Tuesday, August 24, 2010 by admin.

For the past week or so, a TON has been going on.  Dion flew out to Denver Airport on the 19th, and for that next week we spent all of our time traveling around and visiting the tourist attractions around Golden and Colorado Springs.  First we did the Alpine Slide which is about 10 minutes from my apartment.  Its located in a mini-amusement park, but the slide is all the way at the back. You take a lift up to the top of the hill (with lots of gorgeous views of Denver) and you ride a sled back down.  It was so much fun we had to do it again!

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We also visited/hiked around the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.  It was SO bright out, it was difficult to get good photos.  We were squinting even with sunglasses on!  Hopefully I can see a show here someday, they were preparing for a concert when we visited, so they wouldn’t let us walk around inside the theatre, but we could get some pictures from the hiking path.

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One of the nights we went to the Denver Museum and saw the IMAX movie about the repair of the Hubble Space telescope, and see the images it most recently collected.  It was an awesome IMAX to see, especially since most of the IMAX theatres in PA no longer show the information IMAX movies, they show the typical full length entertainment movies.  We also explored downtown and went to a few of the bars, including a really fun rooftop bar that offered a great view of the Coors stadium.

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We also drove to CO springs so that we could go to the Garden of the Gods.  We passed the US Airforce Academy on the way there, but didn’t get the time to stop and visit it.  We hiked a bunch of the hikes available in Garden of the Gods, and saw some areas that I don’t think I saw last time I was there.  We were able to get some cool photos of Pikes Peak, and saw most of the park.  It was VERY hot, and we both felt sort of sick and tired towards the end.  We rehydrated, and ate some food, and then headed to Pikes Peak!  The drive wasn’t too bad in my Jeep, I remember it being much worse in the giant conversion van that made the journey when I was in highschool!  Dion wasn’t too fond of the drop off from the dirt road with no guard rail, but we made it to the top just fine!  It was pretty chilly and windy at the top, and we both felt dizzy from the altitude!

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Before Dion left, we went to a Colorado Rockies game.  They played the Braves, and our seats were AWESOME.  Tickets are much cheaper out here than they are to go Phillies games back home.  It was an awesome game to go to, as the teams were neck and neck for most of it and the Rockies Won!!!  We sat in the second row, right at the outfield in foul ball territory.  I was about 2 inches from catching a foul ball, but just missed it.  It was a lot of fun, and I’m really glad we decided to go to the game. They even put Dion and I on the big screen when we were singing “take me out to the ball game!”  It was pretty awesome

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We finished off his visit with a tour of the Coors brewery.  We should have gone there the first day!  Its right down the road from my apartment.  The tour is free, they put you on a bus and take you over.  The driver of our bus informed me that Mines students come every day, for the free beer.  The tour was a self-guided audio tour, and the gave us a sample of freshly brewed Coors.  At the end, we got 3 free 8oz beers!  That’s far more beer than I expected.  I need to go there more often lol

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Wednesday, August 18, 2010 by admin.

Well, Ive officially registered the Jeep in CO, and I finally went to get my CO drivers license.  I sat in the drivers license center for 3 entire hours.  It shot my whole afternoon.  Now I have my PA license with a big hole punched in it, and a big piece of paper saying my license is on the way.  Should be 30 days (ugh, why does this stuff take up so much of my time, and then continue to take forever).

For a lot of time, I’ve been craigslist hunting for furniture.  I’ve been searching for a vintage desk and a dresser, but ended up coming across the single most awesome craigslist buy I have ever made.

Its a real oil painting of spanish galleons…its extremely pretty, and its also absolutely MASSIVE.  I could either hang it in my bedroom (in a huge blank wall) or rearrange decorations and put it in the living room. I haven’t decided yet. I got it for a whopping total of $15.

Thats it on a king size bed for scale.  Its huge, and textured and so great. :)  I can’t believe I got a real oil painting, that pretty, and that size for so little money!  I<3 Craigslist.

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Wednesday, August 11, 2010 by admin.

This is probably going to be a long post, as I have a bunch of pictures to share!  I still don’t have internet in my apartment, so I have to come down the road to the coffee shop with free Wifi.  Hopefully I will have internet in my apartment by Friday.

I’m all settled into my new apartment now, and I LOVE IT.  Everything seemed to match and come together without really trying.  Here are some of the before pictures from when I moved in (with all my junk lying around haha)

It was larger than I anticipated, and thankfully the walls were painted beige instead if bright white.  It makes the space feel more comfortable and relaxing.  It took a lot of time, but eventually I got it looking how I want.

Here’s my awesome little kitchen!  When I moved in, the dishwasher made an awful noise, so they replaced it with a new one.  So I have all new appliances!  The kitchen was dark, but dad saw that brown swag lamp at a yardsale, and now I have light in my kitchen! 

That little glass front hutch was probably one of the best yard sale finds I have ever made.  When I saw it, the door was crooked and the shelves weren’t hanging in it.  It was also a little dirty. I asked how much, and when the lady said $10 I gave it another look and decided that for $10 it was worth trying to fix it up. Dad changed the hinges so the door is straight again, and after some cleaning and new knobs it looks like new!  I love it

Sorry for the blurry photo, but this is my living room!

The couch is new, and its the first time I’ve ever bought new furniture.  I was warned by a bunch of people not to get used couches because CO has a very bad bed bug problem right now.  Also, my apartment complex is one of the few in the area without bed bugs, and they asked me to please not bring any in.  So, heres my awesome couch!  Its leather and microsuede and I love that the pillows are different on each side, so I can basically change my couch colors whenever I want.  I normally wouldn’t have chosen orange, but it actually works REALLY well in my apartment!

This is my desk/sewing space.  I love working on my sewing at this table, but it doesn’t work too well as a desk.  Maybe I’ll eventually add a desk to my apartment, but for right now, this table serves its purpose.

This is the world’s smallest bathroom.  Seriously.  Its like being in a closet.

My bedroom still needs some more decorating.  Right now all I have is my awesome painting from Steph, and a mirror.  I spent most of my time focused in my living space for now.  For my bedroom I’m trying to use blues and whites, so maybe I’ll find some more decorations for cheap.  I am walking distance from a goodwill ^_^

I’m SO excited about this massive closet.  Its even bigger than it looks here, because each edge goes into the wall some.  I have so much space for all my clothes!!!!

Everyone should come visit me.  Here are 5 good reasons to come visit me.

#1 DINOSAUR FOOTPRINTS

#2 RAINBOWS!

#3 DENVER!

#4 MORE DINOSAURS!

#5 CRINOID FOSSILS!

Okay, so the fossils are a little dorky, but I think their awesome.

I miss everyone!!!

BTW.  Don’t go to Kansas.  You only need one reason…I give you Jesus of the Corn

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Tuesday, August 3, 2010 by admin.

Today was a VERY long day.  At least it felt that way.  We started out in Missouri, and continued on route 70 (which is pretty much the road most of our journey is on)

Kansas is the most BORING. STATE. EVER.  We drove through it before awhile ago, and I remember it being a big state.  Whatever I remembered was not nearly as long as it felt this time.  The scenery is unique, but I felt like every time I checked our location, we had barely moved across the state!

No wonder they call it Big Sky country.  All you really see is sky.  It seems like you can see so far.  We were able to see a whole train today too.  Its so odd, because in PA I’m so used to only seeing a few cars at a time and having no idea how long the train actually is.  Here you can see every single car, and just how far it stretches across the scenery.

The bad part about today (besides being in the car for hours and hours) was the HEAT.  It was over 100’ most of the day, and of course my engine started to overheat.  So April and I spent a lot of today with the air conditioning off, going slowly, and trying to survive with just the windows open.  It was miserable, so we stopped at Pizza Hut to get some dinner and let the sun set a little more.  After that it cooled off enough that we were able to use the air conditioning again.

Now we’re at a hotel near the border of CO, and it feels so good to shower and get ready for bed.  Tomorrow I get to move into my new apartment!!!!

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Monday, August 2, 2010 by admin.

So we’ve reached the end of day 1 of travel in the car and we’re now in Vandalia, Illinois.  Its been such a long day.  We started out a little later than anticipated (closer to 7:30) and have been going pretty much non-stop.  Mom and Dad are riding in the Suburban with the pod and trailer, and April and I are following them in the Jeep.

April and I have been listening to Michael Crichton’s book The Lost World audio book to keep ourselves entertained.  We both have read the book multiple times, but are so in love with the Jurassic Park books that its enjoyable to listen to it.  We also spent awhile listening to Janet Evanovich’s new book Sizzling Sixteen, just to change it up a little.

We only really stopped for lunch today, and even that was really quick.

We saw a few funny signs.  They get more and more ridiculous the farther west we travel.  I missed getting a picture of one advertising meat.  It said “FORK THE PORK!” in HUGE letters.  I did catch this one tho.  April and I were rather thrown off LOL.

So now we’ve stopped for the night, and it feels SO good just to shower and relax a little.  At the pace we’re going, we’ll probably reach our destination tomorrow night…meaning I can hopefully sign my lease and get into the apartment on Wednesday morning :) 

**hotel photos courtesy of April’s facebook photo album

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Sunday, August 1, 2010 by admin.

I can’t believe I’m leaving tomorrow morning for COLORADO!  Most of my stuff is packed up and packed into the Suburban and my Jeep.  I thought there was no way everything was going to fit, but Dad is a master packer and its all in there now.

My family is coming with me to help me get settled in and get my furniture.  I’m taking my bed and a table that I already have, but the rest of my things (a couch, desk, etc) I’m trying to find on Craigslist when I arrive.  Hopefully I can find some nice things cheap!

We’re leaving tomorrow morning bright and early, and the next three days will be spent driving.  Hopefully we’ll arrive on Wednesday so I can sign my lease and get moved into my new apartment.

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