Snowy Day

I am "stuck" at home for a snow day. I have no idea how much we are going to get, but we have around 1.5 feet right now. Sah-weet! So, that actually means I have time to blog. Woo hoo.

So B and I went down to Rio Ranch to visit Stephanie and her family. We had a good time at balloon fiesta. I did get sick though, so it was a bit of a bummer. It cut into my time to see my friends, and more time spent sleeping. But I love getting a chance to see Steph!

It was nice this time because there was a lot less wind than last year. We were out last year for Stephanie's wedding. So this year, we were out for their anniversary. :) And, we actually got to see some balloons go up this year, which was really cool. It was amazing how many balloons there are! It was awesome because Steph gave up a seat in the balloon so that B could go for a ride. He was so excited. I got to be part of the chase crew. It was funny because the balloon landed on a Native American reservation. It is kind of like leaving the country, without your passport. There were cops, and forms to fill out, crazy. And the balloon was in a narrow corridor between two fences, and we had to get it over to a more open patch of land. Tough work, but tons of fun! Our drive, to and from, was pretty easy, barring the sick part.

Other than that, B and I went to a shrimp boil at Seth's house last weekend. I love getting to eat that yummy food, right off the table. Plus, I had Brittainy and Bonnie there, so I had some good girlfriends there to hang out with. We got to talking. It is getting dangerously close to my 30th birthday. Um, what?! How did that happen? When did I become an adult? Weird! We are talking about going down to Vegas for the b-day festivities. Of course, I will be heading out to see Thunder From Down Under. Because it is funny, and I can.

I recently finished reading Into the Wild by Krakauer. I can appreciate McCandless's ideals, and that he was you and wanted to make a life for himself. I can not respect what he put his family through, especially his sister, whom he claimed to love so much. I am sorry, if you love someone, you don't cut off all contact with them, and let them worry themselves sick about you. In my opinion. Anyway, it was an interesting read. I feel the author veers off a little bit in the story, but he usually got back to it pretty quickly. It is sad though. Now, I am reading Invisible Mountain by Caolina De Robertis. So far, it is a really intriguing story about 3 women in the same family. Each section is told from one woman's point of view, and it is three generations. Cool stuff! I am about 1.4 of the way through, and I like it a lot. I is set in Uruguay, so the seasons are opposite. Weird. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of all the family members, but I muddle through.

Well, the snow just keeps on dumping, and it is starting to get windy. It looks like I am just, plain, going to be stuck here for awhile. Good thing I love my husband, my house, my life!

ttfn

BACK

So, am I good blogger? No!
Will I try harder next time? Yes!
Does that mean I will ever be a good blogger? Probably not.

Anyway, this is what I have been up to...

The wind has been kicking up around our house. I don't mean a pleasant breeze, I mean banshee, monsoon like winds. So, it has knocked down a couple of trees in our yard, this one was the most obvious, since it is sticking out in the road.So, if a tree falls down right near your house, and you still don't hear it...is it the gale like winds fault?
I say yes! But Brian is doing an awesome job cutting it down to size. We should have firewood for the next century after all the beetle kill rips through here.
Also, this past weekend, it was Roller Derby time! Brian, Craig, Jeff, Jesse, Brittainy, Jill, Greg and a couple other folks all headed down to The Colosseum to enjoy a double bout. The skating was pretty fun, and always the Bad Apples were awesome. However, my favorite part is when Brittainy and I got picked to participate in the half time show. Awesome!

URL:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Vm0xousjM&feature=autofb

Title:Roller Derby Half-Time Show

Girls Rule!
Also, this weekend, Kirsten's episode of Bridezilla aired. I was actually in this one. I am on TV! It can be found on the WE channel, and the bride is Kirsten Stiff. It was a lot of fun to watch. It was interesting the editing choices that they made. I didn't think I was on camera nearly as much as I was. :) However, I have learned, if anyone ever tells me that they are going to be on Bridezillas, and asks me to be a part of their wedding, I will graciously decline and just enjoy the show at a later date. :)

Work is scooting along. I had my yearly review, and everything was pretty good. I got a raise, so that is good. Am I still getting paid what I am worth? Nah, but maybe someday.

I know you are thinking to yourself, what is that Jessica reading now? Well, I just finished the new Dan Brown book. The Lost Symbol. It was pretty classic to his style. I enjoyed the book, and I liked the ending to the story, but not to the book. Once you read it, you will understand. But I can't tell you more than that, because then it would ruin all the suspense, and that is what Mr. Brown writes for. Now I am reading The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. I have not read any of her other murder mysteries. This one is pretty good, but some of the ways the investigators go about their business seems a little odd. Would a chief investigator ever walk around town letting people borrow the evidence to show to someone else? Umm, I come from a small town, so I guess it is possible, but NOT likely. It is set right after Labor Day though, so it is a perfect time to be reading it. Even if it is set in Canada. Hey Bonnie, now I know how you crazy Canadians think. Murderers and cover-ups the whole lot of ya!

Guess that is it for now...

Can you guess when you will hear from me again?

News

BLECH

Do you ever just get the news that you didn't want to hear at all. My best friend Stephanie, and her family have decided to move to NM. I am not happy. Not even a little bit. Of course, I want what is best for them, but I am going to miss them so much! It is hard to describe the actual sadness

On a brighter note, I did survive the Bridezillas adventure. My friend Kirsten was being filmed for it. And her wedding was insane! It was very disorganized, and there were "way too many chefs in the kitchen." I was so happy to get a moment to actually spend with Kirsten, which is what I made the trip out there for. I have missed hanging out with her. She is always fun and entertaining.

Anyway, I am being bad and writing this during rehearsal, so I should go...

Fertility Day

Hurray Bunny Day!

No major plans today. :)

Brian is out taking his motorcycle classes, so that is pretty cool. Soon, I will be the hot chick on the back of the bike.

I am cooking dinner tonight for the fam. However, the fam is very small this year. It will be Brian, Mom and me. Meghan went into labor this morning, so they are at the hospital, (they weren't going to come up anyway), so Nancy is down at the hospital with them. The boys were supposed to be with Brian Jamieson, but I guess he dropped them off at the hospital as well...not sure what is going on there.

I am still super tired, and I am not sure how I am going to catch up with rehearsals and work. But I had a great time last night. I went on my "first date" with Bonnie. It was the first time we had gone out, just the two of us, without the boys. We had a great time. Went out and had some food and drinks and the we were off to see Greater Tuna, and then...met up with the boys later. :) The play was hysterical! And it was cool, because one of the playwrites came and saw the show. What a great opportunity for Austin and Seth! I took a couple pictures of the eveing on one of those old fashioned cameras, you know those diinosaurs, that use film? So I will post some pictures later.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Today I had an odd stroke of luck. I somehow only had to work until noon today, AND I ended up not having to go to rehearsal. Woo Hoo!

Sadly, I had to run an errand and go get my tire fixed. It had a very slow leak in it. It is never much fun hanging out at the tire store, but they fixed it for free! That made me happy. So after an hour of my life spent in the tire store, I was out of there.

I hurried home after picking up some lunch, and did...nothing. That is right, I have done nothing. I watched some tv, took a short nap, did some sit ups. Nothing. It was wonderful.

I did see the neighbors walking their dog, which looks a lot like young Jordan. Sad. I miss her.

But, soon my Husband will be home, and life will be good!

Young 'uns

What a wonderful couple of days. I am pretty sure that I am the luckiest girl in the world.

Saturday we went to Adam and Meghan's baby shower at Old Chicago's. It was pretty fun. It was a little strange that Brian Jamieson didn't come. (It was a both genders baby shower) He was in a car accident and wasn't supposed to spend too much time in the car. My only question is why did he go to lookout mountain the day before? Anyway, we got Adam and Meghan practical things...diapers, the baby first aid kit, and special q-tips so that they don't poke the baby's brain. Her name is Gracie, and she is due on the 10 of April.

Then we were off to see Stephanie's new addition. John Daniel was born around 11:32ish on March 27th. He was 7lb and 2oz. He is perfect! He is so beautiful. And Addison is being a great big sister so far. I love that whole little family so much! Stephanie is doing well after her c-section, and should have gone home sometime yesterday. I need to call her to make sure that all went well. I can't wait to see Stephanie, Addison, John and Craig again.

Yesterday was just work and mostly boring stuff. Although, I did come home and surprise B with a little outfit I found online. That was fun!

Today, we celebrated Neo and Tayler's birthday. Technically, Talyer's is sometime earlier in the month, but we were busy, and didn't do anything for it. So we got them both done in one shot. It was a lot of fun. Brian was really brave, and brought Tayler into Petsmart, while I held on to Neo. She did awesome. She didn't bite anyone, and even took a treat form one of the employees. Whew! Then we took them to Dairy Queen and got them both a childrens vanilla ice cream cone. That was Tayler's first, and she decided she like them, and was not shy about polishing it off. Neo took a little more time, aware of the power of a brain freeze, but he was really into it too.

Tomorrow, we have our first production meeting for the Fantastiks. And we start rehearsals on Thursday...kind of. It will be a music rehearsal, since we don't have the entire cast. Our first read through will be on Sunday. Sadly, starting the rehearsal on Thursday means that I won't be able to go out with Bonnie and her sister, who is visiting from out of town. Sad, I was looking forward to that. Oh well. C'est la vie!

Didn't I warn you all that I would be bad about this whole blogging thing?

Life has been pretty event filled lately. Or at least, news filled. Two of my friends are getting married. Kirsten, is getting married in Florida, so I will be heading out there in April. What makes this wedding so interesting is that Kirsten is going to be on one of my favorite tv shows. Bridezillas. I watched that show religiously right before I got married, and I still find it highly amusing. So that will be fun to see how that whole thing works. Also, Keely is going to get married. She met the man of her dreams by leaving me here in Colorado, while she hopped off to Seattle. I miss her very much, but I am extremely happy for her. We should be getting the save the date cards soon. It looks like there is going to be a lot of traveling in my future. (Brian's cousin is also getting married, and we are going out to the east coast for that. We are even going to head up to Niagara Falls. Woo Hoo)

I am enjoying the beauty of 1.5 snow days. I say that because I did actually drive down to work yesterday, but they sent me home early. I have been lazy, but Brian has been out shoveling, and riding the trainer, and all that active kind of stuff. Also, I should be starting rehearsal for the show

The Fantasticks, and day now. Last I heard, we were waiting on scripts to come in. Today I just got a text message that we probably won't be starting until April 5. That leaves us a month. To rehearse a musical. Scary.

Now I am watching Cyrus play with some of the toys in his cage, and it is pretty cute. Who knew birds were such awesome pets? He cracks me up.

Quiet days

Well, it has been a quiet couple of days for me. Sort of.

Wednesday, I went to my book club meeting. We finished The Power of One, which is a book that I highly recommend. I really enjoyed it! We met at Pasta Jay's, but I only got the cheese bread, so I could save room for dinner at home. There were only four of us at the meeting, but it was a pretty good discussion. But, in my usual way, I couldn't leave with any sort of grace, and dumped two full glasses of water all over Denise, and her book. *Sigh* Aren't we supposed to grown out of the clutz phase? I think I am getting progressively worse! Poor Denise.

Then I headed up the mountain to have dinner with Brian and Alex. Alex called and said that she had a rough day at work, and was hoping to get together for some good food and booze. She made a very yummy meal that was a vegan quesadilla kind of thing. It was very yummy, and I pretty sure pretty healthy for me.

Today, I managed to cut myself three times at work, and all before 9am. I am just the image of grace. Then it was off to the gym. Funny story...
At barnes and noble, there was a lady that comes in occasionally. She was wearing her work clothes, (24 hour fitness stuff) I asked her if she knew my trainer, she did, so I told her to tell my trainer that I would be calling her soon. And she DID! I talked to my trainer today, and she knew all about it. Very funny. It is embarrassing to talk to your trainer though, when one has fallen off the wagon, as I have. I am very sporadic in my workouts, and then when I do, I do something dumb, like eat half a box of girls scout cookies. Does anyone else see any self sabatoge here?

So, I had a decent workout, but it was interrupted by running into my trainer, Lisa. Also, for the past two days, I have seen Denise there. She just joined, but it is cool to actually see someone there that I know.

This eveing has been pretty laid back. Watched some tv, did some minor cleaning, and now I am off to take my shower. I may be covered in guilt, but I will wash it all away...that IS how it works, right?

Slacker

Sheesh, I have been such a slacker about the blog. And so much has happened!

Friday night was Ari's big 30th birthday. It was a lot of fun. We drove out to central city to meet up with everyone for the karaoke party. Ari chopped off all her hair for locks of love, and it looked great. It was a shocker though, I have never seen her hair that short. I got up the guts to get up and sing, and that was a lot of fun. I sang Before he Cheats by Carrie Underwood. I couldn't really hear anything so I went out of tune, until I put my finger in my ear. Considering I haven't sung in a long time, I think I did a pretty good job. I am proud of myself.

Saturday was relax during the day, and head out in the evening. Bri and I went to see Wade and Rita in Educating Rita. (The name is just a coincidence.) They did such a wonder job! I think it is one of my favorite plays that I have seen there. I even had a little tear, which I usually only reserve for movies. Then we hung out for the party afterwards. It was closing night, and Rita's sister was in town from Ireland. Nils catered the whole thing. He is an excellent cook. The food was pretty fabulous.

Sunday was Stephanie's baby shower. We are all very excited to meet John Daniel, and this party was all about celebrating him. It was good to see Stephanie, I miss her so much! I also got to see the lovely Addison. I could squeeze that girl until she popped. Stephanie cleaned out in the baby clothes department. She also got this awesome stroller! I would like to point out that I won two of the three games that we played. That is how awesome I am at word games and guessing Stephanie's belly size. She is quite small for being due next month. Not scary small, cute small. An extra bonus is that I got my girl scout cookies from Addison. Hurray.

Monday was just work, accompanied by the most awful headache! I had all these great plans to get to the gym and get back on track with all that stuff, but the pain held me back. I was sad. It was a tough one to ride out. And it made it a lot more difficult to smile at the customer. Plus, when I have a headache, the smell of coffee makes me feel queasy. Not fun, when working in cafe that serves coffee.

Today is hang out at home and do laundry day. Oh yeah, and torture the bird day. I had to take Cyrus to the vet for his normal checkup. He freaked me out because he threw up, which is very strange when a bird does it, on the way down. But we got all checked out, and the vet said everything looked good. He lost two grams. He was 27, now he is 25. The vet said that it is nothing to worry about at this point. But a bird losing weight can be a sign of something wrong, so we will be paying close attention at his next visit. Also we was wrapped up in a towel, and had his nails and wings clipped. Cyrus was not a fan!
After the vet visit, we went to visit B at work. Cyrus was really glad to see Brian, and he had fun meeting some of Brian's co-workers. He was still pretty stressed out, but at least he was really well behaved, and didn't poop on anyone.
Now we are all home, safe and sound. Cyrus has been relaxing from all the stress, and I am enjoying the rest of this beautiful day off.

Day Off

Ahhh. I had a pretty nice relaxing day.

I chilled out this morning, and got some reading done. I am finishing up The Power of One, for my book club. It is a wonderful book, and I have really enjoyed it.

Then I was off to lunch with Mom. We went to Red Robin, which isn't my favorite, but I still had fun. However, it kind of turned into an errand day, which isn't as much fun. I guess the good news is, I finally motivated and got Cyrus an appointment for his regular checkup and to get his nails trimmed and his wings clipped. That is desperately needed, because he is flying around and that is not safe to do in our house. With the cats, dogs and windows, it is basically a bird death trap.

Then it was home to watch some Kitchen Nightmares. That is a fun show. It makes me a little weary to eat out though. Yikes.

We have a fabulous dinner planned of asparagus, sweet potatoes and talapia fish. Yum! Brian is such a good chef! I love it when he cooks.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow. Can't I just get paid for hanging out at home? :)

Love Day

Valentine's Day was awesome! I had such a wonderful day!

First, gave Alex a call, and headed into town to get our hippy muffins and coffee. I opted for a sticky bun and some chai, but close to the same thing. The snow on the road meant that Alex was going to drive super slow, but that is fine with me. It wasn't like we were in a hurry to get anywhere.

After we got back, I went and read some of my book, and took a nap. All in preperation for evening time.

Finally, it was time to head out the door. We made quick stops at all three houses of the fam, so we could drop off our Valentine cards for them. Sadly, nothing too special, but it is the thought that counts. Plus, I know that we totally surprised Dad and Diana, so that was kind of cool.

Then we got to the Courtyard Marriot. We got to stay on the top floor, which B requested, but he didn't like looking over the side when we were at the top. Our room view was top notch.

I took advantage of the fact that we had a bottomless pit for hot water while B took a short nap.

Then it was out on the town. We headed down to the lobby, and hit up the restaurant, The Rialto, that just happens to be connected to the hotel. Oh my goodness! I wish I had a picture. Those are some of the best scallops that I have ever had! We only had two for our appatizer, but they were huge, and worth every loving bite. I also had a salad with goat cheese, salmon in a pastry, and a chocolate mousse dessert. And for me, I had the wine pairing with it. It was fabulous!

Then we were off to the main event. It turns out that I was a little confused, and were were not off to see the burlesque show, that was much later in the evening. We were going to see Lannie's gypsy jazz band. She sang a bunch of romantic songs, and was pretty funny. I think my favorite part was when she came out in the banana hat. We enjoyed the "famous Lanni-tini" and a little bit of the dessert buffet. After we finished seeing the show at Denver's famouse clock tower, we only had about a block to walk back to the hotel. It was so amazing! Brian planned it all.

Today was also pretty wonderful. We slept in, kind of. I had trouble sleeping because Brian had turned the temperature down to 50. Brrr. So, I woke up pretty early and read for awhile. Once we finally got up and moving, we got our car from valet, (oohh) and met up with Seth to get some brunch. The food wasn't bad, and the company was good. We origianally tried to go to some deli downtown, but it was closed, and apparentely is closed both Saturdays and Sundays. What kind of deli is that?

Anyway, then we came home and relaxed, made the bird food for the month, and relaxed some more.

This was all for our very first Valentine's day as a married couple. Hurrah! All in all, an amazing weekend!

Scary Day

That's right, today is supposed to be the big scary day. Friday the 13th. Insert scary music here. Although, I have to admit, I wasn't lucky enough to have a scary day. I went to work, and was forced to stand out in the bitter cold for 14 minutes. Apparently, the manager didn't hear the door buzzer, or the overhead page to let me in. Although, when I went in, Kim (a co-worker) said it was really nice to see me. Isn't it so strange that what she probably considered an offhand comment, changed my whole day around.

Barnes and Noble was pretty busy today, but other than that, not much to report. My hands are so dry that they hurt. That is the only not fun part about my job. The people were pretty awesome today, and very friendly.

Brian and I carpooled today, so once we got home, we immediately started working on dinner. I am a hungry girl, and I don't like to wait too long after we get home. Luckily, he didn't have to ride before we started. We had some rice and chicken quesadillas. Very yummy!

Now, the big news is I am watching a very cheesy scary movie. It is called Ghost Image, and pretty bad so far. But, I know me, and I will somehow get sucked in, and it will still actually scare me. And, Cyrus is helping Brian build some wheels. Cyrus has become an integral part in wheel building, and is convinced that it can't be done without him.

Hurrah for tomorrow being Valentine's day. Brian and I have great plans. Woo hoo!

Getting Started

Hello blog world. I figure, everyone else is doing it, I might as well give it a shot. What better way to document I exist, then put my personal life in the internet for all to read.

So, here is the news from my quiet corner of the world...

I just finished a show called The Handler. It was with Dragon Fly Arts, and it was great to work with Christa Ray again. The show was preformed well, but it wasn't really my thing, as far as content. It was put on at The Dairy Center, and I enjoyed the short drive home every evening. My next show starts in March. It will be The Fantastiks (yes, like the movie) and it will be at my home away from home, The Vic. I have missed being there with my second family, but I don't miss the drive!

My next show starting in March, means that I have a nice little break for the rest of February. Ahhh! I am enjoying the evenings off. I actually get to see Brian. What's that? I have a husband? I wasn't sure, with how busy I've been. But, it turns out, he is not just a figment of my imagination. Hurray!

Just a bit of a note, I love being married! Brian is a wonderful Husband!

So, I will try to keep this updated. Of course, when I have a long day at Barnes and Noble, and then a show or rehearsal, it might be a little tough. We shall see!