Millards In The Mountains

Today I had a discussion with my boss about options for a Master's degree. I think I have found the perfect program for me at Purdue University. It is called a M.S. in Geomatics, which basically encompasses and builds on everything I do at work. The best parts are that I don't have to quit my job to do it because it's online and I won't have to write a thesis! Also, my company will be paying for most of it if I do well. I'm really glad I waited to do this, because I know I wouldn't have chosen this route if I had done my Masters right after undergrad, and this will really enhance my career (if I get accepted and complete it successfully.) Matt starts working nights full time next week. If I start my Masters in the spring semester, it will really help keep me busy during those lonely evenings and it's something I want to do for myself and my career anyway, so it makes sense to start now that Matt and I are both settled into our jobs for the long haul. I think...

Today I started my second "Biggest Loser" competition of the year. I'm doing it through work, just my new company this time. Basically I have three months to lose 10% of my body weight. If I lose that much, I don't have to pay the $50 entry fee. If i don't, I have to pay the person who loses the highest percentage body weight the $50. On the other hand, if I lose the most, I get will make a lot of money, unless everyone loses 10% 0f their body weight. By some miracle of the scale, I won the contest at Western Air Maps, even though we found out later that the scale added nine pounds to some arbitrary number. Apparently, my weight was under that number, so I won! I still feel guilty about that one... Anyway, my plan is to cut out snacks, portion meals, drink lots of water and excersize at least 5 times a week. So far, it is working well. After three months though, we will see. I have a 3 mile running route which I am getting pretty good at and Matt just bought Wii F...

As promised, I am posting pictures from our camping trip with Jake. I realize i am about a week late with these, but our recent outing with Nick and Carlene motivated me to get these up. I didn't get any pictures from this weekend, but we had a great time as usual. My favorite part of our camping trips is driving through the mountains. Matt and I always try to take the scenic route home so that we can take in the view longer. Okay, that's all. Enjoy the pictures! The clouds were so low, they covered the tops of the nearby mountains. This river was pretty cool. There were plants and trees growing on the rocks in the middle. And it was flowing pretty fast due to all of the rain. My mom would have like it there a lot. Pongo was scared of the noise of the water. We were on a bridge, so you can't blame the little guy. Our new tent! Jake got to break it in for us on this trip. It was cold, so we put Pongo's sweater on him and he made himself at home in a chair in front of ...

It's Wednesday. So far this work week, in no particular order, I have: Worked 29 hours Finished 2 1/2 airports Run 8 miles Negotiated car insurance, renters insurance and even talked life insurance with our agent. Called my bank in Kansas, then the state of Kansas, then my bank again to try to figure out where my car title is and how to get it to register my car and get tags. Then I called the state of Colorado, who said I don't even need it. Faxed a jewelry appraisal to my insurance agent to insure my engagement and wedding bands, only to hear that the appraisal is over a year old and I need a new one. Acquired an emissions test, then a VIN Verification test, then obtainied Colorado tags for my car (finally!) Acquired a Colorado drivers license. Eye-witnessed my first tornado ever (in Colorado, go figure!) Registered to vote Re-packed two tents in their cases for our upcoming weekend camping trip with Nick and Carlene Reserved a campsite at Cold Springs Campground (happily!) R...

We had a wonderful weekend with our good friend Jake, who moved back to Kansas City from Alabama just time time for our move out here. But he is so awesome that he flew out here last weekend for some Colorado fun. Friday evening, we went to the Breckenridge Brewery Bar near Coors Field. (I have already been there once with Nick and Carlene, but I thought the guys needed to go too.) Here are Matt and Jake in front of the restaurant. We had originally planned on taking Jake for a camping trip since we are experts on camping now. :) Saturday, we awoke to the sound of rain, overcast skies and amazingly cold temperatures for August. This is the ONLY time I have seen overcast skies out here! It stopped raining by 11 am, so we decided to pack everything and at least drive to the campground and see how things went. We wanted Jake to see the mountains since the clouds completely covered them for the first part of his visit. Now, everyone who reads this blog and lives out here in Colorado will p...

I am really starting to feel the heat from my new job. It is challenging in ways I never imagined. I find myself flooded with emails about jobs that are ready for me and my supervisor keeps advising me that plenty more are "coming down the pipe." I am joining that crowd of co-workers who are both early risers and late stayers. People in the main office in Dayton are starting to figure out who I am am and what I'm doing; therefore I have been recieving phone calls and emails from them as well as my superiors here in Denver. All I can say is that I love it! I love the level of professionalism that I am required to have and the responsibility that I am taking on already at work. I think I'm starting to grow up! :) And I'm ready to prove to people that I am good at what I do and can take on whatever they need me to. Having said that, I have no idea how they are going to get me switched over to classified processing when the room is finished since I am really getting i...

My idea for dinner tonight was a simple frozen dinner that you warm up in the skillet called Bertolli. Well, Matt convinced me that we should get Pizza Hut because he had a coupon so we came up with the deal that if he ordered it, I'd go pick it up. I left the house feeling completely confident in my abilities of getting around in traffic and finding my way to the store. I also was going to stop by Blockbuster to pick up a movie. I stopped at the first and closest Blockbuster, which I promptly discovered is closing and yesterday was the last day for rentals. Undeterred, I called Matt and he directed me to another one, apparetly right next door to the Pizza Hut. I missed the turn, had to turn around while fighting traffic and it still took me 30 minutes to find the store! I couldn't find any good movies at the Blockbuster and chose one neither of us is really excited about. When I got to the front, the girl was too busy flirting with someone to realize there was a line of peop...

As promised, I am going to write a post about the drivers of this area. This is a good time to do it because yesterday, I had a driving "first." On my way to work in the morning at 6:45 am, I was heading down Buckley Rd. and I noticed that the light was turning yellow so I slowed and stopped. I was pretty close to the light, but if I had not stopped, I would have run it. I have seen more red light runners here then I ever have before, but I didn't feel like breaking the law for one of my first actions of the day. Anyway, the car in the lane BESIDE me felt differently. It continued on through the light and also layed on its horn at me for stopping. I know he was honking at me because I was the only other car around. The only other thing I could think of was that someone was having a medical emergency and needed to get to the hospital and the horn was a warning to the intersection in general. I don't think this was the case as the guy was sipping a cup of coffee as he t...

After talking with several friends on the phone over the past couple of days, I realized that right now is the longest I have ever been away from Kansas before in my life! I think the time before that was the three weeks in 2006 I spent at KU field camp in Canon City, CO. I have never studied abroad or taken any trips that I can remember that were longer than 3 weeks! I never even so much as lived in Kansas City, MO! It's kind of a shocking revelation. I don't feel that far away though. Just an hour plane ride or a rather long but do-able drive and I can be back! Other than that, the major story right now is the landscaping that is happening in our back yard. Our landlord is having a rock pathway put in from our side gate to the deck because the grass was dying there. (It's dying everywhere else too!) But this will just mean less watering. YAY! Well anyway, there is a plie of sand in our driveway, so we can't use one side of the garage or park on that side of the drivew...

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We are enjoying having Bill and Barbara at our house and have had a great weekend. It will be hard to go to work tomorrow. I'm pretty tired so I'll post some pictures and comment on them. That's more interesting anyway. This is the sunset over the mountains on Thursday evening. It was so beautiful! Matt and Pongo in Rocky Mountain National Park. We had to admire the mountains from afar since they wouldn't let dogs ON LEASHES on any of the trails. Any ideas why? Matt went to explore the lake, but Pongo couldn't go. He is watching for Matt under the sign that says "No Pets Allowed." It was the saddest thing I've seen in a while! Up close. NO PETS! Beautiful beautiful mountain tops, complete with snow! Pongo trying to "rescue" his dad. Today, we went outlet shopping in Castle Rock, then headed to Colorado Springs. Our destination: Seven Falls. No wrestling the bears, Matt! Actually, the sign is describing some rock formations. Overlooking the ...

It is official. Matt passed his Colorado pharmacy law test and he is now licensed to work in the state. I wanted to put him to work last night when we went to Wal-Mart to pick up my prescription and it took them a good half and hour to fill mine even though I dropped it off days ago. (They had some trouble with my insurance, but it is fine now.) Anyway, Matt sometimes works in the Wal-Mart pharmacy and so I wanted him to just go back there and do it. :) We are getting ready to head out on a one night camping trip in Rocky Mountain National Park with Nick and Carlene. When we get back tomorrow, Matt's dad and his wife will be here! We are super excited for that as well. Time is starting to really fly by out here. This week passed very quickly. I'll hopefully have some pictures to post tomorrow or Sunday. I got a beatiful one at sunset last night.