The Goodrums

Our handiwork...



Good food, great friends.

♫♪♫♪

I actually sang that Psalty the Singing Songbook song while driving out on our recent camping adventure. Only my family will appreciate the song. Even Jen Nelson commented that the CD we had listened to about 45 times already was just fine (we forgot to bring the CDs and there's not much radio to be found in the mountains). Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video or MP3 of the "We're going camping" song - but I did find this clip that should give you an idea of its excellent quality. It's no wonder we all had major socially awkward stages growing up... :)

Anyway, this first weekend in August, we embarked on a little mountain get away - redemption for this post.

My college roomie, Jen, joined us from Texas for the adventure. Jen flew in Friday night. Saturday morning we packed up and headed out to the Glenwood Springs area. Our original plan was to spend time in Glenwood Springs - hanging out at the springs, vapor caves, perhaps rafting or paragliding - but we ended up spending almost no time in that area.

The first thing we did after our longer-than-I-expected drive was find a campsite. We were fortunate and someone else hadn't shown up for their reservation the night before so the campsite hosts offered it to us. We earned quite a reputation as campsite stealers! We pitched our tent, ate some lunch and headed down to Aspen for the afternoon.

Amazingly, after almost 3 years in Colorado, Michael and I still had not made it out to the Maroon Bells - the most photgraphed site in Colorado. Although we'd never quite understood the allure, we did once we arrived. They were well worth the drive and we now see why they are so photographed. We hiked the "scenic loop trail" along the river that feeds Maroon Lake.
























We made it back to our campsite for a late but yummy dinner. The fire was stubborn so it was dinner by moonlight.

In the morning we broke camp fairly early and headed further west to Rifle Falls. The falls are pretty but we were disappointed to find some human intervention in the falls when we hiked to the top. We grilled a quick lunch at the picnic spots by the falls and then started back east.

















We did stop off in Glenwood Canyon for a hike up to Hanging Lake/Sprouting Rock. Beautiful hike. We then trekked back through Dillon and stopped at our favorite sushi place. We arrived home late Sunday evening.



















We dropped Jen off at the airport first thing on Monday morning and jumped into a new work week. Packed weekend - but it was oh-so-nice to get away.

View the full picture album here.

Last week, I took a brief trip to Houston.

For the first time I can recall, I was actually a bit nervous on the take off (same airline, same flight plan).

It was my last hurrah with the old job. Busy 36 hours, but productive I think.

I was also thrilled to have the chance to meet precious little peanut, Preston Paget, who was about three weeks old already. He's so beautiful and still so tiny. Congrats again Patty and Thomas!

I was surprised how bittersweet it was to leave Houston. Houston's not the most glamorous city but it holds a lot of dear memories and dear friends. I spent my entire childhood in Houston and was only an hour and a half away (with family back there) during college. After graduating, I took a job in Houston, which I kept for almost seven years - through family moving away and multiple homebases for us. In spite of not living there, I've always had a scheduled next trip so I've really never had to deal with saying goodbye. I know we will be back, but there's something about not having the guarantee that made leaving surprisingly hard.

Back in Denver, it was a busy rest of the week wrapping up. It's still a bit surreal but it's finished. I'm thankful I have a week off to transition - I'm calling myself "unemployed" in the interim. :)

I'm excited about the new gig that starts the first of February. To quote Christine Halblander, "Isn't it amazing when face-to-face interaction becomes a novelty?" I'm looking forward to the people and the challenge of the work (I've always enjoyed building something new). I'm sure the job, like any, won't be without its challenges and I'm sure I'll miss some of the flexibility of the old post at times. Nevertheless, there are sure to be perks that balance out the equation or even tilt the scales in a more positive direction. 2009 is a year of change to be sure!

I recently realized that we've added a couple folks to our "friends and family list" without giving them a mention.

We recently found out that our good friends from Mississippi, Eric and Amanda, and their littlest new addition, Sophia, have a blog. Eric and Amanda have made a number of past appearances on our blog (alongside some really good memories). He's a photographer and does amazing work! We miss them a lot - and keep waiting for them to come visit. :)

I've also been following the new baby blog of one of Michael's coworkers. Beka and Michael shared an office while we were in Boston. Brynna's just short of three months old now. I love Beka's style, including stories and comments like the "neglectomatic swing" (one of my all time favorites!). Reading her blog always lightens my mood!

Last weekend, we decided to take a road trip to Albuquerque to see how the good ol' Ags fared against New Mexico. After our loss to Arkansas State, our enthusiasm about the game waned significantly. However, we stuck with our plans to see a (relatively) cheap Aggie football game.

We carpooled to Albuquerque with some Aggie friends we met at the church we've been attending and their mountain dog, Frisco. We stayed the night with one of Michael's high school (well, college too) friends and his wife, who I ended up knowing from A&M (a complete surprise).

While in Albuquerque, we had an incident which made me determine that living in New Mexico is not good for your health. Prior to the football game, we went to eat lunch at Rudy's BBQ (green chile stew - yummm...). A guy immediately ahead of us in line passed out cold at the counter and his head slammed into the concrete floor of the restaurant. He was unconscious for a minute before he came to and had a pretty significant head injury. We immediately called 911. During the time that passed we found out that the guy had a heart condition and called again to report (and urge them to hurry up). They actually told us to stop calling! It took the ambulance over 30 minutes to get to the restaurant - and then the most disturbing part was that the paramedics casually sauntered in when they finally showed up. They were in no hurry at all. The whole thing was highly disturbing.

Here are a couple pictures from the game (which was depressing and had some of the worst officiating I have ever seen - mostly to the dismay of New Mexico).














Ol' Ag pride. Wow...

















Game time in scorching heat

The pictures we took of us at the game didn't really turn out. Oh well. It was an interesting experience and a few memories I'd like to forget.

On our 6 1/2 hour drive home, we stopped in Vegas (New Mexico, that is) for dinner at Johnny's Kitchen. Interesting digs. Here's the barber shop across the street:


















We couldn't decide if the picture on the sign is what you look like before or after the haircut. :)

Last weekend, after a long work week in Houston, I attempted a bit of recovery. Saturday was a regroup day. Sunday was church, lunch with friends, reacquainting our mountain bikes with the backcountry trails and a little reunion with some friends we got to know in Mississippi. Fun times! Great end to a long week!















I still carry the scar from getting "sprocketed" by my bike a couple years ago; this time I got "pedaled." My mountain bike and I have a love-hate relationship. At least this was the worst I fared while attempting to learn my new clipless setup. I haven't been brave enough to take the "fragile" bike out yet with the clipless gear















We headed down to the Springs with Kim and Fleetwood for a little fun at Garden of the Gods and some adventures in trying to find various other landmarks! Don't mess with Jimmy John's (our lunch stop) - they're "Freaky Fast!"















Jen, Michael, Kim and Fleet at Garden of the Gods















Pikes Peak

We have had a whirlwind of activity here over the past two weeks. It turns out that Colorado is a popular tourist destination and we have had lots of visitors, which we have loved!

The quick-ish version:

On Friday, March 7, my dad and mom arrived from Oklahoma City and Indianapolis respectively. My mom had been in Indianapolis to be with my grandmother who was recovering from open heart surgery. Mom and dad finally made it to the house about 12:30am on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, we picked up Teri and Wes from the airport and trekked down to Colorado Springs. We hung out at Garden of the Gods for a bit, then the Broadmoor and played a killer round of (freezing) adventure golf. We ate dinner at Teri's favorite restaurant, Grand Lux, and ran into some neighbors while playing a "game" with the buzzer they give you while you wait. The game (courtesy of Wes) consisted of sticking the buzzer on your forehead and seeing who the buzzer went off on (our neighbors probably thought we had lost our minds).



















Wes and Michael at Garden of the Gods















Family portrait
From left: Dad, Mom, Jen, Wes, Michael (Goodie)



















Guys being guys















Another family portrait
From Left: Mom, Jen, Teri, Wes, Michael















Wes as Atlas















Dad and daughters















The Broadmoor



















Adventure golf - Dad and gorilla



















See previous caption (guys being guys) - this time with the Statue of Liberty



















Sheer concentration

On Sunday, we headed to church in the morning and then to the airport to drop off Dad. Sunday afternoon the girls went for a walk/jog and the guys decided to check out the local mountain bike trail. Early in the season = mud city. They worked on hosing off for at least twice as long as they were on the trail.

On Monday, we got up and drove to Copper Mountain and Wes and Teri skied.















Cold day of skiing - Teri and Wes

On Tuesday, Teri and Mom joined me for my 5:30am pilates class and then promptly went back to bed. :) I managed to get a little work done and we then returned ski gear and kidnapped Michael from work for a lunch at Fuddrucker's.

On Wednesday, there was some sleeping in abounding and then we jumped on the light rail toward downtown. Somewhere out there there is a pictoral history our light rail ride (some blackmail material for sure in those shots). The trip downtown involved a yummy sushi lunch, trip to the flagship REI, exploration of downtown, visit to the art museum, gander past a building that Teri worked on during her architecture internship last spring and dinner at Proto's. Our long-awaited rug also finally showed up on Wednesday!















New rug!
Note: Baby stuff is all borrowed for Jordan (see below). Thank goodness for my neighbor Luaan! She saved the day on baby stuff!!

Thursday was the transition day. My family left and my college roommates (and now families) started arriving for a reunion. We started the day by picking Jessica, David and Jordan up from the airport. My mom left while we were doing that airport run and dropped Teri and Wes off at the outlet mall just down the road. Shortly thereafter, I picked Teri and Wes up and headed to the airport with them. Beth and Jeff arrived that evening. Kelly also got engaged on Thursday! Whew.... what a day!















Meal time for Jordan

On Friday, we took it easy in the morning and did another light rail trip into downtown in the afternoon - perusing the contents of the flagship REI, balking at the Starbucks on every other corner and dodging the wind up the 16th Street Mall. Our neighbor Luaan again saved the day by helping transport our crew to the light rail station (otherwise we would have had to make two trips since one car doesn't fit everyone and Michael had the Saturn with him at work).

On Saturday, we packed up the crew and headed to Roxborough State Park for a hike. Preparing to leave for our hike, David was extolling the virtues of soft shell jackets and made the comment that soft shells were excellent at "breaking wind." We all sat in silence for a second wondering why that sounded so funny. With the soft shells in tow (we were assured privacy on the trail), we started our hike.















Jordan's first hike



















The group hiking















A view from Carpenter Peak trail



















View of the Hogback's ridgeline and Roxborough



















Break time - Jordan, Jessica and David

Not far into the trail, we saw signs warning us of the mountain lions and rattle snakes. While I was attempting to reassure all that it was still too cold for snakes, Michael decided to educate our friends as to the extreme dangers of the infamous Colorado snow snakes. You really can't catch a break in this group. Being that it is a bit early in the season for hiking around here, we encountered some semi-treacherous conditions on our trail to Carpenter Peak (aka we needed crampons). Jessica and I were performing some pretty outrageous "dance moves" with all our slipping and falling.















Buried alive... well to the knee



















Michael in deep-ish snow

After a while, we decided to take a break for "lunch," except that in my quite sporadic packing that morning (lots of interruptions and distractions) I had forgotten to pack the bread, granola bars and napkins. Wow. Wow. Thank goodness for flexible friends. We made cheese and lunch meat wraps and ate lots of fruit, crackers and cookies. Jordan had the most "normal" meal of us all. Michael decided to be the garbage disposal of the group; although Jeff couldn't quite convince him to finish off the large, untouched container of mustard.















Makeshift lunch



















Jordan's lunch



















Bottomless pit

Eventually we decided it wise to save the hike for a warmer day and the girls and Jordan headed back to the house while the guys continued hiking for a little while. There were many games of Catch Phrase these evenings - complete with the all time classic reference to "the brown stuff that comes from a cow" (aka chocolate milk - bet you didn't go there; neither did we).

On Sunday, we took Beth and Jeff on the "scenic drive" down Daniels Park road on the way home from church. Then the girls hit the outlet mall and found some crazy good deals ($0.49 hat and mittens for Jordan).















Shopping!
Jessica and Bethie



















Jordan's steal of a deal

We sent the guys to pick Jen Nelson up from the airport. Poor Jen! After eating dinner with the crew, we played three or four rounds of the appropriately titled "Nelson game." Best of included flamingo with four legs, fox stealing baby and flower pot-head. I'm sure there are others I am leaving out.

Sunday night it started snowing and the slushy weather continued for most of Monday. Monday was a pretty low key day for people to hang out and catch up. We made a trip to Beau Jo's (local pizza) for lunch and then took a walk in the afternoon. Beth and Jeff flew out Monday evening and we worked on a Grand Canyon puzzle to relive college memories.















Group shot
From left: Beth, Jeff, Jen, Goodie, David, Jordan, Jen, Jessica















Puzzling

Jessica, David and Jordan left on Tuesday, so we spent the morning helping them get packed and ready to go. Traveling with a little one is a lot of work! After dropping off the crew at the airport (it was quite a squeeze getting there - four adults and a baby in an itty bitty Chevy Prism), Jen and I went for our tour of downtown. REI flagship, 16th Street Mall, State Capitol, Art Museum - she saw it all! We met Michael at his office, went to dinner at Maggiano's and then rented a movie.



















Happy Jordan at the airport












Denver art museum



















Jen in the fountain
Bring back A&M memories anyone? Fountain hopping... hmm...

On Wednesday morning, Jen and I headed back to Roxborough and hiked a different trail (South Rim trail). The trail was better than the previous one, although it was still showcasing a good amount of snow. After cleaning up our mud covered selves, Jen and I chilled for a while and then she headed to the airport and back to Houston. :(



















Jen on snow covered South Rim trail












Jen and Jen over Roxborough












Another view of Roxborough

View more spring break pictures here.

Thursday and Friday saw the return of work and some regrouping around the house. On Friday, baby Tristan decided to surprise our friends Davide and Claire three weeks early. On Friday evening, we visited the crew at the hospital.

We went into the can't-believe-it's-already Easter weekend (it was so early this year), ready for some calm and rest. Michael worked on shelves for the garage for most of the weekend.















Shelves in progress



















Filling wood



















Painting
(Pictures of the finished product are not too far off)

Otherwise, this weekend was fairly laid back. Other than a couple inches of snow on Easter morning, we had beautiful weather and enjoyed being outside.












Easter Sunset