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.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, March 12, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, March 5, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
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.
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.
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