Ramblings from the Hubs

Sorry - I happen to think that we have funny conversations...

This particular conversation took place via Google Messenger (or g-chat, for those of you who are gangter, like me), while both of us were working from home - myself, in the dining room and he, in his office...

•  Nicole:  Hey!  Did you know *such and such name omitted for confidentiality reason* are prego again?
• Marc:  Really?
• Marc:  No
• Nicole:  Yep!  Due in January - this is why you should be on Facebook
• Nicole:  It makes you a better friend =)
• Marc: no, it doesn't

So, friends of Marc, I am still trying to get him on Facebook, but he just doesn't seen the value in it, even when I bring up incredibly valid points like this.

SYTYCD? NSSICDA...

Alrighty, folks.  My favorite favorite show is back on TV and I cannot tell you how insanely excited I am about it =)  This is one of those shows that I look forward to all year, and then when it's over, I actually enter a minor state of depression and mourning, only to be re-excited when it's on again the following season.

I'm talking about So You Think You Can Dance, or "SYTYCD" for those of us who are cool enough to use the acronym.

Last year, the winner, Melanie Moore, was from my hometown and went to my rival high school!  Way to put "May-Retta" on the map, Melanie!

Here's one of my fave routines of Melanie, choreographed by my boyfriend, Travis Wall (I wish...)

*sigh*

I just love it.  

So, the new season premiered yesterday and featured highlights from the auditions in New York and Dallas.  I literally cried, like, 8 times and I am just so pumped this show is back on the air.  Of course, I'm also already starting to pick my favorites (the mom from Texas!) and so so looking forward to tuning in each week =)

SYTYCD? 

NSSICDA = "Not so sure I can dance anymore..."

These are my confessions...

...okay, first of all...do you remember that song?  I feel like that was an Usher comeback song and I.love.it.  "Just when I thought I'd said all I could say..."  Oooh!  Looove me some Usher!

I just wanted to share an exciting update - it's not really a "confession" but I have that song stuck in my head and it kind of fits.

Ready?

...

I saw Back the Future for the first time a few weeks ago =)

Really?  That seems impossible!

Not impossible.  Totally telling the truth.  This was another one of those movies (and by movies...I mean all three) that I'd never seen before, from start to finish.  Of course, I'd seen clips and pieces here and there, and I've been to Universal Studios and the Back to the Future ride is totally one of my absolute faves...

...but nope.  Never sat down and watch the entire movie from start to finish before.  I didn't even realize it was a trilogy!  I thought the one where he goes back and his mom hits on him was the same one with the flying skateboards...and I was very wrong =)  And I knew there was a Western one, but I thought it was one of those after-thought movies...like Terminator 3.

...and that's really all I had to say.  Just wanted to let you know.  I can cross that off my list.  Up next is Star Wars.  Never seen one of those all the way through in one sitting either.

But you know what I have seen?  Flight of the Navigator.  I have it queued up in my Netflix because Marc has never seen it and I find that utterly unacceptable =)

These are my confessions...

Meh.

I'm totally uninspired.  I love to cook...like, seriously LOOOVE to cook...but I have no desire to cook this week.  Lately, my trips to the grocery store are leaving me in a total state of "meh".

What do you want for dinner? 

• Steak?  meh
• Chicken?  meh
• Pork tenderloin? doesn't even warrant a meh
• Lamb?  eh...maybe
• Eggplant?  meh

What veggies do you want to eat?

• Salad?  ...
• Fancy salad?  meh
• Asparagus?  meh
• Broccoli?  meh
• Potatoes?  ...okay I always want potatoes
• Zucchini?  heck no (I'm still zucchini'd out from last summer!)

I've checked SkinnyTaste, glanced at what Annie has in store, gone through all my Martha's, flipped through Better Homes...everything is just sounding so meh right now!

What are you having for dinner and/or lunch?  Inspire me, pretty please!

Sweet Gifts

This was totally unexpected, but look what we got in the mail yesterday!

Marc's parents sent this to us and I absolutely LOVE it!  It's so funny because we were at the antique mall last week and I was telling Marc how I reeeally wanted some sort of sign that said "Welcome to the Treehouse" or something along those lines.

He didn't even tell his parents about that - they just went and got this!  So very thoughtful =)

I can't wait to hang this sweet sign.  Thank you, Kathy and Civie!!

Who's ready to come visit?  Happy Friday!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yippee!  My birthday present arrived in the mail today =)

I can't wait to try it out!

Back in February, my suitcase was stolen while I was on a work trip to Atlanta (argh!).  It was a pain, but I was actually quite impressed with how the airline handled everything.  I was finally reimbursed for everything I lost, but there are small things that I'm still missing - my sports watch being one of them.  I never realized how much I used my sports watch until I didn't have it anymore!

Since I've been running a lot more (and hiking and skiing), I've had my eye on a GPS-powered watch, so I could accurately gauge my speed, distance and altitude.

I'll let you know how it works!  I read some great reviews, but the proof will be in the pudding =) 

Who's up for a run today?

Quilts for the Treehouse!

Yay!  I finally ordered some quilts (...quilts is a funny-looking word...) for the loft in the Treehouse today, and I'm oh-so-very excited about them!

Since I don't assume you have our floor-plan memorized, here's the space I'm working with:

The loft is open to the living room - we'll be adding some privacy curtains eventually.

One set of bunks - twin on top and full on the bottom.

We de-bunked the other set of beds to give a little more room and make it less "bachelor-pad-esk".

I knew I wanted to go with quilts instead of duvets or comforters (comforters seriously ick me out), so I went to the fabulous Overstock.com and found some pretty cute, mountainy-ish-but-not-too-mountainy quilts that I think will go perfectly with the rest of the decor in the house.  Here they are!

For twin bed number 1

Twin bed number 2

Full bed number 1

And my fave - full bed number 2

I love Overstock.com.  Them thangs were way cheaper than a department store and I can't wait for them to arrive!  5-10 business days =)

The next time we head up to the Treehouse, we'll have some exciting decorative touches to add, so I'll be sure to provide an update (quilts and curtains and vintage ski's - oh my!). 

Happy Thursday to all!

IDK my BFF Jill?

This is way overdue, but I never shared all the fun times experienced back in January, when my BFF Jill came to visit!

Hah!  Embarrassing...but just to give you some perspective.  That's a very 80's tough Nicole in the purple, with a super blonde Jill right next to me =)

All grown up!  Here we are at Rioja, one of my fave restaurants, in January =)

 So, since we moved to Denver, Jill and her hubs have been trying to come out to visit.  All the stars aligned and it just so happened that one week in January, Josh was heading out of town for work, Jill was thinking of visiting, and I had my tickets to the Michael Jackson Cirque show.

(remember when I talked about that...2 YEARS ago??)

So, Jill decided to bust out her boots and winter coats, and made the trip out to visit!  We had such a great time...even Marc had fun =)

Here are some highlights:

Hiking in Lakewood.

Polly got to meet Aunt Jilly for the first time!

Dinner at Rioja - mentioned above.

The Michael Jackson show.

Michael Jackson (impersonators)!!!

The famous pole dancer...this was epic.

Skiing in Breckenridge!

Getting fitted for boots!  This was also after we had a minor "brush with death"...our car got hit at the Starbucks =(

Hmmm...see anything weird in the background?

ROCKING the bunnies!  I think it's time for the real deal!

What a champion =)

There was some crazy weather when we left, so we jammed to MJ the whole 6 hours it took us to get home (traffic...bleh!).  This was also when Jill and Marc had the most hilarious exchange ever:

• Whilest jamming to "Man in the Mirror"
• Jill:  One a scale of 1-10, how over us are you right now?
• Marc:  ...11

Awww c'mon.  We weren't that bad!

Needless to say, it was a wonderful trip but it went by way too quickly.  Even so, I was so happy that my oldest and bestest friend was able to come out to CO for a visit.  I'm trying to get her to move here...we'll see how that goes =)

Yay for old friends!

Happy Anniversary!

I can't believe it's been two years already!!

Happy Anniversary!  Thanks to everyone who shared this day with us =)

Ramblings from the Hubs

As we're watching the Nuggets / Lakers game on Sunday:

• Announcer:  Aaaand Kobe Bryant get's a high-five from Justin Timberlake!
• Marc:  I wonder if Justin Timberlake has courtside season tickets to the Lakers...
• Nicole:  I'm sure he doesn't.  They probably belong to an agent and he just used them...
• Marc:  No.  He really likes basketball.  I'll bet they're his.
• Announcer:  Yeeees there's Justin sitting courtside with Jessica Beil!
• Nicole:  Oooh yeah.  Because they're dating.
• Marc:  Uh. No Nicole.  They're engaged.
• Nicole:  WTH????  When did that happen?!?  How did you know that?
• Marc:  Um...yeah I'm pretty sure everyone knows that.
• Nicole:  #*&^#%$*!!!

As we're watching "He's Just Not That Into You" on Sunday:

•  Watching the scene where Jennifer Anniston see's Ben Affleck doing dishes at her dad's house.
• Nicole:  Oooh they're so sweet.  I think Ben and Jennifer should get together in real life.
• Marc:  Seriously, Nicole?  Ben Affleck is married to Jennifer Garner.
• Nicole:  What?!?  When did that happen?!?
• Marc:  Duh!  A while ago...they have 2 kids.  I actually think they just had another.
• Nicole: ...who are you?!?  

I admit, I don't follow the tabloids, but seriously?  How does he know all this stuff and I don't?!  I feel like a terrible wife.

Did you know Justin and Jessica were engaged?

Colorado Rockies Run for the Homeless

Yesterday, I ran the Colorado Rockies Run for the Homeless 5k.  Happy Mother's Day!

This is literally the third 5k I've done in my whole life and I had 2 goals - one of them slightly more ambitious than the other.  My thought was that if I accomplished both goals, I'd have a super duper happy day, and if I completed only one goal, it would still be a happy day =)

• Goal #1:  Finish in less than 35 minutes
• 
  
• Goal #2:  Run at an 11 minute mile pace

Well, I got my official time via email yesterday, and here's how I did:

• Congratulations #2585, NICOLE FELICE!
• Here are your results for the 2012 Colorado Rockies Home Run for the Homeless:
• Your final time is 00:34:30 at a 00:11:07 pace.
  

So, I was able to accomplish one of my goals, and I was only slightly off from both of them!  Overall, I was a happy camper, and spent the rest of yesterday napping =)

I have decided that I'm going to ACTUALLY run at least one 5k per month, in order to keep myself motivated.  Running without a goal is just no fun, so hopefully this keeps my rear in gear!

My next 5k is the Color Run on May 26th.  I'm excited! 

We also decided we're going to do the Warrior Dash in Copper Mountain in August, so I've got some fun stuff to look forward to! 

Now I just need to find a few runs to do in June and July, and I'll be all set =)

Happy Running to all!

Polly vs. Stairs

Here's a cute (at least I think it's cute) video of Polly's first experience with the stairs at the Treehouse:

Awww...

What's so funny about this is that there are stairs at our house, but these really freaked her out for some reason!  It's probably because these stairs are open in the back, so you can see straight down.  They're also a little higher than the stairs at our house.

She did finally make it down though:

I should note that these videos are from our first weekend in the Treehouse back in April.  For some reason, I haven't been able to connect my phone to my computer as a storage device (lame, Samsung!).

Hope you enjoyed =)

You're Welcome, Earth.

If you've ever thought about taking the plunge and purchasing a Dyson, the time is now.  Do it.  They're having a 20% off sale for all of their products through May 13th. 

I'd been yearning for a Dyson ever since we got Polly, and now that we have one, my life has tremendously improved...in terms of cleanliness =)  We bought the DC23 Animal Canister (the newest version is the DC39...we missed this version by about 2 weeks!!!) and life has never been the same.

I have two complaints about this vacuum:

• 1.  It makes me feel like I was living in a world of filth - the amount of gunk this thing picks up is IN.SANE.
• 2.  It makes me hate vacuuming with all other forms of vacuum.  For real...I loathe other vacuums and totally judge them for sucking (or should I say...not sucking enough).

Seriously.  We took our old Dirt Devil to the Treehouse, and now I hate using that ratty old machine.  But I feel like buying a Dyson for a second home is slightly insane...but let's revisit that issue in a year.

20% off all Dyson products for Mother's Day.  If you've ever wanted to get one, do it now.

You're welcome, Earth.

Interesting!

I never thought about this before.  How often do you say you can "vouch" for something?  I was just commenting on a girlfriend's blog, saying that I could "vouch" for her delicious Deviled Egg Chicken Salad, (seriously - it was bomb-squad) and I had one of those "huh...that's a funny word" types of moments.

What does it mean to vouch?  My guess was it's something like, to support, back up, certify...something along those lines.

Then, I thought..."Dude!  I'll bet the word "voucher" is totally derived from the word "vouch""!

Well, after a friendly visit to my best friend, Dictionary.com, I learned that I was correct:

vouch

verb (used without object)

1.  to support as being true, certain, reliable, etc. (usually followed by for ): Her record in office vouches for her integrity.

2.  to attest; guarantee; certify (usually followed by for ): to vouch for someone in a business transaction.

vouch·er

noun

1.  a person or thing that vouches.

2.  a document, receipt, stamp, or the like, that gives evidence of an expenditure.

3.  a form authorizing a disbursement of cash or a credit against a purchase or expense to be made in the future.

4.  written authorization; credential.

5.  a piece of evidence or proof.

Interesting!  I've never thought about it before.  I feel like a genius for figuring that out on my own =) 

Fiji Water...direct from the source =)

Don't be too upset with me, but we just booked a trip to go here over our Thanksgiving holiday:

We'll be staying at the Namale Fiji Island Resort.  I'm curious if they serve turkey and green bean casserole?

(just kidding!)

We plan on swimming with lots of these

and these,

riding a few of these,

hiking a few of these,

but honestly, probably spending most of our time in these

Happy Thanksgiving in May!

I'm Intrigued.

Not sure about you, but I don't really follow a lot of "celebrity" blogs.  I started this whole blourney (that's a blog-journey), honestly, as a way to keep in touch with friends (shout out PHS Pride!  Go Greyhounds!).

However, there are a slight few fancy blogs that I follow and I was super excited by one of the posts today by Annie's Eats.  It's about using dried beans versus canned beans.

I must say.  I'm intrigued.  I'm always tempted to buy the bags of dried beans at the grocery store since they're SO much cheaper, but I'm a big fat scare-dy cat and the concept of cooking with dried beans has always intimidated me.

However, after today's post - not so much!  We have some cans of beans stock-piled in the pantry, but once those are gone, I'm totally doing the dried bean thang.  Thanks, Annie!