Yee-ha, Tejas!

Okay! We've been away .....in Austin, Texas that is .....Last week we made a trip down for Marsh's college fraternity reunion at Texas A&M in College Station (great campus and fortunately not too freaky conservative ....believe me, I was worried :) ...We also had a goal to find a place to live in Austin as we've decided to wait to buy until next spring and hopefully have the opportunity to continue to watch prices fall (and then jump on our ideal place!) ....I am happy to say we had success finding a fabulous place to lease for a year!! (see happy picture I took myself of our sweaty faces below afterwards in the hotel room) .....

The community we've decided to lease in is centrally located, so we can have a nice sustainable existence without a horrible commute (yyaaaaayyyy!!!) ....It is a mixed-use development with great restaurant options and unique retail stores. But most importantly, there is a doggie park for Chance and I'm hoping he will make lots of new friends --he's just going to have to be a little more accepting and slightly less neurotic and mouthy ...I'm sure he'll adjust as we all will! Here's some photos of the new neighborhood:

Courtyards across from some of the retail space

one of the buildings with lofts in the development....love modern architecture

the doggie park.....I can hear Chance's piercing, wonderful bark already!

We had a great week and after the reunion at A&M (will be adding these photos in a slide show soon to be posted), we stayed with a colleague of Marsh's, Suresh, and his wife Brigitte. They were gracious enough to host us for a few nights and we had the chance to enjoy Brigitte's wonderful cooking. Also, we all were able to get together for dinner with another colleague of Marsh's and friends of ours, Van and Julie ....lots of laughs and excellent political topics of conversation .....there is never a lull in the conversation when Julie and I are both present :)

Me, Julie, Van, Brigitte, Suresh, and Marsh

Julie making us all laugh :)

......And I was so happy to see my old and true friend Kacia (we go waaaay back ....our fathers even went to high school together) and finally meet her little Lila (the sweetest, most easy going little gal I have ever met!) ....I am soooooooooooo happy she and her very talented musician husband Ed (part of the Heathens) are in Austin, I can't even tell you!!!

Kacia and sweet lil' Lila!
...I'll be adding a slide show of the whole trip, including pictures from the A&M reunion, soon........since this is my last week at work with OZ Architecture (I will be taking pictures for nostalgic purposes, of course) and it is a hectic one, I'll be updating sometime over the weekend when I can take a breath again ......We are, however, getting very excited and anxious about our upcoming Austin move!! It will be hot!! No, it really will .....really, really, really #$*$%* HOT!!!!
Nothing a cool body of water, real OR man-made, can't solve .....at least the summer season's temporary, right? :)

Taking Over the Hotel Boulderado

Matt, Shamane, Ash, and Andria catching up at The Corner Bar

Marsh in menu contemplation mode

We met the usual suspects last night at The Corner Bar (in the Hotel Boulderado) for some fine food and drink in addition to some late night fun: moving hide-and-seek in the haunted Hotel Boulderado. It was no surprise that Marsh and Ash were slightly reprimanded by a hotel staff member ....too funny. Shamane and I used the old-fashioned elevator in the hotel to our advantage and had the "elevator boy" helping us remain undiscovered. We all enjoyed catching a glimpse of Matt searching for us with trepidation (he was not a fan of the idea of running into one of the hotel's ghostly spirits!). This made him the perfect "it" person in my opinion :)

The crrraaaazzzzy crew!

Marsh and I in front of the Boulder Theatre on our way out of the Hotel Boulderado

......We had some good laughs before heading over to Matt and Shamane's for dessert and more crazy antics (this time it became fun with the household greenery --see shot below) ....We are a wild and crazy bunch and have way too much fun when the six of us get together ......what can I say. We are very much looking forward to Matt and Shamane's annual spring "spread" next month and the all-out-insane croquet playing ....it will be a bit melancholy this year as it will also be our going away party, but we are determined to have a blast and perhaps turn it into an all-night-long affair .....if anyone can do it, it's this group of crazy freaks!! I love 'em and we are going to miss the hell out of them.

Matt and Ash (otherwise known as Grandma and Grandpa ;)

.....what ....the ....................

He's IN!!!

Yeee-hhaaaaa's are in order, folks!! Justin, soon to be a mature 20 years old, was accepted into CU's School of Advertising!! Way to go, J-Lav!! ....Seriously, Marsh and I could not be prouder. We believe Justin has found the RIGHT balance between the parties and the studies :) ...Anyway, this is quite an accomplishment and deserving of some recognition .....Keep keepin' it real, yo J?? ....So, in the spirit of recognizing the impact of the advertising world on our lives with many a slogan ingrained in our memories, I've included a fun little Brain Candy Word Play test to see how many famous advertising slogans you remember!! Check it out and see how well (or not) you score!! Here's the place: http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/slogans.html

Things We'll Miss About Boulder....

Marsh and I took Chance out this afternoon to our favorite walking trail: East Boulder (Valmont) trail. It's long enough a walk (hour and a half if you do the trail from the Valmont entrance to the next parking area near Arapahoe) to feel like you've gotten some exercise, but mellow enough for dogs like Chance to keep up and enjoy it as well. In addition, what's especially attractive about it is that it is still one of few open space trails in the Boulder area where Chance is allowed off leash (as he should be). I also like running this route, but these days, if it happens it's usually just me (sorry, honey ....that's the truth!). It was a breezy but comfortable afternoon and although it appeared a storm might be rolling in over the foothills, we remained dry and enjoyed watching it come in. This is a first in what may be a series of "Things We Will Miss About Boulder" blogs ...as there are many things we will miss. But, we are hanging on to property here and believe that we will return down the road!! Marsh and I have many memories on this trail, including completing a competitive foot race which, to this day, Marsh still falsely believes he won ......his tactics in doing so were shady, at best ;) ......Anyway, for those of you brisk walkers and runners out there, here is a great link for where to go in the Boulder area: http://www.boulder-running.com/wtr/ ....We took a bunch of nostalgic pictures today and I've included a slide show for your viewing pleasure above the blog archive called "Our Favorite Trail". Chance was particularly pleased with our afternoon adventure. It's sometimes difficult to get the "perfect picture" with him, but I think we came pretty darn close today (below).
Chance: a very happy boy!

Why Women Hate Sports

...okay, so I don't hate ALL sports, but this clip is funny and as Andria and I suffered yesterday while Marsh and Ash were glued to the two Final Four games, we momentarily felt like the woman in this video ....check it out :)

[Why women hate sports!] | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Bath Time before the Final Four

Chance was getting a little stinky and was very much due for a bath. Andria and Ash were coming over a little bit later for the Final Four games (Marsh and Ash are basketball junkies), so with the perfect weather yesterday afternoon, it seemed an ideal time to get clean .....so we went for it. Chance is pretty good about getting a bath. He doesn't seem to despise the whole activity, but rather puts up with it. What he does love, though, is showing off afterwards (see catwalk pose above :) ....he's a handsome boy, eh?? .....Before the games yesterday, we pretty much had a morning and early afternoon devoted to cleaning at our rental home ....we were lucky enough to sell our house last fall (anticipating our move this summer to Austin) and were even luckier to find a home in the same neighborhood to rent until it was time to head to the heat .....uggghhh.......let's not think about that right now!! ....Anyway, Marsh and Ash let the games begin and appropriately situated the furniture (see below):

....I just found a video on JibJab entitled "Why Women Hate Sports" ....pretty funny ...it pretty much explains the way Andria and I felt yesterday evening. I'm going to try and post it, so wish me luck as I haven't tackled posting any video yet. .....Anyway, I do know this: the championship game will be between Kansas and Memphis. Honestly, I could really care less who wins, but our neighborhood friend Kay is a Kansas fan and I just love her .....so, I'll root for Kansas just for her. Other than that, if the Packers aren't playing, I don't care :) .....so, Andria and I had fun taking pictures and reminiscing about who knows what (as sisters do) while the final four freaks didn't budge (literally) for hours ......go figure.....

Andria looking cute!

Allana looking tall (ha, ha ....sorry, Andria ....I am taller than you, but you shouldn't slouch!)

Picture time with Chance and Harlow (two very unwilling participants in our fun!)

Random candle pictures ....I LOVE them ....something you can't possibly have too many of....

I got up on the kitchen counter like a crazy woman for this shot ....not bad for an amateur :)

Fa-la-la-la, Aria!

Aria ......could there be a more appropriate name for her?? I think not!! I love being an aunt, the only problem is I don't get to see my nieces and nephews nearly as much as I'd like to. But we are hoping to see Aria, my sister-in-law Myra and her wife Elizabeth this fall. Marsh and I are planning a trip to Portland (one of my favorite cities in the country!) to see them and will head to Bend to visit old friends as well .....anyway, all I can say is that we LOVE our trips to Portland .....visiting Myra and Elizabeth feels like home to me. They always welcome us with open arms and really take care of us, planning new adventures every time we come to visit .....I feel so lucky to have them in our lives and can't wait to see how much Aria has grown!! I haven't seen her since her "Elmo" days and I'm certain she has a myriad of interests now and may even be composing her first concerto as we speak. If you have never toured this progressive town, you need to! Portland has done wonders in terms of integrating sustainability into "city living" ...I think it's a tremendous example of what a 21st century city should be: a healthy city with a pulse and a path towards preservation and conservation. Portland is often named one of the top three "green" cities in the country (Popular science just named it #1 last month) .....check it out for yourself at The City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development: http://www.portlandonline.com/osd/index.cfm?c=32927

.....and I will leave you with some imagery to inspire you to travel to the Northwest coast and experience the beauty of Portland and surrounding areas for yourself! .....

Downtown Portland - view of Mount Hood in the background

...I stole this photo from a fellow blogger that lives in Portland :) ...nice shot, it captures what I love about the downtown area.....

.....and the Willamette River with many a bridge....several I've enjoyed running across!

You MUST see this documentary

If you live in or around the Boulder area, you have definitely seen the "Free Tibet" bumper stickers posted on the back of many a Subaru (or other vehicle make for that matter). And I'm sure you've said to yourself that it seems important enough a message, but perhaps you have never really gotten around to investigating what that message is really all about .......okay, maybe I'm speaking for myself here (which I am), but I know that many others out there have felt the way I did ......which is that it seemed like an interesting cause, but one in which I was too caught up in my own day-to-day concerns to truly investigate in depth (yep ....we are ALL guilty of the lazy American syndrome in some way, shape, or form, people). .....I am telling you RIGHT NOW, do not miss an opportunity to rent (I don't care if it's through Blockbuster, Netflix, or whoever the heck you use for DVD rental services) this eye-opening film -10 Questions for the Dalai Lama -refer to picture post above ....I actually bought the film half-price along with another and upon first viewing it several months ago, could not believe I had waited so long to see it. Unbelievably beautiful and yet horribly sad ......I think we all need to take multiple history courses to realize how much we really DON'T know ....and the media has, for decades, left us all jaded .....I could go off here, but I won't ....As many of you know, Tibet is once again in the headlines with the approach of the 2008 Summer Olympics to be held in Beijing. I encourage everyone to watch this film and then visit the following link to continue to educate yourselves: http://noolympics.blogspot.com/ ....the power of people CAN and does make a difference .........everyday.