1/06/2011 -
Posted by Nicole -
Today I began the process of taking the Christmas decorations down at our house and I remembered that I'd wanted to blog about some of my favorite Christmas ornaments. I realize it's January already, but I basically didn't blog the entire month of December, so here is my belated blog.
In my family, we had a really fun tradition of giving/getting Hallmark ornaments every year as the first gift of Christmas. We would also purchase ornaments wherever we went on our family vacation each year. Both Courtney and I had a huge collection of ornaments by the time we left the house.
Our small house only accommodates a little 4 foot tree, so we don't have all of our ornaments on display, but here are a few:
This is a Hallmark ornament from 2007 which Michael and I both purchased for each other since we'd adopted Pepper at the beginning of that year.
These cute bears were purchased this year at Copper as a tribute to our time teaching little ones at ski school.
These snowpeople were given to us by my mom in 2005 when we got married. They hang at the top and are the last two ornaments we hang.
Mom bought this Hallmark Pooh Bear for Michael because he loves honey!!
This ornament was from 2004, the year we got engaged! I just love the little fly on the leaf! So cute!
This is one of my childhood ornaments- a sweet little Precious moments figurine that's pretty heavy, but so pretty.
I bought a series of these ornaments in Russia this summer. I just love the shape of the little churches.
This gorgeous panda came to us from Michael's parents straight from China. There's also a bell and a ball that have the same intricate detail.
So there's a little insight into our family tree... and here's what the whole little package looks like:
Merry (Belated) Christmas!!!
11/29/2010 -
Posted by Nicole -
We called the Chevy dealership this morning and they reported that Ruby is in paint and the Silver Fox was ready for pick up! So our wonderful friend Doug took Mike to pick up the Silver Fox this afternoon around 3.
Then at 4:45 I received this text: "Funny thing... I'm back at Hudson (the body shop) because the breaks went out. Thankfully I was at Enterprise Rental (changing over our rental contract) which is 2 blocks from Hudson. Ronnie's (the repair guy) is about to take a look."
UGG!!! Basically, the brake line got bumped, for lack of a better term, during the accident and the Jeep was leaking brake fluid. Therefore, even though the repairman had test driven it on the highway at 70 miles per hour, once Michael got in, the brakes went out. Praise the Lord he wasn't on the highway or slippery roads and that he was easily able to get back to the repair shop and have them check it out. This is what they found:
The good brake line
The bad brake line
So, the Fox is back in the shop getting the brake line repaired and refilled with fluid. Hopefully we'll be back to our whole fleet by the end of this week... hopefully.
11/27/2010 -
Posted by Nicole -
dear indoor plumbing, water in a glass, and a roof over my head,
i am so very thankful for each of you and how your presence in my life makes everything so much easier. this time last year i was sitting among brambles making thanksgiving dinner out of cheese, hashbrowns, and very little water. i am thrilled to have slept indoors this thanksgiving and not have to search for water (but also glad to have had the chance at nols to experience "roughing it").
love, nicole
11/27/2010 -
Posted by Nicole -
dear my awesome family (all of you!),
you are the loves of my life!! i couldn't make it through life's ups and downs without you. i absolutely adore you. thank you for such a wonderful weekend back in dallas. it was a blast- from running in the Turkey Trot with our own turkey, to making Mamaw's dressing, to watching hilarious episodes of the SNL Lawrence Welk show spoof! i can't wait to see all of yall again soon. you are more than i could ever have asked for and much more than i deserve.
love, nicole/co bear
11/27/2010 -
Posted by Nicole -
dear frontier airlines,
thank you for safely transporting us to dallas on tuesday. i also really loved the awesome chocolate chip cookie you served on board and the "extra leg room" area that we got to ride in.
love, nicole
11/22/2010 -
Posted by Nicole -
dear working car engines,
you make it so easy for us to get from one place to another. with you we can get in the car, decide where we want to go, and go there. without worrying about it. you're the best!
love, nicole
11/22/2010 -
Posted by Nicole -
As you might recall, last week we had our EPIC car accidents which I blogged about here. Since then we have been chatting back and forth with our AMAZING insurance company USAA- the best insurance on the planet, if you ask me- thanks, Army! And have gotten things moving right along. We were able to get the Jeep (aka the Silver Fox) towed to the body repair shop the very day after the accidents, and we took the 4 Runner (aka Ruby) in today.
Since both of our vehicles are tied up, we went ahead and splurged on a rental so that we could, you know, keep driving around town and doing fun things. So, they hooked us up at Enterprise rental with this beauty:
A sick, 2011 GMC Yukon with leather seats, satellite radio, and an engine that doesn't like to run...
We of course didn't figure out the "engine that doesn't like to run" part until we started driving it. At first, the truck was okay. We couldn't get the heat to come on no matter what we did (only cold air blew), there was no washer fluid, and only 1/8 of a tank of gas when we picked it up. Not to worry, we weren't going to have the thing for long and it drove decently enough.
Then, we were driving to work on the highway yesterday and the check engine light came on followed by the digital message informing us of the "Engine Overheating" and subsequent "Power Being Reduced". For a brief moment we wondered what all that meant, and then the car began to power down. Although Michael had his foot on the accelerator, the speedometer slowly ticked down from 50 to 40 and eventually to 0. ON THE STINKIN HIGHWAY!!!
We pulled over, stared at each other in disbelief, turned off the car, turned the car back on, and miraculously went on our merry way with no further troubles.
We thought that perhaps the problem was that we didn't turn the car on early enough before we left. So this morning we let it heat up for 20 minutes- it was only 1 degree outside after all. Then, on the way to Copper, the stinkin Yukon powered down not only once, but THREE times! GRRRRR!!!
Luckily we called the nice people at Enterprise Rentals in Silverthorne and they drove a new vehicle out to Copper for us and towed the crazy Yukon all the way home. We are still quite unsure as to what was going on with this massive vehicle, but for now we have a lovely Nissan Pathfinder with working heat, lots of fuel, and most importantly a properly working engine!!
This is a Hallmark ornament from 2007 which Michael and I both purchased for each other since we'd adopted Pepper at the beginning of that year. 
Mom bought this Hallmark Pooh Bear for Michael because he loves honey!!
This ornament was from 2004, the year we got engaged! I just love the little fly on the leaf! So cute!
This is one of my childhood ornaments- a sweet little Precious moments figurine that's pretty heavy, but so pretty. 
I bought a series of these ornaments in Russia this summer. I just love the shape of the little churches. 
This gorgeous panda came to us from Michael's parents straight from China. There's also a bell and a ball that have the same intricate detail.
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