Partner in Christmas Crime

It was a cold rainy day in the town of Morgantown. Having arrived so sleepily at 2 AM I -awakened at 10 AM local time and alas! I spotted it. The desire of my heart...frog-eyed salad. Toada Lynn (aka my sister Brittany) and I tip-toed through the kitchen for it was a well-known fact that our mother would not like us to sample the goodie prematurely.

Suddenly, concern croweded my thoughts. NO SPOONS! Luckily, Toada whipped them out of her hoodie sweatshirt like a true partner in crime. Stealthily, we opened the lid to the treasure and dipped the spoons in the whipped goodness. Words cannot express the true joy we found in those stolen minutes in time. But it was not meant to last. We heard steady footsteps approaching that could only belong to our mother, the guardian of the frog-eyed salad. In a great frenzy, we snapped the lid on and Toada took it to the far corner in desperate hope that the guardian would only be passing through. In one quick motion that could only belong to a seasoned veteren, she slowly slid toward the fridge door. In a true stroke of genius I managed to deflect our mother's eyes and thoughts toward Christmas and peanut butter fudge. Knowing our mother's sweet tooth, we knew she would take the bait.
The fridge door closed with the frog-eyed salad in tact and we declared a silent victory to be celebrated later.

Written by Toada Lynn as narrated to Amy (aka M)

Colorado in all it's magical glory

I like to think of this as our snowy entrance into Narnia. In reality, it's just the plowed snow and a lamppost.

The little red car that couldn't...get out that is!

I love the mountains when they are coated with snow! Here's a view about 3 miles from my condo.

Sunset on Woodmoor and the Lake of Shining Waters :)

The Frightful Weather Outside

The last few days have been interesting ones for me...and for the state of Colorado. Snow started to fall on Tuesday night and didn't stop until just recently. I was snowed in on Wednesday and Thursday...without internet and the ability to do my job from home and later on without the news or weather updates (our cable went out too). I suppose there is strength in numbers, though...here's a few things that happened in lieu of the snow.

- The wind was blowing in some areas at 50 mph, and vehicles were stranded in white out conditions. My area of Colorado was declared to be in a state of emergency and they dispatched the National Guard to help rescue the stranded people on the roads.
- Most of the local businesses and schools closed on Wednesday and later on all business were urged to close down.
- Most local roads and the major interstates were closed down for a solid day making sure we stayed put
- Both the Colorado Springs and Denver airports closed, trapping countless holiday travelers and relegating yours truly to a flight on 12/25 instead of 12/21.
- My roommate and I logged in a total of 3 movies in one day

I won't lie...Thursday was a dark day for me. I was so looking forward to being in West Virginia with my family and finally being with people (namely my parents) that have known me from birth. There's something about the holidays that doesn't seem complete without the fam. That with a few other emotional upheavals made it for a hard day.

Nevertheless, the Lord knew the snow would come...even more than that he created it! So here are a few pictures for your enjoyment in the following post. Wild, wonderful Colorado!

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

A little holiday mirth and merriment

Magical Colorado Trees

I don't know what they put in the water here, but Paul and Melanie went and cut their tree down in typical Colorado fashion and got this ginormous tree (for those of you that have not seen 'Elf', that means REALLY BIG!). It looked normal sized in the back of Paul's truck, but when I they put it in their dining room I realized that there was something very different about this tree. I'm not going to mess with it...it could take me!

By contrast, my roommate and I decide to forgo the tree-cutting-down adventure for several reasons. First of all, we don't own a hand saw. Secondly, we would have to carry it. Thirdly, we barely have an iota of space for the 4' tree that we got at Wal-Mart. And this tree that we decided on has it's advantages in that we can keep it year round....that is, providing we don't kill it first.

Reflections on Christmas

Most of you that know me well know how much I love the holiday season of which we are now a part. I think given the extravagant window displays, the innundation with products via commercials and insane amounts of Chistmas trees losing life and limb to the holiday season shows that I am not alone in this sentiment.

However, there are many people out there (you know who you are) that not only don't get into the holidays but are opposed to Christmas music and all decorations and pretty much only care about the fact that Christmas gives them a vacation off of work. I want all of you out there to know that although I am on the other side of this misguided feeling, I can understand where you are coming from.

While driving on ice to work a few days this week, I was prompted to reflect on why I love Christmas so much. Being the overly analytical person that I am, I proceeded to categorize my feelings on this season of yule into 2 categories. (I just lost about half of you, didn't I?)

Category 1 - I Love Christmas as a Remembrance of Christ's Birth
Reading through the Christmas story this year, one thing stood out to me more than it has in years past...the fact that so much of what happened required a deep and rooted trust in the Lord. Joseph flew in the face of public opinion and took Mary as his wife just because God told him too. Mary accepted her role as the mother of Jesus and trusted that God would work things all out for the good of mankind. The wise men took a VERY long trek trusting that they would see the Messiah and be able to worship Him...it all just goes on and on.

It prompted me to think that in order for Mary, Joseph and all involved to respond in the way they did to some PRETTY UNUSUAL circumstances, their faith and trust in the Lord was ALREADY grounded. Every small step in their life and their committment to God was leading up to the point where they would be used more than any other humans in history to accomplish his plans.

Category 2 - I Love Christmas as a Themed Holiday
I love that everything turns magical (the house lights and decorations, the general feeling of a merriment that encompasses everything). I love pulling out the decorations that only come out once a year and working on projects like Christmas cookies and cards.

It is possibly the only time of year that the "fun" mail in my mailbox outweighs the bills and pointless flyers for someone who lives in an apartment. I get to 'catch up' with people that I haven't seen in eons.

But mostly, I love the fact that only at Christmas can you hear 17 thousand versions of the same timeless Christmas songs. It's like a mix CD!

And then there is the fact that I get to fly out of whatever state I reside in and visit my family, eat the typical Christmas delicacies like frog-eyed salad and spritz cookies and peanut butter fudge.

However, I must say, that after New Year's comes a depression that is only worsened when I realize that I can no longer write the date on auto-pilot. But for today I'm going to enjoy the season that is flying by.

A place store all my clothes and whatnot

Hey guys...in typical novice blogger fashion I have posted everything in reverse order. If I were you, I'd scroll down and start from the beginning. Or whatever, buck the system...see if I care! :)

Please reserve your judgement on the fact that I haven't hung anything up. I was almost there and then my roommate moved in and I had to migrate 2 rooms of stuff into one. I'm not complaining, because I'd rather have the roommate than the room...I'm just sayin'.

Just for fun, here's a picture of me freezing in my church clothes getting gas...but I have a good hat, so it's all good.

John's Room

No, I do not have a roommate named John. Here are pictures of the bathroom. I must confess that I feel very odd posting pictures of a bathroom, but in the name of throuroughness I felt that it could not very well be left out...

Okay, you'll note that the couch is on the left hand side (take my word for it). If you go straight, you would enter the bathroom. If you went left you would be in Anne's room and if you went right you'd be in mine.

Here's the right side of the bathroom...

Okay, let's be honest about it. Mostly, i'm posting this picture so that you can see my stellar organization of my jewlrey. I had a lot of fun with that. :)

On the left side there's not much to see except a towel rack. If you've never seen a towel rack before, let me know and I'll e-mail you a picture. :)

There is a SECRET CLOSET that contains the washer and dryer (it's behind the door). Cool. eh?

The Common Room...for us commoners

Moving right along in our tour of the place, after you walk through the hallway with the kitchen on the right, you will hit the carpet. This will let you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have hit the living/family room. Please wipe your feet.

I just hung these curtains this weekend. I whipped out my drill (accompanied by many a bit) and hung the rod with the anchors and EVERYTHING. I kind of like that the curtains are on the hooks but the sheers are on the curtain rod, but some might think it looks weird. Thoughts?

Here's a picture from the others side...where the grass is always greener. :)

What you've all been waiting for! (no, it's not Christmas)

Here are the much anticipated pictures. Hopefully this blog won't be like one of those movies that you see the preview for in the theater and anxiously await its "Summer of 2220" release, then go and see it and feel you have wasted 3 hours that you'll never get back. First of all, if you spend 3 hours on my blog, then you are working REALLY hard to not be doing something else :)
Leave a comment and let me know what you think of things!

This is my new roommate, Anne. Please excuse my retarded hair, we had a rushed morning. Somehow both of us forgot the time that choir practice started until about 5 mintues before. :)

This is my other new roommate, Susie. She's not really a demon dog, I just don't have those cool computer programs that you can change eye color of pictures and super-impose George Bush into the shot. Come to think about it, the world might be a better place because I don't have it...

As you walk into the condo and look on the right, you would see this...on the left is a long wall...

Here's more of the kitchen. Please note the Yankee Pumpkin Spice candle in the forefront. It was in my storage tub and melted on it's side. This weekend in what I can only deem the "Candle Project" I managed to use a candle warmer combined with toothpicks, a knife, my fingers, scissors and pure ingenuity to restore it to an almost normal candle. The real test will be if it actually burns...let's hope!

My favorite feature of the kitchen is the hardwood floor appearance (I think it's probably lamenant). Also, on the fridge is pictures of all you people and the freezer holds all the cards I've gotten since I've been here. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, guys!

A Prelude of Good Times to Come

Hey People!

A quick update for those of you that don't know...as of last Saturday I have a roommate! It was a total blessing of the Lord because as most of you know, living alone was not my thing. Anne (aka new roommate) also has a dog named Susie that is very cute. You know how I love the canines...

When Anne moved in, I realized 2 things...first of all, that I have a lot of earthly belongings as I was filling my 2 bedroom condo very nicely by myself. :) Second of all, though, it was that I have met my match. Here is an excerpt from a moving day conversation.

(Amy and Anne out front of the condo making trips back and forth up with Anne's belongings. Amy observes Anne pulling out basket after basket of all shapes and sizes.)

Amy to Anne (sarcastically): "Um, hey, Anne? Would you happen to know where I could find a whole lot of baskets? Oh, wait..."

Anne to Amy: "What can I say, I'm just a basket case!"

I rest MY case.

Here is a conversation that had us laughing last night...Anne is a teacher and was working on a physics sylabus for one of her students, so math was on the brain (not mine, of course. I avoid numbers like the plague)

Amy to Anne: Hey, math is totally spiritual...there's a lot of parabalas in the Bible.
Anne to Amy: I just don't think we are looking at this from the right angle.
Amy to Anne: Yeah, something just doesn't add up
Anne to Amy: (a few really good comments that I can't remember now. Partially this is because it was kind of late when we had this conversation and partially because HEY! it's math. My nemesis)
Amy to Anne: I think we only understand a fraction of this conversation

Etc, etc. I will spare you the rest of the conversation, but now you know that the next time you see me I will be at a whole 'nother level of wittiness compliments of the "iron sharpening iron" that is a part of this new and improved living situation.

I know you've heard me say this before, but pictures are to come. :)

In For The Day

Hey people! I guess that Colorado has been in the news and living here it is easy to see why. Yesterday evening the weather report was a "blizzard advisory". It started snowing last night when I went to bed and I woke up with snow swirling around at breakneck speeds. So far we have 7 or so inches and it's about 30 degrees out. I wish I could put a video of it up (but apparently I am not as technologically advanced as my friends Holly, Sam and Jessi...nor do I have people in "high" places to help me figure it out...) I had forgotten how beautiful the snow is and how much I missed it. We should have about 14 inches of snow once the whole thing is over. I'm staying put today with my chai tea and heat...

Having lived in Alaska and now Colorado I would like to make a few comparisons. First of all, speaking with a few Alaska transplants, they said after living here for 2 years their kids had more snow days than all their years of living in Alaska. Here in my new hometown, most times it snows and burns off the day of or a day later...not much of the pile up effect as Alaska was. Lastly, in Colorado Springs we have deer roaming the streets. In Alaska we have moose roaming the streets.

It's hard to capture it in pictures but below are two pictures I took this morning...one of my view from Paul's basement/my office and one that will show the inches as of about 9 AM.

P.S. Contrary to what my blog portrays, it isn't ALWAYS snowing here...yesterday it was clear and beautiful 65 degrees and is supposed to be that warm on Saturday. :)

Fun, Snow and the Millers

So, this afternoon it started to snow. And then it snowed a little harder. At this time that I blog (about 5:40PM for you Californians and 7:40PM for my lovely sister Linds, and about 8:40 for my wonderful family) the whole world around me is white. It's supposed to freeze tonight, so rather than drive on that in the morning to get to work (where the conditions are usually a little worse than in Colorado Springs) I'm staying put.

Here's some pictures from our adventures in the snow...it's still comin' down. :)

Kamden Miller takes the slopes...er...her driveway.

Caiya Miller catches those snowflakes. What is it about the taste of snow that is SO wonderful?!

JT Miller just takes in the whole snowy scene.

Bubba (the dog) and I bond ... nothing says winter quite like cold and wet dog. :)

Time to use the windshield scraper!

Hey everyone! Yes, I am still alive, though I have been a bit negligent in keeping up with my blog. My big project right now is to get my condo "blog worthy". This has involved, drills, wall anchors, nails, hammers, screwdrivers and my own creative touch. All that to say, pictures of my new abode will most likely be up by the end of the week, but in the meantime, here are some pictures of SNOW!! I woke up this morning and walked to my car and gasped at the sight of the beautiful snow. I'm having major Christmas flashbacks.



Also, I know not all of you care about football, but THE BRONCOS BEAT THE RAVENS! I'm stoked.

Love and miss you all! E-mail me if you get a moment and let me know how you are.

Bronco Mania

Here are a few extra pictures...My blog apparently doesn't like to allow me to put as many pictures on one posting as I want. Well , phooey on it!

You would think there would be a touchdown here. Not so. Go defense!!

Stay in there a little longer, guys, and come out with a plan for a touchdown! Can't let the kicker have ALL the fun. :)

The Mother Ship Calling Me Home

I know what you all are thinking..."Amy said she would put a new post up every week and it's been 15 days since the last one..." Well, I was just making sure that you don't take my blog for granted. I mean, I know it is fabulous, but you can't spend ALL DAY looking at it. That's just not productive.

This last weekend I went to a Bronco game with my uncles. I WAS THERE. ME! IT. WAS. AWESOME. And it didn't hurt that my uncle scored us some sweet seats. :) For those of you that don't really keep up on football, Denver won 9-6 against Kansas City. I'm glad they won, however, it was entirely by field goals. Not a lot of action in the endzone...

Left to Right: Uncle Neal, ME, Uncle Ed

No, no, we didn't PLAY on Sunday (no pads) but we had to show our true colors.

Here it is..the place the magic happens. Let's just all take a moment of silence.

LOOK AT ALL THE ORANGE AND BLUE! I AM NOT ALONE!

...also a little shout out to Mr. John Elway...

"Come, let's win one parumpabumbum...a new great team to see parumpabumbum...we have our screams to bring parumpabumbum...to give to our team parumpabumbum...rumpabumbum...rumpabumbum..."

Full of Hot Air

Hope that you all had a happy Labor Day. I had a lot of fun by NOT laboring. :) I'm still planning to put the pictures of my new place up this week, but in the meantime...here are some pictures from the Hot Air Balloon Classic. I went with my new friend Jen and it was fun, even if I DID have to wake up at 5:30 AM on a holiday.

There were tons of hot air balloons, I think the total number of balloons was 90. It was fun to watch them all take off. My favorite was this yellow flower balloon...but the sheer number and variety of colors was awesome.

This balloon was fired up to take off. :)

It took some keen observation skills, but I finally discovered what the main goal of these hot air balloon pilots was...to skim across the lake and then take off again. But it really freaked me out because a few times it looked like the baskets were about to dump their passengers!

Check out the mountains!!!

This is my new friend, Jen...She is in choir with me at Austin Bluffs and is super nice.

New and Improved!

Hey everyone! Here are the pictures of the new car...Remarkably similar to the other one in many ways, but different in many ways too. I think I will name this car Perry because the green with the pink flowered seat covers remind me of a tropical paradise. But tropical paradise is too hard to say, so Perry is better (short for paradise) :)Love and miss you guys! Thank you again for all your prayers...I am really thankful for the dependable new car.

The full shot...it has tires and EVERYTHING!

A close up of the new color...it's green, but has a little gold in it too...

Perry is not just one-dimensional

A few new views...(above and below)

Perry will soon have Colorado license plates... :)

My uncle thinks that these seat covers ruin my new car. I told him it meant my car had great personality...this sets it apart, don't you think?

Stay Tuned....

Well, this post isn't quite as exciting as the last (what with no pictures of damage and destruction) but wanted to update you all on my life in Colorado, such as it is.

First things first...I heard from the insurance company. I'm so thankful, the Lord TOTALLY answered prayer and provided enough from the settlement to pay off my old car (which incidentally cannot be driven any more) and also to put a down payment on a new car.

As of tonight, I have purchased my new car...I surfed the net, did some research over the past week and half, made pro/con lists (ala Gilmore Girls) and thought long and hard about what I wanted my next car to be. I went to many a dealership, and talked with too many salesmen (some slimy and some respectable) and at the end of the whole thing, I walked away with....(ta da) a Saturn Ion. Now, to those of you that feel let down, let me assure you that it is different from my previous car in a few ways. Firstly, it's not wrecked. Secondly, it is a new color (green). Thirdly, it is a 2006. There are other differences too...like OnStar and a place to plug in my ipod. (what will they think of next??) I'm very excited to have it and also have discovered that I really am a Saturn girl.

I went to the choir retreat at my new church last weekend and it went really well. Everyone was so friendly and I met lots of different people and age groups. On Saturday, we convened at the church and went through all the music for the upcoming season (through Christmas). All we did was sight read...it was brutal! I'm looking forward to brushing up on that a bit so my brain isn't mush by the end of practice. :)

On my next post, I will try and put some pictures up of my new car (but not the license plate number, so you can't steal my identity) and also the inside of my new apartment...car shopping and choir retreat/church delayed my unpacking a bit...

Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers and I really miss you guys a ton!!

The Utah Car Extravaganza

The driver's side doors couldn't open at all because they were wedged in the dirt, but Kamden (my passenger) and I were able to get out on the other side with only a few cuts and scratches.

I'm so thankful that nothing happened to Kamden. She made friends with the ambulance medical personnel and they gave her their phone numbers.

I had the fun task of helping the police officer file the report of the accident. He also gave me a ticket for improper lane travel. I couldn't argue with him there...

The tow people came and flipped my car over for me so that we could tow it all the way to Colorado Springs. Believe it or not the car made it all the way here before all tires (except the spare) went completely flat. The Lord completely worked everything out. Everyone commented on the safety features that Saturn has and that it kept it's shape really well.