Birthday Girl

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday we celebrated Jen’s birthday. 27 years in fact. (And the birthday fun will continue on into this next week too because now, some of her girlfriends want to take her out and celebrate!) But anyhow, back to the beginning... Wednesday all day and on into the night, Greg had various surprises hidden around the house to make the actual birthday day special for her. That night, Jen also had TeamKID at church and all the little kids surprised her with an awesome round of “Happy Birthday,” balloons and some gift cards. Thursday, Jen wanted things to be “just like old times,” so we headed up to Denver to Buca di Beppo with the Collins Family for her birthday dinner. (We used to do the Cheesecake factory, but her craving this year was for Buca – excellent choice!) After that, it was presents and Jen’s request of homemade apple pie for dessert. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we spent at a little condo/cabin on the river in Estes Park, Colorado, courtesy of Mom and Dad Kelly. What a fabulous week and an excellent way to spend a birthday!

Jen in the “Princess chair” with her Prince by her side

Just like old times..... we’re just missing Kyle..... =(

Happy Birthday!! Guess Greg and Becca were too embarassed to be in the picture..... ;)

Gotta have a caramel apple in Estes Park..... a tradition – Jen’s favorite!

Outside our condo/cabin – our favorite place to relax

Inside Rocky Mountain National Park (at dusk)

Blog Tag

(By Jen)

Tag! I am “it” on this new game called “blog tag.” I have been “tagged” and asked to blog about 6 random facts about myself. I don’t want to be the only who doesn’t participate in this, so I will sit here and hopefully come up with some interesting random facts. Prepare yourself.....

1. I have THE hardest time swallowing pills. I practically choke when I have to take my vitamin and other such supplements every day. It doesn’t matter how small the pill is either, somehow it manages to get lodged in the back of my throat and I cough and hack and carry on like I am dying. Greg always gets a kick out of watching me swallow any sort of pill..... I think he’s tempted to sell tickets, like I am putting on a show or something.

2. I have an OCD about having things neat and orderly and clean around the house. (Basically, just don’t touch my stuff – LOL) I feel that our house needs to always be ready just in case someone stops by unannounced. It would absolutely horrify me to have someone see a dirty/messy house. And what’s funny to me is that I have friends tell me, “Oh that will all change when you have kids.” But you know what? I am pretty sure it won’t. I’ll be one of those “mean” moms who make their kids pick up after themselves and not pull out every toy they own to make messes all over the house. There’s just no reason for messiness. -- As long as we’re on the subject..... it absolutely thrills my soul to organize things and to plan my day by making lists (being able to check things off my list really brings about a sense of accomplishment for me). I love organizing things in boxes or Rubbermaid containers with labels. Our next move is going to be a piece of cake for us! ;)

3. Milk and even the thoughts of it make me gag. But I love chocolate milk. Explain that!?

4. I hate to wash my hands in cold water. I will stand there and wait for as long as it takes just to get hot water to wash my hands with. I also practically scald myself in the shower every morning. I can't help it, I just love hot water!

5. I totally love to give anonymously - that excites me more than anything. I also love birthdays and Christmas (I plan Christmas presents and write down ideas all year long) too..... I just LOVE to give presents! Greg and I have given anonymously for as long as I can remember, and I really feel that it truly blesses us personally, and strengthens our relationship with each other as well as with the Lord. If you’ve never done it before, I challenge you to try it. It’s SO incredibly rewarding!

6. I love it when people leave their blinds open at night. (Just ask Greg..... I make him slow the car down so I can get a better look!) It’s so much fun to “spy" on people and to see how they live and how they decorate and what their house looks like. Now, I always shut my blinds at night because it gives me the creeps..... =)

That’s all, friends. Those are my 6 random, hopefully somewhat interesting, facts. I now tag Brian Kelly, Ali Farmer, Kyle Collins, Laura Moffat, Clare Picker, Jenny Bender, and Beverly Bender.

What Is A Hedge Fund?

(By Greg)

Since my interview last week and the potential opportunity it might bring, several of you have asked, "What is a hedge fund?"

Short answer: (assuming you know what a mutual fund is) a hedge fund is a mutual fund for the super rich!

Long answer: a hedge fund is a private investment open to a limited number of "accredited" investors which is permitted to undertake a wider range of investing activity. A standard mutual fund is generally only allowed to buy (go "long") stocks, bonds, and maybe some derivatives. A hedge fund, on the other hand, is also allowed to short securities (sell securities not held in the account in anticipation that the security will drop and can then be bought back at a lower price, the "buy-low/sell-high" philosophy, just in reverse), buy commodities (gold, silver, corn, wheat, etc.), buy derivatives, and buy futures (a derivative to buy/sell a certain commodity or financial instrument at a set price and at a set date [expiration date] in the future)!

In a down market, most mutual funds will lose money. On the other hand, hedge funds "hedge" risk and should be increasing in value if not preserving capital. In a down market, hedge funds have more investment opportunities to make money than a standard mutual fund.

I hope this short lesson made sense...

Friday Night Date Night

We have had a tradition in our house ever since we’ve been married. Well, actually we have had more than one tradition, but this is the one we are choosing to blog about today – Friday night date night! We usually reserve Friday nights for each other and make that one night all about us. Well, we haven’t gone out on the town in quite some time… we’ve been trying to be better stewards of our money and resources, so we’ve been getting quite creative the last few months or so on how we’ve done our “date nights.” However, last night, Greg came home and surprised Jen with a dozen bright pink roses (and chocolate!) and proclaimed that “tonight was going to be a real date night.”

Jen had already had dinner planned, but after that, we went shopping (of course it had to include a trip to World Market!) and then went to see the movie, Fireproof. (Click here to see the movie trailer.) It was absolutely amazing and we totally recommend it to everyone. It had us thinking back too... we were looking through all of our wedding and engagement cards this past week, and through the fun process of reminiscing, we realized that about 5-6 couples who gave us cards/gifts/etc, are now divorced or not together anymore. It sure turned that fun moment into a sad moment. Fireproof had talked about vows and the seriousness of vows, and how when people stand up there before God and everyone, how they vow to stay together for better or for worse… but generally they just mean “for better.” Wow! A movie with some real morals and a convicting story line! It was also a movie that left us with ways to better ourselves and our marriage. Kinda like a challenge.... is OUR marriage Fireproof? So far so good. =)

Prayer/Praise UPDATE

(By Greg)

FYI: I had an interview this week for a research analyst position for a local hedge fund here in the Springs!

The interview went well and they indicated there were only a couple interviews and that I had more experience than the other individual. It was very informal and almost more of a "screening" interview.

I have a 2nd interview on Tuesday October 28th at 2:30 PM with the head boss!

Again, please pray for God's will to be done! In addition, if this is God's will, pray for the negotiations on salary--they do not provide medical/retirement benefits! Therefore, I have done extensive research on what T. Rowe Price pays, what the price tag is for benefits in the marketplace, and have come up with a minimum salary...

We Are Pleased to Announce.....

.... that Brian and Rebecca are officially engaged!!!!!! We couldn’t be more thrilled. (can you tell!!??) CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! =)

We also find it a very high honor to be a part of the wedding party as well by being attendants. More and more these days, people aren’t having their brothers and sisters (or even future brothers and/or sisters) involved in the wedding – and we find it so weird; like it’s a blatant example of the non-closeness of the family. But in this situation, this speaks volumes, and we are proud to let the kind of relationship we have (and hope to continue to have) with Brian and Becca be known to everyone.

We love you guys and can’t wait to help with any of the planning and be a part of your special day!!!!!!

Pumpkin Farm and an Air Show

It was a gorgeous day today here in Colorado – mid 70’s! Can’t beat that for October, huh?! Today we went and picked out our pumpkin at the Happy Apple Farm 25+ miles outside of the Springs. We had so much fun meandering all through the fields looking for just the right pumpkin for our table, walking around in the blackberry bushes picking and eating, and then taking a small hay ride back to the main area to pick up some fresh apple cider. We enjoyed the weather while we could.... we think tomorrow a cold front will be coming through. Bye bye warm weather!


On Friday, Jen tagged along with Mom Kelly to her weekly trip to the Commissary. Once they got inside the gate, they happened to see a jet practicing for the air show this weekend, so they sat in the parking lot and watched him practice for a good 15 mins before they went in and shopped. It was so much fun! Today, we all got to watch bits and pieces of the air show. We’d stop here and there, looking for just the best spot. We found one alright! But, just as our camera batteries died, THE BEST show of all happened (of course, right?).... one of the jets came sneaking up from behind, really low to the ground, and screamed over our heads. It was ear piercingly loud, and we almost felt like hitting the dirt, but it was also the best part of the whole day. We love air shows - they never seem to get old. Below are a couple of the many videos that we took today. Enjoy!