Sept 12 - Dec 18

Oh my, this is worse than I thought. I thought I had at least made it to mid-October before going AWOL. My goal this year was to post a picture every day and then it evolved to giving weekly updates and then I don't even know what happened in September... but 2011 is almost over and I'm not just going to fizzle out. With that, here's a recap:

Brian got older! His birthday present consisted of the tickets to Bumpershoot so it was pretty low-key but I did run around on my lunch break decorating and coloring the pet's feet with markers so they could 'sign' his cards so he could hopefully feel special when he got home from work. He also got the latest Bon Iver album which I'll admit was a benefit to me as well.

I think it was also September that we welcomed our new refrigerator into our family. All new additions to a family require some adjustment and this was no different. As in, it was too tall for the alloted space so Brian had to saw off some of the overhead cabinets to make room. I was not too thrilled about that venture so I hid upstairs and covered my ears until it was over but my anxiety was in vain- Brian, of course, was successful.

Brian also did most of the painting in the kitchen while I was out one Saturday. I like to think I was at work but it's possible I was out with friends- I can't really remember. All I know is that Brian did most of the painting but I don't think he minded too much because he got to use his sweet new paint roller that sucks the paint right out of the can into the roller. Painting was the last big step in our kitchen remodel and we got to put up all the finishing touches and I love how it turned out!

Scrolling through pictures, I recall we took Stella to a nearby park to play fetch and got some good glamour shots of the little bean:

I also bought Stella a squirrel costume for halloween but actually didn't get any pictures of her wearing it. Instead, I found this on our camera:

For Thanksgiving, we had our hand at hosting for the first time and Brian proved he still knows how to rock a turkey breast. It was kind of fun not traveling for a holiday for the first time since I left for college and it was fun to get to use our fine china!

Skookum and Chuck were anxiously awaiting for the festivities to begin.

We decided that Thanksgiving makes everyone think "our kitchen is not big enough"

A new trend with co-workers is to get together and go to Canvas & Cocktails in Cherry Creek. I've painted the Denver skyline and some swirly trees so far. I can't say I'm completely satisfied with how either turned out but the experience was fun regardless and I had never painted before so it's been fun to learn something new!

A week after Thanksgiving, we headed to San Francisco for a long weekend with my parents to go to a 49ers game. We got the VIP experience at Candlestick Park where the 9ers clinched their division championship with a shut-out!

This was one of the only pictures I took while sight-seeing. I took this for Stella

Uncle Victor and Kathy

Brian & I hanging out on the field before the game

Coach Harbaugh before the game

Coooold

Mom and dad during the game

Waiting after the game for the after-game festivities. It got even colder.

Kathy snuck a picture of us on the field after the game

It was a great experience and it was nice to see Uncle Victor and get away for a while.

Last weekend was spent at my parents in Colorado Springs to celebrate Christmas with them early since we'll be in Washington for Christmas this year. We started the weekend with the play "Frog & Toad" at the Fine Arts Center. I really enjoyed it a lot and highly recommend it. I failed to take many pictures during the weekend but here is Brian's poor war veteran gingerbread man (although, now that I'm looking at him again, I think he looks more like a gold-miner who lost his leg via dynamite).

Okay, that's a nutshell of the last 3 months! Whew. Now I can sleep at night.