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
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
