King of Fruits

James had big plans for Vegas this year.

They included buying and trying the "King of Fruits": Durian

A few weeks before we left, he was watching a show on the travel channel and the host tried Durian for the first time. Apparently the smell was similar to rotten onions and stinky feet. Now doesn't that sound appetizing?

So after this wonderful description James looked up where you could get Durian. The closest place he found to our Colorado home was a Chinese market in Las Vegas. This market also happened to be located only 2 miles from out hotel.

So James and I along with our friend Shannan ventured to this market. It was actually pretty cool, there were tanks of live fish (to buy and cook..or not I guess) and bins of live crabs. I was laughing at a guy who was trying to capture a crab with tongs and put it into a bag to buy... I think it took him about 25 tries to get it in the bag. What can I say, I am easily entertained!

So we walked through the store looking at the interesting mix of normal food we see at the grocery store and unknown stuff with Chinese writing. We ventured to the produce department to find James' Durian. We found all sorts of fruit, but could not find the "King of Fruits" :( So we got some dragon fruit, jujube, star fruit, and a young coconut. Then before hope was lost (also before James would start to cry, although there was a slightly disheartened frown on his face) we found the Durian! It was in a freezer near the produce section. You would think that since the description of the smell was so lovely and the fact that it is kept in a freezer that we might be detered from obtaining this item; nope, not one bit. We decided to ask an employee if they had a suggestion on how to open the Durian, and the response was ".......no" with a slightly scared look on his face. I am not sure if it was due to a lack of understanding of the language or just thinking we were completely stupid to want to open this fruit. So with no assistance in this matter, we chose to purchase a small (cheap) knife so we could cut it open.

We left our purchases in our hotel room since we had the hockey game to go to, besides the Durian needed to thaw.

Late Saturday night when we made it back to the hotel, our tasting was to begin.

James was very excited to have his Durian:



He thought it smell a little like a melon, and even gave it a sweet little kiss:


Ready for dissection! I got volunteered for the honor:


Alas it is open:


It has a custard-like interior with large seed pods:


Shannon takes a whiff...


And a taste....not impressed

We have all tried it at this point, but James just can't throw it away and decides to go for round two...

A nice big piece, can he do it?

He's going for it!!!

And....

Nope, not gonna happen :) I missed getting a good picture of his gagging face (you'll just have to imagine it). By now the smell is very......ummm....potent! The taste is similar to raw onions that have been sitting out for awhile and the smell is a lot worse. We wrapped up the "precious" Durian and threw it in the trash: not in our room, not in the hall, not in the lobby but in the trashcan outside of the hotel. See we do have some common sense!

So if you decide that you need to try the "King of Fruits" do so at your own peril or at least that of your nose and gag reflex. It took a day for the smell to dissipate from our room, but the memories will last.

Vegas Hockey Baby!!!

Frozen Fury XII

This was the reason to go out to Vegas last weekend, not that I would mind going to Vegas pretty much anytime...

We showed up for the morning skate, just like we have the past two years. When we got to the rink the Kings were still on the ice, so we watched the end of their practice. When they started leaving the ice, we were all told by the ushers that we had to leave the rink. We sat down outside the doors waiting to be allowed back in.

An usher announces to everyone waiting that the Av's practice is closed and we will not be allowed in to watch and should leave.

Well, this is a familiar situation since it pretty much went the same way each year.

We remained seated on the floor to wait.

About 10 minutes later a supervisor (or at least someone in charge) comes up to the ushers and tells them that the Av's say to let the fans in to watch in about 15 minutes. So we hang out until they open the doors and let us in :) glad we know not to be too upset when they tell us that practice is closed, it never stays that way!

We watched practice, which was cool as usual! I just like hockey (even had fun watching the Kings practice). They had the front 12 rows or so taped off so we didn't get as close as usual so no pics, but it was still fun!

After practice we waited for the players to come out. We got autographs on another hat and on some pucks as well as some pictures.

James and I with Stastny, he might be sick of us by now since we have a few pictures with him already. Hopefully he can stay healthy this year, it will be exciting to see him play.



James and I with Smyth...It's a bummer to lose him to the Kings, but I hope he does well!



James and I with O'Reilly, he seems to be a good addition to the team from what we've seen so far.

Me with Liles, hoping to see some good strong defense from him this year. I think he's my favorite player right now, maybe I'll even get a jersey this year...

James and I with Koci, he is a big guy with some grit that the Av's need.

Jeremy and James with Weiman. He's been sent back down to Lake Erie, but a great goalie! Jeremy was excited to talk with him for awhile since he knows him from when he played for the Colorado Eagles.

I won't bore you with too many pics of the game, mostly because I didn't get any really good ones. Here is a pic during warm-up before the game.

Koci's fight!

Random pic during the game, but you can see Stastny #26.

It was fun to watch hockey as usual, but the reffing was awful! The Av's gave a good effort, but had to kill several penalties and deal with lame calls including a penalty shot. They ended up losing by one goal :( However, this was just pre-season and I look forward to seeing them kick butt this year!

Vegas...Vegas...Vegas

Last weekend was our third annual trip to Las Vegas!

We went to see the Frozen Fury XII, Avalanche vs. Kings hockey game.

There will be several posts over the next week or so to give you a glimpse into our trip...

Our friends Jeremy and Sara invited us to go with them three years ago (they have gone every year for awhile and celebrated their 6-year anniversary this time; they got married on the ice 6 years ago before the hockey game).

We flew out of the Fort Collins-Loveland Airport, which is great! It is nice to only drive 15 minutes to the airport and pay $5 a night to park. As long as you watch the website, the flight price will usually drop for a day or so and you can get a cheap flight. We met at the ice-rink nearby and left one car there so we only had to pay for one parking fee. Our friends have taught us well in regard to flying out of this airport... Show up early so you can check in as soon as they open; we sat on the floor playing cards until they let us check in. Then you leave and drive the 5 minutes to Centerra for breakfast (or lunch depending on your flight time); we got Chick-Fil-A! Then wander around for awhile and make your way back to the airport. Go through security and then you only have to wait about 30-minutes to board your plane. It is one of the best airport experiences ever!!!

The flight to Vegas is only about an hour and a half, so it goes really quick! We usually bring snacks and grab a drink from the vending machine after we've gone through security so we don't have to buy any food. There is just enough time for a quick cat-nap or a few chapters in a book and then you are landing.

It was nice to go from the cool weather we've had in Colorado to the sunny 90's and higher in Vegas! We stayed at the Palace Station because they gave us free rooms for 2 of the 3 nights! It is definitely not anywhere near high-end in Vegas standards, but it is simple, nice and clean....and did I mention FREE! James and Jeremy were also entered into a free slot contest, they didn't win this time, but there is always next year....

We went to the Rio World Buffet for lunch/dinner; it was lunch price, but right at the end of the time so we got the dinner food at the lunch price. I was too focused on eating to get any pics, the food was great. James actually got several kinds of seafood and seemed to enjoy it, I stayed away. I did enjoy lots of different food and especially enjoyed dessert! I think I ended up with 8-10 desserts :) in my defense the desserts are small, not that it would really make a difference.

James was very excited for In-N-Out Burger, the rest of us were as well, but he was especially excited.





Even though we were not very hungry after the buffet earlier, we decided to hit In-N-Out before heading to Fremont Street.



James and I both got our burgers and fries "animal Style" I was so full that I couldn't finish and it was very sad having to throw part of my food away :(

The good thing is that we went to In-N-Out 3 more times while we were there (4 total)! So, I got to enjoy it when I was a little more hungry. I think I have decided that I like my burger "animal style" and my fries plain, also the neapolitan shake is a definite keeper.


More To Come...

Vegas Here We Come!

The countdown is over...

We fly out to Vegas in the morning and get back on Monday.

I will post pics when we get back.

Have a great weekend!

Hockey Widow

My wonderful husband is going to be a hockey widow this season (or is it widower)....

James decided to take a season off from playing, but I am playing on two nights this season (Friday and Sunday). He is actually going to fill in as goalie on our Sunday team for the first month while our rostered goalie recovers from knee surgery, but otherwise is not planning to play. He may get sucked in for a few games anyway, but we will see; he is ready for a break.

I on the other hand could not be more excited that the league is starting again! We had the ice for practice on Friday and Sunday night; it felt great to get back out there although I am out of shape. I am hoping that going to the gym might help with that. I am missing this week's practices since we will be in Las Vegas (a price to pay, but we will get to watch some hockey while we are there and just have a good time). The weekend after we come back, our official games start; I can't wait!!!

So it is an interesting twist since it is usually the guys on the team playing and their wives watching or staying at home, etc. Granted I convinced James to let us play three nights over the summer so this season doesn't come as too much of a surprise; I just like playing too much :) I am glad he puts up with it!

The Countdown until Las Vegas is 4 days...

I Love My Job!!!!!

There are some great benefits to working for my family's business.

1. I get to see my family often

2. I have a great boss

3. I get the opportunity to learn new things daily

4. I can ask for last minute time off

5.... Lot's more, but back to great reason #4:

On Sunday night I called my mom to see if we were still going to have a meeting in Denver on Monday morning (it had been discussed but was still up in the air).

She said that we were going to schedule it for a later date, but that I would still need to come down to pick up a server from their office. So I asked if I could take Monday morning off to go to the Colorado Avalanche training camp and then stop by to pick up the server. I didn't have anything else on my schedule so she said that would be fine and to have fun!

When I got off the phone, I asked James if he wanted to go to training camp in the morning; he looked vaguely interested. He had considered driving me to my meeting in Denver, and then heading over to watch training camp. I told him that my meeting was cancelled and that I was taking the morning off so we could both go! He seemed much more excited with this change of plans.

So we planned to leave around 7:15ish in the morning so we could get down for the start of camp at 9. Well, my alarm went off at 6:20 and I was not quite ready to wake up yet, at 6:35 James grumbled at the "stupid alarm clock" and rolled over, I finally got up at 6:45. It's hard to get motivated to get out of a nice comfortable bed when you really don't have to!

I made a pot of coffee and fed the monsters (our pets) and got ready to go, James got up sometime during this and got ready as well. Thankfully neither of us are too high maintenance so we get ready fairly quickly. We got in the car and realized we needed some markers for autographs. A quick stop by the store and we had 4 silver and 5 black permanent markers (we got the larger packs so we would have them for Las Vegas on the 25th).

We drove to Denver, thankfully traffic wasn't too bad. We got there a little after nine, and went into the pro-shop to get a hat and pennant for autographs. It is kind of a tradition to get a hat and pennant signed each year we go (we missed last year but went a couple times before).

Then we watched some hockey. Well, we watched some drills and then a scrimmage and some more drills. I am always amazed just to watch those guys skate! I wish I could skate like that, or even half as well!

The scrimmage was a lot of fun to watch. Weiman played great in net and I hope he gets his chance this year! Duschene play well also, initially he looked a little lost but went on to make some great passes and scored 2 of the 4 goals during the scrimmage; he also scored in the shootout that followed. He has a great shot and some good moves, we'll see where he goes from here. Stoa, Koci and Wolski looked great also, along with many others but those are ones that particularly stick out. Anderson play well in net, hopefully he can be solid in net this year for the Avs. By the way, Stastny, Foote, Budaj and several others were not a part of the scrimmage and we watched them run some drills on the other rink.

I was too focused on watching the scrimmage to take any pics, but I got some during the drills.

Budaj blocking shots during drills:

Foote shooting on Budaj during drills:

Stastny taking a shot (Sorry I cut off part of his foot, I need more practice and maybe a better camera):

My awesome photography skills! I managed to get a puck flying across the ice but missed including any players, oops:

One of the other cool things about training camp is that after it's over, many players stop on their way out to sign autographs!

Every time we have been there, Liles stops to sign and talk to fans and take pictures. There is only one time that he didn't (a couple years ago), but he stopped to apologize that he had some place he had to be and would have time the next day. A class-act in my book, plus a defenseman so that's bonus points!

James was pretty excited with how Koci played and he stopped to sign as well, seemed like a very cool guy. So we got a picture of James with him:

Duschene actually came out first, but I'll finish my post with him. He looked good from what we saw during and I hope he does well in his hockey career. He walked out to sign and talk with fans. We got a picture with him also:

We got 10 autographs in all and watched some great players, so it was a wonderful way to start the week! Now the countdown to Vegas begins: 10 days and counting....

The Pink has packed its bags....

A couple weeks ago my parents came up for the weekend to paint our house.

James and my dad power-sprayed the whole thing on Friday to get rid of any dirt and loose paint. James now wants a power-sprayer...he had a lot of fun with it :) We cleaned the gutters and scraped paint in a few spots.

Saturday morning we got up early and started painting! Let me tell you, it was very therapeutic covering up all that pink with a nice gray. We got all of the base color painted on Saturday and my dad also fixed a couple of boards that had rotted. It was a long day, but very productive!

On Sunday we got up a little later and started on the roof-line trim which is a dark grayish charcoal. We got that finished and painted the door a brick red. We started getting a little rain so were not able to finish all of the white trim, so that is an ongoing project, a little at a time.

The pink is gone!!!! I am so excited!!!!!

Here is the Before:

And After:

I did a little photo-editing so you don't have to look at the dead grass :) This space will eventually become a patio area with a table and chairs!

So for waiting so long to post, it's been a little crazy lately. I will post again soon!