Wii Time

Matt playing the Wii before our friends arrived the other night.

Mom and Dad Wittleder gave him the Wii as his graduation present from Physical Therapy school. He loves it! It is a good thing that we didn't have it before graduation or we may have never arrived at that wonderful day! :)

Matt especially loves it when I play Madden with him. And I must admit, I do enjoy the 5 v. 5 mode. It is easier for me to understand and I have actually succeeded in beating him a few times! This helps for my own enjoyment because I can become a bit competitive at times! It's hilarious...Matt doesn't even care if he loses, he just likes that I play it with him! He has such a good attitude about everything...a quality I greatly admire and love. Overall, he is better than me though. Unless we play target practice (kind of like Duck Hunt from the original Ninentdo.) I smoke him then because my reaction time is quicker!

When we play Madden, we usually both play with the Eagles but just play with teams from different years. I always go with the older Eagles team becasue they have a better record. I will admit, that gives me an edge too...because I need it!

Here on the right, is a close-up of Matt's outfit. I thought he looked so cute because he matched our living room decor! ha ha. That is what made me get the camera out in the first place. Can you believe how he puts up with me? :)

Clean Shoes

You know you have issues when...

So...for those of you who don't know this...I love to keep my shoes clean. I can't help it. I was born this way. This is why I find it hard to part with my running shoes that are five years old and for all practical purposes shot...but still look great! I know that when you run often, your shoe wears out and you must buy a new pair every number of months. But when they still look new...it seems like such a waste!

It was shoe washing day last Tuesday. This is my process:
1. Remove all shoelaces and removable insoles in your sneakers (not all insoles are removable)
2. Take spray 'n wash or a similar cleaning product and spray the outside soles of your sneakers.
3. Scrub the harder, rubber surfaces with a scrub brush to remove caked on dirt.
4. Re-spray the mesh, cloth areas of the sneaker with spray 'n wash and throw in the washer with the shoelaces.
5. If desired, pour detergent into the washer for extra cleaning power and begin your wash cycle.
6. After cycle has finished, remove your sneakers and shoelaces and set them on the porch or drying rack.
7. As they continue to dry feel deep satisfaction over your effort to bring back the bright whiteness of brand new shoes all over again!
8. Relish in the praises of your husband when he puts his shoes on for work the next morning and feels like a new man in his like-new kicks! (for those of you with children in school...I am betting there is a similar appreciation and enjoyment to be experienced!- you may find yourself having to buy shoes less often!)

I think there is even a lesson on stewardship to be learned in this post. That is my only redeeming thought here. That, or else I really do have issues! I guess there is no harm as long as it makes me happy, right?

Biking SAFELY!

"Biking SAFELY" refers to our helmets...not the fact that I am quite obviously taking this picture
of Matt while I am on my bike! (The shadows on the ground are a dead giveaway!)

On Sunday night, Matt and I went on another bike ride close to our apartment complex. No, I'm not going
to take pictures EVERY time we go on a bike ride. But, I thought that it might make a few of you happy
to see that we have purchased and are wearing our new HELMETS!

Behind me is Cottonwood Park. We used to come here and play ultimate frisbee when I attended Focus. I think this is where we played soccer also. It is very close to our apartment and there is acutally a nature trail that takes us right to it! Below is a blurb from their website along with one of the pictures of Cottonwood Creek with Pike's Peak in the background.

Cottonwood Creek Community Park is located on the north end of Colorado Springs in the Norwood neighborhood. The park spans 77 acres, and includes Cottonwood Creek Recreation Center (indoor pool), picnic tables, a playground, restrooms, sledding hills, four soccer fields, three softball/baseball fields, tennis courts, an in-line hockey court, disc golf course, and walking and running paths.

And here comes my husband...where the nature trail ends and the sidewalk begins!












We went back to the apartment by route of Woodmen Road, instead of taking the nature trail back. Here we are by Cook Communications-it's a minstry out here that someone at our church told us that our pastor and his family are involved in...unless there is another Cook Communications that we are not aware of. They have the cutest little pond area behind it. We don't have pictures of that though...we were really just trying to get the mountains!

Air Force Football Game

We went to an Air Force game against Utah on Saturday. It was a great game but Utah pulled it out in the end!

A view of the whole field!

Air Force getting themselves pumped up on the right. I think it is funny that they hold hands!

These are all of the cadets that attended the game. Don't look too long or it will mess with your eyes.











Every time Air Force scored, a group of cadets raced down to the end zone to do a push-up for every point scored. Kind of fun!

This is a falcon. By the way, the team is the Air Force Falcons. It was pretty cool. They had him flying around the stadium and performing for the crowd. If you click on the picture you can see the falcon close-up. He almost looks fake in this picture!

Me, trying on some AF gear at the fan shop during halftime. And Matt, sporting his reeboks to cheer on the blue team!

Shot of Matt by the Jumbotron. Can you tell that he LOVES getting his picture taken! :)

I'm not sure how well you can see it, but some dark clouds were rolling over a portion of the sky around halftime. We never did get hit with rain! And part of the sky was still sunny. It made the sky look very cool though.


On this same morning, before the game, Matt and I got up to play tennis. When we felt like the shade and sun contrast made it difficult to see on our apartment's court, we headed to another park nearby to play. We discovered the park where we both played flag football 4 years ago when Matt came to visit me out here. There were these cute little kids playing flag football and these 6 year old cheerleaders! It was so cute and fun to watch. We also watched BMX racing taking place right next to the football fields. There was a whole BMX course that was not there 4 years ago! We were intrigued...and can you believe...we never did get to playing tennis! Ha ha! Oh well!

Last Week

Last Monday night we went to BW3s with Josh & Amber to watch the Eagles vs. Cowboys game. As you know, a good game but a disappointing outcome. Thankfully, the game against the Steelers last night made up for it! Sorry about your luck, Megan :)
Whew! Last week was a busy, but very fun week for us! Every night we had something going on...which is a first for us in our marriage. You see, before we always had something to do, but it usually consisted of going to the library, studying, running errands etc. We rarely just had fun on a school night! And definitely not every night of the week. It's funny to us because it didn't seem that unusual then...it was just all we knew! But we are having fun in this new season of life and marriage.

Tuesday, we went over to our friends, Josh & Amber's, to do Financial Peace University online. We get together every week for this...this week it's at our apartment. For those of you who are not familiar, you have got to check out Dave Ramsey's teachings. Matt and I were told to get his book The Total Money Makeover in premarital counseling. We only had two counseling sessions so the pastor said he wanted to hit the most important issue that you will face in your marriage...finances. Dave Ramsey's inspiration has done wonders for how Matt and I view money and debt. And it has been spectacular for us as a couple because it gives us a plan, and a good plan that we both agree on promotes financial peace in our marriage! I am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey because I am a natural saver anyway. I could go on an on...but I won't do that to you! Just go get the book, check out his website, or listen to his radio station if you want more information. It will change your life.

Wednesday night, Matt went to a seminar in Pueblo for Physical Therapists pertaining to Medicare billing. He thought it was very beneficial!

Thursday night, we went over to a couple's house from the church we have been attending the last few weeks. They were so sweet! We love them. For those of you who do not know the story, we weren't really even looking for a different church when we stumbled across Living Hope. The first two weeks out here, we went to a large church that I was familiar with and enjoyed from my semester in the Springs 4 years ago. But one night, 3 or 4 weeks ago, Matt and I were biking the Santa Fe trail and just as we were getting closer to our apartment, we passed this small church. We had noticed it before, but like I said, we weren't really looking for a different church. For some reason, I suggested to Matt that we just bike over to it and check it out. As we were approaching the front door, a lady came around the corner and we introduced ourselves. She took us in, gave us a tour and introduced us to the ladies' quilting group that was meeting. Everyone was so friendly! And then on our way out we met the Danielson's. They are the couple that invited us to their home on Thursday.

Since that night, we have been attending and have been overwhelmed by the love and friendliness that has been shown to us. Every Sunday, we meet several new people that are excited to meet us. It is so funny because some people would say, "I haven't met you yet, but I've heard about you!" The pastor told us that as well when we met him the very first Sunday we attended. I guess in a small church, word gets around. It is a church of a little over 150. Oh, and on our second Sunday...a lady named Candy made us a chocolate chip cookies! Candy as well as some other attendees have been trying to think of every possible job opportunity for me to pursue. They are so nice!

So anyway, the Danielson's had us over and we talked about their life in the military, their kids and grandkids, Matt's job, and the joys of marriage. It was so evident to us their love for Christ and their love for their family. They are such a neat couple. It was a wonderful time and we felt so blessed that they would invite us into their home.

Friday night, Living Hope actually had a potluck dinner that we attended where we were able to meet and get to know more people from the church. I, of course, called my mom for a quick and easy dish to prepare! Fruit salad it was! We still have not decided if Living Hope will be our church home, but we are certainly enjoying the fellowship so far.

I know some of you have been asking about my job situation. I still do not have one yet. There are a few possibilities out there, but it is not the best time to be looking for a job in this area. Many places are on hiring freezes, or are taking their time to fill an open position. We all know that it is much easier to find a job when you know somebody than to randomly be filling out online applications. So I m trying to network, but no luck yet. Please pray that the right position will come along in God's timing and that I will be prepared for it. And pray that the Lord will give me peace and patience in the meantime! Thank you for your interest in our lives...I will let you know just as soon as I find something!

I'm sorry for all of the narrative and very few pictures. I promise pictures in the next few posts! Love you all!!

Happy Apple Farm

Uncle Jerry, Aunt Kathy and Matt and I went to the Happy Apple Farm this weekend. It is located about an hour south west of the Springs. The sad thing was that there was a frost in April that prevented them from having ANY apples this fall! We went and picked our pumpkins anyway to support the business. We had fun!

This is the blossom that a pumpkin begins as. I didn't know that! Isn't that amazing?

Matt spotted his pumpkin right away. We really liked the green ones! Matt wants to carve an Eagle into his. So hence, green makes sense. He wanted to take his pumpkin to BW3s tonight to watch the Eagles vs. Cowboys. But we didn't get the pumpkin carved yet. I'm so disappointed. :) Mine is the little one. I love it!

Picking our Pumpkins right off of the vine!

Here is our little pile of green pumpkins reserved with our water bottle while we scour the fields for more. As you can see in this picture to the right, there were actually orange pumpkins, but they were already picked. We wanted to find our own, plus we liked the green ones. Our green ones will turn orange if we put them in the sun, but mine will probably stay on my coffee table in my green living room for now!



Isn't this little girl adorable? I took a picture of her and her family ...her brother was just as cute, and hilarious.






Unlce Jerry & Matt with their pumpkins!

A group shot outside of the Happy Apple Farm Store.

Here we are in the orchard. I took pictures of Uncle Jerry & Aunt Kathy with their camera. I was so mad that I didn't have Matt take some with my camera because it was hilarious when Uncle J dipped Aunt K for a kiss! I wish I had that picture!

After the pumpkin patch, we went to Belvedere's in Canon City for Italian at it's best! Then we took the scenic route home through the mountains. We got out a few times for some pictures and drove around some older towns...one thriving and one that was really struggling. There was some wildlife along the way too...check out the cow along the road! Maybe not so wild.

The road we drove used to be a railway up the mountain to bring gold back down that was mined. On the right is a bridge that we encountered on the way.

















If you look VERY closely on the bridge you can see a crazy girl waving her arms at you...now who could that be? :) Love you all!

Cookie Flop

Matt and I decided to bake chocolate chip cookies last night. How fun would that be? Well...great until we took them out of the oven! We completely forgot to adjust the recipe for the high altitude! Whoops! They turned out flat and crispy.




So, I was thinking...is this going to be an excuse that I can utilize to account for my occasional cooking mishaps?








Don't pretend Matt! We know how you really feel! I tasted them too. They are not that good! Oh well, now we have a nice big bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge. You know how I hate that. :)



So when the cookies didn't work out, we moved on to the next fun activity. Playing Madden on the Wii. It actually was fun, do you want to know why? Because I actually beat Matt!!!! Woo-hoo! Victory!



Well, it was only once. But who's counting?

Office Additions

We finally got something up on the walls in our office! I dug through a box of unpacked frames and came up with several black ones. Now we can can enjoy pictures of our family and I can swap them out every so often with updated pictures. One of our favorites is the one of my nephew, Colin, on the left in his Eagles jersey. That kid is so adorable, I can hardly stand it. Do you know what he said to his mom the other day? They were on Market Street in Sunbury and he says, "mommy, do you see that plane up there. I think Aunt Sonya is in it." Isn't he the cutest? I wish I was in that plane to come see him! :) Anyway, that is one picture, that outdated or not, will probably stay right there!

These are a few other shots of the office. We just put one of our wedding pictures above the futon with the candles on each side. I'm trying to make do with all of the decorations that we already have so we don't have to buy anything else!

Biking

This weekend Matt and I went on a bike ride on one of the MANY bike trails in the Springs.





Here's Matt loading up the bikes on his Mazda! Oh! And that is our apartment behind him. I realized I never put outside pics of the apartment up...so here is a two for one!

My handsome strong husband, unloading where we wanted to get on to the bike trail!

This is where we got on the bike path in the Springs. But this particular bike trail goes all the way from Pueblo to Monument! If we had not started so late in the day we would have liked to take it up to Monument. We heard there is a great little ice cream store there...and then it's smooth sailing all the way back to the Springs because it is mostly downhill!

Matt and I along the trail...stopping for a breather!








This is where we turned around by the Air Force Academy. Sorry there aren't more spectacular photos...we were kind of busy riding! We are excited to try out some other trails as well as take this one further.

And not to worry, we picked up bike helmets the following day. So no more unsafe riding! It's either really popular out here, or it's the law because we didn't see one rider who wasn't wearing one! But we wanted to look around for cheap ones, so we didn't have them for our first few rides.