Saint Louis

There are so many things in the summer to be thankful for – and one of the reasons that I absolutely adore and love Colorado is because we get seasons here. And wonderful, perfect seasons.

The summer is sunny and hot – with azure blue skies that often lead to afternoon thunderstorms, and camping and community pools and dogs running into creeks. The falls are crisp and cool with that low golden sunlight and a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges, yellows, browns and the drumming and cheers of CU Football games. The winters are cold and sunny with snow and all the snowboarding and snowman building you could desire– and the spring is a delightful awakening of rain and green and tulips and sun and storms. But mostly, what I love…. No humidity.

When us college girls found out that Kat was pregnant (the first of us to have such a huge, grown-up responsibility befall them!) – we immediately made plans to forego the usual Memorial Weekend Bolder Boulder drunken running of the 10k in lieu of a more sophisticated and grown up endeavor like a baby shower. But Kat’s little son Tommy had other plans. More than 3 months early, and at only 27 weeks – little Thomas Charles was born.

At first we held off on traveling to Saint Louis for Memorial weekend to ensure that Kat and Tom could put up with us, while having Tommy in the NCIU. But after it was evident that little Tommy was a fighter and thriving, and Kat needed some good laughs with good friends, we were able to make the trip out there to meet the newest little member!


Katie, Andrea and I had a wonderful time in Saint Louis, although I’m not sure how people can put up with humidity?! We got to visit little Tommy and bought him some ridiculous, totally unnecessary things… shark hats, Jimmy Buffet Hawaiian shirts, tiny sunglasses, the scariest CU Buffalo rubber duckie you’ve ever seen (Katie as always was slightly more tactful with a delicate little baby outfit and matching hat). The house that Kat and Tom recently moved into (as in, when the baby unexpectedly arrived, they were amidst moving), is huge and amazing and the nursery is like something out of a fairy tale.

All in all, everyone was doing great, and it was so good to see Kat and Tom and their adorable little guy. Here are some of the pictures from our trip, and one that I ripped from Tommy’s photo session when he became a wireless baby (as Kat likes to say). Tommy, we love you! And Beavers, thanks for another memorable – albeit sober, Memorial Weekend!

Summer

Start to the summer in the Rocky Mountains. Steve with the first big mow - and Delilah sunning herself on the back step.















Since these photos were taken all the roses have come in, and we've successfully destroyed the dandelion problem.















More blogs to come. I'm just catching up, as my work computer corrupted itself and I had to completely re-image. But I'm back in business.

May 22nd 2010 - Kate & Kathryn's Wedding

Let me start off by saying that I have never flown in a smaller plane in my life. Aside, from bending down and only having a few seats across, it was a rather nice and intimate experience… granted the pilot looked about 18 years old, and our stewardess was a 70 year old man – but regardless of those slightly troubling (and yes, age-est) facts, the flight was excellent. It helps that I met up with my Parents and Cousin Amanda at the Houston airport and we all had our Chili’s to-go meals on our laps for the remainder of the flight to Asheville NC. I think I also impressed my mom with my official travel scrabble game. We played the whole way!

We arrived in NC just in time to meet up at the Event/ campground location for the wedding. Amanda, who had never been to the East Coast, was hugely impressed by the endless green! The wedding location was beautiful, at the edge of the woods, and thankfully had an amazing (slightly reminiscent of the Denver International Airport) tent over the dance floor (in case of rain). DANCE FLOOR? Good, this was going to be a great wedding indeed. We managed to arrive in time to see Grandma and Grandpa, and meet up with all the cousins and kids – Aaron, Cherry, Jasper, Eliza, Charlie, Heather, her son and his lovely and fun wife. Not to mention we partook in the rehearsal dinner burritos. Everything was GREEN too – and I don’t mean color wise, but bio-degradable and organic. Yum!

On Saturday the family meandered around downtown Asheville before heading to the wedding. Now, this is my first Gay wedding. What? You say? Your first?! Well, all my gay friends in Boulder (you know who you are) – are still in the planning stages of their wedding. Ha! The wedding was beautiful, and much more traditional than I assumed it would be. The ceremony was gorgeous both in location, and symbolism of love. I have to also say that the speeches were some of the best that I’d ever heard at the reception. And the cakes! So many cakes to choose from (Amanda and I, being near the end of the line were lucky enough to try quite a few each).

A special shout out to all the family and older folks who showed up and supported Kate and Kathryn even though it certainly isn’t traditional or aligned with you personal beliefs. It was so touching to see so many people support Kate and Kathryn!

Mazel Tov!

*photos courtesy of Amanda Galvan and Kate Brockett’s facebook.

Easter Brunch

I think they should give you the Monday after Easter off - I mean, what happened to spring break? Too many Mimosa's are the cause of my procrastination today I fear. We had brunch at our house for a few of our friends after a wonderful hike with Delilah.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Easter bunny Delilah

Sarah and Steve at brunch


Delilah and her boyfriends Hunter and Fisher.

Our Brunch Spread

The infamous Butter Lamb

Can you see where the cork went? It lodged between the fridge and the cabinets!

We went for a morning hike - it was sunny but also snowing! (these were taken with the iphone)

Steve and Delilah both love to climb!

The Juror

Law and Order - Boulder.

Dum dum!

Okay, it wasn’t exactly Law and Order or CSI. Maybe it was more like a low budget Dateline NBC or something. Regardless, I had my first experience with Jury duty…. and it almost killed me!

Dum dum!

Okay, that’s a bit dramatic. I didn’t almost die, but I did get the flu.

Dum dum!

I’d been wondering for some time if I was a glitch in the system, or how I’d somehow managed to avoid the “civic responsibility” of jury duty. But alas, my good luck had faulted and I was called to report to the Boulder Courthouse down on 6th and Canyon at 8 am on Tuesday morning. The courthouse is luckily less than a 5 minute drive from my house – so aside from my brief struggle with agoraphobia the night before (just knowing I had to put on real live clothes and leave the house on an unknown adventure jilted my introvert personality) the general tactics of getting to the court on time weren’t an issue. Thank goodness I brought a book though, as I was able to read almost 200 pages throughout my 4 hour ordeal. The morning started as I was deeply enthralled in my own sense of skepticism and feelings of boredom and wasting time. I basically was stewing in my own cynicism. But then they showed us a video! And I hate to admit it, but damn – videos work. I learned about the process, got a little excited about (gasp) learning about our judicial system and was able to understand that jury duty, as an American citizen was my right and responsibility (I hate to admit how easily swayed I am by videos).

After the video, which clearly changed my mind frame about the whole process, I was called, along with 30-40 other people to one of the 4 trials that were being held that week. This was the first sign that I would not be going home within the hour. The second sign was when I was called with 22 others directly into the jury box.

The trial was a domestic violence charge, and it was sad how many people were excused because of current or past run ins with such violence. And overall the process was interesting. But it also made me happy that I hadn’t gone down the route of trial lawyer (or lawyer at all)… the hilarity really began when asking the jury some questions pertaining to the case. The main one, the charge of “hands as a deadly weapon”. Now, aside from snickering to myself about some great chuck Norris jokes:

Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.

Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

It takes Chuck Norris 20 minutes to watch 60 minutes.

It was clearly a serious situation, and as a potential juror, it seemed the District Attorney and the Defense were doing everything in their power to ensure the Jury (with clearly the intellect of toddlers) could understand that a human can harm another human without a gun. Oh yes, this is where I’m sure the look in my eyes was the reason for my dismissal.

DA: “Ms. Fezler, what do you think is meant by “Deadly Weapon”.

Sarah: “I believe, its really the “intent” – anything can be used to do harm to another person and be a deadly weapon, be it, their hands, a pillow, pretty much anything that’s intended to be used that way.”

DA: “Ahh, so would you say that THIS (he holds up a mug for effect) could be a deadly weapon?”

Sarah: “Um, yes”.

DA: Looking dejected turns to the juror next to Sarah. “Would You Mr. X?”

Mr. X: “Um, Sure”.

DA: What about this? (holding up a piece of red string).

Mr. X “ “Yes.”

DA: “Does it matter that this is from my son’s Magic kit?”

Mr. X” “No, like she said, you can use anything”

Be advised that this continues for the better part of an hour. And I think everyone finally got it (she says tongue in cheek). Yes, we understand that the man is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon, even if the deadly weapon was his hands. Sigh.

Anyway, the real drama came with my catching the flu from the derelict man sitting next to me who was coughing and sneezing the whole time. He finally raised his had when questioned if anyone in the jury was a victim of a crime “yes , ma’am” he says to the Judge. “I was shot and stabbed. (cough, cough).” He was released. Finally as the day wore on, and the jurors names had been passed back and forth between the two lawyers the final twelve were named. And I was not on it!

Although I learned a lot from my day on jury duty, I’m glad I didn’t have to stay through the whole trial. Especially since at about 4pm that day I came down with a fever and the cough, presumable caught from the stabbed and shot man. Jury duty was a fun new experience though, and you’ll find many people have a good story to tell about jury duty (those who have been called forth) – so go ahead, ask around, and I think you’ll find those dramatic television shows depicting our judicial system, aren’t too far off.

Age is Opportunity

Age is opportunity no less,

Than youth itself, though in another dress,

And as the evening twilight fades away,

The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Morituri Salutamus

I can hardly believe that 30 has already come and gone, and 31 has propelled me well into pre-middle age, thirty-something-ness. I know that being in your 30’s isn’t really old, and that it far outweighs the alternative. But, it just seems perhaps when married to someone a little younger than myself, and having the same general personality as I did at 12, 17, 26… that its amazing how grown up 31 feels. Recently, when someone said that 1990 was 20 years ago I almost choked on my own tongue and fell onto the floor in spasms. My husband does joke with me how old I am, but the truth is – I think I’ll always feel like a little kid inside (think frosted mini-wheats commercials in the 80’s: The adult in me likes the wheat, but the kid in me likes the frosting).

My birthday was celebrated on several occasions during the first week of February, and I think if I had my way I would continue to celebrate it all through the month. Although, I’m sure Steve and my friends would have something not too kind to say about that. Sunday before my birthday we went to mass and then had a great brunch with mimosas and bloody marys. Yum! I went out with some of my lady friends on Monday afternoon, followed by an exquisite romantic dinner at the Boulder Cork with Steve (after bringing me home flowers and the promise of a massage at a nearby spa) and my meal was surprisingly free (note to self, signing up for restaurant emails and perks does pay off!). We also went bowling later in the week, and snowboarding over the weekend. Already, we’ve been riding more this year than last year and still have plenty of powder days to come. I love snowboarding every weekend with Steve and my friends, it’s the reason we love Colorado!

Just to iterate what a different state the world was in when I was born. Here are some notable facts about 1979.

• The one child policy is implemented in China
• Mr Ed the talking horse dies as does John Wayne
• McDonald's introced the "Happy Meal".
• The Sugar Hill Gang released the first commercial rap hit, bringing rap off the New York streets and into the popular music scene.
• Popular movies at the time were Apocalypse Now, Superman, Kramer vs. Karamer, the Deer Hunter and The Muppet Movie.
• Jimmy Carter was President.
• The average house cost $58,100.00 and the annual average income was $17,500.00.
• Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Sony introduced the Sony Walkman costing $200.00
• The first snowboard was invented in the USA by Daniel E. Chadwick.

I can’t believe how quickly the holidays flew by this year. It seems that only a few weeks ago I was listening to the Christmas music play 24/7 on the radio and counting down the days until my mandatory 2 week vacation began. (my company closes all the offices for 2 weeks), which is fine by me!

Silvia and Susan (two of my favorite and best childhood friends) flew out the week of Christmas to spend some amazing R&R in the Colorado Mountains. Although, we didn’t get too much rest as every day we had a new fun adventure planned. There was running, Yoga, snowboarding, gym workouts, and more Yoga. The best part of having two wonderful people come and visit is trying new things in your own home town. We found an amazing Yoga studio that has heated yoga (not Hot) to ease your muscles and stretch your soul. It’s remarkable how great teachers and good karma can be so healing and transformative and inspire you to make changes in your own life. I’m officially hooked and have been going to yoga 3-4 times a week now. Susan is now a Yoga instructor, along with her massage and motivated us to try a new sect of Yoga; Forrest Yoga and we all loved it – a great workout that totally fit into my new philosophy of sweating every day. Thanks for visiting you guys!

After Susan and Silvia left on Christmas Eve, Steve, Delilah and I went down to his mom’s house in Denver to enjoy a German Christmas dinner at the neighbors house as well as Mass and opening presents in the morning. We all went up snowboarding together on Saturday and got to play a lot of Wii fit with Steve’s Aunts on Sunday. I’m not going to brag or anything, but my Wii fit age is 27 while Steve’s age is 40! Hahahah!

New years was also a fun evening, but super chill as we avoided any major commotion with going out. Instead, Steve’s buddy Zacki who is visiting from New York came over. We all made Sushi, drank Champagne and waited for the new decade to begin!

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dinner during a snow storm with Silvia and Susan.

Steve showing off his new headlamp on x-mas morning.