.:: y'om say'n? word. ::.

.:: Monday, October 31, 2005 ::.

i know it's only an hour, but it totally throws my body off...

tonight, in celebration of halloween, i'm making this for dinner! haha, cute, eh?

:: joyCleeP 9:02 AM [+] ::
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finally, after having our new leather bed frame sitting in our bedroom, empty, for over a week, we were able to sleep in it last night! oh...and it was heavenly!! haha, seriously, it's so beautiful and, well, solid. our old frame and boxspring squeeked everytime you walked by it. but our new frame and boxspring don't make a peep, and now W can get in and out of bed without waking me! hurrah!

:: joyCleeP 9:42 AM [+] ::
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last night for dinner, we had chicken and waffles!! haha, i've always wanted to try it, it's fascinating, the combination of greasy fried chicken and big fluffy belgian waffle covered with syrup. we were watching "secret life of...waffles" on foodnetwork, and i was just super craving it. so i busted out our belgian waffle iron and W went and bought some fried chicken. and we grubbed. it was goooood. what's not to like about greasy fried chicken and a big fluffy belgian waffle covered with syrup? for dessert, i made some chocolate chip waffles and we ate them with caramel ice cream, topped with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. mmm...

:: joyCleeP 11:28 AM [+] ::
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when W first bought this last christmas (for a smoking deal, i might add), i was a bit hesitant to use it. i mean, what's so bad about CDs? i don't mind thumbing thru my CDs, trying to find the right tunes for my mood. it's kinda fun, and i get reaquainted with my CDs, some of which i forget i even have (i've been known to buy a CD i already own). then, we had the huge task of converting all our CDs into mp3 files so we could listen to them on the mp101. well, we didn't get very far, cuz it's quite time consuming. but one day last week, W realized he needed a better way to listen to music at work, and researched online music services, including satellite radio (we already get sirius thru dishnetwork and love it!). and the winner? rhapsody! it's so great, why didn't we get this sooner! now we have instant access to over 1.3 million songs! we can scroll thru by artist and listen to entire albums, or just individual songs. you can make favorite lists and build your online library. so convenient! who needs to rip all their CDs when there's rhapsody?! and if you like the song or album, you can purchase it too. i think prices vary. i'm currently listening to death cab for cutie's "plans" album, which i'm very much digging. this is so great...so much better than satellite radio!

so everyone, go and sign yourself up for rhapsody right now. and no, you don't need a wireless digital media player. you can listen to it on your computer or digital music player (i.e. iPod). in the words of martha stewart, "this is a very good thing."

:: joyCleeP 8:22 AM [+] ::
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i don't normally like to gush over how great my husband is on my blog, but i think this will be an exception. :)

yesterday was our one year wedding anniversary. since we really only have weekends to do house stuff, i was all ready to spend the weekend painting our master bedroom and bathroom, and finish straightening up. and being that i'm jobless and we've been spending way too much money with this move, i really wasn't planning on anything big. well, W had other plans. instead of slaving away this weekend, he planned a little getaway to the rockies. bachelor gulch and vail to be exact!

we took off after lunch on saturday and made our way to the ritz-carlton, bachelor gulch. the resort is beautiful! well, except for the huge dear head in the lounge area and the scary looking fish (with TEETH) in the library... the gondola is just steps from the hotel rooms! it's too bad it wasn't snowing quite just yet. and the aspen trees had already lost their leaves (they're the ones that turn a beautiful golden yellow color in the fall, colorado is covered with them). so the surroundings weren't at their peak, but it was beautiful none the less.

for dinner we went to dinner at mirabelle, and it was sooooo delicious!! we had the lobster bisque (soooo good), W had the tenderloin and i had the lamb (one of master chef daniel joly's specialties), and for dessert, their famous creme brulee (sooooo rich and creamy!). if you're ever in the area, i highly recommend having dinner there. and the big plus, the restaurants in the area are having price wars, so we got our entrees for half off! an amazing deal! W's coworkers had gotten us a 96 dom perignon for a wedding gift, so after dinner, we sipped on some dom p with the godiva chocolate truffles i had bought earlier that day. mmm...delicious! but i drank carefully, remembering the last time i had chocolate and champagne...not pretty. :) and plus, we were about 7000 ft above sea level, and alcohol affects you much faster than at sea level!

sunday morning, W made me wake up at 6am!! he said he had plans for breakfast, and that we needed to leave by 7am, so we could go on a drive and do some sight seeing. well, after driving on some unpaved roads, through an extremely unhabited area of eagle, we came up to a group of people, and a big giant basket... we were going on a hot air balloon ride!! it was really cold, about 35-40 degrees, but being up in the air, it didn't feel cold at all. it's the strangest feeling of floating, and the take off is so smooth, it's just the wildest thing. and once you're up, you don't feel like you're that high up. i can't really describe it, it's just something you have to experience yourself to understand. we got amazing sunrise views of the eagle valley areas, and it was soooo incredible. what a way to see the rockies! and what a way to celebrate our first anniversary!

after the hot air balloon ride, we drove up to the vail cascade resort and spa where we got much needed massages at the aria spa. all their spa services were 40% off!! so we got another amazing deal! seriously, if you want to experience the vail valley and beaver creek areas, go in the fall when everything is on sale! vail was nothing like i imagined. i pictured a cute little area with shops and restaurants lining the streets, but instead, there were just endless condos and resorts. i'm sure it's much more bustling with ppl and activity in the winter, but i guess i was just expecting more. but i got a great massage, and that's all that mattered!

i still can't believe a whole entire year has gone by already. it's been a truly wonderful year, and i'm so lucky to be married to such a great man. okay, no more mushy stuff. here are a few pictures. :)

:: joyCleeP 3:06 PM [+] ::
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thanks v, for this...i can't stop laughing! deep down, i know this is totally something i would do too...LOL

:: joyCleeP 1:32 PM [+] ::
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finally, pictures from our move!

leaving pleasanton, saying goodbye to the first house we lived in together!


somewhere in nevada, as the sun sets on day 1


still in nevada


still in nevada, day 2


utah, see all the salt?


approaching wyoming, going only 30mph up the big hill (~8000')


wyoming...


interesting terrain in wyoming


we didn't see too many houses in wyoming, but we sure did see a lot of trailer parks!


i stopped taking pictures after this point because i had to drive. then it got too dark to take any pictures when we got to colorado. oh well.

proof that we were able to put the bike in the truck!


you can check out the rest of the pictures here.

:: joyCleeP 11:35 AM [+] ::
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i am so exhausted. between steam cleaning the carpets, scrubbing the shower (i hate tile and grout!!), painting (our family room is beee-u-tiful!) and raking up the bazillion leaves in our front, side and back yards, i think i've done my lifetime's worth of house chores. and we still have to paint our master bedroom. ugh...will it ever end??

this morning i was raking the leaves to prepare for our lawn aeration and winterization, and a cat decided to play in our yard. it was cute at first, but then he started climbing up the trees and shaking the limbs so the leaves would fall! grr...more leaves for me to rake! he walked over to our front door, pawed at the doormat, and peered inside the house (we have a long window next to the door), like he was looking for something. strange kitty. i was just glad he didn't charge thru the huge pile of leaves i had made!

i am so exhausted. i'm gonna go veg out now.

:: joyCleeP 11:49 AM [+] ::
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mmm...my cornbread turned out GREAT! a friend who also just moved to denver told me that she didn't change any of her baking recipes to accomodate the altitude and everything turns out fine. but just to be on the safe side, i added a little more flour and water and reduced the sugar. it was a perfect accompaniment to my chili!

since it's warming up again for the next several days, we're planning to paint our family room. we're painting it "sedona brown." it should go well with our celery green sectional. *fingers crossed*

i'm kind of overwhelmed with all the things we have to do to this house. and preparing it for winter. like lawn winterizing and aeration, air duct cleaning, sprinkler draining. and the ppl who lived here before us (original owners) were filthy! okay, i'm exaggerating, but seriously, i've spent so much time scrubbing our shower, and it still doesn't feel clean enough! i've steam cleaned most of the rooms now, and it's so disgusting...i can't imagine anyone living in that kind of filth. and they had a dog, so of course dog + wet carpet = overwhelming stench. thank gawd for arm and hammer carpet cleaner! i wish we had the money to just rip everything out and start over! new carpet, new hardwood, new bathroom... *sigh* i need to win the lottery.

:: joyCleeP 11:04 AM [+] ::
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i thought i'd be really homesick and miss my friends and family terribly. but honestly, it feels a lot like when we lived in pleasanton. after we moved out there, it felt like i saw my friends less, and felt really isolated from everyone. afterall, we were kinda living in booneville. well, close to it. if it weren't for all the snow (which has pretty much melted already), i wouldn't even know i was in colorado! haha...

i have yet to feel any altitude sickness. i've heard it effects some more than others. i try to keep myself hydrated, cuz i think that's the biggest culprit. i have noticed that my skin is much dryer, so i'm going thru a ton of lotion and moisturizer!

i'm planning to make cookies tonight. i got the recipe from the newspaper, which so conveniently included high altitude directions. we'll see how it goes! oh, and i'm also making cornbread to go with the chili i'm making for dinner...hopefully i don't end up with corn mush.

:: joyCleeP 8:25 AM [+] ::
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it's snowing!!!! unfortunately, this early snow is doing a number on all the trees, many of which are still green. i've already seen 2 branches break! our poor trees...

:: joyCleeP 8:07 AM [+] ::
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i am having to relearn how to cook and bake. it's a bit annoying. everything seems to take so much longer! last night i was making curry for dinner, and what used to take me about 30 minutes took almost an hour. ridiculous!

and i can't find my spice rack anywhere, so i have a bunch of spices taking over my island. just a few more things to put away and my kitchen will be done! too bad i can't say the same for the rest of the house.

we're planning to just paint our master bedroom and bathroom for now. i might paint my office, but we'll see. paint is so expensive! everything related to home improvement is expensive! grr...

:: joyCleeP 8:24 AM [+] ::
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warning: this is a very long entry, so don't say i didn't warn you before you start reading!!

well, we made it! i don't even know where to begin. this was the most stressful and exhilerating experience i've ever had, even more stressful than the wedding! i'll start with last week, wednesday to be exact.

wednesday: one of the many differences in buying a house in colorado is the closing process. after escrow closes, the sellers still have up to 72 hours before handing over the keys. since our sellers chose to hand over the keys after 48 hours, we couldn't exactly be here for the actual closing (which the sellers/buyers do face-to-face, in person--weird!) and then sit around for 2 days with a truck full of stuff, our team had to put everything together a little earlier, send it to us in cali, then we had to sign and send it back by thursday morning (which was the closing date). well, our closing agent lady was the world's dumbest closing agent. she was supposed to draft the papers (seriously, like 100 sheets) and send them to all the agents to review, then UPS them to us by tuesday. she didn't do that, and said we would get our papers tuesday. well, tuesday we got nothing. and she didn't give us a tracking number to see if maybe it was lost. luckily wednesday morning we got it. but she had made several mistakes that needed to be fixed before we signed anything. in the meantime, i'm running around crazed trying to finish packing, and W was still technically working from home, and was swamped, so couldn't get to packing his stuff still. and we were waiting for the closing agent lady to email us the corrected pages. oh, btw, the packet of papers she sent us was just a pile of paper, no sort of order or anything, just everything dumped in together. so ridiculous. we didn't get the corrections til about 3pm, and W who is extremely meticulous and detailed, didn't have time to read over anything, so literally we had no idea what we were signing. UPS's last shipment went out at 5pm, and we still had to get a cashier's check from the bank for the remainder of our closing costs, and find a notary to sign all 100 pages in front of. so we zipped over to the bank, zipped over to the UPS store which luckily had a notary available, and we literally got finished with all the signing and initialling at 5pm on the dot. i was so relieved that we made it, i wanted to cry. however, the penske truck place closed at 4:30, and we weren't able to pick up our truck, which was a BIG set-back. we were planning to practice loading the NSX onto the trailer that night so we wouldn't have any surprises on friday morning when we did it for real. and we were also plannig to go ahead and wrap all our furniture in the blankets. but of course none of that happened. so we went home and continued packing.

thursday: woke up bright and early to go to penske first thing and get the truck. this was our pack the truck day, and we needed to hurry. luckily we there were no issues with the truck. unfortunately, being a workday, we weren't able to really get help from our friends. so basically it was just me and W. we realized one thing tho, there was no way the NSX was getting on that trailer. the NSX is low to begin with, and our's is lowered, so it's like 2 inches off the ground. so we would have to tow my integra instead, and drive the NSX, which we really didn't want to do. we got the car on the trailer just fine, so we proceeded to load up the truck. my dad came after lunch to help move the furniture in, so that was a huge help. things moved along quite well. then we went to dinner. and that's when things got bad. dinner took a while, and after dinner we had to run some errands that took a while. so by the time we got home, it was about 7:30pm, and we still had a ton of work to do. the truck was about 2/3 loaded, but we still had so much stuff not in boxes yet, and, the big thing, we still had to load W's motorcycle. we continued working til about 10:30pm, and was able to get the bike in the truck without any problems (thank gawd, it was very nerve-wracking watching W slowly ride up the ramp, praying that he didn't lose his balance and fall off!). we were making a ton of noise, and realized there was no way we would finish, so we called it a night. we were VERY behind schedule.

friday: we were originally planning to leave at 5am on friday, but that didn't happen. we woke up at 4am (i got about 2 hours of sleep) and called my parents to tell them we weren't ready to go, that they should just come by around 7am. we still had so much stuff to load (including some big items like his air compressor that weighs a million pounds, the engine hoist and his tool cabinets (big, heavy things). so we got up and continued working, trying to make as little noise as possible. by the time everything was loaded, it was about 10am. my mom had packed lunch of rice and some ban-chan so we sat and ate a bit. we loaded up the car, and by the time we left our old house, it was already 11:30am. we were even more behind schedule, and quite discouraged to be leaving so late. but, we were glad everything fit in the truck!! we couldn't believe it! we actually pulled it off!! we didn't even really get to say goodbye to our old house, we just kinda drove away! my dad drove the penske and W drove the NSX. and we were finally on our way to denver. everything went well, driving up 680 to 80, thru sacramento and tahoe and reno. not long after we entered nevada, the 4 of us realized we couldn't drive much longer. we made an early dinner stop around 5pm, and decided to drive til the next big town and stay the night. that way we could get up really early and hopefully make up for lost time. we drove to winnemucca and stayed at the motel 6 where we could park the truck and also keep an eye on it as well as the NSX. we were extremely nervous and didn't get too much sleep that night. i mean, our lifes' possessions were in that one 26' truck, not to mention our cars! we woke up early and were on the road at 5am.

saturday: it felt great to get an early start, and even tho we got little sleep, we still felt refreshed and reenergized. we continued on 80 thru nevada, which was pretty boring, lots of desert and no trees. it didn't get interesting til we got to the utah state line. literally, as soon as you cross the line, the terrain changed dramatically. we were surrounded by salt on either side, and i really wanted to get out and touch it! but there was no time for that. we contined driving along, until we got close to salt lake city, and stopped for lunch and gas. after we scarfed down our subway sandwiches, we got back on the road again and continued on. we encountered our first "big hill" reaching altitudes near 8000' just before we got to wyoming, and we were literally driving 25 mph. luckily the truck made it just fine and we continued on. now wyoming was kinda interesting. it's like nevada, very dry and desert-like, but there were no little towns or houses, just a lot of trailer parks. seriously, it was the weirdest thing. during our lunch stop, we realized that we were going to do our best to make it to denver that night. neither my dad nor W wanted to stay at a motel again, and both were quite determined to make it all the way. so we drove. and drove and drove and drove. we stopped to get gas (and ice cream) in rock springs, where there was a guy giving out free samples of hard liquor at the gas station. i'm telling you, wyoming was a "special" place. :) shortly after we got on the road, my dad pulled over saying he was getting sleepy. so W took over on the truck and i took over in the NSX. back on the road, we drove and drove, reaching the 2nd big hill, which was 8640' at the summit! we drove til we got to laramie, where we made our final pit stop. we didn't even eat dinner, just filled up the truck with gas, and continued on the road. we were sooooo close! we continued to drive, thru cheyenne, and soon enough we were in colorado! it was too dark to take a picture of the "welcome to colorado" sign. oh well, i got over it. we continued on I-25 south, and when we got to downtown denver...i don't even remember the last time i felt that excited. we were gonna make it! we got to our house around 10:30pm (mountain time). we had driven 16 hours that day. crazy! we unloaded just a few blankets and sleeping bags, gave my parents a quick tour, and slept. in our new house.

sunday: we all slept in a bit. W's coworkers, Tom & Eric, as well as our friend who moved out here just 2 months ago, Chris, were all coming over to help unload the truck around noon. so we made a trip to home depot to change our locks (all 8 of them!) and buy a couple things we needed. my mom and i went to the grocery store to get some water and a few necessities. and right around noon, E & C were already there, unloading the truck with W. it's nice to have help from friends! we all took a break, and then T came with his family (wife and 2 boys). his sons were adorable, especially the younger one, D, who had broken his arm not too long ago, but was still eager to help. in the meantime, we were meeting neighbors left and right! everyone was coming up to us, welcoming us to the neighborhood, talking a bit, it was really nice. we met Greg & Diane next door, Marie & Doug down the street in the next cul de sac (and their 2 adorable mini schnauzers), Leslie from the end of the street who gave us a jar of homemade pickles! and Nancy on the other side of us, who also just moved here 6 weeks ago from tampa. she and her husband came over later that afternoon with a lasagna, salad, garlic bread and brownies! we couldn't believe it! i've never experienced such a warm welcome by neighbors! we knew ppl here were friendly, but this was beyond anything we expected. the truck was unloaded by 3pm, and we ate lunch, hung out with C and his wife C who had stopped by a bit later, and rested. after C and C left, my parents, W and i ate our lasagna dinner out on our new deck (thank goodness we brought along our patio set...we were afraid it wouldn't fit in the truck and almost left it behind). it was the greatest feeling, to be sitting there, knowing we not only made it, but everything went really well. especially the weather. it was actually on our side for once! it was actually HOT in pleasanton when we were packing the truck, i'm talking low 90's. it was warm all the way thru to denver. just before we arrived, i guess it was pretty cold, and the day we arrived it was in the 80's, sunny and beautiful. that night, we all slept in beds, and it was the first night of real sleep i would get in a really long time.

monday: this was our errand running day, just getting things we needed immediately to start unpacking and putting away. we returned the truck (after circling forever trying to find a gas station with diesel) and came home to get to work! my kitchen has actually become quite a challenge. our old place had very little cabinet space, so we bought a lot of storage solutions to help. well, we don't have that here, we have more cabinet space but less storage, so i'm running out of space, with still several boxes to unpack! i'm sure i'll figure it out. my mom and i cleaned the kitchen, and unpacked. the phone guy came and went. the DSL guy came and went. the dish network guy came and went. then we went to go buy a washer and dryer, which my parents insisted on buying us as a housewarming gift. we got home and bbq'ed. my mom made us a ton of food and put it in a cooler, so we had korean bbq, with all the fixin's. it was so good. we rested the rest of the evening.

tuesday: my parent's last day in colorado. my mom and i went to the outlets and did a little shopping while my dad and W went to the hardware store to get more things for the house. then the 4 of us went to the korean grocery store in aurora, which was HUGE, and bought a ton of food and stuff. we got home, ate lunch, and my mom taught me how to make a bunch of korean dishes: galbi, miyuk gook, gohm-tang, etc, etc. then we headed to the airport. i knew it would be hard to see them leave, and i was already starting to tear up a bit in the car. we got them checked in and walked them to the security check point to say our goodbyes. it was like my first day of college all over again, when they dropped me off and left me! my parents can drive me nuts sometimes, but it was really really hard to see them go. we got back to our house, and it suddenly felt so huge to me, and so empty. that's when it really sunk in, when i was sitting in our family room, just looking around, all by myself. this is our house. we live in colorado. holy crap.

i'm grateful that things went so well. we actually pulled it off. there were so many times where we were both so frustrated and i was just wanting to throw my hands up and give up, but we continued on, only looking forward to this new life we are building in denver. it's been the most amazing journey, and i'm so grateful to have W to go thru it with. and i'm so grateful for all that my parents did for us. i think they really liked it here, and they can rest assured that we made the right decision. i still get really sad and teary when i think about it. i know i'll get over it, it's just always hard for me to leave my parents. i just have to remember they're just a short 2.5 hour flight away.

so we haven't felt any altitude sickness. i was reading up on it earlier, and apparently 5000' isn't considered "high altitude." we have to be more like 7000-8000' for that. but still, i made sure everyone was drinking plenty of water to avoid dehydration. we heard from one of our neighbors that the weather this time of year gets really crazy. one day it will be nice and warm, and the next day they'll get snow! well, when we got here, it was beautiful, and warm enough to sit outside to eat while wearing shorts and t-shirts. by tuesday, it was definitely colder, we're talking light jackets. and tuesday night when we went out to dinner, it was raining, with thunder and lightening! on the news, they said there was snow in the high county. it's barely october! insane. so it'll be around the 50's today, and back in the 70's by the weekend. weird!!

p.s. pictures to come, after we set up the pfoto server. til then, pictures in general will be down. sorry.

:: joyCleeP 7:45 AM [+] ::
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