A Greenfield Update

Happy Holiday everyone!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to share it with the ones you love! It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving day has come and gone and now we are only 4 weeks away from Christmas! Where has this year gone? This is my favorite time of year...Christmas music, holiday lights, friends and family gathering together, peppermint mocha coffee creamer, Christmas shopping, my birthday, snow, Christmas movies and that "holiday feeling" that warms my heart for the next 4 weeks...how can you not love this time of year?!

I know I haven't written much lately so I will take a minute or two to update everyone on what's been happening in our lives:

The biggest news I have to share with you is that Scott and I are now parents to a super cute puppy named Lexi. We got Lexi 4 weeks ago at the young age of 12 weeks! She is a black and while Shih Tuz/Poodle mix. Scott and I have been talking about getting a dog for a while now but just could not find a dog that we truly couldn't live without. That is until I saw Lexi's face!!! When we meet her we both fell in love! It has been a big life style adjustment and a greater responsibility than we originally thought but we learned quickly and now I couldn't imagine our lives without her. She's a really good dog and super smart! She's been house trained from almost day one, she knows her name, sleeps through the night without a sound, she'll sit on command and knows the word "no" (most of the time)! She has brought a lot of joy to our lives so far and we look forward to having her with us for a long time. Here are a couple pictures of Lexi:








Besides getting Lexi, our lives have been pretty much the same. Scott will done with this semester in just 2 weeks, which means that we will get to spend (a lot) more time together! This semester has been a challenge and has put a lot of stress on the both of us. We haven't been able to spend a lot of quality time together over the past 3 months and it has begun affecting on our marriage. We have pushed through and supported each other as best as we can, however, we both realized that having either one of us gone every night of the week and on the weekends is something we don't want to do again. We both agree that it's not worth the stress on our marriage or on us individually. Next semester Scott will only be in class 2 nights a week so we are hoping that it will be a much better schedule for us. I fully support Scott following his dreams and career goals but it's been hard to keep up that support when I see it affecting our marriage. Luckily we've been able to address these feelings and have made more of an effort to make the most of the time we do spend together. We have reinstated "date night" which not only allows us to spend quality time together but it also gets us out of the house! :-) We are so excited about the holidays and spending lots of time together!

Well,that is all the time I have. Lexi is up from her puppy nap and wants to play so I better go give her some loves before she gets into anything she's not supposed to! I guess I'll have to write about Thanksgiving and my birthday at another time!

Love,
Heather, Scott, Lexi and Joey

Life

We've been busy! :-) Life hasn't slowed down at all for us and it really doesn't look like it's going to anytime in the near future. Here's what we've been up to lately:

We moved into our new apartment 3 weeks ago and have been settling in since then. My Dad came out for the weekend to help us move (Thanks Dad!). Since we couldn't move in until Saturday, I took a personal day on Friday so that we could have a father/daughter day. We hung out in Boulder most of the day and just enjoyed the great weather and time together. The move went well, though moving to a 3rd floor apartment made it slightly more challenging. Scott and I have felt at home here since our first night. We're 96% unpacked...hopefully this weekend we can say we're 100% unpacked! :-) Once we are all unpacked I'll be sure to take pictures and post them so you all can see our new home!

Scott and I have finally found our "grove" in our weekly schedules. With Scott being in class 4 nights a week this semester we have put a lot of importance on enjoying the time we do get to spend together. Every night, after Scott gets home, we curl up on the couch, turn on the fireplace and get caught up with our favorite TV shows. Lately we have been having a cup of hot chocolate (sometimes with a little Baileys and Whip Cream on top) to end the day. It's not much time, but it's wonderful and it helps us get through the weeks. Next semester it sounds like he'll only have class 3 nights a week....I'll take it! :-)

Besides not being home every night, Scott is really enjoying his classes at Metro State. He started flying lessons this past weekend. He tells me that if he gets nothing else out of the classes he's taking, they are going to make him a much better pilot! He's hoping to fly 2-3 times a week for as long as the weather allows. It sounds like he'll get his license by next Spring. We are still unsure as to where this new adventure will take him but we are both optimistic that it's going to lead to something great, which makes the sacrifice worth it.

I, on the other hand, am enjoying not being in school! It's almost been a year since I graduated Grad School and so much has changed! I am really enjoying my job! I'm learning every day and developing great personal and professional relationship along the way. For those of you who don't know, I'm working at H+L Architecture as a medical planner on the Denver's Children's Hospital. The project is very rewarding and very challenging at the same time. I'm so excited to be a part of this organization and so happy knowing that my work will help thousands of children from all over the country. The challenging part is disconnecting myself with the patients. I don't have any contact with the patients but I find myself having trouble breathing when I am working on the 7th floor Cancer Center or designing the ceiling in a hospices room. Call me human (or a future mom), but I can't imagine what the parents are going through if there child is in one of those rooms. I don't know if I could deal with it. I pray to God that when Scott and I have children we don't find ourselves on the 7th floor of TCH. But, I guess that's the rewarding part too, knowing that there is a place that we could take our kids to that will make them feel as at home as possible and a place where they will get the best care in Colorado! Our project is scheduled to open in late 2011 or early 2012 so I have a little job security.

Besides working I have been looking forward in my career. I have decided to start taking the Architectural Registration Exams after the first of the year. I have 7 exams to study for, take and pass before I can officially call myself an Architect! I've been working on being an architect since I was 7 years old....I'm just ready to be done! The exams are challenging and even extensive studying doesn't promise that I'm going to pass every single one....good thing they let you retake! My strategy is this: study for 4 week, test, take a week of and repeat! If I start in January it's my goal to have all 7 tests taken by October and doing any retesting by the end of the year. I am for warning you now....I might fall a bit behind on blogging next year. It's going to be a very large time commitment but it's something I have been working towards my whole life and something that I need to do in order to move on with the rest of my life. Again, the outcome will out weigh the sacrifice. Wish me luck!

Like I said at the beginning, I don't seen our lives slowing down much in the future. We have a few weeks of nothing much going on and then we're right back in the crazy-ness mix. We're off to Vegas in November. I was awarded a scholarship to attend a national design conference and Scott is going to join me in Sin City for the weekend. After that Scott is off to Cali to visit his Dad for a weekend. November will be busy, as it always is, with my birthday, Thanksgiving and the start of the Holiday Season. This is my favorite time of year! I am so excited for these next few months!!!! I'll try to keep everyone up-to-date with all of our fun and busy lives!

Love,
Heather

Happy (early) Birthday!!!

This past weekend we celebrated Scott's 27th birthday, even though his real birthday isn't until September 28th. Being the loving wife that I am, I thought long and hard about what I could get my wonderful husband for his birthday. Of course I came up with lots of ideas but none of them seemed right. Just after our wedding I had a "light bulb" moment and I realized that I could get my husband for his birthday. I quickly called up Tony, Scott's best friend from college who lives in Des Moines. I knew how much Scott wanted Tony to come visit again and I knew that this would be a perfect excuses to do so. Because Tony is a great friend he of course said yes! I didn't need to do much planning before hand so it was easy keeping this a secret from Scott for the past 3 months. However, the past couple of weeks had been difficult.

I told Scott that we had this big weekend planned but I wouldn't tell him anything of what we were doing. He never really guess but he kept asking questions that made it hard not to come out and tell him what we were doing. My favorite question was when Scott asked me if he could unwrap his present in public....I just smiled and said well, maybe not all of it! :-) I had a great time planning the weekend while making Scott even more confused!

Finally Friday came and I was able to give Scott his birthday present. I asked Scott to meet me for lunch downtown. Little did he know, Tony and his girlfriend Erica would also be joining us for lunch. The 3 of us walked into the restaurant, of course Scott saw Tony first since he's a 7'-0" giant! Scott was so surprised and so grateful that they had come all this way just to spend time with him. I successfully pulled of the surprise!

Friday afternoon Scott and I were both able to get off early and meet up with Tony and Erica for happy hour downtown. We enjoyed the beautiful Colorado weather while sitting on the roof top patio of one of our favorite places to hang out after work. Later that night we went to Boulder and had dinner on Pearl Street downtown. Saturday we had brunch at CB & Potts before heading to Parker for their Oktoberfest. It was a small festival but it was nice to get out of the city and be out doors on such a beautiful day (70 degrees and sunny!). That night I had arranged for us to meet up with some of our friends at our favorite restaurant in Denver, Lime. We all had dinner and went out on the town. Tony and Erica left early Sunday morning so the rest of our weekend was spent on the couch relaxing. Overall, I think I the weekend was a success! I loved surprising my husband and giving him something that I knew would make him happy!!!!

Here are a couple pictures of the weekend:





Of course Scott's real birthday isn't for another few days so we will celebrate just the two of us on his birthday. Nothing too big but I'm thinking wine, candles, the fire place on, cake and How I Meet Your Mother!?!?!? Sounds like a perfect night!

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In other life news: we are (finally) moving this weekend! After weeks of packing....I just realized that we don't have a ton of stuff, it's just taken forever since I have been the only one packing (for the most part)...we are finally able to move in to our new apartment. We are both looking forward to the change and the feeling of being "stable" for at least the next 12 months. My dearest Dad is coming out to lend us a hand on moving. We are hoping to have everything moved by the end of next weekend...we shall see if we can do that!!!

Besides moving we are looking forward to the next few weekends. We are going to the Colorado Springs airshow, to Keystone for the night while I attend a design conference there and to Vegas in November for a short weekend (I won a national scholarship to attend a national design conference there so my trip is paid for!). So yet again, we have another busy few weeks ahead of us. I will do my best with keep you all up to date with our latest adventures!!!

Love,
Heather

Mr. Awesome

I will be completely honest, there are days that I take my husband for granted. However, lately those days are very few and far between! Since Scott started taking classes this semester he hasn't been home much. And by "not much" I mean he has class Monday - Thursday nights and doesn't get home until after 8:30 most of the time. I miss coming home to him after work and tell him all about my day. I also miss our walks around the neighborhood, our nights cuddled on the couch or a spontaneous moving, wine and Chinese food evening that happens to fall on a Wednesday night! Most nights I am on my own for dinner, unless we meet up after work for a quick bit. Most nights it's Joey (the cat) and I on the couch watching any random show that I know Scott wouldn't enjoy or, on nights like tonight, it's me and a glass of wine hanging out on the computer listening to music. As much of a sacrifice this is right now, I know every night I come home to an empty house will only benefit our future together. I really wouldn't do it for anyone else! :-)

Not only do I miss my husband when I get home at night, but I miss the help around the house! I have to be one of the luckiest wives in the world because I have a husband who helps cook dinner (honestly, most nights he's home he cooks!), does the laundry (no pink shirts yet!), puts the dishes away (still working on how to properly load the dishwasher but I'll take what I can get) and likes to vacuum!!!

Basically, I married Mr. Awesome!!!

We're still trying to figure out our routine this Fall. It has been a challenge balancing work, class, household responsibilities and our relationship but I have all the confidence in the world that we will make this schedule work for us. It may take us until January when we will be faced with another (different) schedule, but we'll make it work! It's always worked out for us...why shouldn't this next step? In the meantime, we have been focusing our attention on "us" when we get time to spend together. We have a couple really good "us" weekends and we hope that they continue! Scott supported me while I was finishing up Grad school and I am happy to do the same for him!!!

Anyways, enough of how awesome my husband is! :-) Things are good here! I have been working a lot of overtime the last couple of weeks at work. We have a huge deadline on Friday so we have been working like crazy to meet it. I sure hope this only happens every 6 months or so, getting into the office at 7:00 and not leaving until 6:00 while working over lunch isn't my thing! Scott and I are moving next weekend so we have been busy packing up the apartment. We are both looking forward to moving, it's time for a change. Besides that, I have a big birthday surprise planned for Scott this weekend....he has no idea what it is and it's driving him crazy! Tune in next week to see what it was! :-)

Love,
Heather G

Home Visit

Is it funny (or a little strange) that I still consider Iowa "home" when I have lived in Colorado for the past 8 years? I have quite decided whether or not it's weird but I have a feeling that I will always call Iowa "home". Anyways, Scott and I spent Labor Day weekend back in Iowa visiting friends and family and attending a wedding. We left early Friday morning and had to drive back to Colorado early Monday but we packed as much as we could in 2 days! Like most trip back "home", we didn't see everyone we wanted to nor did we spend nearly enough time with those that we did see. We say this every time we come back, but we really need to get back to Iowa more often! :-)

Here are a few highlights from the weekend:


Scott and I visited his best friend Tony at the Altoona Fire Station (Tony is a fire fighter)



My Dad and I with his Harley



Scott and I at our friends Kyle and Erin's wedding

We really enjoyed our short vacation back to the Midwest. Our friends and family mean so much to us and we truly wish they were all closer...if only Nebraska would go away! :-) No matter how long we are away from Iowa, we will always hold it close to our hearts and always consider it our "home"!

Love,
Heather

Short Update

Life is good! Scott's good! I'm good! Things are good here in Colorado! Here's what's been going on in our world these past couple of weeks:

- Scott had a great time at the airshow in Oshgosh, WI! He spent 8 days there and took over a thousand pictures of airplanes! He had been planning that trip since January so I was happy for him when the time finally came for him to go! I was also very happy when it was time for him to come home! :-) I really enjoyed my time while he was gone (much needed girl time), however, by day 5 I was ready to have my husband home again! When I went to pick him up from the airport on Sunday night (Aug. 1) I felt like I was picking up my son from camp. He had so many things to tell me and so many pictures to share. And, like the good-loving wife that I am, I listened to all his stories and looked through all his pictures! Even though he had a great time and I enjoyed some time to myself we both agreed that 8 days is really too long to be away from the one you love! Next time maybe he'll just go for a long weekend! ;-)

- While Scott was at the airshow, my friend Krista came out to visit me. She had bought tickets to the Tim McGraw concert back in November as a "Happy Birthday" "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Graduation" present to me. Krista and I have seen Tim McGraw in concert together 5 times now! Our first Tim concert was the summer after our high school graduation! We were 18 years old! Since then, we have seen him 4 other times, all in Colorado. It's become a "Heather&Krista" summer tradition that I truly hope lasts forever, or for as long as Tim continues to tour! Besides the concert that weekend, Krista and I had some much needed girl time. We laid by the pool, went shopping and drank peach champagne. It was a great weekend!

- Last weekend Scott and I went apartment hunting. We put nearly 100 miles on the Honda going all around the greater Denver metro area looking at apartments. Knowing our current lease is up the first of October, Scott and I set out to find something that fit into these 3 categories: 1) We want to pay less in rent so that we can pay down some dept and save for a house 2) The new place needed to be as nice if not nicer then our current apartment 3) We wanted to still be on the bus route to downtown or the lightrail. So, with those "must haves" in mind we went on our search. Our search lead us from Erie all the way down to Lone Tree! We saw everything from a brand new 650 sq ft one bedroom apartment for $1100/month to a couple year old complex that offered 900 sq ft for $900/month! We were exhausted by the end of the day and decided not to make any decisions until we slept on it....and I made a pro/con list! :-)

- This week, we finally made a decision on where to live. We are moving just down the street and over the hill from where we live now. I decided to get a one bedroom apartment so that we could cut our rent by more then just a few dollars (it's expensive to live in Colorado by the way!). We both really like the apartment we will be living in. It's in a great location, still close to the bus, our favorite hang outs, the rec center and our friends. Oh, and most importantly it's even closer to the Metro Airport (which was a big selling point for Scott!). The apartment has a large deck, fire place, ceiling fans and plenty of space for Scott, Joey and myself. The down side is, we won't have any room for our guests to stay, unless of course they are comfortable sleeping on the couch! :-) For the next year, I think we will be very comfortable in our new home. I am surprisingly looking forward to our move! I'll be sure to post pictures once we get settled in!

Well, that's a quick recap of what's been going on in our lives lately. This weekend we are going camping at a lake in Ogalalla, NE....yes, I'm willingly going to Nebraska for the weekend! :-) We are going camping with 6 others for the weekend. We are so excited to get away for a weekend and spend some time outdoors! Our summer is coming to an end, Scott starts classes next Monday, and the weather is beginning to cool off (kind of)! We will end our official summer in Iowa. We will be back in Des Moines for 2 days over Labor Day weekend for a friends wedding. I hate to see summer go, however, fall is my favorite time of year so I am looking forward to our next season! Cooler weather, fall colors, football games, my birthday (and Scott's) and cute fall cloths! What isn't there to like about fall!?!?!

Love,
Heather

My Saturday

My morning started at 5:30 am...yes, it's Saturday! Side note: when I was growing up my Mom always told me that nothing good happens after 10:00 pm, well Mom, nothing good happens before 8:00 am on a Saturday either!!! Needless to say it was early and I wasn't a happy camper for having to wake up that time on a Saturday. Who made me get up at that time of day you ask? Well, it was my dear husband! He flew out this morning to Milwaukee, WI for a week long adventure at Oshkosh (the biggest airshow around). He has been planning this trip since January so you can imagine how perky he was at that time this morning (think a 5 year old on Christmas morning). I, on the other hand, could barely open my eyes. Thankfully, he was smart enough to make coffee for us to take on the road! (He knows me so well!) Once we said our good-byes at the AirTran terminal at DIA I was on my way back home, head filled with what I wanted to accomplish while he was away. My list got interrupted when I saw the sun divide the clouds and hit the flatirons. I thought to myself, "It's going to be a good day." As it turned out, it was one of the best Saturdays I have had in a very long time.

My Mom and I had planned on having a girl's day for as long as Scott has been planning his trip to Oshkosh. It has been a long time since my Mom and I have spent a whole Saturday together. The sad part is, my Mom and I spent more quality time together when she lived in Iowa and came out here for weekends at a time to visit. Since she's moved to Colorado we both have had very different schedules that have made it hard for us to spend more then a couple of hours together at a time. Which totally defeats the purpose of her moving to Colorado. When she moved out here we had planned to see each other all the time, unfortunately that just hasn't happened yet. We are hoping that all changes in the near future. Anyways, we decided to make it happen today. Just us girls! A daughter with her mother.

We started the day with a trip to Boulder, our favorite place in Colorado (okay, next to Estes Park). For all the years my Mom and I spent vacationing in Colorado and the Boulder area we never made it to the Boulder's Farmers Market. Today, we changed that. We drove down Highway 36 and gazed at the beautiful sun kissed flatirons....a view everyone needs to see before they die. We bought some sweet corn (real peaches and cream sweet corn for those of you who are from Iowa) and tomatoes while wondering around the square block of the packed farmers market. Once we were done there we walked down Pearl Street to our favorite place to eat in Boulder, the Walnut Brewery. If those restaurant walls could talk! My Mom and I have had some of our best conversations there throughout the years. It was there that I told my Mom I wanted to go to CU Boulder for college back in the Fall of 2002! It was there that we celebrated my graduation for CU Boulder in 2006, it was there that we talked about our lives, dreams and goals. It's a place we don't get to visit very often, so it's even more special today then it was back then.

After our lunch my Mom and I went to Flatirons Mall for some serious shopping. We enjoyed shopping and walking around the mall just talking. We both found great buys and were every satisfied with our purchases. Since I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do with my Mom is shop. I don't care how old I get, I think I will always love shopping with my Mom. It must be a mother/daughter thing! Though the shopping was great and I found some amazing bargains, I think my favorite thing about our shopping trip was the conversions I had with my Mom. My Mom is a great listener and advice giver without telling me what to do. I know my Mom and I are different in ways, but we are also very similar in many other ways too. I appreciate my Mom's advice and know that it is (and always has been) coming from her heart and past experiences. I think I'm finally at the age that I realize my Mom does know more then me...it's only taken me 26 years to realize that! :-)

Finally, this evening my Mom and I went to church at Flatiron's Community Church, which just happened to be the perfect way to end our day. My best friend Stephanie and her two boys Jordan and Jackson joined us as well. Today's service was about community and connecting with others who are searching for the same purpose in life. Our Paster Jim asked those sitting before him to raise their hand if they had first come to Flatirons because a friend asked them to come join them. Stephanie, my Mom and I all raised our hands. You see, when I moved to Colorado I was invited to come to Flatrions by a friend, soon I asked Stephanie to come with me and finally my Mom was coming with us every Sunday she was in town. It was a great reminder that I am here (in Colorado) for a reason and that I am so lucky to have been given the people in my life. I am truly blessed!!!

Once my Mom and I gave each other our final hugs and said our I love you's to each other we drove our separate ways on HWY 287. As I was driving home I saw the most gorgeous sunset. The sun was setting behind the mountains and its rays were painting the sky orange, pink and yellow. It was as beautiful as the sunrise I saw when this day began. Tonight, as I sit here listening to music, drinking a glass of wine and reflecting on my day, I am happy, at peace, and satisfied with the world. Tomorrow is another day. A day I hope is almost as good as today.

Love,
Heather