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.