My Current (Non)-Existence

My life since the end of May has been pretty much the bare bones existence. Yes, it is of my own choosing, and Miriam is quick to remind me that I'm the one that thinks that college classes will enrich my life. And I still think they enrich my life. But, it probably was not advisable to take four upper level, under-graduate/graduate classes all at the same time this summer. (No, I'm not getting my masters degree - it's just that three of my classes were cross-listed as both under-grad and grad courses.) And it's probably not advisable to take four more classes this fall, but I am hoping it will be a better experience since the courses are not condensed into six weeks, but instead cover sixteen weeks.
The four classes that I took this summer I thoroughly enjoyed, except for one. That one was not my first choice for a required "filler" class, but it was the only option. (As it turned out, it shouldn't have been an option; the registration for that class should have had strict parameters around it as it was a capstone course which required 3-4 prior classes.) That class was WAY harder than I was prepared for or expecting. Since the course was only six weeks, and we had completed two weeks before the teacher realized that the majority of her students were not supposed to be in the class, and there is no refunding for summer classes, we just had to pull up

"I've Been to Jackson..."

"...and I've messed around."

If anyone doesn't know, that's an excerpt from a Johnny Cash song called, "Jackson."

Last week on Tuesday, I think, Brittany asked if I wanted to go to Jackson, WY with her and Shannon. Brit had a continuing education class to attend Saturday and Sunday for physical therapy. It was basically a free ride and hotel stay for Shannon and I since Brit's work was paying for her trip. (She would have been going alone if we didn't go.) So Friday after work, I packed up some clothes and headed to Brittany's. We got left about 4pm and took the scenic route (on purpose) through Lander and on to Togwotee Mountain Pass. 

The clouds were rolling over these mountains like a blanket - it looked amazing!

In Lander we were hoping to

Our Steamboat Weekend

A few weekends ago, Jason and I had the privilege of going to Steamboat with several friends for 3 days. We were very privileged to have Glen come out here to go with us. It was both Glen and Jason's first time at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Jason and our friend Shannon were the only skiers. Glen joined the rest of us in snowboarding. And, it was literally his first time legitimately snowboarding.

Glen, myself, and Jason in the Gondola

It was a lot of fun, even though

Gunther's Transition

Apparently doggies do not like change. That became very apparent when we moved and Gunther was not a happy camper. I think I said before that the first week we were in the new house, he didn't want to go to bed, he wouldn't sleep, he would pace the hallway and just sit by the front door waiting to go. When we were at work, we would leave him inside because he didn't have a way to get in and out of the garage yet when it was cold. (There was an existing doggie door, but it was for a miniature Chihuahua or something - Gunther could get his head through the door, but that was it.) I think there was one or two days that we came home to find a box and all of it's contents destroyed. Thankfully, they were very un-important boxes and I was kind of glad to be able to throw the contents away. Although chewing up my hair dryer wasn't very nice! After spending a few evenings in time-out, he stopped chewing things up inside. But outside was different....

One nice weekend, a friend came over and put in a bigger doggie door so that Gunther could go in and out. And that became the start of Gunther staying outside while we were gone. He had a bed in the garage, along with his food and water. He had his box of toys and 2 completely full bags of dog food at his disposal. It was at this time that he started faithfully

5 Steps to Moving Furniture

When moving furniture up and down basement stairs by yourself, there are 5 steps you should follow.

 #1. Take off all of the removable parts and pieces possible.

#2. Use a rug to move furniture around on a wood floor.

#3. Don't move anything up or down the stairs that you aren't willing to let fall.

#4. Never move something that you can't lift completely off the floor by yourself.

#5. (The most important step) Have a faithful dog to watch your every move.

Today, I rearranged some furniture. I actually started the process earlier this week when I put the big vanity into place in the guest room.

Jason did help me move this in from the garage, so I didn't do it all by myself.

Today, however, I moved

The Final Installment

Welcome to...

the garage! We have moved up in the world and have a two car garage!! It is super-duper nice on cold, snowy days!

Continuing the Tour

In this episode we will wander into the basement.

For those that are following the closet/pantry idea, that wall there is the closet wall. If you make the closet bigger, you cut out the ability to take

Where Is Gunther?

This post is similar to the books, "Where is Waldo?" in that you can try to find Gunther in the pictures. That's just a little side gig to entertain you. The real purpose for this post is to give you a somewhat virtual tour of our new house! Please excuse the mess(es)!! And I am very open to any ideas you have for painting, decorating, etc. We still have some things to unpack and organize, as you will soon see!

The Galley Kitchen

Don't you like my dish drainer? I was originally thinking I wanted to get a collapsible dish drainer so I could put it away between uses. I realized