New Blog Address

I have moved the blog to a new address. It is much shorter and easier to remember:

www.hilljo.blogspot.com

5 Years

5 years ago we had our first date.

We went to Third Place in Stillwater and talked all night--or I talked all night and he probably just nodded :) Sometimes I wonder how he ever asked me on a second date...

So much has changed in these past 5 years...we graduated college, I moved to Denver (alone), he moved to Denver (a year later), and he has finally made it to the airlines and only gets to spend a fraction of the time at home.

Here are a few pictures from the past 5 years:

Our first picture together (it was his 21st birthday and I was taking him on a surprise picnic) 11/10/2004:

Fall 2005 (OSU football game): Spring 2006:
Graduation May 6, 2006:Summer 2006 (Becky & Chris' Wedding):Fall 2006:
Summer 2007:Christmas 2007:September 2008 (Seattle):Valentine's Day 2009:

ACCEPTED!!

We have been told the bank is going to accept our offer on the house (the house is a short-sale, so the bank must approve all offers). Brandon and I were so surprised to hear back so fast, as we had been told it could take anywhere from 1-6 months to get a response from the bank. Apparently, the bank was starting to review the offers when Brandon and I swooped in. Lucky us :) We should have the contract from the bank in our hands on Wednesday...which also happens to be our 5 year anniversary :) And if all works out, we will close on April 17.

Now Brandon and I are trying to get some things done to make life easier for us once we close. The big thing we have to do is find someone to replace us in our apartment. The rest has just been figuring out what we want to do to the house. We went by Home Depot yesterday to pick up some paint chips and ended up picking out the color for nearly every room. Then we roamed the store looking at every possible thing that we might want to do, even if the existing is in good condition just not our style. But I guess that is what happens when you buy a house :)

Buying a house is stressful....

Brandon saw the house on Saturday and loved it

No word yet on our offer

The closing of another house we had put a bid on fell through this morning (just before closing), so Brandon and I had a huge decision to make. And it took me 2 hours to finally get to talk to him. Decided against going for this house again.

Hoping we made the right choice and the offer on the other house goes through with no back and forth (I know I'm dreaming).

Home Sweet Home????

Could this be our new house? We put an offer in yesterday. Did I mention that Brandon hasn't even seen the inside of the house yet? That will happen Saturday, so hopefully he likes it :)

Let's Go Skiing

Brandon and I finally made it up to Copper Mountain for our first ski trip of the season. We only went for 1/2 a day, but still had a great day and made it home alive.

Here is Brandon during lunch after he threw my water bottle across the room and broke it. (He was testing it to see if it was unbreakable...go figure.)
Just hanging out..

But I had plans...

My Friday off plans:

• Set no alarm
• Laundry
• Clean apartment
• Cook dinner
• Pick up skis for Saturday
• Grocery shop for next week
• Be in a great mood when Brandon arrived home

My NEW Friday plans:

• Get up at normal time.
• GO TO WORK!!!! (To work on an important project that at 3:00 PM on Thursday has not been distributed yet!! Did I also mention that my area has already completed this project and we still have to come in!! Plus, we found this out at noon onThursday, glad I didn't have any plans!!!)
• Pick up skis for Saturday
• Grocery shop (for the bare minimum)
• Cook dinner
• Try to do at least 2 loads of laundry, because Brandon has to have clothes for his next trip
• Be in a horrible mood all day (Sorry Brandon)

New Treasure

Brandon's mom made him this beautiful quilt for Christmas (which we also celebrated with them this past weekend). The monograms signify important times in his life.

Texas 1983-2002
Embraer Brasilia (the airplane he currenly flies)

OSU 2002-2006
B52 (one of his favorite aircraft)

The back of the quilt

What makes it such a treasure...

My Valentines

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend. Both my and Brandon's parents came to Denver and spent the weekend. We enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner at Carmine's on Penn.

Brandon and IMy mom and dad

Brandon's mom and dad

Did I mention that I was spoiled by everyone?

Charmaine brought me 3 yellow roses of Texas
My parents got me a dozen antique roses
Brandon surprised me with a bouquet of mixed flowers (my favorite)

Brandon also brought each of our moms a rose
(his mom's rose is the yellow/pink one and my mom's rose is the white/pink one)

I think they might be trying to tell us something...

Aloha, Maui!!

Yep, that's right, Brandon and I hopped over to Maui for a few days and just hung out on the beach. We arrived around 1 pm on Wednesday and then took the red-eye out Friday night and made it back to Denver before 10 am Saturday....perfect.

I do have to admit when we arrived in Maui and it was raining, and I mean pouring down, get soaked in 5 seconds, raining and this made us worry. But we made the best of the day and decided it would be a great day to take the Road to Hana. It was an amazing journey and was gorgeous. We still got out and did some hiking and we found a black sand beach, which was at the top of my list to see.

Thursday and Friday had perfect weather and we were able to get out and enjoy the beach. We were able to snorkel around Black Rock, where we swam with four Sea Turtles!! It was so cool to be so close to everything and to see live coral closeup. January and February are Whale season on the island and we were able to see many from shore. We were even able to do a little surfing and boogie boarding.

It was great to get away and relax for a few days. Now we just have to plan our next adventure :)

Aloha, Maui!

Yum...

Bakerella says, "Thaaank You, Betty!" and I say, "Thank you, Betty and Bakerella!!"

Bakerella is a blog all about baking. She has some great ideas (i.e. Cupcake Pops). In one post she featured these wonderful Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies from Betty Crocker topped with her Chocolate Ganache.

I made these for work this past week and they were a definite winner.

Does Anyone Want to Sell Me a House?

It must meet some modest (outlandish) criteria and must be for something, like, dirt cheap (for Denver standards anyway).

Why does Denver property have to be so out-of-this world expensive? Was Denver built on Holy Land and someone forgot to tell me? I just want to runaway and buy a house in Houston, and I do NOT want to live in Houston (but I do want a house, so maybe).

Today I spent day #3 with the Realtor and I am exhausted. We only started the search a week ago and I am already exhausted!!! What are the next 8 months (hopefully less) going to be like??

Ugh, it smells like wet dog food...

That is a real thought that occurs many days as I am leaving work downtown.

Disgusting, right??

There are only a few smells on my radar that are worse than wet dog food, but I think because I get this scent quite often it annoys me the most.

So you are probably asking, "Why does she smell wet dog food quite a bit?"

I assure you it is not by choice. Just north of Downtown Denver is a Dog/Puppy Chow factory and more often than I like, the scent is carried to the heart of downtown. I really only notice it when I am leaving work, which is just a great topper to a long day at work. So my only hope is to crinkle my nose and grumble all the way to my bus stop, as I try not to gag.

TGIF

I hope that this first full week of the new year has no indication of what the rest of the year will hold for us. Needless to say it has been a very long week.

Brandon's been sick all week and couldn't go back to work on time.

Work is a little crazy from everyone being on vacation the past two weeks.

I joined the gym and now work out during lunch with girls from work--my body hates me because every inch of it is sore. Plus, I have to work later to make up for my longer lunch :(

And finally, I am looking at everything that needs to be done in the apartment and I just want to run away.

Ok, So I'm a Litte Obsessive

So I know Christmas was over a week ago, but I love baking cookies and I didn't get to this year. Since Brandon and I postponed Christmas, I figured I could still get a way with baking Christmas Sugar Cookies. I made the cookies on Thursday (my exciting New Year's Eve--but it made me very happy) and I finally frosted them tonight. I was a little obsessive and had to get the coloring just right and now my right arm is paying for all the stirring required to get enough food coloring mixed into the frosting. But the final result was worth it.

Now to my next obsession...

I bake most of the meals that Brandon eats while he is out on a trip. I put together meals in fold-top sandwich bags to keep each food separate and then I place a full meal in a Reynolds Vacuum Bag and vacuum-save the meals. As Brandon eats each meal, he keeps the Vacuum Bag and brings it home for me to wash and reuse. Well, when I wash them, I have my very small kitchen counter covered in these bags. With being gone, I had a large pile needing to be cleaned and I have been trying to find a more convenient way of drying. I didn't have to look far. I have had this drying rack for years (thanks mom), but I never use it...until now. It works perfectly for drying the bags and I won't have to fight with the bags anymore for my kitchen space.

I know that was a long blurb about baggies, but I am really happy with my ingenuity and plus I did warn you that I was a little obsessive :)

It's Starting to look a lot like Christmas

I can't believe that Christmas has already come and went. I just was not ready for it this year, so I couldn't get in the holly jolly spirit this year. I think part of that was because of my wonderful trip to Vietnam. It just wore me out and took me more days than I expected to recover. Plus, I was unable to do my annual Christmas baking for work.

The beginning of my Christmas holiday didn't start out as planned. Brandon's cousin, Shelly, passed away and we flew out to Houston for the funeral. It was nice to spend time with his family, we just wish it wasn't under this circumstance. Brandon's family reminds me a lot of my mom's family. The extended family is very close knit and love to include more than just family in any get together. Brandon and I are planning to make it down to Houston to see them more often this year.

On Sunday I flew from Houston straight to Oklahoma, where my mom was waiting for me. This was my first trip home since the 4th of July weekend, which was my longest stretch between visits yet. However, I have seen my mom and dad twice each since then. Though, I can't say the same for my animals :( My family did Christmas on the 23rd, since we were driving to Houston on the 24th to see my Grandma. This Christmas I only asked for things for my kitchen and got some wonderful things. I can't wait to try the recipes out of my new cookbook, Pie in the Sky. I also received my first Le Creuset pot in lime green (or Kiwi to be official). It has taken my 2 years to decide on which color I wanted to see in my kitchen for the rest of my life, so hopefully I don't change my mind :) My brother got me a NintendoDS with Brain Age 1 & 2. This is something I would have never bought myself but it was a perfect gift. I love having it on the bus and one game gets me from home to work and the second gets me home from work. During my visit we went to Houston and spent Christmas with some of my dad's family. It was a wonderful Christmas dinner organized and cooked by my dad's Cousin Sue at my Uncle Jim's new house. My Great-Aunt Willou and Grandma enjoyed the time together and we all enjoyed the time with them.

All the while, poor Brandon spent Christmas all by himself. He actually worked Christmas Day and made it back to Denver late that night. When he found out he was making it back to Denver, I received the following message: "I'll b home for Christmas but no one will be there with me." He knows how to make me feel bad for him. He left before I made it back to Denver, so our Christmas would have to wait. We started the new year off right by celebrating Christmas and 2009 on January 1. I couldn't ask for a better way to start off the new year. He was happy with all the presents and even liked my attempt to play Santa with filled Stockings: Candy, Library Card, Instant Green Tea (to add to bottle water), Starbucks gift card, travel toothpaste, and toothbrush. Though, he did ask if I was trying to tell him something with the toothbrush and toothpaste.

Plus, I was able to bake my Christmas cookies this weekend, so even though it is January, "It's starting to look a lot like Christmas" to me at least!!

Christmas 2008