2007 - Lynn's Year in Review

As I sit here being held down on the couch by three adorable sleeping kitties, I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and reminisce about the year that was 2007.

January
I somehow managed to find my way home from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, during a huge ice storm that shut down much of Oklahoma, while battling a nasty case of the flu. Thanks to a box of Pepto Bismol and sheer determination (some might say borderline insanity), I managed to avoid being trapped for the weekend in the Chicago airport by procuring an alternate route home through Wichita and driving the rest of the way back to Bartlesville. Probably not the most brilliant thing I've ever done, but pulling into my driveway 16 hours after leaving the hotel in Cedar Rapids was one of the best feelings ever.

February
I celebrated my 34th birthday with my friends from Kansas City in Colorado. It was a wonderful weekend of catching up. Little did I know that this would not be my only trip to Colorado in 2007.



Also, thanks to some thoughtful gift giving on my sister's part, I was introduced to The Loopy Ewe, unleashing an obsession with sock yarn and hand knitted socks.

March
I must have done something right. I was pleasantly surprised with a promotion at work, mostly due to the project I was working on for the last half of 2006. The extra hours and travel were worth it.

April
The beautiful Kuota Kalibur came to live with me. On its third time out on the road, we had an unfortunate accident, which ended in me leaving much of the skin from my elbow on the pavement. I was bruised and battered, but unbroken, and the Kalibur was mostly unscathed, thanks to some quick thinking on my part to keep the bike from sliding along the pavement with me. Skin heals, carbon fiber doesn't.



May
I took a trip of a lifetime to visit Mary and Phil in Christchurch, New Zealand.





It was an amazing place with wonderful people. A side trip to Wellington, on the north island, to stay with a friend of a friend in Oklahoma, gave me the opportunity to spend some time with New Zealand Ironman athletes. A run through the hills (think, Lord of the Rings terrain), showed me that running up the one hill on the Bville trails once a week does not prepare you to run the hills of Wellington, New Zealand. It was fun and beautiful, but brutal. I also brought home a new hobby thanks to the ladies of the Christchurch Spinners and Weavers Guild and proved you could bring the base of a spinning wheel as a carry on on an airplane and not attract attention to yourself. All because I needed a new hobby that creates more yarn.



On a sad note, my buddy Stewart, who brought much joy to my life for 11 years, died from complications from diabetes. My house was way too quiet.



June
I made the first of three treks to Iowa for my cousin's wedding which took place on an unusually hot June day. And as if I needed even another hobby that adds more yarn to my stash, Linda and I experiment with dyeing yarn with Kool Aid and food coloring.



In late June, Xena talked me into heading down to the Bartlesville SPCA, where we adopted two 10-week old tortie kittens, Purl and Ashford. Xena doesn't remember being on board for the adoption, and lived in a corner under my desk for the next couple of weeks. The kittens quickly learned that the key to getting anything you want is to look and act cute (it's impossible for them NOT to look cute), and I quickly learned that knitting and fiber is not safe around the tortie terrors.



July
Oklahoma continued to suffer from weather extremes, and flooded in early July. While my house was safe from the high water, it definitely made getting around town difficult.



Trip number two to Iowa was for Mary and Phil's wedding which was held on an unusually comfortable late July day. Following the wedding, several of the wedding guests joined the bride and groom on RAGBRAI, the annual bike ride across Iowa. I was only able to join them for two days, but we had a great time.

August
It was a quick turnaround, but I headed back to Iowa for my annual trip to the Iowa State Fair. I've attend every fair except for one in my 34 years, and I couldn't miss it this year. It had all of my favorite attractions along with some new things to see. It's listed in the book 1000 Things to See Before You Die and it deserves the designation. If you haven't been to the Fair, add it to your list of places to visit. Tell them Lynn sent you!
Also, Xena decided that it's not necessary to hiss at the kittens every time she sees them.

September
What a blur! Since the beginning of 2007 I spent many hours training for Ironman Wisconsin, and Sept. 9 was the race day. It was a perfect day for a race, and considering my training was not as consistent as I had hoped it would be, plus the fact I had the plaque for the few days prior to the race, I was pretty happy with my time, finishing in 14 hours and 24 minutes.



Five days later, I was on an airplane to Denver to interview for a new job. Somehow, I managed to hide my exhaustion, and they offered me the job. The rest of September was spent getting my house ready to impress potential buyers.

October
Have you ever imagined what traveling with three cats in a car packed with many of your belongings for 10 hours would be like. I don't have to imagine, I got to live this wonderful experience, which surprisingly, wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. The kitties and I survived our drive, and quickly settled into our temporary apartment and collectively hoped that the house in Bville would sell quickly so we could get settled. The move also becomes the great equalizer with the cats, and Xena is seen snuggling with Ashford and even stayed there long enough so there is photographic documentation.



November
After about five weeks on the market, the house in Bartlesville sold, allowing me to start shopping for a new house in Denver.



I found the perfect townhouse for me...a brownstone with hardwood floors and a beautiful kitchen, that is right next to the Cherry Creek Reservoir so I can walk out the front door and hop on the running trails. It's also a short drive to work, and very close to a Chipotle, which will allow me to make up for the two and a half years I somehow managed to survive in a state without one. The only catch is that it won't be ready until the end of January. I know it will be worth the wait.



After spending Thanksgiving in Des Moines, where Linda and I dyed up another batch of sock yarn, I went back to Bville to pack up the house and get it ready for the new owners.


December
We officially closed on the Bville house on Dec. 3. A week later, a huge ice storm hits the entire Oklahoma. I shudder to think about what happened to the large, old trees that were all over the the yard, and am very thankful they're no longer my problem.
Even though I might freeze to death, I have been embracing the great things about living in Colorado. Skiing and snowshoeing has been so much fun, but I'm looking forward to the spring and summer sports.

Phew! It's been a year full of change, and I'm looking forward to what 2008 will bring. Happy New Year!

Just think of this as my Christmas letter...

Since the chances of me sending one out are zilch.
So much has happened since my last post, which was, um, before Thanksgiving. I'm a busy girl, what can I say?
On the house front, much progress has been made. I spent most of the week after Thanksgiving back in Bartlesville packing up my house and sending most of my belongings off in a big moving truck for a tour of Texas and Kansas before getting put in storage until that exciting day where I get to move into my new townhouse. The trip to Bartlesville was bittersweet. I'm so happy with my move so far, but I had a good life in Oklahoma. I had a fantastic job, amazing friends, and I loved my little house. I have some great memories. I know I'll go back to visit and I can't wait for my friends to come visit me in Colorado. We closed on the house in Bville on Dec. 3.
The best news I've received this month is my closing date for the new townhouse. Jan. 23 is my final walkthrough, and Jan. 30 is the big moving day. It's later than I had hoped, but it's a date, and that's all that matters! I try to stalk, I mean, drive by at least once a week to see the progress that's being made. They seem to be doing
more work on the inside than the out, but the outside is surrounded by scaffolding and the brick is stacked just waiting to be put on the side of the house.
With the first half of the house selling/buying completed, I really don't have anything to do but enjoy the Colorado winter. A couple of weeks ago, Gina and I went to a park in Boulder to test out our snowshoes.



It was a beautiful snowy day.



Then last weekend, we went up to Breckenridge to see if we remembered how to ski. It was fun, but it was COLD. The wind was blowing up the mountain. Brrr. I can't wait to go again! It's just so amazing to be able to be at my house, and two hours later be on the ski slopes. I love it!

I've been making some progress on my knitting projects (see my new progress bars on the right? Now, you can follow along at home!). I finished the Fiesta socks and they are so much fun to wear. I love the way they turned out.



And I also finished one of the Rainbow socks. The other one will get started after Christmas.



Over Thanksgiving, Linda and I dyed some more yarn. Here's a couple of our works of art. Can you tell I really liked the color of lemon lime Kool Aid? So pretty.





And I'll leave you with Purl. She's been feeling the holiday spirit lately.





Ashford says, "Bah Humbug!"

Brick!

The blog for the next month or two is mainly going to be about me obsessing about my house getting done. I stopped in earlier this week to see what progress had been made, and found that things looked very different.

One week ago:



Two days ago:



The funny thing was that there are 6 units in my building, and mine was the only one with the brick. None of the others had even been started. I like to think that the builder is working extra hard to get my house done on time. I didn't take any photos of the inside because the workers were there, but they had been some serious progress there too. The insulation and drywall was going up. Just keep thinking good weather thoughts for me so they can get it done quickly! The Bartlesville house is getting closer to closing. We just finished responding to the inspections, and we're set to close on Dec. 3. I'm excited to get that off of my plate.

I started knitting the Bellatrix socks using the skein of the Tempted Fiesta yarn that I helped create as the Tempted guest dyer. I love this pattern and it's really working well with the colors.



Stacy, the brains behind Tempted, let me know that Loops has requested Fiesta as an exclusive colorway. I'm so proud. I'm also so excited for Stacy and her big news. She's going to be a rock star in the knitting world.

It's supposed to be another beautiful weekend here in Denver, so I'm planning on getting out and about. I think the mountains are calling.

Sold!

Hooray! I got an offer on the house in Oklahoma last week, so things are moving along nicely. I'm still waiting on the inspections to be completed, but I'm being optimistic that there won't be too many issues and the sale will close with no issues. So that means I needed to find a place to live.
My goal was to find a place to move into shortly after the closing of the OK so we could simply move my things from one house into the other. I spent a couple of days last week with my wonderful realtor, Carol, who showed me many houses that would have been great places to live. Thursday night, I was certain that the first place we looked at was going to be my new home, but then we went to a new development of the cutest brownstone-style townhouses. So perfect. There were three options. Two were the model homes...they were beautifully decorated by professionals. The first one we looked at I swear was decorated just for me, but it was small. The second one was the perfect size, but the decor was so formal I would have had to change everything. the last option was still being built, and wouldn't be ready for when I really wanted to move in, but we decided to take a look. And it was just right. It was the same floorplan as the second one, but with an attached garage and a big extra storage space in the garage. AND the person who had picked out the interior features must have known I would be buying this house. It will have hardwood floors, cherry cabinets and granite countertops. So perfect. And to top it off, it's a short drive to work, and it's right next to the Cherry Creek Reservoir. I'll have a great place to run and bike right next to my house. It will probably mid-January (although I'm hoping it will be earlier), before I can move in and I can't wait.

A tour of the house...

The front door



The living room and entryway



The kitchen and pantry



This is the dining room and doors to the balcony. I'll have a great mountain view from my balcony for a couple of months. The new townhouses they're building across the street will ruin that view, but I'll enjoy it while I can.



The garage - I could fit three cars in here if I had three cars. I'll probably use it for storage instead. Or maybe a place to dye yarn?



Here's the rest of the 'hood. They will eventually have brick on the front. Hopefully soon.



The kitties are very excited to be moving into a new house. Purl decided to celebrate by learning how to knit while I was at work this afternoon. Unfortunately, she didn't really pick it up.

Hermione

Here's Hermione (Megan) modeling her sweater. I'm so excited with how it turned out!



And here's Hermione and the scary dinosaur trick or treating at Living History Farms.

I made it!

I've been in Denver for almost two weeks now and finally have time to blog about it. I've been rushing home from work every night since I arrived and knitting feverishly to try to get a sweater done for my niece Megan to wear as part of her Hermione costume. It was the House Sweater from the Charmed Knits book. I have realized that it probably wasn't a great idea to have such a tight deadline for my first real sweater (one that actually has to be made to fit someone), but in the end it all worked out. The sweater went in the mail yesterday and arrived in Des Moines today. I anxiously waited all day to hear if it actually fit, and a call from Megan set me at ease. She was wearing the sweater! Hooray. She and Noah were heading out to Living History Farms with my sister and my mom and dad. I can't wait to see photos. In the meantime, here's the photo I snapped before running the sweater to the post office.



So catching up. The kitties and I survived the 10 hour drive from Bartlesville to Denver on Oct. 13 in a car so packed, I barely fit. We were welcomed by a raging thunderstorm, and not the mountains like I had hoped. But it was well worth 2 day wait to see them. They are spectacular! Mary and Phil met me at the apartment just a few minutes after we arrived, and brought Chipotle! I can't think of a better welcome to Colorado. It was great to see them, and the kittens enjoyed Phil's kitten impersonation skills. Xena even came out to greet them.

Over the last two weeks, I've had the opportunity to see so many friends from different stages of my life. It's amazing how many people I know have ended up here. It's been so much fun catching up.

The new job has also been great. I am going to be one busy girl, but I'm excited for the challenge. Everyone has been great so far. This move has been really fun. The only thing that hasn't happened like I hoped is that the house still needs to sell. I'd love to be able to buy a place here by the end of the year, but that can't happen until the house in Bartlesville is sold. So, if you're thinking of moving to Bville, I know of a great place to live. :)

Also, back in Oklahoma, the Tulsa chapter of IABC, the professional organization I'm involved in, held their annual Bronze Quill Awards last night. I really wish I could have been there. Two projects I worked on for my last company won Awards of Excellence, and I was surprised to discover I was honored with the President's Award. It was very unexpected and it really means a lot to me that the Tulsa IABC president, my friend and former coworker, Shawna, felt I deserved the recognition. I would have loved to be there to accept the award. It's a really big honor.

And I can't believe I didn't blog about this sooner. I had the opportunity to spend a day before I left Oklahoma with my new friend Stacy, who is the creative force behind Tempted Yarns. Tempted hasn't been around for very long, but it she has done a great job getting her product out to all of the yarn crazed knitters out there. Her yarns are sold at a yarn shops in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky, and I'll be taking it upon myself to be her marketing person in Colorado. She was a wonderful hostess and let me play with her yarn and dyes. It was a blast! We even came up with a couple of new colorways for Tempted. My favorite was one we called Fiesta and she's been filling lots of orders for it. I'm so proud. I can't wait to knit something with my skein.



Of course I have to finish with a photo of the kitties. It must be the thin Colorado air, but Xena has been much more tolerant of the kittens, especially Ashford. I was in shock when this happened.



Notice the Harry Potter sweater that they're using as a bed?

I'm moving

Like I said in my last post. The last month has been a whirlwind. The week before Ironman, I was approached about a new job opportunity. I wasn't looking for a new job. I was actually quite happy with the one I had, aside from where it was located. But the more I heard about the new position...it's a growing company, the position is new, the department is led by someone I knew from a previous job and really admire...the more interested I became. And to top it all off, the job is in Denver.
I've always loved visiting Colorado, and always thought how lucky people who lived there were, but for some reason, I just never thought I would have an opportunity to live there. But here was my chance. So, four days after Ironman, I managed to get myself to Denver and spend a day interviewing for the job. The next week, they made their offer and I accepted. I'm going to be the director of corporate communications for this company. I'll be developing an employee communications program along with providing communications support for a change program they're working on. It is a fantastic opportunity for me and I can't wait to get started!
My last day at my job here was Friday, and I'm taking this week off to relax a bit and determine what I need to take with me. It all has to fit in the Xterra. On Saturday, the three kitties and I will set off on our 10 hour drive west (that's the part I'm really not looking forward to). We'll be living in temporary housing until the house here sells and I can buy something in Denver. Hopefully, that will all fall into place quickly.
So, I have had some productive knitting time the last couple of days. I finished the Tulips sweater.



And I'm determined to finish a pair of socks before I leave, but the sock will be put to the side once the supplies for a Harry Potter sweater arrive in the mail. My niece is going to be Hermione for Halloween, so she needs her house sweater. This will be my first try at a non-baby sweater, so we'll see what happens.

The kitties are not very excited about all of the move activity that has been taking place. Xena really doesn't appreciate being locked in a room with the kittens every time someone comes to look at the house. It is so beneath her. She would prefer staying in the cat cave. So much more dignified.



And Purl is still able to vamp for the camera even with her sister squishing her. Nothing can stop the cute.