V-days

V is for...

...Victories - which we hope to continue seeing during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. We watched the opening ceremonies over at Kristen & Thomas' place and enjoyed the company of old friends (and their delicious Olympic-themed appetizers).

...Value - something we are not really adding to our house by installing a new ceiling fan (its blades come within less than an inch of the wall on two sides), trying to fix a leak in our gutters, and painting our bathroom (doesn't painting always sound like such a great idea until you actually start the project??). BUT, it was a good time, a learning experience, and now we have some cool air at night and a new blue-ish bathroom.  The gutter, however, still leaks.

Don't let these pictures fool you - I did a lot of the work, especially when Matt had to work on Monday, and I spent my day off finishing the bathroom.  Painting = I need a massage.

Oh, I also personally installed this three-headed light.  Not too shabby.

...Vehicles - many of which were recently recalled in the ginormous Toyota recall. Thankfully, though we were initially on the list of those recalled, we found out today that due to our Rav's parts being made in Japan, we're safe :) Thank you Japanese folks for not letting our car accelerate on its own.

...Very cute babies (i.e. Katin Milburn) - not only did we get to see her at Kristen and Thomas' place for the opening ceremonies, we got to spend a little time with her at Kim and Paul's house in Boulder. It was an awesome evening with amazing food (thanks Kim!) and good fellowship. Oh, and the house they're living in currently just so happens to be our DREAM house! When the powerball thing works out, we're totally on it.

...Viva la pinata - Joe celebrated his 26th birthday with a fabulous pinata that his friend Dan made (well, filled).  Don't be frightened by the following pictures.  The pinata had lived a long and happy life.

...Very talented - that would be my husband, Matt. He was born with some super-freaky musical gene that basically gives him the ability to play any instrument he picks up. While using his talents at church this weekend playing piano in the worship band, he noticed Isaac (the lead singer and pianist from The Fray) in the congregation. Yes, my rockstar husband got to lead worship for a real-life rockstar. Pretty sweet if you ask me. Now, if only Matt could have spent last weekend at the Grammy's and recording We Are the World with a gaggle of celebrities.... well, that'd be pretty cool.

...Vested - was the lead singer of The Rouge, a local band we caught at the Hi-Dive this past week.  My new hair stylist's boyfriend is the guitarist in the band (which is how I found out about them), and they put on a pretty sweet show. The band that opened for them, the Epilogues, were awesome as well and seemed practically ready to go on tour with Muse.  Great little venue in our 'hood, and we love supporting local music, especially great bands.

http://www.myspace.com/therougeband

http://www.myspace.com/epiloguemusic

...Valentine's day - which we spent at Encore, a restaurant on Colfax with some delish flat bread.  (I forgot to take any pics, so this is from their website)

...Vacation - what we're hoping to plan for our upcoming 1 year anniversary. Feel free to send us any suggestions on fun 4-5 day trips.

Feb is Fab

Here we are, nearly halfway through February.  Who can believe it?  Not me, that's for sure.  The year has already seemed to be flying by.  It's already had its own political excitement (see Scott Brown victory in MA), weather excitement (see Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse DC 2010), and sports excitement (see Saints victory in the Superbowl).  We can't wait to see what else the year has in store (see better job market?, see smart healthcare reform?, see winning Powerball?)!

We were fortunate enough to catch the Kansas v. Colorado game in Boulder last week - Kansas had just regained its #1 position in the polls.  I, of course (after having given up my allegiance to CU basketball in favor of permanent KU allegiance), wore a Kansas shirt (sadly, the only clean one in the house), which left Matt to his own devices.  Thus, he ended up wearing a non-collegiate shirt and proceeded to cheer for CU against my wishes. I'm pretty sure he'll always cheer against any team I like!  It was an awesome game, well worth the one ticket we had to scalp, and ended in an overtime victory for KU. 

Matt had a few friends from high school in town, so they headed to an Avs/Wild game for the night.  Fun guys - I know Matt wishes we could see them more often! 

Last weekend we headed to Frisco again with Keri and Joe to celebrate our friend Brandt's birthday.  It was a great time out of the city.  Matt got to ski for the first time this season at Vail (ooooh), and we walked the Frisco/Copper/Vail trail each morning. We also got to catch the Superbowl (boring commericials this year, huh?) up there before driving back Sunday night in a crazy snow/fog mess.  But, despite driving a recalled Toyota (thank you Toyota), we made it back alive :)  Great weekend, once again.

the yummy dinner i made (thanks to the McFaddens for the recipe)

boys doing dishes

the Westras

Keri sliding down the stairs - I couldn't quite capture the hilarity

Lincoln always likes to lead the way on walks

Jess & Brandt came over to visit us at the condo

a morning hike with Lincoln

what we spent most of the weekend doing... let's be honest

cute couple Brandt and Jess

Keri and her new best friend

So, that's about it lately - we've got a busy week up ahead and no big plans for Valentine's day.  I am remembering two years ago, though, when my wonderful boyfriend at the time (wow) planned out such a sweet Valentine's surprise for me.  He left work early (telling me he had a dentist appointment) and set up my apartment with a candlelit dinner for the two of us.  He had even driven out to a restaurant outside DC to get one of my favorite desserts!  What a sweetheart.  Now, we're married, and things just are sometimes a little less exciting (last year we had to force ourselves to grab a last-minute dinner at the Empire in Lousiville with dessert at Old Louisville Inn - granted we were unemployed!).  Nevertheless, I know I'm a lucky girl!!

We went to our neighborhood association meeting for the first official time last night where I learned that I may be one of a handful of Republicans in our entire district.  It was actually pretty funny.  I guess I'm bringing a little diversity to the community, huh?  Who would have thought?  :)  It was neat to learn more about what's going on in the neighborhood, and it made me remember how much I love talking "politics", even at the local level.  I guess it's a disease. :)

Anywho - I'm rambling.  And it's not even anything exciting! That's it for now.  Here are a couple pics from a few weekends ago when we celebrated Zach's birthday downtown (he and his wife Casey are the ones moving to Africa in April).  We're definitely going to miss these two but are so grateful to have met them.