Millards In The Mountains

I have a bunch of little blurbs that didn't really add up to a full blog post for each, so i'm going to make a bullet list of things going through my brain right now. -I feel like I have a "weekend marriage" right now. Not that I live the life of a wild bachellorette during the week or anything, but since Matt and I see (and talk) to each other for a total of half an hour to an hour on a daily basis, I've been feeling pretty "single" during the week. Luckily, it's almost the weekend and Matt and I can have a couple fun days together. We also tend to do a lot of daily communicating via text message. The people I work with are VERY quiet and I feel really uncomfortable talking on my phone in my cube. Texting is a good solution, and I am always excited when the light on my phone turns blue and I know I have a text from Matt waiting for me. -We are starting to delve into the house buying process. It's a scary thought and we have barely started lookin...

Disclaimer: I try not to make this blog too political because I know many people read it and not everyone shares my views. Plus I just hate getting into political debates in general. But what I have to share just really upset me. I heard it on a news blurb on the radio yesterday. On January 15, 2009, a US Airways jet landed in the Hudson River after a run-in with a flock of birds caused massive engine trouble. The pilot, Captain Chesley Sullenberger III immediately knew he could not turn the plane around or make it to a nearby airport. He was barely out of New York, NY and knew that the city could not handle another 911 type tragedy, which could occur unless he thought of a good alternative. So he calmly rationalized that the Hudson River was the best possible place to land the plane. Miraculously, no one was injured thanks to the Sulleberger's quick thinking, a proactive staff aboard the plane and a quick response from rescue teams. I consider this man a hero. He stayed calm and r...

I hate these posts where I don’t really have anything significant to say. We had a pretty uneventful weekend, which was kind of disappointing. It’s mostly my fault because I haven’t been feeling very well. I just didn’t want to get up and around on Saturday. Sunday was a little better. I did laundry, etc. and then got stir crazy. I just wanted to get out of the house. Matt and I went out and got some new athletic shoes. Then I went and got my hair cut and highlighted while Matt went golfing. I really like my hair, although I would have been OK with her cutting it a little shorter in the back. I guess I really have a hard time communicating with stylists. I told her all I wanted was a cut and highlight, and found a picture of what I wanted the cut to look like. The lady must have thought I wanted my hair to be EXACTLY like the picture because she started talking about coloring it red. Luckily I avoided the red, but she did color all my hair (a similar brown as I had previously) as well ...

What an awful title, I know. It was about all I could think of. Poor Perdi had her surgery today. She is fine and curled up in my lap as I write this. I know she is still under a little bit of anesthesia, but her cuddliness is so welcome. It's like she's saying "Hold me mommy. I hurt." Perdi whined all the way home from the vet. I don't think it was from pain, i think it was because she missed Pongo and just wanted to be home and away from such a scary situation. Perdi had a "band aid" from the IV. I thought it looked cute, but she just wanted it off, so I obliged after a few photos. Can you spot the incision? There is a lot of iodine on her body, but the actual cut is so small because we opted for a laproscopic procedure. It is only an inch long at most. It also blends in with all her beagle spots! Here is the trooper right after we got home! Matt took Perdi to the vet a little after 7 am. He left Pongo out as a test to see if his separation anxiety is...

Just the other day, I was thinking how the smallest things we do can impact our lives in a huge way. Here is my personal example: My senior year of high school, I was facing a huge dilemma. To accept my offer of admission to James Madison University or to submit my housing application to KU. Both were due in mere days and my decision was coming down to the wire. Obviously, I went with KU, which was not a small decision to make. However, I clearly remember reading over each residence hall's description and even what different floors had to offer before submitting my housing form. I decided on a whim check the "3E" floor box after reading about it. (3E = "Experiencing Excellence in Ellsworth.") And look what happened in my life because of that! I met Matt on that floor, we dated, got married and moved to Colorado. I also met some of my best college friends there. The most momentous events of my life happened because I checked that one little box... Lesson learned:...

I love three day weekends! Matt and had such a good few days together. They went by in a blur to me! Friday, we went night skiing again at Keystone. All was well until the last run, when we decided to upgrade to a blue run. That was the scariest thing I have done in a while! It was very steep, long and a little icy. I’m sure it would have been more fun if the snow was better. Still, I have a lot of fun on the greens. Saturday, a window guy came to our house to estimate how much work needs to be done on them. We have been promised window work by our landlord since we moved in! Apparently, they are pretty bad. Not only are they nailed shut so we can’t open them (a previous tenant was a little paranoid of a break-in so she had them nailed shut), but they are very leaky as well. Still, Matt and I are not too upset about our gas bills this winter. The weather has been mild, but even during cold snaps, we paid more in the winter for our much smaller house in Roeland Park, which had TERRIBLE ...

Yesterday, we took a work field trip to see one of the Woolpert survey planes. The Centennial airport is super close to the office, and the plane happened to be there, so a bunch of us went to check it out. Here is the plane, front and side views. It is a Cesna (insert number here). My dad and/or brother would know the exact number. I asked, but can't remember. I was more intrigued by other things... ...like going IN the plane. On the top, I am posing by the "brains" of the camera that takes the aerial imagery. (ADS 40, for those of you photogrammetry nerds out there.) On the left is me, and Leo the pilot up front. The airplane controls... And the camera. There are literally holes cut under the belly of the plane for the camera viewer and LIDAR. All the Woolpies waiting to look inside the plane. What a fun afternoon!

I want to first thank everyone who comments on the blog. I'm really glad that Laura is doing this and it makes us feel really good when you all comment! Catching up, I am working a lot and don't mind it because I think people are noticing and that is what I want to do. I just starting taking on a management type project that I hope I can run with and impress our two managers. They work really hard and, not only do I want to impress them, but I want to help them with all they have to do. Like Laura said, we do go to the dog park a lot and the puppies have a lot of fun. Too much if you ask me, but they get some energy out and are more calm. Yesterday when we went Pongo decided to revert to his bad boy ways and run all the way across the park to get to the horse pen. Perdita was yipping and following. They ran around the horse pen about 3 times and this time stayed out of the poo, but it makes both Lor and I worried about the puppies when they get that close to the horsies...

Greetings, folks! I am one tired lady right now. I got home yesterday, frantically ran some errands (who knew dry cleaning a down comforter costs $35?) fed the dogs and passed out for an hour on the couch. When I woke up, I worked for a couple hours on my stats homework and made good progress. At this point, I decided to go to bed. However, I just could NOT fall asleep, which is usually not a problem for me. All in all, I probably got 3 hours of sleep. I guess I am holding up okay, but I am discouraged…I got some of my programming homework back today and did not do as well as I hoped. I put so much time and effort into those assignments, but sometimes it all feels way over my head. I am working on a list of 25 random things about myself. These lists have been going around Facebook like crazy. I just can’t think of that many interesting things about myself. I think I am at #9 right now. I will post this list up here when I am finished as well, so the non-facebook people can learn a litt...

Here is something crazy: my brother took the ACT today! Since he is 10 years younger than me, this fact really creep me out. That, and the fact that I will be 26 on my next birthday...time passes SO fast these days. I wish I could just grab ahold of something and slow it down! Anyway, I think Brennan was mostly just taking that ACT for practice because he is still a sophomore, but I bet he will do way better than me on his first try. I told him I wouldn't reveal my score to him until AFTER he got his back. :) And even then, I'll still have to see . :D The great thing about having conversations with my brother as of late, is that it seems like we finally have more to talk about. I mean this in the sense that we are both growing up and we have more in common. The age difference that once seemed so large is getting smaller and smaller by the day. For instance, I could advise him on the ins and outs of the ACT and SAT, while he gave me some funny bits of humor of getting root cana...

There is a topic I have been meaning to bring up for a while: the economy! I'm sure it is on many people's minds as thousands upon thousands of people are laid off from their jobs every day. I feel as if I have been in a bubble from this crisis, and luckily so! My company was not effected by the credit crisis; they have a solid line of credit at a solid bank. I don't know many more details than that off the top of my head. However, lately certain departments at my company have been laying off people very quickly. My department (photogrammetry) has so much work right now and for the foreseeable future, it's a little overwhelming. Matt also has wonderful job security, as his skills will (unfortunately) always be needed as long as there are sick children in the world. Still, it is always in the back of my mind as to how bad things will really get. How far will this recession/depression go? What would we do if we lost our jobs? What sacrifices would we have to make? There i...

I believe in the power of the mind. It seems to me that a simple thought can solve (or create) many problems. Let me explain. Say you haven’t been sick in a really long time, and you don’t even notice. And just then when you get to thinking “Wow, I really haven’t been sick in a long time,” you come down with a cold. It’s like one little thought can trigger a physical reaction. I had a similar experience at work. My computer software used to crash a lot, which was really annoying. Recently, it has been running well until I had the thought “Wow, this software hasn’t crashed in a long time.” Five minutes later, it crashes. So many of these occurrences have been happening to me lately that it hardly seems like it can be coincidence. Now, if only I could use the power of my mind to figure out my latest programming issues for school…it suddenly doesn’t seem so easy as to “think it in.” Last Saturday morning and Monday mornings, I had to get up at 4 am to let Pongo out. He usually has a bladd...

I just got home and had to write a post. How many of you out there have had bad dental experiences before? I honestly had not had any that were too bad until today. At all the rest pale in comparison... Last Tuesday, I had a normal x-ray and exam where I was informed that I would need a crown on one of my composite teeth (one of the big ones in the back.) I was prepared for this, because I could tell something was wrong, even though I had no pain in that tooth at all. So today, I went in to get it taken care of. I believe I had the most inexperienced hygenist in the office. She asked ME what I needed done. She didn't even know what tooth was supposed to be "crowned." She then proceeded to polish my teeth, with stuff that tasted like baking soda and fish oil. Usually, I don't mind the cleaning because I like the minty stuff. Or even bubble gum! Nope, not here. She flossed my teeth so roughly that I thought she was dragging a dish towel though my teeth instead of floss....