I'm moving to the Equator (aka: my pipes froze) It isn't supposed to get this cold in Colorado. Its just not. -13*, people. As a result, my pipes froze. No water. I've been having to give my cats bottled water. Do you know how sick I feel about that?

Pray for warmer weather. I need water.  ¶ 8:33 AM 0 comments

  4 Things Four jobs in my life:
1. Retail beeeyotch
2. strawberry picker
3. volunteer coordinator
4. HR Generalist

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Office Space
2. Top Gun
3. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
4. The Mission

Four places I have lived:
1. Omaha, NE
2. Denver, CO
3. Colorado Springs, CO
4. Waterloo, IA

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Vancouver, BC
2. San Francisco, California
3. Cancun, Mexico
4. New York City

Four websites I visit daily:
1. foxnews.com
2. stuffonmycat.com
3. freerepublic.com
4. 9news.com

Four of my favorite foods:
1. skittles
2. sushi
3. steak
4. spaghettios

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. at home in my pajamas sleeping
2. on a beach in Hawaii working on my tan
3. New York City, running in Central Park
4. getting a massage from my personal hottie man-slave.

Four people I'm tagging: Uh, the 4 people I know who have blogs already tagged me. So, I will tag the next four people that read this.  ¶ 4:57 PM 0 comments

  In Honor of our Vets Tomorrow is Veterans Day, and in honor of the day I wanted to encourage everyone to read this article from the Rocky Mountain News. Its an amazing story about casualty officers based at Buckley AFB in Denver, CO. Warning: please read when you have plenty of tissue handy, plenty of time, and plenty of privacy. Its a very heartbreaking and sad article.

God Bless our vets in all services, past and present. God Bless their families who support and love them. May God watch over our troops currently in harms way. Thank you, vets, for your service, commitment and sacrifice.  ¶ 12:46 PM 0 comments

  Held I've mentioned countless times that the past few years have been pretty tough for me. As time goes on, the happier moments outnumber the sad. I still have rough days, though – times when I feel lost, lonely and shaken. Yesterday happened to be one of those. It was an incredibly stressful day at work; one of those days where you question what you’re made of, and if its worth it. To shake off some of the stress, I met up with some friends for a beer at our local watering hole. The bar happen to have the Air Force/CSU football game on … I realized that was the first AFA game I had watched in two years. It was surreal. There are a lot of memories attached to AFA football, and I haven’t been able to stomach it in a long time. Last night was hard.

Around halftime, my friends and I parted company and headed home. I walked to my car with tears in my eyes, overwhelmed with the events of the past two years. As I turned the ignition to start my car, the radio came on. As if on cue, one of my favorite songs started to play. It has been so powerful and meaningful to me the past few months, and it came on at the exact moment I needed to hear it.

Natalie Grant - Held
From the album Awaken

Two months is too little
They let him go
They had no sudden healing
To Think That Providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling
Who told us we’d be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
We’re asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it’s unfair

Chorus: This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and know
That the promise was when everything fell
We’d be held

This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow

Chorus

If hope if born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait, for one hour
Watching for our Savior

While listening to the song, I felt a sort of comfort and reassurance that everything is going to be OK. God is good. He holds his children. I have nothing to fear.  ¶ 9:53 AM 0 comments

  I LOVE the Internet (subtitle: Oregon Trail Memories) Remember playing the Oregon Trail as a kid in the Apple lab? Or perhaps you played John Elway's Quarterback, or Jeopardy, or Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Miss playing those games? Well, you can relive those fond memories of the elementary school computer lab thanks to the internet and THE BEST WEBSITE EVER.  ¶ 1:01 AM 2 comments

  New Hair

I could probably write volumes about my hair - not in a vain way, but what I think my hair represents. I've dyed my hair countless colors ... its my small way of rebelling that isn't too terribly permanent. I've been platinum blonde, platinum blonde with pink streaks, medium blonde, dark brown, red, auburn, blond and brown ... you get the idea.

Long story short, I have been going through a very difficult and trying time this past year and I felt that blonde was no longer me. During one of my lowest times, I randomly got a bottle of some dark color from the local grocery store and went to the dark side - I dyed my hair dark brown on New Years Eve 2004. Its been a few variations of the brown since then.

After my trip to Michigan for John's memorial service over Labor Day weekend, I felt it was time to go back to the blonde. My "dark" period was over - it was time for a change. Yesterday I visited Julie at the Vito Pini Salon in Cherry Creek, and she changed my life. She is slowly, but surely, getting me back to my fabulous blonde self.

More blonde to come. Its a process.  ¶ 9:35 PM 0 comments

  The Moonlight Classic (aka: another drunken evening)

A few of my homeboys from work (and yours truly) participated in the Moonlight Classic in mid-August. Its a 15 mile bike ride through the streets of Denver at, you guessed it, midnight. I'm no bike pro - I know how to ride one and thats about it. I know zilch about bike parts, bike care, bike tires, bike gears. But I've wanted to get into biking, and I thought this ride might be a good place to start.

How wrong I was. The first 8 or so miles went splendidly well. Had a lot of fun - there is something so refreshing and nifty about riding a bike through the streets of Denver with thousands of other Denverites at midnight. As I was heading down Downing Street trying to catch up with my friends, the unthinkable happened: my front tire blew. I had nothing. No spare, no tools, no nothing - my bike ride was over. I call my friends to let them know and arrange for another friend to pick me up. The friend calls me a few minutes later and encourages me to have a beer at the HandleBar and Grill while I wait for them. I think you all know where this is going ... one beer turned into three (and a few shots, purchased by fellow bar patrons that felt sorry for the girl with the flat tire).

In any case, it was a great time, but I learned a valuable lesson: if your bike is going to break, make sure it does it in front of a bar. And yeah, I'll think about biking again ... someday.

Pictures from the evening here.  ¶ 9:13 PM 0 comments

  Its been a while ... I kinda fell off the face of the earth for a few weeks. Reflecting on the past year and all the events and changes that have taken place ... hard work. Very sad and emotional and depressing, but also hopeful and forward-looking.

So I'm about to post some long-awaited updates ... hang tight, kittens.  ¶ 9:11 PM 0 comments

  In Loving Memory I'm Free
Don't Grieve for me for now I'm free,
I'm following the path God has laid you see.
I took His hand when I heard Him call,
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day,
To laugh, to love, to work, to play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way,
I found that peace at the close of day.
If my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joys.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,
Oh, yes, these things I too will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow.
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full, I've savored much,
Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief,
Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your hearts and peace to thee,
God wanted me now, He set me free.

- Anonymous

Rest in peace, John. We will always miss you.
December 19, 1977 - September 5, 2004  ¶ 4:27 PM 0 comments