types of coloradoans - part 1

After living in Colorado for a year I've noticed a few unique types of beings. Though stereotyping can be dangerous, as humans it's only natural that we place people we encounter into little cubby holes in our mind. It helps us to understand people so we can move on to other details. For example, in Florida some types of people that may stand out are NASCAR dads, Miami Jews, New England retirees and beach bums. This is the beginning of a series about types of Coloradans I've come to recognize.

Ski dads - I think I've mentioned these guys before. They are definitely one of the first kinds of individuals I've come to know. When sitting by them on the lift, these fathers talk up their 7-year-old son as the most talented skier who is on his way to be the next Ted Ligety. And once this son takes the gold medal in skiing he'll move on to take an Olympic medal in snowboarding. As they're saying this, they'll turn to their son and say, "Isn't that right Dillon. You're a winner." Then going down the mountain you'll hear Daddy dearest berating his son for bad form on the moguls and explaining that crying is for wimps. Once settled into the bar at the bottom of the mountain the father will tell his son that he has ruined his entire day with his pouting. Class-act jerk dad - and they're all over the mountain!

Mile High Holiday Thoughts

Happy holidays and happy new year to everyone! Here are a few happenings from our December:

1. We threw a Christmas dinner party - the first big dinner party at our new house - and invited some friends who were in town for the holidays. It was a lot of work, especially for Julia, and even though she wasn't 100% satisfied with how the food turned out, I thought it was delicious, and I do believe the guests agreed!

2. A couple nights ago, we ate dinner at our neighborhood pizza and beer joint, Oblio's. As I sat down, Julia tried to whisper something to me. I couldn't figure out what she was saying, but after another minute of whispering and gesticulation I finally understood: "Mayor Hickenlooper is sitting at the bar!"

Indeed the charismatic and popular mayor of Denver sat right behind us, enjoying a leisurely drink, chatting with some admiring locals, and even, to our amusement, sneaking a pour from the beer tap when the bartender was occupied. Only in Denver!

3. Last night, while we were watching the Patriots' big comeback to end the NFL season 16-0, Julia was reading Westword and exclaimed, Oh my god! One of her favorite bands, Devotchka, was playing that very night at the Mercury Cafe. In less than an hour, we ran out the door, bought tickets at the Twist and Shout, and sped off to the show, getting there just in time to see Devotchka's entire set.

What a great time - Mercury Cafe's upper level was festooned with festive lights and holiday decorations, and the cheerful crowd got a fun, energetic show from the band. Devtochka has so much talent, with all the members playing more than one instrument - their female bassist plays bass lines on an acoustic stand-up as well as a lit-up souzaphone - cool! - and their violinist had the frenzied presence of a virtuoso gypsy.

In all 2007 has been great to us, and we have countless reasons to be proud to call Denver our new home. In 2008 let's remember to be good to one another. For our part, Julia and I want to devote more time to giving back to the community and doing what we can to make the world a better place (Devotchka is sure starting the year on the right foot - the proceeds of the show we saw went to charity - bravo!).

Have a great new year!

It's the World Series! In Denver! Oh My!

Awesome - it's exhilarating to see everyone in the city decked out in Rockies colors and to hear everyone in the streets, bus stops, cafes, and offices all over downtown talking about our baseball team. The Rockies have accomplished nothing short of a miracle, and I don't think it could have happened to an athletic club with more heart and more character.

Lots of people are complaining about the "bandwagon joiners" coming out of the woodworks as a result of the Rockies' success. I welcome the bandwagon with open arms. If this winning streak (22 out of 23 games at the time of this writing), and possibly a World Series championship, sparks an interest in baseball in this city, then all the better. If this year's success creates new fans to fill the Rockpile in Coors Field and the barstools of Lodo's drinking establishments next year, then tallyho!

My only gripe is with the ridiculously underpowered online process of purchasing tickets for the Series in Coors Field, which resulted in success for only a small fraction of fans - not including us :(. Since non-season ticket-holders could only buy tickets online, the ticket-selling site was swamped on Monday, causing an official claim (bogus in my opinion) that malicious hackers brought it down. When ticket sales resumed today, we were greeted by constant waits, site-disconnected errors, and no tickets.

I have the feeling that the people who benefited most from this online-only sale were professional ticket scalpers, those with sniping software looking to make a quick buck, and the nationwide horde of well-heeled, travel-ready Red Sox fans. Ah well, we'll be cheering from the comfort and warmth of our neighborhood tavern. Go Rockies!

brown to white to brown to white

I awoke this morning to find that our mountains have been sprinkled with snow! The brown tips are now peaking with white - just like the Coors can. It's amazing to watch the weather change here and the snowcapped mountains are indicative of what's to come. As I sit writing this I glance to my new snowboard which is patiently waiting to be mounted with bindings and hit pow pow for the first time. Ah....

Fall appears in a flash

Yes, as Drake said, we've been working crazy hours! It's a rare time at my work as we're in a transition of moving our systems off of our former parent company and becoming independent. With that, coordinating a company-wide United Way campaign (for 2300 employees), and various other tasks, I'm staying pretty busy. Fortunately, I do love my job and am soaking up every bit of hard work as knowledge for my tiny brain.

With the free time we have Drake and I become weekend warriors. This weekend we did our first Oktoberfest. The brat line was longer than the beer line! And last week we attended our first Red Rocks show to see LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire. The infamous Red Rocks was so much grander than I expected and is a concert experience like no other.

Living the Corporate Life

What's yellow and white and spends 130 hours a week in a cubicle? Answer: Julia and me!

We've been swamped with work over the last couple of months, and it's been hard for us to find a spare moment to relax and forget about the rat race. While Julia does love her job, I have had some issues with mine, and the good news is that I found a new one!

Our friend Isaac, who used to work at my current company, introduced me to the managers at his new company, and I knew I had to work there. Just this week I received the offer letter, and I couldn't be happier. It's in the heart of downtown Denver, which is exactly where I want to be. It's amazing how many jobs are available in the Denver Tech Center, where I currently work (think of an enormous, sprawling office park, a la "Office Space"), and how few technical jobs seem to be available in our vibrant downtown. I feel lucky indeed.

Now that we work in the same area of town, even if we still are punching in 70 hour weeks, at least we can step outside and grab a drink together on the 16th Street Mall after a long day. When you are living the relentless corporate life, sometimes you have to be thankful for the little things!

Grape Expectations

We're finally in our new home! Drake and I made our big move to Grape Street a few Saturdays ago, hence why the blog has been ignored the last few weeks. The move went relatively smooth. The only hitch came when we mis-measured our new sectional couch for the basement and spent two days mulling over how/if to get it down. After removing a door, taking off couch legs, destroying the wall and practicing some tricky maneuvering, the couch squeezed down.
Half-full boxes are still scattered around the house and every weekend the dent gets bigger and spaces are filled with their proper knick knacks and furnishings. It's a great feeling to be home. It's strange, for more than six months now Drake and I have been living in such a transitional state. And it seems that every decision we've made since marrying has kind of lead up to this. We're finally able to anchor our lives and it feels good.
Everyone has been asking for photos of the new place. I snapped a few before the movers brought everything in, but I must admit the photos don't do it justice. You'll have to come visit and see for yourself!

btw - I'm not so creative to come up with the title of this entry on my own. Grape Expectations is the name of the neighborhood liquor store which we've come to enjoy for the great wine choices and fair prices.

Mile High Fourth of July

We hope everyone is having a great and relaxing Fourth of July week! We decided to forgo the usual beer and food-laden activities, which usually leave us sated and patriotic, but just as often bloated and lethargic. Instead we decided to go on a healthy, calorie-burning hike through the beautiful Colorado front range.

Julia got me some great gifts for my birthday, including The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama (could he be our next president?) and a couple of excellent hiking guide books for Colorado. We dove into the hiking books and chose Button Rock Preserve, a 5.9 mile hike near Boulder that brought us to beautiful rolling meadows, a giant gushing dam, and the usual beautiful rocky mountain vistas. Our only complaint was that a large portion of the hike seemed to take place on rocky roads suitable for vehicular traffic, as opposed to true walking trails.

On the way home we happened to see a banner on Mile High Stadium advertising a July 4 Major League Lacrosse game and fireworks show. How could we resist? One of the reasons we moved to Denver was because we love to try new things, and we had sure never attended a professional lacrosse game, much less one at the palatial home of the Broncos.

We decided we had to give this a try, and we weren't disappointed. Lacrosse is a surprisingly fun game to watch. It's kind of like a soccer or hockey, but extremely high scoring (The Denver Outlaws beat the Chicago Machine 22-14, huzzah!). A fight even broke out at one point. Add fireworks to the mix, and what more can you ask for at a live sporting event?

As a final note, my last post was a rather crestfallen look at the state of Colorado Rockies baseball. Well since then, they have proven me wrong by winning like crazy, culminating in a series sweep of the Yankees, and now a sweep of the Mets, marking the first time in over half a century that an MLB team has swept both New York teams in one season. As Julia's aunt Mary from Maryland wrote us, "You think the Rockies are bad?! Check out the Orioles AND the Nationals." Touche.

I swear I used to hate sports. Something about the high altitude (lack of oxygen?) in this state must be turning us into crazy, outdoors-loving, extreme sports-hungry jocks. Colorado will mess you up!

Update: Here are our July 4 photos, newly posted by Julia.

what happens in deadwood, stays in deadwood

We finally went on our long-awaited trip to Deadwood, SD. After watching the HBO series religiously we took an awesome road trip with our two friends (who have also made Swearengen and Woo household names) to get a little taste of the West. The seven-hour drive, a big chunk in Wyoming, gave us a glimpse of the vast terrain and I was having a hard time imagining what it would have been like riding in a wagon pulled by oxen. In fact, I noted I was probably the one who would have died from dysentery.

Deadwood was quite the refuge. Saloons, shops and casinos lining Main St. left nothing to be desired. We happened to make our visit during the Wild Bill Hickok Days festival so streets were closed off and basically we participated in a block party for two days. Beer was cheap, feasts were cooked outdoors, and the music was almost as loud as the characters filling the streets. The West should only be experienced with such excitement!

Drake and I attended our first World Championship for the Cowboy Fast Draw as well as a team penning competition. We also visited the graves of Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok and Seth Bullock (infamous business-owner and sheriff of Deadwood). When history was exhausted, we played penny slots. Then, on the drive home we stopped by Mt. Rushmore. Because really, when's the next time we'll be over that way? Despite discouraging comments from others, Rushmore was actually worth the trip. But why the hell did they put this huge monument in the middle of nowhere? I mean, it's REALLY nowhere.

The trip was so worth it, but I have to admit I'm glad to be back in a place that serves tofu and water as choices as opposed to beer and buffalo as the main course.

snow in june, really?

The biggest news to report is that Drake and I are buying a house! Contracts have traded hands and we close July 9; by August we will be fully moved-in. It's an adorable little house in the historic district, Park Hill, near downtown. Park Hill is one of the most coveted 'hoods in Denver and we feel very lucky to have found such a great home. We can't wait to have everyone come visit!

Although buying a house has been very time-consuming, we still have managed to find time for us. Drake bought new Rollerblades this weekend and, in an attempt to try a new sport, I bought some cheapo used ones. A new summer sport is sure to come out of this! Drake thinks after an hour of practicing that I'm ready for major blading. His optimism is flattering.

Hiking is becoming a regular outing of ours and I'm always amazed at how different each trail is - and at how different each part of the trail is. Today we hiked up to the top of Chief Mountain. A recent storm in the mountains left most of the trail covered in deep snow so we had to trek through a bit of snow. At one point my entire left leg had sunk all the way down leaving my bare leg freezing! The snow also led us to deviate from the trail and do most of our hike straight up (as opposed to zig-zagging with the switchbacks). With a 1000 ft gain in elevation, and already about 10,600 ft up, it was quite the hike. But the view and wildlife at the top was well worth the strain.

Off to Deadwood, SD this weekend to partake in the Wild Bill Hickok Days Festival! Ironically it looks like Sister Hazel will be giving a free concert - who'd thought we see them there of all places? I'm just there to see the gunslingers.

Always persevere.

Drake and I took our first Colorado hike together this Sunday. It was a four-hour, five-mile hike with about a 2000 ft gain in elevation. The couple hours up the mountain definitely pushed my strength and endurance to the limits. The sun was hot and my heart rate maintained a brisk pace that left me periodically resting for breath. But the feeling of reaching the top and the slight burn in my bum today made it all worth while. What I learned from this hike is that I definitely prefer a trail that goes up and down throughout. This trail went up, up, up to the top and then down, down, down to the bottom leaving my knees begging for Advil.

We also made our first bid on a house this weekend. After viewing about 20 houses over the last month we thought we finally found the one. A mini bidding war ended with us offering 10k over the asking price and then finally losing to the younger couple who's parents were backing them. Yes, it left a bitter taste but there's another house out there waiting for us to make our home. We must keep moving forward.

Springtime = Baseball!

This weekend, Julia and I attended a Colorado Rockies game at Coors Field. Coors Field is a gorgeous, spacious stadium, in one of the sunniest, most beautiful cities in America, complete with a waterfall and scenic rock garden, and renown for its homerun-inducing thin air. What more can you ask for as a baseball fan?

The problem is that the Rockies are pretty terrible. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy rooting for the underdog - after all, the Chicago Cubs are my favorite team, and they haven't won a World Series since 1908. But unlike the perennially struggling Cubs, who are willing to spend ludicrous amounts of money - arguably in a misguided manner, but hey, at least they're trying - to win, the Rockies seem built to lose, and the owners don't really seem to care. At the game we saw, they committed some pretty embarassing errors, displayed an anemic offense, and eventually collapsed in a 10-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals (yes, the Royals).

Interestingly, on the light rail trip to the stadium, most of the people in our car were there for the game, but you couldn't tell by looking at them, save for a baseball hat or two. Whereas on the el train to Wrigley Field, people are excited and dressed to the nines in Cubs paraphernalia, people on the way to a Rockies game largely look like they're going to the mall. As the friendly dude sitting across from us said, "I'm just going to party on the Rockpile - every once in a while someone will ask about the score, but I'm just like 'Hey - throw me a hot dog!'".

Actually, now that I think about it, that guy knows exactly what he's doing.

livin' on the edge

My job is going wonderfully. Some girls dream of a white wedding, well I have dreams of being a big-city, business woman and that's exactly what I'm living. It's great. I'm very excited to see where this job leads me.

I took the longest hike of my life last weekend! Eight miles and six hours, whew. It was awesome. I visited Johanna in Fort Collins and we checked out Greyrock. Some of the scenes were breathtaking others were a bit scary. Like, at one point really close to the top of the mountain, the trail markers seemed to disappear and I'm pretty sure we were following bear paths. Seriously, bear crap, swarms of flies, some primal smell, no people, no markers - yeah, all the signs were there. Nonetheless, we came out alive, invigorated and sore.

I got a job!

Monday I start work as a Communication Specialist with one of the nation's largest gatherers and processors of natural gas. After almost three months of searching, and turning down a few, I finally got an offer I really want and am excited about. Many thanks to Drake for supporting me, both financially and emotionally, in making the right decision. He also taught me to go with my gut and after the interview I knew I wanted to work with them. The people I met with were super and I feel this could be a start of a wonderful career for me. The company itself seems very progressive and even does charity matching for its employees. Though the first month or so is on a contract basis, I"m sure I will be a good fit for them and they'll want to keep me ;)

On another note, Drake and I tried Frisbee golf (frolf) for the first time last weekend. What fun! I had no idea how serious people are about it but the number of others playing the greens proved me otherwise. Luckily we didn't keep score and just played for fun because I was way over par (is that how it's said, over par?). You really need a strong arm for this sport!

Our house hunting continues and we're starting to get more serious now that I have a job. We've narrowed it down to one neighborhood - Park Hill. It's like the Duckpond of Denver with historical homes both big and small. We're eying the smaller ones as the large ones can be a couple million. Yikes! But the area itself has proven over time that it maintains its value even when Denver's real estate market slumps.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Cinco de Mayo! Eat a taco or two.

"They're some kind of Brazilian band"....

said the girl on her cell phone in the bathroom minutes before they took stage. Saturday night Drake and I went to see the Brazilian Girls live at the Ogden Theatre. Contrary to their name, this band has one female member and none are Brazilian. This was absolutely one of the best shows I have ever seen! The energy, sex appeal and thumping beats were far more superb than anything I expected. Sunday night we went to see The Decemberists at the Fillmore Auditorium, and though they are no Brazilian Girls, they too put on an excellent show.
Oh, the music and arts Denver attracts!

old and new families

The past few weeks have been filled with family, friends, love and festivities. My parents visited a couple weekends ago; it was their first time in Denver. I dragged them all over the city to show them my favorite spots and also spent a day in the mountains showing off the beautiful Rockies. We had a wonderful time.

This past weekend I was a bridesmaid in my longtime friend, Jess', wedding. Not only was it the first time I had been part of a wedding party, but this was by far the most elaborate wedding I have been to (think southern-hospitality, old-money, Atlanta-style). I was so honored to be part of it and couldn't be happier for the bride and groom (Ed). My favorite part of the weekend was seeing and being with my best friends.

I've uploaded photos of both weekends. Jess and Ed had a couple great photographers at their event so hopefully I'll be able to add those when they come out. My point and shoots are usually a little fuzzy. :) But Drake bought me a new camera for my birthday and I can't wait to put it to use!

New Photos

I uploaded new photos to my album for January, February, and March. Warning: I am definitely not one of those fancy-pants, SLR toting photographers. All my pictures are taken from a cell phone, in an undeniably unskillful manner, with sketchy lighting and shaky focusing; however I found I always have a phone on me, whereas I almost never carry my digital camera. So, some pictures are better than none, I reckon.

Over the last few months we've experienced a lot in Denver about which we've been remiss in blogging, but perhaps we can let pictures be worth their purported 1000 words; notably we experienced our first book signing with the author of one of our favorite novels, Lamb; went on a brewery tour at the company that makes Fat Tire, one of our favorite beers; met family, both new and familiar, at Julia's grandmother's funeral in Maryland; and pretended to be DJs for a night.

TGIF mate!

Huzzah, the weekend has finally arrived. We've had a long week - most of mine was spent in product training, which isn't exactly a blockbuster fun-stravaganza. Also my shoulder has been bugging me ever since I hurt it in a snowboarding mishap a couple weeks ago; I went to a doctor today and he diagnosed it as a torn rotator cuff. Yikes, there goes my pitching career!

I'll have to make an appointment with an orthopedic center for an MRI to determine if there is ligament damage (and therefore if surgery is necessary). Rats. I wish I had a cool story to go along with my injury, but unfortunately I just fell down while slowly crusing toward the kiddie line at the bottom of a green trail. Julia and I aren't exactly extreme daredevils, you know.

We are looking forward to a relaxing and fun weekend. We already made a few cools friends in Denver, including a couple more last week at the Kruder show (Kruder played a very rocking set, incidentally). Tonight we're going to a place known as "the hole" or the "old hole" or some such-named dive, with our friends Karen and Greg (who just got married - congratulations!) and then seeing 300. As much as things can be frustrating and difficult, starting out in a new city, we'll never take for granted the great new friends who have helped keep us sane over the last couple months!

P.S. Go Gators!

Spring foward

Tomorrow marks the first full day of Spring and it's very apparent around Denver. Over the past month I've watched the snow slowly melt and the brown grass return to a vibrant green. When we first moved here I said to Drake, "It will be interesting to see what Denver looks like under all of this." See, when we moved here everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was white. White roads, white buildings, white parks, white signs. Our neighborhood park was used as a snow dumping ground so we even had enormous white mounds acting as visual barricades. Now the snow has all melted; occasionally we'll find areas that are shaded all day with ant hills of snow. The mountains in the distance have even taken a different hue. Denver truly is beautiful. Now I just wonder how long this unveiling will last. March is traditionally the snowiest month and one more big snow is predicted (which I'm actually hoping for so the snow on the mountains gets better for boarding).

This weekend Drake and I took our first snowshoeing adventure. It was great fun! We drove about an hour southeast and picked up the Colorado Trail at Kenosha Pass. At the top of the slope we were able to overlook South Park, which hosts the town (Fairplay) in which the Comedy Central cartoon is based off of. Trudging through the snow I occasionally found myself humming the well-known cartoon theme song by Primus. The good thing about snowshoeing is that there's no learning curve - anyone can do it. It's a lot like hiking but with a sort of sliding motion.

I hope everyone had a great St. Patty's Day! Holidays always make me think of my friends and family.

Our first real weekend.

Drake and I finally feel like we had our real, first Denver weekend. All the weekends thus far have been planned in full and usually didn't include relaxation.

Friday we had a great at-home dinner/movie night with some new friends and hit a couple bars downtown afterward. Saturday we spent the afternoon watching rental movies then roamed around REI for a couple hours. Sunday we had brunch downtown and ended our day with a stroll in the park, basking in the sun and taking in the mountain air. Ahhh, this weekend was a great reminder of why we moved here. Forecast is in the 70s this week.

One of my favorite things about Denver is all the delicious food; every restaurant we've visited has been excellent. Our free time allowed us to visit a couple restaurants downtown this weekend (we live about 10-15 minutes outside the city-action). The first was Tommy's Thai which was recommend to us when we were here in April but weren't able to make. Our lunch dishes were priced under $6 and were super yummy! The second restaurant is the one to write home about. Bump and Grind is located downtown and was obviously a Sunday favorite for locals. The decor is kitschy with neon paint designing the walls and plastic, geometrical mobiles hanging from fake tree tables. Menus were taped to the backs of retro record albums and included such items as Dr. Seuss, The Jackoff and The Shady Rest. All waiters (waitresses) were dressed in drag and put on a great show. In fact, though the food was excellent, I'm sure that was just an added extra because the waitresses were so much fun. Full makeup and hair, fishnet stockings, gel-boob inserts, and heels that I would never attempt to walk in helped make B and G what it is. At one point, one of the waitresses was refilling someone's water and then started pouring it on her chest as if she were in some slow-mo clip for late-night ads. Later she strutted around the restaurant with her dress jacked-up showing her frilly skivvies. Here I'll just mention that none of the waitresses had gone so far as to actually wax ANY of their hair, leading me to believe that when they're not working they lead regular man-lives. I love the idea of dressing in drag for work. And you have to respect a man who can walk, and work, in 5-inch heels.

The REI in Denver is amazing, and huge. I actually think I found a new section this time - "Oh, this is where the women's athletic clothes are". Upon entering patrons are greeted with a three-story rock-climbing wall. And the shoe section has mock-terrain to help buyers gauge if the shoe is the right fit for the trail. So awesome. Every time I visit I'm flooded with the feeling to get rugged and become one with nature. And Drake and I have actually considered the idea of camping since moving here. Before we would say, "No plumbing, no way". Now we're discussing buying tents and hiking packs. It's amazing what this land can do to you.

We finally watched Little Miss Sunshine! For those of you who have seen it you know how awesome it is. For those of you who haven't, go rent it now. In their own way, you love each character no matter how flawed they are. It really is a feel-good movie. And Drake and I can't help but to keep joking about Greg Kinner's winner/loser philosophy and applying it to our own lives when we need a laugh.

Photos are up

So I've finally uploaded new photos to my gallery- loveofapril.com.

The first set are mostly pictures of us moving. My goal was to get a photo of the 'welcome' sign of each state, but nightfall eliminated that option. The morning we woke up in Missouri are the the photos of snow covering our vehicles. I bought my first ice scraper and was thrilled at the thought of doing something new. I have since lost the joy of de-icing my car. :)

Drake spent those four days driving our lives, packed tetris-style thanks to my dad, in our little Penske truck. As you can see, we didn't even have room for our bikes so we strapped them to Drake's car which was pulled by the truck. I hope Drake will add on about how, on our first hotel stop, I misdirected him into the parking lot and didn't realize that the lot didn't loop around. In fact, I totally ignored the "Trailers STOP, do not enter" sign. And maneuvering a truck pulling a trailer is a skill that neither of us have.

One of my favorite adventures so far has been taking theNew Belgium Brewery tour in Fort Collins. The tour gave us a lot of insight to both the company and the brewing process. New Belgium is a VERY green company and is about 85% wind power and the remaining 15% power comes from methane that is produced from its waste. In fact, it was noted that they have an ongoing battle with Sierra Nevada on who can be the most environmentally friendly business. Now, that’s the kind of battle I like to see! At the year mark, each employee is given a ‘Fat Tire’ bicycle and on their five year mark they travel with the husband and wife owners to Belgium to see how it all began. The birth of the brewery is a cute story in which the company slogan, “Follow Your Folly” is conceived. If you’re ever in the area, the tour is definitely worth doing. And Fort Collins itself is gem of a town, with adorable shops and sculptures strung along its downtown plaza.

And we're here!

Denver is now officially our new home. We even have driver's licenses, ice scrapers and chapstick to prove it! Drake and I meant to start this blog sooner, but we've been extremely busy. In fact, he's been working 12+ hour days so it may take him a bit longer to contribute. Sigh.

As many of you know, Denver is everything we'd hoped for. It's a cool city with so much culture and activities. I still cannot get over how NICE the people are - especially in the service industry. As someone pointed out to us, "It's because they want to be here." I also think it's because of all the sunshine.

My job hunt is still going strong. I've had two promising interviews and should hear back from the first one this week. Even if I don't get these positions I'm confident that I'll have a job by the end of the month. Our house is also in the process of being sold. Last night our Realtor informed us that we are officially in the "Sale Pending" phase. It's very exciting! We have relied on our Realtor for so much and he has been absolutely perfect. The task of selling a house is very daunting, especially 1700 miles away, and he has made it all very smooth for us. So if you're ever need an agent in Gainesville, we can refer you to ours as he was referred to us.

Before we moved I was curious if we would experience a little bit of culture shock. I know we didn't move to a remote, cannibalistic island, but it IS in the middle of the US and we are learning to survive with less oxygen. Alas we are still in North America where most areas are homogeneous with the next. I still find it so extraordinary to drive around and see this majestic mountain range filling most of the viewable horizon. And this morning I woke up to snow, which still seems to catch me off guard. I wonder if in a few years I will still find all these differences so pleasantly surprising.

There is so much more to report, but that will all come in time. Photos should be up soon as well.