Busy Busy

In c ase it's not readily apparent, we are VERY busy!! My little sis leaves for college this evening, so there's been a bunch of gatherings making sure that everyone sees her before she leaves (and of course, sees us, now that we're here). And in the meantime, we've been organizing our surroundings so we can function and … house browsing. I can't really call it hunting, but we're looking for areas we want to be in and getting the general price of houses in that area. Denver is soooo big and we don't have too many set ideas about where it is that we want to live that we are having to do quite a bit of looking. But it's been really fun and interesting.

I've got some pics too that I'll post soon … Just need to find the time!!

Taco Soup

from: Grandma P

Ingredients
2 lb ground beef or chicken
1 small chopped onion
2-3 4 oz cans chopped green chilies
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained
1 can lima beans, drained
1 can red kidney beans, drained
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 can whole kernel corn
1 1/2 cup water
3 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes
grated cheddar and corn chips for serving

Directions
In large pot brown beef and drain or cook chicken separately, cut into pieces. Add all of the ingredients to the meat, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Garnish with grated cheddar and corn chips.

We're Here!

Well we made it! Overall, everything went very well. We got a truck that was 5' longer than we had ordered (darn good thing too) and two days earlier than we had set it up for (also a darn darn good thing) … and after two days straight of loading, then a day of cleaning, my dad packed off to CO with the truck. Amazing guy that he is, he drove straight through. We left later that day once Matt had finished work and drove to Stuard, Iowa, which is just west of Des Moines. Then yesterday we got up and drove the rest of the way.

It was an amazing sight to behold as we drove into Denver from Nebraska. CO, usually kinda brown in August, has seen so much moisture that it is gloriously green and lush. We had a beautiful sunset as well. Nice homecoming.

An even nicer homecoming were the people who turned up this morning to help us unload the truck. With all of their great help, we finished it off in about an hour and a half!! Amazing.

Matt and I are still getting settled in. We need to set up his computer and bring over some more creature comforts, but this is going to work quite nicely until we get our house. And it's so good to see everyone!!

May is doing pretty well too. She got the apartment all to herself at night once we had loaded our bed in the truck and went to stay with my parents at the hotel, and she hasn't freaked out too badly. On the last day, when there was no place for her to stay, she settled into my car and stayed there the rest of the trip. But she did get to get out occasionally and sit on the sidewalk with us while we dined at Panera, Sonic, and Culvers. She even got her own burger a couple of times.

Bye-Bye Dairy-Cow-A-Gogo-Land!!!


Well, the time has come for us to bid Madison, WI a fond farewell. It will always be our first home together. We've had lots of fun here and a smidgen of sadness too. While there's no doubt we will not be missing the cold weather, there are many aspects of life here that we will miss.

So, to top off our Madison Experience, here's the top 10 things we will miss in Madison:
10. Brat Fest
9. Princeton Club
8. Brennan's Market
7. State Street
6. great bike paths
5. being close to Chicago & Milwaukee
4. Biaggi's
3. Frugal Muse!
2. Dane Co. Farmer's Market
1. the nice people we've met Continue reading “Bye-Bye Dairy-Cow-A-Gogo-Land!!!”

Brain Power!

This quiz was kinda interesting. My results:

Auditory : 37%
Visual : 62%
Left : 60%
Right : 40%

Jess, you are somewhat left-hemisphere dominant and show a preference for visual learning, although not extreme in either characteristic. You probably tend to do most things in moderation, but not always.

Your left-hemisphere dominance implies that your learning style is organized and structured, detail oriented and logical. Your visual preference, though, has you seeking stimulation and multiple data. Such an outlook can overwhelm structure and logic and create an almost continuous state of uncertainty and agitation. You may well suffer a feeling of continually trying to “catch up” with yourself.

Your tendency to be organized and logical and attend to details is reasonably well-established which should afford you success regardless of your chosen field of endeavor. You can “size up” situations and take in information rapidly. However, you must then subject that data to being classified and organized which causes you to “lose touch” with the immediacy of the problem.

Your logical and methodical nature hamper you in this regard though in the long run it may work to your advantage since you “learn from experience” and can go through the process more rapidly on subsequent occasions.

You remain predominantly functional in your orientation and practical. Abstraction and theory are secondary to application. In keeping with this, you focus on details until they manifest themselves in a unique pattern and only then work with the “larger whole.”

With regards to your career choices, you have a mentality that would be good as a scientist, coach, athlete, design consultant, or an engineering technician. You can “see where you want to go” and even be able to “tell yourself,” but find that you are “fighting yourself” at the darndest times. Continue reading “Brain Power!”

Travellin'


All those red ones are places I've visited in the US. Technically, I've been to Texas too, but that was when I was 3 mos old and so I don't remember it too well. I've only ever driven through Iowa and Nebraska, Ohio, Alabama, and Penn though. But I dunno, LOOONG hours in the car/bus sorta seem like you've visited there, so I count 'em. I've also put a foot or hand down in Arizona when we visited the four corners.

I'd do one of these for the whole world, but that map would be mostly Grey … I've only been to about 5 countries. Continue reading “Travellin'”

Strikeout

A fun little meme … you strikeout the stuff that doesn't apply to you.

Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.
Continue reading “Strikeout”

More Scrapbooking

For y'all that are interested in the digital scrapbooking gig, here are two pages from our trip to Appleberry farms that I did. here and here.

To do the first one, I just filled the background with a ginham pattern, then I made the text, and applied another pattern to it. Then I did the postcard, grouping it as a layers set so after I was done I could move it around as a group. It's mostly polygons, lines and text, but the stamp is an image with a white border around it, that then has a round brush with 150% spacing around it to take away some white and make that scallopped stamp border.

The apple I got from microsoft's design gallery (or maybe from google's image search?) and then I took away all of the background and let photoshop resize it nicely (photoshop is gooood at that!).

The photo is a regular photo, but I added a white border to it by increasing the canvas size. Then I used a rough brush around the edges to make it look a bit more realistic … and that is it.

On the second page, I did the same technique with the photos. The other elements were done by using the rectangle tool. Then on top of each, I used a symbol from the dingbat (font) called “Counter Scraps” and put them on red, and then messed around with the layer opacity until I liked the effect.

The text around the edges is just that … text. I did it in four pieces, since PS7 doesn't let text follow a path. Continue reading “More Scrapbooking”

Fun With Boxes


After getting her toes trompled on, May found a nice spot to rest.

Our apt is a mess! We've got stuff strewn alllll over the place. It's pretty much non-functional for anything except eating, bathing, doing laundry, and sleeeeping. We can't cook or watch TV and internet will soon be gone!

We're having fun though, sorta. We're listening to music and chatting and looking forward to the future.

PS:If you haven't left a comment for my Rollcall entry, please do!!

Roll Call!

I'm in the throes of packing and moving, so I can't really make decent entries 'til that's over. In fact, we'll be without internet access for like FOUR days (what will we do???). Quel dommage!! No fear tho, I can pre-post some entries for your enjoyment.

Anyhoo, today I want to do roll call. Do you read my blog/visit my site on a regular or semi-regular basis? I wanna know who reads this thing and if I should be worried.

So … leave me a comment and tell me
1. who you are
2. your website (if you've got one, obviously)
3. how often you visit
4. anything else your heart desires