Trips

First, I just got some excellent photos from my mom that they took on their trip to our cabin in Diamond Lake over Presidents weekend.
Here are my parents in front of the cabin standing at the second level. They don't seem to be too worried about the issue of the door being buried at this point.
Here's mom looking classy as she glides effortlessly across the Lake on her skiis.
Dad looking hip as he sports a backwards hat and sunglasses.
This is the chunk of ice that fell off of the roof. It has been explained to me that "it sounded like a bomb went off!" when it fell.
Digging their way into the cabin.

Now, for Dave and my President's Day weekend trip. We went to Denver where we got lost numberous times, spent way too much money, Dave used the word pretty about 25 times to describe the scenary and we watched a very off-broadway show of Beauty and the Beast. Shrek it out.
We saw wild life. I believe we saw herds of deer on numberous occasions. We saw birds, elk, that's all.
Here we are trying to pretend like we've just really enjoyed the first half of Beauty and the Beast. We could have been the actors.
After the show, we were able to take pictures with the "actors". Instead, we took pictures from afar. I know they just look like normal people, but i think that's Gaston and his sidekick in this picture.
On our way home we saw all these cars parked out on the lake.
So we got out of the car into the wind and cold and stood out there for about 1 minute. The ice looked to be about 5 feet thick. But you never know with those things. Ya know?

So now you decide. Who lives a more exciting life: Us, or my parents?

blind dating

So. Nikki and I have been doing a bit of church hopping lately. You know how it goes: You have a basic idea of what you are looking for in a church. You want the church to be charming, you want to have some good chemistry with the church, and you want it to feel natural. Pretty much, church hopping is like blind dating. You know a little bit about the church, but as you pull into the parking lot, you can't help but judge the church by how it looks. Is this a traditional church? Is is trendy or edgy? You had spent a lot of time getting ready, and you want so badly for the day to go well. You picked out the perfect outfit. You made sure your hair was just right. Your mind is racing. You start to feel a little self-conscious. Did I overdress? As you walk through the front door, you have no idea what to expect. Will they like me? You hope to yourself that if everything else falls through, that at the least the snacks will be worth showing up for. To avoid an awkward, shallow conversation with the greeter, you head straight for the snack table. After pounding down a few donut holes, you decide to head for an unclaimed pew with coffee in hand. The usher smiles, and you politely smile back. Deep down, you are wondering if someone can really be that happy to be handing out pastel-colored church picnic announcements. You could have spent several more minutes pondering this, but you are distracted by a smell. Now, let's be honest. Every church has a smell. It is usually something pleasant, but overpowering: potporri, a large, vanilla candle, or maybe some insense. Whatever the smell, you can be sure it was put there by some well-meaning old lady, and it definitely is not subtle. In spite of it all, you sit down in your pew, and you begin to look around. WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE? You decide that you must have come on an 'off-night'. All of a sudden, a man begins to walk up to the podium. It's the pastor. You can't help but wonder, could he be the one?...

So, pretty much, we are still looking for a church. In other news, Nikki still has no friends in Colorado (except her 2nd graders), and really isn't trying that hard. She seems to be bonding with the 40-somethings who teach at her school. There could be something there. As for me, I keep on working too many hours at the office, while miraculously finding time to trade stocks online, risking money we can't afford to lose. Other than that, this is probably the last time I will ever write a blog, because it ended up pretty long, and only about one sixth as funny as it was in my head before I wrote it.

Peace and love,

Dave