like a baby

I'm sick. Again. I used to never get sick but it's been happening a lot more frequently. What makes it worse is since I'm not accustomed to the cold I act like a child. I fake cry and demand back rubs from my fiance. Wahh wah.

Boston

Some photos of our trip to Boston last year.

the Sam Adams tour is definitely something worth doing in Boston

yes it is "that guy" from the commercials

brews

We went on the Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey tour last night, I'm almost always laughably early to anything I sign up for (tours, work but always late to personal events) so we got there a half hour early and sat down in the Rackhouse Pub. We had just eaten Taco Bell (blah I regretted that awful tasting decision immediately) so all we got were pretzel bites (delicious) and beer.  I had Dry Dock Apricot Blonde and Chris had Great Divide Grand Cru. Both beers were awesome for totally different reasons.  If you like fruity beers Apricot Blonde tasted like liquid apricots and Grand Cru (at 11% abv) was impressive.

The tour was pretty simple, we've been on a couple beer tours and it's a fairly similar process, so really we were just there to taste some whiskey. This stuff is 94 proof and therefore had a good burn. She had us try it straight and with a micro-splash of water. The water really changed the flavor... for the better. It was pretty good for whiskey (I'm a tequila girl myself) but this place was definitely another great place to take guests new to Denver.

Stranahan's takes volunteers to label bottles when orders come in for their whiskey, we're signing up in the lottery because well... that would be awesome. You get free beers and whiskey for spending a few hours in their assembly line.

Ada Vonn Bear The National Lover

the suburbs

Everyone has been freaking out about them winning at the Grammy's

"So can you understand
why I want a daughter while I'm still young?
I wanna hold her hand 
and show her some beauty 
before this damage is done


But if it's too much to ask, it's too much to ask
then send me a son"


-The Suburbs
    Arcade Fire

I have a hard time deciding if I like this album or Neon Bible better but anyways it's fun.

world beer tour

A few night ago Chris and I started the World Beer Tour at Old Chicago. 2 down, 108 to go.

1. Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat

I was talking about this beer last time I went on the Coors factory (because it's owned by the Coors-Miller-Molson family) so when I saw it on draft I had to have it again.   It's got a fun aftertaste like fruit loops.

2. Snakebite

I got a Guinness-Cider mix for my number two.

Yum what milky foam you have.

dead flower

srq

If you're from Sarasota you know it's often fondly called SRQ.  I'm surprised at how little I actually miss Florida.  I mean I miss seeing my family, but we talk about as often as when I was living in Orlando for college.  I'll only see them a few times a year now but I think I just adjusted well to living away from home.  It wasn't the easiest move but now that it's done and I've realized how comfortable I can feel anywhere I'm looking forward to our future moves more. Looking back though these are two of my favorite photos of Sarasota.

rocky mountain oysters

My friend from college who now lives in Georgia came out to visit a few weeks ago and we went on the Coors tour in Golden.  At the end of the Coors tour you're given a "golden ticket" good for 5 to 20 percent off (or up to $500) at a local shop/restaurant. We cozied up to a biker bar in Golden (we are absolutely not bikers but it looked fun) and saw rocky mountain oysters on the menu.

Chris and I are well aware of what rocky mountain oysters are (no they aren't real oysters) but my friend had no idea.  We were so excited to finally see them on a menu because they're really hard to find.

They didn't look anything like what I expected, and my friend thought it was  tongue. We were all surprised, bull testicle... not all that bad.

Later that night we went to Euclid Hall downtown in Denver and had another culinary experience with fried pig ears.  If you get the thinner pieces they taste a lot like onion rings, the big hunks had a textural issue for me and I totally cringed the first time. Euclid Hall has a really great vibe if you're in the area, it's walking distance to 16th Street Mall and has lots of "experimental food." The menu includes bone marrow, foie gras and (awesome) hops infused pickles.

sometimes she's sweet

Ada is all german shepherd, there is absolutely no doubt about it.  She likes to make herself comfortable.  I took this picture on my phone so it's really awful quality but I  love it, she's curled up on daddy's pillow.

places

A list of the places I want to visit

Iceland
Russia
Croatia
Ukraine
South Africa
Argentina
Thailand
Chile
India
Spain
Turkey
Morocco

snow tires

When I moved out here I asked just about everybody if I needed to invest in snow tires.  In general the response was "no, just drive carefully and you'll be fine." I'm actually a pretty good driver, I was in a tiny accident when I was 17 and learned a lot from the "tiny accident" that cost me $600. At 17 loosing half the money I had in the bank really got me to drive more carefully.

October came and went with very little snow even though I was warned that "the first snow fall comes on Halloween." The same thing happened in November.  I was warned that "the first real measurable snow comes on Thanksgiving" but we got almost nothing.  I hadn't even thought about snow tires for months before our first real snow at the end of December.

My parents came out to keep me company over Christmas while Chris was in Florida and we had a great time.  No snow meant we could head over to Golden, Boulder and Black Hawk. I had three days off work and we were off exploring the outskirts of Denver. They left on Christmas day and Chris returned.  Two days later his sister and younger brother arrived.  We headed to Boulder right away because we heard rumor that snow was coming.

The day after they arrived we got hit with snow while we were out driving around. I started sliding sideways down Colorado Blvd and then again down Colfax.  After the second time I almost caused an accident I thought it best to pull off and call a tow truck. It took hours to get the tow truck and the lady I talked to on the phone forgot to inform the driver there were 4 of us riding with him to my apartment. We all piled on top of each other in the tiny truck cab and finally got home 3 hours later.

I think everyone giving me advice assumed (as did I) that I at least had all-purpose tires. The tires that came on my car when I bought it were "summer tires" meaning they had basically no tread.  I definitely suggest investing in a good pair of snow tires if you move up north, spare yourself the embarrassment.

When we got home Ada decided to try and toboggan.

Denver

One of the most difficult parts of moving was plotting our route from Tampa to Denver.  We wanted to take the longer route and stop for a night in New Orleans and maybe somewhere in Texas but we weighed our options and figured the shortest, most direct route would be best because Ada was traveling with us.  So it was up and over, 3 days with plenty of pit stops.

There was only one stop really worth mentioning.  Just before Colorado somewhere in west Kansas is Prairie Dog Town. I'll quote the owner here that it's "the only zoo in America that lets in dogs."

Ada scoping out some coyotes, but it was the open field of prairie dogs that really peaked Ada's interest.

If you ever find yourself plotting a road trip this way try to skip Missouri, it was definitely the most boring stretch of land. But if it's the Missouri way you're taking don't forget to check out Prairie Dog Town (especially if your pup needs to stretch her legs) in Kansas.

I'm used to taking road trips, almost every summer of my younger years my mom would get my aunt to drive with her while my sister, cousin and I lounged around watching tv in the back of the van.  Always headed to Michigan the route quickly became familiar but we always had fun. Chris is not a huge road trip fan though, I'm hoping he enjoys the road trip to DC a little more.

Whether we enjoyed the trip or not, here we are 1869 miles later in Denver.

(semi) Prepared for the unexpected

Little did I know a few years ago when I started dating my now fiance (Chris) what I was getting into, the adventure I'd embarked at 18 that would completely change the shape of my future.

I'm 22 now but it seems like a lot has happened in only 4 years. I was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida and I assumed after college I would return, find a job and a nice little home near my family. All that began to change in my sophomore year of college when I had to face a decision, to stay with Chris and expect the (somewhat) unexpected or stay my course in Florida.

In our sophomore year Chris applied and received a fellowship to become a FSO.  This meant graduate school out of state (there isn't a program available in Florida) and frequent moving. It really was an easier decision than I had imagined, I think I forced myself to second guess the decision but I was ready and willing to commit to  moving wherever this fellowship took us. Over the next year I thought, well there are plenty of schools on the east coast that he can attend, at least on the east coast I won't feel so far from my family. Let's just say I got a little hung up on living on the east coast.

Senior year of college we moved in together, got a dog and things were going (fairly) smoothly. Fair warning, if you move with your boyfriend maybe wait a few months before adding a puppy to the mix.  We became responsible for duties neither of us had dealt with in over 3 years, but we figured it out and things got a lot easier a few weeks into having her.

That's the first picture I have of Ada, we're in the back seat of my car bringing her home from Daytona.

This is the most recent picture I have of her. Just so everyone knows, she is a pure bred german shepherd, everyone likes to make claims that she's a Belgian tervuren, but she's not. Fact.

Senior year was difficult, Chris was waiting to hear back from grad schools and I chose to apply for a teaching program.  We waited, and waited to mostly hear back bad news.  I didn't get into the program and Chris didn't end up with many... (or really any) choices when it came to grad school. We were off to Denver, Colorado come September. I can't say this was easy news for me to hear, actually I was quite dramatic.  I had come to terms with living hundreds, even thousands of miles from my family but I was prepared to share a coast, the east coast. I'd never been to Colorado and really had no interest in going to Colorado but here I am.  So here I am now living in Aurora (just outside of Denver) with Chris and Ada dealing with snow for the first time.

I guess that was my first lesson in being prepared for anything, especially with this program and being an FSO's future EFM. We're now living in Denver, Chris has his posting for his summer internship (he's going to Kigali, Rwanda) and although we've only been in Denver a few months we're well aware that Washington, D.C. will be our next stop.