Sarah's Dog Blog

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!! (or dog food... again)

2010-05-19T09:37:00.004-06:00

Did you guys know that Maggie is the luckiest little puggle in the world?? A few months ago, Maggie (who is a proud member of the Puggle Posse) won a new dog bowl from Mr Puggle. We watched the video and thought, surely there is a different puggle named Maggie, my little Maggie has never won anything! Well, she was the winner!!

And, she is so lucky that she got some goods for her sister as well! Mr Puggle sent us TWO dog bowls and even setup a store full of Sadie and Maggie swag. Yep, Christmas gifts are already purchased and it's only May!

Here are the girls, enjoying their new bowls! Thanks Mr Puggle!! And if you are jealous of these amazing personalized bowls, get in touch with Mr Puggle's mom, she is amazing at this stuff!

Slooooow... progress?

2010-05-18T10:47:00.002-06:00

Has it really been a month since we started diggin' in the back yard?!?! The crazy spring weather in Colorado played a part in the delays, but man is this taking a looong time. Here are some pictures of the progress. I really hope to have everything done next week at this time. Maybe a Memorial Day BBQ should be in the works??

Here is the backyard, with the new fence and GRASS! It looks like a different yard. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but the previous owners did some weird stuff in the yard. Basically, they buried their yard with 4 inches of dirt. When my landscaper started tilling up the dirt, they found rocks cemented together under the first layer of dirt, an extra sidewalk, and lots of landscape fabric. Fun. Just a bit more clean up and some trees and this part will be looking good!
And the front yard! I think the grass looks so nice compared to the crazy groundcover that was there! In the mulch, we will be putting some plants in, see below...

And another shot of the front yard. Much better.

And last but not least, here are a few of the plants that will soon be in the front yard! The guy is actually put them in right now as I type this.

So progress is happening, just a little slowly, but what else is new! I have come to expect seriously long delays when doing anything around this house.

Operation Cleanup the Chaos

2010-04-19T10:59:00.003-06:00

Well folks, there is something to blog about again... Starting today, the landscaping is getting an overhaul. The jist of the makeover is basically to remove all the chaos that has accumulated over the neglected years and replace with easy to maintain grass including a sprinkler system!!

Here is the "before".

Starting in the front:
There are at least 5 different types of ground cover, plus grass in this mess. Scraping all of it out will be step 1!

The hardest decision was what to do with the area between the sidewalk and the street. I almost went with rocks, but I just couldn't do it. The new plan is grass with some flagstone pathways to the street.
And to keep you from getting bored I talked my little models, Sadie and Maggie, into getting into the pictures!
Last Friday, the demolition actually started with the removal of some sidewalks in the back yard. Gotta think about tricks to keep the pets in the yard when the back fence gets ripped out!

Here is Sadie, getting ready to see some changes on her favorite part of the yard.

Keeping the grass and the dog, all else will change.

Even the deck will get overhauled. How many dogs can you find in this picture??

Aside from the landscaping, there are just a few other updates to mention. I have a roommate!! Woot! Jill makes my life more fun and gives me someone to watch Millionaire Matchmaker with, someone to drink on the deck with, and someone to motivate me to pick up more and get organized, and she even vaccuums!! I'm so lucky that she wanted to move in!

This is the most random tagging I have ever seen. Who tags my garage with the word LOVE! that's just non-sense. And super annoying.

And one last picture. I've seen this little face in the window so many times, I can't keep count. I wanted you all to see it to, isn't she cute?

I'm so ready for the summer! Bring it on!

And save the date for a May Day party - May 1st - assuming the landscaping is done, which it should be! It will be a little house welcoming for Jill and (hopefully) an enjoy the landscaping party.

Snuggle Puppies

2010-01-05T12:55:00.004-07:00

Dogs, dogs, dogs... Sure seems like my life revolves around these two bundles of fur!

I have come to the realization that my dogs love their comfort. I am constantly amused by how well they seek out the most comfortable places they can find and hunker down. Here are a few pictures that are no exception.

Ah Sadie, could you get any more comfy?

I swear it looks like she is smiling in this picture!

And Maggie, laying on a bed on a bed! I found this old bed of hers and washed it. It was sitting on my bed and she decided to snuggle down!

"Yes, I know I am too big for this bed. No, I don't care."

And just for a little size comparison, here is Maggie in the same green bed when she was about 3 months old:

Wow has she grown!

Right now, Sadie is snoring away on a bed in my office and Maggie is outside looking in the window at me. I love my doggies!

My Heartbreakers

2010-01-05T12:41:00.003-07:00

This is the last day for the Bronco Blue blog... I do indeed have the blues, but tomorrow I will suck it up and move on...

6 months ago, I would have been pleased to know that the Broncos would finish 8-8... But then the Broncos did the unthinkable and won 6 games in a row! Since the AFL-NFL merger, only 2 teams started 6-0 and issed the playoffs. Now there are three teams with that distinction. And I think it is important to point out that we missed the playoffs by TWO games, not just one so that makes me sad too.

I had perfect attendance this season for the first time in my life and there were some highlights for sure! For starters, I have to say that the weather this season was INCREDIBLE!!! The coldest game was Oct 11th against the Patriots where I think the high was near 30 degrees. Even the Thanksgiving day, Dec 20th and Jan 3rd games were in the high 30s or low 40s! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect season from that respect!

I got to see the team wear their tradition blue uniforms:
And my personal favorite, their orange jerseys:

And for a couple of games they wore these AWESOME throw back jerseys! I almost didn't recognize the team in yellow and brown, and for more than one reason!

While I didn't necessarily have a favorite game, I would have to say the super-close-until-the-final-seconds Oct 4th Cowboys game (win of course) was one of the standouts. The weather was amazing and I got to sit with three of my favorite people!
Look!!! I'm wearing flip flops!!

One of the other highlights of the season was getting to spend so much time with my BFF. Over the past few years, I was missing her a ton and it was great that we got to share so many Bronco games and amazing memories! I can't believe I don't have a single picture of us, but I'll be sure to take more next year!

So, I am almost ready to close down the season that could have been. I am still anxious to hear about the offseason and the amazing coaching decisions yet to come (right?) but until next August, I will find some other passion besides the Broncos. It was a roller coaster ride of a season to be sure.

Upgrade, Oh Yeah!

2009-11-02T14:26:00.004-07:00

The Broncos broke my TV. No seriously, my TV died during the Bronco game on Sunday and I am not sure I can blame it!! I'm glad we have a little over a week to get ready for Monday Night against the Steelers with 40% chance of snow!!!

I've been wanting to get a new TV for a while, and I knew mine was starting to flake out. A few times during each viewing session, the screen would just turn itself off. Sound still worked, but the screen went black. Turning the TV off and on solved the problem so there wasn't a reason to buy a new TV. Until Sunday.

Here is my "small" old TV:

And here is the new 47" with a picture of Michael Phelps on it that I bought at Sam's:

Unbelievable difference. In the past 12 months, I have wasted approximately $240 on HDTV. I had no idea that football players looked that detailed when you pay Comcast for HDTV because my TV wasn't big enough for the details. After some half hearted Halloween cleaning, I spent the evening giggling at how close everything was and otherwise enjoying my new toy.

No comparison, right?And for my girl-power story of the day, let me tell you one other part! So, the TV weighs about 61lbs according to the box. And about 90lbs with the box included. I got this sucker into my house and set up ALL-BY-MY-SELF!!! I almost called to see if I could borrow Mike, but then the engineer in me took over and I did it!! Let's just say the couch helped a bunch!

My only other thought??

Maybe I should have gone bigger!

Happy Birthday Puggle!

2009-10-14T11:04:00.004-06:00

This morning, I'm especially happy that 2 years ago today a litter of little puggles was born, just in time for Christmas 2007.

Here's my Maggie telling all of you how old she is. We did it three times so you can see that, of course, she really understands all this.

Anything for a treat mom!

Love her!

Go Broncos!!

2009-09-22T15:35:00.004-06:00

Last year, I couldn't WAIT for Bronco season. I knew that it meant I would be just about done with 6 months of renovations and on my way to having a new (old) house! This year, I am still excited about Bronco season (that's not news) but I am also, finally, feeling settled in my house. Stuff has it's place and I am planning my next projects!! I keep going back and forth on what I want to do next, but I think the yard needs attention the most. Time to start some real planning!
But, this post is about the Broncos :) hehe!

I had so much fun at the Bronco game. Everything was perfect - the weather (yes, alot can change in Colorado in less than 24 hours); the energy; the WIN; and of course having good company. I got to bring a friend that was in town visiting to the game - he had never been to an NFL game, and I think he is a Bronco fan now!

Turnovers (and then touchdowns) on the 10 are exciting when the action is on the south side of the field:And this picture shows why the 90's were so amazing (ha! I include Terrell here. He is still my favorite Bronco of all time). Welcome to the Ring of Fame Shannon Sharpe!
And please don't cry - you're making me cry:

I would have taken more pictures, but I had a lot of beer (it was hot and I needed to keep drinking cool fluids) and forgot about my camera!! Oh well, only 12 days until the next Bronco home game! Bring on Tony Romo! But first, the Raiders - where are my Raider Haters at??

My Lap Dogs!

2009-09-16T10:51:00.006-06:00

I was going to do a post all about my Broncos and the things that I actually liked about the game on Sunday (specifically the defense, welcome to Denver Brian Dawkins, and my fantasy kicker Matt Prater), but I'll stick to dogs this week since I have a couple of cute pics in the camera that need to be shared!!

Here is my favorite 8 year old lab... She should be in calendars, maybe I will make my own calendar this year, hmmm... Friends and family, you now know what your Christmas gift will be!! Calendars of Sadie and Maggie!!
Maggie doesn't usually go in her cage without a treat, but the other day, she went straight in. Sadie was a little confused too. It was a one time thing, she hasn't done it since :)

She does like to sleep in her beds, does this look comfortable to any one??

This is her favorite spot to sleep. She is such a little lap dog!! If I'm laying on the couch, I can usually count on Maggie to come lay on my lap.

Oh that's right, I have TWO lap dogs. Here is my Sadie on a different day laying in Maggie's "spot".

And on yet another occassion, I ended up with BOTH dogs on my lap. This picture isn't great because it is from my CrapBerry, but it was all I had handy without moving the dogs. You can see Sadie on the left and Maggie on the right.

And Sadie and Maggie have asked to have a Halloween party again this year! Save the date, Oct 31st at our house. I am planning to clean up the garage and have either beer pong or flip cup (or both?!?!) so plan on it.

Maggie, Speak!

2009-09-04T14:03:00.002-06:00

We've been working on this trick for a while... Finally Maggie can reliably speak on command. Cracks me up every time.

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend!!

It's Bronco Season!!!

2009-08-31T13:18:00.003-06:00

And I think I might be the only person in Denver that is still pumped about the Broncos...

Here is what Season Tickets look like!! This year, I was smart enough to take a picture before ripping the first tickets out - go me! It's the 50th Anniversary of the Broncos this year and some of the tickets look extra cool - like the brown/tan ticket for when the Broncos did the unthinkable in 1960 and beat the Boston Patriots (look it up, cool story). Ok, the brief story is the Broncos were a po-dunk (sp?) first season team that got less press coverage than the School of Mines football team (OMG, right?). In their first season, they only won three games, but one of them was against the Boston Patriots who were as good then as they were in 2007. Maybe there will be some 1960s magic in Denver on Oct 11th and we can beat the Patriots again??First game! And it didn't rain, was about 70 degrees outside, couldn't have been more perfect football weather!!
Anne and I may have had a cocktail (or 2?) before the game and when we got to our seats, there were these awesome paper helmets. We wore them long enough for a couple pictures. They were hot - don't know how players stand real helmets...
Yes, we were those people. But only for like 10 minutes... :)
The hardest part of the game? No, not the score board... This:
I'm still sad that Cutler is not a Bronco and the game made it real. I can't bring myself to rename my fish, so I think I will have to draft Cutler on my fantasy team and keep rooting for him, just a little. Hey, I always liked Griese (ps played for the Bears and was briefly on my fantasy team) and Plummer after they left the Broncos so cut me some slack!

And for any of you that think my enthusiasm for the Broncos will be any less if they only manage to win one game this year, let me remind you of something... For four years, every Saturday in the fall, I painted my finger nails blue, half the time drove for 3-6 hours each way, put on a cute little blue skirt and a pony tail and cheered for the School of Mines football team. In four years, I saw them win 9 games. Yes, the total games won in four years was NINE. They played 11 games a year, so that means I saw them lose 35 times. And I still cheered for them every Saturday. My Junior year, they won ONE game and were even beat 70-3 (or something ridiculous like that) at home and still I was there. My love for the Broncos is at least on par for my love of the Orediggers. Take that.

And if anyone wants my prediction, I actually think the second half of the season will be very different from the first half, like last year, only the opposite. I think the talent and coaching will start to click and the Broncos will win a respectable amount of games. And I'll be there cheering for them no matter what. ORANGE AND BLUE.

Slumber Party!!

2009-08-23T21:06:00.002-06:00

I know, it's been a while... I just bought a new camera (I bought one not that long ago, but it broke on my 30th b-day). Hopefully I can post more pics of the most adorable pair of dogs around! And I still need to post the finished pics of the basement, so I'll get to that soon!

On Saturday night, Nicki and Chip ended up staying overnight for a friends wedding, so Denny came over for a slumber party. I tried my best to get a picture of all three dogs together...

Maggie and Sadie are total camera hams, but all I caught of Denny the first time was his tail.
Almost caught all of him the second try...

Third try was the best I could do, but then I cut half of Sadie out of the picture! Guess it wasn't meant to be. But the dogs had so much fun playing together. They stayed up late and woke up early just to play. I needed a nap today!! Notice how Sadie is looking at the camera in EVERY picture?? I have her trained ;)

Maggie loved being on the couch because then her head was at the same level as Denny's. And then she could launch off the couch right onto his head! It was really funny.
Sadie was the first one out. Leave the playing to the 2 year olds (btw, Happy B-Day Denny!)
And one other thing my "good" dog did... I've blogged before about how Maggie likes to dig in her bed. Well, now she is digging in MY bed!! To be fair, these sheets had seen better days, but they are by far the most comfy sheets I own. Darn puggle.

Bronco season is upon us! I'm excited to have Season Tickets again. If anyone wants to come to a game with me, let me know!!! First game is next Sunday night when Cutler and the Bears come to town, preseason style.

I didn't get laid off today...

2009-07-15T16:06:00.002-06:00

And I'm trying to be really hard to be happy about it.

I've been planning to be laid off for the last few weeks and was really looking forward to it. Now I don't get 7.6 months of pay check for 0 days of work. Darn.

Oh well, gotta make the best of it!

Sadie's Birthday, A Wedding and Visitors!!

2009-07-13T15:31:00.005-06:00

I seem to be on a monthly posting pattern - sorry about that. I really need to buy a new camera because the one I have doesn't work very well, it's bulky and I just don't really like it so I never have it with me! Fortunately my sister was in town for the last week and she had her camera and took some fun pictures!!

Turns out, dogs can get their learners permit to drive when they turn 8 years old. Not before that, of course because dogs have to reach a certain maturity level before they can learn to operate heavy machinery! Lucky for me, Sadie turned 8 on July 8th so now she is my driver!!

She's still trying to figure out how to put the car in reverse without thumbs, so sometimes I have to take over the wheel. When I do, she recruits her sister (Maggie) and her cousin (Ted) to make sure I am driving properly.

Speaking of an 8 year old dog, I can't believe my Sadie is getting so old! I was in Longmont and I found a dog bakery with a Pup-Pie, so I got her that as a b-day cake.

Don't worry, she shared!!
My sister came into town on July 4th and we got to spend just over a week together! It was an awesome time, and I can't believe we got along so well the entire week! She is on a biz trip to NYC right now, so I get to experience the joys of 3 dogs for the next two weeks!! Ted is so tiny, I'm afraid I might lose him, or sit on him!!

Our 2nd cousin got married on the 11th in Colorado Springs and my sister and I decided to have our own little photo shoot at the reception. There are lots more pictures, but these two are my favs.Oh the hotness. We always seem to have a hard time take a good shot of the two of us, but I really like this one! Miss you sister!!!
For those of you keeping track, my company is announcing layoffs on Wednesday. I find out my fate at 10am!! I'll probably post to Facebook with my status and maybe I'll even post a quick blog note. Fingers crossed for funemployment!!

Updates and Such

2009-06-15T15:48:00.004-06:00

Here are some of the pictures that have been hiding out in my camera. Don't worry, we haven't missed too much...

A couple weekends ago, Tanya and I took a little sewing class! It was a good experience and I definitely left class feeling like I could sew a sunglass case and maybe even some curtains. I haven't sewn since class though and I feel my skills quickly slipping away.

Maggie is being funny on a daily basis, as usual. She is really helping me get to know my neighbors. Today while I was on a conference call, I noticed that Maggie and Sadie were barking for too long at a dog walking down the alley. Turns out the Beagle - named Miller - had wandered a few blocks from his home and was alone. I tried to take him home, but no one was there so I decided to leave him in my yard for a bit with my girls. Not 10 minutes later, that dog (not one of my princesses of course) opened the gate and Maggie and Miller ran off. I went outside and Sadie was sitting on the deck like "see what a good dog I am, I didn't run away". After about 20 minutes of searching the neighborhood (and the ditches on the busy streets), I couldn't find either Maggie or Miller. A little while later, I got a call from a lady who lives almost on Colfax and she had my dog. Apparently Maggie and Miller were still together when they caught Maggie, but Miller slipped away. He was last seen by the ice cream shop. His parents weren't worried, apparently he gets out all the time.

Maggie's favorite ball right now is this old golf ball. She thinks it's the perfect size!

And here she is, just enjoying the sun. This picture cracks me up. "Please come rub my belly"!!

All the rain has been making my weeds grow like crazy! All I had was a push mower and these weeds were way to high for the push mower to do any good. You could lose a dog in that!! Don't worry, I have a lawn mower now and the weeds are under control. From a glance, it almost looks like a grassy yard!!
And I can't believe I never posted these two pictures of Zoe Saba!! I love the first picture of her and Ruthie - so adorable!! Much love to the Saba's!

Sooo tiny! Well, I'm sure she is about 2x this size now... I need to go see for myself!

That's about all I have taken pictures of in the past month. I'll try to do better... Or not. I hope everyone has a great week!!

1952 vs 2009, A Time Capsule

2009-06-11T19:01:00.004-06:00

In 1952, my house was renovated. Under the hardwood floors that were installed then, the previous owners left me a type of time capsule in the form of a few old newspaper clippings. Based on the clippings found, I think they were trying to let me know how much things cost in 1952.

The following pictures are from The Denver Post, November 10, 1952 (my parent's were 2 at the time...)

I can't figure out what the top item on the left was, but 1lb of Chocolate Covered Cherries now goes for about $20. Which is about 40x the 1952 price.

Minute Maid OJ varies depending on if it is on sale, but you can buy it on the internet (seriously) for $4.49 for a 12 oz can. The 10.5 cent can is 6oz, so relatively speaking, OJ is up 21x.

Wrigley's gum now goes for about $0.50 a pack instead of 1.5 cents a pack, so 33x the 1952 price.

And yummy potatoes... Now let's say they cost an average amount of about $0.50 a pound. This 25 pound bag would go for about $12.50 today. That's a 14x incease over 1952.

The interesting thing here is the lotion that costs $1 for a 16oz bottle. I could probably get a cheap bottle of 16oz lotion at the dollar store. I could also pay about $56 for 16oz of Keils, so anywhere from 1-56x the price of 1952. Who loves their digital TV? I know I do... Can you imagine spending even $309.95 today to watch about 3 channels, each with only a few programs airing? Seems outrageous to me! Considering the typical inflation since 1952 is about 8x, maybe I need to start looking for sale food items to compare with instead of internet prices... But that still means this small, heavy TV would cost $2472 of today's dollars!

Any hockey fans out there? Can you imagine what it would be like to have only 6 teams?!? What, no Avalanche?

This little blast from the past sponsored by the past and current owner at 1201 Adams St.

Proud of My Sister!!

2009-05-18T17:13:00.003-06:00

After three years of hard work, my little sister finished her MBA at one of the top MBA schools in the nation!! Despite the fact that there were 600 graduates in the MBA school (which took almost 3 hours!!), the whole weekend was a blast full of more fun than I can possibly capture here! I'm so proud of her and how hard see worked! This weekend was certainly a celebration and I will remember it and laugh forever!

I got to meet my sisters boyfriend! He is awesome. And his music is awesome too - we jammed to it most of the time we were in the car!

Some of the other highlights included a nice dinner after graduation that my Aunt and cousin were able to attend. The food was tasty, but the company and our reason for being there was the best!

On Saturday, we took an adventure for the record books. I have never laughed so hard and for so long as we did on our little day trip to Santa Barbara. You would think the 3 hour (100 mile) car ride would put a damper on the day, but it left lots of time for a photo shoot!

We got a bit of a late start, and met rediculous traffic, so we didn't get to Santa Barbara until about 3pm. Good thing we found a few tasting rooms that were open until 6pm. We hit up three different locales representing 4 vineyards and managed to get pretty toasty in about 3 hours.

Then the laughter started and didn't end until the car ride home. We rented a 4 person bike and cruised all over thinking we were fast scaring other tourists. We went places we weren't allowed, almost ran some people over, went over a bumb so big it tossed my sisters purse all over the pier, peddled so hard we knocked the chain off, and otherwise had the most fantastic time!

After some brunch and some needed rest on Sunday, we went horse back riding though the Hollywood hills! The day was a little smoggy and pretty warm but it was a great way to spend an hour with family. We also went to see Angels and Demons during the earthquake (I thought it was just good sound effects) and had a good sushi dinner and yummy frozen yogurt.

Thanks "Master" for hosting us and setting up a fantastic itinerary!! It was a perfect weekend and I couldn't be more proud of my sister (and her friends!) for all she accomplished!!

The Un-Crate-Able Sadie Mae

2009-05-13T13:10:00.006-06:00

Have you seen (or read) Marley and Me? If so, you know what the first few years of Sadie's life were like. It was tough. She was so adorable I couldn't even stand it, but she was baaaad.

First thing on the list was to crate train her. I worked about 5 minutes from home at the time and so she was never alone for more than 3-4 hours without some play time. She hated her crate. On most occasions, she would poop in her crate. Even in the middle of the night. You can't sleep through that, so a trip outside at 2am to hose off the crate and the dog were required. One night right after she was spayed (at 6 months, about 60 pounds, and about 100 poop clean outs), she was allowed to sleep outside her crate. She never pooped at night again. She also stopped pooping when she was given the 3'x5' laundry room to hang out in. I guess she trained me?

The list of things she distroyed included:

-Any toy. Even the guaranteed undestructible ones.
-Vistors shoes. Sadie had to use her allowance to buy a few people new shoes because she destroyed theirs in about 15 seconds.
-The laundry room. Including riping up the linoleum floor, chewing off the baseboards and 2, yes TWO huge holes through the drywall as she tried to escape.
-The deck. She managed a 1foot x 1foot hole in the deck boards somehow and chewed about 50% of the railing so it looked like there was a beaver in the back yard.
-Countless sunglasses, Playstation games, loaves of bread, pens, markers (on the couch), an ink cartridge, the broom (I'll take the blame for that one, it was funny), you name it, she ate it.

I called her my "counter-surfer" and she still is to this day. If you turned your back for 1 second, she snatched something off the counter. She's a little slower now but she'll still jump up there!

One time, my mom was visiting and she had a new wireless adapter card for her PC. She set it on the table as she got out the rest of her PC stuff. She went to reach for the adapter card and it was gone. She hadn't even seen Sadie come by, but sure enough Sadie had about 10 teeth marks into it in no time flat! She new exactly what to snatch and was bold enough to do it with us right there!! Baaaad dog. But really funny and adorable too, right?

Yesterday, I was looking at the outrageously priced dog treats for cleaning teeth. They're about $1 each for the small ones. I bought a bag of 12 to see if they worked. Sadie ate the entire bag while I was at dinner last night. She's just lettin me know who's in charge around here, in case I forgot.

Overall, Sadie has become a fantastic dog and companion. She has been my rock through the hardest things I have ever faced. She has seen me cry more than anyone or anything else combined. The most amazing thing about Sadie is how empathetic she is to my feelings. She knows when I'm happy and when I need to be cheered up. It is amazing.

Here's to my best friend.

On a hike - she loves to hike: My beautiful girl:
My screen saver for the last year:And of course, the hugging shots:
My favorite picture of all time:

Playing Favorites

2009-05-06T12:01:00.003-06:00

I try to be a good and fair "mom" to my two dogs, but having two dogs definitely leads to having a favorite every now and then... I can't help it. When my mom was here last time, she told me that I don't pay as much attention to Sadie as I used to. She's right. At first, I justified it by saying that Maggie gave Sadie more attention than she lost from me. Maybe that's ok, but maybe not. So saying all that, I feel even more guilty about this post, but today I want to tell you why Maggie is such a great dog. Next post will be about why Sadie is such a great dog, I promise.

I don't know if you can see this chart very well, but it is from puggles.org. If it weren't for this website, Maggie wouldn't be my dog. It says that 95% of puggles like to cuddle. If anyone has known me for a while, they know about my teddy bears. There was the care bear, Tenderheart, and of course Kimmy who lost a foot to Sadie when she was a puppy... I always loved having a teddy bear that I could curl up with. Sadie is a good snuggler for a big dog, but she usually gets hot or uncomfortable after about 10 minutes. One or two body parts touching is more than enough for Sadie.

When we first met Maggie, I hadn't heard of a puggle yet, but she was the cutest dog I had ever seen. I went to puggle.org and saw lots and lots of pictures. At first, I was trying to convince myself that I could get a puggle any time, no need to impulse buy. The problem was, Maggie was so much cuter than even the cutest puggles on the website! And they LOVE to cuddle!! So, I had to have her!! Best decision ever. She is the most loving, affectionate dog out there. If you don't want a dog to sit in your lab, don't get a puggle. Just last night, I was sitting on the couch eating dinner and Maggie came up and just laid her head on my leg. She just wanted to touch. It was so sweet! And then, there is the face:

The underbite cracks me up. I really think this is her smiling. The underbite usually only comes out when she is happy, so I love seeing this face.

Anytime I want, I can just scoop her up and give her a hug. And I think she loves it as much as I do! When work is stessful or I'm worried about my house / future / whatever, Maggie is always ready to cuddle and she has a smile and wagging tail to tell me everything will be ok. Horray for Maggie - I love that little dog.

If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say...

2009-04-21T16:48:00.004-06:00

Don't say anything at all, right?

Well, after a month I finally found enough good things to talk about to have a new post!

As usual, the dogs have been great, and hilarious! They love to play so much. "Tug" is by far the favorite game.

Strangely enough, Maggie almost always wins. Not because of strength, I don't think! Haha!
This one happens a lot - Sadie is saying "mom, I didn't do it - Maggie tore that toy apart!" in case I couldn't tell...

And I've been hanging things up... I am thinking of it as 'staging' which makes me reluctant to do it, but it must be done! My mom gave me money for curtains for the living room for my b-day. After a ton of thought, I finally bought shear curtains on a tension rod for privacy and brown curtains for color.

And I hung some pictures on the wall!!

A couple of weekends ago, the 'rents came up again and gave me some free labor. We got some mean painting done in the basement (and after a few more 2-3 hour sessions, I am almost done with paint...). And the basement floor is leveled out, waiting for some tile:

My dad got after the ugly tree with his chain saw, and setup my patio furniture. Now my deck feels like a great place to have a few drinks and relax!!I painted the cabinet doors for the basement bathroom and it made SO MUCH difference! The doors are on now and I can't believe how much better it looks. Just a few more projects...

And if I didn't get enough chances to paint, someone decided to tag me. again. I guess this really is an urban neighborhood... Selling feature, perhaps?

What a Year...

2009-03-16T11:48:00.003-06:00

Exactly one year ago today, I handed over the keys to my cute little townhouse in Belmar. I loved that place - it was perfect for me and Sadie! A nice park across the street, the library, and of course, all the shopping!! Sadie and I often wandered over to the Petco, just to look around. There were some negatives, like the ancient neighbors and a cement courtyard, but overall it worked. During the 2007-2008 winter, I promised Sadie I would find a place with a yard by fall 2008 so she could spend time outside (and so that snow boots weren't required 3-4 times a day when she needed to go outside). In January 2008, just as I acknowledged that I would try to find place with a yard at some point during the year, I got the postcard that started all of this...

I should also mentioned that this postcard arrived 2 weeks after Maggie - call it fate, but it felt right to sell my townhouse and find a back yard!

I looked at probably 80 different places over the next 6 weeks trying to find the right place. I found one promising place and had it under contract, but in the end the seller and I couldn't agree to terms. I wanted something in an old neighborhood that was move in ready.

Umm, what did I just say? Move in ready?? Hmmm...

I had a list of things I wanted in my "dream home" and when I found the house on Adams, I saw the potential. I underestimated the work to get to "dream home" status, but it had potential.

First on the list was a yard. I think my yard is perfect! Not too big and not too small. And Maggie spends about 8 hours a day outside, minimum, so this is perfect for her.Next on the list was an open floor plan and I could tell that this place would make me happy. This is the only room that got a minor face lift. It was close to perfect right from the start.

A garage was also a must, and a 2 car garage was preferred. That is what I found, plus the access off 12th instead of the alley AND an oversized section that has tons of potential as well.

I also wanted a front porch-- check. A laundry shoot, or even better main floor laundry -- check! A nice kitchen, with room for entertaining -- check!! A good neighborhood within walking distance of bars - check!!! A home office and also a place for visitors to sleep - check!!!!

So, after the roller coaster of the past 12 months, I have indeed found my dream home:

Now, I just hope I can keep it ;)

Spring, Please Hurry Up!

2009-03-10T16:57:00.002-06:00

The light dusting of snow, and the ice that some of my co-workers faced this morning, reminds me that it is still winter after all... Until next Friday, the 20th, when Spring officially begins! But the flowers in my yard decided to make an early appearance!! Welcome! Now stop teasing me.
A couple of months ago, I bought my first piece of new art for the house. My mom and I were at an art store off I-70 to look for some art supplies that I didn't understand, my mom is the right brained one, not me DUH! But I can certainly BUY art... This picture is pretty big, maybe 2 feet by 3 feet, and even signed by the artist! I picked it up for a cool $25. Apparently, you can't even buy a canvas for that price - sweet! Anyway, its hanging at the end of my bed and makes me feel like I have a window there!! My first art hung in the house!

And last, but not least, I wanted to take a picture of all the awesome birthday cards I got this year! The one upside to turning 30 is that I got some fun cards! Thanks to all!

Not much else to report... My camera broke at my birthday party somehow, but I stumbled upon my old camera that I lost a few months ago! It is in pretty bad shape, but it took the above pictures for me, so I can't complain! I am in the market for some window treatments for my bay window, so the whole neighborhood can't see in, and I think I figured out what to do. Hopefully I can get that knocked out soon and get some pictures posted!!

This weekend is Nicki's Bachelorette PARTY!! I am sooo super excited, but I can be 125% sure that I will not drink as much as I did one night last month.

I recovered from my birthday...

2009-02-23T12:13:00.003-07:00

Barely. It took all day yesterday to feel human again - I guess I really am getting older! But I had a great time and here are a few fun pictures!

It started out innocently enough with dinner at Red Square. I remember the company was excellent, the vodka was good, the food was ok and the service was poor. Here is a cute picture of Suzie and Ivory! Then we headed over to Andrews on Lincoln. Thank you so much to everyone who came - it was a great time! I wish I had spent more time with a few people (Tanya, Kathyrn...) but somehow the vodka made my night go by super fast!

There were lots of good pictures, and some interesting pictures, and some troubling pictures. Here are just a few (for those that didn't see them on Facebook):

This was not my first shot... or my last...

I remember once my sister Rachel got made fun of because whenever she is drunk in a picture, she would make the peace sign... Uh oh... There is more than one open mouthed peace sign from that night...

If you want to see more pictures, you will have to become my facebook friend ;)

I also need to say an extra special thank you to Suzie - who made sure I got home safe and comforted me by reminding me that it was ok to throw up on your birthday - we've all done it, right!

Meet Cutler, My Sucidal Fish

2009-02-05T19:45:00.002-07:00

Last week I was thinking about how proud I am that I have kept my fish alive for 2 years... I had wanted a salt water fish take for as far back as I can remember. For Christmas 2006, my mom bought me a BioCube. This little wonder has all the parts you need to have an amazing coral reef experience without all the thousands of dollars of equipment.

Right after I got the tank, I picked up a cheap fish (that I assumed would die) and I named him Rookie. Fitting right?? Well Rookie was doing well and so I got a new fish, the "nemo" fish and I named him Cutler. (Cutler was a Rookie at the time, again pretty creative, right?)

Now Cutler is trying to kill himself. And I have a feeling he will not be with us when I get back from my trip to LA next week.

One time, when I was away, the tank was open and Cutler jumped out of the tank and fell all the way to the hard wood floors below. But he didn't die - Eric picked him up and put him back in the tank. For the past 6+ months, things have been going swimmingly. Hehe.

A few nights ago, I was on the phone with my mom freaking out because Cutler didn't show up for feeding time. I searched for the dead floating fish or the dead fish laying in the sand, but there was no Cutler...
Somehow, he jumped the plastic barrier and was trapped in the filter area. Barely enough room to turn around! If I hadn't found him soon... So I scooped him back into the regular part of the tank where he swam around for a while. Next day, I found him in the same place again!

I'm wondering if there is a fish wisperer that can talk some sense into this guy... The next part is where it gets worse. Notice just to the left of the area with the orange fish is an area that has little holes in it? Well that's where I found Cutler this morning. Barely alive... because the water is not deep there. Stupid fish. Back into the tank... The next time I found him, he was in the next compartment over to the left, which is where the pump is. Here is the shot from the side of the tank. You can see a peek of orange inside the skinny window that helps me monitor the correct water level, write by the "minimum" sign.

So, I am leaving for a few days... Where do you suppose I will find my fish?

I've Been Tagged :(

2009-02-02T19:28:00.002-07:00

So, I keep getting tagged on facebook to fill out some 25 questions thing... Maybe that can be my next blog post! But in the mean time, I got for real gangsta' tagged. Hehe - as Suzie said, at least it was my initial! Just when I thought I couldn't stand to paint any more, I got to repaint the side of my garage to cover graffiti. Boo. But it only took like 20 minutes, so if I had a non-painted garage, things would have been much worse!

My dad did some slave labor on Friday while I was mostly working and got some baseboards up in the basement (after I met my deadline for getting everything painted!). I still need to do the touch up work and my hand won't pick up a brush... Maybe next weekend. But it looks so much better so far and I love the dogs on the stairs!!

Why were the dogs on the stairs you ask?? Well, because my dad installed a new light fixture to replace the hideous one, and sometime during the night a boogey man came and knocked the glass part off - maybe the gremlins are back? I'm not sure if I should try to find another identical light fixture to get the glass part or if I should just get a whole new light...

And if there aren't enough dog pictures for you, here are two more. Whenever I paint, I make a mess (did you see my hands last week!) and apparently I get paint everywhere including on the dogs. Really, I think they are just nosey and get the paint on themselves...

Both dogs have paint on their right ears... weird.

Well, that's it for now... Have a great week everyone! (AHH, only 19 more days of my 20's!!)

It won't come off!!

2009-01-28T22:42:00.002-07:00

Remember a few months ago, when I said I was "done" with my house... Well, I lied. This weekend, my dad is coming to help me finish a few projects in the basement, like installing some baseboards and light fixtures and flooring and what not. So, that means I have a deadline to get all of the new baseboards and walls painted. So, I spent a few hours tonight doing a little primer, coat, coat --- in my living room!!! The baseboard pieces are 16 feet long, and I don't have a saw, so I couldn't figure out anywhere else to paint them. Miraculously, I only made a mess on myself.

FYI, paint comes off hands easily with warm water and soap. Primer does NOT. I have an important meeting tomorrow at 8am... What should I do to get this stuff off??!?!
Here are the baseboards, as they were painted in my living room... This makes me cringe a little.

And here is another shot. My back hurts from bending over to paint these things... And if you look closely. you will see that there are 2 more boards on the side that aren't painted! YIKES! I Hope I can finish them tomorrow... Ah deadlines.

Last but not least, I have a new humidifier with my heating system... When it gets a little cool out, I get awesome windows that you can write on! I actually had a few frozen windows at one point, which might not be so good...

I had a wonderful time at Drea and Josh's wedding, and I want to wish them congratulations one more time! My camera went with me to Chicago but was dead on arrival so even though I remembered it, I couldn't take a single picture. Figures, right?

Almost a Month!

2009-01-16T13:35:00.004-07:00

Wow, time flies when you are having fun!! I don't have too much to report, so prepare yourself for a blog of cute dog pictures!!

Ah, my girls:
Maggie has the cutest little underbite. Let me see your grill:

Christmas was amazing. I got to have my mom, sister, grandma and Eric over for Christmas dinner and the family time was very special. Rachel brought her LA dog, Cousin Ted. At first Ted wasn't having any of Maggie, but eventually they started to play and they had a lot of fun!

And Sadie was a good dog, as always. She really liked have a bow on her head... Or not...

Maggie got a new bone for Christmas:
So she tried to bury it in my new coat! That DOG!

Things are starting to be more normal again. Two weeks in a row of working 5 days has been very different than 2 weeks off! But I am feeling productive for the most part, so that's good! This new job isn't so bad!

Aunt Rachel, Maggie still LOVES her toys. She carries them everywhere (they are not allowed outside or in the bed, but everywhere else!):

And for Ann, here is our decorated Christmas tree! It was really beautiful. Thanks to my mom for decorating it and thanks to Eric for picking it out!

I couldn't resist posting this last picture... Paul emailed it to me. This is from Fritz's birthday party last weekend. I am pretty sure we were having a great time, right?!?!
Happy 2009 everyone! I'll try to find things other than the dogs to blog about!!

It's Beginning to LOOK a Lot Like Christmas!!

2008-12-18T12:21:00.002-07:00

I was debating whether or not to get a Christmas tree this year... I love getting Christmas trees, but I wasn't sure if I had the energy to get one up and decorated. Since my mom and sister are coming to town, I thought the place really did need one.

So Eric and I ventured out on Saturday to the tree lots and returned with nothing. The tree lots were expensive and it was cold that day, so no tree. Then on Sunday afternoon, Eric surprised me with this monster! I was thinking a simple 4-6 ft tree (which is what I had a stand for) but I got an enormous tree instead!! The biggest tree ever. And we had to search for a new tree stand at 7pm last Sunday because the one I had was too small!!
So far I have gotten some lights on it, but it still needs ornaments. Hopefully my mom will help me when she gets here TOMORROW! The tree makes the house fell so festive. If only I could figure out what to do with the furniture...

And since the last post was just about Sadie, here are some cute Maggie pics. She loves this blue bed. There is one spot in particular that is almost worn through because she digs at it all the time. I have no idea why... Eric thinks it is because she pooped on it her first night in Colorado!

This morning, I was in my office working and heard Maggie grunting around. Well, the smart little dog moved her bed across the living room and plopped it down right in the line of the sun from the dining room window. She loves to lay in the sunny spots, but who knew she was smart enough to bring her bed over there too!
One week until Christmas, and I would guess I am about 15% done with my shopping. Thank goodness for a "mandatory" 2 week work shut down. I can get some last minute power shopping in!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas!!

2008-12-10T22:30:00.003-07:00

This post has nothing to do with my house... Well except for that one sentence!

I am getting really excited for Christmas. I got the best news today - my mom AND my sister will both be staying in my house on Christmas Eve! I can't remember the last time we spent Christmas morning together - it could have been 12 years ago!

And in honor of Christmas, and the renaming of the blog (ok two sentences) indicating the completion of the remodel, here are some shots a coworker took of me and Sadie 2 years ago for Christmas cards. (I never sent them, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

I'm lucky to have such a beautiful dog. She is all I can see in these pictures!!
Doesn't she look happy?? I have no idea what life would be like without her...

And this last one is just hillarious!

Now all I need is a Christmas tree... Hmmm, that sounds a lot like work...

Dogs, New Car, Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-24T18:31:00.004-07:00

I sometimes wonder if people out there are sad that my remodel is basically done... That means I really don't have too much to talk about and the blog is certainly more boring...

So, I'll start with Maggie. I swear she is cuter every day. Lately, she has been such a little snuggler and hops in my lap anytime I sit on the couch. Here she is with Sadie - sharing a bed:

That picture was from a few weeks ago and here is one from tonight. I know this sounds weird, but her nose is turning pink! This picture doesn't really do it justice, but the tip really is pink and seems to be getting lighter. Any idea why that would happen? Maybe her collar is rubbing off on it?And here are a couple of pictures of the guest room downstairs. The paint came out really nicely and the room, while small, feels quite cozy. It even fit the couch piece that didn't fit in the downstairs living room.

And here is a picture of the bed. Only a foot or 2 on each side, but it is workable.

And, I finally got mt new company car! Check out this sweet ride! This is much better than the "mommy missile" I was driving around. The only tricky part is finding a comfy place for Sadie to sit. I think she will be fine for short rides:

And another angle. I wonder if I will be able to keep it clean?

There are also lots of bells and whistles, like Satellite radio and a navigation system. I like driving it a lot - much peppier than my old car and perfect for crossing busy neighborhood streets ;) Here is my view. Don't worry, the light was red when I took this picture!
That's about all that is new! Check out the latest in the Bronco pool. Four of us crazies are just one game away from being out of it!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Since it has been a while, two posts in a day!

2008-11-10T13:19:00.004-07:00

Since I am on a role and enjoying the break from "intellectual work", here are some house pics that I have been meaning to share!

The word "DONE" can now be officially used! There is still a (growing) list of things I need the contractors to touch up, but they will come back in January to do everything on the list and then they will come back again before my 2 year warranty expires at least once for touch ups! What a nice feeling to have a 2 year warranty. But the best part is this:
Looks like an ordinary back door, right? Well it is much more than that for me. This is where the lock box once was!! And it is GONE! That means no one can come in my house at 7am on a Tuesday without letting me know ahead of time!!! This was the best part of last week and what I had been waiting for to use the "d" word.

And now I have rugs, which makes the place feel a lot more like home! The wood floors are great, but a rug is a must, especially with the weather getting cooler! I couldn't even get this one unrolled before Sadie wanted to lay on it! She apparently agrees on the importance of rugs!

Here it is in the bed room. I wish the doorway was bigger, but it gives you an idea...

And a rug for the living room:

And a matching runner:

Here is another shot that was a long time in the making! Parking in the garage! I can do it now whenever I want! It still isn't a habit yet because my car barely fits, but I will get used to it soon! Especially when my new, smaller, company car gets here.

Here is a shot of the stairs in the basement. They make the place feel a lot more finished.

One bedroom and a wall have been painted so far, soon hopefully the whole area will be painted!There is still a ton to do - including outside, where the toilet still sits! I asked the contractors to remove this with their trash, but apparently they thought it was too pretty to take away! Haha, well maybe it is growing on me...

A Belated Happy Halloween!

2008-11-10T13:06:00.004-07:00

Halloween on a Friday - that is a recipe for trouble!! Lucky for us, the trouble didn't come, but lots of friends did! Here are all the pictures that were in my camera. If anyone else has pics, send them my way and I will post them!!

Here are the hippie dogs!!Justin Timberlake (er, Chip) made an appearance in his famous costume for a famous SNL song. Name that tune!

And the boy scout (John) had to get a closer look. Don't get too close - it might bite!

And the skinny girls rocked the spandex this year! Jill is an 80's aerobics girl and Gwen is a high school wrestler - she even had a robe thingy. And notice baby Dave in the background, with a "bottle" of Jack.Perfect Jane Fonda form!!! I'd totally buy this exercise video!

I caught the cowgirl, without her Indian (hehe) and Anne, er Wanda was a hot tourist, complete with a fanny pack!

And all the hippies together for a group photo. What are the dogs looking at?!?

It was a great party! Thanks to everyone who came - there were some hilarious costumes, I just wish I had taken more pictures. That's why we needed Drea to be our photographer!! Next time I will do better - I have a blog to think about after all!!

Almost There!!

2008-10-16T21:47:00.005-06:00

I should be writting about how nice it is to finally be in my home... Well, I am almost done with contractors - perhaps next week and we can take the lock box off the door and settle up with the payments. So, 6 months after we started and we can almost call this place DONE.

Here are some overdue pics. I hired a great guy to install new garage doors. When I get my new company car next week (yep, the Mercedes) it will have a nice home! The Almond color couldn't have been more perfect and I was super lucky to have such a great installer that even worked through a Bronco game!
What a pretty garage, no? Just needs a bit of touch up paint and we are all set.
Here is what the new openers look like. I have really missed having a garage these last 6 months so I can't wait to start parking in here.
Just a few last things to get outa here before it can be a real garage. When I moved in, the garage was FULL of my stuff, so this picture makes me feel like unpacking progress has occured! There was also a pile of hardwood flooring that I was waiting to remove...
Now that the stairs are built, I can return all the unused wood and get it out of my garage! On Saturday morning (yes Saturday) the floor finishers will be here. They come again on Sunday and then the stairs should be done! This is the last major task to complete!! Oh, and I am having new carpet installed downstairs tomorrow. I painted the ceiling, but so far I haven't had the energy to paint the walls. Oh well, I can use drop clothes :)

There is still a lot of stuff that needs to get done around here - but most of it is my work. Here is my office... Think I can get a lot done here??
Lucky for me, I have work helpers:
I am lucky enough to have 2 helpers!!

Don't they just look so helpful? At least I am not alone when I am working!
Speaking of working, I took a few fun pics of my most recent, and hopefully last, trip to Albuquerque. I happened to time my trip during Balloon Fiesta. I have to say, it was amazing. All those dots in the sky are hot air balloons. Not the greatest pictures while driving...
Here is a closer view of a few balloons:

And when I first saw this car, the dog was facing forward and I thought there was a deer in the car!! Nope, just a huge dog!!

So the adventure continues, but I am in my new place and the last pieces are coming together. That's why I am having the Halloween Party!! I hope you all can make it!! Thanks for hanging in there with me. Once we are DONE, I will start posting before and after pics and then this blog will start to be about boring things like Bronco games and funny dog stories.

Introducing the Ewert's, My Neighbors!

2008-10-12T21:55:00.006-06:00

This weekend, almost all of my friends were together for the most beautiful wedding I have ever attended! Here are just a few snapshots from the camera that we need to share!

Here's the happy couple, the Ewert's!!
The first dance... So perfect!
And the father - daughter dance:
And the mother - son dance:
Here is a picture of Mikey in one of his last moments as a single guy!

And one of the first moments as a MARRIED guy! Much better!

All of the friends gathered and danced and danced... I wish there were more pictures of this part - I'm sure there are lots out there!

How many years from now will this picture of a father - daughter dance look way different??
The best man and his beautiful wife Jill!

And Jill as my date:
And the ever dancing Tanya!

Eric, Jen and Fritz having a great time:

And the Kendall's! (Happy 1 year anniversary btw)

And Adam and Jennine:

And of course, one more of the happy couple, congrats you too! Thanks for inviting me to your wedding. I love you both and can't wait to see what the next 50 years bring for you!!!

I Really Should Be Working...

2008-09-25T16:04:00.004-06:00

But I got kicked out of the home office because they turned the power off... I am at the coffee shop and decided it would be more fun to put up pictures from the new camera!

So, here is what Maggie calls the good life. Does that really look comfortable??
Um, seriously?? Just who do these dogs think they are? I need another couch for me apparently:

And I even bought a new dog bed for the living room... Here are the two pups playing... Check out Sadie's teeth!!!
What a cute little belly on that dog!
And here is Eric and Maggie lounging around. Snuggle puggle!
And here is my new porch swing that I need to hang... It was hand made - let me know if you want the guys info that made this!

And today, Dewey was working on my closet... Here is the very beginning. I think this will turn out even better than the shelving from the Great Indoors!!

And one more piece of good luck for me!!! I was talking with a garage door guy (my doors are pretty much completely broken, I am afraid they might be stuck closed right now... And if I open them, they might get stuck open!) and he found some really cool doors for the same price as standard, generic doors! They are carraige style and will go well with the fence details. Someone else bought them and didn't like the color so they have been installed, but never used - so I get a good deal!! Here's an example from the web... Fun stuff!

So, that's the latest!! Who wants to watch the Bronco game with me??

Please Excuse the Mess!

2008-09-22T08:23:00.006-06:00

I broke down and bought a camera yesterday! I really like it - way nicer than my old one that only took blurry pictures. I suspose sometimes we lose things for a good reason! Anyway, here are some pictures of the house. I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked over the weekend moving in, so please pardon the messy counters, floors, etc ;)
Here is the new front shot! What a difference paint and a nice fence make! Compare this to the shot in the upper right corner from 6 months ago!!
And another one with a slightly different angle:
The pups are really happy - they love sliding all over the floors. I wonder how they will feel when the rugs get here... Hopefully I will know later this week!
This is Maggie's favorite spot in the house. She loves to lay on the back of the chair or couch!
Here is my kitchen sink :) I really like the way it turned out and the backsplash adds the right amount of spunk I think!

Here is my nook that I plan to use as a breakfast area. I'm glad I decided to expose that brick - it adds a nice touch!
And here is the almost done hall bathroom! I might like this bathroom even more than my master bathroom. When I was young, like 13, I decided that I wanted my bedroom to be black and white. I used those stick down tiles inplace of my carpet and had a black and white room! Later I added a rug - it was green - and I really loved it. Well, black and white and green are back for me!! I actually chose the wall color to match the towels and shower curtain from Pottery Barn that I loved!
And here is the laundry room - fun!
Here are the lights that are in my office. They turned out well and I am looking forward to getting everything setup in here today!
Here is the view from inside my shower :)

If I am not sure where Sadie is, I can usually find her in the bathroom! I wonder if she likes the tile floor because it is cool perhaps?? Earlier today she was snoozing in the shower!!
Here is my bedroom. It's amazing how little else fits when you have a queen bed!!
Here is a shot from the front of the house! Can you find the puggle?
And here are the lights above my dining table and at the bar. They turned out really nice!

This post uses the words "like" and "love" a lot! I guess that means things are much better around here!! I don't feel settled or moved in, but I think that is mostly because I don't have a closet setup yet. My $900 of supplies from the Great Indoors were stolen out of my garage at some point during the remodel. The contrator has agreed to install shelves and rods for me, so we will get that started later today. Hopefully at the end of next weekend, I will feel like I really live here!

Please come visit if you are in the neighborhood! And mark your calendars for Halloween - I am having a paaaarty! With costume contests and all!!

2008 Bronco Football Pool

2008-09-18T13:41:00.013-06:00

Good thing you have people fill out their picks before the season starts... Perhaps there are a few nay sayers on this list, but whatever - the rest of us are happy to take your money!

Here are the picks as I have them:

11-5 (pts TBD) Nancy I (paid)

11-5 44pts Fritz H (paid)

11-5 39pts Sarah G (paid)

11-5 38pts Monica E (paid)

10-6 (pts TBD) Gary I (paid)

10-6 52pts Tom G

10-6 38pts Chip F (paid)

9-7 49pts Rachel G (paid)

9-7 45pts Dave O

8-8 42pts Dave L

8-8 41pts John C (paid)

7-9 42pts Paul M (paid)

7-9 39pts Eric B

If there is a typo on this list, let me know before kick-off on Sunday, September 21st or I will assume I got your pick and points right.

$130 on the line!

Go BRONCOS!!

I'm IN!

2008-09-18T13:41:00.004-06:00

After 6 months without a washer and dryer, I got to do laundry in my house on Tuesday night!! (Big thanks to Chip and Eric!)
And I bought a carton of ice cream to put in the freezer!
And I have room for a whole 12 pack of Diet Coke in the Fridge!
And I got to do dishes in a dishwasher!
And I used a glass and a real plate to eat dinner that I prepared at home!
And I laid on a couch in my own house!
And I haven't seen a spider all week!
And there is a toilet paper holder in my bathroom!
And I don't have to go up or down stairs to let the dogs out!
And I worked from home a little this week at the dining room table!!
And I stayed behind one closed door to go to bed and shower in the morning!

These may all sound like things you do every day, but for me, this list is HUGE! I haven't done any of these things in 6 months! Just a few more to knock off the list, like parking in the garage, not having strange people in my house, and getting a few more boxes unpacked, but wow - what a difference in my quality of life!

Of course I can't find my stinkin camera anywhere - I even bought new batteries for it - so no pictures in this post. Stop by if you are in the neighborhood!!

We're Getting Closer...

2008-09-07T20:15:00.003-06:00

I can't believe I am saying this, but we are getting a lot closer! This week was very productive and I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully the next couple of days go well and no one puts out my light!

My parents made a special request for a pic of the back door. It is basically a big window that adds a ton of light! It will be painted very soon...
And the floors are coming along nicely! This is the back bed room, which will also be my office. The paint is done and the flooring is in... It looks a lot better when it is clean ;)
Here is the flooring progress as of Friday morning. The flooring guy worked this weekend and the kitchen and living rooms are basically done. Just my bedroom left, basically! They should be done tomorrow!
My master bath is just about done! Here is a picture of the vanity. It still needs to be touched up, but at least it is in place! The only bad part is that I need to come up with a new idea for the mirrors... I was going to put a mirror above each sink but the mirrors I bought get in the way of the light switch. Now I am thinking about a big oval??

And here is my bathtub! Having a claw foot should be really nice and it adds an older touch to the room!
Moving outside, I actually have gutters now! The outside paint should be touched up this week as well!And I have a heating system and A/C installed! There is even a thermostat - just in time for a chilly fall!
We really get getting closer. Once the flooring is in, they need to put some trim up, install the appliances, install the rest of the lighting, finish painting and start doing touch ups. I told my contractor I want to "move in" this weekend and they said that should be fine! They might have a few final things to get to, but hopefully they will keep the same pace as last week and we will be DONE soon!!

Thanks for all the great comments - it really helped me get through the last week!!

Get Rid of the Gremlins??

2008-09-02T13:08:00.003-06:00

This morning, my contractor was at my house and they told me I needed to think about doing something to get rid of the gremlins... They said that since we have had so many more problems than they usually see, there must be something in the house that is not happy with us remodeling. Whatever - I think they are the gremlins that I want to just finish and leave already!!

While I was in training in wine country last week and in NYC over the labor day weekend, some real progress was made at least:

My room is painted - Mercer blue:

The master bath shower is all tiled and painted. Just waiting for the tub and for the glass shower wall:

And it has a toilet in it! Not working yet, but soon! Can you see the wall color??

And here are some shots of the kitchen! The cabinets and countertops are in - and the backsplash just needs some grout:
Oh and maybe some appliances, like a fridge would be nice (they are in the garage!):
The back wall in the kitchen is painted the same blue as my bedroom and my back door is a big window:

And here is the shot of the whole kitchen. It's a little messy, but coming together!

And I have a nice privacy fence around the yard - really makes the outside look cleaner by covering the torn up back yard:
And the hall bath is coming along as well. I wish the painter wasn't stupid and realized that when I said white paint I didn't mean cream paint like the rest of the house... Oh well, they can redo it.
Sooo, bottom line is the house is not finished like it should have been and the flooring hasn't even started yet. There will no longer be a party for the Bronco v Raider opening game, but hopefully a Halloween party will work out... It has been so hard to post anything lately because it is all so disappointing and I don't really want to talk about it... But the week away felt really good and hopefully I can keep my spirits up for another couple of weeks.

It'll get better, right??

2008-08-19T20:40:00.003-06:00

The past week has been pretty rough. I have to give my contractor credit, he is pushing things along the best he can... Every day they update me on how it is they can still finish by the end of next week. Every day that goes by makes me more and more skeptical...

Anywho, here is my new back deck! Last week I posted about my fam tearing off the back mudroom - and yay! I think it looks awesome. And as timing would have it, Lowe's had all their patio furniture half price so I can fill it up when I have a fence (so it doesn't walk away...)
Speaking of fence, here is the side of my yard. There are little wood posts that show where the fence will be. Stupid city of Denver requires 16 ft between the street and the fence so there is some wasted space...
And yesterday my replacement vanity and tub were delivered. I went out there today after work to take a look and wouldn't you know - it is damaged pretty bad too! The scratch is pretty deep. Argh!!!
But from what I can see, the tub looks great! Yay!
Here is the hall bath - the tile was supposed to be done by today. Yeah, not quite. But I like the wainscoating - it will be painted white and the upper walls a light green. I am really liking the new tile floor too!
Speaking of tile, it really was supposed to be done today. Now I am looking for a new tiler that can start like tomorrow. The tile must be done this week to have any shot at finishing by the 29th and the progress since last Tuesday has been TERRIBLE! The guy is so dang lazy! So, we will see if we can find someone new NOW. But I think I am going to like the detail in the master walk-in shower :)
And the flooring looks pretty good too!
And the painters should start painting tomorrow! The have been prepping the last 2 days and the brick and windows are all taped up!Ok, and one for the doggies... This is my basement window. The dogs were playing in the back yard and all of a sudden they tried to come in the window! This window is almost 5 feet above the ground! Good thing we talked them into coming in through the door!!
So there it is, another disappointing week - but hopefully things will start to MOVE! I am out of town for work all next week and I can think of nothing better than coming home to a house that looks a little more like a house!

At least I am not stupid!!

2008-08-12T14:31:00.005-06:00

Ha - I took a silly IQ test today... and it said I am a genius. That made my day ;)

Intelligence Interval/Cognitive Designation
40 - 54 Severely challenged (Less than 1% of test takers)
55 - 69 Challenged (2.3% of test takers)
70 - 84 Below average
85 - 114 Average (68% of test takers)
115 - 129 Above average
130 - 144 Gifted (2.3% of test takers)
145 - 159 Genius (Less than 1% of test takers)
160 - 175 Extraordinary genius

My Heroes :0)

2008-08-12T13:13:00.004-06:00

And I thought last week was the lowest point... I apparently wasn't looking at the chart quite right because I was still sliding down to the actual lowest point ;) Which I think I am at right now. I want to kick and scream because my house is still destroyed and I am spending every penny I have to live in a spider infested basement!! ARGH! Ok, enough whinning... Here are a few updates! Sorry for the long post, but it has been a while ;)

My parentals and Gwen came over on Saturday and tore off the ugly 'mud room' that was on the back of the house! It was a strange shape that didn't really complement the house and it blocked all of the great natural light from the back door... So, we tore it down!! What a big deck I have now!! My contractor was surprised and glad we didn't kill our selves! How tough are they:

Did you know it rained HARD on Friday night?? I was getting ready to head out and heard a trickling sound... it was water coming in the side door and down into my basement! Check out the little pool that formed!!

Frog towel to the rescue! I bundled it up and jammed it under the door. The rain eased up and stopped coming in the house... But it shows just how important gutters are!! Hopefully the new ones will be up in the next week.

When the freight company dropped off my damaged vanity, they forgot to bring my tub. For about a week, we thought someone had stolen the tub off the freight truck, but then I got a call that it was found! Hurray - that meant it wasn't lost and it could be installed soon... No wait, that crate looks a little damaged... and that isn't what the tub is supposed to look like!!
Fortunately I was at the house when this was delivered, and we just refused to accept it. 0 for 2 on the master bath stuff! There are still arguements between the supply company and the freight company about who pays for the damage, but the wonderful news is that a new tub and new vanity will be here in 3-5 days!! Ok, that was one recovery that could have been baaad.

There is another contractor that has been helping at my house and he is also a great carpenter! In the past week or so, he has gotten all of the trim installed, including the new trim around the doors and the baseboard. The drywall guy has about 2 days of stuff to finish and then we are ready for paint! Oh and I need to get a new back door... Of course this door size is a custom size... nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

And the bead-board is going up in the hall bath... Big improvement.
See what a mess my house is? How are they going to get all these pieces back together??

I have a few other pictures on my camera that I can't get off... A few are pictures of "cone-head" AKA Sadie. Last weekend, she did something (I still don't know what) and cut her head - she needed about 10 stiches (on a Saturday night - yeah, pricey) and the cut was almost an inch deep. Poor doggie. But she is almost better now and getting the stiches out tomorrow.

And Rachel is coming to visit this weekend!! YAY!! We will spend some time together and go to the Crawl for Cancer on Sat night. There are still 2 openings on the team if anyone wants to drink on Saturday afternoon for a good cause!!

The Lowest Point...

2008-07-30T17:13:00.003-06:00

My contractor showed me one of their favorite charts yesterday... It shows the level of excitement at each stage in the remodel process. Turns out, I am in the middle of the lowest part of the whole process, and I can really feel it. This past week included a small melt down, but at least I know it was because I am at the lowest point... If I can figure out how to scan that chart in, I will share it with everyone!!

We had a cabinet crisis this week. After they started putting the cabinets in, I noticed that the doors and drawers were not what I ordered... Turns out what I ordered didn't actually exist so the cabinet guy filled in with something similar... but oh so not the same! After some kicking and screaming (and yelling too), we figured it all out and the doors and drawers will ultimately be what I want.

So, the boxes are almost in (and being installed in this picture):

Here are the cabinets on the sink wall. The last cabinet on the top row is getting replaced (the left one is 24" and the right one is 21" -- those aren't the same number, right?):

And here are the cabinets on the opposite wall. My pantry will be pretty cool because those shelves on the bottom swing out and then there are more shelves behind!!

And in bathroom news, the tiling might actually start tomorrow. Kinda thought it would be done by now, but no. Here is the tile I picked. The multicolor mosaic is being used as the shower floor and also as a trim / border around the shower area. I am using 18" and 6" tiles on the floor in the color of this 6" tile:

And about a week ago, I thought the master bath vanity wasn't coming until late September, which was a bummer since that meant no place to brush my teeth... But then I found out that it was actually on the truck and it is in my garage right now:

One small problem... It is damaged. So I have to call and insist they give me a bunch of cash to fix it, or take it back and send me another one... oh man, my head hurts...

If this really is the lowest part, then it can only be up from here, right? Target completion is Aug 22nd - just over 3 weeks to go. From now on, there will be like 4 people working on my place at all times. I hope this time goes fast!!!

There ARE cabinets in those boxes...

2008-07-23T08:56:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, my presents were opened and there really are cabinets in those boxes!! Sorry the flash didn't work too well, but there are starting to be cabinets in my kitchen. The counter top template people are coming out on Friday so that means the cabinets will all be in place by then!!!
Here is a closer image of one of the cabinets. I still need to pick out the door pulls, but I think I am really going to like these!
I decided to take one more picture of the hall bath in all its destruction / glory. Concrete walls to hold on the tile - crazy!! But this should turn out super cute when we are all done!

And progress (just a tiny bit) has been made in the master bath - the shower pan has been poured. It takes a few days to set, and then the major tiling can begin!

Kitchens and bathrooms - oh my! Hopefully lots more changes are coming in the next few days!!!

Wood to go with the Walls!

2008-07-18T08:48:00.003-06:00

Over the last couple of days, my house has gotten a few pretty major deliveries!!! My living room is now home to my kitchen cabinets - still in boxes!!! And see those blue/black/metal things? Those are the stilts that the drywall guy used while texturing the ceiling - kinda like my own little circus!

And I had 1200 square feet of flooring delivered!! Here is just some of it!!

And my new bedroom has the rest of it: And lastly, the texturing is almost done, and I couldn't be happier about the way it turned out! Unfortunately, I don't think you can see too much from this picture, but it's the thought that counts, right??
The texture guys got a little behind schedule, but there were 2 of them getting after it today so I think we should be done with walls by the end of the day! The kitchen cabinets will start to be hung either later today or next week! I guess this means I will have to post more to keep up with everything!! YAY!!

And who's jealous - I get to go to the zoo tomorrow with Laura and Ruthie. Neener neener.

Might even be more fun than horse back riding with my mom last Saturday:

But maybe not... I haven't been horse back riding since a trip to Mexico when I was 21! It was the perfect weather to be on a horse in the mountains last weekend...

Sadie is Silly...

2008-07-13T19:50:00.005-06:00

Sadie and I were driving back from my mom's cabin on Saturday and Sadie just couldn't get comfortable. She kept getting up and moving around...

Anyway, she finally decided to sit in my laundry basket!! That was full of clean laundry!! As I was driving down the road, I took these pictures. What a funny dog!

WALLS!!!

2008-07-13T19:18:00.004-06:00

I seriously can't believe it!! Almost 3 months since we started tearing down walls, and I have walls again!! This means all of the plumbing and electrical is pretty much done and the work can start moving right along, with fun changes!! I was out of town for work this week and it was so nice to come home to see real drywall. The plan is for the drywaller to be done texturing on Wednesday. So a messy few days ahead, but I can handle it!

Here is the view from the front. Notice the second arch way - that was my mom's idea. I didn't like it at first, but I really like it in this picture!!

And I have walls in the bathroom! This was probably my favorite part because now I can see where the shower will really be, where the tub is, etc.

Like the new window too? It is frosted on the bottom, but clear on the top! There is one window in my neighbors house that has a good "view" but with some nice curtains or perhaps standing in the right spots, this should not be a problem!

And this is my upstairs laundry room - my washer and dryer will be where the stool is. Don't worry, the orange pant is not going to stay...

And here is a good shot of the hall bath as they start the demolition. In the old days, they used to put concrete (almost called it cement and then thought of Laura) on the walls a few inches thick and then attach the tile to that! This means that a ton of concrete coming off the walls. I am glad to be rid of the ugly tile though!!

I also decided to put a window in the garage/shed room. This will make it much easier to see inside and I think it will be a great room for Sadie to hang out it in!!

A productive work week for sure! This week, the cabinets are being delivered on Tuesday and should be up by the end of the week! And my hardwood flooring should be here soon too! I also ordered a BUNCH of tile and the tile guys are starting tomorrow!! More pictures soon, I promise!

I Have A New Favorite Color!!

2008-07-01T11:24:00.003-06:00

It is called Craftsman Brown from Sherwin Williams, and it is the color that my house has been painted!!! YAY! No more ugly wall for me!!

There is still a lot more to do and the painters will be at my house for a few more days, but that is ok by me because it is looking really good! I actually drove past my house on the way home the other day because I didn't recognize it!!

This picture is the only part that has both the trim and the accent color on it. I really like the way the colors look together:

And here is the front porch, zoomed a little to see the color better:

Since I don't get to have brick color on the outside, I am adding more brick color to the inside! Unfortunately the flash didn't work right, but this is the wall in my kitchen and they are exposing the brick that was under the plaster:

And BRING ON THE DRYWALL! My house is framed and electrified and plumbed and we are ready for drywall! Should start today or tomorrow and then we can rock and roll! After drywall is tile and cabinets - FUN!

From the bathroom - you can see the electrical and plumbing in the walls:

And lastly the kitchen that will start to take shape soon!

Some progress is better than none! As things develop over the next couple of weeks, I should be able to post more changes. I asked my contractor when he wanted my appliances delivered and he said the last week in July! That means that sometime THIS month, I will have my kitchen almost set!! Weird to think about - what would I do with a full size fridge?

I'm off to LA on Thursday to spend a long weekend with my sister - I cannot WAIT - beach here I come!!

Holey Hair Cut... And more house pictures!

2008-06-22T17:36:00.004-06:00

My hair is SHORT... The shortest it has ever been. I am sure that I will like not having to blow dry for so long, but it will take some getting used to! At least I had 10+ inches so I could donate the chopped part! Every time I see pictures of me with the short hair, I don't think they look like me at all... Weird.

Here is me at the hair salon:

And here is how long the back was:

And here is what it looked like last night, post haircut:

I swear this picture looks nothing like me so I kept retaking it and they all looked exactly the same. So I guess this really is what I look like now...

Ok, and now for some house pictures. I don't have very many because nothing much has changed in the last 2 weeks - or so it seems to me!!!

The new furnace duct work is pretty much in. This is good because it means they can start to rebuild all the walls now...

And there really is a bunch of new duct work!! It looks pretty good, and the best part is that it is all new!And the new hot water heater is installed and working!

This week, I am making some decisions about paint. I have a base color, a trim color and an accent color. The base color, for most of the house, is a tan color. The trim is cream colored and the accent color is a dark mahogany color. Anyway, I am a bit perplexed about how to paint the different parts of the house - this picture illustrates the different levels of brick that are calling for accent and trim paint... But what color goes where??

And above all of the windows, there are levels of brick again, begging to have trim and accent color but what color goes best in each spot? Fun things to think about...

So this week will be spent waiting for my hair to grow a little and getting ready for more progress for more interseting posts!! If you have any painting ideas or tips, please pass them along!!

Happy Monday everyone!!!

All the... Small things...

2008-06-11T09:03:00.004-06:00

yes, I know, the small things are very important - maybe even more important than some of the big things!!

the past week has been full of plumbers and HVAC guys doing their thing in the walls... I haven't seen a lot of changes, but that is mostly because new plumbing isn't that noticable but it is very important!! They are redoing all of the plumbing to bring it up to code. Here is a shot from the basement of the new plumbing:

AND... the old furnace is completely gone! Maybe by the end of this week I will have a new furnace and also A/C:

speaking of A/C, did you guys realize it was 90 degrees out yesterday? Made me really happy to be living in the basement. Oh home sweet home, covered in plastic tarps...

ok, and here are a few shots of the changes upstairs. This may look like just an ugly floor to you, but it is where all the kitchen tile used to be - they finally got it all out and are getting ready for new hardwood flooring!!

And here is where my vanity and toilet will go in the master bathroom!

And maybe my favorite part of the new house... my walk-in shower with jets! And no door! Weee!! You can see the big hole in the wall where they are cutting in space for the shower head...

I also wanted to congratulate Dave and Gwen on a beautiful committment ceremony last Saturday. Their vows were incredible - there is something so special about hearing what they have to say from the heart. I might have shed a few tears...

And, I am now a season ticket holder for the BRONCOS!! Yay! My uncle has (had?) 4 seats in the south stands and he sold me half of them. So... who wants to come with me to a game?? And ouch - $1,551 for 10 games... those tickets are getting spendy...

Ok, back to work... Speaking of work, last Friday was my 8 year anniversary with Agilent - can you believe that?? How old am I?? I hope everyone is having a good week!!

Progress! Slow, but Sure!

2008-06-02T11:54:00.000-06:00

Another good week for home remodeling - considering it was only a 4 day work week! Sorry a few of these pictures are a little blurry - I couldn't find my "real" camera and was using a cheapy one...

Here is my new kitchen wall! This is where some of the cabinets and the sink will go. It is nice to see what the new space will look like - seems pretty big to me :)

Here is the view from the front of the house. You can see what the new wall looks like again and a little of the "bar" area:
Here is the wall between my bedroom and the bathroom:
Just for scale, I put a chair here to show how much wider my new bedroom is - I stole a few feet from the new "bathroom":

And here is where my bathtub is going to be!! The plumbers are all over my house today to get the rough in done! In front of the bath tub is where my shower is going to be...

And here is one of my favorite pictures! This is where the asbestos USED to be!! They ripped it all out!! The basement looks super weird without any duct work, but I like it! Furnace should be out soon!! Here is the same area, just viewed from the other angle. A few pieces of the aluminum ducts are still there:
And say bye bye to this old water heater and furnace! They should be outta here soon!

Also, here is my "new" bathroom - ahh, such privacy! Nothing like some black tarp and hanging wires to make you feel like you are home!

At least my "new" bedroom has a fire place! I am planning to stay here this coming weekend, but not sure after that... I might stay here if the drywall dust and dirt doesn't chase me (and Sadie!) out!

It is nice to see progress! Also, a sewer guy came in last week and rootered out the pipes. Unlike the Rotter Rooter guy, he thinks my sewer line is actually ok and not in need of being replaced!! YAY!! But we are still not sure about the ejection pump for the basement bath - they aren't sure how that "poop" gets out to the main sewer line, so more investigation is to come!

Relocation - that about sums it up...

2008-05-27T12:02:00.000-06:00

Everything in my world seems to be about relocation at the moment. Temporary housing for me and the Sadie dog... relocating the blog for the time being... in the past 10 weeks since I sold my townhouse, I have had 4 different "beds", so I know a bit about relocating.

I have some pictures to post and deicded the best thing to do was to start somewhere new. So, here goes:

The house is moving along. Slowly. But here are the real things that are getting done:

These are a part of the new stairs. This is where my sit-at bar will be, and the only seperation between the dining room and the kitchen!!

This is the view looking down the NEW stairs! This was apparently a very tricky thing to do, but I like the way the turning stairs look!
And here is the view from the front of the house! Sure enough you can see all the way to the back door! Soon there will be cabinets and stuff in the way, but it will be very open!

And the begininnings of my master bath. That closet you see will soon be where my bathtub is and the window will be in the shower. I am adding about 2 feet to the width of the master bedroom, hence the torn down wall.
And here are the stairs from the basement view. The stairs were a very major part of the remodel and now that they are roughed in, things will start to move more quickly.

And here is my xeroscaped front yard! There used to be some bushes that were out of control along the porch, but they got ripped out. At least it looks like someone lives here!

What is that brown wall you ask? Well that is what was UNDER the solar panels! Yay! The solar panels are at least off the house. And really I should stop calling them solar panels because there were just glass panels to collect the heat and trap it in. Now I need some windows...
Another side view, panels removed. I have to start thinking about painting the outside now...
And one last view of where the solar panels once were... And this is my side door that actually gets its own mail in that box because it is a real address on 12th!
This one got a little out of order, but this is looking at where the kitchen used to be!

Ok, that's it for right now. This week the HVAC guys are supposed to be removing the furnace from 1960 and taking out the icky asbestos. Plumbing and electrical rough ins are also starting soon!