I am a Cougar

Yes, I am dating a younger man. But for the next 7 weeks we will be the same age.

Happy 25th birthday, Sean!

In light of his reaching a quarter of a century, I will share with you all 10 things everyone should know about Sean Switzer.

1. He is a true Colorado man. Some of his greatest loves in this word include hiking, rock climbing and skiing.

2. He has a true knack for medicine. It is his passion and his calling. It is obvious in his intellectual abilities, but more importantly, in his interactions with and compassion for his patients. (b-t-w, having been trained in Physical Therapy, he gives great backrubs)

3. He is an aspiring recreational photographer. And I think he has great potential! (This picture was posted with zero doctoring)

4. He is good with cars, construction and all types of handy-man things. Which is good, cuz I am not.

5. He is a fun and awesome dancer!

6. He has a good appetite and a metabolism to match. Although, he hates doing dishes almost as much as I do. This could pose a problem down the road...

7. He loves kids. He ran a daycare, led a high school youth group and has worked in orphanages all over the world.

8. On that note...he loves to travel. Most of his time abroad has been spent serving others. I know he (and I) will spend much time in random places around the world.

9. He is a total and complete goofball who never ceases to keep me smiling.

10. He is the most passionate, caring, intelligent, honest, trustworthy, genuine, loving man I know. I am incredibly blessed to have him in my life.

 

And just for giggles:

M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E

The only thing more fun than dressing up for Halloween is dressing up for a themed party.

Anyone who has ever been to college has probably attended a gathering with an 80's motif. Or maybe the ever-popular “gangsta” or “black light & graffiti“ or “beach party”. Or how about the classier themes of “white trash” or “golf pros and tennis ho’s.” Bottom line is, you probably know what I’m talking about and also how fun these soirees can be. Especially when people go all out.

Which is what we do.

So, when new friends Meredith and Anna told us about their combo birthday party, we were pretty amped. What could possibly be better than a Disney theme?!

We decided to go classic Disney. Can you tell who we all are?

 

There was an array of characters at the party.  

Peter Pan, Cruella Devil and Dalmatian, the Mad Hatter, Ariel, the Beast, Rafiki, Charlie from the Mighty Ducks, the Queen of Hearts, and so many more.  

I wish I had pictures because people really went all out.

Karl and Prince Charming joined us later, sans costume.

And just because it really makes me laugh...

Sometimes you just need humor on a Monday

Shane showed me this picture last week.

It made me laugh so I thought I would share it.

Happy Monday!

It all started with a roadtrip.

I guess you could even say it began with a pen and a crush. Liz had a crush. Shane had a pen. Shane shared the pen and Liz kept it. Creeper.

But this isn’t their day, so I’ll skip the in-between. 

Four girls, one Subaru, as much of Liz’s stuff as would fit and 2000 miles.

We spent our only night in Denver bouncing around from a high-class vodka bar to an Irish Pub. Somewhere in the mix a handsome young man joined us. I thought he was cute and nice and did a good impression of an Australian accent. It would be a full year until I would see him again.

(This picture was taken that night. Note the close proximity...)

Over the next 365 days, much happened in our respective lives. Then, on October 11, 2009 the Pen-Stealer married the man of her dreams. 

And I wore a zebra top.

(Not to the wedding. But believe me…the zebra top will always be remembered) 

However, despite my attempts, I was blown off that weekend by this aforementioned Aussie-wanna-be. Even left on the dance floor!

He came around though, and 5 days after my return to Boston there was a phone call. 

We’ve talked every day since.

Many months of phone calls, Skype and flights followed. I thank God every day for bringing this man into my life...and for modern technology.

Then we decided to give the whole thing a real shot, and I moved to Colorado. It has been a life-changing and wonderful adventure.

On the drive across the country, I brought up the fact that we didn't have an anniversary.  Should we go with our first phone conversation? No...much too early. Should we go with our first official date? I said no...I had been turning down dates with other guys long before that.

So we picked the date exactly between those two days: November 11th.

That's right, 11/11. How cute.

One year down. I foresee many more to come. Sean, I love you.

It's T Shirt Time

Halloween...it has been a point of debate for many decades. There are Christians who feel it is a celebration of all that is evil. There are worried parents who insist on inspecting every piece of candy handed to their child by a stranger. There are local police officers who have to spend every October 31st cleaning up toilet paper from tree branches and shooing kids out of the graveyards. There are owners of black cats - like myself - that refuse to let their precious kitty out of the house for fear that the witches will snatch him away. And then there are those that just plain hate the holiday for being scary or silly or pointless.

I, for one, love Halloween. Yes, this coming from a person who gets scared watching Harry Potter and will jump higher than M. Jordan if a spider crosses her path. Fall is my favorite season; I enjoy the creativity of coming up with a costume idea and putting it together; I love candy and black cats.

There ya have it.

I feel the need to defend myself this year because of the criticsm Halloween has received from a few of those closest to me. (ahem, Liz and Sean). Well, just look and see how much fun we had! *All pictures were taken with Sean's camera*

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the rediculousness of the Jersey Shore (as a place and as a show), people really do dress this way.

Note the laundry basket: GTL, baby!

 

Another true Jersey blood right here.  It's teeeeshirt tiiiime!

Oh yeeeeah!

Electric Blue Cruiser

Upon moving to the relatively flat, undoubtedly crunchy land of Denver, I knew I had to purchase a bike.

Everyone here seems to own two things: a dog and a bike.

So I purchased this baby.

A friend who refurbishes classic cruisers was kind enough to sell it to me for a very good price. It is a lovely thing to have on these cool fall days.

Another awesome thing: my bike matches Sean's! That's his on the bike rack above mine.

(This was not actually done on purpose.)

In closing, I shall leave you with the wise words of Queen that speak my thoughts so precisely...

"I want to ride my bicycle. I want to ride my bike."

Since There are No Major Updates

A few things I am enjoying right now:

Sean’s “new” 1987 Volvo! OK, so it may have some kinks to be worked out, but we’re happy to now have “George” in our lives.

This is not George. He is navy blue. This is just another of the same car. (Side note: Sean named the car >>insert smile)

Autumn!

Celebrating their one year wedding anniversary with my roommates. (Also, thank you Liz for my new blog banner picture!)
Necklaces from Forever 21. They’re fun and cheap. These may be my next purchase:

Cheeseman Park around 6pm. There will be about 30-50 dogs at any one time – all sizes, ages and breeds.

The fact that there is snow covering the mountain tops and it is still 75 degrees in Denver.

Denver is laid out in a grid. Unlike Boston whose roads were mapped by cows in the 1600s, they actually make sense.

Oh, and there are street signs everywhere! And they’re large and legible. Driving does not have to be a guess game.

www.vectorjungle.com Awesome clip art, but even better are the free backgrounds you can download. Check em out!

Happy Hour. It is an hour of happiness, everyday…what more could you want? Massachusetts really needs to get on board with this one.


One thing that perturbs me about Coloradoans: They all say heigTH. It is height. There is no “th.” Put a hard T on there, please.

Last Weekend Cont

It all began with a bike ride to a bar to meet friends where we partook in libations before heading to the Ogden Theater for an incredible concert. (Have I mentioned I live less than a mile from THREE sweet theaters?)

I saw Matt & Kim open for a band in Boston before anyone much knew who they were, but let me say, as the headliners and with 1.5 more years performing experience they truly outdid themselves this time around. Absolutely one of the most high energy, fun and engaging performances I have ever been a part of. And that’s how the audience felt—a part of the whole experience.

For a happy moment, listen to this one. It’s also their most well-known song.

Grooveshark Widgets - Music Playlists for Your MySpace & Blog

So, all was going well and great until the return home when Sean went to get in his car and couldn’t find it. We walked the whole area, but sure enough, the ’91 desert tan Beamer was gone. Police were called. Report was filed. Tear were shed (on the inside). More on that later...

Saturday, Liz and I spent a relaxing afternoon on our sunny porch with one of our last summer cocktails.

I proceeded to kick her butt in Scrabble then we headed off with some new friends to the Glendale Raptors vs. Denver Highlanders rugby game. I always knew rugby was rough, but oh man…it’s rough.

Sat night was spent curled up on the couch with the whole apartment. (I had to get up to take the picture).

For a run down of Sunday’s adventures, check out our day at Garden of the Gods on Liz’s blog (sometimes we share pictures and give each other blog shout outs. Ok, really I don’t own a camera and want to be fair about stealing all of her pictures. Plus her blog is fun, endearing, and worth a look) as well as my last post on mine and Sean’s trip up the mountains.

Ok, so back to the missing car. It’s stolen Friday night. No word or sign of it all weekend. Tuesday, 4:00am, Sean receives a phone call from the Denver Police Department.

“We have found your car. It is in Las Vegas.”

From that point on lots happens, but in summery: over the last 3 days the car was removed from the impound and sold. Time to find a new car. Anyone have a good/afforbale one for sale?

Mountains in the Fall Are my New Favorite Thing

This was a very full weekend. So full in fact I am going to split it up into multiple posts, starting with the end and working forward.

Sunday afternoon, Sean and I took a 3 hour drive south into the mountains to see the autumn landscape (side note: you always say "up" when headed into the mountains, even if you're traveling south...still throws me off). For those somewhat familiar with CO, we were west of La Veta, somewhat near the sand dunes. Practically New Mexico.

It was incredible.

And I had a very handsome driver for the day.

Sean's dream mountain cabin.

Near the mountain church.

Deserted mountain town.

I fell in love with the mountain horses.

The best part about having a boyfriend with an eye for beauty:
significantly less photo editing.

What surprised (even overwhelmed) me the most was the smell. Mountain air truly is the most amazing scent I have ever experienced.

My Jeep felt right at home. Look, daddy, it's dirty.

I fell in love with the landscape. (Mt. Blanco is the one with snow)

And maybe a bit more with this guy too. (I forced him to take cheesy photos with me)

But I really love the horses.

Just you wait till you hear about the rest of the weekend...