Addison’s sister, Caroline, found this photo of Addison and me from when we were high school girlfriends! Major blast from the past!
-Jess
As I had mentioned in my previous post, Jess and I have already decorated our apartment for Christmas! Enjoy the photos.
For those of you familiar with our previous holiday decorations, you might have noticed a few changes from last year. Most notably, we’re missing our 7′ tall tree. We simply had no room to store it here in Colorado, so we brought our 3′ tall one with us. Well, we when unpacked our puny, 4 year-old, 3 foot tall tree, we were depressed. So we went to Target and got a new one! It’s 4-1/2 feet tall, and much fuller. We’re very happy with it! -Addison
Hello all! Jess and I hope you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was better than expected! Or at least mine was. I think Jess was a wee bit homesick! : ) It was hard to not be around family, but I was feeling under the weather, so having a long weekend to relax and recover was nice for me. We started our Thanksgiving celebration by getting into the Christmas spirit! I had downloaded some new Christmas music the night before, so we listened to some holiday tunes, and got to work! We put up our Christmas tree, set up our one Snow Village house, put garland around the breakfast bar, hung snowflakes from the dining room fixture, and we’ve got our wreath on the front door. It looks totally cute! I’ll post pictures later. Our friend, Ray, invited us over for “Orphan’s Thanksgiving” on Thursday night. Everyone except for Jess, Ray, and me, had already celebrated with family, so it was their second (or in some cases, third) meal of the day. We went over at 6 and we stayed until midnight. Dinner was wonderful, and Ray made his famous sangria, which is to die for! Our friends Rachel and Courtney brought some infused vodka; it was amazing, too! So we had turkey, dressing, asparagus, salad, home-made cranberry sauce, pasta and bread. After we ate, we sat around and talked about gay stuff and I made everyone go around and say what they were thankful for and make a toast. Then we played Apple to Apples. It was a really fun evening. Friday I woke up with a head cold, so I had to call in sick to work. Izzie wasn’t feeling so hot either, so we ended up having to take her to the vet. (She has a virus and an ear infection. Yuck!) After Jess took care of us sick girls, we settled down and continued our “Harry Potter” movie marathon and enjoyed home-made chicken and dumplings. And now we’re on to Saturday. Saturday was the day that changed everything. I finally felt good enough to bake, so Jess and I made our pumpkin pie. And it was the most delicious pumpkin pie ever. It’s a Paula Deen recipe, so we had high hopes, but I will never make another pumpkin pie recipe ever again. It was (and still is) that good. Here’s a link to the recipe. If you like pumpkin pie, you simply have to try this recipe! I used Pillsbury pie crusts; it was so flaky and delicious! Actually, we ended up with 2 pies, because our pie pans are so shallow. And now it’s Sunday. We walked the dog in City Park, and now we’re just relaxing with some “Friends.” I’m still full of snot, and we have tickets to the Nuggets game tonight, so I need to rest up! I hope everyone had a great Thanks giving! ~Addison
Today’s forecast is calling for snow, but since it hasn’t happened yet, we took Izzie on a nice walk in City Park this morning. It’s beautiful even in the winter! We’re so lucky to live so close to the park! -Addison
5 Things I Love This Week
1.) “Park and Recreation.” Jess and I recently started watching this delight of a show, (on Netflix, of course!) and I’m really digging it! I still love “The Office,” but I’m really enjoying this show, too. We don’t have cable, and don’t plan on getting it until the spring of 2011 at the earliest, if we get it at all. I just don’t feel like paying for it, especially since we can watch the shows that we like the next day for free via the internet. 2.) Veteran’s Day. Because I work in a bank, I get all kinds of random holidays off, including Veteran’s Day! So, thanks to our veterans, I get this Thursday off. It’s supposed to snow here (finally), so I’m super glad that I don’t have to drive 20 miles down to Parker in yucky weather. 3.) Our amazing new friends. Jess and I had the privilege of going to our friends Courtney and Rachel’s for dinner Sunday night. Courtney is an amazing chef, and we were treated to 3 different gourmet pizzas, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, and amazing white chocolate amaretto fondue. All of it was as good as it sounds. And we had wine. Yummy yummy red wine. We have been so lucky since we’ve arrived in Denver. We have met some really amazing people, and it has made such a difference in settling down. 4.) Our new car. For those of you who don’t know, Jess and I traded in the Explorer, and we got a 2011 Subaru Outback. It’s the quintessential lesbian car, especially in Colorado. Literally 1 out of every 3 cars in this state are Subarus. It definitely makes my 40 minute commute, each way, lots easier to deal with. Plus it’s way better on gas mileage. And it’s a brand new car. Very fancy. 5.) My lovely wife. Jessica is amazing. She’s kicking ass at her job. Seriously, she’s amazing. And we just wrapped up the election, and Colorado did a lot better than anyone expected. And Jess and the One Colorado team had something to do with that success, which is amazing. ~Addison
Working Women
So I started my job this week. And I love it! Really, I do. I’ve acquired the position of Universal Banker at US Bank in Parker, CO. I’m a banker, not a teller, so that’s definitely a step up. It’s also a step up in pay grade, and the bonuses are much better! Plus I’m doing stuff I actually want to do! Making sales calls. Opening accounts. Closing loans. Yup. I can do it all! (Well, not yet, I’ve got LOTS of training to do!) I start some of that training on Tuesday. As a Universal Banker, I’ll also be able to run a teller window to help out when we get busy. That’s great, and I’m really excited about being able to know the bank so thoroughly, however, it means that I have even more training! I think it will end up being a little over 4 weeks in classes, not to mention tons of on-the-job training and even more WBT (web-based training.) With all of the working and training and commuting, last week was pretty rough on us. Jess is used to me taking her to work in the morning, after I’ve made her breakfast and lunch, of course. Then I’d come home and take the pup on a long walk in the park, and then I’d have the rest of the day to do 4 chores. How awesome was that? Because I had so much free time, I was in charge of all household duties. Grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, making sure the car had gas, everything. So when Jess got home we got to hang out, talk, and just relax. My amazing job is in a town called Parker. Parker is southeast of Denver, and it takes me about 40 minutes to get there. So now I leave the house at 8:20 and don’t get home until 7. Leaving at 8:20 is not a problem, but getting home at 7 sucks. By the time I get home, I’m exhausted and starving, and since we didn’t have an food at the house, we ate out a lot. And it was gross. Way too much fast food. Yucka. Jess has been working a lot this past week, too. With the election two days away, the whole One Colorado crew has been super busy. There have been events, press conferences, canvases, and phone banking to name a few. And my girl launched a website this week. Seriously. How awesome is my girl? She’s been going in early, since I’ve been waking her up early, and then she’s been working late because I can’t pick her up until late. And every night this week she’s brought her laptop home and done even more work. Seriously. Anyway, we’ll be better off this week. We have one week under our belts, and we spent this whole weekend preparing for no time after work this week. I’ve got groceries, my apartment is clean, and my wife and dog know what to expect. And as crazy busy this week has been, we’re loving it! Jess loves her job, and I love mine, too. Things are really looking up for us, especially professionally! ~Addison
Jess and I had an amazing day yesterday. We’ve been in Colorado for a little over a month now, and we hadn’t made it up to the mountains yet. We decided that Saturday would be a perfect day for that to happen. So, we checked the weather, looked at a few maps, and hit the road! We started off with brunch in Boulder, CO. (Actually, we started our day off in Commerce City selling our old iPhones, but that’s not exciting.) We parked our car and walked along the pedestrian mall on Pearl Street. It was sunny and in the low 70s with a light breeze. Perfect weather! We ate at the Boulder Cafe, outside, of course! I got some sort of eggs Benedict and Jess got the world’s best french toast. After brunch we strolled down the pedestrian mall, in and out of wonderful galleries and cute shops. Then we hopped in the car and headed to Best Buy to buy a new camera. (We needed one; we managed to lose ours in the move.) We got a really great deal, and it takes amazing pictures. The reason we went ahead and bought a new camera, is our next destination was Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove up to Estes Park, CO and entered the park from there. We stopped at multiple places and were treated to the most incredible views from all sorts of elevations. At our last stop, the summit, we were over 11,700 feet high. That’s more than 2 miles above sea level! It was absolutely breathtaking. At the summit, there was snow on the ground. In October. In fact, the road we were on is probably going to be closed tomorrow because of anticipated snowfall tonight. It’ll be closed all winter. Besides the amazing views and gorgeous weather, there was something else awesome going on. It’s elk mating season right now, so we saw them everywhere. Mamas, daddies, wanna-be daddies, and babies, too! It was incredible. They’re huge! At one point we stopped at a field and I got to watch them for a bit. There were 20+ elk in one area, and it was so interesting to see the dynamics of the group. The alpa male kept chasing off younger males; it was like Africa. Simply wonderful. As the sun went down, we headed down the mountain, grabbed some fast food for dinner, and headed back to Denver. We really had an amazing time, and made some wonderful memories! I can’t wait until we get to do it again. -Addison
Job Hunting
I have been job hunting since August, and my hard work and persistence has finally paid off! I’ve received four job offers this week, all of which pay better than my old job at Wachovia. Seriously exciting stuff, right? Well, it is for me. I’ve filled out so many online applications, uploaded many a resume, written and re-vamped dozens of cover letters, and have subjected myself to so many personality tests I’m not sure who I am anymore… Anyway, three of the jobs are teller jobs. I was a teller at Wachovia, but only for a few months, so I was expecting to have to take a teller job here. I have very little actual banking experience, and while I want to be a banker, most companies have decided that I’m not ready to be a banker. That is most companies except for US Bank. They offered me a job as a Universal Banker! The Universal Banker is a unique hybrid position of sorts. It’s part teller, part banker. So while I will be trained on teller procedures and I will learn how to process all sorts of transactions, I’ve also got sales goals and the ability to do cool stuff, like open accounts and process loans. It’s the best of both worlds! I get to hang out on the teller line, meet tons of customers and discover their needs, and then I get to take them over to my desk and sell them stuff. Bam! So excited! I’ve been working toward this goal since I started at Wachovia, and it seemed so far off, so to be offered a position that I actually want (as opposed to one that I would take in hopes of moving up) is just awesome. And if you don’t think that’s awesome, you need awesome lessons! -Addison
Denver Love
So far, Jess and I have really been loving Denver. We love our apartment. We love our neighborhood. We love our new friends. Jess loves her new job. Things have really been falling into place for us. Of course, it would be wonderful for me to find a job that a love (or even a job at all,) but besides that one minor detail, we have been so happy. And lucky. Our apartment it great! It’s small, but it’s just the right size for Jess, Iz, and me. It has stained concrete floors (very cool,) and nice carpet in the bedroom and closet. We have a washer and dryer in the unit, which is a semi-rare find for Denver. Our furniture fits, for the most part. It’s a new building, so the paint is fresh, the appliances are new, the bathtub is clean, all of that kind of stuff. There’s a pool and a gym and underground parking for the car. Seriously, it’s great! Our neighborhood is great, too! We can walk to Starbucks, Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s, Pete’s Greek Food, Trattoria Stella, a bike shop, a head shop, Izzie’s vet, and so so much more! Don’t forget, we’re less than one block from City Park. City Park is Denver’s version of Central Park. It’s huge! There’s a world-renowned zoo, a planetarium, a golf course, a pond, lots of geese, and tons of walking and biking trails. Izzie loves it! Plus our neighborhood is cute. It’s residential, quiet, and most importantly, safe. We haven’t had a lot of opportunities to hang out with people here yet (hey, we’ve only been here 1 week!) but Jess has already met some incredible people. They’re gay, they’re liberal, and they’re the kind of people I want to surround myself with and just soak up their knowledge and experiences. It’s wonderful! In general, Denver is just so liberal and gay-friendly, especially when compared to Columbia. It feels different here, and I like it a lot. Plus Jessica’s job is so important to us. She’s fighting for GLBT rights. It means so much to her to be directly involved in the fight, and it means even more to me that she’s able to do it. It’s not just a job; it’s a job that directly affects our lives, and I feel lucky that we get to be involved in such an important part of our history. Anyway, Denver’s great! That’s all there is to it! So far, we love it love it! And every day I look forward to what we’re going to discover and experience in our new city. -Addison
Izzie has had some issues as of late. Most notably, she’s been in an Elizabethan collar since last Tuesday. Why, you might ask? Because Frontline sucks. It sucks bad. Our poor baby had fleas, and lot of them. The drama (and trauma) started a little over a month ago when we were still in Columbia. We noticed that she had been chewing at the base of her tail a lot, and that she was missing hair. So, we took her to the vet, and the vet in Columbia theorized that it was a food allergy, and we had to switch her food. So we did. She’s now on Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet Duck and Potato. (And yes, it’s just as fancy and expensive as it sounds.) So we saw some improvement. Or so we thought. But then we flew out to Denver to find a place to live, and Izzie stayed with Caroline for a few days. I’m not sure what happened, I guess a whole bunch of flea eggs hatched or something, but when we got back, the small spot on her tail had turned into the entire lower half of it. At first we thought she was just stressed about being away from us, and all of the chaos that had been going on, but as we drove across the country, and Izzie kept chewing, despite regular doses of Benadryl, we realized that something was really wrong. So we took her to the vet here. Turns out our baby had fleas the whole time. She was just eaten up with them. What really surprised us is that she was on Frontline the entire time. And in fact, when we took her to the vet in Columbia, one of the vet techs said not to use Frontline anymore because it wasn’t working for a lot of animals. Concerned, we asked our vet about it. She said it was fine to continue with Frontline, and so we bought another 3 pack. Obviously, it wasn’t working. Now we’re on a new treatment plan. She’s gotten a flea bath, she’s on Advantage, and we’re giving her medicine so that her tail will heal. She has to wear the funny collar so she won’t chew at her tail. Jess calls her “Shakespeare” because of the Elizabethan collar. We take it off of her when we can watch her, and she’s not nearly as itchy as she was, so I take comfort in the fact that she seems to finally be better. Thank goodness! I hate seeing my baby girl all sickly. -Addison
