Anderson & Associates

Fathers Day Flash Mob

2011-06-14T09:25:00.001-07:00

Watch "OFFICIAL - Father's Day Flash Mob - Denver" on YouTube

Single Track

2011-04-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of hobbies, Nicole will tell you that I have a lot of expensive hobbies. Some of my hobbies are more like flings or new interests that fade over time. There are only a few that I would say I am more passionate about and will always be a hobby I enjoy above other hobbies, one of these is Mountain Biking. I have not been a Mountain Biker my whole life, I actually rarely rode bikes until I was over 18. My love for bikes started when I was required to use one for my daily transportation. Prior to this I had owned a few bikes, mostly cheap ones that came from warehouse sporting goods stores. But I didn't know anything about these bikes and I hardly ever rode them outside of my parents driveway. But when I went on my mission I was required to purchase a bike, with the limited knowledge that I had previously had about bikes I obtained one from a company that solely supplied bikes to missionaries. I can still remember the first few weeks riding my new bike, my mission companion made so much fun of me for my obvious beginner habits. One of which included running next to my bike before mounting it. Over time and with practice I was able to learn many basics to riding a bike, I began to love riding my bike.

I learned how to repair my bike myself, I even rebuilt the generic bike that I originally purchased. I bought new parts, including a new frame, fork, brakes, wheels, handlebars...ok so basically I built a new bike. Every week I would strip my bike down and give my bike a complete tune-up, this actually really annoyed some companions as they didn't want to spend P-Day sitting around why I did this. I loved my bike (I took away a lot more than my love for bikes from my mission, but this blog is just about my bike), I was proud of the skills I acquired.

After my mission I took my bike with me out to school in Idaho, I rode it almost everyday (even when there was snow and ice). And then I moved to Las Vegas, my bike got locked on my back porch. It wasn't fun to try and ride while it was 115 degrees outside, I didn't know of any trails in the area to go riding, and most places I went I needed to use the car. So there my bike sat on the back porch baking in the sun, I neglected that bike. Parts began to deteriorate in the dry heat, my tires had cracks and actually melted, the seals on my shock no longer worked, and basically all the moving parts no longer moved. I tried a couple of time to rebuild the bike, but bike parts can be costly and I wasn't motivated to spend money on it since I didn't really have anywhere to ride. When the time came for us to move to Vermont the bike got left behind. It was a little bit of an accident and a little bit intentional, we packed our moving pods and I had completely forgotten about the bike. It wasn't until the pods were gone that I remembered it, I could have salvaged some of the bike and taken the working parts with me. But since the car was already packed pretty tightly I regretfully abandoned the bike. It was a sad day...

After settling into life in Vermont and seeing many other students ride their bikes and learning of many trails to ride on I began to miss my bike and the days I had spent building and tuning a bike. I decided to covertly undertake a new project to custom build myself a new bike. I regret that I had begun this process in secret, Nicole had no idea I was doing this. It was almost like I was having an affair with this new project bike. Well, eventually she found out and because she loves me, she supported me. Mistakes were made and lessons were learned, this was the first time I built a bike completely from scratch and mostly used parts off of E-Bay. I must admit that I might of been able to save money if I just went to a bike shop and bought a comparable bike, for some reason bike manufactures get the parts cheaper when they buy in bulk. And even if the part is a great price on E-Bay the shipping costs can make up for the saved money. But, there is a different sense of ownership and pride when I know that my bike is unique and hand-built by me. After some major changes, including reselling a frame and throwing out broken parts I completed my bike. Below are pictures of the the bike I built, the first one on the left is the original frame and fork, the one on the left is the updated and current build. (Not the best pictures, and although I love my bikes I don't take many pictures of them).

I loved riding my new bike, I rode it to and from school and all over town. Although school was only a mile away and town was very small, I made the most of my new bike. There were days that Nicole and I had the same schedule on campus and I opted to ride my bike instead of just riding in the car with her (it was actually faster for me to ride my bike than it was to drive). Not only did I get to casually ride for transportation but I found some great trails in the area.

The Kingdom Trails were about 45 minutes to an hour drive north of where we lived. Although there were many trails in the area where we lived, the Kingdom Trails were well worth the drive. I went as often as I could, some of the best mountain biking I have ever done. There are many reasons why I loved Vermont, and I would love to be able to move back there so I could ride these trails again. Here is a video I found on YouTube that gives you a good idea of what the trails are like.

I have yet to do much Mountain Biking here in Colorado, I know there are countless trails but many of them are outside of my familiarity. I attempted one trail during my first month living at 5,000 feet above sea level and I'll just say it was a disaster. The trail I picked was uphill for the first few miles and my lungs couldn't handle it, by the time I reached the top I was to winded to enjoy the ride back down. But now that I've adjusted to the elevation I am hoping to find some trails to ride this summer. While I was working I was able to ride my bike to work everyday, but now that I a Stay-At-Home-Dad it has a flat tire and is awaiting to be stripped down and tuned up.

Here are a few random pics:

Although I have a bike that I proudly built myself, I am itching to build another one. The biking industry is almost as rapidly changing as the technology industry. My bike is already outdated and I need a new one.

--Brian

King's New Financial Adventure

2011-04-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

I've been telling King that he needs to start pulling his weight around here and so he came up with a great idea. King has a lot of experience in this area and decided that others could benefit from this luxury. What do you think?

~ Nicole

Destination Colorado or King?

2011-04-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot of visitors recently! Could it be because we moved to the new and exciting place of Denver? Probably not, so I guess "we" haven't had a lot of visitors, King has had a lot of visitors.

In February Brian's parents, sister and nephew came out to visit King and attend his baby blessing. (My dad did make a 24 hour appearance for Kings blessing as well).

They swam at the hotel pool

It was freezing the entire time they were here but they still adventured to cute towns around Denver

They even played at many museums around town.

Later that month, my mom came to visit... King.

Just hanging out while Grandma makes frozen meals for our freezer (Ha Ha Love this Face)

Went to Garden of the Gods

And to the cute little town of Manitou Springs

In March my sister, Kaitlyn came to visit... King.

I had to work a lot so Kaitlyn spent a lot of time playing with this silly boy!

We went to the Celestial Seasonings Factory and went on their tour (we had to wear hair nets and no, King didn't actually go)

I couldn't resist posting this handsome picture (he looks like a big boy!)

People always say we look alike - do you think so?

At the Garden of the Gods (I love that place!)

We love visitors, even if those visitors are just coming to see King. We would love to welcome more visitors in the future.

~Nicole

P.S. I saw an episode of NCIS LA and there was a gangster named King on there, hmmm - I'm not sure how I feel about that.

The Art of ...

2011-04-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

... ~~Wine~~ Slurpee Tasting

I really L-O-V-E Slurpees, but I am a Slurpee Snob as Brian would say. There is an art to drinking a fine Slurpee. And I will tell you how to do it for yourself:

Step 1:
Sometimes, actually a lot of the time, you must visit multiple 7-elevens to find the perfect Slurpee. When finding the perfect Slurpee you must first look at the swirling goodness and then test it by pouring some out. This not only gets out the old melted Slurpee but you can be sure you like consistency and flavor by letting it drip on to your finger. If you don't find a top notch Slurpee just leave, don't worry there is most likely another 7-eleven less than a mile down the road.

Step 2:
Picking the right cup for your Slurpee is an important task, the smallest cup is the best because you can finish it before it starts to melt into a slushy instead of a slurpee (I bet you didn't know there is a difference, but there is!).

Step 3:
When filling the cup do not, let me repeat DO NOT pound the cup on the counter so that you can fit more in. This destroys the integrity of the Slurpee. You want your Slurpee to be light and fluffy.

Step 4:
If you have done all the steps correctly so far, you should be able to sip the slurpee through a straw and get a fluffy flavor. If you get just the jucie and are left with dull flavored ice or if it's too thick and you have to eat it with the spoon at the end of your straw then your Slurpee experience is not up to par. Even if your Slurpee is in pristine condition you will still need to utilize the Slurpee Swirl. Its a gentle twisting of the wrist that sets the fluffy flavor in motion.

With this grand knowledge you your Slurpee Tasting experience should be heightened...

... Just Kidding (well kind-of)...

Now go Enjoy a Slurpee!

~ Nicole

Crazy Coupon Lady

2011-02-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

This morning as I was eating my cereal I saw this TV Special called Extreme Couponing. I LOVED it. If I was a stay at home mom, I would for sure do this. What was even more amazing was that most of ladies on this show work full time jobs and do this, I am definitely not that talented. It is very time consuming from what I have learned.

They basically getting groceries and toiletries for free. I do coupon and search for deals. I have even visited many couponing blogs and websites, but I apparently don't fully understand how to work it. You have to be willing to buy things when they are on sale but after a while you have a storage supply of food.

I was telling Brian that this is how people should build up their food storage. Then I got to thinking that homeless shelters and other low income programs should hire these ladies to do their shopping for them. These programs probably hire someone full time to obtain donations, why not hire one of these crazy coupon ladies to do that and to do shopping with very few cash flow dollars needed.

If you took all the money you spend on groceries and toiletries and cut it in half with couponing (I'm pretty sure these ladies cut it more than in half) and put that money in savings, think of how much faster you could...pay off a school loan...or save money for a down-payment on a house...or go on a trip to England.

Ohh..the possibilities.

~ Nicole

Just Because

2011-02-17T14:13:00.001-08:00

Little Man

2011-02-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

King recently had his baby blessing and tomorrow he will be 3 months old, so I decided he needed a photo shoot in his Tux. Enjoy!

So Handsome

Cute Boys

Little Chunk

He did this all by himself - I think I peed my pants laughing

Telling me stories

Charlie (Brian's Dad), Brian, King, Alan (My Dad)

Family Photo (Missing the puppies)

~ Nicole

King and I

2010-12-21T15:02:00.000-08:00

People tell you that once you have a baby it changes your whole life. To a degree I find that is true but I would have to say that having a baby has more changed me than what my life is day to day.

I have always been very independent and was determined to have a career. Brian has wanted children for some time and I just kept delaying because I struggled with how I would balance work and children. Even when I was pregnant I struggled with how “me” seemed to be lost and now I was just “pregnant”. I avoided going out with friends or being social for most of my pregnancy because I didn’t want to talk about being pregnant. I used to tell Brian, I just can’t talk about it anymore, I’m still Nicole, I’m still a person with opinions, likes, dislikes, wants, goals and being pregnant and becoming a mom is such a small part of me. It wasn’t until the last trimester that I finally started to relax about the whole situation.

Now that I am a mom, I must admit that I like it so much more than I thought I would. Even the first day I stayed home with him all by myself, I remember telling Brian that I was scared to be alone with him. But now I love hanging out with King, I’m going to be so sad and jealous of Brian when I have to return to work and Brian gets to stay home with him. I never get tired of talking about King, now that he is actually here. Unlike my pregnancy, I love to take him out and be social with him, but my favorite time with King is when we are at home snuggling, watching him coo and wiggle. Being a mom has become such a large part of who I am. I’m still Nicole, but I’m now proud to be a mom and I have so much more respect for all other moms.

Ready to Snuggle and Nibble on those chubby cheeks

So Sad but Soo Cute

He has a little attitude already

I could just eat him up - I call this his candy cane outfit

~Nicole

John T

2010-12-19T23:35:00.000-08:00

Recently my grandpa Homer passed away (Dad's Dad). Although we did not live near them when I lived at home, multiple summers in my teenage years I went to live with him and my grandma. We also saw them on holidays and at the Homer Family Cabin. When I was older and married, my grandma and grandpa moved in with my family. Although he is our grandpa, we were closer to him than some people are with their grandparents, so the loss was hard.

King was born 2 weeks before my grandpa passed away and he was born with hair just like my grandpa’s hair. It is the same color and sticks up just the way my grandpas hair stuck up. (Come to find out my dad had the same color hair too). We were going to see my grandpa at Christmas time. My grandpa has always loved children and I have been told, that he talked about King many times the week before he passed away. Apparently he knew about King, I’m not sure if he had seen a photo of him or not, but he knew about him and said that he was a special boy.

Grandma Homer with King

King was only 3 weeks old when I took him to Idaho to my grandpa’s funeral. My dad asked me to compile a list of memories that my family and extended family had of grandpa. I was very pleased to see that so many, almost all of his grandchildren and great grandchildren came to attend his funeral. I would like to share my memories of Grandpa.

Grandpa made each person feel like they were special which I think is evident in how different the memories of Grandpa Homer are from person to person. I loved to play cribbage with Grandpa. If he caught you in Muggins (card game) his booming voice could scare you right out of your chair. When I was little we used to always ask Grandpa to do Hurly Burly Thumpety on our back and brush our hair. He would always sing Happy Birthday to us in Spanish. He squeezed fresh orange juice for grandma and me every summer day. He snored REALLY loud when he was “watching” TV (aka: sleeping) in his chair. He loved to go get a hotdog at Costco for lunch. Even though he had diabetes, he always seemed to sneak some candy or ice cream in the house to share with us (the grandkids) – Not sure how he got that past grandma. One of my very favorite things about grandpa was his laugh – he was always laughing at grandma’s silliness, he would say “for cryin out loud” and then laugh. I think his laugh was contagious – it would make me laugh too.

One of the biggest memories for all the grandchildren, especially in this holiday season was his reading of the Littlest Angel on Christmas Eve.

We love you Grandpa Homer!

Just Photos, Just Because

2010-12-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

--Brian

The Story of King Sterling Anderson

2010-11-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

On the morning of Saturday, November 13th 2010 I woke up from sleeping on the couch at around 6:00 AM (I sleep on the couch because Nicole keeps it 20 below in the bedroom). I got ready for my Saturday morning shift at work, took the dogs out, and said goodbye to Nicole. Everything seemed like it would be the start to another typical Saturday, we had plans for thrift store shopping and some mall walking when I would get off work. Well, things did not go as planned! We did not get to walk around the mall or explore any thrift stores. I was barely into my shift when Nicole started texting me, she was mentioning things about contractions and mucus plugs, nothing that seemed to serious. Then I get a text that states, "Can u call me pls". Immediately I called Nicole, it was time! I rushed home, we got things ready, and we were off to the hospital. Nicole had never had any noticeable contractions before today, so on the drive there we were talking about how we would probably just be sent home after they checked us out. When we got there we decided that we would only take in the small bag with Nicole's birthing clothes in it, we really thought we wouldn't be staying, and if we were I would have plenty of time to run back out to the car and grab the other stuff. We got to our room and our nurse, Kristy, checked us in and took a look at Nicole. Immediately she knew that we were here to stay, Nicole's contractions were only minutes apart and were coming at a steady pace. At about 10:30 AM, Nicole was dilated to over 5cm and from what Nicole was expressing, the contractions were painful. We had decided early on that this was going to be natural birth, no pain medication and no epidural. The nurse checked back every hour, Nicole was doing great! At about 1:00 PM, Nicole asked to be checked again because the pressure was more than she could bear. She was even considering giving up on the natural method and taking the epidural. Well the Nurse checked her out and we were told it was now 9 1/2cm and that we were almost to the pushing stage. Nicole decided to stick with the natural method since we were so close. Only a few minutes later (at least it felt like only a few minutes), Nicole was trying her hardest not to push and I was trying my hardest not to pass out (I hadn't eaten anything all day). The Doctor came in, they prepped the room, and broke Nicole's water. We were beginning to regret not bringing in the other bag from the car, I never had a chance to go get it! Nicole progressed so fast and I had decided early on in the pregnancy that I was going to play an active role in the delivery, I was right there with Nicole the whole way, even though I had to sit down a few times and drink some of Nicole's apple juice. I will not go into detail about the pushing stage, I witnessed things I thought I would never witness. With how difficult it was for I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it was for Nicole. She was amazing, Nicole was determined to get that baby out, and out he came!

At 4:19PM MST on Saturday, November 13, 2010 a 6lb10oz 20 inch long redheaded (nurses said strawberry blonde, and there was lots of it) baby boy was born.

I can't even begin to tell you how I felt when I first saw him, it was one of the best feelings/experiences of my life. During the pregnancy (and the delivery) Nicole would often say "Why would anyone do this more than once?", well that feeling I felt is why. I loved him before he was born and that love was bonded the second I laid eyes on him. He is now part of my life, and will be throughout eternity.

For the past 20 some hours we have been hanging out in the Mother/Baby recovery room. King is doing great, I've already changed several diapers. Nicole is doing just as good, although she is in pain and quite sore, she is recovering quickly! Although King is sleeping a lot, its tiring and busy. Every little peep, squeal, and yawn he makes I want to jump up and check on him. And then on top of that I have to run home and check on the dogs, fortunately this hospital has excellent nurses and I can take my time at home with the dogs and rest. We haven't been able to take many pictures yet, just a few with my phone (the camera was in the bag we left in the car). I have since gotten the bag with the camera from the car and it is with us now, but we still haven't been able to take any pictures. We still have plenty of time to snap some shots and as soon as we do we will share the cuteness of King with everyone! Here are few from my phone:

--Brian

I Guess Its My Turn!

2010-10-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

Nicole has been urging (nagging) me to blog about something lately. Usually I really enjoy blogging and always have something to write about, but I just haven't been in the blogging mood. I am sure this will change as an upcoming addition is made to our family and there will be more to blog about.

On this note, there are a few things that I am excited about with regards to preparations for Baby King. Nicole and I do not own a home and we are no where close to being able to afford to own a home (thank you student loans), because of this we don't really have to many options when it comes to building a nursery for the baby. We did move into a 2 bedroom apartment and have a room to dedicate as his. Today we took a few more steps towards making it more 'nursery' like.

Nicole has always been obsessed with squares, when we used to go to video rental stores she was always drawn to the video covers that had squares on them. So of course with her obsession we would have a square Cubbyhole. When we were registering for baby stuff at target we came across some cubbyhole baskets that looked really fun. This week the cubbyhole setup went on sale at Target and we decided it had to be part of the nursery. Just in case you can't tell, we are going for a Safari - Monkey theme. I always say that King is going to be my little monkey! And if you ask Nicole he is already acting like one.

The room isn't even close to being finished yet; we still have to hang his name on the wall, finishing fixing the slider chair, and wait for him to be born. Until then, this stuffed Monkey is going to hang out in Kings room!

A few weeks ago I made a video tour of our new apartment with the video camera that Nicole got me for my birthday. I posted it to my YouTube account and linked it to my Facebook page, but I know not everyone that reads our blog has seen it.

--Brian

PS - A few months ago I posted a blog about a block of wood (http://andersonandassociates.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-next-creation.html), and then I updated on it (http://andersonandassociates.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-next-creation-update.html). Well I am almost officially done with the creation. I had it roughly finished and had been using it for a month or so, but today I put some finished touches on it and it should be ready tomorrow and officially finished.

Blogging Blank or... just bored

2010-10-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

We are having blogger's block...

I'm really bored with my day to day life lately. Probably being that I can't do too much because I either get tired and have to lay down for a little bit or I get overly exhausted which causes me to get sick. I'm seriously LAME this past month of pregnancy. Working in events I have had times when I work long hours with only 2-4 hours of sleep a night for up to a week, I imagine this is what it may be like with a new baby, but on a more intense level because it doesn't end after a week. But my life is boring me to death - I will take the sleep deprivation of a baby over this bordem.

We decided to take a little stroll through the mall the other day and while we were there I decided I wanted to get my hair trimmed. The key word being "trimmed". I told her I just wanted the split ends cut off and she asked me if about an inch sounded good. I said yes. Well, she cut it much shorter - up to my shoulders. GRRR - hair grows back so it's not that big of a deal, but I just keep thinking about how annoyed I am. She also asked me about my bangs and I said, just leave them alone, I cut them myself, well when all was done she had cut them really short as well. I can't have bangs, I have curly hair. Now I really do look like a "Medusa" as Brian says. In their defense, I should really pay more attention when I'm getting my hair cut, when someone plays with my hair I get a little groggy/sleepy. I guess I'm just upset because I'm getting bigger and short hair is just going to emphasis the bigness.

Maybe Brian will get a grand idea and blog next time. I keep telling him that we all miss his blogs...

~ Nicole

Random Thoughts

2010-09-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

I keep bugging Brian to blog and he says he will but then he gets too busy so I guess you are all stuck with my random thoughts.

This past weekend we went up to Keystone, CO for a co-worker's wedding. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect. We took the pass road instead of the interstate so that we could look at all the leaves changing colors. It was very pretty but to be honest, we were not that impressed - we miss the Fall in Vermont. There is nothing like the Fall in Vermont. I told Brian he needs to take me back there one day during the Fall.

About to leave for our drive to Keystone

Photo Booth at the Wedding

I couldn't get our scanner to work, so I just took a picture of the photo booth pics (probably not the best quality) But this was a really neat idea. They had a photo booth that you would take photos in and then it would spit out two copies, one that you got to keep and one that you put in a photo album and signed it with a note to the couple if you wanted - That was their guest book.

Although it is officially Fall, it has been hot here, record breaking heat which makes me cranky just thinking about it. Since being pregnant, I'm hot all the time and I'm just ready for it to cool down. It's supposed to be 95 degrees tomorrow - Uggh!

32 Weeks

32 Weeks - Gettin' BIG!

Yesterday at church, I met a girl who is pregnant and due at the end of December. She is about the same size as me, maybe a little smaller but she is having TWINS!! That's crazy, but I guess she has been really sick and on bed rest.

And for a little laugh...

Cool Deeds - Ha ha, do you see his little smile!

~ Nicole

The Holbrooks visit Colorado

2010-09-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

My cousin Tyra, her husband (Hugh) and their two kids decided to come visit Colorado this past weekend. We had lots of fun!

We went to the Rockies game. It just happened to be against the Arizona Diamond Backs - what a coincidence (Tyra is from Arizona), but the Rockies slaughtered them!

Tyra, Hugh, Hudson and Dallas


Brian and Me

(Not the best photo, but the only one of the bunch where my eyes were open)

GO Rockies!!

J/K Tyra, I'm sure they were cheering for your team ;)

We also took a stroll down the 16th Street Mall in Denver, ate some good food and drove out to Boulder.

Next time they come to visit we will have to go to Waterworld or up to one of the many mountain towns to explore.

~ Nicole

Love Taps

2010-09-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not one of those people who likes to be pregnant. I really don't like how uncomfortable you are all the time, all the "side effects", worry and doubt that come along with it, but I guess the outcome is good though (actually the outcome is very exciting - can't wait). My sister mentioned senior-itis and I think I may have pregnancy-itis and I still have 3 months left.

(Ignore the mess, we were getting ready for a move. - about 6.5 -7mo. Pregnant)

BUT, there is one thing that I do LOVE and will miss when I'm not pregnant. That is feeling the baby kick and move. I love that feeling. It brings feelings of relief, excitement and love. If that is what being punched (ha ha) makes me feel, I can only imagine what it will be like to have him here as a little person.

~Nicole

Estes Park ... Hiking

2010-08-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided to go check out Estes Park. We brought the dogs and thought we would do some exploring, but there was so much traffic we made a change of plans. Apparently it was free admission into Rocky Mountain National Park. Instead we decided to find somewhere to hike just outside of Estes Park. We found a hike that said it was about 3 miles each way and we thought we would just go about half way. We ended up doing almost the entire hike, we hiked for 3 hours and I was exhausted! We probably would have done the entire hike if I hadn't suddenly had to pee. We went as quick as we could down the hike, but it still took us an hour. That night I slept for 7 hours straight with out waking up once or turning over, which was great, but when I woke up one whole side of my body was asleep. I've learned my lesson, I guess I need to slow down and accept the fact that I can't do everything I used to do at the speed/intensity that I used to do them (only 3 more months of this).

Here are some pictures from the hike:


There was a lot of water to cross on the hike - Bandit just splashed right through it but Buddy...

Hated It!

Taking a quick rest


Brian and the Boys

This one is funny - Bandit looks so short and chunky

~ Nicole

Ha Ha Ha Ha!

2010-08-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Just like many other people, when I get tired I can get very silly, but mostly everything is funny. I have fits of uncontrollable giggles. For some reason (maybe I'm just really tired) but pregnancy has made me really giggly, mostly at night time. The evening news always gets me laughing so hard tears are streaming down my face and Brian has suddenly transformed into the funniest comedian I've ever heard.

I'm also getting big (I've officially gained 10lbs - well that's what the scale just told me) and the other night I was in one of my laughing fits when I realized I must look a lot like Santa Clause, "He had a broad face, and a little round belly, that shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly".

~ Nicole

Goodbye Poof Pillow

2010-08-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we finally decided it was time to say Goodbye to our beloved Poof Pillow. Many people called you a bean bag or love sac but you were our Poof Pillow.

You had a long life. First you lived with my grandparents in Idaho and I'm sure took a lot of beatings from my Dad and his brothers. While in Arizona my cousins and I definitly got a lot of use out of you. Poofing you up and then jumping off the couch into your fluffy hug. You were even a comforter. After I first kissed a boy I felt very guilty because I was not 16 yet and once safely back at grandma's house I burrowed down in the poof pillow to try and forget (It was an awful kiss too - slobbery - Yuck!) Then when Brian and I got married we took ownership of you. You traveled with us to Las Vegas and then Vermont and now Colorado.

We loved to watch movies and take naps with you, but Bandit took an extra special liking to you. He thought you were his personal dog bed. As a puppy we would over exhaust Bandit and so he would pass out on you. Bandit had a little bit of an incontinence problem, but we always cleaned you up. Bandit loved to hop around on you like a bunny rabbit and roll on you after his baths.

Over the years you started to loose your poof and sag which made it harder and harder to keep you clean. I sewed up your many holes and vacuumed you over and over, but what you really needed was a protective cover which you never had. We finally decided it was time to say goodbye - I couldn't keep you clean, you were too tired to stay poofed and cuddly and we needed to make extra space in our house.

(Look at the love on Bandit's Face - he missed you.)

Brian took you out to the apartment dumpster and about a half hour later we drove by to check on you and... YOU WERE GONE! Someone still had plans for you. Hope your new home loves you as much as we did.

~ Nicole

Treasure Hunting in a Mining Town

2010-07-31T20:50:00.001-07:00

Saturday is one of the only days that Nicole and I really get to spend time together, we see each other every day but this is really the only day we get to actually do "something". Originally we were going to spend the day with some friends from church, but things didn't work out. Last minute Nicole and I were thinking of either going to Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, or Historic Georgetown. After weighing the options and debating on what would be the best way to spend our Saturday we decided upon Historic Georgetown. It ended up being the best decision because we literally found a treasure.

Our first stop was Georgetown's City Park, it had the coolest playground. Made me wish I was 6 so I could go play in it. After eating lunch in the park we headed to the Georgetown Energy Museum. It is the 2nd oldest operating hydroelectric power plant in Colorado, built in 1900 and has been running for over a 100 years!

It was originally built because it cost to much to haul coal into the mountains and it was used to power the mines and the towns street lamps. Inside the museum we were able to see some of the old electric appliances that people would have run from the electricity a power plant like this would have supplied. The tour guide operated an original luxury electric washing machine (I forgot to take a picture of this), it was really loud and vibrated heavily. They even had Nicole's dream oven/stove.

After the museum we walked the historic downtown 6th Street shops (this is where we found the treasure).

We found a delicious homemade ice cream and candy shop, I had Rainbow Sherbet and Nicole had Turtle Fudge. I also found what may be my future bike replacement, a Penny Farthing. Nicole took her favorite postcard like photo outside one of the many cool old buildings.

Although Old Buildings, Homemade Ice Cream, and a cool Bike are great treasures they are not the real treasure that we found.

After exploring Historic Georgetown we took a drive up the Guanella Pass. We were unable to drive the entire 23 mile historic byway due to time and potential weather, the pass connects the mining town of Georgetown and Grant and passes through the Pike and Arapaho National Forests. Along this route we came across some nice scenic views and close encounters;

This deer was strolling down the road when we came across it, Nicole got a few pictures right before it ducked back into the woods.

This picture was taken a few seconds after hearing the rattle of a nearby Rattlesnake (Nicole was freaking out while I was trying to get a picture of us and the mountain behind us). A Rattlesnake's rattle is definitely a scary sound, although we didn't see the snake it sounded like it was right next to us.

We did get in a good view of Georgetown and a mountain stream while driving up the Guanella Pass.

Now to reveal the treasure that we found in this old mining town! Many of you may know about Nicole's mild obsession with playing games (this obsession has become something that I really love about her). Well there is a particular game that she really likes that is no longer in production anymore, on Amazon and E-bay this game sells for up $250. Well we came across this little trinket shop and to our surprise they had 2 copies of....

We are still trying to decide what we will do with these games, obviously we are going to keep one. But the other copy could either end up in the hands of the highest bidder, mailed to family, or saved for a Christmas gift. Any thoughts on what we should do with our treasure?

-Brian

Repayment Plan

2010-07-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

It's about time for us to start repaying our student loans from Brian's Masters Degree. There are many options to choose from but none that appealing.

Then one night I was watching TV and I found the PERFECT repayment plan...

Brian needs to go on and Win!

Instead of apply for jobs, Brian will now apply for game show! In this economy, are Brian's chances of being on and winning a game show better than getting a job?!

Just Kidding - Ha ha ha!
~Nicole

Secret Agent Baby

2010-07-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

So the secrets officially out, well it hasn't really been a secret for a few weeks but we haven't really officially announced it.

First view of Secret Baby Agent 010

The Story goes:

A few months ago Nicole and I found out that peeing on a stick can be a really awesome event. A few weeks after this we had our first Doctors visit. It was confirmed, we were going to have a baby. All we knew is that this little agent was growing inside of Nicole. One of the hardest things for me to do was not tell anyone. We continued to keep it a secret for a few more weeks but the pressure lead us to tell our Moms. Slowly others began to find out but only under the circumstance that the information remained Top Secret! It was now operating undercover as a Secret Baby Agent.

No longer could Nicole keep it secret (I would post Belly Pics, but Nicole says those do not exist), she had to tell her work and Secret Baby Agents cover was blown. Although its existence was known, no official announcement was made. Now that almost everyone knows and more information has been uncovered about Secret Agent Baby, an official announcement has to be made.

Secret Agent Baby is a Boy!

Baby King/Link Flexing his Muscles for the Camera

Baby King/Links has Legs ready for Soccer, World Cup 2030!

Stretched out Legs, Crossed Ankles, Relaxing in the Womb!

--Brian

Update by Nicole: Yes - I am 20 weeks along (just barely started showing a little so really there are no belly pics) and the baby is due in mid-late November (around Thanksgiving) - the due date is more of a range than an actual date (It has been changed a couple of times now - so I guess we will see).

My Next Creation Update

2010-06-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have updated on my new project, there were a few minor delays that prevented me from working on it. First I almost cut my finger off (not while working on the project, but while doing the dishes), and then I blistered my hand while trying to hand carve the block, and then finally I broke my Dremel.

Despite all the setbacks I have been able to still work on turning the block of wood into my next creation. It's not finished yet and still has a long way to go, but here is what it looks like so far.

--Brian

Red Rocks - Colorado Version

2010-05-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

We decided that summer is here (although it did just snow last week).

Bandit was very excited to head out to go hiking.

We didn't go very far, just outside of Denver to...

The Red Rocks.

This reminded us of Vegas, we used to go hiking at the Red Rocks just outside of Las Vegas all the time. I do have to say that the Red Rocks in Vegas were much more impressive, but I still liked the Red Rocks here in Denver and we already plan to make more trips out there later this summer.

Brian at the beginning of our Hike.

We got confused on where to park so that we could hike the Trading Post Trail loop and we parked at the Amphitheatre. Which turned out to be pretty neat - they were having a free drum show.

I thought this was a good picture of Buddy - look at that huge grin!

The pups wanted to take a little break in the shade.

Almost to the end.

Buddy and Bandit were pooped - they need to get more exercise. When we hit the parking lot Buddy decided he wanted to be carried, but I'm mean and I just dragged him to the car.

~ Nicole

Thoughts

2010-05-04T18:02:00.001-07:00

Today I got frustrated at work. There was nothing to do but fume to myself that I feel I am misunderstood. After I got home and had some time to think, I decided that some times I get caught up in the little things in life and then every little thing seems so dramatic and frustrating. But in reality, I'm glad to have a job, I'm glad to have a job that I enjoy, I'm glad to have a busy schedule and I'm glad that I'm healthy. So my thought is that I've decided to be thankful instead of frustrated, slow down and enjoy what I'm doing.

~Nicole

P.S. - Brian cut his finger pretty bad while doing the dishes the same day he posted about his new project, so he had to take a break from that Project. Hopefully soon he will be able to get back to it, but I'm not allowed to give any clues so you will have to check back to find out what it is going to be.

P.S.S. - Another thought - this blog needed a cute puppy picture.

My Next Creation

2010-04-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

I am starting a new project with my spare time, can you guess what it will be?

--Brian

Don't Let the Man get you Down

2010-02-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

I was recently in my first car accident (as the driver) - I did make it 10 years of driving with out ever having an accident, if you can even call it that. I was backing out and saw a women flying around the corner. I stopped but she did not and she slid in to the side of my car. It was more of a fender bender but with her fender and the side of my car. The air bags did not go off, I was stopped and even if she was speeding through the parking lot, she couldn't have been going more than 35 mph max.

We decided to report it to insurance because the other party wanted us to just write her a check for her damages. This is when I knew we were in trouble.
Brian got in a car accident a couple of years ago and the insurance company refused to pay when they totaled out his car and the accident had a police report indicating the accident was not his fault. We lucked out, Brian worked for a personal injury attorney who helped us out for free.

This time we are not so lucky. The insurance company recorded my statement and headed out to look at my car when the other party called to report injury. REALLY!?!

So we had to schedule a time to come in to have the car looked at, then they had to look at the other party's car, take pictures of the scene and determine who's fault it was. In the state of Colorado, if an accident is in the parking lot, they don't necessarily determine who's fault it was but they give a percentage of fault to each driver in the accident. The preliminary outcome was that it was 100% her fault, but because she was claiming it was our fault and she was claiming her children were injured, the adjuster predicted it would be 10% our fault, 90% her fault.

Brian got the call today that our insurance decided to go with 50/50 fault. Brain asked why and they said because with the "injury" this is what they think her insurance company will accept. I have not had a chance to talk to them, but I am not happy with this. This means that we pay for our car damages and she pays for her car damages, I'm OK with that, but since she is claiming passengers in the car were injured, our insurance has to pay 50% of those medical bills. We don't have to pay a penny of that, but our rates will go up.

I know all the jokes about personal injury attorney's and being ambulance chaser but really insurance companies are just out for themselves and unless you threaten legal action nothing gets done.

50/50 will please the other insurance company and being what this accident was (basically nothing!) the insurance company knows that the medical bills will be minimal, our damages are way below our deductible, so they get to do minimal work, pay a couple buck to make much more money by jacking up our insurance rate.

If we would have gotten a police report, then fault would have been determined by the police station (which is located right next door to the complex, by the way), but even if we called the police, which we didn't, they would not have come to fill out a Police report because it was in a parking lot. So there was nothing more we could have done.

I have to get my thoughts together and then our insurance company will hear from me. I am usually pretty successful at getting bills reversed or explaining my issues, I even had a caterer send me apologetic flowers once - but I'm not feeling very confident about this phone call, because although they are a service agency and they do have competition, we have no choice - we have to have car insurance.

I just have to remind myself "Don't let the Man get you Down".

~ Nicole

Home Alone

2010-02-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

Being home all day has its pros and cons, some of which are both a pro and con. One of these is that I have lots of time to watch movies throughout the day (some days I watch 3-4 movies). I'm grateful for the public library and their free movie rentals, I check out almost a dozen a week. Please don't think of me as a lazy couch potato that only watches movies, the movies I usually watch are just put in as background noise while I am applying for jobs (although I have watched some interesting and good movies). Well the other day I was watching/listening to Mr.Deeds (sometimes we call Bandit Mr. Deeds), but there was a scene in the movie that caught my attention and I thought it was a little ironic given my current situation.

--Brian

LOVE

2010-02-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

Since it is Valentines day, I thought I should do a post about LOVE.

I have always loved the 50's, which is odd, because I am completely opposite, personality wise, in the way of the people in the fifties.

But...

I love their music. I had their music playing at my wedding reception.

I love their kitchen and decorating style. I have tried to decorate my kitchen in 50's decor (It's a slow process). I would love to find a company that makes a 50's looking fridges but with the current technology and put it in my kitchen (when I own a kitchen, that is).

I also love their clothes. I browse vintage clothes and stores online all the time. Sometime I even find a local vintage store to rummage around. I love the clothing of the women in Mad Men and A Revolutionary Road.

One day, when I can afford it, I will buy myself an absolutely lovely vintage dress and wear it out somewhere nice (Don't I sound so 50's).

~ Nicole

My Turn

2010-02-09T22:48:00.001-08:00

Nicole has been doing a good job these past few days at maintaining our blog with her postings. Every evening she asks me "Are you going to do the blog tonight?", I always respond with something along the lines of "Sure, I'll write something" but I never do. So to keep the reputation that Nicole gave me in her Thursday Feb. 4 posting (http://andersonandassociates.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-was-thinking.html) I am posting a blog tonight. Its not that I don't want to blog, I just haven't felt like I've had anything worth writing about. I am going to try harder to come up with something to write, but as for now I want to keep it simple and entertaining.

I wanted to post a video from The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien called Puppies Dressed as Cats.

I was unable to locate this video due to NBC's copyright policies, I was unable to find any video clips of the Conan O'Brien show anywhere on the internet. So instead of Puppies Dressed as Cats I decided that since the Super Bowl this past weekend I would post a video from the Puppy Bowl.

Not to take away from the cuteness of the Puppy Bowl I thought I would add a video of my own puppies wrestling.

These videos were taken about 2-3 weeks after Bandit joined our family, the video quality may seem poor and that's because it is. I used the video function from a camera we had at the time, which apparently does not take videos well. This may be the reason we don't have any home videos... (hint...hint...to anyone who wants to purchase us a HD Camcorder)

--Brian

Jaded

2010-02-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

There is a road here in Colorado that we drive down a lot and every time we drive down this road I swear that I see the same car driving with us down the road. The car has a Coexists bumper sticker on it.
Politics is always a heated topic, especially when democrats and republicans are talking politics together. So lately I have been telling Brian that I do not belong in either party, instead I would like to just be a part of the Coexist movement.

Now, I have not done my research on what exactly this Coexist Lifestyle movement is, but I do know what the word Coexist means, "To live in peace with another or others despite differences, especially as a matter of policy". I really liked that, we should all be a little more tolerant of one another.

Then today at church we had a lesson on our self worth and how we judge ourselves and others. And I got to thinking about my thoughts on Coexist. Why is it so easy for me to defend gay and lesbian rights or only be upset for a minute when someone in line in front of me is rude, I can be so tolerant of others, but when it comes to my own family and friends, I am not. And shouldn't I be the most forgiving and tolerant of them, they are the ones who I interact with more often and who are really important. Why do I hold on to things and read into things that have been said or done that may or may not have had another meaning. Really, its time for me to not be so judgmental. And if I don't judge others, then I can't compare myself to others which is never a very good feeling either.

In high school, I once said, I don't like "insert name here" and a friend of mine said, "If you don't like them, then I don't like them either - they must really be bad, because you like everyone". I want to get back to that way of living. I want to like everyone and see the good in people again.

So I have decided that I want to do more than coexist, I want to get to know my family better, love and be happy for them when they succeed. I want to like people first and I want them to like me too. I guess I'm not going to join the Coexist Lifestyle movement, it's too passive. I want to do more than just exist with others, I want to interact with others, but respectfully.

~Nicole

I was thinking...

2010-02-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

I drive 20 - 30 minutes, depending upon traffic, every day, each way to and from work. I read (listen) to books to pass the time. I find that I actually look forward to the drive, or rather to getting back to my books. But with all that time I have a lot of time to think and I have been thinking lately that I am one lucky girl!

...Lucky to have Brian as my husband. He is the best for me.

He gets up with me to take care of the dogs, so that I can sleep in a little bit longer than I would be able to if I had to take care of the dogs in the morning.

When I'm running late, he makes my lunch for me.

He supports me in anything that I want to do, even if it means that it will limit the amount of time we have to hang out together - like running after work.

We disagree all the time, but five minutes later we are over it.

He lets me be independent, because when someone gives me rules I have the urge to break them.

Whenever he runs errands, he always comes back with a surprise for me (usually some chocolate).

Although he never cleans the toilet, he almost always does the dishes.

When I forget to take the laundry out of the dryer and he knows that I plan to wear something in the dryer, he turns it on while I'm in the shower so that when i get out I will have warm clothes to wear.

He knows that I'm bad about updating my computer or cleaning out the fan, so when I'm at work he will do it for me.

When he makes dinner it is not a special treat, because we share household responsibilities.

He makes me laugh - "I'm too good looking to get a job"

He puts up with my attitude - I think it just bounces off of him.

I LOVE Him!

~Nicole

Sugar Sugar

2010-02-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas I noticed that when I stepped on the scale, the number staring back at me was not what I thought it should be, so I tried to step up my work outs. I have been really good about running 4 times a week 3-5 miles each time. I also started doing some strength training and trying to eat better - more vegetables, less processed food.

After a few weeks there was no change, still the same. I tried to tell myself that muscle is heavier than fat, but I wasn't fooling anyone. So I decided to hit up google for some answers. I typed in "rapid weight gain" apparently there are real conditions with this symptom - that are serious! I knew that wasn't the answer.

I continued to work out and watch the scale not change. One day at work I came up with the answer (maybe I should clue google in on this one) it is called, the holiday season and my weakness for cookies!

So (as I'm munching on a brownie) I am going to try to cut back my sugar intake for the next week. Starting Now!

It's going to be very hard - but I will report back.

~ Nicole

An Ode to Cereal

2010-02-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

I love cereal

All kinds of cereal

Right now I really could not live without Captain Crunch – Crunch Berries.

But I have had a love affair with Lucky Charms, Wheaties and I cannot forget Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

My mom once said, I might die of starvation if cereal didn’t exist

My mouth often rebels to the crunchiness of the cereal – Ouch!

A cereal sale might be my “Fire Sale”!

YUM

~ Nicole

Buddy's Holiday

2010-01-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

The festivities began with Thanksgiving

It sure was delicious!

Nicole's sister, KD came to visit. She helped Nicole with the ward Christmas party, went to Boulder and ate LOTS of goodies.

I'm trying to convince Nicole to share some of Brian's Carmel Popcorn.

Christmas came upon us very fast...

Bandit was a little overwhelmed,

but I enjoyed the holidays by jamming out to some holiday carols.

My brother and I were invited to a Puppy Holiday Party!

Don't we look GOOD!

Brian's SOOO happy to get some Chic-Fil-A for Christmas.

Do you think he will share?

My excitement got the best of me - crAZy Eyes!

After New Year' Eve, Brian took down the Christmas decorations and got ready for the new year.

Cowardly Lion Bandit was scared for 2010,
but after the New Year celebration, he is excited for the Anderson Adventures to come.

~ Buddy

A funny thing happend on the way to the ...

2009-11-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

Today we went out thrift store hopping, looking for treasures. Whenever we go to thrift stores or Walmart for that matter, we happen across parents who have lost all patience with their children, but today was especially filled with odd parental discipline.

During one instance I couldn't get away fast enough before I started to giggle. A mother must have finally found her daughter in the store after searching for her for a while and was telling her daughter very calmly that the daughter can't leave the mother's side and that she had to stay with her at all times and then the mother says, "You can't wander around the store like a (bleeping) monkey." I looked at Brian and he looked at me and we both started laughing right away. That was very strange for the women to say to her young daughter and not exactly what I thought was appropriate.

The next instance a boy was trying to show him mom something he picked up from a shelf, but she wouldn't respond. He kept saying Mom, Mom, Mom and finally he tugged on her coat. She yelled as loud as she could, "Don't pull on my jacket, that is so rude!" I think I probably jumped a foot in the air and my eyes bugged out of my head it was so loud. I wanted to tell the lady, No, what is rude is that you are a grown woman screaming at your child in a public store.

I don't have kids, so I haven't fully experienced the exhaustion of shopping with children yet, but I hope that one day when I do have kids of my own, I can keep the obscenities out of conversation and leave the tantrums to the kids.

~ Nicole

Missing My Sheltons

2009-11-07T20:11:00.000-08:00

Today we decided to get out of the house and enjoy the gorgeous weather, it has been about 70 degrees and sunny for the past week.

We loaded up the dogs in the car and took off for Boulder to do some hiking at a place we noticed when we were out exploring a month or so ago.

The hike reminded me of hikes we took at Mt. Charleston in Nevada. They start out a little desert-dusty and as you hike up higher it starts to get more rocky and tree covered.

The view from the top

At the top of the hike there were a lot of colorful birds, but Bandit wouldn't stop howling at every thing and everyone that moved, so this was the best shot I could get of one of the birds before they all flew away.

As we were driving home I told Brian, I miss the Sheltons. Something about the drive, the weather and the hike reminded me of our adventures with the Sheltons in Vegas.

(At Death Valley in January 2007 with the Sheltons)

Some of my favorite memories of Las Vegas include the Sheltons:
- Watching documentaries
- Hiking and walks with the dogs
- Discussing Politics
- Slurpee runs
- American Dreams!
- Going to the Movies
- The Dog Park

(Visiting the Sheltons in Texas - August 2008)

I wish we lived closer and we could come visit more often!

~ Nicole

Choices

2009-11-03T11:49:00.001-08:00

I recently went to Las Vegas to work for a week. An old boss of mine called and asked if I would come to Vegas and help out with transportation for a large convention that was in town. I jumped at the chance to go back to Vegas. I must admit that I still miss Las Vegas more than I miss Vermont. I think I had a love/hate relationship with Vermont, but that is a whole other post. I worked just over 75 hours in 5 days. I was exhausted but I found time to also see some old friends. That was by far the best part of the trip, although I did win 40 bucks with only a dollar in the penny slots. Yes, I cashed out right away - I took my money and ran.

I have also been working about 5-10 hours per week for VLS, mostly answering questions for my replacement and doing some web editing. I have to say that I feel really blessed to be able to have some work although we chose to move to Colorado.

This is not the first time that I have been unemployed. In fact this is the 4th time I have had to job hunt since I graduated from college only a couple years ago. There was the first time when I graduated and had to find a full time job to replace my part time/college job. I was laid off by my next job and then I quit a job to move to Vermont so that Brian could get more education. Each time the job hunt is a roller coaster ride of emotions the whole time. Some days I feel really confident and I know that I will find something and then some days I don't want to get out of bed and I feel doomed to be unemployed forever! (I know, it can be very dramatic when sad).

This time on the job hunt is no different - still a roller coaster, but there are a few things that are different. One, the economy is much worse than before, so I expected that my normal 3 month period to find a job would grow longer - I prepared myself for that. But what I didn't expect or prepare myself for was the constant pity and disappointment from family and friends. Despite what people may think, I did not chose to move to Colorado because I wanted to live here or that I just picked a place on a map. Do I want to live here, Yes. But there was an educated decision made, whether to stay in Vermont or should we move, where should we move to or what exactly should we do once Brian graduated. This was not an easy decision, like deciding what to eat for dinner. We thought we had the decision made many times before we came to our final decision. There were many Pro and Con lists made, fasting and praying, going to the temple, crying and listening to everyone's advice, but ultimately it was OUR decision, we had to make it. Would we have made this decision if we had children or owned a home, probably not, but we don't have any of those things. There is nothing more crushing than getting a phone call/email/letter from family or friends laced with negativity.

We are finding many jobs to apply for, some here in Colorado and some other places, we are not limiting ourselves. We are applying for jobs and getting interviews.

We are making progress, so please don't pity us.

~ Nicole

Instructional Blog on How to Enjoy your Halloween Weekend

2009-10-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

Without jobs life has been a little slow and boring at times, but with Halloween and holidays coming around the corner there has a been a little excitement in our jobless lives.

This past week we got our first major snow storm of the season. Snow storms get me excited! The night the snow started falling was like the night before Christmas, I just couldnt sleep. I couldn't wait until the morning to wake up to a fresh blanket of snow. It started snowing Tuesday night, all day Wednesday, and finally let up today. During this time we got well over a foot of snow, some places more and some places less. Buddy and Bandit love the snow (almost as much as I do), they were like little kids playing in it. We couldn't get them to make snow angels or build snowmen, but they did enjoy prancing through it and doing their business in it.

With Halloween coming in a few days we couldn't pass up the tradition to carve pumpkins. There are several important steps to carving pumpkins, read and learn!

Find a good pumpkin patch to pick your pumpkin!

Clean out all the good stuff, eat it if you want but we didn't.

Get someone with a good eye for design to decide what to carve.

Light up your pumpkin creations with some candles and you got your Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns.

Turn off the lights to see how scary they can be!

Just don't let your excellent pumpkin carving skills go to your head.

Halloween is not just about carving pumpkins, its also about satisfying your sweet tooth. If you remember from a previous blog Nicole mentioned one of her new favorite treats. Doc Popcorn's Carmel Popcorn. I have to say the popcorn is really good, when we get it we eat it fast. The popcorn is not expensive and its also not cheap, and besides the closest place to buy it is not just around the corner. Since we are living on a limited budget I wanted to find a cheaper way to have this delicious treat more often. I will show you how I made this boring bowl of popcorn....

...into this...

...and then into this...

The first step that I took was to find a simple recipe on the internet, I googled "Caramel Popcorn Recipes" and after searching through a couple of different ways I decided upon this one. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Caramel-Popcorn/Detail.aspx
Since dogs don't/shouldn't eat Caramel Popcorn I cut the recipe in half.

Once you have the recipe (you can choose a different one if you want, but it might not taste as good as this one), you need to get your workstation set up.

Once you have popped the right amount of popcorn you need to prepare the special sauce.

And then pour it evenly over the popcorn and mix it around.

Make sure that you don't just follow my directions but follow all the directions in the recipe. If you do this then you should come out with a delicious bowl of Caramel Popcorn.

Enjoy! I know we did, just don't eat it all in one sitting!

Happy Halloween!

Food

2009-10-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to eat better lately and we have found that buying fresh foods is actually cheaper than purchasing processed foods. We have tried a bunch of new recipes; Eggplant caserrole, vegitable and rice stuffed peppers, vegetable pizza, roasted vegitable fettuccine alfredo (actually it was spaghetti noodles) and twice baked zucchini. The recipe to try tonight is eggplant burgers on roasted french bread. I'll let you know if it is good.

But what I'm really excited about is...

I have discovered a new Favorite Treat. We were window shopping in the mall one evening and there was a kiosk called Doc Popcorn. They sell all different flavors of popcorn. It was only a couple of bucks for a huge bag of a flavor of my choice.I choose Carmel Popcorn. MMMM! It was delicious. It lasted us a couple days, but I was hooked. I try to convince Brian that it should be part of our new "Healthy" eating and we need to buy more of it, after all it is called DOC popcorn. It is popped daily so it doesn't have any preservatives in it. It is also made with whole grain kernels and all natural butter, so it is a healthier snack, but Brian isn't convinced.

You should find out if you have a Doc Popcorn near you and taste some for yourself!

~Nicole

Besides the Search

2009-10-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

We spend 90% of our time at our apartment, but the other 10% we try to get out and discover what we can find to do that is free in Colorado.

One of our first weekends here, we went to one of the Art districts in Denver and participated in a free scavenger hunt, we knew we wouldn't win, so we brought the dogs along and just played to have fun. We listened to live music and walked around the local art fair. To our surprise we DID win - free massages. I have never had a massage before and found it to be painful, but Brian enjoyed his.
Here Brian is hanging out on the lawn of the free concert. It looks like we are all by ourselves in the park, but it was packed, we just happened to be in the corner of the park and got just the right camera angle for the picture.

We went to Vail for Brian's birthday weekend with Mike and Paige. It was fun to walk around the quaint little tourist towns and visit with Paige and Mike. We also had a birthday dinner at a cute restaurant in Vail, we sat on the patio and ate the best trout - YUM!

Another weekend we decided to go hiking. We had planned the hike and downloaded some Geocaches to our GPS and off we went. We were almost there and found out that the road that lead up the mountain was closed due to construction. I guess the road had washed out earlier in the year and they were fixing it. We quickly picked another hike, but weren't able to find where it was supposed to start and end. After wandering around in the woods for a while we decided to just explore the mountain in our car. We happened to come upon this trail to go up to Gray's Peak. This is what our hiking guide books call a "Fourteener" because it is above 14,000 feet. I could only hike about a mile in to the hike and then begged Brian to turn around.

Brian seemed to do fine, but I actually had a lot of problems adjusting to the high altitude. I had an ear infection a couple weeks before we got here. Although it had cleared up, my ear was really hurting me. I went to the doctors and they told me my ear seemed fine. I was also getting headaches and migraines. I don't normally get headaches. I tried to run for exercise and would die at about the 1 mile mark. It took me a good month to finally adjust. No more head aches and my ear is fine now. I'm not back to my 4 miles yet, but close - 3 miles. Almost there.

We would love to live in the city of Boulder, so one day we decided to go exploring. They were having a Farmers Market, so we wandered that for a while and then we followed some of the trails around the University.
We have also been going to the local library a lot. Las Vegas had the BEST library system and Vermont's library system was pretty much non-existent. So the first time we went to the library I checked out 20 items! I got a little crazy, but we probably go to the library twice a week. We check out a lot of movies, books and cds.

We also like to go to the local thrift stores and look for "Treasures". We find all sorts of fun things for only a buck or two. For my side of the family, my mom had the idea that we only get each other gifts from the thrift store for Christmas. This will take some time to find that many treasures, but it will be fun, cheaper and eco-friendly. I miss the Chelsea Station thrift shop in VT, we found some really good things there, but ARC is my new favorite thrift store here in Colorado.

We live across the street from a nice little park and take the dogs on a lot of walks. We have also been trying new recipes. Mostly vegetarian, we are trying to eat healthier and the price of vegetables are nice on our budget.

~ Nicole

** I couldn't help but share that it snowed the other day here. It has melted now and almost warmed back up to 60 degrees, but Brian was like a little kid on Christmas when we woke up and saw snow outside.

The Search Goes On...

2009-10-02T18:08:00.001-07:00

I haven't been blogging much recently and I wish I had a good excuse. I wish I could say that I am just to tired when I get home or that I have so many other responsibilities that I can't find the time. But, those are only wishes. The truth is that I have more time than I have ever had right now. Nicole and I made the crazy (as some people think) decision to move to Colorado without any employment lined up, we have been here about a month and are still searching. I was beginning to get worried, a month without a job seemed like such a long time. I started to feel like I have been exhausting all my resources to search for jobs, I have been checking all the usual search databases up to twice a day and applying to everything I came across, even positions I would never take if offered and some that I would love to take but I would never be offered. We decided we should do everything possible to help with the cause, we went to a pointless job fair and then these past two days we went to a free two day long (from 8:30-4:30 Thursday and Friday) Career Workshop for Professionals. I was really reluctant to go at first, I had taken classes similar to this in college and used Vermont Law Schools Career center to its fullest extent (wasn't much) and I never learned anything I didn't already know. I decided to go anyway, besides it couldn't hurt and since I was "so busy" what else was I going to do. The workshop was hosted by the LDS Employment Center here in Denver, this center has a unique workshop. Its actually the only LDS Employment Center with a workshop like this in the Nation. They gave us great tips on how to find a job, the video below is a great example of the tactics they taught us on how to land a job.

Ok, so that's a funny video and it would be great if that would really work and if I could find a way to pull something like that off. But that is not what they taught us. Of all the advice, classes, and fairs that I have ever received on searching for employment, this workshop topped them all. I wish that I could go back take all the resumes and applications that I had previously submitted prior to this back and resubmit them with the improvements I have gained. I have been doing it all wrong! This does not mean that now that I have an improved hunting method a job will magically fall into my lap. The process takes time, we were told the average time is about 12 weeks. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. One important tip that we were given is that networking is the very important, let everyone you know what your experience is and what you are searching for. Ask them if they know anyone who knows anyone that may know someone who has a connection related to your line of work.

My first step in this process is to announce on my blog what I am looking for, so if any of my (very few I am sure) readers know someone I could talk to, please let me know.

Here is my, Brian's, professional summary:

I have recently obtained a Master's degree of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School with my areas of interest being Sustainable Development, Energy Efficiency, and Natural Resource Protection. I had the opportunity to work on several class projects that portrayed these areas of interest, one of which was a campaign focused on improving Wal-Mart's Sustainability and Environmental Impact. Prior to obtaining a Master's degree, I earned a Bachelors in Journalism and Media Studies with my area of focus in Advertising and Public Relations. During this time I also had the opportunity to work on several successful advertising and public relations campaigns. As a recent graduate preparing to start my career I am looking to incorporate both my Environmental and Advertising/PR degrees into the field of Environmental Consulting and Management.

If you can, or know anyone who can give me advice or connections in aiding my search for a career, please let me know.

Thanks!
-Brian

Quick Update

2009-08-31T19:20:00.000-07:00

So we haven't updated our blog in a while and we apologize for those of you who are desperate to know what we have been doing. These past few weeks have been a little crazy and adventurous. Our last week in Vermont we spent living in a basement apartment out of our suitcases, after that we vacationed at my parents house for 2 weeks and then we drove to my sisters house in Indiana then across the country to Colorado. We have been in Denver for a week, the first part of which we lived in a hotel. We now have our new apartment, but we are still living out of our suitcases. We don't have all the luxuries of everyday life yet, no internet (this is being updated at the business center of our apartment complex) and no stuff. Our moving truck doesn't get here until the end of this week and our internet isn't going to be set up until then either. Once everything arrives and our home is becomes a home we will update more often (I promise). Until then, sit tight and stay tuned because we have some stories to tell!

And enjoy this old photo...can you guess which TMNT I am?

--Brian

Movin On

2009-07-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

We have decided to move from Vermont. We will be making our way back out west, to Colorado. Brian decided for many different reasons, that I will let him blog about later, that he does not want to be a lawyer any more. I'm really glad he figured that out before we got too far in to the schooling and debt (I'm secretly glad - I'm tired of being in school).

But don't worry, this year was not wasted, Brian was able to get his Masters Degree. He got his Masters in Environmental Law and Policy.

Some things that I will miss about Vermont is all the traveling we got to do while we were here. The New England area is so close together and there is so much to see and explore. I will also miss all the farmers markets and produce stands, my sister in Boston and the cremes - 24 flavors of soft serve ice cream. I think there is always a lot to miss from every place you leave, but there is also a lot you are ready to change.

But the worst part of moving is always the friends you have to leave and usually the best plans to see each other never work out, life gets in the way. So much time is spent cultivating such fun relationships and its always hard to start over, what if you never find that group of people or those friends that you "click" with, that you like to surround yourself with? And even if you do find new friends, they will never be the same as the ones you had to leave. Yes, that is the worst part and even with all the moving I have done, it never gets easier.

~ Nicole

My Montana & Oregon Vacation

2009-07-15T19:50:00.001-07:00

** Disclamer: very long blog ahead with lots of photos**

I took two weeks off from work back in May and June. Due to internet problems I never got around to posting about my adventures.

My first stop was in Montana. I went to visit a best friend from high school and support her in her marriage.

Me and Paige after I arrived in Montana.

It was a naughty or nice Bachelorette Party - lots of laughs.

Myself, Paige, Paige's Fiance and Friend at the Grooms Dinner

Paige and her mom at the grooms dinner

I did have a ton to blog about when I came home, but now that it has been a month and a half, I can't really remember all I wanted to say so here are a bunch of wedding photos:

Paige and Mike with their best man and maid of honor (me)

The Brides Maids

Me and the groom (Mike)

Wedding Party Photo

Me and Paige

The Bride and her Brides Maids

The Bride and Groom

Making it legal - had to sign as a witness to their wedding.

No wedding is complete with out the "Y-M-C-A"!

Giving my speech at the wedding reception - I was so nervous.

I had not seen Paige for 4 years, I think the last time I saw her was 6 months after I got married. It was fun to catch up, we were back to our high school adventurous ways. I'm glad I was able to be there for her wedding and I wish her and Mike many fun adventures during their new life together.

Next I flew to Oregon to see another friend get married and to visit my family.

Paige's wedding was the night before Christy's wedding. I got home from Paige's wedding at midnight/1AM and then had to get up and go to the airport for a 6 AM flight. Once I arrived in Oregon, I went straight to Christy's wedding venue to help set up, my mom and I were supposed to do the decor. I was exhausted by the time Christy's wedding was over.

Me, Christy and Marvis

Christy was such a beautiful bride!

Visiting my family was a lot of fun. I ate a lot of sushi, played games, went to the beach and played frisbee golf.

My mom also took me to North West Fit Right and they recorded me running, barefoot on a treadmill, then they played it back and showed me what type of shoes I should be wearing for the way I run. My mom loaded me with all sorts of running clothes, shoes and accessories. Thanks Mom! You spoil me! (By the way - my running is going well. I have still only been running 4 miles every other day, but on my off days, I do my kickboxing work out DVD. I have also started taking the dogs on my runs, one at a time, so that they can get in shape too)

It was windy at the beach so we took some "Flying" photos

My Mom

My Dad and I alway wanted to be on the show "Amazing Race", we finally got a chance to participate in a smaller version of the race. We were a team in the Great Urban Race. It is a smaller version of the Amazing Race. We were given puzzles that we had to solve to get to the next clue and tasks that we had to complete.

My Dad and I as we left the house to head to Portland. Our team name was "I've Made A Huge Mistake" - anyone who has seen Arrested Development will know that saying immediatly.

When we arrived in Portland, the first thing I saw was NEVER NUDES! I was so excited, we had to get a photo with them as the Arrested Development crew.

Task: Find your way to this fountain and take a photo with 10 people who are flexing their muscles. We got lucky and saw a group of kids who were trying to raise money for a charitable cause.

Task: Find your way to this Office Max and purchase certain items and then donate them to the local school district. Yes, sometimes the game can get this intense...

Task: Find this statue and get a photo of the salmon while making a fishy face.

Task: (I must say this was an impossible task.) Find someone wearing a cowboy hat or Converse All Star Chuck Taylor shoes. I didn't even know what that shoe looked like so I was looking for a cowboy hat. We were running (literally running to our next task) through an art fair and my dad spotted this guy wearing these shoes. It was the best accomplishment of the race - in my opinion.

We finally made it to the end! - Whoohoo!

I couldn't resist getting a photo with the stars of Juno (not the real celebrities).

I had such a blast that I must admit I didn't want to come back to Vermont and go back to work. But I think most people feel that way after vacation.

~Nicole

How I fell in love with Montreal

2009-07-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a trip to Montreal before we leave the East Coast. With our passports and our guide book in hand we headed only three hours north and we were there!

If anyone has had the pleasure ;) to go sight seeing or traveling with me, I always have a plan and I pack the days full . I want to see and do everything - We covered the whole guide book, of course we didn't go inside of everything we saw, but we did trek all over Montreal.

Brian loved these fake flowers

Brian at the ... (Brian already packed up the guide book and I can't remember)

Me in the quaint streets of the waterfront area of Montreal

We found the best little shopping alleyways. We would go down one small alley and then turn down another small alley, with step all in between and we found these fun little shops.

I couldn't resist buying something from these shops. They wooed me into opening my wallet.

Montreal has many festivals. In fact I doubt you could go to Montreal with out running in to at least one of them. While we were there they were setting up for the Jazz festival, we saw the Fireworks Competition and I thoroughly enjoyed Main Madness.

They close Main street in Montreal and all the shops bring out their sale racks and put up tents, there are lots of food vendors and other fair type activities. I even got cotton candy!

We didn't just walk the streets of Montreal, we rode the subway to an island and found that it was infested with little Bandits... No, I'm not sure what these little guys are, but they were everywhere. I think this one has been to the vending machine.

This is the Biosphere and a Solar House, Brian really liked this.

We did a lot of walking around the island on little trails and looking at the great view.

We also rented Bikes. There are bike stands all over Montreal and you just swipe your debit card, grab a bike and then return it to the next bike stand. We couldn't read what it said in French so we just kept pressing buttons until a bike came out. It was a little risky, not knowing what we were getting ourselves in to, but very exciting. We took a nice 30 minute ride along the board walk.

We ate dinner and then searched for an ice cream shop (I have a weakness for ice cream). It was so beautiful at the water front at night.

We also saw a light show at the Notre-Dame Brasilica. I really enjoyed it, but Brian and most of the written reviews were disappointed in it.

We went to an area of town that is know for shopping in the day time but racy night time activities. It was a very weird mix of signs that said Gucci and then this a couple stores down.

The underground city had a lot of entrances around this area of town. We went down to that "city" but it really just a very large glorified mall. Not impressed and spent a whole 10 minutes down there.

Opps! Brian tipped over that pottery.

One of our days there, we ate lunch at a little bistro and listened to live street music.

Brian really loved the following items. There were a couple of things out of place.
Can you see them?

I loved Montreal, it was very romantic!

~Nicole

Bad Internet

2009-06-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

Our internet went down shortly after I returned from my vacation. It has been down for a while now. Technicians only come to this area of town on Tuesdays and Thursdays so we have to wait for our turn a lot. Tomorrow will be the third time a technician will come out to "fix" the internet. Each time they "fix" the internet and it works for a couple of hours and then stops working again, so then we have to wait another week for someone new to come out and declare his false victory. The customer service rep on the phone literally said to me, "Well, third times a charm, right! ha ha" - not funny to me.

I have a lot to blog about, my trip to Montana and Oregon, MY Amazing Race and our trip to Montreal. I have to come up to the school to get online so I don't have enough time to blog but hopefully tomorrow it will be fixed for good.

~Nicole

All Alone

2009-06-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks I had been all alone at the house, just me and the dogs. Nicole took a two week vacation while attending two of her best friends weddings. Before Nicole left I had mixed feelings about living two weeks without her, I was excited that I would have tons of free time to do pointless things, like play video games.

I was also concerned that I would be extremely bored and lazy. This picture of Buddy explains how I felt most of the time.

Aside from spending my time on school stuff I had lots of free time to get things done. However I did not get as much video game playing in, I only got through a couple levels of the new 007 game I got for the Wii. I always enjoy creating things and experimenting, Nicole usually gives me a hard time about wanting to build things myself. So with her being gone for the two weeks I gave a few things a try. The project that i spent most of my time on was a Night Stand. Previously Nicole and I had a cardboard box with a scrap piece of wood on top. I started this project with a trip to Home Depot and came home with a several pieces of wood, a hand jigsaw, and some of useful supplies. I really didnt have a plan or layout for how I was going to do this but I laid it out in my mind and began to measure and cut the wood. This is what I came up with.

At first I was going to just leave it like this, but I still had some time to kill before Nicole would be coming home. And in the end it looks like this:

The Night Stand was not my only project but it was the main one that I worked on while I was here by myself. I also converted a broken TV Dinner Table and an old pillow into a lap desk, worked on my my mountain bike, and attempted some food creations. One edible project that I cooked up was one that I had never attempted before but was always interested in trying.

Bacon wrapped Chicken!

This came out better then I expected and at the same time not as good as I had hoped. I thought the bacon would never stay wrapped around the chicken, but it did. I also expected the chicken to be rich in bacon flavor, but it wasn't. I cut the chicken into finger bite size pieces and cut the bacon strips in half. After wrapping the chicken I cooked it up, next time I think I will season or marinate the chicken prior to wrapping. Any Suggestions as to how I can give the chicken more flavor? To go along with the Chicken Bacon Bites, I heated up some Honey Baked Beans. The bites were great dipped in the bean juice! I am sure this was not the healthiest meal I could have made, but it was a fun kitchen project that tasted good.

When the weather was nice I spent a lot of time sitting on the front porch hanging out with my boys.

Although I got some projects done while Nicole was gone I am very glad that she is back. Our 3 bedroom apartment and king size bed is to big for me alone.

--Brian

MTB Test Run

2009-05-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that I have been building my own Mountain Bike and you were following the status of the build from previous posts. The bike is now complete (its actually been complete for a few weeks), and I have taken it on several test runs.

Surprisingly it is hard to find good trails in Vermont, there are a few but none that are really close. I did find a trail about 30mins from South Royalton in the town of Norwich. The trail goes right through an abandoned copper mine that is now classified as a Superfund site which means that it contains hazardous wastes that are causing harm to the environment. Typically a Superfund site is closed and not accessible by the public, but this site is still undergoing response actions by the EPA and they have not yet contained the area. Although the site is considered harmful to the environment the harm is not on the surface, its all in the ground water. So biking through the area did not cause any harm and it was safe (as far as I can tell I am still alive).

On the trail I did come across some less fortunate passengers who did not survive their travels through the hazardous area. I am not sure how or why the remains were there, but there were two heads. One was a pig and I cannot tell what the other was. There was also the skins, but no bones. It smelt pretty good! I fared much better then these two less fortunate creatures, all I received was a minor injury to the shin.
It hurt a lot worse then it looks and has since developed into a nice cut and bruise. The story behind my first injury of the season happened while I was swiftly cruising downhill I ran over a branch and a portion of that branch jumped up and bite me in the shin. This was the first, and I am sure, not the last of my biking injuries for this season.

Even though I have been able to take my bike out on a few rides it is not complete. Unfortunately I made a few mistakes in building the bike and I have to reconfigure and replace some parts. Currently the bike is in pieces awaiting reconstruction and hopefully should be up and running again before the week is over. Despite the extra parts I am having to experiment with, I am still getting a bike for 1/3rd the price of a comparable bike from a bike shop.

--Brian

What We've Been Up To

2009-05-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

Brian keeps telling me that he is going to update the blog, but has yet to do that, so I will do a quick update and hopefully in the next couple of days Brian will post a blog.

About a month ago, we had a heat wave in Vermont. It was hotter here that day, than it was in Las Vegas. It was about 80 degrees outside so we decided to go hiking.

We hiked Mount Tom and the Pogue. Well, actually we just hiked to the south peak and back. Brian had a lot of homework or finals to prepare for so we only had a couple of hours to spend. It really reminded me of Las Vegas and I must say I miss Vegas.

A friend I met at work, Alicia and I taking a break on the hike.

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I have been running so I decided to run a 10K. I run every other day, 4 miles each run. I had a choice of a 5K or a 10K. I regularly run more than a 5K, I didn't think that a couple more miles (a 10K) would be that much of a big deal.

Anne, Alicia, Jett and myself. Anne and Alicia ran the 5K and Jett and I ran the 10K.

I got food poisoning two weeks before the run and then I hurt my hip, so I only ran twice in the two weeks leading up to the 10K and I must admit, I don't think I was quite ready for it. I wanted to run a 9 minute mile average and I did well to the three mile mark, but after that I went drastically down hill and ended up runing the 10K in 1 hour 4 mins and 41 seconds.

Wow, I look very tired. It was warm outside and I was extremely hot (it was 70 degrees outside).

Melissa, Jett, Alicia and myself after the race. (Litterally 30 seconds after I finished the race - Alicia looks great, like she didn't even run at all - so funny!) I hope to do much better at my next 10K at the end of June.

This past weekend Brian's parents came up to Vermont to see him graduate with his Master's in Environmental Law & Policy. (He won't actually get his degree until August - he has some summer courses to take).

This is the precesion from Vermont Law School to the Green in South Royalton. The bagpipe player is wearing a kilt that looks like the Anderson Family Plaid.

Brian is looking so serious as he walks up to be hooded.

Charlie and Brian Anderson

I didn't catch the whole tradition, but Alicia and Joel gave brian a lei for graduation. Thanks Guys!

After all of the graduation hoopla we went to Woodstock and walked around with Brian's Parents.

I thought this was a funny picture because Brian looks so grumpy.

To end the post, Bandit will give you a kiss.

I just love that he looks like he has lips like a human.

~Nicole

Peter Pan

2009-04-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to decide whether we want to stay here at Vermont Law School and for Brian to continue on to Law School.

This brought me to the though of what it would be like to be done with school. The first thought that came to my mind is Freedom, freedom from homework - what would that be like?!

But then I think, who will tell me where I should live, who will tell me where I should spend my money (tuition), who would tell me when I can take a vacation, who would be my excuse to live in a sketchy area of town and have a book case made out of cardboard boxes or eat cereal for every meal.

Wow - School has really controlled my life, but with out it we have to enter into the real world...The same world that's economy is quickly shutting down.

I think I want to be like Peter Pan and Never Grow Up.

~Nicole

Life in Vermont Update

2009-04-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

We really haven't been up to too much lately. The Spring school semester is coming to an end, so Brian has been really busy with that, while I have just been working. The weather has been very nice lately so we have been able to take the dogs outside more often.

New "Dog" Park
There are no dog parks here in Vermont but we have found an area that is what we like to refer to as our New "Dog" Park. It is very large field that we are allowed to take the dogs, it runs along the White River and there is a lot of space for the dogs to run, away from the roads. There are many large open areas where the dogs could run, but a lot of Vermont is restricted - no dogs, a lot of hikes around here are that way too, I was very surprised. Here are some photos of us at the New "Dog" Park.
Running
As my last post stated, I started running and it has been going very well. Yesterday I stepped it up to four miles. I'm hoping to run that for another week or so and than step it up to five miles. I have found running to be much more enjoyable than I remember it being. Maybe because Vermont is so pretty. I did sign up for two - 10K runs. One is at the beginning of May, called the Tuck Run for the Kids (http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/clubs/run4kids/) and the other one is in June, called the Run for Empowerment! (http://www.whbw.org/events/detail/Run-for-Empowerment.EXL.)

Murder Mystery Dinner
I've been planning to do a Murder Mystery Dinner. My mom bought an unused Murder Mystery Game at Goodwill and sent it to me. It was set in the 80's and the theme was Wall Street. It was a lot of fun so I will have to keep my eyes open for another thrift store Murder Mystery Game (Since you can only use it once, I think they are too pricey to purchase at full price). I will introduce you to the guests:

(Left to Right) Tyler as Portia F. Olio, Tera as Stockard Ann Bonds, Scott as Abercrombie Trage, Chelsea as Lolita X. Posure, Jake as Wirth Les Bonds, Casey as Corey Pratt Bonds, Nicole as Cassandra Antell and Brian as Robery Ublynd.

Can you tell what the play on names is supposed to stand for? We are all dressed up in 80-ish attire that matches the paragraph describing our character's personality. Lots of fun!

Bike Update
All put together, but missing the wheels. Brian is having trouble with a wheel that he bought on E-bay, the seller is just not sending it. He has a dispute in, but it is taking a while, as soon as he gets his money back he will purchase new wheels and the bike will be ready to ride. Brian can't wait - the gorgeous weather outside is taunting him.
~ Nicole

Spring Run

2009-03-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

I decided to get back into shape at the beginning of the year. I worked out religiously for two months and then March came and I just stopped, for no really good reason.

Well I started my workout routine again. I always hate the first week of working out. I'm never really that sore because I take it slow, but everything you do is just so hard, there is no joy in it.

Today was a beautiful day outside, so I rushed home threw on my running gear and took a nice 2 and half mile run while the sun was still out. I have to say it was really refreshing and geared me up to keep up on my workouts.

When I used to run cross country (about 10 years ago) I used to think people were just whining when they said they couldn't run anymore they had to walk. When my legs got tired they would kind of go numb and with the right breathing exercises you never had to stop. Not that I'm old - but now that I'm old-er, my legs don't hurt but my joints do - my hip was hurting along with a slight knee ache and an ankle pain, this made me think - I've got to stop my body can't take it anymore. But I just turned up the music on my mp3 player and kept pace with the beat.

I'm hoping for more gorgeous days like today - I welcome Spring with open arms!

~Nicole

A Few More Stories

2009-03-20T19:11:00.001-07:00

The first story I am going to tell is an update about my Bike Build. Due to the several requests, my next story will be the Increased Memory story. Then I will tell about how Nicole and I made some extra cash.

Bike Build, Work Stand

I have obtained many more parts and many parts are on the way, however the bike still looks the same. Nothing has been put together yet, that is because I am still lacking some of the parts needed for the first steps of the build. But the focus of this update is the part that I built myself, working on a bike is not easy when the bike is sitting on the floor. I have wanted to get a work stand for my bike but they typically cost a hundred plus dollars. Since I really enjoy building things myself I decided that it shouldn't be that hard to build a bike stand myself either. It was actually really simple and not to mention, a lot cheaper than buying one.

As you can see in the pictures, the stand is simple pieces of steel pipe. I wish I could say that I used scrap material for this, but I went to Home Depot instead. And for the clamp I used a Hand Clamp that I got for under $1. I cannot take complete credit for this because when I decided to build my own stand I did some research to help find a simple design. There is a website called "Instructables" that I browse every now and then, the site had several different suggestions for homemade bike stands. Here is a link to the one that I modeled mine after. It is basically the same; however I used a few different size parts. http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Bicycle-Repair-Stand/ I did want to add an additional piece, but I forgot when I bought the parts. I wanted to put a tool shelf on it, all I would have to do is get some kind of clamp that could clamp to the vertical pipe with an attached tray which could slide up and down. For now my tools and parts can sit on the floor.

Increased Memory, One Pill At A Time

To start I want to say that I have been planning on blogging about this for a while but I always seem to forget about it. This topic comes as a result of me being a graduate student and having lots of stuff to remember. In law school I read many different cases with many different details and facts. All of which lead to an important rule to remember, well I am not very good at remembering sometimes. Just as many other struggling students have done, I searched for something to help increase my memory and brain power. I wanted a miracle pill, something that could help lead me to win Jeopardy someday!

To my disappointment and really what I expected, such a thing does not exist. There really is no miracle pill that will make me smarter, however I did find some pills that claim to help increase and aid memory and concentration. So I went and purchased a bottle of Ginkgo Biloba pills. There is no real evidence that Ginkgo does what it claims, but I wanted to give it a try anyways. I was really good about taking the once-a-day pill for a week or so but then my diligence slowly faded. I usually would take the pill in the morning after I ate breakfast and the problem started when I would come home for lunch and I couldn't remember if I had taken a pill yet that day. As this started to become more frequent and has I began to forget to take the pills altogether I decided that the pills were not working that well. I decided that the pills were not increasing my memory if I kept forgetting to take them. I did notice some benefits though, almost immediately after taking the pills I was able to concentrate a little better. My conclusion on the Ginkgo pills is they can't hurt if you can remember to take them.

Bowling for Ice Cream

Nicole and I do not go bowling often but we both enjoy going Cosmic Bowling. For those that do not know what Cosmic Bowling is, it is when the bowling alley turns out the regular lights and turns on the black lights and disco ball.

They usually have a live DJ and sub-games while bowling. Typically the games are things like; who gets the most pins bowling backwards, who does the best victory dance, doing dance steps while bowling, and other various fun activities. We ended up going to a small bowling alley in a nearby town; their Cosmic Bowling was nothing like what I just described. The black lights were overpowered by the real lights and the disco ball did not spin. And the live DJ consisted of a Juke Box that we had to put coins in. Despite the lack of all things that make cosmic bowling fun, this was the best cosmic bowling that I have ever been on. I say that because Nicole and I came out with about $80 cash winnings. The bowling alley compensated for the lack of exciting cosmic bowling by having randomly placed colored pins that if you bowled a strike when the pin was in the right place you would win cash. Combined Nicole and I ended up winning loads of cash! Neither one of us is great bowlers but somehow we got lucky when the pins were in the right spots. We decided to take all those that came with us out for Ice Cream after bowling, but since we live in such rural communities everything was closed except for the gas stations. So we treated everyone to gas station ice cream bars.

Short Stories

2009-03-14T13:29:00.001-07:00

I want to start this blog by thanking Nicole for keeping our blog alive; I have not been so diligent in contributing to the postings. In fact, my last post was on December 28, 2008 about our trip to Virginia to spend Christmas with my family. I am sad to say, but that post was also in response to harassment for an update, just as this one seems to be coming as a response from Nicole's previous post. I wish I had some valid excuses for my lack of contribution. I could blame it all on my busy school schedule, but this past week has been my spring break and I also did not spend all my time studying. I could blame it on the fact that nothing worth blogging about has happened recently, but that would be a lie. The only real excuse that I have is that I have just been lazy, the same kind of lazy that has kept me from using the newly purchased gym key I obtained. I always have good intentions of using it, I just never get around to it.

Sometimes Cheetos and browsing the Internet are very tempting. As I have closed the bag of Cheetos and settled my browsing to the blog I have decided to write several mini-posts in one, kind of like a series of short stories.

Spring Break 2009

This has been one of my first real College Spring Breaks. BYU-Idaho did not have a Spring Break, they had a Spring Weekend and it occurred during Conference weekend. UNLV had Spring Breaks, but I believe that Nicole and I had to use that time to get extra work hours in. So we did not really have time off. But here at Vermont Law School I had the entire week to do nothing! This was because Nicole still had to work, but it was nice for me because I got to just relax and do nothing. I do have to say that I did conserve water. I think over the course of the week I took only 2-3 showers and brushed my teeth only when necessary. Sounds gross, but I did conserve water and that's what Spring Break should be all about.

Bike Build

I have decided that I 'need' a bike (since I regretfully left my old one in Vegas). I know it's not the smartest thing for me to be doing while living on a tight student budget, but there are so many reasons to justify this purchase. A few would be that the weather is warming up and its really nice outside, I need to get back in shape, better than driving a car, and there many good trails in Vermont. To offset the cost of buying an expensive bike I am buying all my parts off of Ebay and then I will put it together myself. So far I have found really good deals on parts.

As I get more parts and the bike begins to take shape I will post updates on the progress. So far I have the frame, a wheel and some smaller components. I really enjoy putting things together and I am excited about building this bike and being able to ride something that I put together.

East Coast Ski Season

Despite how much I enjoy the nicer weather and doing things outdoors I am sad to face the fact that the ski season is coming to a close. The past few weeks have brought warmer weather along with rain, which melts the snow and makes for bad skiing. There is still a chance that some more snow may come and I may get another day or two of skiing in, but overall the ski season is ending. Despite the depression that this brings me I did have a good season. I was able to get a season pass to Killington and I attempted to ski every Friday and a few days in between. On a few occasions I skipped class when the big storms came through. Although most of my ski days were spent skiing alone, Nicole did come with me a few times. I have to say that I had very low expectations about skiing in the east, but I was very surprised. When there was a good snow day the skiing was good, but I have to say that there are a lot better ski days in the west and I look forward to going back out west to ski.

Killington Resort has over 100 different trails to ski, but of them all my favorite was the Double Black Diamond 'Devil's Fiddle' run. In the above picture is a portion of the run, I wish that I could have had someone with me to take pictures of me on the run. Typically my favorite runs are tree runs and there were several that I enjoyed, but this run was very technical with cliffs and boulders. On one of the days I skipped class it snowed almost 18" and this run was great. I was able to drop off the cliff pictured and land in almost 2" of powder. I had a great season and I secretly hope that spring gets postponed so I can get a few more ski days in. My biggest regret is that I did not get the chance to take advantage of all the Backcountry skiing here in Vermont.

Stories for the Future

For the sake of the length of this post I have decided to postpone several of my short story/mini-posts for the future. Some potential tales are:

Job Searching Adventures

Summer Agenda

Increased Memory, One Pill At A Time

Old Friends and Burned Bridges

No Spitz in the East

What is Brian Learning?

Today

2009-03-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just have a day where you just want to scream GRRRR! Well that is today.

...But! I don't have to work tomorrow, because it is Town Meeting Day, so that makes up for the day I had today.

Also, I think it is Brian's turn to do a blog. Don't you?!

~ Nicole

Valentines Day

2009-02-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

Well the last post was supposed to be funny, but I guess sarcasm doesn't come through my writing very well.

Everyone seems to be doing a Valentines blog, so I think I will join the masses and do one too.

Our Valentines day started out with us sleeping in until about 10 AM. Which was really nice because of one thing or another I haven't been able to sleep in for a while now. Brian helped push a friends car out of the snow and I picked up the house, getting ready for some friends to come over and play games. About eight of us got together and played Girls vs. Guys Cranium. The girls were dominating, but ended up loosing by a question that is still undetermined whether the girls answered correctly before the boys. We then packed into cars and headed up to Stowe to eat dinner at a Mexican Restaurant.

(Left to Right: Chelsea, Jake, Casey, Tyler, Tera, Scott, Nicole, Brian)

I had to beg the waitress to take the photo, so she snapped it really quick, plus the lighting is bad

After the yummy food we decided that we wanted to go dancing or to karaoke. We found a bar that was packed. They had a live band so went on in. I beat Brian in pool, which was a first time thing. Brian usually has all the balls in before I even get a turn. We danced a little and then they had a limbo contest for Skis. I decided I needed those skis so I entered the contest. I was doing really well (I have never limbod before) and it ended up being me and another guy as the last two people standing. We went under a couple of times and kept falling, I almost made it once but fell at the last second. It was a tight race, although the guy was 4 inches shorter than me. He ended up wining but I did get some hats for me and my friends.

Yes, that's me - my hair was really curly that day.

The band ended up leaving pretty early so we headed back to our house for a dance party! I have never had a dance party before, but it was pretty fun. We moved the furniture in our living room and turned up the music really loud (We live in the middle of nowhere and neither of our only neighboors were home), then we ended the night with a Guitar Hero Battle.

It was a really fun Valentines day, different than the usually couples mushy stuff, but I had a blast!

~ Nicole

Independent Woman! ...Or not

2009-02-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

I have always thought that I was a very independent person. If I want something then I will work to get it and usually can find a way to make it "all work out". I have had a job since I was 16 and found all the jobs on my own (despite what others may think, my dad did not get me the job at Intel, in fact I don't even know if my parents knew I was applying through BEC for a job at Intel). I like to do things myself, with out help. I don't like to refer to things as gender biased tasks, such as changing a flat tire is a man's job and doing the dishes is a woman's job. I like to think that I can take care of myself.

But since I have gotten married, have I lost some of that independence. We share the duty of taking out the trash, washing the dishes, doing laundry, paying bills, etc., but I still feel that I have lost some of my independence. Or is it just that I don't have to do the things I hate to do anymore, now that I have a partner to do them for me? I don't like going outside by myself at night, I'm a girl and you never know what is lurking in the bushes, right? Or do I just not want to take the dogs outside because it gets cold at night? I don't pump my own gas or pay for the bill when we go out to eat, Brian always does it for me, so am I now dependent on Brian?

I recently went to Washington DC for training related to work. My plan was to have Brian take me to the airport, but we had a big snow storm and I thought - you are going to a big city, bring back that independence you claim to have, so I took a Greyhound bus to the airport, then I went on the plane to DC where I got on a shuttle bus to my hotel. The next morning I took a shuttle bus to the training location. My plan for getting back to my hotel was to ride the metro to the closest stop near my hotel. This metro stop is not in the best neighborhood, so I was going to be sure to walk quickly and look like I know where I'm going. Don't stare at streets signs in confusion or pull out city maps, know where you are going - memorize it before you leave, don't talk to people on the streets, they don't want to know what time it is, they want to rob you, and lastly don't smile at anyone, you want to look like you live in the city and have been "hardened" by city life. I was very prepared, I knew what metro stop I was getting on, I knew what train to ride and where I had to switch trains, I even knew exactly how many stops the train was going to make before it reached my stop. I have been to Boston and New York, I knew exactly how to ride a metro-train.

Well, apparently not!

I got to the metro station and couldn't get the ticket machine to let me pay for a metro ticket, so a lady (probably in a hurry and was think - get out of my way!) told me that if I don't have a metro card, I have to use those machines over there. Then I realize I don't even know how much to put on this metro card, so I find the attendant's hut and ask him, he tells me $1.60. I put $2 in the machine because it will only allow me to put whole dollar amounts in the machine. Then I go to the access gates (I don't know what they are really called), I quickly watch what others are doing then stick my card in and the gate won't open, the card is not coming out of the slot I just stuck it in, so I shimmed through the gates and got on the train. When I proudly got to my stop I was dumbfounded to find out that I need my ticket to get out of the station. So I asked the lady in the attendant's hut, what I need to do if I forgot to grab my ticket as I went through the gate (ha ha - I didn't even attempt to grab my ticket). She looked at me as if I were the first person to ever do that (I probably was, the ticket comes out of a different slot and if you don't pull the ticket out, the gate won't open - so how I got through with out the gate sounding an alarm - I don't know) and she told me I had to pay a full fare of $4.60. The machine would only allow me to put $5 in. So my very independent self took a $1.60 ride on the metro for $7!

But all in all my trip to Washington DC was very uneventful and fun! It was nice to get out of the small town we live in. I don't think that I have lost my independence, because when Brian is not around I can and do pump my own gas and take the dog outside to go potty at night.

Now to the answers to my quiz!

1. Who said, "Well, I'm not a scientist, I'm an inventor".

Thomas Edison
(Of course, some scientists are also inventors. But there is a difference. A person acting scientifically is trying to understand the natural world, whether or not that understanding is economically useful. An inventor tries to create something new that will have practical application. In both cases there is a sense of challenge in the pursuit and a sense of achievement in the result. ~Sign at Museum)

2. Before speed bumps what did city's do to slow down traffic in neighborhoods?
Made the streets curvy.
(And now this gets a lot of people lost ~me)

3. Name this animal. {See old post for what the animal looked like}
Fennec [A type of Fox]
(This fox's ears measure about one-third of it's body length! They detect prey and and also help dissipate heat. ~ Sign at Museum)

4. Name the skeleton that is behind Brian. {See old post for what the skeleton looked like}
Triceratops

5. What do the letters ERA, in the picture below, stand for? {See old post for picture}
Equal Rights Amendment
(The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1921 by suffragist Alice Paul. It has been introduced in Congress every session since 1923. It passed Congress in 1972, but was not ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states by the July 1982 deadline. It was ratified by thirty-five states, three states short. To this day the ERA or a form of the ERA has not been ratified to the U.S. constitution ~ me and www.now.org)

6. What did the Nazis do with all of the hair they collected from the concentration camp victims?
They sold it to companies who used it for mattress stuffing.
(The companies probably didn't know where the hair had come from. ~ Brian)

a CONGRATS! is in order for those of you who got the question(s) right!

~ Nicole

Weekend Fun!

2009-02-04T17:29:00.000-08:00

Last week I had to go to Washington DC to be trained for work, so Brian flew out on Friday to meet me and do some tourist activities. I will post about my time spent by myself in DC another day.

We went to the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History and the Holocaust Museum. Here are some photos from our trip.

Brian made some friends

I thought this was a good photo, you can see what the turtle looked like behind the turtle skeleton.

Brian decided to run for President.

The Presidential exhibit was probably my favorite. It had neat facts about all the presidents that I didn't know before hand and it made the presidents seem more human to me. I was not impressed with the first lady exhibit at all. It was just the gowns they wore at the inaugural balls. The first lady's have done so much more than that. They don't just dress up and re-decorate the White House, they have put together a lot of programs that benefit the U.S.

Brian - Just monkeying around.

They had all sorts of buttons and signs from different eras and during different movements. I really this button and the sign below.

Girl Power!
** Disclaimer so that I don't get a million comments about this, I don't really know exactly what this sign is trying to say, it didn't really tell me in the museum, I just like the Woman Rebel - No Masters part.

Look at how large this shark's mouth is!

On Sunday the weather was 65 degrees and gorgeous! We don't have any photos from the holocaust museum because they don't allow you to take photos inside the museum.

We learned so many things that I thought I would give you all a quiz. Post your answers in the comments of this post and in my next post I will give you the answers. Now, no cheating, you have to just know the answer off the top of your head - no researching the answers. Your Prize?! - The satisfaction of getting the answers right!

1. Who said, "Well, I'm not a scientist, I'm an inventor".

2. Before speed bumps what did city's do to slow down traffic in neighborhoods?

3. Name this animal.

(Bandit better watch out, this animal is rivaling Bandit's cuteness.)

4. Name the skeleton that is behind Brian.

5. What do the letters ERA, in the picture below, stand for?
6. What did the Nazis do with all of the hair they collected from the concentration camp victims?

~ Nicole

Officially Frozen

2009-01-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the year the school had a sale on lift passes, since Brian has a season pass to Killington/Pico we decided to purchase 2 tickets to Pico so that I could go skiing with him at a decent price. Time seems to be flying by so we thought we better make a plan to go skiing. We decided to go today earlier in the week. When I looked up the weather things were shaping up really nicely to go skiing, it was supposed to get up to 30 degrees on Friday and was supposed to snow on Thursday and Friday, but as we got closer to the weekend the temperatures dropped.

It was 20 degrees on the Mountain today but with the windchill it felt like 5 degrees and then as we ski down the mountain that adds wind so we we were cold. We could only ski for an hour and a half and then we had to go inside to get warmed up again and then we would go back out for a little longer. Finally by 2PM, we were officially frozen so we decided to head home. I was disappointed because I wanted to get the most out of my ski pass, but I couldn't feel my nose, fingers or toes and I was shivering.

Normally you get a little cold on the lifts and then on your run down the hill you warm back up again, but these lifts were really slow and old so I dreaded getting back on the lift.

The mountain was really small and most of the runs were pretty flat, so we were able to ski the whole mountain in the short amount of time we did ski. At the top of the mountain (where it was the coldest) it was gorgeous. These pictures do not do it justice. But everything was snow covered and you could see the mountains around you through the fog.

I'm trying to "get in close" for the picture, but it just looks like I'm falling down.

BRRRRR it's cold!

** For those of you who are wondering how my knee did. I got a really simple knee brace/strap for six bucks from Wal-mart and it's like I'm back to my old skiing self. I could still feel a little ache, but nothing that was affecting my skiing ability or the amount of time I could ski for. It was wonderful!

~ Nicole

A Change

2009-01-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

Today at the Law school, they had a MLK Jr/Presidential Inauguration celebration. It was about an hour long, but I think it ran a little over because the inauguration started late. It was an interesting experience. Although I have voted before, I have never watched an inauguration; but was there a re-inauguration or re-swearing in for President Bush?

When Vice-President Biden was taking his oath, I leaned over and asked Brian what would happen if they can't remember what the person just said to them. Brian said that would never happen. I told him that if I became president, I would be so nervous it was sure to happen. So it was funny to me when President Obama stumbled at the begining of the oath.

I also thought it was weird that people were chanting OBAMA!-OBAMA!, like we were at a rock concert and he was the main act. But what I really felt was that I wish I was there.

An old boss of mine, was working at the inauguration, he was working with the company who was in charge of all the transportation for the event. He asked me if I wanted to come live in Washington DC for a couple of month, get paid and work with him. That would have been a really fun opportunity, but I have a job here that I could not leave. So when I was watching the Inauguration, I had the little thought in the back of my head that, I could have been there! Even if you are not an Obama fan, it would have been neat to be there, at an acutal historical event, like you read in the history books.

I don't agree with all of Obama's appointments and decisions, but I'm looking forward to a change. A change, that I think he can bring.

~ Nicole

Let's Rock!

2009-01-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we got Guitar Hero...

So now we Rock out all the time!

I was at the store the other day and saw these pajama pants on sale and could not pass them up.

Brian really gets in to it.

So if you want to come to my house and play, we would love it. Also if you want to play against each other online, let me know! It would be lots of fun!

~ Nicole

Heat vs Cold

2009-01-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

So it's getting very cold here in Vermont. I don't really mind the cold, probably because I don't stay outside for very long at one time. We keep our house at 60 degrees because oil heat is very expensive, but both Brian and I both have our own electric space heater, so we use those a lot. Bandit especially likes my space heater, he will lay right in front of it and fall asleep. I think it might be one of his favorite things to do.

I can handle this cold a lot better than the heat in Vegas. You can not escape heat. I remember some days it was so hot in Vegas that even with the A/C pumping at 70 degrees, the thermostat would never make it to that temperature. It really bothered me when I would try to go on an interview. It didn't matter if the interview was a 5 minute car ride or a half hour car ride away, by the time I walked outside to my car, got in and driving I was drenched in sweat. Not just beads of sweat, but dripping, running down my face sweat. I'm sure it was not a very good first impression when you show up with your hair stuck to your face with sweat.

Lets just say... Not Cute.

But back to the cold, recently the cold has been bothering my feet. I just can't keep them warm. I have tried wearing wool socks, short socks, long socks, two pairs of regular socks, but nothing seems to work. Regular socks are just too cold, wool socks make my feet sweat when I'm inside and then when I go outside my feet get cold because the socks are now wet. I've tried wearing boots of all kinds, boots with fur (not real fur), rain boots, snow boots, regular boots. Nothing seems to work very well, either the boots leak water to my socks or with the rain boots my feet froze but didn't get wet. The boots with fur seem to work the best, but they don't really go with my work attire. I think another problem is that most of my shoes are warm weather shoes. All of my shoes either have no back or they are really thin Converse type shoes. I have started wearing my boots with the fur to work and then changing into regular shoes and then wearing the boots when I leave to go home. Is this what people who live in cold places do, or is there some secret I'm missing? Maybe there is a certain type of shoe I should buy. -- Any advice?

Updates:

The elliptical machine. I think we will wait a couple of months before making any decisions or purchase because: 1. I want to see if I can stick with a work out routine everyday for two months. 2. We can save money for this item. 3. We want to wait for people to give up their New Year's resolutions and maybe sell their machines. 4. Give us time to travel to a city with actual stores so that we can test out the different machines and decide what we really want.

Kickboxing. So far, I'm doing really good with the workouts, I have done it everyday for a whole week. The kickboxing DVD I have is really kicking my butt, it's a lot harder than it looks.

I wish I looked that good and that buff!

The Snow. We got a couple more inches of snow the night I posted the blog about snow. We are also getting snow flakes right now - not a lot but a little dusting. I like it when it snows, it means the temperatures out side have warmed up a little. When it's negative whatever degree outside it is usually sunny and bright. When the temperatures warm up, it is usually cloudy and probably dropping some snow flakes.

~ Nicole

Snow & Getting in Shape

2009-01-10T19:28:00.001-08:00

When we left Vermont for winter break in Virgina we left at the beginning of a snow storm. We were worried about all the snow we would get while we were gone and how we would get back in to our house with no one to shovel the stairs and walkway. But when we arrived home at midnight we were met with a very pleasant surprise. We are lucky enough to have a very nice landlord, who stopped by and shoveled our walk way and a walk way to the oil tank. We got another couple inches of snow last week and now we have tall snow mounds on each side of the walk way to our front door.

Before winter break I decided I wanted to try and get back into shape, but with the frigid temperatures and mounds of snow outside, jogging, hiking or any outdoor (free) activity is out of the question. So I decided to try some work out Dvds. We have a netflix account so I ordered many different types of work out DVDs and they came in the mail once we returned from vacation. I think I found one I like, it's a kick boxing workout. Now that I have been working out or maybe its that it is the new year, Brian has been motivated to get back in to shape too (maybe that is his new year's resolution?). He does go skiing once a week, twice if he finds the time with his school schedule, but now Brian wants to purchase an elliptical machine, so that we both can get a good cardio work out everyday of the week. I am hesitant to do this because it is a lot of money to invest in something that we may use for only a couple of months and then never use again. I chose to try workout DVDs because it doesn't cost me anything and if I stick with it for six months then I could invest some money either in a gym membership or home gym equipment. But Brian wants to look into getting an elliptical machine. We have tried looking up information about elliptical machines but we just don't know what we need. We don't want to spend a lot of money but we don't want the cheapest one either. We want something that would work for a beginner. I read that we need something with an 18 inch stride due to our height, but I do not know if this is true.

Does anyone have an elliptical machine or have any advice on what we should look for?

~ Nicole

Back to Blogging

2009-01-07T12:16:00.000-08:00

Blogging is like keeping a diary for me. I get excited and vow that I am going to write in my diary every day and I do for a couple of months and then it slowly tappers off to nothing, until I get motivated again. So I now have a bin full of half empty diaries, and a very sad looking blog. I would not say that I'm really that busy but rather I just don't find our lives any different from anyone else's and so I don't really have anything to blog about. When I do post a blog it usually consists of mostly pictures. So here are some activities we did while in Virgina for winter break.

We went to the Virginia Aquarium down at Virginia Beach.

The best part was the sea turtles.

There was even a sea turtle Nursery, with baby turtles each in their own little tank just like a Baby Nursery in a hospital.

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

We also went to Colonial Williamsburg.

Brian posing in the ally way between houses.

Adam thought he could pick that cannon up.

Little Rachel entertained me while we were walking around Williamsburg. She had a lot to tell me, but the best part was when I would get a head of her she would say "Hey You, wait up... You! wait up!" She couldn't remember either my name or Brian's.

Adam, Jordan, Little Rachel, Me and Big Rachael - Hanging out in Williamsburg.

Brian and I in front of the Governors Mansion.

Sandbridge Beach
The day before we left we thought we would take the dogs to the beach, since Bandit has never been to the beach. Bandit wanted his favorite cousin, Fitch to come along, so Fitch and Brian's mom came with us to the beach.

It was a very windy day.

...and I like long walks on the beach... J/K!

The Pups!

I just couldn't resist adding these photos that were taken with Brian's mom's fish camera lens. Buddy and Bandit look like the animals on those greeting cards, if you have seen them you will know what I'm talking about.

~ Nicole

Finally, A New Post....

2008-12-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

*Yes, Nicole and I have not been diligent in keeping our blog updated. We want to thank all of our readers who have continued to check our blog despite no new updates, hopefully we have not lost many readers. You can thank my mother for this update, since we are currently at my parents house for the holidays she has been harassing me to update the blog. But don't give all the credit to my Mom, I was planning on doing this anyways.

Nicole and I made the trek from Vermont to Virginia for our Christmas Vacation this year, I survived my first semester in the grad program at Vermont Law School (I shouldn't speak to fast since all the grades have not yet been posted). Nicole has been busy working two jobs, one for the school and the other for the town. So this Christmas Vacation has been much needed. In the Nicole style of blog posts I will put up a picture safari to share the fun that we have been having here.

We went to see the Christmas Lights at the Botanical Gardens.

Opening presents on Christmas Day!

Buddy and Bandit loved the wrapping paper, next year we will just give them the paper as their gift.

I got Guitar Hero for Christmas and my nephew, Elijah, is a serious Rocker.

The day after Christmas was Nicole's Birthday, she blew out all 25 candles in one blow!

The next day was my nephew, Ryan's first birthday.

He just loved having that whole chocolate cake to himself. He had chocolate boogers coming out of his nose!

Since the entire family was here for the holidays we took family photos, I think there were hundreds of pictures taken. I posted two of them below and I wanted to know if anyone could point out any differences between the two photos.

Its a few days late, but Merry Christmas!

Tup Tagged Me!

2008-11-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago...
*Driving my parents around with my drivers permit
*Playing sports at school during my Freshman year of high school
*Met one of my very best friends, Paige
*I honestly can't remember anything else that significant, I guess I should have kept a diary
*Ummm, running around with friends causing a ruckus?!

5 things on today's to-do list...
*Go to work
*Start making some of the Thanksgiving feast
*Finish writing my talk for church this Sunday
*Plan the lesson for the class we teach at Church
*Cuddle with my puppies (That's on my list every day)

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire...
*Put the money in the bank and live off of the interest
*Pay off all my debt
*Travel - a lot
*Pay off my parent's house (paying them back for everything they have done for me)
*Buy Brian all the toys he wants, such as more ski gear, electronics, tools, big tv's, fast car, etc.

5 places I have lived...
*Oregon
*Virginia
*Idaho
*Nevada
*Vermont

5 places I have worked...
*Intel Corporation (Admin)
*Women's Research Institute of Nevada (Brought the Feminist out of me)
*Aviation Nation Foundation (Las Vegas Air Show)
*USA Hosts (Event Planning company)
*Vermont Law School (Admin)

3 people I TAG...
*Heidi
*Mom
*Brittni

~ Nicole

Portland! ... Maine

2008-11-17T18:03:00.000-08:00

We have not been on any adventures lately, so we decided to take a weekend trip to Portland, Maine before Brian gets really busy with finals. It was a rainy, foggy, cold weekend, but we had a lot of fun. We were exhausted by the time we got home. Here are some photos from our trip.

We stopped at a Welcome center right as we entered Maine and Brian thought this was hilarious. Bears can't read, so this message had to be for humans.
Have you been Barrel Picking lately?

Me, Brian and Scott. This pictures shows just how foggy it was on our first day of the adventure.

I'm on a very shaky little bridge. I'm not sure what this area was, but it was fun. We walked along a rocky path in the middle of what looked like a lake and then we crossed this bridge to a big forest area with a bunch of hiking paths, but by the time we got to the hiking paths it had started to down pour. We still had the rest of the day left so we didn't want to get too wet and we headed back to the car.

We stopped at Nubble light house, but the fog was so thick you could barely make out the light house or the light shining from it.

I thought light houses were supposed to shine really bright so that ships would know where land was during thick fog?!?

Funny little Sea Shack
We finaly made it to Portland, Maine. Our 'Maine' mission was to find somewhere to eat lobster. After walking around the city checking out all the restaurants, we came upon this restaurant tavern. They had the best priced lobster we could find and was more fitting for a first time lobster-eating experience. It was messy and a fancy restaurant just would not have suited well.

Yummm!!!
After filling our bellies with lobster we walked around the city a little more looking for a movie theatre so that we could go see James Bond (he also falls under the yummy category)!
The next day, the weather was much better, the sun even showed it's face a couple of times. We found Spring Point Light, a light house that we could walk right up to. It was amazing how the rocks were laid with a flat side facing up. I guessed that the light house was built years before the rock pathway.
At this light house there was also a wall that apeared to be some sort of protective barrier where cannons stuck through window type openings. This is a picture of one of those openings.
Brian takes most of the pictures when we are on adventures, that is why most of the pictures have me in them. He is really slow and I must admit, I do get impatient with him, but look at the great pictures he gets - the surf splashing up in front of the Portland Head Light House.
A picture with Brian in it :)

The sun is peaking through

Picture of the coast line

We also found some really cool abandoned mansions. This reminds me of the movies that are set in Mid-Evil times (although I doubt this mansion is that old).

Our adventures can never end with out us getting lost at least once. We got talking and not paying attention and we past our exit by 30 minutes! I normally welcome getting lost, but this time I was upset and things got stressful, we only had a small time window to pick up the dogs from the kennel and if we missed it we would have to pay for another night in the kennel and I didn't want to do that. Thanks to Scott's navigational skills and Brian's quick driving, we made it back just in time to get the pups!

~ Nicole

Crazy About Snow

2008-11-02T12:20:00.001-08:00

Brian was very excited about the snow, but unfortunately all of the snow has melted now. But Brian is not the only one overly excited about snow. Brian was able to get a season pass to Killington, Vermont for very cheap because he is a student. Because of the recent snow, Killington decided to move up their open date to TODAY. So yesterday we took the dogs up to Killington so that Brian could pick up his season ski pass and so that the dogs could play in the snow. But when we got up there, there was no snow to be found. I was able to find small patches of snow for the pups to play in. I have never seen anyone, including Brian, more excited about snow than Buddy. He would have attacked, ate, dug and pounced on the snow all day if I would have let him.

He is CraZy about Snow!

~Nicole

It's Snowing!

2008-10-29T16:14:00.001-07:00

The Homer Family Invades...

2008-10-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, my family came to the New England area to visit and explore. They came up to Vermont and we took them to Sharon, Stowe, Waterbury, Smuggler's Notch, Quechee Gorge, Woodstock and Rutland. After their visit here, they strolled on over to my sister's house near Boston.

We were lucky because the weather miraculously changed to sunny and warm at about 65 - 70 degrees each day my family was here. Before they came it was cold and rainy and the day after they left, it returned to it's cold rainy state.

Sharon - Joseph Smith's Birthplace:

The photo doesn't do the foliage justice. But it was so bright with every color you can think of. If you want to see better foliage pictures you will have to check out my parent's blog for photos from their trip (They have not posted them yet, but I know they plan to do so).

Quechee Gorge:

We hiked down about a mile to the bottom of the Quechee Gorge. The scenery was not colorful but beautiful in it's own way. Here, Brian is standing in a rotten tree stub.
Two of my sisters and I, rock hopping at the bottom of the Quechee Gorge.

Woodstock:In Woodstock we strolled around the little town. We got the most amazing roastbeef sandwich and homemade Pumpkin icecream from a small shop there. I would go back just for the pumpkin ice cream for sure!

Eliza is playing in the leaves that have fallen all over Woodstock. I love the Fall Season!

Eliza and I "looking cute"!
And yes, my hair really is that color. I like to think of it as the color of Fall ... Am I blending in?

Rutland:

We actually went to Rutland to go to a Corn Maze. This Corn Maze was huge! There were two sections to the main maze. In the maze they had clues to help you find the end, they also had random facts about Vermont and hole punches. If you got all the hole punches then you would be entered into a drawing to win Vermont themed prizes. The maze was on a farm that had, not only a large maze but also a smaller maze for children, and a storybook corn walk. They also had pumpkins you could purchase, hay rides and animals to feed and pet. We planned to do everything, but spent so much time in the large Corn Maze that we only had time to do the hay ride and take a few photos. We got all of the punches so hopefully we will be lucky enough to win a prize! (I think this is the time the whole weekend that Kaitlyn took off her Sunglasses. She is so silly)

Waterbury:
My Mom has most of the photos from waterbury, but we went to a cider house and a tour of the Ben and Jerry's factory. It was a very delicious day ... YUM!

Stowe:
We took a scenic drive through Stowe and then pulled over to have a quick picnic.

Smuggler's Notch:
Just past Stowe is Smuggler's Notch. As we drove up the winding roads, leaves blew around us like rain. But the best part of Smuggler's Notch is the rocky terrain. You can scramble large boulders for hours.

Eliza and I swinging on a tree branch.

Eliza is holding up this boulder with her pinky finger, she must be very strong.

We even found a cave. (Me, Eliza, Mom, Kaitlyn)

Ahh ... My mom has grown antlers.

Other Activities:
Along with the family adventures, we played a lot of games and watched movies.

Bandit thinks the Bingo balls are treats.

On the last day my family was here, one side of Buddy's face started to swell. It swelled so much that his eye was shut. Childrens benedryl wasn't helping so we took him to the vet. He ended up having a rotting tooth that got infected. He had his tooth pulled and returned to normal a few days later. I guess that is what happens when we are about a year overdue for his teeth cleaning. Next time I won't keep putting it off. The picture doesn't quite show just how swollen his face was. He looked pretty funny.

We had a lot of fun and hope that my family will come back again to visit and maybe even take an adventure up to Canada, because we are only about 2 and a half hours from the border.

We welcome any visitors and hope to see more family and friends while we live here in Vermont.

~ Nicole

Law School Update…

2008-10-01T17:54:00.001-07:00

Many of you know that the reason we moved to Vermont was so that I could attend Vermont Law School but from reading our blog you might not remember it. We have taken many weekend trips to see a few of the many spectacular sites in the New England area, there are still many more to see. I think Nicole has done the math and decided that if we went on an adventure every weekend we still would not get to see everything there is to see in the area. We haven't even blogged about all our trips yet, Nicole tells me that I have to blog about some of them. I have other topics I want to write about but for the sake of our adventures I will briefly update you on some of our recent unblogged adventures.

This past weekend wasn't so much a sightseeing adventure as it was a task orientated adventure. Typically in a normal sized city you might have to drive across town to go to the DMV, but here in Vermont you have to drive to the state capitol to take care of your DMV business. We spent all day Friday in Montpelier getting our Vermont Drivers License and the RAV4 registered. It was a very simple task, it was nothing like those DMV horror stories you hear of in other places. The clerk was very nice and friendly and we are now officially Vermonters! The Capitol of Vermont, Montpelier, is a small-cozy-little city (there really aren't any big cities in Vermont) we drove around the town within a few minutes and decided that may be the extent of our visits to Montpelier. Not that we didn't think the town was nice, there just didn't seem to be much to visit and there are many other places we need to take adventures to. Just a little side note on Montpelier, it is the smallest state capitol in the United States.

The weekend prior to taking up residence as a Vermonter we took our adventure to a town that both of us fell in love with, Stowe Vermont. We did not originally plan on spending our entire adventure in Stowe. Nicole had it all mapped out; we would drive to Stowe and see the town, ride the Gondola to the top of the ski resort, eat at a unique cafe, visit the Van Trapp Family Lodge, and then head to Waterbury and tour the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory. She also had planned for us to tour a Chocolate Factory, a Cheese Factory, and an Apple Cider Factory. We loved Stowe so much that we almost didn't make it many of the other stops on Nicole's list. One of the best parts about the trip was that same weekend there was an event called "British Invasion," we were told it is the biggest British Car show in the United States. We didn't go to the show because we saw hundreds of old British Cars just from spending the day in the town.

We had intended on riding the Gondola to the top of the mountain to get some good views in, but it was expensive to ride and decided we could get our good views some other way. Somehow we came across a road that led up to an area we had not anticipated, Smugglers Notch, it seemed like a rock scramblers paradise. Neither one of us was prepared to do any serious cliff hanging, so we just jumped around a few rocks. It was a lot of fun, even when the rude Park Ranger yelled at us for making a wrong turn!

We made it to the Van Trapp Family Lodge a few minutes before they closed and then headed home. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to tour any of the factories, but we decided it was ok because then we would have another excuse to come back to Stowe. However on our ride home we stopped at the Ben & Jerry's for a quick Ice Cream Cone!

OK, maybe that wasn't entirely a brief version of our adventures but it was a condensed version. Despite all of Brian and Nicole's Excellent Adventures I do find time to get my studies in. As a matter of fact Nicole thinks I am reading my Energy Law book right now (don't let her know I was blogging). I would go crazy if I didn't take time away from my studies to blog, watch TV, play games (a friend taught us how to play poker), and go on our adventures.

I have already spent too much of my study time blogging so I will have to give my Law School Post update another time…

-Brian-

The Tunbridge World's Fair

2008-09-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

The Tunbridge World's Fair (http://www.tunbridgefair.com/) is an annual event that is just 10 minutes up the road from where we live. With it being so close, we really couldn't pass up the chance to go.

There were lots of exhibits to see, everything from Civil War daily life to...

... tractors and automobiles.

But the animals and food were my favorite. There was an actual Cow Parade! I thought it was hilarious, there were a bunch of cattle with their owners slowly shuffling along, it was more like a poop parade. At any given moment in the parade one of the cows was tending to 'his/her business'.

Next, we stopped by the Oxen/Draft Pulling. I didn't really like that event because there was a lot of yelling and whipping of the animals.

When we went over to see the animals in the barn, we saw some really big Oxen. I asked the woman who owned them, if she enters them in the pulling contests and she said no, because they "change them" and she likes them better the way they are. The woman and her husband treated their Oxen like pets, these huge beasts were loved like our little puppies at home.

On to the PIG RACES. I tried to explain to the friends we went with that you can't go to a fair with out seeing the PIG RACES!!! They were even taking bets on the pigs, so in good Vegas fashion I bet a dollar on a pig named
Shakin' Bacon.

Unfortunatly my pig lost!

Every time we go to the Fair I want to take all of the cute baby animals home with me so that they can be my new pets.

Baby Chicks eating food.

Baby Piglets eating food.

These piglets look like they have been shaved, they are as smooth as a babies bum.

Brian always gets sick on fair rides, so he didn't get to go on one, but I ventured to try this one. It spins you so fast that you stick to the seat and then it twirls you on it's side. It was really fun!

For a moment you would have thought we were midgets. These are award winning Pumpkins and Sunflowers.

And they were HUGE!

We ate a lot of good food at the fair, we had pizza, fried dough, honey sticks, and oranic yogurt. I didn't have room for my all time FAVORITE food at the fair....

COTTON CANDY!
But we bought some anyways and I ate some that night. It was special to Vermont because it was Maple flavored. (And yes, I got burnt hanging out in the sun all day)

~ Nicole