Best football game takeout in Fort Collins, CO

Here's a Yahoo! article I wrote about BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Fort Collins.

Sociology of Marvin the Martian

My textbooks came today.

*dunh dunh dunh*

Yep. Fall quarter is officially just around the corner. Slightly over three weeks away.

I can feel it lurking, staring at me, daring me to once again maintain my 3.9 GPA and my sanity simultaneously.

It's not an easy feat, and thus far I've done... well, not too bad overall. Oceanography nearly killed me, but that was awhile ago, and the scars are finally beginning to fade.

Too dramatic, you say?

I assure you, it's not. That class was brutal. I swear it left me with a limp.

Anyway, this is my LAST fall quarter ever! Well, unless I go to grad school. But right now the thought makes me gag slightly, so I'll put a pin in it until... indefinitely...

So yes, Last Fall Quarter.

This is quite possibly my last "not scary" quarter. Winter will be when I laughingly try to juggle an extra course load, and Spring is when I'll be doing my utterly terrifying degree capstone.

This quarter I'm taking Intro to Philosophy, because I love nothing more than blithering on about metaphysical nonsense, and Sociology of the Family, because it genuinely sounded interesting (and the other sociology class I wanted ended up being canceled for this quarter, so plan B).

My main stress for this quarter (besides the "new class" jitters) is the fact that I will be moving right in the middle of it. Which means that I'll need to arrange internet service before we're even in the house, because I will absolutely not be able to wait two weeks or, god forbid, have to attempt dial-up or DSL! It also means that I'll have to do all of my assignments while also packing, loading, and unpacking my entire life, once again.

Le sigh.

I swear, somewhere inside my brain is a tiny little sadist...

Or just him...

Digging out and drying off

So the skies have cleared above Colorado, but the devastation will last for weeks, if not months. As you've probably heard by now, eastern Colorado, from just below the Wyoming border, all the way down past Pueblo, was hit by massive, record-breaking rainfall, flash floods, and widespread damage.

Roads were ripped up, mudslides took out everything in their path, people were trapped by rapidly rising water, and many communities became their own little islands, completely cut off to the rest of the state.

Seven people have now been confirmed to have died, though that number is expected to rise in the days and weeks to come. Currently, over 1000 people are still unaccounted for in Larimer County. Over 600 are unaccounted for in Boulder County.

As a resident of Larimer Country, I can tell you, there are no words to describe it.

Our neighborhood became its own little island for a few days, though the water has begun to recede a bit. But we were one of the lightest hit areas, something that definitely weighs on you. We were lucky. So many more were not.

As reported by CNN, Army and National Guard helicopters are in the air today, trying to locate and extract as many people as possible. With hundreds, if not thousands of people awaiting rescue however, it could still be a long wait. Those who choose to stay behind in their homes are facing weeks without power, running water, and cell service.

Hundreds of homes and business have been totally destroyed, and countless more are severely damaged. The extent of the damage has been compared to that of Hurricane Sandy. The cost just to repair the roads is already estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

If you are able to donate food or supplies, please do so. Contact the Red Cross for ways to help. Thousands of people need it.

Spontaneous Saturday

So yesterday began as any old "I have this to do" day, but turned into quite a fun family day.

Spontaneity. It's a good thing.

Starting out, I had planned to go hit up the paint store and grab some paint chips in order to get an idea of which colors we liked and what would go well with the carpet and flooring we had picked out earlier in the week.

However, that got more complicated when we swung by Home Depot first and ended up changing our minds regarding the carpet choice and the potential flooring choice.

Sigh.

Too. Many. Choices.

We actually found a carpet we liked better- a couple shades darker, more plush, still well within budget. So that was good.

But in finding that, I began to question our flooring choice. Was it too dark? Did it have too much red in it? Would it clash with our potential cabinet choices (to be determined in about a week and a half)?

So we headed back to the wood flooring and began hemming and hawing over the bajillion options.

We left with about six or seven samples, because we couldn't decide...

We then swung by the Sherwin Williams store, and my brain momentarily broke. When you find yourself standing in front of an entire wall of paint chips, it's like your brain just goes "NOPE!"

We laid out the carpet and flooring samples, and then began pulling colors and holding them against our flooring choices. Right away we were able to remove three of the flooring choices from the running. Away from the artificial light of Home Depot, we realized that two of our samples were way too light and one was way too yellow.

So that narrowed it down.

We then just sort of went with our gut and picked out colors that we knew would go with our existing furniture and decor. Back at our old house in Washington, I had been planning on painting the main walls a toasted almond color, with an accent wall in a rich, deep red. So, lacking creativity, we went with that same game plan for the house down here.

Stick with what you know, I guess.

The colors we chose also look good with the carpet choice, as well as the four remaining floor samples that we are still debating on. After the house is framed- which should be this week, weather permitting- we are going to meet with the builder and the cabinet guy and pick out the cabinets, countertops, and tile. That will help us choose a wood flooring that looks good with it all, and then we will be able to get everything ordered and have accomplished a huge chunk of the To Do list.

Phew...

So after settling on the paint colors, we decided to head up the road and explore Old Town Fort Collins.

It's so cute!!!

Apparently, the main thoroughfare was the inspiration for Disneyland's Mainstreet USA.

Yeah, that's how cute it is.

Right?!?

Tree-lined streets. Cafes, bistros, art installations, super cute boutiques, yummy restaurants, street performers, hippies, tourists, families. It's a fun mish-mash of all walks of life, all forms of expression, and a fun dose of Americana.

It was quite lovely to stroll along the streets, window shopping, actual shopping, and people-watching.

It reminded me of my favorite city of all- Nelson, B.C.

God I miss Nelson. Must plan a visit there in the near future.

So after our stroll through Old Town, we were headed back home when I spontaneously decided to head out to Horsetooth Reservoir and Horsetooth Mountain Park instead.

So beautiful up there!

The red rocks and the green vegetation- stunning! And we were heading up there as the sun was starting to sink lower on the horizon, so the colors were amazing.

Not only did we find a new place to hike, we may have also found the site of our future cabin!