Red Rocks Hike

The Rocks:

The View:

The boy & girl (like Corrina's Shoes):

The action shot:

The girl:


the end...

Easter

Let me set the scene: Easter a cold snowy day in Golden with friends. Cleaning up after a huge feast including: Ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli, gravy, cream corn, salad, and some over buttery dessert.

Doesn't Nat look thrilled to be drying the dishes?:


Alex scrubbing hard:


And the newly engaged happy couple, Danielle & Garrett:


****Disclaimer, these pictures are horrible, I did not even get my camera out until we were done with the day. Please note it was a joint effort on clean up and cooking, the boys were not the only ones cleaning.****

Oh joy!

Thought it was just a pinched nerve that was causing the intolerable pain, but it is oh so much more!! After X-Rays: I have a cervical sprain in my neck (5th vertebra), a muscle spasm that he could feel just by touching my neck, that is affecting my nerves in my the right side of my neck and shoulder which is causing the pain. And the best part my neck vertebras are the opposite way they should be, their going in the wrong direction, but that may be caused by the spasm. Now I have meds and have to go to Physical Therapy. And the worse part is I don't even have a cool story to why I am wearing this stylish neck brace, I was just gettin ready this morning and BAM, now I am stiffer than Bruce's cosmos!

Congrats!

Congrats Matt & Terry! They got married in Jan in Puerto Rico, but we just now have pictorial proof!

What a cute pair:




And of course we have to have one of the bride, can we say Be-u-ti-ful:

Sublime Stargazers

For V-day Nat bought me potted Stargazer Lilies that were still buds. A couple of weeks passed and still no lily blooms. I felt I was destined to kill yet another living plant. Determined to overcome my lethal thumb I decided to re-pot the plant in some yummy food laced soil and paint it a rustic looking pot. I don't know if it was the soil or the cool pot I made, but the white buds started bleeding through a beautiful deep magenta. The next morning I woke up and I saw 2 beautiful and fragrant stargazer lilies. It was a joyous day, I kept the babies alive! Since that day I have had one more bloom and 2 buds that look ready to burst into all of their grandeur. One of the things I love most about Stargazer Lilies is their fragrance, it is absolutely heavenly, and they pack a lot of punch. I can smell my lilies throughout the west wing of my home. Keep in mind the west wing of my home only includes my office, bathroom, and, portions of the hallway, & kitchen. However I think that is pretty impressive, most flowers you have to stick you nose in the flower to smell. So maybe this means my thumb is turning green, it definitely gives me hope for the vegetable garden I am going to attempt this growing season.

I present my favorite flower: The Stargazer Lily:


The bleeding buds ready to burst open:

4 Thumbs Up (Nat's thumbs included)

We just purchased the Ray LaMontagne cd "Till the Sun Turns Black"....love it, suggest it, listen to it!!!

Good Times with Good Friends

Val, Rachel, and Jordie made the long drive to come hang out with us here in Golden. It was so great to see the trio, it has been too long since I last saw them (Nat has seen them a few times on his business trips back to the OC). We had a blast...we went skiing, hiking, had a block party/ bonfire, a steak feast, drank, bowled, played guesstures, you know the usual! The house seems empty now without them here, we were sad to see them go. It was wonderful to be with old friends again. Now back to reality for all of us...boo!

These are the pics from our steak night adventures:

Nat and Val working off the big slab of meat:


Rachel comforting Val, after Nat ripped his jeans in a wrestling accident:


Too much wine, steak, or wrestling?


Man's best friend (Don't worry Val I won't say anything like, "ya he must be man's best friend to snuggle up to those feet", but I wouldn't dare) I think it's cute pic:

Terry Crunk = LIAR & THIEF

So as most of you know our wedding photographer has fallen off the face of the earth with our photographs and money. Of course being a photographer the photography at our wedding was one of the most important things to me...so it is doubly devastating. Nat and I both still have nightmares of our long lost photos. The biggest bummer is that they are beautiful photographs, one of the reasons we hired Terry Crunk. To view our beautiful photos that we don't have go to this link:
http://www.imagesbyterry.com/clients/jackie%5Fnat/

We have tried everything from emails, phone calls, and unsuccessful surprise visits at his work loft in Dallas. The contact attempts have ranged from nice & cool to threatening & final. But still no response. Through our investigating we have discovered we are not the only ones in that he has done this too.

This evening I received a call from my mother: the local news, channel 5, did an investigative report on guess who?...Terry Crunk. Many many many other couples are in the same sinking boat. And when my mother called to report our story the lady taking the info said the phone has been ringing off the hook because of this vile man, named Terry Crunk. So here's hoping that between the all the people Terry has screwed and channel 5 we just might, hopefully, I pray, get our wedding photographs. Here is the story Channel 5 ran:

Couple: Wedding Photographer Took Memories

More than a dozen North Texas couples regret their choice for a wedding photographer. They said they picked Terry Crunk because of his creative style, but now many of them don't even have a single photo to frame.
"I've probably cried myself to sleep every night. It's my one time ever that I'm going to get married," said a bride who wants to remain anonymous.
Video
The North Texas couple got married last summer and were so impressed with the work of Terry Crunk that they hired him to photograph their wedding day.
"He stole my wedding memories," she said.
"We posed for them all and these are all the candid shots from the wedding, so we barely even know what the wedding looked like because that's all we had. We told our friends not to bother bringing cameras because we had a great photographer," she said.
The newlyweds have not heard from Crunk since the wedding. They want to remain anonymous in hopes that someday they will get the photos from Crunk. They put down a significant deposit and have received nothing in return.
"He's trying to get into the modeling photography business. I think he's gotten in over his head but he's still taking on clients to have the money to support his lifestyle," she said.
Crunk foreclosed on his home in Colleyville, the phone number is disconnected, and now it seems that no one can find him.
“We've e-mailed him pleading, we've e-mailed him being angry, everything. We've had friends and family e-mail him and call him -- no response," she said.
"We would love to have something so that we can look back on it but, no, we have nothing,” the groom said. “Something to show our grandkids," the bride said.
"I don't want another bride to ever have to go through this, ever. It's just not right. It's your wedding day," she said.
The Better Business Bureau of Dallas has had six complaints against Images By Terry since the end of December.
NBC 5 e-mailed and tried to call Crunk, but so far, there has been no response.


***** Please note I refrained from using inapporiate language when describing Terry Crunk because of certain readers, in order to not offend them. It has been very hard for me not to type what I really feel of him.....bastard, sorry it slipped***

Not Your Average Snowmen!

Sunday Nat, Garrett, Danielle, and I went to Breckenridge! The boys skied and the girls attended the 17th annual snow sculpture competition! The competition attracts artists from all around the world to compete! The sculptures were absolutely amazing! The artists start out with a 12 foot cube of snow that weighs a mere 20 tons and end up with a snowy white masterpiece !

This is Danielle standing next to the "blank canvas" that all the artists start out with:


First Place Winner: Old Man Winter:



One of my favorites & voted kid's favorite:



Thought it was cute:



And of course not to be forgotten, the abstract & 2nd place winner:

Red Rocks

I decided to take Corrina and my camera to Red Rocks yesterday before today's forcasted snow fell. I was need of creative time and Corrina was in need of a walk. Here are a few of my favorite images:

When the boy is away...

Nat has been out of town since Monday night and I am anxiously awaiting his arrival tomorrow. Corrina is great company, but not so great when it comes to conversation. According to most studies the average women speaks 20,000 words a day, the average man 7,000. So if you take into consideration I will have had 6 days of minimal human contact & conversation by the time Nat arrives home that is roughly 120,000 unspoken words. But for proper calculations I will subtract around 7,000 for phone conversations & my few visits with actual people. Leaving 113,000 unspoken words. I suppose the reason to my maddness here is I would like to forewarn my long lost husband that he has an earful coming!!!

Some might wonder what a girl would do with her husband gone a whole week other than deprive herself of her daily word quota. I have joined a yoga studio once again and have been enjoying my Golden practice. The owner/instructor is very friendly and warm, a complete opposite of OC yoga where you go to class, practice, then go home, haven spoken to no one. I had a design meeting, taught art classes, and worked for a photographer. Tonight I cleaned the house, even the baseboards!

A week without Nat was not totally without adventure. Thursday late afternoon upon returning from the dog park with Corrina I realized when trying to open my back door I had locked myself out of the house! GREAT! So I tapped into my inner thief and thought hmmmm how can I break in? I first tried the window next to the door that goes into the basement. I am pushing with all of my might and the darn thing wont budge. I decided to give it one last effort then move onto another window. Just then on my last push CRACK...then whole window shatters, glass falling on the ground before me and into the basement stair case. SUPER! Now not only am I worrying how the heck I am going to get back into my house I now have a nice mess awaiting me, and vast hole where the 30 degree air is blaring in my warm home. By this time it is rapidly approaching dark and my fingers and toes are now uncomfortably numb.

On to window number 2, the shower window, where an elevated shelf full of shampoos & conditioners await me followed by the tub. So here I go again with all my might pushing and shoving, even grunting at one point, no luck again, it won't budge. Having learned my lesson before I decide to opt for an alternative method. Thank God the shed was open and I was able to get 2 flat head screw drivers and hedge trimmers. With these fine tools I was able to use them as a lever and get the window open enough so I could scrap through. Yeah, we have entry. So as I am scraping though with my feet sticking out of the window and shampoos falling to the tub before me I place one hand on each side of the tub. I am now in elevated push up position...I am hoping and praying that I do not loose my grip and plunge face first into the tub because the idea of a broken and bloody nose does not sound too appealing at this point in time. Not necessarily because of the pain, but because of the blood, which would have been another mess that I would have had to clean up. Finally I enter, both feet in the tub, I am inside!!!

I run to the door to let Corrina in and then return to my muddy tub to shut the window...it won't budge! I am literally hanging on the window with my fingers and feet dangling and the thing won't even squeak like it is about to move. Now I have 2 gaping holes sucking all of the warm air out of my house. So I walk downstairs to the basement for some more miracle tools. On the way down the concrete stairs I slip and fall landing on my back I then was subjected to a joy ride as I slid down about 4 stairs. Laying there on the concrete stairs I realized geez I am glad I did not bust my head open, that would have been a little difficult worrying about driving myself to the er and arranging a baby sitter for Corrina.

I returned upstairs with a hammer and finally got the window to come down. I placed all of my fallen bath tub products on the shelf I was earlier levitating over. Next obstacle the window....I spent the next hour cleaning up the glass and taping foam and plastic to the broken window hoping that it would keep out the bitter cold. Finally, I collapsed onto my couch just in time to watch Grey's Anatomy.

"A series of unfortunate events", as my friend Rachel said; I think that is an elegant way of putting my Thursday night adventures. After tapping into my inner thief I decided the life of a crook is not for me. It is definitely not graceful climbing through windows and leaves many bruises and pains. Well I suppose not all thieves fall down concrete stairs. I can now laugh through the sore back, bruised arm, and glassless window, thankfully!

Midnight Stroll

Last night we had our new Colorado friends, Garrett, Danielle, and their dog Brew, join us for dinner. After dinner we decided to bundle up and take a stroll along Clear Creek with the dogs. During the holiday season downtown Golden and the path along Clear Creek are adorned with festive Christmas lights. It is really quite beautiful. Of course being the dork I am I brought my tripod and had a little extended exposure fun:

This is Clear Creek lit only by the moon and thousands of tiny Christmas lights:

Castle Rock:

The blurred masses are the dogs, they had a blast:

Icy Wonderland

The snow is slowly melting. Instead of fluffy snow lined paths we have slippery & icy paths with dagger like icicles hanging over head! So not only are you afraid of falling and breaking your hip at a very young age, you also have to worry about the ice daggers falling and penetrating your skull. They weren't kidding when they call it a winter WONDERland...because you are always wondering if you are going to fall or have to dodge falling icicles.
****Please note this my sarcastic humor, I do not fear for my life, nor do I hate the winter wonderland****

Seeing Double

Over the Christmas break we also got to re-unite Corrina with her sister, Lola. It has been 3 years since they last saw each other. Although, they did not recognize one another they picked up right where they left off. Can you tell who is who?

Alert the Presses!

I was fortunate enough to see my good friend Amy over our short visit to Texas for Christmas. As long as I have known Amy she has had long long hair. The closest she has ventured to short hair was just past her shoulders (yes, daring I know). So to my surprise when I opened the door their stood a very stylish short haired Amy. I released a girlish squeal at the sight of her new do! I was so proud of her! Her boldness definitely paid off because not only does she look awesome, but she was also able to donate 10 inches of her hair to Locks for Love. Behold the now new stylish & smashing Amy Anderes-Damron!!! Love it!!!

It's Baaack!!!!

Here we are with round 2 of winter blizzards! According to the news Golden has 20 inches of snow and this month, December, has already had more snowfall than all of last year. Plus, the storm is supposed to last until Sunday. Here is our front porch last night light only by the street light.

Hace Frio

At 9:30 this morning Golden's snowfall was at 34.5 inches, the snow did not stop until around 12:30pm. Let me paint a picture for you: Nat was walking around in our backyard and at some points the snow was up to his hips, wow! Needless, to say we got a lot of snow. Around 3:00pm today the sun came out and it was joyous! Along with the sunrays coming out so did our neighbors. Everyone was starting on the daunting task of shoveling snow in preparation of returning to normal life tomorrow. Other people were out enjoying the break in the snow storm & the break in the clouds by sledding, cross country skiing in the road, and building snow frogs..yes snow frog...it was quite impressive. Here are a few more snow pics:

This is our backyard around noon.

My snow covered car.

Our front porch.

Our snowy, but sunny street. Notice the bump in right middle, almost background...that is the car that got stuck yesterday. They are going to have fun with that one.

This is the view from my kitchen sink window. You are looking at Table Top Mountain.

Still Snowing

This is a bit of the main story on the Denver Post:
Blizzard paralyzes state
A dangerous blizzard blew into Colorado early this morning, closing nearly every school district, all major airlines at DIA and nearly all of the Interstate highway system in Colorado. I-70 was closed from Denver to Kansas, I-25 closed from south of Denver to New Mexico, I-76 closed to Nebraska and I-80 closed from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Nebraska.

Here a few pics of what we are experiencing here in Golden:

I don't think there are any birdies in the bird house, just a guess?!

This is a picture taken in the middle of our street. The car you see in the left middleground is there because it got stuck. I watched the struggle end there in defeat from the comforts of my heated home.

This the view from the middle of the street looking back at our side yard. Where does the street end and yard begin?

Corrina going for the spotted look.

The snowy remnants of a winter-stricken flower.

Baby it's Cold Outside

This is our current weather report: (Talk about a White Christmas)

..WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM WEDNESDAY TO 5 PM MST THURSDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM WEDNESDAY TO 5 PM MST THURSDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. SNOW WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING WITH WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL COMMENCING OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. THIS WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY WITH TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 12 TO 24 INCHES. NORTHEAST WINDS TO 10 TO 20 MPH ARE EXPECTED BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

REMEMBER...A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY. SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE OCCURRING OR EXPECTED. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

A few more pics

Ok I couldn't resist because it is too cute. Taylor is pictured with her big bros, Gage & Gavin.