Mountain Aspen

It's pretty strange not driving to Farmers every weekday morning - but instead going to work with Glenn and helping him out! I spent the first week and 1/2 DEEP cleaning the showroom and the upstairs office which is where I hang out!! Here is the upstairs kitchen (and the door marked private leads into the "girls" bathroom!) We're still hoping to get a full size refrigerator to replace the small one!

The big desk from downstairs was moved to the upstairs - there is lots of light that comes in from those big windows and the view from the desk? None other than a perfect view of Pikes Peak, with no other buildings in the way!!

I have added a couple of nice plants to the office but have yet to decorate the walls. Several items have been ordered but have not yet arrived with a couple more to pick up downtown! When the sun is shining, it's nice and warm upstairs - when it's snowing though, it's a little cold upstairs, especially on the floor so I just heat up my "hot sox" pink slippers and put them on till my feet get warm!

Here are some pictures of the showroom - again, it's not decorated yet on the walls but will be soon!! Also Glenn has ordered an "island" which he'll top with granite to use as a workplace when clients come in.

The door in this next picture leads into the fabrication department - a huge room that I will NEVER clean!! The sad part is that no matter how many times we mop, the floor always has "granite" dust tracks on it, which are tracked in from the fabrication room - but there's nothing we can do about it so I'll just have to live with the fact that the floor will not always be clean!

You can see the steps that go up in this picture - then there's a landing and another set of steps that go to the upper office - 24 steps - trust me I have counted them many, many times as I run up and down them!! No worries about extra exercising this year!!! I make it a point to RUN up them everytime as long as my hands aren't full!!

I'll post some more pictures AFTER the walls are decorated and our island is in!! But for now, at least you can picture where the Raymonds' go to work each day!

Blue Skies Inn

I LOVE it when Glenn does barter work and gets FREE stays at hotels or B & B's - such was the case for the Blue Skies Inn, a B & B in Manitou Springs!! I had toured this particular place years ago when my friend Carrie and I did a B & B Holiday Tour in Manitou and Colorado Springs. This place really was nice and I told myself that SOMEDAY I would stay there!!

So when Glenn came home with 2 free nights at this place, I was excited!! We invited good friends Dick and Jane to join us Friday night and headed down after work to check in! I believe the place has about 10 different rooms to stay in and they are housed in 3 different buildings!

Glenn and I chose the "Deep Blue Room" to stay in, although I dubbed it "Under The Sea".

There were actually 3 rooms - a small entry way with a microwave, fridge and coffee pot along with a table and chairs, the huge bedroom which also had a day bed that you could use as a couch and a huge bathroom!! All the decor was done in fish, seashells, mermaids, starfish - anything you can imagine that had to do with the ocean!! I LOVED it!!

The owners are wonderful people and Sally is the one who decorated all of the rooms and is especially proficient in tile!! WOW - the bathroom was out of this world!!

The sink was hand painted and I just had to take a picture of it and the pedestal!!

I think 6 or 8 people could have fit in the shower too!!

Dick and Jane were put in the "Indian Rock Art" room which was just as cute as ours - all done up in Indian decor!!

After checking out our rooms, we headed for Paravincinni's for an Italian dinner - I've eaten there several times but Glenn hadn't and as usual, it didn't disappoint!!! Their Moscato wine was excellent!!

We headed back to our respective rooms after dinner to enjoy the fireplace set in the corner of our room and a little bit of TV!

The next morning at 8:30, their was a tap tap on our door which was our signal to pick up breakfast outside our door!! I was expecting coffee and muffins but the basket seemed pretty heavy for just that!!

We grabbed ours and headed over to Dick and Jane's room where they had set up the coffee table for us to eat at and we unpacked our basket - yes there was wonderful muffins and coffee but also a bowl of fresh fruit, a large egg souffle and orange juice!! We stuffed ourselves and still couldn't eat all of it!

What a great time - I'm hoping Glenn gets some more of these "freebies" so we can enjoy another night away!!

New Year's Day 2012

A new year - a new beginning! It was different to not be home on New Year's Day and I thought of what I usually do on that day - either start taking down the Christmas decorations OR start cleaning out the filing cabinet! I decided I'll take being at a friends house ANY time over those jobs!!

My friend Carrie who lives near Seattle drove down late morning - gosh it was good to see her!!

We talked and talked and talked as you can imagine over a great lunch and it was sure fun to catch up with her again!!

Cheryl took me up to a higher point since it was actually somewhat clear out today and I wanted a picture of Mt. Hood - it's not a great picture at all but at least I took one!! Mt. Hood stands at 11,245 which probably doesn't sound real tall to us here in Colorado BUT you have to consider you're at sea level there, not already at an extreme elevation!

Here's Cheryl at her computer - she graciously lent us her room for the duration of our stay!!

And a great picture of Cindy and Rene off their back deck!!

Monday we headed to Portland late morning so Rene could show us some of the city! We had a great Mexican meal together before they dropped us off at the airport - and of course once again had to go through the special security for Glenn - even though we had a copy of his drivers' license now but it didn't help at all!! This time the wait was a lot longer but eventually he was sent through and we were Denver bound for home!!

Thanks for a wonderful time Cindy and Rene!! What a special New Year's Weekend!!!

New Year's Eve

Can you believe we slept in once again? One would have thought we were on vacation or something!!


Today we decided to go to the Oregon coast! Since they don't have a car big enough for all of us, the 2 guys and Brennar headed out in one car and Cindy, Cheryl and I took the other car! Our first stop was for coffee - we had stopped at this cute coffee place the day before so decided we must stop one more time and get coffee for the road!


We decided to head to Seaside - but did make a stop at a town before which I can't remember the name of! There was a museum that looked pretty interesting but after we walked in and saw that the price was $16.00 per person, we opted NOT to stay!! Here's a huge anchor that was right outside by the water!

Our drive was about 2 hours and we soon pulled into the cute town and parked down by this wonderful boardwalk and headed out to the beach and the ocean!

It wasn't near as cold as the day before - probably because it wasn't raining AND because I borrowed a heavier coat from Cindy!!

The beach was neat - there were virtually hundreds of broken sand dollars lying around - I imagine if you were one of the first ones walking after high tide, you could find some that were in one piece!!

We walked along the beach for quite a while, just enjoying the sound of the waves and the peaceful scenery!! Cheryl and Brennar walked out to the water and virtually got caught as the tide came in!! Brennar got pretty wet but luckily we had another pair of shoes in the car for him!

The town was cute as can be!! I loved their Christmas decorations!

We ate a late lunch at a seafood restaurant - one of the "Top 500 Places To Eat Before You Die"! Most of us had fish and chips and it was delicious!!

With our late start that morning, we ended up driving part way home in the dark! But when we reached the house, it was time to party as it was not only New Year's Eve, but Cindy's birthday also!!

We had lots of goodies to eat during the evening while we played Monopoly - not the usual kind but the NEW one where there is NO cash money - only a debit card!! The banker has this little black box where the debit card goes in whenever there is an exchange of money! And can you believe you start out with $15 million!!!! We played for hours it seemed and partied hearty!!

Cheers to everyone as the clock reached midnight!! May 2012 be just as great as 2011!! And how special to spend New Year's Eve with our wonderful friends!!

Multnomah Falls

It rains in the Northwest - not a heavy downpour but a misty drizzle and sometimes it rains all day - such was the case on Friday!

Glenn and Rene were scheduled to do a guided fishing trip on the Colombia River but it was cancelled due to the lousy weather - darn - I checked that suitcase on the plane with those heavy boots and coat for nothing..............

After sleeping in till almost 10:00 (that has to be a record - we NEVER sleep that long!!) and eating a hearty breakfast, we decided to go for a drive! Even though it was misty out, we loved driving around and seeing the beautiful surroundings!!

I had just worn my leather coat which is not lined and I about froze during the day!! Guess I forgot what DAMP COLD feels like!! But I did remember my umbrella and we used it!

Our first stop was Multnomah Falls which is the nation's second highest year round waterfall as it plummets 620 feet from its origins on Larch Mountain!! It was GORGEOUS!!! I loved walking up on the bridge and getting sprayed with the water!! Keep in mind the pictures aren't great since it was raining out..........

Glenn sure looks a whole lot warmer than I was!!

One of the items that intrigued me was all the moss growing on the trees - wow - I could have snapped pictures all day long!!

Here's our bunch as we're leaving the waterfall! There was a super nice gift shop at the falls and I not only bought my Christmas ornament but also my bookmark - I'm WAY ahead of the game!

Next we stopped at the fish hatchery and they had an awesome museum that we looked around for quite a while!!

We fed the fish and walked around outside the hatchery but it was so darn cold that we didn't last very long!!! Lunch was at this neat restaurant that overlooked the river - gosh, I could have sat there all day and looked out!!

The huge, long bridges over the Columbia are a sight to see - and there are lots of them too!! This one was taken from the restaurant!

We spent the evening just visiting and watching some TV but managed to stay up again till after midnight - what a fun day!!

Portland Bound AKA YOU FORGOT WHAT????

Thursday after work we headed to Denver to fly to Portland, OR to visit our good friends, Cindy and Rene!! We were just at the turnoff to the airport when I saw Glenn reach towards his back pocket and say, "OH NO!!" I said what? and he answered with words that one NEVER wants to hear when you're taking a trip - I FORGOT MY BILLFOLD!!!

Oh great - we're 2 hours from home and the plane departs in 2 hours -hmmmmmmm - what to do, what to do???? I, of course was livid!!! I COULD NOT BELIEVE that he had left it at his office - I had seen it lying on a chair with his cell phone, charger and his keys - funny how all those items made it to the car but NOT the billfold!!

I told him to go ahead and park the car and we would go in and see what they could do - he wanted to leave the luggage in the car as was sure they would not allow him to fly - I, on the other hand, was optimistic and silently praying that they would let us go!!

After talking to several people, we DID check in and then headed for a special security place - there they questioned Glenn by himself, asking him all kinds of questions while I stood way over to the side - he must have answered their questions correctly because they DID allow him to fly!! So just for the future, YOU CAN FLY WITHOUT ANY IDENTIFICATION - but I don't suggest it!!

Our flight was uneventful (thank heavens!!) although running a little late and Rene was there to pick us up at the Portland airport!! They actually live in WA., which is just 1/2 hour away!

It was great to see them, along with their daughter Cheryl and her son Brennar!! In fact, we stayed up till 2:30 just talking and talking - friends are SO special!!!

After 21 1/2 Years..............................

it's time to say good-bye to the Gary Litchenberg Insurance Agency!!

My desk is packed up and the new gals have moved in!! What fun it was the last couple of days to have an open house with lots of goodies to eat!! We had many clients stop by to wish us the best and it was fun to just "hang out" at work without really working!!

Kristyn will be taking over the agency from Gary and I know she'll do a great job of keeping our clients happy!! As Gary and I agreed, we won't miss the work, just the people!

I'll miss this log cabin though - I've so enjoyed working there and I always knew I was lucky to work in such a cute place!

Even though Gary has retired, we'll still stay in touch as we've become great friends over the years!

It will seem pretty strange not to drive to work on Tuesday - that is to the cabin - Glenn is waiting with his door wide open...................