Up in the Mountains we Play

Ok, so I had some trouble figuring out what to title this post! It is true, Mike and I do enjoy playing up in the mountains. For Martin Luther King Weekend we went on an annual trip with Mike's buddies to Breckenridge. This year Mike started a festive tournament to get the night started. We all put our names in a cup, so we could mix up teams, and then played a beer pong tournament, with brackets and everything. The games started at 8 and didn't end until 3 a.m.! Mike's team got second, my team was the consolation champs! Saturday we skied and then our group of 20 went to our annual dinner at Mi Casa. Sunday we headed back into Denver to watch the Packers game. Monday we got things done around the house. I started working on my taxes...lots of fun! Both of us worked all week and then the weekend came and we decided to play again. Thursday night I got to pick our dinner place, and I picked the Melting Pot. It wasn't Mike's favorite, so I am going to have to save it for really special Stacey treats. Friday Night we went with our friends Tim and Allison to the Impulse Comedy Theater. After waiting for our taxi for over 45 minutes we finally were able to meet up and grab a drink. The show held a lot of laughs, but the funniest thing was a group of women who were a little "crazy" celebrating a friends 50 somethingth birthday. Saturday Mike and I hit up skiing in Vail. It was a fantastic powder day and we skied until our legs couldn't anymore. We also got some much needed action shots for your viewing pleasure (Mike is on the left and I am on the right). Sunday was a get stuff done day! Mike took a break and headed to the Sportsman's Expo. Hopefully, everything will fall in place and next year at this time he will have a new hunting partner! Keep your fingers crossed...I am going "puppy crazy!" I will keep you all posted.

A little place called Aspen

This past weekend Mike and I made our way up to Aspen. Mike's lifelong friend Anna lives up there. It is a great way for me to hear stories about Mike from when he was growing up. Spending time with Anna is always a good time with a lot of laughs, and great skiing never hurts either.

The festivities....
On Friday when we left it looked like we were heading straight into a storm. Once we got to Anna's we picked her up and headed into Basalt for a drink. Later that night, Anna's boyfriend joined us for a home cooked dinner and late night darts and video golf!
Saturday night we went to the Double Dog to meet up with some of Anna and Dale's friends before they headed to a concert. Mike and I decided to take that opportunity to grab dinner together. We first tried to go to a seafood restaurant that was closed when we were there in October. We quickly learned our place when our table was given to a "fur wearing family" right before our eyes! We then went to a great restaurant, D19, that had both wonderful food and a great atmosphere.

Ahh the skiing....
Saturday we skied Snowmass and Sunday we skied The Highlands. I have always heard about how great the skiing in Aspen is and it truly lived up to my expectations. There was hardly a wait for the lift and the runs felt like Mike, Anna, and I were the only ones on the run! Anna and I expressed it with a little "whahoooo" ever time we got off the lift...Mike even joined in once or twice! Aspen was a great time and I think it even made us consider what kind of life we could have in the mountains of Colorado.

So far a crazy beginning

So far January has been eventful to say the least. We started it off in December when my brother came to stay with us. He ended up getting sick and we only got one day of skiing in, instead of 3! We did make it to the Vikings/Broncos football game. It was both Troy and I's first NFL game, the only thing that would have made it better would have been a Vikings victory. New Year's Eve we hosted a little get together for our friends. Mike got to cooked a prime rib on the grill which got rave reviews. All of our friends brought a dish to share and we then had a few cocktails to ring in 2008. On Thursday I celebrated my 26th birthday. Mike took me to a wonderful dinner at Del Frisco's where we ate all my favorites!








Then on Saturday we went out to Sing Sing with our friends to celebrate. It was a double birthday celebration as my friend Danielle's birthday is on the 8th. So far 2008 has been eventful and great. Happy belated New Year everyone.

Christmas

Both Mike and I went back to Minnesota for a quick trip. We flew to the cities on Friday night and stayed with Mike's family until Sunday morning. On Saturday, Mike and I did some last minute shopping with his sister Katie. Saturday night we went to Murray's to have dinner. Both Mike and I have agreed that we had some of the best steak and lobster that we have ever tasted. On Sunday morning we got up early to drive to Cloquet. Mike was suppose to go hunting with my dad and brother but the weather was not cooperating. When all was said and done, Cloquet got 10 inches of snow! Sunday we had my families Christmas. We opened presents, had dinner, and then went to the bar to watch the Vikings game. On Monday, Mike headed back to be with his family and I took off for West Fargo.

From what Mike has shared with me their family had great food, wine, and laughs. This was the last Christmas to be held at his grandma "bananas" house. So they went out in the fresh snow and had a family football game. This was also there 2nd year playing family trivia. Mike's sister puts together a trivia game for their family about random odd facts. Mike always talks about how much he loves playing that game, and also brags at how well he did in answering the questions.

Our families Christmas was busy as ever. As we have all grown up and more people have been added to our family, my grandma's house has become a tighter and tighter fit. It is always fun to see how everyone has changed and how big all my cousins are getting. This Christmas we all shared many laughs and tears. It was our first Christmas without my cousin Josie, and the addition of her little brother Noah. Although our family thinks about her often, Christmas without her was another first, and was very difficult. This is our picture that we take every Christmas with all of the grandchildren. However, this year and ever year after this picture will never be complete, we will always be missing one. We will always remember our little angel Josie and all the other little ones that left this world all too soon. I also realized that I still have my special ability to put my little cousin's to bed. Noah slept most of the day, but I had to trick Averi into counting the lights, we only made it to 87 before she was out for the count. All in all I think I can say both Mike and I had a blessed Christmas with our families.

The Replacement...a BIG surprise!

Mike and I exchanged Christmas gifts and we both made out well. Mike got a new travel bag and the shaving stuff he wanted. It is the brush that lathers up and is all fancy. He also got 2 free shaves out of the deal. I got a new winter hat and a camera! So now I can finally put pictures on my blog, and take them of the kitties. I think Mike was sick of listening to me complain about not being able to upload pictures. The poor guy also needed to put up with me begging him to come look for a new camera. He always had a reasonable excuse and so tonight, I really had no idea I was going to get a camera. I really don't like surprises, I think it stems from inability to control the situation, but this was a great one. I also really enjoyed Mike's handy wrapping skills, which involved duct tape and massive amounts of packing tape.

Weekend Update

Friday was "date night" and Mike and I went to dinner at Elway's steakhouse. I am not the best reviewer of restaurants, but I don't think I will be "craving" their food anytime soon. Also, the atmosphere was very "uppity" and I felt pretty out of place! We were so full after dinner that we just came home and crashed. Plus, the $#*! was really hitting the fan in Mike's book!

Saturday we got up early and headed up to the mountains. I had book club that afternoon so Mike and I turned it into a day. Our friends, Brandy and Matt, live up in the mountains and she was hosting book club. Brandy and I went for a 2 hour snow shoeing hike before the other girls arrived. Mike and Matt went back county snowshoeing and skiing. Our book club read "The Christmas Shoes" and had the dinner theme of fondue. We thought it would be uplifting and it was, but I still spent the better half of the book and drive sobbing while Mike jammed to his music. Following book club and the skiing expedition (both make it back without injuries) Brandy, Matt, Mike and I watched a video on ultra marathons specifically the Badwater 135. Brandy is a professional marathoner and has thought about running this extremely demanding race. These people run 135 miles, in 130 degree heat, and have an elevation gain of covers three mountain ranges for a total of 13,000’ of cumulative vertical ascent and 4,700’ of cumulative descent. All three of us agreed that if she ever was crazy enough to run it we would be on her "crew" helping her run all 135 miles in under 48 hours. That video showed just how crazy/insane/determined these ultra marathoners are. I know Mike or I will never be running one of these races. However, I am sure if you ask Mike he will tell you he could.
Sunday we did things around the house and had a lazy day. We also finally cleaned out the garage, so both of are cars are able to fit in there. This way hopefully we keep our break ins down to just the one.

Welcome to Denver

Tuesday while Mike and I were at work, some of Denver's finest broke into our house. At that time we had been living here for 32 days! They came in and took two things, our living room TV and my old camera. Welcome to the city! Besides the broken front door, nothing else was vandalized or taken. For those of you not familiar with Denver, we live in a nice trendy neighborhood, with not so nice ones surrounding it. So Tuesday night we had the Crime Scene Unit over here dusting our mantle for finger prints. Mike and I decided we needed to turn our luck around so we went to dinner to celebrate our "1st break in." At dinner I said to Mike, I am very comfortable with where our relationship is; I don't need anymore unpleasant things to "bring us closer!" We are very grateful that these people who decided that they need our TV took only these two material things from us and neither of us (or the cats) were badly hurt. I can only believe that karma will get them in the end.

Our House...

We have now been in our house for a month. There are a few things left to do, but the majority of the house is finished. Here is your virtual tour...

The outside of the house


the living room


The dining room


The kitchen and door to the garage and back yard. The stairs to the basement are also right there.

looking from the back



Right side of the kitchen

left side of the kitchen



Upstairs bathroom

The office (upstairs)

We each got our own bookshelves to decorate as we liked. Both Mike and I enjoy reading. I am in a book club with the girls about every six weeks. Mike has been finishing his books much more quickly now that he is traveling so much. He will often tell me when the book is really getting out of control. I know because I will find him all over the house with book in hand.

Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Mike's bar

The basement

Notice the blue curtains in here...I made them :-) I decided while Mike was in Connecticut last week that it was too hard to find curtains for the basement windows that would work so I made them. Took forever but I was proud, Mike called me his "little seamstress."

Guest bedroom and bathroom (downstairs)

Weekend Winter Wonderland

Friday night Mike and I decided we would have a
"date night" together. Our date started by going to the Cherry Cricket for a drink and burgers. Then we went over to the Denver Botanical Gardens to see the Blossoms of Light. It was snowing and pretty chilly so we walked quickly. At the door we were able to buy 3-D glasses to look at the lights. I wore mine and kept commenting on how pretty it looked, my glasses were making the lights look light giant snow flakes. Mike just insisted that the "snowmen" were freaking him out and he didn't want to wear them. We didn't put two and two together for awhile, but then figured out that each one of our glasses was showing us different things, and the snowmen were scary! Friday night we also got to spend some time with my brother, thanks to his company flying him to Denver for their Holiday Party.

Saturday we got all the finishing touches on our house ready for our party that night. We had about 25 friends brave the icy roads and snow to come over for a Holiday/Housewarming party. During the day we had two surprises. First, we received a poinsettia from my parents, and second Mike's Aunt sent us a flower basket. Flowers always seem to put a smile on my face and it was nice to know our families were thinking about us. For our party we ordered the Mayweather vs Hatton fight and had a few too many beers and cocktails. Lately, as Mike and I get more into wine we have started testing out cheeses. We put out a meat and cheese platter with a few of the cheeses we have found so far. We have two favorites one is Ukinass Robusto, it is great with apple slices, and the second is Coldswold. As our signature drink of the evening we served Simpleton's. They were amazing and had rave reviews, I highly recommend these during the holiday season.

Also, after giving all of our guests the tour and showed them my favorite thing in the house, I decided to share that with you all as well. This past summer Mike and I started backpacking and hiking together. We figured out that we were able to take some pretty amazing pictures on our journeys. We picked out our favorites and framed them and they are now displayed in our house. I love that each one of the pictures is something that we have done together and we have made this nice display in our house to share with our friends and family.

Oh what a year!!!

This past weekend Mike and I went up to Breckenridge to celebrate our one year anniversary in the place we met. To celebrate we decided to get a condo on the mountain do some skiing and just spend time together relaxing. We ended up having two great dinners, got hot stone massages, and painted some pottery. There has not been much snow out here yet this winter, so we did not ski. When there are only a few runs open and everyone is trying to ski on them, it gets a little scary.
Mike and I met on December 2, 2006 while skiing for a mutual friend’s housewarming party. The story begins back in September of 2006 when I met my friend Brandy. The Erholtz's had just moved out to CO from MN, and I met Brandy when she and I both walked in late to a training seminar. We began talking and quickly realized that her husband, Matt, and my mom had worked together in Esko, and that we had mutual friends in Colorado. That morning Matt and I went up skiing to meet his buddies. Matt had played baseball with Mike's older brother, Pat, at UND. So we met up and went skiing, then went back to Matt and Brandy's house to have drinks and appetizers. That is when Mike and I began talking. I ended up asking if he and Pat wanted to go out later that night in Denver with my friends. Once we got back to Denver I picked them up and we went and met my friends out and the rest is history :-)
Every time I tell someone that story or think about it myself it is truly amazing to me that Mike and I met when we did. Our lives had basically paralleled one another with both of us being in Minnesota and North Dakota. We even lived for a year in the same apartment complex and attend the same wedding and never met. Some say fate doesn't exist, but I tend to think it does.
The top picture is from our attempt at making a Christmas card to send out. On Saturday night after dinner (while sitting in the hot tub) Mike decided that we MUST take a picture by that light pole in the snow. It was a laugh needless to say and we had the car in the snow bank, blankets propping up the camera, and I was not feeling like trudging through snow for this picture. The bottom picture is our first picture together following the Holiday Storm of 2006.