First morning in our new place

We don't yet have internet at the new place so I'm sorry I didn't post this yesterday...

Saturday was moving day and boy are we tired! We were so lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family who were willing to come and help us move all of our junk. We are now faced with the task of sorting it all out and finding a place for it to go. Yuck! Packing and unpacking are certainly the worst parts of moving so I'll now be taking volunteers to help keep me motivated to unpack...

Sunday morning was our first morning waking up in the new apartment and unfortunately Dave had to go to work at 6:30 to align the laser for people using it that day. I slept in, woke up around 8:30 and took Gromit out for a walk. At the end of our walk we saw Dave pull up to the building and get out of the car with a bag of groceries and flowers - for me! He had stopped to get be flowers and breakfast on his way home from work. What a sweet and thoughtful husband I have!

We spent the rest of the day with friends and drove up to the mountains to take pictures of the changing Aspen trees and then headed over to another friend's house for a delicious ham dinner. What a wonderful day! Enjoy some pictures from our drive!

The sweetest dog

We have the sweetest dog in the world! Here is a quick peek at some of the things Gromit does that just melts my heart.

• When I come home after work he knows to sit politely in his crate until I walk over to let him out. When the crate door opens he jumps out and into my lap, licks my hand then rolls over on his back so I can rub his tummy.


• He has been "burying" his bone in the house. He'll take his bone and hide it in different places around the house, like behind a trash can or under a bed, and he'll sometimes even take something else he finds on the floor, like socks, to cover up the bone so nobody can find it.


• The other morning, after a long night of thunderstorms and wind, I woke up and didn't see Gromit in his bed or anywhere near by. I looked a little harder around the room and found him curled up in Dave's closet on a pile of clothes.


• More often than not, Gromit falls asleep in the evenings leaning against my chest as I sit on the couch.


• When we first got him he had a problem being motivated to come inside after walks so we started giving him a yogurt drop treat each time he came inside on his own. He now knows the treat is coming if he goes inside so he happily bounds down the stairs to the front door, goes inside and sits politely and waits for his prize.


• Gromit loves to go camping! He knows that when he sees the sleeping bags pulled out of the closet that he's going on a trip and he gets so excited! He loves sniffing around, going on hikes (he usually leads us up the trail), rolling in the dirt and actually burying his bone.


• He has just recently started to chase his ball. It's so fun to throw it, watch him pounce on it, play with it then bring it back to me.

• Any time there is a cat, squirrel or other small animal noise on TV he immediately turns his attention to the TV to see what is going on. He once looked around to the back of the TV to see if whatever was making that noise was hiding back there.
  

I (and Dave) love that little dog so much that he is like our child. I can't imagine life without him. I am so glad we got him!

New Belgium - On A Bike

If you have ever seen the "On A Boat" video, this is New Belgium's response. Awesome.

Tour De Fat 2009

Have you ever heard of New Belgium Brewery? If not, you should. Not only do they make incredibly tasty beer but they also are a fantastic company. They are big on sustainability and every year across the country they hold bike parades and festivals called Tour De Fat (Fat Tire is their most famous beer) encouraging people to ride bikes instead of driving cars. People dress up in crazy costumes and ride through town on their bikes and then attend a festival complete with music, dancing and, of course, beer. This past weekend it was in our city and we certainly enjoyed participating for the second year. Here are some pictures and videos from the event. Enjoy the fun!

Thousands of people come out for the event!

People really take dressing up seriously...

Dave and I were Guitar Heroes!

And we're off!

September is Hunger Action Month

One in eight Americans struggles with hunger. In America, the picture of hunger is not people starving in the streets - it is not knowing where your next meal is coming from or not having access to healthy, nutritious food. More and more working families are finding themselves not being able to pay bills and purchase food. When money gets tight in your home, what is the first thing you cut back on? Your rent/mortgage? Your utility bills? Most likely you adjust your grocery purchasing habits and change your habits of going out to eat. For some families, making these small adjustments isn't enough... they just can't make ends meet.

Food banks across the country work to provide food to nonprofit agencies such as pantries, shelters, churches and care programs by gleaning food from manufacturers, farmers, distributors, grocers and community food drives in order to make it available to hungry people in your community. In addition to providing food to agencies, food banks may also provide direct services such as emergency food boxes, USDA commodities and children's feeding programs. All of these efforts are supported locally through financial donations, food donations and donations of time through volunteering. Without community support these food banks could not do what they do to fight hunger in your community.

This September is Hunger Action Month. I challenge you to take action in the fight against hunger. Through the Give a Little, Feed a Lot campaign (through Feeding America) food banks across the country are asking for your help. Fight hunger in a big way by giving up something small. If you gave up lattes for a week, how much could you donate to those in need? What if you gave up eating lunch out? Donate to your local food bank what you typically spend on any of these items for a day … a week … a month … whatever you can. Visit www.hungeractionmonth.org to see how you can get involved. Also on the Web site, check out any special events going on in your area for Hunger Action Month through your local food bank. Show up to an event and talk to the staff to learn more about hunger in your community and how you can help - even if you can't make a financial donation. There are so many ways to get involved!

Hunger can affect any one at any time. Even you! Hunger is also a solvable problem. If nothing else, please take a minute to learn more. The face of hunger may surprise you. Happy Hunger Action Month!