I had a really intense dream last night. Conor and I were in Germany and there was probably a couple of inches of snow on the ground. For whatever reason we were being evacuated and could only bring a backpack of things we owned. Spare clothing took up the most of the pack (a change of clothes and undies) and then I had to decide what to fill the rest of the space with. I decided on my laptop and our external hard drive of all our photos and I think I brought a journal. I slung our camera bag and video camera bag over my shoulder. And then I realized that I couldn’t bring my big box of journals which document the last seven years of my life almost daily. There were all these things I had to leave behind not knowing if I could get them back, the most important to me being my journals. Do I take a couple of my most recent books or the ones that tell of Conor and my dating experience and early marriage? In the end, the box wasn’t accessible in the amount of time we had because it’s underneath our bed in the middle and our bed needs to be taken apart a bit to get at ‘em (true story).

When I woke in the middle of the night for my usual bathroom break, I thought about what I would take with me in such a case. My pearl necklace, wedding ring, watch… And found myself only saddened by the thought of leaving behind all my worldly possessions although to me, my journals aren’t quite worldly. My journals are so much more, a big part of me on pages and in words.

What would you take with you in case of emergency? What’s most valuable to you?

Oh, and I’m definitely doing 72-hour packs in the new year!

I think the whole country froze this weekend from South Dakota to Seattle. And of course Denver was on that list. Last night we were a whopping -26C or -15F, only 3 degrees celsius warmer than Calgary. And the best part is that the fourth floor (on which we live) doesn’t really pump heat at all when it gets cold. And so our apartment is at 50F (10C). Our thermostat thermometer is at the bottom of the pile, so who knows, it could be colder! We’re only at -23C so far this morning. I don’t remember it being this cold last year!! Oh and I guess we have frozen pipes too because some people on the fourth floor went away for the weekend and left their heat off. So far I’ve had running water, but it may come to an end shortly. Hopefully the maintenance guy brings us a space heater asap. Conor went and bought those one log fires this morning, but that’s giving off a piddley amount of heat. He’s going to pick up some real firewood and we’re going to put our fireplace to work! I can see myself sitting on the couch with a blanket reading all day long. For the moment, though I’m thinking about mitts and wishing I had some Granny’s Tea!

About a month ago, Conor’s sister, Liz, did an amazing photo shoot for us. I personally loved it because really, I love having my photo taken. I called this morning of fun, “getting our family portraits taken,” because I figure even though we don’t have children, Conor and I are still a family and therefore we should have family pictures! Plus, I’d really like to do family photos yearly and I figure 2008 is a good start. Liz took amazing pictures and I’m in love with all of them. Do you think it would look self-centered if I printed them all off and plastered our wall with them? Oh, and I’m so glad we wore orange! Orange is my new favourite colour.

How do you like? I think they are absolutely perfect!

PS: Conor got me some new boots! I feel a CK coming on…

The next time I throw together a crock pot, it is definitely cooking on the porch and not in my kitchen; let me tell you why. I’ve got one on the go-go today and no matter how good it smells I really don’t feel like eating it for dinner. But that’s the story of my life. Leftovers are the biggest turn off. Excuse me while I go clothespin my nose.

PS: I promise to post more photos of our place. The thing is, it has to look different (aka more tidy and more unpacked) before I feel like I can do that and unfortunately progress was stunted a few days ago. Whoops. I’ve definitely lost hope.

Okay, here are some shots of our apartment. The pictures may appear to show a very messy abode, but trust me, this is tidy in comparison to the past couple of days! Today, my friend Julie came over to help me and it sure was great to have an extra set of hands and someone to chit chat with. It’s been a really busy few days and I feel only a little run-down. I can’t wait to have everything in perfect order so I can bake some cookies and sew some clothing and curtains! I still need to stock up the fridge and pantry but all of that will come with time right? Whew! I sure am grateful to be here and it’s fun to have our own space. Last night Conor and I went to Chipotle to eat and then watched the rest of a movie and then played Scrabble and it was so nice to be just us!

Our view off of the balcony. You can see the mountains and downtown.

Conor in his loft office:

Our small and messy bedroom:

The Living Room:

Kitchen:

And last but not least, my most heartbreaking casualty of this move, my mauve bowel. At least it’s the biggest one that I use the least. I still have the 2 smaller ones, but still…

A jar of pasta sauce and a jar of crabapple juice also broke. Luckily those broke just on Tuesday and not eight months ago!