Terrific Tuesday!

Why is Tuesday so great you ask? See following picture.


These beauties showed up at work with a note that said "Just because I love you". :) So, there you have it. I love today.

These are a few of my favorite things...

1. Peppermint bark - yummy!
2. Good old fashion Christmas music. I mean the really good stuff - Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby to name a few.
3. Secret Santa's at work. To funny to see what and where things appear in the office.
4. Goodies from neighbors - so bad, yet so good.
5. Christmas lights!
6. The smell of cinnamon everywhere(even though it makes Nathan sneeze.)
7. Spending time with family and friends. We have a "adopted family" here in Colorado. They expect us for holidays when we don't go to Idaho. It's really quite nice. You know who you are. ;)
8. Corn and noodles. For those of you who don't know what this is, see #7. It's pretty much law that it is at the dinner table for holidays. It consists of corn, noodles, butter, and sugar.
9. Watching Christmas movies for the billionth time. The Grinch, Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Elf, The Muppet's Christmas Carol...I could go on for ever.
10. Hot chocolate and apple cider - thought not at the same time.
11. White Christmases
12. Pumpkin and apple pie - slice of each on the same plate is acceptable!
13. Christmas carolers
14. Christmas shopping - I mean just shopping for Christmas decor. I think it drives Nathan crazy that I could look at all the stuff at Target every week and never get tired of it.
15. Snowmen
16. After Christmas sales :)
17. Making gingerbread houses.
18. Good naps after a day of serious food indulgences.
19. Leftovers = heart attack sandwiches
20. Good friends coming into town to see family and making time to see us :)
21. Crazy neighbors that try to out do each other's Christmas lights/decor. (There is a house that has a TON of lights and they change color and flash in sync with a local radio station's music.)

Music Junkies

Nathan and I have been busy. We have been to 10 concerts since mid-August! Many of our favorite artists have been coming through town and we just can't pass up the opportunity to see them perform live. But all good things must come to an end. :( We saw the last concert on Friday (David Ford, Newton Faulkner, and my fav Ingrid Michaelson) and there couldn't have been a better way to end what we call our "concert season". Well, it may be over. We are still looking at the venues to see if maybe we could find another one...or two. We will keep you posted.

Happy Halloween!

Wishing you all a spooktacular day!













This guy is my candy dish! Isn't he cute?

Deliciousness

Earlier this week I made some sugar cookies that Nathan took to work to share. Apparently nobody at his company has had a sugar cookie before...they ate them like they were going out of style. Nathan said that he got to work, put the cookies in the break room, sent an e-mail, went back to the break room and they were gone! And the recipe I used makes a TON! I guess that Dan-i-cookies may be starting up.






You know how you end up with a weird piece of dough that you're not sure what to do with? I decided to be creative with it and made my very own bat signal. Hmm...I wonder if Batman does laundry.

New Poll!

Please take a moment to check out the poll on the right side of the page. The only catch is that if you vote, we would like you to a leave a comment as to why you think the animal you chose fits you best. It can be based off of looks, shape, personality or whatever floats your boat. (And please, let's keep it PG.) Ok, I'll start. I am sooo a tiger because I love a good cat nap! All right, not so hard. Go forth and vote people! (And I promise we won't have any annoying campaign ads)

Castlewood Canyon

Last week we decided to get out and see some of the leaves changing. (These pictures don't do it justice.) Fortunately for us, we didn't have to go to far. This place is about 10 miles from our house. We had a good time and there were no snake encounters. We're thinking that we may even go back next week - barring that it doesn't get cold and snow. (grumble)

Taking a water break.

Introducing...

Flat Sally. She will be visiting us until December and then she will return to my nieces 4th grade class where she will share her pictures and adventures. We are planning many fun outings with her that I can't post as to keep it a surprise. What a fun way to learn about other places!!

Here she is in the chair at work. Note the detail of her...holding a flower, bangs, and flip-flops. My niece is quit the artist.

Way to go Idaho?

(Law and Order "dunt-dunt")

The following events are true. The people are real.

Woman named Bacon wins Idaho hog-calling title

LEWISTON, Idaho - Jolee Bacon really sizzles when it comes to hog-calling.
The northern Idaho woman took first place Saturday in the competition at the Nez Perce County Fair.
She has raised several champion pigs for 4-H contests. Bacon says she calls pigs every morning and night with her 9-year-old daughter, Jacey.
Bacon won the crown over as she started her hog call with a few loud snorts and a long, drawn-out "sooey."

It's no wonder that most people think Idaho =

1. Potato farmers

2. White supremacists (hmmm...I'm blonde/blue eyed married to a bald white guy. Probably doesn't help the stereotype.)

3. Rednecks

I am from Idaho and am not any of the above. But, I will admit, while reading the article to Nathan, I couldn't resist finishing with "sooooooeeey!" :)

Onions, fantasy football, and newspapers

Here in the great state of Colorado, we are privileged to have a fine news source that goes by the name "The Onion". It is a satirical weekly newspaper poking fun at and culture jamming popular news stories. (It's funny 'cause it's true.) Fortunately for those of you not lucky enough to live in the Rocky Mountain state, they have an online version. I had to add the following headline and link because once again I was sucked into joining Nathan's fantasy football league. (Yeah for team Hootie-McBoobie!) Last week I was up against the guy that had Mr. Brady -- needless to say I won :) Thank you to Bernard Pollard for that tackle that probably ended his career, but helped my fantasy football career.

Female Fans out for Season with Tom Brady's Knee Injury
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/female_fans_out_for_season_with

I have seen it all now!

I saw the craziest thing today and had to share. As I am driving down the road, I see a couple cycling -- not just riding bikes I'm talking the full racing gear get up. This really is a common thing here so I didn't think much of it. As I am driving past them I did a double take. What the heck?! Yes, he really did have his dog in a baby carrier on his back!!

And the award for best husband goes to...

NATHAN!!!

Why you ask? What husband arranges for you to meet one of your favorite singers on your anniversary before the concert? Yes, my husband. We were able to meet Joshua Radin - what a cool guy. If you don't know who he is check him out on myspace. (Joshua Radin not my husband)

Looking tough because let's face it, two guys with arms around each other for pictures is not manly.

Nathan and I have agreed that it is going to be really hard to top that next year!

Anniversary and Dan-i-cakes

Thursday we celebrated our anniversary - 9 years! Nathan brought me flowers and I got him a portable Ipod player/speaker. We went to nice dinner of Italian but did not have dessert. Don't worry, I made a delicious red velvet cake complete white chocolate frosting and raspberries. I have a friend that has told me I should go into the cake business. She even came up with the name Dan-i-cakes. So, there you have it. It has been trademarked. (not that I plan on having a cake business. I just like the name.) I posted a picture of the master piece as requested. It was yummy!

Yes, the raspberry filling is heart shaped :)

Our own private Idaho

We have been back from Idaho for a week now, but we seem to have a million things going on this month. It was fun trip and I think we did just about everything there is to do and then some. I won't go into minute by minute detail - here are just a few of the highlights.

Nathan getting instructions on how to fish...in the yard.

You have to clean what you catch.

Enjoying a Chuckar's baseball game.

Camping - complete with lots of bugs, dirt, and a good rainstorm.

A little harmonica music around the camp fire provided by our brother-in-law. (He doesn't really know how to play, but it was entertaining)

Four wheeling

Playing with guns?!

Help me!

Youth Jamboree - some didn't not enjoy the fish catching experience.

Kung-Fu fighting

Many intense games of Mexican golf and Bocci.

And good buddies!

Let's go Rockies!!

Last week we went to the Rockies game with our friends Tony and Lisa courtesy of Nathan's company and their season tickets. What a great way to spend a summer afternoon - baseball, people watching, hot dogs and dippin' dots! And they won!

The picture below is me and Nathan...he has been mistaken for Chris Dingman (who use to play for the Avs, John Elway (you better know who that is), and Aaron Cook (who plays for the Rockies.) Too bad he can't sign checks with those names...

Check out Nathan's new jersey that I let him get at the game. Yeah, I'm the best wife ever!

Why working out is bad for your self esteem!

Title says it all.
This morning I got up (while the sun was just coming up), got dressed for the gym and headed out the door. I always start with weights, then abs and finish with running. So after working on my manceps (as Nathan likes to call my arms) I start on legs. As I finishing up with my squats, I look down and holy moly...








I was wearing two different shoes!!!

The first thing that I think is, "EH?" Then I tried to make myself feel better by thinking "Oh, yeah, I did that so I could see which shoe feels better when I run." So, I immediately ran out the door.

Zzz...

On a lighter note, our cat is so fat (15 lbs.) that he snores when he is sleeping. Loud enough that on a few occasions Nathan and I have asked each other "What is that noise?" Oh, it's just fatty snoring.

Don't just stand there, feed me!

My Soap Box

Today, John McCain is here for a town hall meeting. I was interested to see what he had to say, but did not want to drive downtown, find a place to park, pay an outrageous amount to park, stand in line and hope to be able to get in. Instead, I opted to wait until his full speech was online. (me dancing around singing "I am so smart, I am so smart. SMRT." If any of you know where that line comes from and who said it...kudos for being so cool.) Anywho, it got me thinking, "Do I really know anything about the candidates and their views/ideas?" Uh, no not really. I think the media is to busy showing he said/did this and it is causing mass confusion throughout. I know that if you are reading this you have access to a computer. So I have added the links for both candidates so you can read for yourself and make an informed decision in November. And if you don't vote, doom on you. Thanks for reading my rant.

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

Can You Hear Me Now?

So I go to the gas station this morning to get gas and some wake-up juice. The guy who walks into the store in front of me is talking on his walkie-talkie phone (forget the fact that he smelt like an ash tray that hasn't showered in a month) on speaker phone. So not only do I get the friendly beeping every time he talks or the beep every time his idiot friend/coworker on the other end responds, I also get his entire conversation in detail.

My thoughts:
1. If you have to hold the phone to talk into the speaker phone, take it off of speaker phone, and put the phone to your ear. You are close enough, might as well do it.
2. Walkie-talkies are cool if you are under 10 or in the military/police.
3. Don't replace the walkie-talkie with a bluetooth (whatever that even means).
4. Bluetooths should only be used when making a call while driving or while talking trash on Call of Duty 4.
5. The word "Dude" is overused. Your overuse of that word leads significant support to the level of job you have.
6. Stop Smoking.
7. Shower.

That is all I have to say about that.

Lemon out.

We're not in France anymore Toto!

I thought I'd share a funny story from this week. We think it's funny -- I guess it could be a "you had to be there" moment but we'll give a shot anyway.

At the Vet with Duncan (aka. Fozzy)
Front Desk: Could you take him over to the scale and weigh him?
Us: OK
Sign on Scale "Please do not change the settings"
Us: He weighs 34.8 kilograms?! (We look at each other and silently ask one another "Uh, how many kilograms in a pound??)
While waiting for the veterinarian we contemplated many witty comments for using kilograms instead of pounds. The following was our favorite.
Wow! 34.8 kilograms that's great, but our dog isn't French Canadian!


PS. For those of you still trying to convert 34.8 kilograms into pounds, the answer is 76.5 lbs. :)

No Superman

I've been fortunate to never have to deal with an allergy of any kind. However, this week I have found my kryptonite...Band-Aids. Seriously. No laughing please. It is a very serious allergy (not really -- more annoying than anything) with a red itchy rash and blisters in the exact shape of the Band-Aid. You think ripping off a Band-Aid hurt before...yowsers! I blame it on illegal immigrants.

SLUG BUG!

My oldest sister and her family have visited twice in the last couple of months. While here, I have been reintroduced to the game of slug bug. However, she plays with some different rules.

1. no slugging (isn't that the point of the game!?) - apparently this causes issues between certain siblings

2. not only do you have to be the first to yell slug bug, you must give an accurate description of the car ie: slug bug blue with spoiler and antenna or slug bug black convertible.

3. and lastly when driving past a VW dealership, one cannot just keep yelling slug bug over and over...they don't count according to her husband. (yeah, whatever. I so would have won!)

I never really thought about the game until they came to visit. Now, I find myself counting VWs to and from work. It has created a competitive rivalry between Nathan and myself (yeah, I always win.) But, more than that, I have realized that there are a lot of them out there. I guess we didn't get the memo that everyone should drive one. Right...could you see 6'4", 230 lbs of Nathan driving one? Perhaps with a daisy in the cup holder? Yeah, me neither.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Happy, happy birthday from all of us to you! We're glad it's your birthday, so we can party too! Hey! A few things that I like about you...even if you are getting old and breaking down:

1. your sense of humor

2. you always are willing to rub my feet while we watch Lost

3. you are a hard worker

4. you are smart

5. you will always eat Mexican food when I want it...even if you don't think you can stomach it

6. you are a people person -- everyone loves you

7. you are very outgoing

8. you are willing to do the laundry when I don't want to

9. you make an incredible bowl of cereal

10. you are can be patient...most of the time

Blog Links

I am still trying to do something better with my blog layout. So, please excuse my ugly page. I tried to add links to every body's blog -- from memory. If yours is not there, don't take offense my memory is...well, I'm blond. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it.

Life Guard on Duty

Now that it is spring and the weather is getting warmer, Nathan and I decided to have a pool put in. Yes, a swimming pool with water. So grab your sunscreen and noodles!




Here is a picture of Duncan enjoying the water.

Note the fancy waterfall feature.

And here is Nathan on duty.

Salsa update

I have been busy trying out salsa recipes - no ulcers yet. Here are a few that I really liked.

Salsa Mexicana
2 T. finely diced white onion
8 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 serrano chiles, finely diced, with seeds
2 T. finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 t. sugar
1 T. fresh lime juice

Place the onion in a strainer and rinse with hot water and drain. Combine all ingredients. Add more sugar if the tomatoes are to acidic. Refrigerate at least 30 mins. before serving.

Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa
1 lb. tomatillos (about 15) husked, rinsed and chopped
1 avocado roughly chopped
1 serrano chile, with seeds
3/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 t. salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree.

Fire-Roasted Tomato Chipotle Salsa
1/4 cup plus 1 T. virgin olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
2 lbs. Roma tomatoes, blackened
4 t. finely minced roasted garlic
1/2 c. minced fresh cilantro
4 chipotle chiles en adobo, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 T. salt
1 t. sugar

Heat a T. of olive oil in pan until lightly smoking. Add onion and saute until caramelized. Transfer the onion, half the blackened tomatoes, and garlic to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the cilantro and chipotle chiles and pulse again.
Peel, seed, and chop the remaining tomatoes and fold in together with the remaining 1/4 c. olive oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, and other tomatoe mixture.

Avocado-Serrano Salsa
2 large avocados chopped
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1 Roma tomato diced
3 T. minced red onion
4 t. minced serrano chile, with seeds
2 t. minced cilantro
1 1/2 t. salt

Carefully fold all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

And finally...

Tomatillo Salsa Verde
1 lb. tomatillos husked, rinsed, and roughly chopped
3 serrano chiles, with seeds
3/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 t. sugar
1 t. salt

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree.

Ole!

So I mentioned that we had a pinata - and not just any pinata. A really hideous one that looks, well like a poor Mexican horse. Ha! Why you ask? We had a ward birthday party and each month had it's own table and was suppose to be decorated. My friend and I were in charge of May and decided on a Cinco De Mayo theme. It turned out pretty cute with a fajita bar, sombreros, jalapenos, and of course the coup de grace a huge donkey pinata with a sombrero on! (which I got an awesome deal on! Did you know you can haggle with the checkers at WalMart?! I didn't either until my friend suggested it while I was checking out. But that is another story.) As I was carrying this eye sore around the church, the following conversation took place:

Me: I have no idea what I am going to do with this thing after all of this is over.

Friend: Ha, keep it and we can have a joint birthday party with it.

Bishopric wife: (very casually) Oh, well you can keep it and have naked pinata night with your husband.

Me: What? (not so much a what as in "Oh, what is that? That sounds nice." more of a "Say whaaat?")

Bishopric wife: You know, you, Nathan, no clothes, and the pinata. It could be lots of fun.

Ok, I was not offended by this comment, I thought it to be quite hilarious. However, our friends don't seem to be interested in having game night at our house...

I present to you El Burro, our current center piece in the kitchen.

Happiness does not come from a jar!

I Y salsa! Yes, I do. Not the nasty Pace stuff in a jar, but homemade with tomatoes, cilantro, onions, and all those good things. If I were to get a paper cut, I would bleed salsa. Nathan can attest to my addiction. (Addiction...such an ugly word. Let's go back to I Ysalsa! Yes, I like that much better.) Today while meandering through the library, I came across a little book called "The Great Salsa Book." Just reading the title had me salivating. I checked it out and have decided that it would be silly of me to try out multiple recipes with just the two of us eating oodles of salsa in one sitting. (Tempting but I think it would kill Nathan) Instead, I think I will have friends over for fajitas and a salsa bar. Perhaps, a joint Cinco de Mayo themed birthday party even though neither of our birthdays are the 5th? I even have a pinata! (I'll tell you all about that in another post.) I'll keep you posted on the details. Until then, happy salsa sampling to me :)

Swimming Lessons

Last weekend, we took Duncan to Cherry Creek State Park. For those of you not familiar with the area, this park is a HUGE off leash dog park along the Cherry Creek about 15 minutes from our house. We thought that we could exhaust the pooch and enjoy the nice spring weather walking around the park. Up until this day, Duncan had yet to go swimming -- baths don't really count. When we found an area that had other dogs playing in the creek, we told Duncan to go play. He was a little hesitant to run around in the water, but quickly decided that it was doggy heaven. Of course, it wouldn't be a true day at the park without a wet doggy shaking all over you! Eww! After a while of frolicking, we walked a little farther and found a marshy area with a pond. I thought to myself, "I wonder if he would swim if I threw a stick in the deep area where he would have to doggy paddle?" I picked up a stick, threw it in, and and told Duncan to go get it. He looked at me like, "Lady, if you wanted the stick, why did you throw it in to the middle of the pond?" He took a few steps into the water, doggy paddled for about 10 seconds, turned around, grabbed the closest stick to him and promptly got out of the water. He looked so pleased with himself that 1. he swam for the first time 2. he retrieved a stick 3. he thought he had out smarted us and we didn't notice that it wasn't the stick. We got a pretty good laugh out of it. Anyone out there give doggy paddling lessons? :)

Ode to a Fairchild

The past weekend we were able to see our good friends Mike and Jill. They moved to PA last year and we still are bitter about it. However, seeing them again remind us why we like them so gosh darn much. It felt like the good old days with them here. So, below I have put a slide show together of things that remind us of them. Many of the pictures are inside jokes and not so funny if you don't know the joke. (Thus, being called an inside joke. Clever isn't it?) To Mike and Jill, we miss you and yes we need to and will go on another trip! Grab some popcorn and get ready to cry from laughter. To the rest of you reading this, just skip the pictures and go directly to the next post.

Fess up

I have come to the conclusion that we all (whether you want to admit it or not) are addicted to the "reality" craze. Some of you already know where I am going with this as you feel that guilty pang inside and the rest will know what that feels like after you finish reading this post.
Yes, I am talking about blurking. (dun, dun, dun...) Over the last couple of weeks while redoing our blog, many of you have asked me where are you links? I need to know what's going on with so and so. I was not aware of how common it is to follow a friends link to their friends link, to their friends and so on. And suddenly, there one is reading a stranger's post about this family's upcoming vacation plans. Of course, you have to check back in a week when they return so you can see the pictures of their trip! There's the pictures of the strangers smiling while eating ice cream, in their bathing suits at the beach, and the family photo - kids crying, weary from the day's activities and the parents trying to wrangle them while smiling. Does anyone else not see the weirdness in this? Yet, it is so addicting!?
I will be the first to admit it. My name is Danica and I am a blurker.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

An Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours!

Your opinion counts...

So, as you can see I have been playing with our blog trying to come up with a new layout. I would love to hear feedback on the color choices and/or ideas. Being a girl, I am indecisive and need the help of you other bloggers. But please, be gentle. :)

Call Me Susie

Now that I am not working (hallelujah!), I am enjoying being a house wife. Everyone at my last job kept telling me, "You'll be so bored and want to come back to work." all while I am thinking "I could never be THAT bored that I would go back to work at THAT office." I have to say I have been loving every minute of being at home. I start out my day by going to the gym, then come home to walk Duncan. Then I either clean a little or do some laundry while I bake or scrapbook. The other day I tried out a new recipe that I thought I would share. It is so tasty and goes great with the homemade rolls I made last week -- call me Susie homemaker.

Potato Cheese Soup

3 cups chicken broth

5 cups diced potato

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt
3/4 cup margarine

3/4 flour

1 pint half and half

1 pint milk

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Combine broth, onion, salt, pepper, celery, and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender. Make a white sauce with margarine, flour, 1/2 and 1/2, and milk. Stir into veggies. Add cheese and heat through.

**I like to serve with crumbled bacon on top!**

So...I Am A Jerk

So, based on the last post Danica made about my recent promotion, I am not going to lie, I have been working a ton and not really paying attention to the world outside of the office. Somewhere in all of my focus on work, Valentines Day* came and went. And I, being the jerk, didn't do anything or get anything for Danica for the holiday.

*Disclaimer - While I understand the commercial reasons for Valentines Day, I am not afraid to admit that I think it is a stupid holiday with no real purpose, other than to give gifts that are forgotten about within a month.

So, my company offered me a couple of Avs tickets for the game on Valentines Day, and although I know it is not necessary the most romantic thing to do, I thought it was a good idea, since we never get to do anything like that together. We went, had a good time and got to see a bunch of sweaty Canadians and Europeans skating around on the ice. What more could a lady want? I don't know.

So, I am now posting here, to confess my jerkness (I know, everyone already knew I was a jerk) and my love for Danica. She is hot, beautiful, patient (most of the time), caring, thoughtful, kind, unemployed (this is actually a good thing), frisky (like a cat), loving, determined, supportive, electric (ask our old thermostat about it) and my best friend (sorry Duncan).

So, in closing, I am just saying...I am a jerk.

The Face of Authority

We are exicted to tell all of you that Nathan was recently promoted to Director of Business Solutions! (Don't ask me what that means. I'm not sure I really understand it myself!) He seems to be really enjoying his new job and company. Things are going well and we only hope that it continues on! So, I know you are all saying, "What does a face of authority look like?" I will describe it for you. Tall, bald, hmmm....possibly a goatee, very dreamy. I can't quite describe it so why don't I just show you. Yes, even business men need to relax with a little Guitar Hero. Don't we all want to rock out sometime?

Girls Night Out!

So last Wednesday, I was able to enjoy a Girl's Night Out with one of my BFFs Jordan. We were able to see Ingrid Michealson in concert thanks to my thoughtful husband that bought us tickets for Christmas! We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Pasta Bella's before heading downtown in the freezing cold. (Nothing like sending two blondes downtown on their own.) After finding a parking spot that was legal, we hoofed it to the show in the freezing cold! And what a show! She is an amazingly talented singer in person and hilarious to boot! (Jordan, have you seen any man chicken's lately?) We had a lot of fun. She will be back in Denver in April, so maybe I can convince Nathan and the Parks to go to the Hotel Cafe Tour. I don't have any pictures from the concert, but I found this clip on You Tube and absolutely love it. So, enjoy!