My Slideshow

I realize that my slideshow doesn't actually "slide" on my blog.  However, I believe that you should be able to click on it to view in Picasa....just thought I would share that information.

Christmas Week

Quick recap of the last week.

Friday - Worked and then went to dinner at La Luz, Big B's soccer game at ODs and then for drinks with his team afterwards at Old Chicago.  I had a Fat Tire at the game and Easy Street (probably my favorite beer) at Old C's.  I also tried a taste of Snowbound Ale, an interesting beer with a hint of eggnog (or maybe just nutmeg) although I didn't like it enough to order one myself. 

Saturday - Grabbed lunch at The Green Onion to eat at my sister and her husband's house while we  watched CSU beat Fresno State at the New Mexico Bowl.  That evening Big B and I ate at California Pizza Kitchen in Boulder and then went to The B. Side Lounge for a friend's birthday.

Sunday - Lunch with Big B at Young's Cafe.  Dessert with my sister at Mimi's Cafe to prepare for some Christmas shopping.  Later that evening Big B and I met a high school (and middle school) friend, her husband, friend and her husband at C.B. Potts on 120th.

Monday - Opened presents at work

Tuesday - Worked 

Wednesday - Work and then on to Aurora to start the celebration.  We all went to Eastern Hills Community Church and then to dinner with family friends.  For Christmas eve we always have soup with our family friends and switch off the hosting house.

  
The evening always includes lots of delicious food, beverages and games (not including all the laughter).

Thursday - Opened presents then had our traditional breakfast of Tea Ring and in the last few years eggs cooked by my brother-in-law.

  

Then after a few games of Nertz Big B and I headed to his parents for some more food, presents and games.  We ate Chateaubriand (I hope that is correct), scalloped potatoes and chocolate mousse (everything was delicious!).  We also played Euchre and Trivial Pursuit.

Friday - Shopping with my sister and the parents, lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and then later dinner at Hops (Hops was freezing!) with a college friend/short-term roommate.  

Overall a great Christmas with lots of family and friends!!

For more information on Colorado holiday beers check out this link.

Thanksgiving in Sun Valley

I am a little behind on the blogging.

My parents and I (plus the dogs) drove up to Ketchum, Idaho (or Sun Valley) to visit my brother for Thanksgiving.  My brother doesn't have much vacation time, so we thought we would bring Thanksgiving to him

 The first morning we were there Sadie was trying to get a burr out of her coat and ended up scratching her throat on it.  She was coughing and carrying on enough that we ended up taking her to the vet...two pills later she was feeling better. 

The original plan was for me to join my brother at Masters Swimming and for my parents to work out at the YMCA.  Due to the unexpected late morning we decided to take the dogs on a walk along the bike bath, it runs from Ketchum to Bellevue.

Later that night we went to Frenchman's Gulch, a winery in Ketchum.  They had some delicious wine, my favorite was the cuvee.  After the tasting we went to a joint Thank You sermon at the Episcopal Church in Hailey.  It was really interesting and had lots of different churches present.

After the sermon we enjoyed some cookies and cider before we headed to the Sun Valley Brewery for dinner.  The pizza was delicious, but being the beer snob that I am, their beer was a bit diluted.                                

                                                                                  

This is a chair that was outside of the brewery and is made by a man who has an arit gallery in Ketchum.  He makes furniture and his wife does watercolors.

Thursday morning we woke up and I went to Masters Swimming with my brother and my mom went to Roger's (without Roger) Yoga.  This is the group during Thanksgiving.  My brother's neighbor, two Columbians who are doing an internship at Albertson's in Hailey.  The big two Leonberger's seemed to like Haley...even though she wasn't too fond of them.

On Friday we hung out a bit, worked out at the YMCA, shopped a bit and then went on a Gallery Walk.

Saturday we went to Stanley to check out the beautiful scenery my coworker told me about.  Unfortunately it was very cloudy, but still a nice trip.  We went to the hot springs...which were really hot (you can see the red line after only a few minutes).  We also visited Stanley Lake, which would probably be so nice in the summer.

Saturday night we went to Papa Hemi's.  They had some better beer and very good food.

Sunday, my mom and I went shopping and then we played some Nerts...my dad and I won.  A great trip overall and nice to spend some time with my brother in a town that I have never visited.

Jessica's Visit

Jessica came out to visit during her days off. It was nice to take a break for work and everyday life.


She got in Thursday while I was working. While she was waiting for me she took a nap and snuggled with my cats. Although Clover was only willing to snuggle while she was sleeping and not talking. After I got home we met Pia and went to sushi at JeJu and then dessert at The Chocolate Cafe. The dessert at The Chocolate Cafe is always delicious, but were so full from sushi we probably could have skipped the dessert.


Friday we tried to sleep in, which was a bit challenging with my landlord's new habit of vacuuming every morning (although it seems like he is actually vacuuming at least twice a day). We relaxed in the morning and then Tim and his girlfriend at Coopersmith's. After a nap, the beer really wore us out, we grabbed some pizza and watched a movie (the usual girl's night movie on Friday). We finally got motivated, and talked Emily into coming with us, to meet Pia at Luscious Nectar for a few drinks and to people watch. Unfortunately our people watching wasn't very successfull because the people we were watching took that as invitations. Ah well, sometimes it is fun to talk to new people, even if we don't see eye to eye.

Saturday we were able to sleep in a little bit better and then went to Lucile's for breakfast, although it was more like lunch after Pia, Jess and I finally wanted to get out of bed. Then Jess and I went shopping at Centerra.

Overall it was great seeing Jess and all the food we ate was delicious!

Just Call Me Snow White

After I had been working at the LHS for about a year a coworker called me Snow White. She said I reminded her of Snow White because I have dark hair and she thought I had a talent with getting animals to trust me. I took that as a very nice compliment, but I really felt like Snow White this Sunday.

On Halloween when I was on my way back to my house (I had forgotten my wings) and a dog ran in and then out of the street. I pulled over and tried to catch it...although I quickly realized that I wasn't in a safe spot. I pulled into the driveway and attempted to coax the dog to me. He was having none of that and ran into the street and proceeded towards College, in the middle of the road! A nice woman, with two dachshunds

in her car, pulled over and let me know that Animal Control was on the next street up, towards College. Right after she drove off I saw the dog run onto that street. I tried to call Animal Control, but was on hold for too long...I was already running late! I figured that the dog was heading their way and they would catch it.

The next afternoon my landlord waved me down as I was heading to the CSU vs. BYU game. He had seen my trying to catch the dog the day before and asked if I knew the dog. It turns out the dog was once again running down the middle of the street earlier that afternoon. We talked about it how odd it was that the dog had a what appeared to be a leash on and that it had some scarring or staining on its face, and then I headed off to the game.

Sunday morning I was letting Haley out to use the bathroom and my landlord's dog started frantically barking. I looked in his direction and the stray dog was just east of the garage. I hadn't seen the dog since Halloween, so I just assumed he had been caught.

I quickly brought Haley into the house and gathered the smelliest food I could find....string cheese! I headed out to the back of the yard and then dog was just outside of the fence. Long story short, I tossed cheese to him and then later Natural Balance until he actually stuck his head in my slip lead (he was still on the other side of the fence and I was having trouble grabbing the slip lead that was already around his neck).

Turns out that he was a sweet dog who was just very scared. He was about 2 years old and neutered. The dog didn't have scarring on its face, it actually had entropion. I called Animal Control to tell them that I had caught him and went closer my place to wait.

When Animal Control came they mentioned that neighbors had reported the dog being attacked by coyotes and they had been patrolling and setting traps for the whole time. It made me feel like I had done my good deed for the day! No matter the outcome at the humane society at least the dog will not been hit by a car, killed by coyotes or starve/freeze out in the elements.

Colorado State at Air Force

This last Saturday we (my mom, dad, Big B and I) went to the CSU game at Air Force. I was hoping for a good game similar to last week.

The beginning of the game was great. They have parachuters landing and then jets that fly by.

The jets are amazingly close and then fly straight up into the air....very impressive.

Colorado State ending up losing the game, but it is always nice to get out and about! Check out the game recap.

CSU vs. BYU

Big B and I went to the Colorado State game. It was a beautiful day and a very good game.

Halloween

Friday was an interesting day. I left work early because I have a fairly large amount of comp time to get rid of by January. I decided to go vote because although I signed up for a mail-in ballot and the website said it was sent to me, but I didn't receive the ballot. Due to this fact my vote was provesional...first time since I was 18 where my vote may not count.

Later that night I went to my sister's to hand out candy to the ghosts, goblins and fairies. Suprisingly there were more high schoolers than any other age groups.

After that I met up with friends and Big B for a night out. We hit The Cork first to hear a former employee's band play, Archie Funker. Great band, but the Cork has never been my favorite place. Later we went to Old Town. There were more people in Old Town then I have ever seen. I don't think there was a bar open that did not have a line. We decided to go to Luscious Nectars because they have some good frozen drinks and are a bit out of the way. Overall Halloween was fun and we saw some interesting costumes. Our group's costumes included: Lt. Dangle, a playboy bunny, 80s rocker, God's Gift to Women, and Zombie Redneck.

Big B's roommate and his coworkers were the Scooby Doo Gang. I think the most interesting costume was the Ringwraiths from Lord of the Rings (I wanted to take a picture while they were coming towards us, but I was a bit afraid I would freak the horses out).

Top Cat and Tails

Saturday night was Top Cat and Tails. Attendance seemed to be down a bit, but hopefully the economy didn't effect the money donated....the animals could really use it (looking at the LHS' website there are lots of cats there right now). Also, from what I heard all the animals in attendance were surrendered, although I am not entirely sure if this was due to funds in their original families.

There were a lot of local celebrities in attendance. Mike Nelson, Chris Kelly and Ryan Kramer all helped out during the Live Auction. Big Rob also attended the event, it seemed like he was enjoying the food donated by Drunken Monkey for the volunteers more than the catered food for attendees.

My date was a 6 month old neutered male cocker spaniel. He actually was adopted by Kirk Montgomery, Kirk fell in love with him when he was taken down to Channel 9 to advertise the event. I also handled a spayed female dilute calico (this image is not my date) who was just over a year old during the Live Auction. Due to the fact that my original date was mostly spoken for, I also walked around with a 5 month old yorkshire terrier/dachshund mix, or dorkie (this dorkie look more like Anna).

Big B's date was a 2 month old puppy. He was supposedly a aussie mix, although I think he looked and acted more like a husky/pit.

We also were "models" at the Live Auction. I will post pictures or a link as soon as I have some.

What Is It With These Men?

Why do some men go from friendly to creepy after a few drinks? Also, why do some men think it is entertaining to scare women? Ahhh, the fun of Vegas. Or more accurately big cities and conferences.

Sadie and the Cats

Sadie is finally learning how to hang out with the cats instead of obsess about them, with a little help.

The last few times Sadie has stayed at my house she has focused on the cats the whole time, which lead to lots of issues.
Mars used to be so laid back when it came to dogs, but due to the last incident with Brewster she isn't such a fan of those big, furry things anymore. Because Mars isn't as tolerant of dogs she now is more vocal when Sadie crosses the line. She used to just hiss, but the lately the hiss is followed by a pretty good swat if Sadie doesn't retreat quickly.
Clover doesn't know what to think when Sadie follows her around and stares at her. This means that Clover goes between spinning, to circling the perimeter of the room, to hiding. Haley is pretty protective of "her" cats, so she usually "herds" Sadie away from the cats. With this reinforcement Sadie is slowly learning how to behave appropriately.
There has only been one incident this time....Mars was joining me on the couch and Sadie was in her face. Mars hissed and then followed up with a good swat after a few seconds. Sadie backed off and laid down. In the meantime Haley came over and gave "her" cat a quick check-up lick and peace was restored. After about an hour the dogs are laying down nicely on the floor and the cats are resting next to me on the couch, without fear. Yay Sadie!!!

Clover and Haley on my left

Sadie and Mars on my right, not quite as close



(I had to take the picture with my cell phone so I didn't disturb anyone.)

Vegas Baby!

I found out that I am going to Las Vegas next week. I am leaving Monday late morning and coming back around the same time on Thursday.

Homecoming 5k

My sister, brother-in-law and I ran in the Homecoming Race this Saturday. Unfortunately the weather was not as nice as last year and they moved the Parade to Friday. We used to run and then sit and watch the parade for a little bit. Although I don't know how much fun the parade would have been in the weather we were having. I ran my fastest 5k ever (although I think I ran faster ones in the middle of my longer miles in the Wild West Relay).

I will post the results from this year as soon as I have them, but I took about 3 minutes off my time. A good start, but still lots of room to improve.

Here were my results from last year:
OVERALL
PLACE TIME PACE NAME
1158 40:15 12:58 AMANDA JONES

Results from this year. I had different time on my iPod, but my time started when I started running, not when the race started...it was hard to tell. My iPod also had my splits as averaging under 12 minutes. I think I am going to have to go with the iPod : )
1229 37:55 12:13 AMANDA JONES

Clover

Clover is doing much better! I am no longer force feeding her and she is eating on her own.

My theory is that she is just super sensitive to chemicals. So, next time I go on a cleaning rampage she is getting locked in my room with the windows open.

Clover and Hiking

This last weekend was great and stressful in many ways.

It started out on Friday. I have been watching "chick flicks" on Friday nights. I decided that I should invite my friends in on the good time and it will help me keep my place clean at the same time. I hurried home from work because I was a bit late and walked into my apartment and immediately noticed the smell. It turns out that Clover had gotten very sick while I was at work and was hunched over her water bowl with her face almost in the water. I cleaned up, tried to get rid of the smell and set Clover up in the bathroom. My sister came over and we watched the movie, it was a nice break from the worry.

On Saturday I woke up early to check on Clover and decided to make a vet appointment. After the appointment I didn't know much more about what was wrong, but had some medicine to try to help her out.

After getting home I found Big B waiting for me and ready to go for our planned hike. We met two friends at the Green Onion and then headed up to Estes. It was Elk Fest so the town was fairly busy. We started hiking up to Mills Lake, but decided to go The Loch (more information towards the bottom of the website, http://www.rocky.mountain.national-park.com/hike.htm#win. Beautiful hike although my friend and I agreed that the leaves might have been a bit prettier the week before.


Just above Alberta Falls




Near The Loch


The Loch

The rest of the weekend was spent force feeding Clover and spending more time with my sister and Big B.

Interesting Political Quiz

I found this on the Alice 105.9 radio station's website. I thought it was pretty cool even though I didn't learn anything new.
http://www.democracyinmotion.org/quiz

Graduation, Housewarming, Engagement Party and more

This weekend was a pretty busy weekend. Started out with my brother-in-law's graduation party, he is now Master P. Some delicious food...Master P's salsa was probably my favorite. I played some bean bag games with the folks, my mom and I's game was pretty short.

Then onto a  housewarming/engagement party in Wheatridge. They have a nice duplex and some more delicious food, plus sunshine on tap.

After a while there it was time to head back to Fort Collins. Big B went to soccer and I met the parents, my sister and Master P at Bisetti's for some more good food....do you notice a theme here?

Sunday I woke up early to volunteer at the Doggie Olympics. This is a great event to watch people interact with their dogs. Dogs compete in different events, for example a duck retrival or timed race. It is always good to see the Community Outreach coordinator, who is also my friend, and I met a nice volunteer I hadn't met before. Although I was a bit disappointed in the attendees this year and the best trick...they have to be something Haley doesn't know or I couldn't teach her in a day to impress me.

After the dog adventure Big B and I went and watched the end of the Broncos game at CB Potts. I can't believe they lost to one of the worst teams in the league! Later I watched Big B's soccer game.

First Blog

I enjoy reading the blogs of others so I thought I would try it out too!

Today was an interesting day at work. We were wrapping up a big project and the office was buzzing. We had the 5 "normal" staff, 8 temps (missing another 1) and 5 dogs. To the add to the excitement we had a toilet overflow. There was water everywhere! Too bad Carlos didn't have a squegee because I could have used my awesome kennel cleaning skills to clean it up a bit better. I did as much as I could with a broom and Keven (a coworker) helped me out with a mop. Hopeful the House Doctors can work some magic and there will not be too much damage.

On a side note, Haley is doing so well with the other dogs...so proud of her!

After work a few of us headed to the Dark Knight (a new place in Boulder, or at least for me) for a burger and beer.