New things, like grills, fences, and careers

It's been a busy few weeks as we've been getting ready for summer... thankfully the freak snow storms have ended (well, I guess fingers crossed!), and we've been able to spend more time outside and on the house as of late.  A few weekends ago we had a little date night and enjoyed two fun spots in Denver: Jonesy's in our old 'hood of Uptown is a great spot for friends to grab a drink (they have TONS of CO microbrews on hand) or eat some good grub, and Delite in our current 'hood - a fun bar to its sister restaurant next door (Deluxe).  We had never been there, but were pleasantly surprised with the fun drinks and atmosphere (when we walked in, the DJ was playing an old Michael Jackson tune - I was sold right away!).  I'm guessing we'll be back!

Well, we finally bought our very first grill!  The guy who remodeled our house prior to our purchase was smart enough to add a natural gas hookup to our patio, so we were able to buy a natural gas grill (no tanks!!).  Unfortunately, they don't carry many of these in stock, so we had to have it shipped in a box.  Matt was a trooper and got it put together for us to enjoy! (It had been rain/snowing that week, so we had to build it indoors - we were determined to grill ASAP)

The finished product:

Our first grill-cooked meal:

Thankfully, this past weekend was a nice one, so we had a few friends over for grilling out.  Music, food, friends, christmas lights on the patio... can't beat it on a nice night!  :)

We also hit up Home Depot a few times last weekend and planted some cilantro, basil, and parsley on the patio railing, and put some flowers in hanging baskets on our fence to try and spruce up the backyard (you can sort of see it in the above grill pic).  I do not have a green thumb whatsoever - and I won't be surprised if these things don't last all that long.  But for now, they look nice!

Another project we're in the process of taking on, is that of trying to put in a fence.  Who knew it would be such a big process??  We've called about four or five folks for bids, and we've only received two over the past several weeks (why wouldn't you send in a bid after you visited our property??  I just don't get some companies).  The bids were MUCH higher than our naive predictions, and we thought we'd have to wait or possibly never do it.  Thankfully (for us, not so much for him), my stepdad was volunteered by my mom to come help us out.  :)  He, my mom, and Ethan came up for the weekend to check out fence suppliers with us and see what we could possibly manage.  We had a great time with them in town (as usual) and even hit up Oskar Blues in Longmont for some microbrews and live music (if you've never been, it's great!).  Sunday, after Jason got roped into installing a retractable screen door for us (thanks to the age of our house, a tiny project usually turns into an entire day project!), we did eventually get to make it to the disc golf course out in Arvada.  I got a nice sunburn and everyone had a great time!

My mom even got to use the electric saw on a stump that was growing from the alley into our yard.  She was very proud of herself:

Nice day for frisbee golf!

Matt and Lincoln catching some air on the ride home:

I've never seen Lincoln so pooped out.  He NEVER lays on the floors of cars.  I had to get a pic:

Last night we caught the series finale of LOST (a fore-mentioned favorite of ours).  It was sad to see the show come to end, but we had been anxiously awaiting it for awhile.  Friends we met through Keri and Joe came over to watch with us (you can't watch such an event alone!!), and the finale did not disappoint.  I was very mixed at first, but I'm happy with the way they ended the show.  In case someone out there is planning to watch the series eventually, I won't spoil the ending here, but for a good review of the finale, check out this article.  I know a lot of people weren't satisfied with the ending, but after more thought, it really all comes together well in my opinion.  Sad to see such a thought/conversation-provoking show go away!  I guess we'll now have more free time on Tuesday nights :)

The other big news in our world, now that I can officially announce it, is that I will be done with work on June 8th as I enter into a VERY new season of life.  It's one I'm still very nervous about but anxious to begin.  This Fall I'll be starting the Graduate Urban Teaching Program at the University of Colorado Denver.  Teaching is something I always thought I'd enjoy but placed irrational negativity on as I didn't see it as "challenging" or "prestigious" enough for what I wanted to do/be.  Over the years, I learned how crazy that sounds, and I started to realize that working at a job I don't enjoy (and is not challenging) simply for the title or paycheck will never bring me professional fulfillment.  I'm grateful for all the opportunities I've had, but I really haven't been happy with my career path for several years now.  Teaching seemed like something I could truly enjoy and find fulfillment in - so here I go!  My classes don't start til the Fall, but I'm missing several prerequisites for being a secondary social studies teacher (as decided by the State of Colorado), so this summer I'll be taking some classes through Front Range.  It's going to be an interesting ride for me, one I'm very excited and very nervous about.  Making such big changes is difficult for me... I'm always one to second-guess myself.  Did I make the right choice?  Should I have tried something else?  Will the financial investment (i.e.debt) be worth it in the end?  How will I ever get a job when teachers are getting laid off left and right?  Wow - so much to process still, but thankful that I have a husband who is very supportive of me and what I think is in store for me professionally.

That's it for now - my mom and Jason are coming back up this weekend to see if they can actually install the fence, so we're crossing our fingers everything works out and we'll have a fence by Memorial Day!  Lincoln will be one happy pup to not be on a tie out outside anymore!  We're definitely grateful for them putting their time and energy in to helping us out like this.  Driving up from New Mexico is no quick jaunt!