Two Below Zero!

Two Below Zero Dinner Sleigh Rides

Gliding through the snow in a two mule open sleigh...what could be better? Two Below Zero offers the BEST that sleigh riding has to offer. (Voted number the number ONE sleigh ride in America, and Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel voted TBZ as her number ONE thing to do in Colorado!)

The ride starts with time to interface with the mules (ours were Bonnie and Belle..). Next you jump in a real sleigh with BELLS, cover yourself with a luxuriously thick blanket, and hit the road to head off to dinner. Then you are ushered into a warm and comfy tent, and served a four course meal that leaves the stomach bulging in the happiest of ways. Top it off with excellent entertainment and sing-alongs, and you've got a recipe for SUCESS! The entertainer, David Peel, is great; he can do the best impersonations...everything from Johnny Cash to Mickey Mouse! :)

The corral at Two Below.

The tent!

My only complaint is feeling slightly like the White Witch from Narnia whilst traversing in a bell ringing snow sleigh through a dark forrest. If only I had some Turkish Delight.....

Wedding Picture Slideshow!

Our photography Lindsay created a slide-show for us!! I'm excited to get the cd of all the pictures soon! Kapsie is putting lots of pressure on me to create a Christmas card ; )

See the slideshow HERE!!

Yummo!

So after all that smack talk about us having the best food at Thanksgiving...in the rush of excitement to eat said food, I didn't take a single picture of the feast! However the mental image alone of peeling, cooking, and mashing 23 lbs of potato's should be somewhat rewarding.

One of my favorite features of our Thanksgiving is actually the Christmas decorating frenzy that takes place after the meal. We create a line of people from inside the attic down to the living room. This year the line probably had upwards of 25 people...pretty awesome, and SO efficient! So while I failed to capture food images, I DID get a picture of my cousin Clara placing the angel on top of the tree.

Clare-Bear

Mom and Grandpa!

We typically have several dogs present at the Thanksgiving meal as well. Below are the poodle Kipper, and the Shelty Jake. Unfortunately the Golden Retriever puppy Elway couldn't sit still long enough for the photo shoot. There was also a random chihuahua (NOT PICTURED!). This year it wasn't TOO hectic...I was kind of hoping Aunt Pam would bring her Pit Bull and two German Shepherds...

Jake and Kipper

Jake's skinny legs vs. Kipper's poofs

Grandma's new favorite Christmas decoration

Next, we're off to go dashing through the snow in a two mule open sleigh with Two Below Zero Sleigh Rides!

Birthplace of our nation

This wonderful time of year reminds me of the time when me and my good friend Nicole Klink, who I sometimes like to refer to as Nikkolai, went to visit the birthplace of our nation...PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS. We did this while I was at Gordon College. I had the pleasure of rooming with Ms. Nikki Klink; which was totally God's providential plan, because she is one AWESOME girl.

I was able to spend Thanksgiving with her family in Dighton-Rehoboth, MA. Spending Thanksgiving in the SAME STATE where it all started so many years ago??! Yeah, it blew my socks off. Of course, we made a pit-stop at Plymouth on the way to her house, (which actually isn't really on the way...Nikki was so good to me), to see where America was born. Plymouth Rock...I will say I was expecting it to be a bit more impressive....

The ROCK!

Nikki and I, circa 2007

Apologies for the quality of photographs on this day. I recall that my camera was a bit off...

20 lbs of smashed potato's coming right up!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow...I'm so excited!! While I was living in California, this is one of the holiday's I missed spending with my family the most. And NOT necessarily just because of the smorgasbord of food--which always includes some strange forms of jello salad, and super smushy green beans; although those are always a highlight. (pictures to come soon!)

For as long as I can remember, every Thanksgiving we have made the hour-long trek down south to Colorado Springs where my grandparents Will and Bess Perkins live. Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting either Will OR Bess knows how completely awesome and amazing they are. When you compile on the rest of the Perkins/Sheets/Tate/Walker clan...you get one SPECTACULAR event. We're never quite sure of the number of people that are going to be there for the meal...my grandpa has a tendency to invite a handful of people he sees while out and about on the town who may not have a place to celebrate the holiday. Which I LOVE!!

I'm in charge of making the mashed potato's for the big day; which is challenging in a few ways. One, they're a Thanksgiving staple, which really puts the pressure on me to do a top notch smashing of the potato's. Two, since there's never an exact head-count, I have no idea how many potato's to actually make. Three, I only have a small hand-mixer. (Thankfully this last challenge has been rectified by KAPSIE letting me borrow her precious Bosch Mixer--which she uses EVERY day!) And finally, four, I'm an "alternative baker/cook," which basically means I can't follow a recipe to save my life. I'll let you know how it turns out!!

"Call it a clan, call it

a network,

call it a tribe, call it a

family.

Whatever you call it,

whoever you are,

you need one."

Jane Howard

the weather is getting colder...!

"There must be quite a few things

a hot bath

won't cure--but I don't know many of them."

-Sylvia Plath

*kind of ironic when you think about Sylvia, and her life story, but I still like the quote.

Six Layers

Go big or go home.

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Happy Birthday to Spencer!

Today is officially the LAST day I can call Spencer my LITTLE brother. He's eighteen today folks. Legal. Able to vote. Entering the realm of adulthood.

I love him!! Happy Birthday little brother!!

*more detailed post to come tomorrow...I'm attempting a 6-layer cake for the birthday boy's celebration tomorrow night!

Sudden Snow!

There's nothing more exciting than a flurry of snowflakes that comes completely out of no-where! Snow makes me feel like a little kid again; everything seems so magical!!

BOWLING!

Last night the entire Erickson (and King) clan went bowling at Fat Cats. Thanks to Viki and her incredible Groupon getting skills, we had two hours of bowling, pizza, breadsticks, and DIET COKE!!

I started out with four strikes, and went severely downhill from there. Lucas took ownership of round 1, and Tim came back to bring in the victory in the second game.

Gary and Viki

Yes. These bowling shoes are unusual.

Kim and Lucas!

Gary's follow-through position...

Lucas getting one of his many X's.

So much fun!

Subzero temperatures mean nothing

As an unemployed person, I've taken to watching the morning news. This comes with the luxury of having a weather report about every 8 minutes, just in case you MAY have forgotten what the five-day forecast looks like in-between bites of toast. It's really quite excessive. Excessive yet informative. Basically what I'm trying to say is I was quite aware that this weekend was going to be quite chilly here in the Denver metro area; and by chilly, I mean freezing.

This information was dually noted yet completely disregarded upon the knowledge that the Colorado Rapids were in a semi-final game in the MLS playoffs at Dicks Sporting Goods Park. We obviously had to get tickets. So we did.

The Rapids were playing the San Jose Earthquakes (not sure about this team-name as I thought the major fault lines were north of San Jose...). The game was the Eastern Conference Finals. We still have no idea why the Colorado and San Jose would be playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, it makes no sense. No matter.

Spencer, Tim and I got bundled up and headed out. I mean really bundled. We're talking long underwear, jeans, and multiple layers on top. Tim had on four different Patagonia fleece's under his jacket, which was pretty awesome. Part of our ticket price included getting a Rapids Beanie! If look closely at the picture below, Tim has two of them on his head.

Double Hats

Sorry Spence, off centered. Still awesome.

There was some great Vuvuzela action at the game. Not quite up to World Cup standards, but still nice to hear the constant buzzing of psudo-horns whilst cheering the Rapids on to victory.

Note the Vuvuzela

The final score was 1-0 Rapids. It was an awesome goal right before the first half ended. There were also a few breakaway opportunities for the Rapids, and even though they didn't produce a goal, they were still supremely beneficial to all of us jumping spectators as we were beginning to freeze to the metal bleachers.

A highlight included a group of Earthquakes fans who were cheering most of the first half, and then decided to take cheering to the next level in half 2. Yes, they went shirtless. We even had one escorted out by the police; but we're not sure if it was because he was too rowdy, or that he needed to be treated for hypothermia...

my husband is out of town.....

Tim has been enjoying life in Montrose, Colorado this week. All week. The entire week long he's been gone and I've been on my own. I miss him.

To try and take my mind off of being along allll day long (and can I also mention unemployed? There is only so much job searching one can do in a day before you start to go crazy) I've been doing things that Tim probably would have advised me against if he were here.

Examples.

I went and bought several autumnal candles. I just love them. Tim chastises me for always having candles burning in the apartment, so while he's been gone I've created an inferno of candle flames!!

Tofu. Tim hates it, I love it. Tim is typically a pretty good sport about eating whatever I cook him--I've forced him to eat brussel sprouts, all sorts of squashes, beef-less beef (a mistake), and a myriad of other strange things. Since he's gone I thought it was a perfect time to eat some bean curd. So tonight I consumed an entire dinner made of nothing BUT tofu. Somehow I think Tim is probably OK with missing out on tonight's meal...

I've also really been into quinoa lately too. I don't really know what it is, but I made it for lunch.

I broke out my guitar tonight for the first time in awhile...yikes. After spending awhile tuning that baby, I proceeded to make my fingers bleed as I attempted to play recognizable music and songs. It's probably a good thing Tim wasn't here to witness (or hear) me play.

Finally, I got a dog. I've been wanting one for a really long time, so I just went out today and got this REALLY cute yellow lab. His name is Maurice.

Just kidding.

Old, beautiful words...

If ever two were one, then surely we.

If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;

If ever wife was happy in a man,

Compare with me, ye women, if you can.

If prize they love more than whole mines of gold

Or all the riches the East doth hold.

My love is such that rivers cannot quench,

Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay,

The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.

Then while we live, in love let's so persevere,

That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

Eureka!

I'm an emotional person. I am. I didn't used to think that I was, but as I get older I'm recognizing that I get more and more emotional. (every day!) I try to blame it on genetics, but who knows...

Examples of a few things that make me emotional: Hallmark commercials and movies, babies, weddings, the TV show LOST, aaaaaaand pretty much everything else.

So I've come up with a new word. Emotional doesn't cut it for me anymore; doesn't quite describe the way I sometimes feel. I'm emotionFULL. I'm full of emotions. I'd like to gradually replace the word emotional with emotionfull, and henceforth change the course of mankind's understanding of the word. It's a lofty goal, and I'm anticipating highs and lows of making this happen...thereby accurately demonstrating to all following my progress what exactly it means to be emotionfull.

Actually that probably won't happen. But I will say that this might be a helpful word to some people whose husbands may or may not walk in on them watching TLC's A Baby Story, and see tears rolling down the cheeks of their wife. I just have to say two words to explain the whole situation. "I'm emotionfull."

Enough said.

Personality Change...

I've grown up hearing the phrase "you are what you eat." I'm hoping that's not LITERALLY true as I've just consumed a bowl of tomato soup for lunch, and I could foresee some potential operational issues as living the rest of my life in the form of a liquid tomato. A recent survey by Mindset Media now suggests that we also are what we watch on television.

The survey piqued my interest because I am the recent recipient of FREE cable at our downtown apartment. It's been pretty awesome getting to watch various shows that I otherwise wouldn't have access to. (Shout-out to Sister Wives, a totally bizarre yet captivating show about a polygamist family.) But I've also noticed my reading habits going downhill....disappearing right into the ocean along with some of the crabs in Deadliest Catch. This is not a good thing. So what am I turning myself into by tuning into Glee, The Office, and the occasional Real Housewife?

According to the survey, Glee viewers are most likely to be open, experimental and creative. They also "believe that imagination and intellectual pursuits contribute to a good life." And finally, most likely experience emotions more intensely than others. Do I fit the Glee viewer stereotype?

Let's move on to The Office, shall we? Viewers of the office are most likely to have a superiority complex. Yes. According to the survey, "people who consider themselves superior to others are 47% more likely to watch the office." Yikes.

I'm hesitant to discuss the Real Housewives as it connotes the viewer to be "an aggresive, pugnacious, antagonistic, drama-queen type of person," with the key advertiser for the set as Botox. I sincerely hope that I am close to the opposite of the aforementioned described....?

So how seriously am I supposed to take these results? Am I still the same person for watching these shows, or am I as changed as the survey suggests? I feel relatively confident that I maintain my individuality, even if I do get sucked into the drama of the housewives every once in awhile. Either that or I'm an open, experimental, extremely emotional drama queen with a pugnacious and antagonistic attitude, topped with a superiority complex and desire for botox. You decide.

Love Words

So I've been reading through old books of poetry and simply appreciating the way other people have the gift of expressing the feeling of LOVE in words. I've tried to write poetry....I don't think it's my best skill. Thankfully, I have the opportunity to read what others have written, and written well.

For years I've keep a "quote journal," and every time I came across an inspirational, thought provoking, challenging, or beautiful quote, I would write it in the journal. I think I have quite a bit to learn from those wiser than I.

I keep reading these poems and statements and thinking about how much I love what it says, how beautifully it is written, and how I hope to remember it forever. Sadly enough, my photographic memory is on the fritz. Enter "love words," my newest brilliant idea! Enter my weekly posting of a poem or quote that puts butterflies in my stomach.

If you live to be a hundred,

I want to live to be a hundred minus one day,

so I never have to live without you.

Winnie the Pooh

A few pictures from the wedding...

Our wedding photographer has been swamped since our wedding, so we're still waiting to get our disc of pictures. However...she did post a few on her blog!

I can't wait to see the rest!

See the pictures here!