Christmastime is... Gone (Part, the First)

Christmas? In February? That's craazy!

We had quite the Christmas adventure this year, which led us through three states and to five different gatherings. Our first stop was El Dorado, Kansas on Christmas Eve. For the first time in years, the three Krause boys (my dad and uncles) and their wives were able to gather with my grandparents for Christmas. We felt a little bit like kids crashing the grown-up party since there were no other younguns around, but it was nice to see everyone.

After a beautiful dinner made by my aunt and uncle, we sang some Christmas carols and exchanged a few gifts. While Matt and I just sat and watched while the older generations opened their gifts from their draw-a-name exchange, we participated in the fun of the white elephant. Lots of laughter and fun was had!

On Christmas morning we got up early to make the drive to Bella Vista, Arkansas. Matt's immediate family stayed in a nice lake house so that we could have our own little Christmas before the big family gathering at Oma and Opa's.

At our little lake house.

Most of Matt's extended family was able to get together to celebrate, and we had quite a crowd.

The whole clan.

The few days we spend in Bella Vista were full of lots of visiting, playing games, and eating tons and tons of delicious food.

Too soon, we were off to our next stop: Marshall, Arkansas. This portion of the trip was much more subdued, as it was mostly just sitting and chatting with my other grandparents (and a little time visiting my aunt and uncle).

With Granny and Grandpa.

We felt so fortunate to be able to visit all of our 6 living grandparents over the course of a few days - and so fortunate to have these wonderful people in our lives.

But we had to continue onward - to fun times with good friends. We had a reunion in Ark City with our little group of Matt's best friends from high school and their wives. It was the first time in years that all of us were able to gather at the same time, plus we had the addition of Ruby (John and Anna's little one).

The night began with a giant box of beer:

Dac's mystery box of 24 different beers.

And the night continued with hanging out, watching Birdemic (if you have Netflix, you should go waste 2 hours of you life on this movie), and generally acting ridiculous.

We love getting to see so many people in such a short time, but it's definitely exhausting. We were excited to head home to our own bed for a short time. Then we were off again for more Christmas craziness...

Fall 2011: Double Holiday Fun

Who wants to read about events that are no longer relevant or interesting because they happened a really long time ago? You do? Good.

The holidays were a little crazy this year. They started with double the fun at TWO Halloweens and TWO Thanksgivings. I know, we're pretty special.

As you may remember, Matt and I have hosted a Halloween party at our place for the last couple of years. Usually, we kick out the little ones in our family as it gets late (trying to be responsible and all that junk), which is always a little sad because kids LOVE Halloween. This year, my family decided that the kids deserved a party that was more designed for them. Cue my mother and her insane enthusiasm (which is awesome).

She decided a MURDER MYSTERY was just the ticket. Except it was really a ROBBERY MYSTERY, because murder is a little dark for kids. Anyway, we got to planning. I was responsible for side games (we did a Halloween song identification and a competitive dance party - fun!) and a couple of snacks.

Snack table.

My favorite of my treats. I contributed with a mummy cheese spread, eye of newt eggs, and sugar cookies.

The robbery mystery required each of us (except for the lame-os, who refused) to play a part; I was Ms. Pheasant. We were given clues about our character, and we tried to learn more about our castmates as the theft unfolded - while eating snacks and taking mini-game breaks.

Who stole the diamond-encrusted dragon egg???? (It was Hannah - I mean, Ms. Crimson)

At the end, we all gave away our final secrets until the thief was revealed. The whole night was a little silly, but also really fun. And the kids got a kick out of it, which was the whole idea.

The following weekend, we continued the Halloween fun with our annual party. This year's theme was video game characters. We had lots of family and friends gather in silly costumes, and it was a really good time.

My first focus in hosting these parties is always the food. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my spread. I had pumpkin puke (guacamole), tapeworms (hot dogs and ketchup), vertebrae (tortilla rolls), dirty bath water (punch), test tube goo (blue curacao and sprite), chex mix (chex mix), and store-bought cookies (store-bought cookies).

Food.

Fun, yes?

My second focus when hosting these parties is finding an awesome costume. This year, I pretty much chose the theme to fit the costumes I wanted for me and Matt, which was: Link and Princess Zelda! I, of course, was Link! Matt was really only half a Princess Zelda because I didn't want to make/find a full gown that he wouldn't wear for more than a half an hour. But he wore a wig with pointy ears!

Some of the fun video game costumes.

Of course, we covered our house in fun decorations, and the mood lighting created a creepy atmosphere.

Hanging out in my mood lighting.

It was definitely a good time. I always get stressed when having parties, and I think that I don't want to do it again. Then a couple of months go by and I start to forget the not-fun parts. So, there's a possibility that we could be having our 4th Annual Halloween Party next year.

Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday, was double-the-fun, too! We had a nice meal with my family at my parents' house, and we had a meal with one of my good friends a couple of days later. That meant lots of food and, for me, lots of cooking.

Some of my supplies.

For my family Thanksgiving, I made macaroni and cheese (of course), apple cranberry sauce, salted caramel butter bars, pumpkin chocolate swirl cheesecake, and mud slide pie. Other members of my family made a ton of stuff too, so we had lots of food. We even fried some sweet potato chips for fun!

Just the appetizers.

The big meal.

Thanksgiving was on the little one's birthday this year, so we had to give her a moment to be the center of attention (as if she isn't usually).

Happy Birthday!

Then we devoured desserts.

My pumpkin chocolate swirl cheesecake and mudslide pie.

For Rachel's Thanksgiving a couple of days later, I made a cheesy squash casserole and another pretty cheesecake. We gathered at her newly purchased home with some of her family and friends. It was a very neat experience because a couple of the guests had never been to an American Thanksgiving before (they're here from the Middle East). It was great to share part of our culture and learn about others' traditions. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but we had a lovely dinner, pleasant conversation, and a little Apples to Apples thrown in at the end.

Double holidays are tons of fun, but I'm not sure I can handle it every year. At least not if I plan on making as much food.

Fall 2011: A Romantic Weekend for Two

Back in October, my buddy Rachel and I were a little stressed. And by "a little," I mean "a lot." I was still trying to figure out the whole two-school thing, and Rachel was completing her comps for grad school. It was an exhausting time for both of us, so we decided some rest and relaxation was desperately needed. We made our way into the mountains for a girls' weekend at the Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs. To save a little money, we booked their monthly special, which was definitely marketed towards couples. The package included a room, entrance to the geothermal caves, a certificate towards dinner in town, and a discount on massages and a private bath. Because we are comfortable in our friendship, we decided we could handle the awkwardness of people thinking we were a lesbian couple, and we booked the trip (electing NOT to have the couples massage, of course).

The quaint (if a little rundown) facilities.

We began our weekend with massages, which helped release a little of the stress. Then we went to check out the geothermal caves. It was a very cool environment, as we were literally inside a cave. Unfortunately (or not?), I don't have any pictures. Clothing was optional, and everything was very wet, so cameras weren't very appropriate.

Women's caves. No peeking.

If you must know (nosy, much?), we remained in our swim suits the entire time. Anyway, the place was like a sauna with tons of hot tubs in the ground. The temperatures were so high that the experience was very intense. We had to take a couple of breaks to rehydrate and cool off, but we felt cleansed and refreshed after the whole thing.

We took a walk downtown to have dinner at the Buffalo Restaurant & Bar. We sat and talked for a couple hours, which is always fun.

Walking through Idaho Springs. Pretty fall colors.

The following morning, we had an appointment for a private bath. If you've never taken a private bath, let me tell you that it's weird. We went to a room of questionable cleanliness and sat in a large tub.

It's a bathtub.

It was warm, but not as hot as a hot tub, and without any jets. While we had the tub for an hour, we couldn't help thinking of the creepy things that may have happened in that room... Even if I was with Matt, I'm pretty sure that would have still been creepy - not romantic. Plus, it was really boring, so we left after 15 minutes and went to the hot springs pool instead.

Like the rest of the place, the pool area was a little old and run-down, but there were lots of tropical plants that made it prettier.

And then, too quickly, it was time to head back down. It didn't take long for us to settle back into the stress of life, but the trip was rejuvenating and much-needed for our sanity. And oh-so-romantic, of course.

Random Things

So, I have an awesome friend who has some awesome blogs. She does this thing on Wednesdays where she posts a "Midweek Randoms" post. She's always completely adorable as she jumps from topic to topic to catch people up on what's been going on in her life. Well, I feel like I have a LOT of random things that never made it to the blog, and since I'm still super behind, I thought I'd throw them all together into my own random post. Of course, I can't seem to edit myself and I'm not nearly as cute as my buddy, so this may be a long one... We'll see...

• You may remember from way back in May that I started sewing purses. I posted a quick post with a couple pictures and never really mentioned it on here again. Well, even though it never made the blog, I kept sewing and sewing all summer. It was a good way to pass the time as I stressed about finding a job. As you know, I found a job and I now have very little time for sewing. But I managed to gather a little collection of purses before I went on hiatus for school. My aunt hooked me up with her hairdresser, and I am now selling all those purses in a hair salon! Look at my pretty display:Unfortunately... by "selling" I really mean "storing." Not a single one of my purses has sold yet, but at least they're not sitting in a bag in my craft room. I also made a second blog where I am collecting pictures of the various things I've made. I don't have a lot over there yet, but you can check it out here.

• I was recently looking through some old pictures on my phone and I saw something that made me long for one of my favorite summer traditions.

From a trip to Oskar Blues this summer. I miss OB's bluegrass nights. And their satchmo burger with sweet potato fries. Yum.

• Continuing the journey through old phone pics: Back in July, Denver got our very own IKEA store. It was very exciting. Matt and I even headed down to Centennial on opening day (after a stop at the car dealership to get our new Subie's oil changed). It was CRAZY how many people were there. We waited in long lines to park and fought our way through the crowds, but it was pretty cool. We got some decorating ideas and a new vase, and headed home. Then our car died on the highway. Fun! Apparantly, the dealership didn't get the oil plug back in and our engine was DESTROYED! Luckily, the dealership took full responsibility, gave us a rental car, and took care of the repairs.
  

Long line of cars at IKEA and our pretty car getting towed.

• I've been a real teacher for about 3 months now, and things are going ok. The parts of the job I was worried about aren't that big of a deal, and the most difficult things took me by surprise. So far, the hardest thing has been traveling between two schools. I just always feel like out of the loop or like I'm missing something important at the other school. But I'm starting to get into a groove. It helps that I have awesome kids.
  

One of my classrooms, decorated for our pumpkin party by me and one of my students. And the awesome pumpkins decorated by me and my colleagues. Mine is the black spiderweb.

• Now that ski season has arrived, Matt's gone crazy. In preparation for the many ski adventures to come this year, we went to a premier of a ski movie downtown. The film was Solitaire, made by Sweetgrass Productions, and it was really good. Some of the athletes were at the theatre, so I got autographs! And they tossed merchandise into the audience, so I got a free Dynafit hat! Actually, Melissa got a free hat, but she's a good friend (and she didn't want it) so she gave it to me.
  

Yay for being surrounded by other ski fanatics.

• A while back, my youngest nieces earned a trip to the Lakeside amusement park by having awesome behavior at home. Because I like amusement parks, I went along. Lakeside is a small park that has been around my entire life. It's starting to get a little run-down, and many of the rides aren't even operated any more. In some ways, it has the feel of an old, abandoned park - you can see the remains of what used to be an amazing place. Of course, the kiddos didn't notice, and they had a blast.
  

Old, closed rides and games.

The kids enjoying kiddieland.

Woohoo!

• One of the great things about Matt's job is that he gets to work with a large variety of local businesses and companies. The Brown Palace, a fancy-schmancy hotel downtown, is one of these businesses. Through his association with some of the higher-ups, Matt got a pretty good weekend package at the hotel that we got to take advantage of. It included a night in an awesome corner suite, valet parking, dinner for two at The Ship Tavern, and breakfast for two at Ellyngton's. The whole package was worth somewhere around $700, by Matt's estimation. It was pretty nice to get out of the house and feel pampered a bit - and the service at this place certainly makes you feel pampered. But before we pretended to be rich for the weekend, we went to see the touring production of Hair, which made me want to run away and join a tribe somewhere. Until I realized that I really just want to run away and join the cast of Hair. I miss theatre. Anyway, the Brown Palace experience was great, but will probably not be repeated any time soon.
  

The lovely surprise left by Matt's client.

Our pretty, pretty, suite.

The fancy-shmancy Brown Palace. So pretty.

So, that's about it. My first attempt at collecting my random thoughts from the past few months may have been a little long, but I'm that much closer to being caught up on here, so that's a good thing.