New Job

We've been remiss in posting to the blog -- sorry about that, but there really hasn't been all that much to tell about. We're in the middle of the winter and things just really aren't all that exciting.

One exciting thing is that Chris started a new job this past week. He is now with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. It is basically the same as Xcel or Detroit Edison. The only difference is that they don't distribute power to individual households -- they just run the operations to make and supply the power. He got a raise to take the job, but the best part is that he's now less than 5 miles from the house. We can have lunch together now if we want.

For Valentine's we were pretty low key. Chris brought me flowers and chocolate personally on the day before (I was out of the office the day of) and I got him gift certificates to one of his favorite little restaurants -- Great Scott's. It is a little 50's style restaurant that I'm not too terribly fond of, but I told him I'd go with him without complaint until the gift certificates are gone. We also went out to dinner the night before and went to see Stars on Ice -- got tickets for $12.50 each -- what a steal!

Last weekend, we had Chris' friends Paul and Diane and their kids here for dinner. They come out from Chicago every year to ski at Winter Park. We were supposed to ski with them on Sunday, but the weather was really bad driving up, so we turned around. They had taken the Ski Train up that day, so they missed out on the weather problems.

We went to the Garden & Home show this past week and found a few options for re-doing some of the surfaces in our kitchen. We found a counter top and cabinet re-finisher and are hoping to get an estimate. But who knows when we'll get the chance to get the work done.

Other than that, we've just been hangin' out. Pretty boring, but we have fun and laugh a lot. We're enjoying being married!

National Western Stock Show

Although I've spent a lot of time at the National Western Stock Show over the past two weeks helping out with the 4-H School Tours Educational program, Chris and I got to go this weekend to enjoy it. I guess we don't realize what a huge show it is for the Western US, as it is in our own back yard. We had tickets to the rodeo and saw a beautiful 6-horse Percheron hitch with a tremendously talented driver. He was amazing with what he could get those horses to do. For me, that was the best part.



Here's the Draft Horse hitch. They were beautiful.

The cutest part was the Mutton Bustin' -- 5 & 6 year old kids attempting to stay on a sheep while it runs full speed across the arena. I couldn't stop laughing!

New Baby

No, we are not pregnant! But Chris did get a new car. We went shopping last Monday and after going back and forth between the Toyota and Honda dealers two times each, he ended up going with the Honda Civic. Its our new baby (for now).

Jamaica, Mon...

Yes, we spent this past weekend in Jamaica. Although it was a very short trip, we did quite a bit. Thursday was mostly travel, but we did get to enjoy a the resort a bit by having dinner in the "fancy" restaurant. On Friday, we headed out to the beach for the day. It was a great beach with many trees to hang out under to avoid the sun -- something both of us needed to do. In the afternoon, we headed out on a large catamaran for a sunset cruise with everyone who was there for the wedding -- about 30 in all. We were able to go snorkeling and cliff jumping while on the cruise. Yes, I (Holli) was crazy enough to try the cliff jumping -- much to Chris' dismay -- but he didn't let me know this until AFTER I did it. Saturday was the wedding in the afternoon, but we got up "early" to get out to the beach by 9:00 AM -- that's early in Jamaica -- to go parasailing. WHAT A BLAST! That was one of the best parts of the trip. The ocean was clear and beautiful. The landscape was beautiful. I would do that every day if I could. After that, we just hung out on the beach all day -- rough -- until we had to get ready for the wedding. Sunday was pretty much just another travel day.



This is us parasailing -- it was great!













The sunset from the cruise.












Chris on the boat during the sunset cruise. It rained a bit, but no big deal.


Here's Holli's cliff jump.

This is our "hut". The building had two rooms that shared a central stairway. Each room had a balcony on each end of the hut.

The Bride & Groom, Kelly & Sean, during their vows.

Sad Sunday

Well, Chris is still in shock -- his beloved Colts lost their chance to play in the Superbowl today. He has been moping around all afternoon, but I think he'll survive. He's been sanding on his nightstand to take out his frustration. Our week has been pretty status quo. Go to work, come home. Nothing really all that exciting.

The National Western Stock Show started on Saturday. That means I'll be there for the next two weeks helping with the School Tours Educational Program. One of my 4-H members showed in the Catch-A-Calf show yesterday, and I was there to watch her. She did a great job, placing thrid in her market class and making the finals in showmanship. She also placed second overall in the sponsor relationships area -- sending all eight of her monthly letters in on time. She did a great job! I was so proud of her. This is the first time she has ever shown a market steer. The Catch-A-Calf program has the kids catch a small calf in the rodeo arena one year, and then show the calf the next year. They don't actually keep the calf they catch, but they receive the calf in May at about 600 pounds. About 40 kids take part in the program.

We leave on Thursday morning for Jamaica for Chris' brother Sean's wedding. Although we are gone for 4 days, we really only get two days in Jamaica because of the travel time involved. It should be a fun trip, but I'm sure it will be far too short. I just hope the weather is nice while we are there so we can enjoy the few days we have. We'll post some pictures when we get back.

Have a great week everyone!

The Hunt...

As most of you know, we have plans to re-do our powder room this year. We have used many of the Home Depot and Lowes gift cards you all gave us to purchase supplies we will need for the re-do, but one thing we did not want to purchase new was our vanity table.

So... the hunt began. It started last weekend at one of the Antique Malls in the area -- wow, some of these places are HUGE! We went up and down the aisles in a very methodical manner -- we wouldn't want to miss anything. We found a couple of things that we liked, but they just wouldn't fit in the space. So, we kept looking. On New Year's Day, we went to an auction. Boy, did that bring back memories for Holli -- times spent at the livestock auction as a kid. There were a couple of cool things -- just not for the bathroom. They started with the little items and we didn't want to stick around, so we came home.

Today, we headed out on a mission to find something. We started out at a show that was somewhat of a disappointment. Many of the dealers had the small stuff -- dishes, jewelry and other small collectibles. Not much furniture. We looked around a bit, but only stayed for an hour.

Then, we headed to preview an auction for tomorrow -- what a joke! They didn't have antiques -- it was just a bunch of junk with a handful of antiques mixed in so they could advertise that they had antiques. We didn't stay there long, and needless to say -- we won't be going to that auction tomorrow. After that, we headed to a few more antique malls that we picked up flyers for at the show. We did our best to plan our route so we didn't double back too much.

Eventually, we had to stop for nourishment, so we grabbed a quick lunch and then went to a mall that we figure was in an old motel building. We found it -- an old cabinet with 3 drawers and a door. It is painted white right now, but we have talked about painting it another color and doing a bit of distressing on it. It will work perfect -- the fit is perfect and the style is right for the rustic look we are going for. So, here it is...

Photos -- FINALLY!

Here are a few photos of around our house this Christmas. We also did garland and ribbon on the stair railing and of course we put the snowman collection up on the fireplace mantle but the photo didn't turn out very well, so we can't show you.

Our Christmas Tree -- 2007

Main Street of the Christmas Village

Christmas Day Snow

Homemade Picture Frame for our Wedding Picture