better with time....however...some things get .... well....just sad.

New Blog Format Comming Soon

Ok, so to be clear, this blog was created to invite my close friends and family into our lives. In a way to get a cookie from the cookie bowl of our lives and enjoy a small portion of what we enjoy daily. hahaha. Truly I started this blog to give a small window view into the month to month world that we are experiencing as we struggle to do what most would consider unthinkable; to leave an entire world with a certain paycheck for another that is healthier, cleaner and the paycheck may be smaller. It seems crazy until you sit down and look at the big picture.

I believe each of us were created with the chance to make something great of our lives and live in it. Don't misunderstand that last sentence. "Something great" in the past could be something as big as discovering that the world was round. Could have been finding the cure to some terrible disease that killed many that you love. It could have been moving out into the unknown with the ones you love to discover what lies beyond and make an exciting and wonderful life and the start of some small legacy that your future will unfold to those that it matters to. For me, I believe that I need more in life for me and for my family. I also believe that to obtain that, we need to seek less.

For those of you who are christian and believe as I do that you were created by one God that loves you and wants you to seek your life as he understands it to be, this will be easier for you to understand. For those of you who are not, I can only say that each of us depend on too many things that are made by someone else and without those things we would no longer be able to function and would shut down just as your computer or your iphone shut down when you no longer provide the power for it to work.

In short, I believe we depend on too much. My goal in the coming years is to learn to do more on my own and share this adventure with my family. It will be a simple change at first but a change none the less towards becoming less stressed in life.

The format of this blog will change in the very soon future into something else. We will be moving soon and our new life will be starting. We will be starting fresh and new and so will this blog.

Stay tuned. Its going to be fun.