Rochelle's Blog ::: Subtitles Included

Christmas was wonderful this year. Everything went as smoothly as possible, minus a little bit of a cold that tried to keep my down. I really celebrated the season this year with Christmas baking and buying my loved ones lots of excellent presents. In return, I got some wonderful things as well, which include a Kindle (my absolute favorite thing) and a Tassimo coffee maker.

Anyway, here are some photos from the holiday.

The Christmas Baking

I made my usual fudge, chocolate chip cookies, and tea cakes. I haven’t made tea cakes in years, and I’m so glad that I did. They were by far the highlight of all the goodies.

My Christmas Tree

The tree with all the presents that gave.

Pueblo for Christmas

I went to Pueblo, as usual, and had a wonderful time.

Here’s my mom’s tree.

And here are some portraits I took of Marissa and Johnny.

We made a Mexican feast (another family tradition), and even made our own tamales! It was quite a feat!

Dinner was awesome!

And then I caught my cold! I went to bed that night with the shivers and I couldn’t get warm. I had a sheet right out of the dryer, an electric blanket, a comforter, and a quilt. Yet, I couldn’t get warm. That night was not so good, but I refused to let it deter me from a wonderful Christmas morning.

We woke up and had French Toast and coffee and then got to the business of opening presents.

Later, I went to my dad’s house to celebrate. We had more Mexican food (which is sort of hilarious that we’re all a bunch of white people…well, not hispanic so to speak). We had a fun time! Although, I must admit that my illness was trying to get the better of me.

It was another great Christmas! And the break from work was wonderful.

I also got a snuggie, some movies, some new pajamas, and some other heart felt gifts.

Thanksgiving rushed up and smacked me in the face this year. Also NaNoWriMo’s fault! But I seriously, wasn’t prepared for it. Thankfully, my mom had everything under control and all I had to do was show up! So I drove down to Pueblo and got there just in the nick of time. We had a great meal together and a little bit of pie. Then it was off to my dad’s house for coffee and cashews, and to my brother’s house for the Broncos game! Overall, a very great day spent with my whole family. The next day I came back home because I caught a pretty nasty cold and wanted to be at home to deal with it.

Anyway, here are some photos from the day:

The Thanksgiving Master!

Oops! Marshmallow explosion!

Marissa and Johnny

The spread.

Mr. and Mrs. Dudley.

My mom’s new Yorkie, Princess.

My dad served us some cashews and some coffee he picked up from Loaf ‘N Jug. He just insisted on serving us something, even though we were completely full. It was so cute!

I had a great time with my mom taking pictures on a photo walk up and down Pueblo’s riverwalk.

I convinced her to upgrade her camera before our trip!

I went down to Pueblo this past weekend to spend time with my family and to go on a photo walk with my mom. Ever since I told her about the organized photo walk in Estes Park, the idea started formulating to do our own photo walk in the historic Union Depot district of Pueblo. I also wanted to squeeze in some time with my dad, so I did the usual bounce between the two of them several times while I was there.

As always, there were plenty of opportunities to eat down there. I don’t know if it’s because I grew up there, but I seriously believe that some of the most delicious food in Colorado can be found in Pueblo, and not just Mexican food either. There are so many unique places, privately owned, that have been in business for as long as I’ve been alive (most much longer). And it’s all quite unique and quaint. So quaint and loved by the city that the majority of places don’t have a website, because they simply don’t need one.

The photo walk itself was really fun. We mostly walked up and down the Riverwalk, which I had never really done before. It was built only about ten years ago, after I had moved away. After a little exploration, I was surprised to find that it turns into a heavily wooded path, with great shade and grassy riverbanks. There was also some interesting wildlife to shoot. No elk or hawks like in a national park, but lots of butterflies and adorable ducks. We even popped a squat next to a bush full of bumble bees. Only me and my mom could do such a thing, since the rest of my family is terrified of bees.

Right after the walk, I bounced back to my dad’s house and we sat on the front porch and watched the summer rain come down while enjoying some smoked cheese, grapes, and wine. It was the perfect summer day. My trip ended with one of the more delicious meals I’ve had all year at an Italian restaurant. Their Chicken Piccatta was to do die for. Just writing about it makes my mouth water.

Here are my pictures from the photo walk:

I went to visit my mom at her antique store today. She was super busy because of the Wild Wild West Fest. I got to visit her while we helped customers not only check out antiques, but also purchase bottled waters, ice cold pop, and homemade ice cream sandwiches. I was only there for an hour and half, but it was a lot of fun to help out, talk to customers, and chat with her.

The shop in all it's glory.

So I totally neglected to take a self-portrait for the 16th of the month! I’ll make up for that on the 18th. The day after my brother’s wedding was a fun one. We went to Lunch at Pass Key, which is practically a Pueblo landmark, then off to play mini-golf. My sister and I were quite competitive, but it was a ton of fun.

My sister Marissa manages to play mini-golf in gigantic heels!

My brother Andy and his beautiful wife, Jennifer, got married today. The wedding was at the Cathedral in Pueblo and just lovely. The reception was at the Historic Union Depot and was super classy and a ton of fun. I got to just be a guest and have a wonderful time. They’re off to Paris for their honeymoon.

The couple has just been presented by the priest.

How is it that I have seen Dirty Dancing probably 50 times over the past 20 years (yes it is 20 years old), and I still get glued to the television when it is on? Since I’ve lived in this apartment I’ve probably watched 5 times. I believe it is my ultimate guilty pleasure.

Did you know there is a Dirty Dancing stage show in the West End in London?  I might have to make a trip there for that and many many other reasons.

Seriously though, I will never forget watching it for the first time. I was in third grade. My family and I were on vacation somewhere and we watched it in our room on spectravision. My parents had not anticipated how sexy and steamy it was. I was entranced. I mean really, what nine year old wouldn’t be fascinated by this:

Furthermore, during that time of my life I was really into oldies and into that era. I was obsessed with John Kennedy back then too. When I was in first and second grade I used to pretend that I was adopted by John and Jackie Kennedy. I would stand at the window in my room and pretend that I lived in the White House. I was a psycho Democrat way back then. It’s in my blood I tell you. That was my version of being a princess.

I could go back to that bedroom window today. I’m debating about whether to go down to Pueblo to see my family. I would love to see them but I’m catching a cold, I feel run down, and I have a lot to do around here. The whole plan just isn’t jiving with me. I think my dad will be disappointed, and that makes me sad, but I think it might be best to stay up here.

I was contacted by YouTube to tell me that someone made a copyright claim on the video I posted yesterday about my Obama experience. Ugh. But when I read the claim, they said that I could keep it public as long as they could have my site statistics and advertise. That made more sense to me. I figured they would love the publicity right? I’m glad they approved of my work and don’t feel it will hurt the campaign, lol. It’s better than getting 10 positive text comments.

I need to rant a little bit about something that other folks have probably noticed for a long time. I’m slow! When did Starbucks become so crappy? I frequent the establishment across the street (love the drive-thru). But I’m not kidding the past five things I’ve gotten there have been poorly made and just not right. Most of the time I don’t notice it for a bit because I’ve gone through the drive-thru and am now speeding away. I know they are struggling but why can’t they just make something the way they used to. I’m paying enough for it, shouldn’t the quality match the price? I’ve got to stop going there.

So I went to Pueblo as promised for the three day weekend. I actually made 3.5 day weekend. I had a nice time and lots of fun. My family is a lot of fun and I got to see my friend Marci too, which is always great.

My mom’s cats are still adorable. There’s Lucy the girl:

And then Righty and Lefty, the boys that are just like twins:

While I was down there I also saw this truck. It was hilarious!

The 4th has always been a romantic holiday for the past ten years or so. Somehow there was always romance. Well not this time, but that was ok. It was a good time to be reflective on my past fourths, and recognize that my family and my friends are just as great if not greater than a romantic 4th of July.

Two days without blogging! Oh my! I didn’t stick to my goal. Oh well.

So I’m up kind of early for a Saturday and I’m already feeling pumped up to work a bit. I know I should leave work at the office, but I think this is how the summer is going to go. Last night I was mind mapping my website while watching all my recorded programs. What an exciting Friday night, huh?

I had a terrible dream last night. I dreamt that I witnessed a small plane crash, killing some of my childhood friends. I was back home, sitting the park across the street from the house I grew up in. I was with a few others, when I saw this small plane begin it’s approach to land on our cul-de-sac. As the plane approached the road, they were going to fast to have a safe landing so they pulled up at the last minute to try and circle around and do it again, but as they flew sharply back into the sky the plane stalled and began to fall and then it crashed.

Pretty horrifying! I hope I never witness a plane crash.

In my dream, I just assumed that there were no survivors, but it turned out that most of them had survived. I think I should probably check in on my friends today to see how they are.