Just our luck...

Last night Greg received a phone call from a guy he worked with who didn't know that Greg had "quietly" quit working for that particular company. He is a contractor, just like Greg was. And he was calling to give us the heads up that he found out that they were going to be working together again....in HAWAII!!

Apparently we would have got to live there for about three months. I definately could have handled that! Especially during the cold months of Colorado winter! *sigh* I guess we'll just have to plan a vacation there one day instead!

This is how we roll

We left Lamar on Thursday afternoon. Greg's job there is finally over! Although, I have a sneaky suspicion we may end up back there very soon. Since we left so late in the afternoon we decided to just drive half-way, and that we'd spend the night in our trailer at a rest stop. This was a first for us, and we did just that! Since we didn't have electrical hook ups we got to sleep with the windows open enjoying the smell of the diesel exhaust from all the semi's that were parked there as well. Since this is the first time we've stayed in our trailer without being hooked up to electricity, I feel like a true RV'er now!

*In case you're wondering where we are now, we're just hanging out in Oklahoma!

Lake Texoma

One of my favorite places is Lake Texoma. I mentioned in the post below that my father in law lives at Lake Texoma. We recently had a chance to spend a few days at his house, which I love because it is just so darn relaxing! Of course, he always tends to put my hubby to work and this time was no different. The chore: cleaning and organizing a huge shop. I wish I would have taken before and after pictures! I helped when I could but most of the time I just felt like I was in the way. I was pretty content to simply pass the time on the front porch with a Danielle Steel novel!

The cool thing about where Carl, my father in law, lives, is that it's a short three-minute drive on the golf cart to the sandy beach! And yes, you read that right! Everyone at the lake drives golf carts! It's quite comical! Now, for some reason whenever we go down to visit, it seems that we never go to the beach until the evening. However, this time I was determined to spend a full day on the beach and get some sun! I invited my sister and her two munchkins down for the occasion!





After they left, I moseyed back to the beach with the before mentioned novel, along with my dog, and together we enjoyed the sun and the relaxing sound of the waves.

That same evening Carl organized a small cook-out on the beach. On the way to our "spot" we passed this cute little sand turtle creation!



Apparently Carl wasn't as impressed as I was since he ran over it's foot on the golf cart! Here's a few more random shots from that evening. And, just fyi, this isn't even what I consider the "pretty" part of the beach!











Oh, Lake Texoma, how I wish you weren't eleven hours away....

Biker Tales

Last week the hubby and I ventured "home" to Oklahoma for a little over a week. For the hubs, it was a much needed break. If you're a faithful reader, then you know we've been enjoying life as bikers for a couple months now. Weeks after we bought our Harley, two of Greg's guy friends back in OK bought Harleys as well. He has been dying for a chance to go home and ride with the guys. So the Thursday before last, we did just that! Funny thing is, apparently we are not "real bikers". Why do I say this? Because instead of taking the bike on a long ride to our destination, we pull it behind the car on a bike trailer! I cannot tell you the flack we get when we happen to stop at a gas station or a fast food restaurant and a fellow biker sees it on the trailer! I think it's kind of funny!

We didn't get to Norman until 2:00 A.M. on Friday so we slept in. Later that afternoon while I met some great friends of mine at one of my favorite places, The Warren Theatre, to take in the newest Harry Potter movie, Greg went off to meet our friends Dave and Kevin for some riding in OKC. I joined them later and we had a blast cruising through Bricktown, Midwest City, and then back to Norman.


Saturday was another riding day for us! We met up with our friends Jason and Christy for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. From there it was off to the amazing Fort Thunder Harley Davidson Dealership in Moore. We cannot make a trip back home without stopping there; even before we owned a Harley! It seems that every time we go there, they are having an event so we hung out there for a few hours looking at the bikes, having some cold drinks, and visiting with friends. From there we cruised to visit two different sets of friends who both live in Moore. I think Greg was pretty proud to be able to show the bike off to them in person!

Sunday morning we hooked the bike up to the trailer again, this time because there was rain in the forecast (which I never saw!) and headed down to my father in laws house. We made a pit stop along the way to say "Hi" to my sister and her family. And, of course, we had to show them our bike! Even one of their neighbors came out of his house to check it out!

The cool thing about hubby's dad is that he has a Harley, too! That evening we took a bike ride into Texas (only about a thirty minute drive) to a restaurant/marina that none of us had ever been too before that overlooked Lake Texoma (post on that coming soon!). The weather was perfect and our day could not have been any better!

On Monday my husband found out he didn't have to be at work again until the following week so we were able to relax at his dad's house until Thursday. Wednesday night we took one last bike ride into Texas, this time our ultimate destination was a biker bar. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home. Opps! And that was just the beginning. We pulled up to the bar, only to discover that it was closed. From the outside it looked really neat. There were tons of outdoor picnic tables and a stage for bands, along with cool old cars and motorcycle sculptures decorating the outside. Undefeated, we went and ate at Cheddars instead!

On Thursday we loaded up to return back to Norman, but made a by-pass through Ada. Ada is my hometown and honestly whenever I visit that city now I get butterflies in my stomach and I'm always so excited to see what the town looks like. I went to college in Ada and the little town has exploded since I moved away. There are so many new franchise restaurants and new stores. Also, the university I attended is building a brand new performance arts theatre. It is still unfinished, but the outside is AMAZING!!! My minor was in theatre and I also danced in a few of the recitals while I attended college and I am so insanely jealous that the massive theatre that is being constructed was not there while I was attending school. After checking the town out, we met my parents at my favorite "local" bbq restaurant; and showed off our bike!

We finally got back to Norman that afternoon where we relaxed briefly before preparing for a night out on the bike! We stopped off at Fort Thunder so I could buy a pair of proper riding boots! We've had to buy "gear" slowly because we all know that if something says "Harley" it's not cheap! Luckily I get great deals on ebay, but I didn't want to buy shoes without trying them on first. From there we met our great friends Randy and Shannon for dinner. Their adorable baby Braxton was with them. He is one of the most even tempered babies I have ever met! Shannon was kind enough to take some pics of us before we headed off to Bike Nite!!! (Like the boots?)




This is the scene that we met when we arrived to Hooters Bike Nite:




Years ago when we had our Honda Shadow, we went to Hooters Bike Nite almost every week. It was nothing like this! Back then, there may have been fifty bikes that showed up. Now, Bike Nite is on a whole other level! Once it got dark, everyone cruised over to The Cross-Eyed Moose and Bike Nite continued there. I made plans for my friend Deidra to meet us there!
She is best friends with Robert, who is the owner of Fort Thunder, and after we told her we couldn't get over how big Bike Nite was now, she told us that Robert has really promoted Bike Nite and has helped it grow to what it has now become. We had a great time checking out the bikes and then listening to Greg sing karaoke.

We took a break from the bike on Friday and on Saturday drove back to Lamar, Colorado, which is where hubby is working once again. Stay tuned! I'm sure there will be more Biker Tales in the future!

Sights from Sidney

This town may be small, but it has some neat places that I thought I'd share with you! This first pic is from the downtown area. This is my favorite place! It's a coffee shop that's connected to a book store. Heaven!!! Personally, I like the coffee at the other coffee shop better (and by coffee, I mean latte), but the ambiance is so nice at this one that I go here instead. This is where I hung out a couple of times before I got our new wireless modem!



This is the Catholic church. I am such a sucker for a beautiful church and this does not disappoint!




This is a house I'm in love with. I'm so glad someone didn't come tearing out of it asking why I was taking pictures of their house! Trust me, it looks much better without the truck and fifth wheel sitting in front of it.



Have any of you heard of the store called Cabela's? Well, I had not until I moved here, but it's basically like a Bass Pro Shop. And the very first Cabela's is here in Sidney, along with their corporate office. I think that store is the reason why this little town is so well-kept. There are so many big, nice houses here, I told Greg that I was pretty sure there are some big money people here. He didn't believe me. I even wondered aloud if the CEO of the company lived here in little ole' Sidney. Since day one, this building has intrigued me:



Beautiful, isn't it? Today at Pilates class I finally remembered to ask my instructor if she knew what it was. I wasn't sure if it was someones home or a business, or what. She told me that the founders of Cabela's live there. She said that they travel to Africa a lot and that the home is actually five stories tall. Three of the stories are underground. Apparently they have a full size replica of a giraffe in there. So, I was right! There is big money in this town! I would kill for a chance to walk through it!

Now, technically this isn't Sidney, but it is pretty cool that we were able to take our bike past the state line! Like our new pipes?




This is the windfarm that is across the street from the farm that Greg works at. We're no longer in Nebraska, this is Peetz, Colorado. And this picture was taken as we drove up to Greeley, CO last weekend. A huge storm was coming and let me tell ya, I was scared to death! We were under a tornado watch and literally Greg and I made a game plan in case we had to pull over and run to a ditch for shelter. Not the way I like to spend my Friday evenings! And speaking of storms...it has stormed every evening since we arrived here three weeks ago. Apparently this part of the state has been in a drought for the past ten years and their prayers have finally been answered. Nice, but I don't like going to bed every night under a tornado watch when I live in a fifth wheel.



Once we arrived in Greeley, we stayed the night at one of Greg's co-workers house. He has alpaca's! They chased our dog around which was hilarious. Here's a picture of one of them!



I thought I'd share some pics of my new "home". Too bad I never took any pictures of Lamar, but it looks like I'll be able to because apparently we are moving back there next weekend! Hope everyone has a safe and HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

The Newbie Kit

The other day I visited Sidney's local Chamber of Commerce. I went in to see if they had any brochures about Cheyenne, WY, or anything else that might spark my interest. When the lady who was working there asked if I was new in town, I told her I was. She then said, "Let me get a newcomers packet for you". I just said OK and didn't really think anything about it. I wandered around some and when she handed the packet to me she explained what some of the items were and pointed out that there were some coupons in there to help me get acquainted with some of the local businesses. I waited until I got home before I "dove in" to check everything out. Let me tell ya...newcomers packets are awesome! There were so many cool coupons in there! Everything else just faded into the background as I poured over all the savings! Here are my top favorite coupons:

* 1/4 lb of free fudge at the local pharmacy (Of course I already used it, and of course we already ate it. I'm forcing myself not to walk back into that store.)

*$4 off admission at the movie theatre! (We watched Land of the Lost, which was pretty dumb, but the popcorn was amazing! Please note, this is why dieting is not easy for me...I'm so easily tempted by things like popcorn and fudge).

*10% off at the book store. I can already hear the cracking of the binding as I open my 7th Harry Potter book. (I'm almost finished with the sixth book! Wow, that means the 6th Harry Potter movie will be the the first one I watch in which I've actually read the book first!)

*$4 off a pedicure at the community college's school of cosmetology. Aren't school pedicures cheap enough as it is??? Which reminds me, I should really be booking that appointment instead of blogging.

It only took 15 months

Although I tell everyone that I meet that I "travel" with my husband, he tends to get stuck at whichever location he goes to work at. For example, when he first began this job his first location was in Sweetwater, TX. They said he would be there for a couple of months. That turned into one year. Then, when we moved to Lamar, CO they said we would only be there for three weeks. Fifteen months later, we were still in Lamar. So I didn't necessarily believe it when hubby told me that we would be moving this week. But, miracles do happen, and on Sunday we moved! Our new location is Sidney, NE. Today is my hubby's first day of work so he'll get a better feel of how long we will be here. He was told we'd be here anywhere from two weeks to two months. Which I guess translates into almost a year according to our prior track record!

So far, here is what I like better about Sidney than Lamar:
*There is a Taco Bell!
*There are two coffee shops!
*There is a two screen movie theatre (hey, it beats a one screen movie theatre!)
*There is a Hallmark! (Because I do care enough to send the very best.)
*There is a book store!
*The town doesn't smell like cow crap!
*A major city (Cheyenne, WY) is only an hour and a half away!
*There are more restaurants in general!
*So far I haven't noticed an area of town that I affectionately refer to as "the ghetto". All the houses are nice, even the small ones!
*There is grass everywhere! (I know that I was in Lamar way too long when I think seeing grass is unusual)

Things I don't like about Sidney:
*Our RV park. (no wifi, no cable, and we can't get our darn satellite signal to come in)
*More stickers than the last RV park. Yes, it is possible.
And, in case they don't offer yoga or water aerobics here, then we can add that to the list as well!

With that said, I'm off to go explore and test out the walking trail!

good things come in small packages

I have to share with everyone the awesome appliance we purchased a couple months ago. It's a Splendide Washer and Dryer! I meant to write this post a long time ago, but lazy me just never got around to taking a picture of it so I could put it up here for all to see. Better late than never though.....

The cool thing about this appliance is that it is made for RV's! And luckily, our trailer came complete with plumbing for a washer/dryer (our other trailer did not). Now for those of you who are not familiar with life in a recreational vehicle, let me tell ya: nothing is simple. And this little washer/dryer is no exception. Here is why: it washes your clothes, then dries them. Meaning: I put dirty clothes in and take clean dry clothes out. Kinda weird, huh? I know what you're thinking; that is actually less work since I don't have to transfer wet clothes into a dryer. WRONG!!! This sucker is tiny! The instructions came with sample load sizes, and for instance it recommends 2 bath towels and 1 washcloth. Or 1 pair of jeans and 2 shirts. I have recently taken a liking to the "express" mode, but that still takes about 2 1/2 hours for one load. (still pretty snazzy though, huh?)

In case you are wondering how the clothes get dry, this is how it works. The washer dumps water into some compartment inside the machine and then it gets heated, which cause the clothes inside the bin to be tumbling around in some pretty humid temperatures. It's so weird. The instruction manual even stated that the clothes will still be slightly damp when you take them out because of all the humidity.

I've become quite familiar with this awesome little purchase of ours, but I do have to tell everyone a funny story. The first day I used the machine, I sat down and read the instruction manual. I was pretty sure I read that I could not open the machine once a cycle has started and that there was no way to turn the dry cycle off. That kind of upset me because I have several shirts that I like to hang dry. But I reminded myself that I wasn't having to haul all the dirty laundry to the RV laundry mat and to get over it. By the third load that day I wasn't real impressed with how damp everything felt when I took the clothes out of the machine. So I decided to set it on the "Cotton Dry" setting. I did a load of a few of Greg's shirts and some socks and underwear. When I took that load out I thought to myself that nothing really smelt fresh and clean. By the end of the day I was a little ticked off about all the time I had spent doing laundry, the damp clothes, and the "non fresh" smell that our clothes now had.

I felt a little guilty when Greg came home and asked how I liked the washer since, like everything on an RV, it wasn't cheap. I told him the story and he said that I just hadn't figured out all the little tricks yet and that it would take some getting used to. The next day I decided to use the "Regular Wash" setting again and I set the dry time to 90 minutes rather than 75. That seemed to help the damp problem I was having and I noticed that the clothes actually smelt better, too!

About two weeks later I happened to be flipping through the instruction manual, again, when I read something that I had misinterpret ted the first read-through. Apparently, I could stop my washer before a dry cycle. In fact, my washer actually had dry only cycles. Which just happened to be called "Cotton Dry". No wonder those tee-shirts, socks, and underwear didn't smell fresh! And of course, since it had been weeks before, chances were pretty good that we wore what we thought were clean underwear and socks. EWWWWWW!!!!!

The 50 States

50 States plus DC. How many have you been to? 16

Instructions:

The average is 8; how do you match up?

Put an X by the states you have been to. Since just putting a X is boring, also add something you remember about that state. Why did you go? If there's a state you want to go to, put an O and say why! When you're done, count up your X's, and post it after the subject. If you're on Facebook, tag any friends you'd like to take the survey!

* Alabama
* Alaska
* Arizona O - I have always wanted to visit The Grand Canyon!!!!
* Arkansas X - Greg and I went on a boating float trip down the Arkansas River and the huge group we were with stayed in some town in Arkansas. Don't ask me the name of it though...
* California O - I just want to go to the beach and Hollywood, and maybe hit a posh night club where I might rub elbows with someone from The Hills!
* Colorado X - My "home" for now! Love: Denver (Coyote Ugly), Canon City (where we will probably move to if we ever plant our roots somewhere!), the hot springs, Colorado Springs (The Kings Diner, downtown)
* Connecticut
* Delaware
* Florida X - Went a couple times when I was younger b/c both of my step-sisters lived there. Loved the beach, hated Disney World. Note to parents: do NOT drag your kids on Space Mountain. A fear of roller coasters will follow. Have a picture of me holding a crab.
* Georgia O - I'm pretty sure I would love exploring Savannah.
* Hawaii O - I don't even need to explain this one.
* Idaho
* Illinois O - I'm dying to visit Chicago!!! Maybe I can go to the Oprah Show! And I have a friend who is a Suix Chef at what I'm sure is a fancy restaurant!
* Indiana
* Iowa
* Kansas X - One of my best friends lives in Wichita and I spent a great weekend there two summers ago as a bridesmaid in her wedding.
* Kentucky O - I want to go to the Kentucky Derby! I would have no idea what was going on though...
* Louisiana O - I want to go to New Orleans so bad! Had the chance to go in college for one of my best friends 21st b-day but couldn't afford it. Would love to hit Bourbon St., go on a haunted cemetary tour, and eat some Cajun food!
* Maine O - I want to eat lobster and look at light houses!
* Maryland X - I'm pretty sure we drove through this state...
* Massachusetts X and O - I think I've driven through this state, but have no clue to be honest. Would love to spend a weekend in Boston! And I hear Cape Cod is pretty spectacular!
* Michigan
* Minnesota
* Mississippi
* Missouri X - Greg and I went to Branson and loved it! Can't wait to go back! We went to the Dolly Parton show where you eat and watch a show. They asked Greg and I to be a part of it, and we had to go down onto the arena with another couple and we raced each other on stick horses in front of everyone. Of course we lost b/c I wasn't wearing appropriate shoes for trekking around in the dirt.
* Montana
* Nebraska
* Nevada X - Viva Las Vegas!!! Went there on our honeymoon but would love to go back with a big group of friends! I would love to watch Cirque De Soile!
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New Mexico X - Went to Carlsbad Caverns which is beautiful! I love caves!
* New York X - Been lots of times when I was younger to visit family. Went to NYC for a day when I was 9 but mainly remember a guy coming up to the car we were in and started washing the front windshield and asking for money. I am dying to spend a week there with Greg. The shows, the shopping, the sights! I also would like to visit some family and stay in my cousins log cabin house!
* North Carolina
* North Dakota
* Ohio
* Oklahoma X - Lived there most of my life! OKC is the best! And Wintersmith Park in Ada!
* Oregon
* Pennsylvania X - I know we drove through when I was little. The only reason I remember this is b/c we went to the Hershey Chocolate factory. The only reason I remember that is b/c I've seen a picture.
* Rhode Island O - fresh seafood!
* South Carolina O - I hear it's beautiful!
* South Dakota
* Tennessee O - I think it would be fun to go to Nashille! And I have a friend who is a singer there so it would be awesome to get to see her perform again!
* Texas X - Places I love: San Antonio - Riverwalk and Sea World. Port Aransas - Have fun memories of that little island. Dallas - Went there for a fashion show in college. Fun! Plus clubbing in Deep Elum (sp?) in college during Spring Break with one of my best friends. Ft. Worth - The Old German Pancake House. I think that's the name...or maybe it's just because they have amazing German Pancakes. I know how to get there, so that's all that matters! Sweetwater, just because the real estate market is incredible there. We literally bought a house for $11,500.00
* Utah X - Flew into Salt Lake City and spent a day exploring the city with my brother and his family. I remember a beautiful church...or maybe it was a campus...either way it was very pretty!
* Vermont X - Mainly remember all the trees.
* Virginia
* Washington O - Would love to go to Seattle and visit the fish market place.
* Washington DC X - Went when I was little but thought it was boring. Go figure. Now would only like to go back to visit my friend Christina! Still not much of a history person.....
* West Virginia
* Wisconsin
* Wyoming

And I'm going to end this by saying that I'm sure I'll get an email from my mom saying I forgot that I've been to several states. When I was little we would pretty much go on vacation every summer to either NY or FL and we would drive. It would take us 3 days. So I'm pretty sure I've been to a lot of the states East of OK, but honestly don't remember....

Where is my inner snowbunny?

I'm writing this from a hotel room in Salida while my husband is at Monarch happily snowboarding the day away. We arrived here on Wednesday evening, along with our friend Travis and his son Mason, who came up from Oklahoma. Greg has been bitten by the snowboarding bug....bad! And he is desperately trying to convince all of his Oklahoma wakeboarding buddies that they "have" to come to Colorado and try snowboarding. Today marks the seventh day that Greg has ever snowboarded, but he picked up on the sport so quickly that he is the one teaching Travis how to do it as well!

I, on the other hand, absolutely suck at both skiing and snowboarding. After two different ski lessons I decided this week to try snowboarding. Greg was going to teach me. For those of you who don't know my husband; he's not very patient. And I'm not a daredevil. At all. So I really wanted him to hold my hand the whole time I kept trying to master turning and stopping on the snowboard. Which isn't feasible. He finally said (after maybe thirty minutes) that the three of us (me, Greg and Travis) were going to take the lift to the top of the bunny slope and just practice going down. I freaked out and said NO! Which was the beginning of my hubby aggravation with me. I promised him I would continue walking a fourth of the way up and practicing by myself so he finally gave up and off they went up the lift. I did practice. But I just couldn't get the hang of it without Greg holding my hand. So after Greg came back to help me some more I told him I wasn't enjoying it and that I just don't know where my inner snowbunny has disappeared too. We both decided not to waste his time by trying to teach me when I wasn't having fun anyway. Needless to say I spent the rest of the day in the lounge, book in one hand, Starbucks cup in the other.

Yesterday the guys ventured off to the mountain again and I spent the day by myself. But, I had a great day! I took Shady for a walk downtown (which, if any of you reading ever visit Salida, CO, that is the cool thing to do. Everyone walks their dogs or rides their bikes with their dogs following behind.) and moseyed into a few art galleries, which is one of my favorite things to do. After I dropped Shady back off at the hotel, I went back downtown to a yummy cafe next to the Arkansas River and had a delicious salad! Then, off I went to Mt. Princeton to the Hot Springs! We had visited there this past summer, but at the time the river was so high that no one was able to use the natural river side hot springs. But now that's a different story! I was in absolute heaven soaking up the rays and watching a light snow fall as I relaxed in a natural hot springs with my head resting on a rock. That is, until a group of about seven gabbing women decided to take over the hot springs next to me. So off I went to the hot pools and did some light water aerobics and then spent some time in the sauna. It was fabulous! I left feeling so relaxed, refreshed, and my skin looked great! Another neat thing about this town is that none of the local women wear make-up. And they all have fabulous skin! I think it's because they must all go visit the hot springs and sauna's at least once a week! I made it back to the hotel in time to go with the guys for dinner at the boathouse cantina, which is one of our favorite pubs here in town!

Today is another day to myself while the guys hit the slopes for the last day. I have to check out of the hotel room in an hour and once I do I'm hitting a local vineyard and cafe so I'm looking forward to that! Afterwards I may take Shady for a walk somewhere or I may just head up to the lodge and read and relax there. Greg has had no mercy on Travis and forgets that some people get sore when it's their first time. Travis could barely make it out of bed this morning so I know he'll probably be hanging out in the lodge quite a bit today as well! Luckily for Greg, Mason took ski lessons his first day and has been going down the blue trails with Greg ever since. They basically leave Travis in the dust. So now not only is my husband wanting to live in Colorado permanently once we settle down, he also thinks we should adopt a 7 year old boy so he can have a snowboarding partner! I feel bad that it's not an activity that we can both enjoy together, but skiing and snowboarding are just such expensive sports to keep "trying" and not liking.

So, for now, I'm signing off from Salida!

Never Mind

So in case any of you reading have every wondered what it would be like to live with or be a contractor, let me just give you a tiny glimpse into my world! We choose to live in a Fifth Wheel which is basically like an RV because on any given day, at any given time, a contractor can be told they need to be in a different location within a few days. So, a Fifth Wheel beats living out of a hotel, and I feel like we aren't just "throwing our money away".

Right now we are in Lamar, CO and I think we will be here until March but we could also be here until June, or they can tell my husband he needs to be somewhere different next week. We just never know. This was the main reason I quit my job and we sold our house and put basically everything we own in storage. Some people would probably be a little stressed out if they knew their world could turn upside down within a matter of a few days. But since we live full time on the road, I really would welcome the opportunity to travel more.

However, this is where I will also put my foot in my mouth. One of the main guys that my husband is working with right now is moving to Hawaii in February to become a site lead for GE. Greg has told him several times that if he needed anyone over there to please let Greg know. This was supposed to mean that we would like to come over there for a month or two. Well, this is how it apparently was interpreted: My husband calls me yesterday morning and all he says is this, "Do you still want to go to Hawaii?" Well, yeah! But he doesn't tell me the whole story until after I say "yes". After which he proceeds to tell me that there is a position open with GE (he is a contractor now and is not employed by GE) that the guy here thinks he can get Greg hired on. And, since it would technically be less money, there was also a job opening for me as a data entry person. Basically we would both be working in HI making the same amount of money that we do now but minus the whole traveling part. But here was the kicker. We would be LIVING in Hawaii until at least 2014. Now, I know it's probably easy for someone to say they would move to Hawaii in a heartbeat, but to actually do it is another thing.

So yesterday I spent all day stressing about this huge life change and looking up information about Maui online. Housing is so expensive. One can literally spend $250,000 on a "house" and all they will get is maybe a stand alone home that is 500 square feet or more than likely a condo that may go up to 750 sq. ft. That didn't appeal to me at all. Then, we have a dog, and Hawaii does not have rabies, so they make incoming animals from the mainland be quarantined. Which not only made me feel so sorry for our precious Shady, but we would have had to get a microchip implanted in her prior to moving, and then all the necessary forms/paperwork. Another thing was that my husband said we would sell our truck AND our fifth wheel. Which made me sad because we had talked about turning it into a lake place one day, but whatever. Do you want me to keep going? OK. We would have had to ship my car to HI which from OK would have probably been a few thousand dollars. Then, since everything we own is in storage, we would have had to probably spend a good week going through everything, re-packing them into pre-sized boxes that would actually fit into a crate to be shipped. We would have literally had to either sell or give away probably half of our belongings.

Along with the reality of the impact this move would have on our lives, I had other worries as well. We wouldn't be able to just drive to Oklahoma if we wanted to so we wouldn't see our family and friends except maybe once a year. I was afraid we would be working so much that we wouldn't even get to enjoy the island anyway. I'm scared of tsunami's and earthquakes. What if the two volcanoes on the island suddenly decided to erupt? The cost of living is higher. Etc, Etc, Etc.

Last night we talked it over ALL NIGHT LONG and still went to bed not knowing what would be best to do. This morning my husband texted me from work and said that with GE he would be sent to more schooling and he would be more qualified which could advance his career in the future. So, I told him if he thought we should move, then let's do it. And then I cried. I knew that I had a lot on my plate prior to moving and that I would be super stressed out until we lived in Hawaii for probably a month.

I decided to go to the library and load up on some books on Hawaii. I have all the books in my arms ready to be checked out when my cell phone rings. It's Greg. Calling to tell me that they had already filled the position and that we weren't moving.

That's the life as a contractor.

I'm So Thankful!

Greg and I had a GREAT Thanksgiving break! We headed out on Tuesday afternoon and were fortunate to spend the evening with our friend Nell who lives in Canon City. Canon City is located on Hwy. 50, so we did not go out of our way at all! On Wednesday we woke bright and early and continued our journey up to Rangley. We arrived mid afternoon and enjoyed visiting with my brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces throughout the evening.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. And I couldn't wait to eat! Most of my sister-in-laws family lives in Rangely so there was a good size crowd and LOTS OF FOOD! No wonder I love Thanksgiving! Karen (my sister-in-law) makes the best home made dressing and rolls! Yum-o! Karen was also hosting a book party for me with The Body Shop at Home so I set up a display of products so everyone could sample and smell. It was a big hit! I even recruited one of Karen's nieces to become a consultant!


After we ate David (my brother) took Greg and I on a short sight-seeing drive. Afterwards we were able to settle down for the evening with more visiting and we even tried to watch a movie.

Then came Black Friday! We all got up bright and early so we could make the one and a half hour drive to Grand Junction to spend the day. The drive there was beautiful! There was just enough of a light snowfall the night before to make everything pretty!




We hit the mall first and it was crowded, but I think that's part of the fun of Black Friday! I didn't buy anything, instead Greg and I took turns shopping with each of our nieces so they could buy each others Christmas presents as well as birthday presents for their mom. Once everyone had shopped til they dropped, we cruised on over to Famous Dave's for some tasty bar-b-que! (This Southern gal never turns down a bar-b-que dinner!) It wasn't quite as tasty as my hubby's bar-b-que, but then again, maybe I'm just a little biased. ;) From their the gals went to some cute downtown boutiques and then we all met up again at a Christmas craft fair where Greg and I took this cute pic with our nieces Emily and Braylee. They are just too precious!



After the craft fair we headed on over to the movie theatre where we watched "Four Christmases". And let me tell ya, that movie did not disappoint! It was knee-slappin' hilarious! Greg and I actually want to go to the movies and watch it again. It's that funny. I guess it doesn't help that I love Reese Witherspoon and Greg loves Vince Vaughn. It was a two thumbs up for me!

The movies were followed by a quick trip to the pet store (just for fun!) and to a sporting goods store. Afterwards, everyone was tired so we headed back to Rangely and capped the night off with some yummy Thanksgiving leftovers!

We left around noon on Saturday afternoon and we decided to take a different route back to Lamar. We thought it would have been fun to take I-70 into Denver and spend the evening there. Oh if only I had a magic crystal ball.....

Shortly after we passed Glenwood Springs we got stopped in traffic for over two hours. It was horrible. And the reason was because the interstate has two separate roads, the road for the westbound traffic is slightly higher on the mountain than the eastbound road. Well, a semi went over the westbound highway and lets just say there was a major wreck.

From where we were parked we couldn't see any of this. But, the guy parked next to us happened to be a wrecker on his way to Denver so he was able to talk to the wreckers to find out what was going on. He did tell us that there was one fatality, which was really sad. I'm not sure what time the wreck happened but it must have happened shortly before we got there, because a guy from the Department of Transportation made everyone crunch in together so wreckers and ambulances could get through. We happened to stop before the accident to get lunch and fill up on diesel, so it really made me think, "that could have been us".

As if that wasn't enough, after we were finally able to get back on the road, about an hour later we were driving through the town of Avon. I was telling Greg a story about how much I hated that town because of an experience my sister and I had when I was driving through it several years ago. Not two minutes later, the next thing I know we were lost control of our truck and were sliding over both lanes of traffic. We ended up in the meridian and I just knew we were headed straight into the oncoming traffic on the other side. I freaked out! Luckily Greg manages to stay calm in the most stressful of situations so he clicked it into 4 wheel drive and asked (um, yelled) for me to tell him when the lane was clear. He knew if we stopped we'd be stuck. Somehow we got back on the road safe and sound. How we didn't hit anything is beyond me.

Unfortunately, things didn't get any better from there. I was pretty shook up about the whole near death experience and I was ready to just call it a night. Even though technically we had only driven three hours. But Greg insisted that the roads would be worse in the morning. I glanced at the map and noticed that we had to go over Vail Pass, so I called David to see how dangerous the pass was. (Greg warned me before I called not to tell him that we almost died, because according to him everything was peachy keen). So I kept the drama queen inside of me in check and my brother said the same thing that Greg did and that we should really make it to Denver. *Sigh* There's really nothing like the feeling one gets when one is driving down an icy road on a mountain in the dark. To say that it sucked would be putting it mildly. And of course my stomach was in knots from our near death experience, so I really had to pee. Like, bad. But, before we could exit at the next town, wouldn't you know, we get stuck in traffic. Again. This time we were at a stop for an hour and then it turned into a slow crawl. All I could see were red lights from the other cars brake lights. I have never considered peeing in a cup so bad in my life. How I held it is beyond me. Men are so lucky.

Needless to say, we never quite made it to Denver. Around 9:00 P.M. I knew we were approaching a hotel that we had stayed at back in April, so I convinced Greg to just stay there. We were tired and hungry. Not even the brand new Irish Pub with delicious potato and onion soup could revive us, so off to bed we went.

Sunday wasn't much better. The roads were extremely foggy until we got into Denver. (We were only fifteen miles away). The roads in Denver were wet but very easy to manage. That is, until we got past the airport. Then we were greeted yet again by icy roads. Luckily, we knew how what to do, so no damage was done! It did take us about an hour to drive maybe twenty miles. But after that, the roads were miraculously clear and dry! However, the wind speeds decided to reach 60 mph, so we had to laugh at all the tumbleweeds that crossed our path! I swear, I've never seen so many tumbleweeds in my life until I moved to Colorado! Who would have thought!

To sum it all up, normally if someone were to ask me what I'm thankful for around this time of year, I would say the normal things: good health, friends, family, blah, blah, blah. This year, however, I'm so thankful that we have not been in a car wreck!!!!

Never Say Never

As I mentioned earlier, Greg and I went to Pueblo this weekend! We have had this weekends trip planned for a little over a month. And the main reason we were going was because we heard that Gordon's Jewelry was having a huge platinum trunk show that day. My wedding ring is platinum and my wedding band was purchased separately and when we bought it, we bought it in white gold, not knowing that you have to get white gold jewelry re-dipped to keep it from looking yellow. To me it was very obvious that both rings were made out of different metal so we've been on the hunt for a new platinum band for awhile now. When we went to Pueblo about a month ago we learned about this show and so we made plans to attend. I also desperately needed to get my ring re-sized, so I have been "single" for this past month by not wearing either ring so my finger could go back to it's normal shape.

We arrived at Gordons just minutes before they opened their doors and I was soon so disappointed to discover that they didn't bring any platinum wedding bands. But, luckily a sales lady decided to show us some of their white gold wedding sets and said that we could order them in platinum. I was determined to walk away with a ring that day so I wasn't thrilled about the idea of ordering rings but I figured I'd humor the lady and have a look-see anyway.

Now, there have been several times when Greg has asked me if I would ever just want to upgrade my ring. And I always said, "Absolutely not!". To me, that ring symbolized our past and who we were at that time. That is.....until I saw this:











let's just say, "never say never". At first I considered just ordering the wrap in platinum to go with my ring. But the more we stared at the beautiful solitaire ring along with the wrap mine just seemed to fail in comparison. I had never seen or heard of black diamonds before and I love to wear things that are different so this was right up my alley. And the deciding factor was that they offered us a trade in on my platinum ring that was well over one and a half times what Greg originally paid for it! Of course before we made up our minds completely we walked away so we could think logically. I even called my sister since she used to work in a jewelry store and told her everything and she said it sounded like a great deal!

So now I have an absolutely gorgeous rock on my finger and I seriously feel like I'm newly engaged all over again. I can't stop staring at it! And remember that white gold wedding band I was wanting to replace? Well, they were only going to give us a $200 trade in for it, so we re-sized it so I could wear it on my right hand. So at least I still have some of our original wedding set!

And get this. I mentioned that I had been needing to get my ring resized for awhile now. Well, I had her tell me what size my old ring was and it was a 5 1/4. Guess what my new ring size is? 7! No wonder it was a struggle to get that ring on and off! And since my new rings fit so much better, I'm determined to listen to what my sister preaches to me, and I've been taking it off when I shower, sleep, clean, wash dishes, etc.

As if my Saturday couldn't have got any better, I even bought a new coat! I absolutely love coats! Seriously! But, if you've been a faithful blog reader, you know I do have issues when it comes to shopping (I know you're all rolling your eyes). But I literally haven't bought a new coat since my freshmen year of college. (OK, in retrospect, I did buy a denim jacket and a corduroy jacket, but they were both from Harolds while I worked there so I'm pretty sure I paid next to nothing for them!) And Greg absolutely hated my heavy winter coat because he thought it was ugly. So....this is my gorgeous new coat!

It's from the Jessica Simpson collection (I absolutely heart her and her clothing line!) And I love it because it has two different looks! If I don't have the top button buttoned, then the collar is more of your traditional collar. It is soooooo super adorable! But, I have to admit, (hopefully Greg doesn't read this) I am beginning to have a tad bit of buyers remorse over this. In the store it was a toss up between this and a cute white down coat. But, of course, I chose this one because it's dressier and more unique, which is more my style. But, after wearing it last night, I'm realizing that the bell sleeves are not all that warm. So, I'm trying to decide if I want to exchange it for the coat that is warmer and not so original.

Moving on to other subjects, I am super excited for what the rest of my week has in store! Greg is going to try super hard to get off work a little early tomorrow, which will mark the start of our Thanksgiving Vacation! We are going to Canon City to stay the night at Warren and Nell's house, and then on Wednesday morning we will be waking up and continuing our journey on up to Rangely to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and his family! I have not spent a holiday with them since they moved to Colorado way back in the early 90's. I honestly cannot wait and I'm sure I'll have a nice blog post all about that when I get back next week!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A Year Ago.......

This is a pretty significant day for me. Why? Because a year ago my husband and I were moving out of our house and going to the title company to sign the papers that officially sealed the deal. We were fortunate enough to pre-sign before the buyer signed since we were going to be out of state and that was the only weekend my husband could get off work to help me move the big stuff. Signing the paper work and receiving our proceeds check was exciting since we had completely remodeled the place ourselves, but it was also a little bittersweet for obvious reasons.

I remember vividly going to the house for the very last time on Sunday to do a last minute clean and to grab the few items we literally couldn't fit in our truck when we were there moving the day before. Unfortunately, Greg didn't have it planned out the way I did. He was excited to sell our house and move on to what the future held in store for us. I have a tendency to resist change, and I wanted the house to be perfect for the new owner. I had a long list of things I wanted to dust, wipe down, vacuum, etc. Not that the house was dirty. I had it looking "show-room ready" while it was on the market and since my husband was working out of state, it was very easy to keep the place extremely clean and tidy! But, really, the main reason I wanted to clean was because I wanted to stay in the house for as long as possible. It really was my dream house and I was a little apprehensive about living in a travel trailer for a few years. (Wouldn't you?) But my husband had other plans. He had friends he wanted to visit since he was in town and he said, "You know people always clean before they move into a house anyway. You're wasting your time." Which is true, I know. But still!

So I begrudgingly left the keys on the counter along with the folder I had filled with useful information for the home's new owner (I'm the best seller in the world, I know! lol! JK! That's the old Realtor coming out in me!) I settled into our truck and immediately burst into tears. Of course, since we've sold our fair share of homes in the past couple of years Greg knew this was coming. And as usual, he laughed at me (his way of making me feel better). He asked why I was crying and I told him it was because we were officially homeless. He, being the typical guy that he is, hadn't looked at it like that.

Now, fast forward to today, it has been one year of being "homeless". I really can't believe it has gone by so fast! The one exciting thing to think about since pretty much 99% of what we own is now in storage is the fact that if we happened to end up in a town that we absolutely loved, we could buy a house and just settle down there. Of course, that's fine to talk about. But, my husband has a tendency to get stuck in towns for long periods of time, so we haven't been able to travel and see as many places as we would like. On the flip side, we do still talk about moving back to Oklahoma. And the tricky thing is, is that whenever we talk about it, I instantly picture our former house. I still think of it as "home". How sad is that? And what's funny, is it's the little things about the place that I miss. Like opening up virtually every single wooden blind in the house every morning because I just love natural light so much. And the feel of the soft cut Berber carpet underneath my bare feet. I even miss vacuuming our swimming pool and the cute little baby frogs that were sure to greet me every morning when I checked the skimmer baskets. I miss having the option to take a bath. I miss my built in make-up vanity that my husband designed for me in our master bathroom. I miss having a dishwasher. I miss the security of having an alarm system. I even miss sweeping off the front porch and decorating it for holidays! Do you really want me to continue?

We have drove past our old home just once since we sold it. And it was when we were in Oklahoma back in March. (Or maybe it was when we were there in December...who knows!) And at that time it really helped me. The OKC area had been hit hard by an ice storm. So when we drove past our old property, there were literally tree limbs everywhere in the front and back yard. One of which that landed on the swimming pool cover and tore it. Shingles were missing from the roof and one part of the chain link fence had fallen down. Honestly, seeing it look like that made me feel a little bit better. Is that terrible? I have since learned from my former next door neighbor that the new owner has put a 12 foot privacy fence all the way around the back yard area. So I know if I drive past it again it really won't look like the home I remember so vividly.

Sheesh, I'll try to end this on a positive note. If you own a home, cherish it! I have seen my fair share of properties that people do not take care of. And it's really a sad thing. Pride of ownership is evident when one walks into someones home. And if you are reading this and do not own....well, what's stopping you?! This is a buyers market so please take advantage of this great opportunity that can leave you with one of the best feelings there is, which is saying that you own a piece of the All-American Dream.