Happy Thanksgiving (weekend)

Well, I've had the best intentions to post some photos I've taken recently.  Problem is - since I moved last weekend and have been unpacking - I can't find my cord to my digital camera to upload any photos.

Updates: I moved into what will be "our" apartment last weekend.  It is just now finally coming together.  Many boxes later, the kitchen and living area is now complete.  I just won't mention the bedroom.  I have yet to try to put my stuff away in there.

We had Thanksgiving with Will's family on Thursday.  I made a pumpkin cheesecake, which was probably the best thing I've baked to date.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and I am now having to work off the enjoyment at the gym.

Today, Will and I attended what will be our ward: the Washington Park Ward.  It was good timing, because this was the new bishop's first week as presiding bishop.  Our ward is so small - and there seems to be a mission with the new bishop to grow the ward.  Looks like we came just in time.  We had a joint Priesthood/Relief Society class today that was simply on what is expected of our ward and any comments we might have.  It was very much like a forum.  Looks like being part of such a small ward will be a lot of work.  Much is expected, especially speaking in sacrament more than once a year.  Oh joy.  The number of people in the ward is only fifty-something.  

This is my last weekend in Denver until 2009.  Next weekend I'll be in Seattle.  Weekend after that, I'll be home in Vancouver.  Time is going very quickly.  There is A LOT to do in the next couple weeks - our wedding day will be here before we even realize it.  Hopefully before then I can find that camera cord and upload some photos!

Wedding Countdown: 19 DAYS!

BTW - It's FINALLY snowing in Denver today!!  (and its snowing A LOT)

Weekend Events

So we got our first "dusting" of snow here in Denver on Friday.  2 days later (today) it was 65 degrees and sunny!  I just bought a new Christmas CD, and I've been trying to listen to Christmas music - considering its only 6 weeks away - but its kinda hard when its so warm and sunny out!  This is the weirdest weather by far, and I'm concerned with what the Spring will bring because of it.

I'm starting to pack - since I'm officially moving into our new apartment on Friday.  I really haven't done much packing though.  Friday will just be scrambling! 

Friday night we went to the new Bond movie.  I was surprisingly way into it!  It was really good - and yes, we went to Harkins, but no - we didn't get any crepes (even though we wanted one!) Last night I went with my roommate, Morghen, to watch the UFC fight at Champs (a sports restaurant here in Denver) - lots of fun, but way quick fights, nothing went more than 2 rounds!

Today was a simple Sunday.  The usual.  We're excited to start attending our new ward, the Washington Park Ward - that way we won't come home in the dark.  Enjoy a few photos from the weekend:

On my way to the bus stop at 6:30AM

My car blends right in.

The sidewalks and roads  were still to 

warm for snow to stick.

Right before church today.  I love his tie!

I've never seen him wear it before!

A snapshot right before church, on our way out the door.

Official Countdown: 33 DAYS!

Crepe Expectations

Will and I usually do date-nights on Fridays.  On our way to a movie at Harkin's Theater - we stopped dead in our tracks when we saw this crepe place across the street!  We love crepes from the farmer's market, but we've found our new vice now that the farmer's market is closed for the season!  This place was totally a-mmm-azing! Stopping there actually made us miss our movie - but it was totally worth it!

It was so good that I HAD to get a picture out front!

Will had no idea at this point what he was about to discover!

Before the after-math.

After.  

Who knew Nutella, peanut butter chips and bananas

 could be soooo amazing?!

Delicious.

P.S. All wedding invites got sent out today - except for the Denver people... we're doing an open house here in Colorado January 10th - so we're waiting a bit to send those ones out since its far from that date. Everyone else can expect theirs sometime next week.

  41 DAYS to go until our wedding!

Colorado Avalanche

Will and I always manage to score awesome tickets to sporting events.... FOR FREE! Once again, we were not disappointed.  Will got free Avalanche tickets (the NHL hockey team here in Colorado) from someone at work.  We were just seven rows behind the glass.  I haven't been to a hockey game in years!  It was lots of fun, except that the Avs lost.

Waiting for the train after the game.  It was freezing!! 

Will needs to start wearing a "real" coat.

Great view!

Taking shots of ourselves during breaks at the game.

Halloween Fun!

Halloween is over... but we had lots of fun with it this year! Will was wanting to go as Lt. Dangle from Reno 911 but at the last minute I convinced him to go as Mickey Mouse (to match my Minnie costume).  It worked out really well!  We also couldn't find much to do - so my roommate, Morghen, Will and I drove out to Golden for a multi-stake YSA church dance.  None of us have ever been to a YSA dance ever, so this would be a first for all (and a last for me).  We thought MAYBE it would be okay since it was Halloween - but no, it was your typical crappy church dance - but we had fun!  It is what you make of it.  Although the music was so sooo crappy - Will tried to offer his playlist off his iPhone - but half way through Soulja Boy they cut the song off for "being inappropriate"! It totally made us all laugh.  

I dressed up for work on Thursday - which was awkward because it was the DAY BEFORE Halloween and I was walking through downtown trying not to be noticed.  I took off my Minnie ears when I walked around, but there's no denying the yellow shoes.  I think everyone just thought I didn't know what day is was! I liked being able to dress up twice for Halloween though!  

Minnie Mouse

Mickey Mouse

Had to be careful not to get black all over each other.  

Our poor white gloves have black spots all over now.

Excited Mickey & Minnie

After "winning" the cake walk

Morghen & I chillin at the dance (I'm eating my winnings)

Thumbs up from Mickey

See Above:  Typical Awkwardness of Church Dances - doughnuts on a string - Shouldn't they be standing up?

  

This was taken this morning out my window.  The tree is brilliantly yellow - and this picture doesn't do it justice.  We've had the most awesome weather here the past weeks. Mid-70's all week! I've never seen yellows, reds and oranges like I have here in the Fall in Colorado. 

We are officially in November - which now means we can say we're getting married next month!

Some old - but fun - photos

So I found some old photos from the summer and since I was a slacker blogger then - I thought they were worthy to post now.  Enjoy!

 Will & his family at a Fourth of July BBQ (I took the photo)

Will at our favorite breakfast joint: Annie's Cafe on Colfax

He hates posing for photos - but I make him do it anyways...Payback Buddy : )

This is before we headed out to Invesco Field - for our BOX SEATS to watch the Broncos!

Do you like my festive Halloween decorations in the background?

Outside the stadium - Sorry it's crooked.

End of summer at a Rockies game. Love the view of the mountains!

Summer was fun but fall has been EVEN BETTER!!  Oh - and I must mention the countdown until we get married is 52 DAYS! I even got our final draft (there's been a few) invites in the mail this afternoon - so we get to start putting those together!  Expect your invites in a few weeks.  : )

WE FOUND OUR PERFECT APARTMENT...

I feel so RELIEVED to have found our perfect apartment.  It actually turns out we're spending way under what we budgeted for housing AND.... we can have a kitty!! We are so excited.  It is only 3 blocks from where I live now, so that will definitely make an easy move.  And MY personal favorite is that we are now one block closer to Chipotle and Blockbuster - where we (meaning I) frequently walk to.

Our new apartment actually puts us in the smaller ward - so we'll see what kind of callings we get.  Both times I visited I think I counted 50 people in the congregation ...maybe.  This will definitely be a growing experience for both Will and I - okay more for me.  But we love the area so much!  Washington Park is so beautiful - definitely a great place to people watch (and for me personally, to dog-watch).

Check out this website to see our new apartment (unfurnished) and the area we will be in (well, actually the area I am currently - but where we BOTH will be soon). 

http://homepage.mac.com/cplockhart/rentals/PhotoAlbum22.html

I personally love the cupboards - so much more kitchen space than what I have now.  And everything is NEW!  Will and I have already started dividing up "this is your space" and "THIS is mine" for closets, bathrooms, etc.  : )  Of course, I get more space because I'm a girl.  I have also had to explain to him that our printer just CAN'T go on the kitchen countertop - when he suggested it go there.  It doesn't belong.  Oh wow - we are going to have fun with this whole moving-in together thing!

Last night we went to this Sushi place nearby that I have driven/walked past probably a thousand times in the past 14 months.  It was so yummy - we both love sushi, but for some reason haven't had it together....EVER.  It was fun!  We walked to the restaurant - and MAN is it getting cold out .  Today was way nice (about 70 degrees!) but the evenings are so frigid.  I even busted out my winter jacket for the walk.  It was definitely a nice change to try a new place.  We will definitely go back.  

On another note - Halloween is in less than a week!! I love Halloween.  I get to dress up at work this year, which is exciting.  Thursday we're having a trick or treat for the kids and an employee costume contest which will be interesting after seeing pictures from last years festivities.  I realize its better to go all-out if you're going to bother dressing up at all.  I went to the Halloween Superstore today - it was SO busy in there, but I found the accessories to go with my Minnie Mouse outfit I put together.  I figure with drawn on whiskers it will be cute, but total for the whole outfit, it didn't cost me too much cash this year.  I'm excited to dress up for sure!

I didn't post any pictures this time around - but check out that website to see the apartment!  I will be sure to take photos of all Halloween festivities happening this week to post them.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE.....

It has been a LONG time since I have posted anything.  Will has been pretty focused on his own blog (willbrawn.blogspot.com) and has kindly left this one up to me.  LOTS has been going on since this summer - and our wedding is quickly approaching!  I believe the count is down to 59 days ... but who's really counting?  We had tons of fun over the summer!  Will and I went to Waterworld for my birthday - Fourth of July was celebrated by jetskiing and a BBQ with his family - We spent a week in Washington in August (well I spent a week and Will spent four days).  While in visiting home Will took advantage of no tax in Oregon and we bought the nifty Canon camera he had been pining after for awhile.  Ever since then he has been shooting pictures non-stop - doing portraits, landscape and actually pretty much anything he finds neat.

I on the other hand have landed an awesome job at Noble Energy - and oil and gas company in downtown Denver (in the World Trade Center).  I work as an assistant/office coordinator.  I now get vacation days and holidays which is a totally new thing for me!  My job is very demanding and busy - but it sure makes my days (and weeks!) fly by.  I can't even begin to say where this summer went, because it was gone before it even started - but Fall has been here for awhile now and so far it is my favorite season here in Denver!  Another perk about my job is that we were able to enjoy BOX SEATS to the BRONCOS game a couple weeks ago.  That was so fun! 

Will and I have gotten out to enjoy the mountains a few times this season and the aspen trees are so beautiful!  I have never seen such yellows and oranges on trees as I have here.  I love it!  This is my second fall season in Colorado - and I definitely was looking forward to it. 

Our wedding plans are going well - I can't believe we're down to 8 weeks.  I am excited I get to go back home in 7.  It is really amazing how fast time is going.  We are now apartment hunting - and it is NOT fun, at all.  It is very frustrating actually.  We've been "ward shopping" and it seems like the ward we want to live in doesn't have the kind of apartments we like - and on the other hand the area we LOVE has the smallest ward we've ever been to.  There's lots of other things to consider too: like pets, utilities, parking, free wi-fi.  We want a cat bad - but the nice apartment don't allow them, of course.  Decisions, decisions.  We've decided we'll just know when its the right place - because it will feel like home.

My goal is to blog more often - so family and friends can "keep tabs" on what we've been upto.  So Enjoy!  : )

Attempting New Adventures...

We are trying something new.  We are attempting to have our own family home evening... that way we are prepared when we have a family.  We are also attempting to attend church together most weeks.  Its hard since I go to the singles ward, and I like my ward very much... and Will goes to his family ward where the people are rather interesting.  Will usually goes to church with me if we attend together, but this week I was nice and woke up super early to attend his "odd" ward.  Will appreciated it, and like the fact that everyone congratulated us on being engaged... since nobody knew because I never go there.  Either way, whatever ward we attend, we enjoy being together at church and being able to share in the gospel together.

Another thing we are trying to do, is have dinner at home more often.  We eat out together quite a bit, actually too much.  I can tell - or Will can tell rather - that my cooking has improved greatly.  No more watery lasagna, I'm finding Will is happiest with a simple meal of meat, bread, and potates.  We are realizing by eating at home, we are spending less money and we spend more quality time together by cooking together... Will is in charge of not burning the bread.  That's why I love him.

Time is quickly passing, as it is already June (the best month of the whole year, since its my birthday).  The weeks are flying, and I know summer will be gone before we know it.  We're gonna try to relish in the season, and spend lots of time outside.   : )

Yay im reading

Just posting a little something new. So of course i read the scriptures. But lately and hoonestly in the past two to three years i havent read a novel or short story. Honestly that is kinda sad. Just recently me and Peggy went and saw the new Narnia movie "Prince Caspian". It was a really good movie and i really had the desire to know what happens next in the world of Narnia. So i picked up the book, actually i have the entire collection bound in one cover. And im happy to say that i read my first book in a long time. Its the first book of the series "The magicians Nephew". Pretty good i must say. It makes me feel like im expanding who i am. Its something i wouldnt normally do and its keeping me away from video games which is good and i feel better when i do read. Hopefully this is something that i can keep up with. 

- Will

Summer is coming....

So Memorial Day weekend was quite enjoyable.  I, myself, enjoyed a long weekend while Will had to work everyday but Monday.  He missed my talk that I gave in sacrament on Sunday.  I preferred he wasn’t there actually, because I was already dreading it - so I guess it worked out, even if I was kinda sad he wasn’t there.  But I got to choose my topic, so that made it better.

 

Monday Will and I hiked Waterton Canyon near Chatfield Reservoir.  It was way flat, only an 80 ft gain...but it was a good walk to break in my new hiking shoes (Will had already broken in his new hiking shoes).  I think if there was any more of a elevation gain my feet would have died.  I have a couple blisters.  It was a good hike though.  We then checked out the new Tiguana from VW at the dealership as we are in the market for a new car/crossover...but I did not like it.  We’re hoping to purchase a “sporty” vehicle as we’re trying to spend more time outdoors.  Hopefully there will be many more (and harder) hikes this summer, as well as just lots of time in the mountains, because I love hiking so much.  I’m trying to rub my love of the outdoors off on Will.  I think its working.

 

It was hard to go back to work this morning.  Oh, I did get my new job bytheway.  I’m now a receptionist/admin assistant for Noble Energy, Inc.  An oil and gas drilling company.  I work on the 22nd floor of the world trade center in downtown denver.  Its very busy, and I enjoy it a lot.  The best part is I only work half days on Fridays.  That way I feel like I get long weekends all the time... perfect timing for Summer.  : )

  So my birthday was almost a week ago... and I must admit that it was probably the best birthday I’ve had in a long time.  Peggy, my future wife, is amazing and totally loves birthdays so she made sure it was special.  I mean, she even got me a cake, with candles!  No one in my family has gotten me a cake in a very long time.

 

    The night of my birthday, Peggy and I went to Pappadeux’s.  Its a seafood/cajun restaurant.  Afterwards we went back to my house and had cake with my mom and sister.  Very good cake by the way, rocky road ice cream cake is way good.  Peggy knows I’m a nerd and that I like video games, so she got me a Nintendo DS with the new Zelda game. Super cool gift.  The following day, my parents took us to the Cheesecake Factory, which was my first time there, and it was pretty good as well. Vivian and Gene Peggy's parents also got me and Peggy tickets for A Chorus Line. It was an awesome musical that i really enjoyed. Something cool about it was that there was one set and one main set piece. Ive never seen anything quite like that before.

 

Overall, great birthday.  My girlfriend is amazing, and I love her lots.  And I love my family lots.  

Will Thoughts

So yesterday I called the Portland temple and scheduled our sealing.  Very cool time.  Its cool cause even then I could feel the spirit.  Its safe to say I’m excited to get married, for sure.

 

On a side note, I’m trying to read more.  I picked up the first Lord of the Rings book. We’ll see how that goes.  I’m also hoping for full-time at Home Depot.  Wish me luck.  : )

Starting the blogs again

So this is our new site, I am going to try and keep this updated a lot more often that i did the previous attempt. I actually like that fact that i can send updates from my phone which is pretty cool. We sure do live in a interesting time of technology. So i am going to give the updates now. I have decided to go to school for Video Production. I am going for the dream. And if i fail i fail at something that i love and i never did the "what if". Peggy has a new job for Noble Energy. She likes it a lot and i must say the view that she has in amazing. And i am currently working at the Home Depot, and please do not ask i do not get any kind of discounts. Following this post i am going to publish the blogs that we posted on our other site so that all the information is there if anyone wants it. And im also very excited because Peggy's birthday is coming up, she's gonna be old lol. Just kidding, i am excited though, cause last year she i was only able to give her flowers through the mail. And this year i get to spend it with her yay.

- Will