Learning about Colorado Blue Spruce trees

Well, last night I finally decided to abandon the idea of having any sort of "native" (indigineous) trees to our yard. This comes after year two of trying to plant another one of these in our yard. Year one I planted it and it died. I suspected lack of water so I tried this past year (year two) to water it more during the winter. No luck. I guess it needs more more than that? Perhaps they are used to getting tons of water from being planted on the mountainside and getting lots of rain/snow runoff to drink from?

The good news is: The Austrian Pine trees that I planted over two years ago are still thriving and doing very well! I guess they're better suited to this drier climate out here on "the plains".

I think this weekend I'll have to plant some more trees (since it IS arbor day and all). Or have they renamed it to be "earth day"?

Anyway, my goal is to plant two more austrian (black) pine trees and another maple tree in front too. I like the idea of non-decidious trees for a year-round privacy barrier near fences and property lines, and the decidious maple trees in front for summer shade and winter sun (when they loose their leaves).

Also, I found out our city is giving away trees this weekend if you're planting in a "common" type of area. I think our "tree lawn" (between the sidewalk and the road) may count. Who knows, maybe I'll get a free one? Or perhaps just go out and buy one.

Hopefully after this year I won't have to plant any more (as long as no more trees end up dying on me) :-)

Just updated my iPhone app (ver. 1.01)

Well, I just figured out how to go through the iPhone update process. I added some new features to my iPhone app and submitted it for an update. I guess they (Apple app. store folks) have to "re-approve" it. Although I hear it can only take 4-5 days (if they don't find any glaring holes or copyright violations, etc.).

I have in mind lots of cool new features that I want to add. I figure I'll add them in bit by bit as I get time.

I just added in some more cameras for all those ski resort bound folks traveling west on i-70. You can now see traffic all the way from eastern Denver to the Utah-Colorado border on i-70 with my latest update to the app.

Next up: add actual ski resort cameras (i.e. see what the snow looks like at the resort before you leave). Neat idea eh?

p.s. we are getting LOTS of rain here today. Could turn to snow tomorrow, we'll see...

Our Visit to the Great Northwest!

Adam and I booked some flights a couple of weeks ago to take a quick trip to go see some new sites. We were gone for a whole 36 hours. You know you can see a lot and get quite a bit done in 36 hours. We flew what I like to call the “cattle herder” You know the carrier, the one carrier that when your Letter and Numbers are called you rush to your stall and board the plan looking for the best seat possible. No matter what you number is, if you are not number one, you just don’t get a good seat. Adam and I were not able to sit together on the way out. I thought we had good number being that we were in the “A” group, but nope, it was 2 full planes and we were lucky to sit in middle seats for the flights. Here we are waiting in Denver to board our plane.

This is the plane that is taking us on our grand 36 hour adventure during midweek. You know I worked for the airline way back when, I remember the days when you would get a whole can of soda, not a watered down one, they would give you a choice of chicken or beef and now it is peanuts or nothing. Oh the days when you could sit in first class and have them bring a Sunday bar on a cart and ask you how you would like your ice cream. Sometime there was warm cookies baking. Oh those where the days. Do you remember when they had clean blankets and pillows to use? Now if you bring your own you are good or you just get off the plan with a stiff neck from trying so hard not to touch the passenger next to you while you take a cat nap. Oh the days of the flying are just not the same when you feel like cattle being herded to your destination. The flight was not as bad as it sounds; you adjust and take it as it comes.

We had a good two hour layover that we were able to walk around and get some exercise and find something to eat before catching our next flight. I made some calls and then before I knew it, it is time to board our next flight. It was awesome, mostly because it was so short and it seemed that as soon as we got our drink in hand it was time to gulp it down and put up the trays because we were landing. Here are some pictures taken from the window.

Yeah Adam was able to open the window and put the camera out to take these pictures. Just Kidding but it looks like it doesn’t it? It was a part of the country that we had never been to. It was so beautiful. There are so many lakes and mountains. Just plain beauty everywhere you looked. I can only imagine how it looks in Spring/Summer. Once we land we made our way to the car rental and we are on the road heading to our hotel to check in. You know I love when you are given a warm cookie when you arrive at a hotel. There is something that makes it so comforting when you arrive to be fed. So maybe when we have company who come to visit I will start feeding you a warm cookie when you arrive from your long travels. We quickly find our room and unload the car. I rush Adam to get settled because we still have 2 good hours of daylight and I want to go see the sites before it gets dark. We pull out the GPS and find our way to the next town to see what it was like. Little did we know how beautiful it was.

There was an awesome lake that we found just before sunset. We took a small walk through the park.

There we found a dock that had a plane that Adam just fell in love with. As you can see we took a picture. I think he may just need to take a ride on one of them sometime soon. They were closed otherwise I would have insisted on him taking a ride. We had to admire the plane for a good 15 mins before I could get him going to see something else. I am not sure what the deal is with the Moose, but we saw Moose statues everywhere. We even saw a few on balconies that were decorated.

Just before the sun went down we were able to drive and see most of the area. They had a charming downtown with lots of shops and restaurants with patio seating. We found the town to be a big spot for tourists. We were able to get our bearings of the town and headed back to our hotel. There we were able to prepare for the next day and the grand adventure we had in store.



I think we were both excited to start the next day that there really was no need for the alarm clock. We were both awake about a half hour before the clock was to go off. It is funny. I was laying there hoping not to wake him while he was doing the same thing. Then finally we both just looked at each other and there he was with a smile on his face. Then we took that half hour and just cuddled until it was time to get up. Breakfast at the hotel was very disappointing even though we both tried to eat something. Our stomachs were in knots. I rushed to get us checked out of the hotel. I didn’t want to be late for our appointment. We came all this way and the last thing I wanted was to be late. I was packed and ready to go. I had to take a deep breath and keep my mouth shut and just sit on the bed and let Adam get his things together. Watch him gather all his gadgets and gizmos. I have learned along time ago, if you rush him he goes slower. So even though my heart is pounding out of my chest, I just sit there and wait for him to give me the heads up it is time to go. We get to the building at 9am right on time!

We would have walked right in at 9am but as we are going to the doors Adam tells me he needs to use the restroom. Oh I am dying. My thoughts are “HOLD IT” but I don’t say anything and wait for him. In the mean time I have knots in my stomach and dying that we are going to be late. As we walk in we are greeted with warm smiles. They are expecting us and Brad pulls us into his office. We sit and talk for a bit and then he tells us that we are going to go into the next room. I think about what is waiting for us in the next room. I second guess myself about what to say, what to do. Now my stomach feels like it is going to explode and I have pain shooting everywhere. I am so nervous. Do I hug her? Do I shake her hand? What do I do? Then the thought comes to my mind. “Just be yourself” Hmmm. Now that is an idea?

I walk in first with Adam right behind me. Two seconds after entering the room, the knots in my stomach magically go away. There was a different spirit in the room. Something that is hard to describe. I see this beautiful woman with a warm smile stand up and reach out her arms to greet me. As I embrace her, I feel the spirit of love and joy in my heart. It was a beautiful experience. There was something so familiar about this woman, there was something so natural that it felt like we were suppose to meet and we had all been lead to each other. I won’t go into details of who we met or why we were there. But it was a life changing event in my life. It felt like God’s hand was involved in the whole process. This woman to me was beautiful both inside and out. She is just very special to me and will always be special in our family and in our hearts. The time flew by and before I knew it once again we were saying good bye. As I held her in my arms I pulled her tight and didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to give her all my love that I had inside.

We were done sooner than we had expected and had a good four hours before our flight.

We found the directions and headed to the temple and found it to be closed. Adam took a few pictures. Shortly after a women arrives and we ask her to take a picture with us and the temple. As she takes the picture she tells us that Moroni (the big gold man blowing the horn) is brand new, he was just put up there a few weeks ago. Apparently the other one was used as a shooting target and had bullet holes all over him. Then we decided to head back to the town we were in the night before and see the sites again. We were able to find all the things we were looking for and made some planes for our return. With all that being done so quickly and realizing how hungry we were we found a restaurant to get lunch. I realized that this day April 8^th was my birthday. It was the best birthday ever. To be able to be here and to be doing what we were doing. Adam mentioned to the server that it was my birthday and she told him I could have a free slice of pie. I choose the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie al a mode. When it was time to pay the bill the server asked me how old I was. I was shocked by her asking me and then I hesitated to respond. Since I hesitated Adam chimed in and says “She’s 29” Wow, I never would have thought that I would turn “29” and stay there from here on out. So I guess it is official. I will be forever “29”. On our way back to the airport. After a full belly and a long ride I was able to take a little nap while Adam drove us to the airport. We had a good 2 hours before our flight as we checked the car back in and there was no wait to get through security. I decided to hit the bookstore and found a book to read and when and found a comfy chair to sit and read while waiting for our flight. Adam made some calls and played on his I phone. Then he motioned me over to him were he had met a really nice women who we ended up talking to for quite along time. She happens to just be approved for adoption and was working with the same agency as we were. I guess you can say we are funny people, as we have been sitting and waiting for our flight and about 5 mins before we are about to board, Adam realizes that it will be a long time till we eat again and that we need to get some food to take with us because of the long flight and you know peanuts don’t fill you up. So we rush to get some sandwiches and make it to the cattle boarding just in time. I was so happy that we were able to sit together and have a middle seat open between us. It was a nice relaxing flight. I was not able to sleep because my mind was too active from the day’s adventures and so I read the book that I had picked up and fell into the wonderful mystery and imagination. When we hit Las Vegas, our connection city, Adam sees there is a flight leaving in 30 mins from the next terminal. I did wear my running shoes, but we rushed to the gate to see if we could stand by for the flight. I know I mentioned I used to work for an airline. I remember back in the day you could do this. But our carrier would not, we would have to pay $100 pp to change to that flight so we could get in 45 mins earlier. Yeah – I don’t think so. So we make it back to our gate and wait for our flight. It was awesome! There were 7 passengers aboard the flight. The flight crew made a joke out of it the whole time. Like you each have your own exit for the plane incase of an emergency landing, you each have your own flight attendant and they joked the whole flight. It was a fast and easy and very relaxing flight. I continued to read my book and couldn’t put it down. We arrive back home at 1:30am. It was a long day, and “the girls” were so glad to see us. They were so excited and it took a while after some cuddling with them before they settled down for the night. It was a wonderful 36 hours that I will never forget!

my new iPhone app finally approved!

Yeah,
My iPhone app is finally approved and in the app store. (Please tell people to check it out).

Search in the iphone store on "denver" or "denver traffic" It's only .99! (It's called "Denver Traffic Master")

I submitted it on March 4th, and so it took about a month to get approved (man, what a long wait).