Valetines Day

Well, to start off, the weather has been pretty erratic here. We have gone from sun, to an overnight blizzard, to freezing fog and back. In fact, the snow came so unexpectedly, that I was driving on white roads on the way to work. The roads are hardly ever unplowed here!
Tina has been busy at work the last two weeks, and she threw a Pampered chef party for some of her friends. She also had to attend a funeral because her bestfriend's grandma passed away, and now grandpa is in the hospital. She thought that once grandma left, that grandpa would go because his very reason for living is gone. Kinda of romantic, but
sad too! Worse yet, we OWE taxes this year! How unbelievable, the first time ever. We were planning on getting a refund and using it to pay off some past debt, and instead we owe $795!! It really put a damper in our house plans.
Lastly, we decided to save some money and not go all out for V-day this year. We went out to breakfast, and then to Mr. Biggs, basically an indoor amusement park. The problem was that is was way too busy. We didn't bowl, mini-golf, ride in the go-karts, or play laser tag because the lines were long! But we did get to play this game called Battle Tech. It was really cool becuase you got to sit in
this pod that looks like a real robot cockpit. All the buttons did stuff, and you ran around shooting the other robots. Becuase of the cockpit and various buttons, it added a real feel to it. It was the best video game I ever played! Finally, we went back home, watched TAKEN, and ate some pizza as we cuddeled on the couch. No big dinner or roses, but I liked spending time with Tina, especially since she's been MIA the last two weeks. Also, the frozen fog was cool. I never seen anything like it, imagine seeing the outside world get freezer burn, that's what it looked like.

Stray Dog

Tina went and took Maggie out for a walk when she noticed a lost puppy. We decided to be nice people and take in the puppy, call the owners and wait for them. Needless to say, Maggie and Maya went crazy in the house, and Shady didn't like it at all. Maggie was being pretty aggressive, probably protecting her territory. We had to call the owners three times!! Turns it was a young kid who looked so high, it was a real shame to deliver the dog back to them. No kidding, they took their time and acted like nothing was wrong. When he did finally show up, he was so buzzed, it was insane. I really feel for Maya, she deserves a better home. However, we did what we could.

KeyStone

For the first time, we finally went up to the mountains and passed the Continental Divide. It was long drive, about 70 miles, but closer to three hours! When we finally got to Lake Dillon, there a bunch of little towns around. We stayed in Keystone, but saw snow sculptors in Breckenridge, ate in Frisco, Silverthron, and Dillon itslef. If was really neat to see all the snow. It never did shine, but that was okay, we were having way too much fun in the snow. We went with the in-laws, tubing, took some Gondolas, and so on. Needless to say, we would have liked to stay a little longer. Oh well, life goes on. To see our little vacation, click on the slide-show icon to the right of page.

MLK Hike

On MLK, I took Maggie on a hike near my school. Infact, that building you see is my school. It was a nice day and we had a blast in the 65 degree weather. Ofcourse, the next day it did snow. Typical Colorado Springs, T-shirts one day, gloves the next. Maggie and I went up this cliff, determined to get to the top, we made our way through brush and scaled rocks. Once we reached the top of the ridge, we saw that there was trail from the beginning of the hike...go figure.

Freak Blizzard

Well, we had a freak blizzard today come into town. It came so fast, that school wasn't even canceled, my drive to work was fun. Yeah, fun to not see the lanes on the road or pretend that I was driving on an ice-rink. It was kinda funny to see four accidents on the way...why?...they were all 4x4 vehicles. Anyway, it snowed all day until about 2p.m. When I got home, I knew how much Maggie loved the snow that I couldn't NOT TAKE her to the park and allow her to play in the snow.
No, that's not a snowball in her mouth, just a ball.

The ball tends to get slippery in the snow, and Maggie isn't too happy about it.

This has got to be the cutest picture of Maggie I ever took!
No Maggie, the snow does not talk to you, it's all just in your head.
Maggie's version of frost bite, just frozen solid.
You can barely make out my car after my drive to work.

I love this pic, Maggie looks so happy and free...darn those leashes!My school at about 7a.m., and still we had regular start....and full attendance in class.

Virtual Tour of Home

Since we haven't been up to much since school started, you can have a virtual tour of our home. I know it's no MTV Cribs, but we are happy with our cozy home for now.

New Years Visit

Here are a few pics I manged to sneak in during our trip to Tina's parents house. Now, I am not sure why we look so drunk in the egg-nog picture, but I assure you that in that carton there really is just egg-nog. It was fun times and just good to spend some family quality time.

New Year's Resolution

Every year we make a resolution. Meaning if you fail to meet that resolution than you have (in theory) made 0% progress. So to avoid such a sad stat, We have come up with 5 Resolutions each. That way, meeting four out five still gives us an "above average" progress for the year.

Tina's are...
1. To have a baby or be prego by the end of 2009.
2. Get healthier & exercise regularly.
3. Spend more time w/Jakob and not at work.
4. Save more $$$ to pay of debt.
5. Join a small group at church.

Jakob's (Mine) are...
1. To have a baby or have Tina be prego by the end of 2009.
2. To get involved more at church.
3. Run at least 5 miles/wk in addition to my regular work-outs.
4. Spend more time w/Tina and watch some of her shows.
5. Be nicer to Shady.

Maggie's are....
1. Stop smoking...just kidding. To realize that Tina and Shady are not chew toys. When they squeak or squeal, that means I should stop biting them.
2. People like clean clothes, so I shouldn't jump on them when my paws are muddy.
3. People are not tackling dummies, I should avoid the full on tackles to every person I see.
4. Shady is a pet too, not food and i should avoid trying to eat her.
5. Sleeping on the bed is a privilege. I should not try to push off mom or dad in the middle of the night.

Shady's are....
1. When the dog is sleeping, I should not bite or pounce on her.
2. The window screens are not cargo nets, and I shouldn't be climbing up them.
3. My parents' bare feet are not scratch posts or chew toys.
4. The dog's leash is for the dog, not a personal "batting" toy that makes clanking sounds in the middle of the night.
5. I should avoid sleeping behind mommy to keep from getting rolled on. (Thanks daddy for saving me every night...I will learn...or maybe not).

Bingo Night

Tina thought it might be fun to play Bingo tonight. She invited like half her center or something, I swear, we had a whole row of tables blocked off just for us. The main Bingo Jackpot was close to $6,000. The way it works is that there are several rounds of smaller prizes ($150-$200) dollars, and two big prizes ($1,100 and $6,000). However, to get the $6000 jackpot you must get a "black out" in 53 turns of less. If not, it goes down to $200 after 53 numbers have been called. Now let me tell you, we don't actually go in thinking that we will win. Nor do we go for the gourmet nachos and overly-priced drinks, or that wonderful smell. It is a time to be entrained and share some laughs with friends.

None of us did win anything. I came two away from the $1,100 prize, but is seems so did 10 other people. Some old lady did win the $6,000 in 51 tries. Let me tell you, when the guy is calling the numbers, Tina is all game face. No joke, she is so serious and focused you'd think this was a professional Bingo player who was being televised on ESPN.

Hmmm, maybe that could be a new reality show? Even though we won squat, the laughs we walked away with were priceless. Thanks for the fun idea babe!

Pet Toys

When we got home, we gave our lovely pets their new toys. Well, at least one of them. Maggie got a Flying Squirrel Frisbee, a new collar, a rope ball, and a bacon/cheese filled rawhide bone. Shady got a circle thing with a ball that goes around it, who really cares about the cat anyway?
When Maggie got her toys, she was very protective. Even at me she would growl and protect...unbelievable! I really was a little scared of her. Well within in the hour, she had managed to chew the rope up and leave little pieces all over the floor....and couch. Pet Evac, here I come! Shady also enjoys her new toy.

Look at Shady's curiosity. Is there really a mouse in there? -->

Maggie going to work, she is determined to get the knot out. -->

Tina makes a subtle approach to pet Maggie while she has new toy. Maggie shows her teeth and gives a warning growl to keep away, that is her toy. ->

Ignoring the warning signs, Maggie goes physco and grabs her ball for protection. Notice the ears, pointed down to show that she is being protective. Fearing for her hand...and arm, Tina wisely withdraws the attempt and petting her. -->

Maggie decides the only way to protect her ball is to move it near the sofa, it won't be reaching for her new chew toy anytime soon. Tina is happy to keep her arm, Maggie is happy to keep on chewing, and as for the chew toy...oh well, we all serve our purposes. PS, anyone notice her neatly pedicured paws? I did that with the automatic pedicure machine. Go ahead, click on the pic to see them up close, I am proud of it.