Next Stop: The Grand Canyon

So, for like the past 20 years or so, Jen has ding-donged about how she has always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. She’s flown over it many times going to Hawaii, but never actually got to go there physically (Greg has though). Not sure why it was always such a big deal to go there, but hey, we all have places we want to go and see, right? Anyhow, when we were approached by Mom and Dad Kelly about our 2008 family trip, Jen piped up and said, “Hey, how about the Grand Canyon!?” Surprisingly everyone was game – which was good, because one, it’s not always easy getting 6 people to make a decision about something, and two, if Greg (a.k.a. “the favorite”) had picked somewhere else, we most likely would have gone there instead. (LOL)

Anyhow, we all packed ourselves and our luggage like sardines in the Tahoe and headed out on one of our infamous road trips. We left on Friday afternoon and made our first stop 6 hours from home in Grand Junction, Colorado. After a quick dip in the pool, we went to bed fairly early so we could get up early and enjoy all that the next day had to offer.

Saturday morning, we headed out to Moab, Utah and then to Arches National Park. It was so stinking hot there, but we got to see a lot of cool stuff. We even stopped at a lot of cool places along the way..... that helped break the trip up a little bit. Late that night we got to our hotel at the Grand Canyon (we thought we’d never make it there) and went straight to bed.

Sunday morning, we woke up to clouds and light rain. What a disappointment that was! That was our Grand Canyon day! But, we went anyway and tried to at least see SOMETHING. At first it seemed futile to even stop and get out of the car, but the clouds let up in some areas and we actually got to see some stuff! We even hiked along a scenic trail, but then it started pouring rain, so we got back to the car as fast as we could. At least we got SOME pics. We almost thought that we had driven over 700 miles for nothing. ;) After that, we made a little side trip to the four corners area, took the obligatory tourist pictures, had a picnic, and then headed out to our next hotel in Pagosa Springs, CO.

Monday morning we slept in, had a big breakfast, and then started home. We stopped a couple of times…. once for a pretty hike by a huge waterfall along the side of the road, and once for a picnic at a playground. We made it home late Monday afternoon and just crashed on the couch the rest of the night. Vacations can be fun – and tiring!

One word would describe last week: BUSY. Wednesday was Jen’s last day of clinicals. Yay! Now all she needs to do is study, sit for her boards, and get a job. She plans on taking her boards at the end of October/early November, and it looks like a job might be opening up here soon at Memorial Hospital. Friday night we went to go watch our minor league baseball team here in the Springs (the Sky Sox) play and got to experience the “Friday Night Fireworks.” It was absolutely amazing! It makes you want to go to every Friday night game that you can just for the show afterwards. They know how to put on a great show! Sunday afternoon we went to the State Fair. We spent a good 4 hours there, seeing all the exhibits and petting all the animals. We even got a little bit of a sunburn! This past week has been busy with running errands, bike rides, long walks at night, preparing for the launch of our new TeamKid year at church, and packing for our trip. Can you believe it’s September already!? Where does all the time seem to go....

A Noisy Mess

(By Jen)

BZZZZZZZZZ……… BZZZZZZZZZ……… BZZZZZZZZZ……… BZZZZZZZZZ……… BZZZZZZZZZ……… that’s the sound I woke up to yesterday and this morning - a jackhammer and a cement cutter. Part of our driveway and cul-de-sac are now torn to pieces (which means 2 of our 3 cars now have to live out on the street instead of in the garage for a few days). We have no real idea what they are trying to fix - which makes us kinda nervous. Brand new houses, brand new neighborhood – what could possibly be THAT wrong already that men are standing chest high in the ground?? Well, at least one good thing might come of it – I could reach one of my “goals” in life by making an imprint on wet cement before I die. LOL. (I’d have to get out at night so no one would see me though – I’m so silly.) Anyhow, here are a few pics that I sneakily took through the blinds throughout the days – before I had to get the heck out of there. The noise can be enough to drive a person crazy!!!!!

BZZZZZZZZZZ!!!! There goes some of my driveway and part of the street.....

What a mess.... I feel kinda trapped.

Here comes the cement! (And by the way, look at that nicely mowed lawn of ours!)

Almost done! (See my car over there?)

It's Good To Go

After almost two months of sitting in the garage and figuring out what to do, the Saturn is finally good to go!

We ordered a BRAND NEW headlamp online through eBay (with shipping, it was still cheaper than going to a junkyard and getting a USED one) and after much waiting, we finally received it this past week! Now it's back to 30+ MPG!

It doesn't look 100%, but better than it did! The frame is still really bent and we spent weeks trying to figure out how to unbend the frame--it doesn't appear that the frame will become straight anytime soon. The last thing we'll do is get a one-piece bra cover for the hood--that should cover up most of the dents!

Celebrating 4 Years of Marriage in New York City

After many years of dreaming and wanting to go, we finally made it out to the big apple. We had such an amazing time, and are still quite tempted to move there. ;) We got to do everything (and a little more) on our “list of things to see and do,” and we’re already making plans and another “list” for our next trip out there. All of our friends and family had been telling us how jealous they were of us that we got to go to NYC.... it was only a matter of time before we could find out that reason for ourselves.

Here are a couple of highlights from the trip:
* Since Greg has connections, we got an exclusive private tour of the New York Stock Exchange. We got to be there for the opening bell and hang out on the floor with all of the traders. It was pretty much awesome! Not everyone gets to do that!
* Before all the tickets were sold out for every seat of every game until the end of the season, we managed to get tickets and went to a Yankee game at “The House That Ruth Built” before they implode it at the end of this season. We had such a blast being a part of baseball history! (This was of course AFTER we thought the game was gonna be cancelled because of the rain….. we were drenched when the game finally started.)
*Jen FINALLY got to go into a Bloomingdale’s and buy something. Gotta love those “Big Brown Bags!”
* We had THE best time walking all the way across the Brooklyn Bridge and going to Central Park. We went to Central Park every day we were there.

Click on the slideshows below to view SOME of our pics and to see what all we did on our trip. (Once you click anywhere on the slideshow, click on "original view" or "original size" or "gallery view" on the top right to get the pictures to enlarge. Then you can either just sit back and watch the slide show, or click thru them by the arrow at the top, or by clicking on the smaller pictures below the bigger one.) We took well over 300 pictures, so obviously we didn’t want to post ALL of them on here. ;) Enjoy!

Birthday Boy

Yesterday we celebrated Greg's 29th birthday. 29.... can you believe it? One more year and he'll be 30. Wow! Time sure flies.... Anyhow, he had a nice quiet/calm birthday; just how he wanted it. After work, Jen took him downtown to a restaurant called the Metropolitain (yes, that is spelled correctly), and after that, we headed over to Mom and Dad Kelly's house for cake and presents. Mom made Greg's special request - chocolate chip cheesecake. YUM! He got spoiled with lots of presents, and after all the fun, the "kids" played Twister. We could have stayed up all night laughing our heads off and playing that silly game, but we had busy days today and needed to get to bed at a decent hour. This week (and last week) has been SO busy and SO tiring that we're looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and doing nothing all day. ;) (Especially since we'll be up half the night watching the Olympics - we love the Olympics!)

Biking Rampart Range Reservoir

What a great day for a bike ride it was today! The weather was perfect - since we were up in the mountains and biking around a lake in and out of the trees, it was relatively nice and cool. However, we didn't make it all the way around the reservoir. We only made it 9+ miles out of the 15 and we sure worked VERY hard to accomplish those 9+ miles. We were so hot, tired, dirty, sore and worn out by the time we got back to the car that we decided to forego our picnic and head straight to the McDonalds in Woodland Park. We're pretty sure we're gonna sleep like a rock tonight.... and pop the Motrin tomorrow like crazy. ;)

CFA Results

(By Greg)

As some of you know, today was D-Day @ 9:00 AM EST! I attempted to log-in from home, but there was so much traffic that the site would not pull up! After reloading the page about 15 times, I gave up, and came to work! Once I got to work, the link opened with no problem. The results:

PASS

I did not get less than 51% in any category. Also, the overall PASS RATE was 35%!

The next step, Level 2, next June! I now have a good 10+ months to study for the next Level!

If there's one thing I learned in the 4+ long months of studying and the 2 months of waiting for the results, I can do anything if I put my mind/heart/soul in it!

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!"