Valentine's Day in Denver

On Saturday morning, Valentine's Day, I woke up to a few surprises! First, Matt baked me some Valentine's sugar cookies. Yum!! Second, we woke up to a beautiful snow covering outside! You can kind of see it off of our porch in the picture below:

Here we are...me ready for my third surprise! We loaded overnight bags in the car but Matt
wouldn't tell me where we were going.

When I got to the car, there was this cute little card with hearts and lips drawn on the outside of it! Matt also had Reeses peanut butter hearts and Sweethearts for our trip! But I was instructed to not open the card until we arrived at our destination.

But of course, the car needed to be cleared off before we headed out! Matt took care of that while I waited in the warm car munching on my Reese's peanut butter heart!





We get in the car and head north! I admit I am a little sad as we passed Park Meadows Mall in Denver because secretly, I kind of wanted to go shopping! But still, I greatly anticipated what was planned. At last, we arrive at this Hyatt in Denver and I get kind of excited thinking of just having a relaxing weekend away.

Then, Matt hands me my Valentine's card that I am now allowed to open. It is so cute and so sweet! He made it himself on Publisher. I am forbidden to show it in much detail on the blog, or to quote what it says! But basically, he wrote me a very sweet poem that included in there that we were going to go shopping and he printed out several coupons the night before for some of my favorite stores. He was laughing at me at this point, because I was actually crying because I thought it was so sweet!

I admit that I was a little confused as to why we were at the Hyatt if he said the surprise was shopping. He told me that he did that to throw me off! Can you believe that? But he said it backfired because he thought I would be disappointed at spending money on a hotel when we could spend it on clothes for work that I need! But instead I was kind of getting excited! Ha ha. Poor guy. He never knows what mood I will be in. :)

So after getting a great deal on this fleece to zip into my winter coat at Sport's Authority, we grabbed a delicious lunch at Taco Bell ( I know, it doesn't take much for us!) Then we hit a couple of malls! It was a very fun day! I got some much needed items for work and some fun things too!

The really good news is...we still stayed at Hyatt. Not the first one we went to, but another one some friends of ours were talking about. We got a pretty good deal. Matt even went in without me to try to get a deal from the manager. Ha Ha! It actually worked and he got us a discount. You never know until you try!

At the Hyatt, Matt had me wait in the car until he called me up to the room. When I came into the room this awesome TV was playing music and had these graphics on it. He had tea lights all around the room
(is that allowed?) and a bath set for
me take a luxurious warm bath!

This is the pull out couch when you first walk into the room. I really liked how the whole room was
decorated too. Very warm colors.

He even had rose petals on the bed and rented a movie with Richard Gere in it because I love Runaway Bride so much! Ha ha. But Richard Gere is at his best with
Julia Roberts...I just can't find
a movie that compares!

And the room from the other corner. It was really difficult to get a good picture that captured it all because it is divided up. The sink area and then bathroom is to the right of the tv. And the couch you saw earlier is on the left side of that panel that separated the bedroom from the "living area". If you care, you can go to this link, and get a much better idea of what the room looked like...and the rest of the motel for that matter.

And of course, a fashion show of the day's purchases after my hot bath!











See that ice bucket with the sparkling apple cider in it? I actually thought Matt bought it too because it is green...my favorite color! Then he told me that it was the hotel's ice bucket. Ha ha. I've never been to a hotel with that nice of a bucket...I thought they were always plastic!

It was a fun weekend for us to relax and get away! Sometimes it is fun to spend money on other things then towards your school loans! (That is still fun though too) :) We love you all and hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day! XOXO

Movie Night & Grand Prix Headlights

One might be beginning to wonder what we have been doing out here in Colorado lately...seeing as I have not updated for awhile. Well, I certainly will not be completely filling you in on account of time. But I have just a few things to note...and it seems that only the things I have pictures of get mentioned!

(By the way, I meant to take pics of our CO license plates months ago after we got them just because it was exciting to us! So here is one now...better late than never! And Mark, we will save you one as requested! They put one on the front & back of your vehicle out here so if we should ever leave this beautiful state, we will have 4!)


The last few weekends have been relaxing yet productive for us. Sometimes on the weekends we like to pull out our air mattress that my parents bought for us and watch a movie in the living room! We don't have a television in our bedroom so the concept of laying down on a bed to watch a movie is great fun. ha ha. Plus, we don't have to get up and go to bed after it is over...we can just fall right asleep. And we love that air mattress. It is comfortable!



This past weekend was gorgeous! It got up into the 60's on Saturday. Which is crazy for a Colorado January...you would think. But the weather fluctuates a lot around here. Anyway, Matt took the opportunity to work on the Grand Prix. His dad sent out the headlights from Courtney's Grand Prix that were in need of replacement. But they were A LOT better than our headlights that we struggle to tell if are on in the pitch dark night. Ours have cracks in them and are very foggy.

Oh yeah, funny story about Matt's hair: I was in the office the other night while he was doing his routine cut. He just uses hair clippers to cut his hair. It doesn't take long. He just puts the correct length attachment on and "zippp" he cuts his hair to the length he desires. However, he does use two different attachments for the shorter length on the side of his head and the longer length on the top of his head. So as I "working" hard on the computer, I all of the sudden hear a quiet but distinct "Uh-Oh!" uttered from my husband's mouth in the next room . I jump up to see what the concern is...only to find my poor husband examining the top of his head. Sure enough he used the short clippers from the side of his head right down the top of his head! It was quite comical looking...especially considering it stopped dead halfway back his head at what point he noticed an obvious malfunction! Of course, at that point he had no choice but to buzz the rest of the hair on his head to the same short length. The growing back stage takes me back to our college days of his hair growing back after a complete head shave. Or back to the time, 3 months prior to our wedding, he decided to play basketball with the Dodgens on a low hoop. No problem there, except until he decided to jump up and slice the top of his head on the bottom of the backboard. In order to "glue" (I'm not kidding about this one-actual super glue) his cut together, his hair had to be buzzed close. Thanks Mom Witt for assisting...I was nauseous from the blood and comotion. No, nursing would definitely not be my calling. Thankfully, by wedding day, it was pretty close to normal length. Now as for our engagement pictures, he does look a little bit like a service man. But it worked. So I know that 3 months is about the longest we will endure the growing back stage from experience! Ha ha. It's really not that bad actually. It has already grown back quite a bit! Sorry, that quick story got long-winded. I do apologize!





Here is our car (finally washed...sorry, Dad!) being worked on!













As you can see here, there is a big difference in the newer and old headlight!









And...the finished product! These headlights look SO much better than our originals. And you wouldn't believe how much better we can see the road when driving at night! Thanks Dad W! We know you spent a lot of time cleaning them up for us and shipping them out. You're still helping us with our car needs even miles away! You saved us a lot of money. We love them!

A Weekend in Edwards

Matt and I went to Edwards, Colorado this weekend to visit some good friends...the Otts. Jenny Ott (now Showalter) and I went to college together but really got to be friends when we both worked as Admissions Counselors at Indiana Wesleyan University. Once Matt and I got married I went to work for her dad, Gary Ott, in Indianapolis. Gary is the CEO of TLC, the company that owned Angels of Mercy Home Health Care. It was such a blessing to have Jenny make me aware of the marketing opportunity with Angels almost three years ago! This is Matt and I with Jenny and Daniel (Jenny's husband) when we went sledding! See that puppy jumping up at me? He was romping around with another puppy, a golden retriever, the whole time we were out in the snow. They were so cute! This one kept climbing on the sled with me so I took him for a ride down the hill :)

Daniel started his own photograpy business about a year ago. He is INCREDIBLY talented and has been doing some commercial photography in Indianapolis. He took pictures of the new Indianapolis airport and Reed Hospital in Richmond Indiana. Check out his website. It is pretty impressive!

Matt and I actually visited them at their vacation home last December when we made a trip to Colorado. It's becoming a traditional annual visit! Connie, Jenny's mom wants us to stay longer next year and hit the slopes with them! The Ott's are such a wonderful, warm and fun family. Jenny's two brother's, their wives and children were all there together. We played games, went shopping, went sledding, ate delicious meals and caught up on life! Unfortunately, these are the only two pictures we took. I can't believe I didn't even take pictures of Jackson, Isaac or Syndey...the grandchildren! They were pretty cute!

Thanks for a great weekend, Daniel & Jenny!

Philadelphia Eagles Gameday Countdown

Eagles vs. Vikings

We are PUMPED about the Eagles being in the playoffs and after an amazing game against the Cowboys
last Sunday...have been looking forward to this game all week!

Matt even simulated the game between the Vikings and the Eagles last night on the Wii and the Eagles beat the Vikings 55-0! Unfortunately, that is not going to be the case today because it is 16-7 Eagles right now...but as long as we get the win...we don't care!



As you can see I'm the referee on the Wii football game!




We have been waiting for a few years to use the Eagles cups and plates that my mom bought Matt a few years ago in Pennsylvania. We decided to break them out today! Aren't they great? They make Matt a very happy man.











Here are the cups and the plates...along with Matt's Eagles mini-helmet.

And here's hoping for a GREAT game!
Go EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year!

Matt and I planned to spend New Year's Eve with another couple this year and when they decided to just stay in and watch a movie...we were all for it! We had to work that day so we were looking forward to a night in. Does this mean we are getting old? :) Matt ran to the store and got me these snowman sugar cookies and sparkling apple cider...yum!
Last week we looked all over Wal-Mart for these cookies. You just throw them in the oven and they are good to go! We couldn't find them last week...but we did this week and they were on sale! I love snowmen.
I was trying out a different lense here that Mom Witt gave me a few years ago. You can't zoom in and out with it but it gives me a much clearer focus on my subject! I'm sure that Matt will just love that I posted this pic. :) I tell him that his Grandma really likes it when I post pics of him...right Grandma Johnson?!
We rented this movie from Red Box. Also, something we tried to get around Christmas but it was unavailable! It is a Max Lucado Christmas movie. It was pretty good! Literally, it ended exactly at midnight because as it ended we heard fireworks going off outside. We went out on our deck to check it out, and sure enough we got a show! Wishing you all a blessed 2009!

Colorado Christmas

Matt and I stayed overnight in Denver on Christmas Eve! We got off of work early and headed north. When we got to the southside of Denver near our motel we decided to check out the Park Meadows Mall. It is a gorgeous mall with a beautiful fireplace in the food court. We figured it would be decked out for the holidays...and it was! Here is a picture of the outside entrance. It was still open until 6 so even though we weren't planning on doing Christmas gifts this year, we decided we would run in (15 minutes until close!) split and buy something for each other so we would have something to open at the hotel in the morning. It was really fun!

Here is the fireplace inside of the mall in the food court. My pictures just don't do it justice! Matt and I met each other back here. I come back feeling rushed after going to just ONE store...I find Matt sitting at a table, eating pizza and breadsticks (he got for 2 bucks from Sbarro because they were closing) with a cute, silky, red gift bag sitting next to him. Then he proceeds to tell me he went to 3 stores! Ha ha. He must be a better shopper than me :)




After we left the mall, Matt saw this skybridge that went over the innerstate that he wanted to check out. We found the entrance and took a stroll! I snapped this picture of Matt as we were going up the stairs and when we got up the stairs, there was this nice man waiting for us at the top! He saw the flash and asked if we wanted a picture of both of us. He was really sweet...and funny. He told us he was a professional photographer and was posing us and moving us to different spots. Because it was dark...the pictures didn't come out great...but it was nice of him to take the time! He was dressed very nice and he told us he worked for Nordstrom's. I asked for his card, but he didn't have one. So we are now unsure if he said that he was a professional photographer or if he was saying he was not. Either way, we appreciated it!









Here are a couple of the pictures he took for us!

On the bridge.

Showing the whole length of the bridge.

There wasn't a ton of traffic on Christmas Eve!

We arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn after our bridge adventure. We got the room on Priceline for $38! Some friends of ours had told us about the good deals they have gotten from Priceline in that area. It was a beautiful Hotel with great service. You could even get into the pool, hot tub and fitness center all night long. We took advantage of the hot tub access and should have probably done the same with the fitness center...but it was Christmas! We'll save that for a New Year's resolution. :) This is a picture of the mountains out our window.





And this...is one of my favorite cookies! Wal-mart has the most amazing sugar cookies with frosting on top. This is also a favorite of my mother 'n laws! I was thinking of you as I indulged myself, mom! I wish we could have enjoyed them together.







We forgot to bring the little tree from my office at work...but here are our gifts for Christmas morning. What do you think of my ingenuity with putting Matt's gift in the ice bucket!? Pretty slick, right? :)











You can see that the other gift I stuffed in my purse! Matt's wrapping job is much better than mine! The card is from Dad and Mom Wittleder. We waited until Christmas as requested. Thanks Dad & Mom!

Matt and I on Christmas morning!

Matt getting ready to read the Christmas story in Luke.



Matt got me perfume! My dad always bought me perfume for Christmas when I was at home and I was running out! Smells good! Guess you're off of the hook, Dad! :)

















Sorry about the close-up. You are supposed to be able to see my new lip gloss that came with my perfume in this picture!


Matt after he opened his new workout shirt (that was in the ice bucket!)




And a running fleece! No excuses to not workout now!


Here I am enjoying a delectable Christmas dinner...a beef and bean burrito, complete with Munchies and Sprite! We had a microwave and fridge in the motel so I was able to bring my slaved over Christmas meal to heat up :) I love not cooking and just relaxing! We watched a Christmas movie after the festivities, requested a 2:00 checkout and after driving around Denver for a while...headed home!






Matt and I decided to make pizza our Christmas tradition. So when we got back home, Matt made pepperoni pizza, and as a surprise for me...cheese bread! What a sweetheart.

We settled in our living room with our dinner and watched another Christmas movie that night! It was a very relaxing Christmas holiday. My first away from Pennsylvania. Luckily, it went great because I got to see my family and already have "Christmas" with them a week and a half ealier. We were well rested for work on Friday...and then enjoyed a weekend!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well! Love you!