Merry Christmas to all...

Reid and I made it to Indiana safe and sound... And have enjoyed spending time with both of our families. I wish all who read this blog (and all who don't!) a joyous and peaceful Christmas day... How fitting and lovely that this is my 100th blog post!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night (now go to bed so Santa will come!).

And we're off...

As my parents say, like a herd of galloping turtles... We are going to take it as easy as possible on the drive back to Indiana, in large part because of my cold which has moved into my larynx and will not leave (I sound like a woman who has been smoking for fifty years and badly at that). So we are about to leave here (the car is loaded and Reid is taking Tater for a walk) and we are driving over the pass and probably stopping in Liman, CO for the night (just past Colorado Springs... it'll only be a couple of hours in the car today but it means we don't have to face the mountains first thing in the morning!). Then tomorrow we'll drive from Liman to Olathe, KS and spend the night with friends there... then on Friday we'll drive from Olathe to Indy. Each of those days should be about eight or so hours of driving, which isn't too bad at all.

So... you may not hear from me for awhile... but then again most of you who read this blog will be seeing me soon! And if I don't have the great fortune of seeing you soon, please have a happy, healthy, safe and meaningful holiday with those closest to you.

This always happens...

The semester is finally done. I've turned in all my grades. I've attended my first graduation. And I have not yet felt the drive to start work for next semester. And I'm sick. My body is great at defending itself against getting sick while I'm stressed (which is very lucky for me!). But as soon as the stress goes away so does my immune system apparently. So I'm sitting here still in my pajamas at ten in the morning, sipping tea because I have no voice and contemplating the HUGE list of things I need to do before we leave Alamosa for our Christmas trip to Indiana on Wednesday afternoon/Thursday morning (we haven't decided when to leave yet... though with this cold I'm leaning towards Wednesday afternoon so that the Thursday drive will be shorter and less stressful... but that's going to make Wednesday morning stressful, so who knows!)...

Anyway, just wanted to update my blog with the oh-so-exciting news of my cold. I think I'll go blow my nose now.

Cinderella!! (screamed by three full grown men in their Falsetto Voices!)

Now that the show has closed, the costumes that were rented have been sent back and my shop looks empty and clean again, I present to you some of the pictures from Cinderella. All of these were taken by one of our students, Stacey... thanks Stacey! Please remember that these photos are property of Adams State College and any duplication is prohibited! :)

I won't post all of them because frankly it just takes too darn long to post each picture. But I think you'll see most of them this way and for those who want more let me know and the next time I see you, I'll show you the rest! I'm putting them in chronological order of the show, not that any of you probably care about that!

Cinderella meets the Fairy Godmother for the first time.

One of my favorite photos... the stepfamily and Cinderella listen for the carriages approaching to take them to the ball!

"Look! I even have pretty shoes!"

The carriage to carry her away to the ball... this scene ended act 1


Trying on the glass slipper! This is the family's day dresses.


And the final kiss (note the rag dresses for the stepfamily... all evil must be punished and then forgiven as Cinderella forgives the stepfamily and lets them live at the palace... cheesy! :)

Our Weekend

I should be at school right now finishing up the first of three exams for the day... but I got a call this morning that school was cancelled until noon and the final postponed. So... I thought I'd blog for a minute!

My sister and brother-in-law came to visit this weekend and goodness did we pack it in! On Friday evening we went to the Brew Pub in town for dinner and then headed out to Walmart to buy Reid snow equipment for the next today's activities. On Saturday we all four drove out to the Great Sand Dunes (in two cars... Sarah and I didnt stay nearly as long as the boys did). The plan had been for the guys to go sandboarding. What they hadn't planned on was the six inches or so of snow that fell Saturday morning. So, they were half snowboarding and half sandboarding. Dan was very impressed by the Dunes, having never been to them before.

(the boys getting ready to hit the slopes... crazies!)

Tater, Sarah and I stayed in the car until we thought they had climbed up far enough. Then we went out on to the flat land between the parking lot and the Dunes. We took some pictures and Tater had a terrific time running through the snow!

(Tater is ready to run! Let him at that snow! And Sarah is just staying warm)

Then Sarah, the dog and I came home and took naps. According to pictures on Sarah and Dan's camera, the boys built a snowman on the Dunes and named him Frosty. That evening we all attended Cinderella and I think they enjoyed it (Cinderella pictures in an upcoming post I promise!).

(It's a little like Where's Waldo? Can you find them on the side of the Dune?)


On Sunday the boys were up and gone by 7am, headed for Wolf Creek and their 70+ inches of snow. Reid, when they came back, described it as "epic." So apparently, they had fun. Sarah and I hung close to home (being six months pregnant, as my sister is, isn't very conducive to snowboarding). We spent the morning at the cat shelter (where the cats used Sarah as a climbing post as well as a petting machine!). In the afternoon we went for a drive to look at houses that are for sale. It certainly got me motivated. We have a meeting with a bank rep. tomorrow to discuss mortgages and a meeting with a realtor on Thursday!

My favorite Christmas Ornaments

Oh!Amanda posted on her blog about her favorite Christmas ornaments and that got me to thinking about mine... but the truth is there are very few ornaments on my tree that don't have very special meaning to me. Because my husband and I are still using a four foot tree I have to be pretty selective with what I put on (though Reid is always saying that the tree is going to fall over because I am a firm believes that every branch deserves an ornament)! But I decided to take a picture of a few of my favorites and tell you abou them (though some of the pictures didn't come out so well... not really sure why).

This picture came out the worst but I put it at the top because it is truly one of my favorites. I have two of them (this wedding one and one of my best friend and I growing up). My mom (bless her patient soul) made them. The pictures are actually on the inside of the glass and this one is stuffed with some of the bows off of presents from our wedding. Needless to say, these two glass balls mean a lot to me.



This is an ornament given to me by my maternal grandfather. You may or may not be able to read it but he etched "Jenna Marie 1979" onto it. Yep... the ornament is as old as I am.

This ornament is rather new to my collection. My mother-in-law gave it to me. It's a real eggshell, that she painted! Can you see artistic ability?? I'm hoping those genes get past on to my future children.

Who doesn't love a spoiled rotten beagle on a Christmas tree??

This is an ornament given to me by my maternal grandmother before I can remember. My sister has one as well, but in different colors. I could not get this picture to come out... but I like the ghosting effect. It makes it look like he's dancing!

This is another that my grandmother gave me. Again, my sister has a matching mouse in a different color. Even though one of his eyes is missing and he's a little shaggy around the ears he goes on my Christmas tree every year. I love the reminders of my grandmother.

Two unrelated things

Yesterday it rained on the floor of the Valley, which doesn't happen all that often. We are happy here when it rains because it means moisture... and moisture in a desert is always a good thing. And when snow falls down here, it means snow up in the mountains. Blanca is so beautiful today that Reid and I drove just out of town (about five minutes away) and took a picture of her to show everyone.

And in other news... I have started posting the cats at the San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society on Petfinder.com! Go check out our kitties (even though I know most of you are far away and have no desire to adopt one) and tell me which is your favorite... I like all of them (though I'll admit that a few have really stolen my heart!).

I'm famous!!!

Okay, not quite... but there was an article on me in the Adams State College newspaper. Check it out here (for some reason you have to scroll down quite a bit). A lovely picture of a double chin (and another sneak preview of the evil stepsister's dresses)!