Here’s Karmel trying to “hide” before the big move.  Surprisingly both him and Kali survived the trip back to Livonia without any issues.  I thought that the plane ride would be traumatizing for them, but they hardly cried or meowed.

 Here’s a look inside the first Budget Truck that we rented before we loaded it up.  I don’t have a picture of the second truck (fortunately!) as Mike was the only one who flew back to Denver to get the second load.

 Here’s a look at some of the boxes we had packed up and ready to go.  I’ve never been to Home Depot or U-Haul so many times.  It seems like we always needed one or two more boxes…

Dakota and Guinness both survived the LONG drive from Denver to Livonia.  They slept most of the way and didn’t eat much.  I don’t think they are looking forward to another road trip like this anytime soon!

Finally you get to see Mike in the Budget Truck!  He looks happy here, but he wasn’t so happy when he couldn’t find a hotel at in NE that had availability and accepted dogs!

  Last but not least, here’s a picture of Mike leaving Denver pulling my Jeep behind Truck #1.

So you want to know where home is?  Well, we have moved in with my parents temporarily.  Not something I’d have expected that I’d be doing at 35 years of age, but thankfully they welcomed us, our two dogs and our two cats to move into their basement while we look for a home.  I’m not sure, but I think the pending arrival of Baby Minton probably helped us get in!

What else is new?  Well after Mike drove two – that’s right.  Not one but TWO Budget Trucks from Denver to Livonia, we’ve stored all of our belongs in a storage unit and tried to settle in and prepare for our little one to arrive.  Here’s a short list of the things we’ve been busy doing:

*Found a new OB and took a tour of the hospital – we’ll be delivering at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia

*We’re taking birthing classes at Troy Beaumont Hospital (I know it’s a hike but we late in getting registered and that’s the only hospital that had openings!)

*We’ve purchased all of the must-have baby items including the pack n’ play, stroller and swing

*Mike is helping my Dad finish a bathroom in the basement – the toliet is already operational which makes midnight bathroom runs much easier!

*We’ve spent two weekends out at the cottage with my Grandma – she is extremely excited to have us home

*We’re both working full-time still, although I’m preparing to go on maternity leave as of my due date which is Aug 2nd

There’s lots of other stuff that’s going on too as relocating is a full time endeavor when you’re trying to change addresses, order checks, move bank accounts, etc.  So are you wondering if it’s worth it? 

ABSOLUTELY! 

Even though it was tough packing up and leaving Denver, the love and support we are getting from our friends and family here in Michigan was worth all the sore backs from packing, Mike’s two cross-country drives and any money we spent to relocate.  And if you think we appreciate it now, just wait until our little peanut arrives.  That’s when it’s really going to be evident that we made the right decision in choosing to move back to Michigan.

We met up with Terri and Michelle before the race. They decided to walk the 2 mile course while we proceeded to walk the full 4+ miles.

Here are a few pics from the event…

On Friday morning Mom and I set out to the grocery store to buy the ingredients that we needed for our early holiday celebration.  I wanted to get a fresh turkey this year, so we headed to King Sooper as Mike heard an ad on the radio that they had fresh birds in stock.  When we got to the turkey section it was rather humorous as they had small turkeys (7-9 lbs) and really BIG turkeys (19+ lbs).  Knowing that our friends Jessica and Chris would be joining us for dinner we opted for the BIG bird.

After we got home we left the bird out for an hour or so as it was partially frozen.  The guy at the grocery store said that this was because they flash freeze them before transporting them as it helps reducing the number of bruises that appear.  It’s funny that the grocery stores seem to care more about the turkeys once they are dead!  (Yes…that’s the vegetarian in me speaking!)

On Saturday morning we got up around 7am and started cooking.  Here’s what was on the menu:

Turkey – basted with white wine and butter
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Corn Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Cranberry Sauce (I think Mom was the only one who ate it!)
Rolls – both wheat and white
White Wine

It wasn’t extravagant, but it reminded me of past Thanksgivings at home in Michigan.

Before dinner we spent time catching up with Jess and Chris and we even snuck in a few games of Euchre.  I don’t know why more people in Colorado don’t play cards.  I need to start a Euchre or Pinochle club.  It would make my Grandma proud!  Also, not that I’m bragging or anything but Jess and I were partners and we were undefeated!

We only had one mishap during the day and it was my fault.  When I was taking the corn casserole out of the oven, my oven mitt slipped and I spilled corn all over the bottom of the oven.  It even leaked in to the bottom of the door.   Oops!  The following day Mike had to pull out the owners manual to figure out how to take the door off.

After dinner we were all stuffed, but we burned off some calories by playing Wii Sports Resort in the family room.  We bowled, we played archery and we even shot basketball hoops.  All in all, it was a great holiday celebrated with family and friends.  What more could you ask for?

On the drive in, I noticed how beautiful the mountains looked, especially with the full moon still in the sky.  I snapped these pics from the car…and if you’re wondering it was while stopped at a red light on Leetsdale.

The pictures don’t do justice for the actual color that day, but it’s no wonder that Katharine Lee Bates mentioned the purple mountain majesties in the words for America the Beautiful after a trip to the top of Pikes Peak.

The opening band was Carolina Liar.  You would know their song “Show me what I’m looking for”, but I’m digging their song “California Bound”.  I haven’t bought it on iTunes yet, but it’s on my list.

They played for 30 minutes or so and then OneRepublic came on.  They were great and the lead singer and another band member grew up in Colorado Springs so there were various shout outs, especially for the Broncos who were still undefeated at that time.

Here’s a quick video that we grab on my camera.  The song is “Apologize” which sounded AWESOME live.

The highlight of the evening was Mr. Rob Thomas.  He’s played a great show – almost 2 hours long.  He interacted with the crowd and sang like a mad man.  I already have all his music, but in addition to that I now have this picture of him…he is one fine looking man.

Special thanks to Sara for getting us fan club tickets which happened to be in the 21st row on the floor.  Very cool.

Also, here’s a tweet that I sent to Rob that night:

Hey @ThisIsRobThomas sing me a song! I’m in the center section on the floor in the 21st row in seat #12.9:17 PM Oct 27th from Echofon

Unfortunately he didn’t acknowledge me during the show.  Maybe next time!

We haven’t planted any bulbs yet in CO, but we knew we wanted to get some Allium as Dale and Tom purchased some last year and they were beautiful.  We also wanted to get some flowers that would bloom in the Spring, but it’s late and the bulbs are in the garage right now…so you’ll have to wait until next year to see what we bought.  From what I can remember there are some red ones and also some multi-colored ones.  Next task is to get them in the ground!

I had a great time bowling (which I haven’t done in years) and even came in third during the first game by bowling a 103.  I threw a couple of strikes, but couldn’t get any spares to fall. Oh well, at least I can say that I beat most of the guys that I work with.

Here are some pictures from the outing:

Overall most of us enjoyed the booked, but I had more fun chatting with my fellow book reader (and friends) about how friendships have shaped their lives.

In the event you are interested in reading the book it chronicles the lives of eleven friends who grew up in Ames, IA and still remain friends after 30 years, Terri, who picked the book, is from a small town in Iowa and graduated from Iowa State in Ames.

On Saturday, I joined the Ames girls as we watched the Iowa v Iowa State game at the Sports Column in LoDo. It’s unfortunate that the Cyclones lost, but then again so did my Spartans.

Erin and Terri cheering for Iowa State

Overall, I had a great weekend as it reminded me how important my friends are to me – both old and new!

On our way to workout this afternoon, Sara and I saw the following at the corner of 14th and Lincoln.

I thought it was interesting enough to pull out my camera and take a picture.