A Year has Come and Gone

Well, it has finally been a year and nothing. It is really hard to keep your head up when you just don't understand what is wrong. I'm a good person---John is a good person, and we would make good parents. I just don't get it! John always says my blogs are depressing, but I do try to write happy things, too. Maybe someone will read my blog and know what I'm going through and offer up some advice. Then again, probably not because I don't think anyone reads my blog, except for John and maybe Chris Calabro and Jeanette (John's mom). Anyway, I don't know what else to say, so I'll use a song to speak for me.

Smile, though your heart is aching.
Smile, even though it's breaking.
Though there are clouds in the sky,
you get by...
If you smile through your fears and sorrows.
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through.
If you just light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever, ever so near.
That's the time you must keep on trying.
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find life is worthwhile
If you'll just smile, come on and smile.
If you just smile.
Song by: Lyle Lovett (Hope Floats Soundtrack)

AM 760's Birthday Bash

Here is a picture of John with his favorite Liberal---Randi Rhodes!

John and I went to the Boulder Broker Inn on Friday, August 26th for AM 760's Birthday Bash. It is a progressive talk radio station. I don't listen as often as John, but we both enjoy listening to Randi Rhodes. Randi belongs to a radio show called Air America, which is based out of New York. Now all we need is to meet Al Franken and Jeanne Garofalo---two other liberals and well-known actors.

John and I had a lot of fun, but I thought I was going to pass out from lack of food. They had appetizers and cake, but it was not very filling. I refused to eat the cake, because people were getting the cake out with their bare hands. YUCK!!! Thankfully, after we saw and briefly met Randi, we went to Old Chicago with our friend, Damon. We had fun walking down Pearl Street Mall in Boulder observing the college newbies. We also ran into my brother, Michael after leaving the restaurant. :)

John and I celebrating and having fun!

Me surrounded by tons of people!

Rabbit

The rabbit is still okay! *sigh*

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday! It was my second birthday as Mrs. Blanco, and I'm loving every minute of it. My Boo Boo got me great presents: Sim Mania, The Sims Makin' Magic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book, and a cute bunny. If the bunny looks familiar, it's made from the same company that made Manhattan the skunk. :) I love my presents, and I love my Boo Boo. Yesterday was a lot of fun!

Here is me being embarassed by my family! We went to Traildust Steakhouse for dinner, and they came out to sing Happy Birthday to me afterwards. It wasn't too bad, and I got to make a wish on my birthday. :)

Earlier in the day, John and I went to the DCPA to listen live to a progressive radio talk show host from North Dakota. His name is Ed Schultz, and he was entertaining to listen to. We went with four other friends, and we had fun being around other proud Democrats. We will make this state blue! :)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Here is a picture of me at the Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek. I'm waiting (along with John, Kevin, and Annie) for the release of the new Harry Potter book. Quite the cast of characters! We saw a lot of obsessed people dressing up like all sorts of characters from the book. My favorite is the guy who looked like Hagrid. It worked cause he had the body type and the height.

We ended up staying at a bed and breakfast called The German House in Greeley. Interested choice! The place was nice and it had a pool, but the breakfast wasn't too exciting. Usually, B&B's have these elaborate breakfasts with lots to choose from. This one was very light almost like a continential breakfast you would get at a standard hotel. Otherwise, I pretty much liked everything else---give or take a few things! I was hoping we would have been staying in the mountains where it would have been a lot cooler and a lot less smelly. Greeley is where I went to college for my Bachelor's. It's a nice little town, but it is surrounding by farm land and Monfort Slaughterhouse is close by. I like to refer to Greeley as Cowtown USA for obvious reasons. Moo! :)

This leads me to the book! The book was great, but it had a very sad ending. A character I liked was killed at the end. I guess he had to die for important events to come, but it was still sad. John and I didn't read as fast as Annie and Kevin but part of that was due to the fact we kept falling asleep. Kevin finished the book around 8:30pm, Annie around 10:00pm, and John and I finished 3:30am: Sunday morning. Needless to say, we are very tired but at least we finished the book. Now we will have to wait another couple of years to find out how it all ends! ;)

Me, Kevin, Annie, and John

Harry Potter Weekend

John and I will be off soon to the Humble House to pick-up Kevin and Annie to go to an undisclosed Bed and Breakfast. Kevin is mum to where we are going, but we know it is about an hour to an hour and a half out of Denver. We will travel to our secret destination, play around for a while, eat some dinner, play some more, than travel back to Denver to the Tattered Cover to join in the mayhem of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opening release. I'm very excited about this endeavor! We will then travel back to the B&B, and rest for a spell. When we wake up, we will be reading the book all day. It will be great fun! :)

Sammy

Sammy the Stem Cell

Stress

I saw this picture on the internet, and I thought it was funny. It also symbolizes how I've been feeling about some things lately. Feeling very hectic and chaotic. Feeling as if my life is a little out of control---okay, a lot out of control. I've been working on it, but some things are just out of my hands.

Tag 2005

Who will be next?

John trying to run away.

Yesterday, John and I went with some friends to Manitou Springs to play tag. These friends are some of the Adventure Club crowd. We had to wait a little bit before playing, because it was raining. After a while, the rain stopped and we first played Russian volleyball. The playground dried up enough so we could play tag. I'm happy to say that I tagged the impossible Kevin, although he was hiding when I did it. If I had to chase him, I'm sure he would have gotten away. He is very fast! John also tagged Kevin, and he was running after him. Lucky! We had BBQ for dinner, and we went back to the tag site to play some more Russian volleyball. On to Sonic for a treat, and then we parted ways and went home. Of course, John and I couldn't find our way out fast enough---damn Manitou Springs and your bad signs.

Fun Day for Tag

John and I are going to Manitou Springs to play a game of tag with our Adventure Club friends. It should be fun, but I'm feeling like something I don't want is about to rear its ugly head. Besides that, we are going to play to around 8pm and then we will go to a restaurant for dinner.

As for now, I have trading in most of my VHS movies and now I need to replace some of them with DVDs. It was so sad to see my movies go---I had some good ones! Oh well, I'll just have to have fun replacing the ones I really wanted. :)

"You Should See My Scars"

My dad had two tests done today. One is a pet scan, I think. The other scan requires putting radioactive material into your body, and they do a scan to see if you have any cancer. So basically if the scan doesn't show anything, it might show up later 'cause you just allowed doctors to put radioactive material into your body!!! I don't understand why my dad is gambling with his health so much. Why does he keep letting these doctors mess with him? Doctors' intentions are usually money related---they generally don't care about you!!! Sad but true!....."I'm only happy when it rains!":(

4th of July Celebration

John, Jackie, and I went to Idaho Springs for a 4th of July celebration. We first ate at Beau Jo's pizza, and then sat outside for three hours waiting for this production to start. While we waited, we played a new card game called Monopoly. We had fun even though John won every game. However, the fireworks display was kind of lame. The fireworks went off one at a time with second delays in between, and Jackie had a hissy fit about the blanket and the streetlight. It's really not worth getting into, but she made a comment early about communicating with people when you have a problem....hmmmmm, possible words to live by...maybe. ;P Oh, well! We're still friends, so everything is kosher again. Why do holidays always seem to bring the worst out of people? It should be the other way around! Anyway, the 4th is over and now I have my birthday to look forward to. Hooray! :)

Fireworks

Jackie and John

It's the 4th of July!

Today is the 4th of July! We will celebrate the 4th in Idaho Springs with a fireworks display and Beau Jo's pizza. Jackie will join John and I on our little adventure into the mountains. Have a Happy 4th and don't blow yourself up with illegal fireworks! ;)

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!!

It's finally July, my birthday month! Although, my birthday is not until July 29th. I don't know what we are going to do yet, but I think my family and John are taking me to Traildust Steakhouse for my actually birthday. I think John and I will go to Red Lobster the next day. One of my favorite places! I don't know what I want for my birthday, well I know---but I have no control over it. If you have been reading my blog, then you know what I'm refering to.

Today, John and I are going to Frisco, which is in the mountains. We are meeting up with my parents to walk around and later have dinner. They are staying up there for the 4th of July weekend. Hopefully, it is a lot cooler in the higher elevations, because it is way too hot down here.

Another One Under My Belt

I have finally finished a mural I was working on all week for a young family. They wanted a mural for their baby's playroom. I'm very happy with how it came out and so are they. Even the baby smiles at it with glee. I'm hoping only more inquires will come my way! :)

Goddard Class Picture

From left to right: (Adults) Me, Kellie, & Lori
(Backrow) Jamison, Rebekah, Ian, Jay, Logan L., Avery, Jonathan, Chloe, & Adam
(Front row) Kaymen, Logan K., & Alyson

Here is a picture of my 12-18 months old classroom at The Goddard School. This picture was taken on Tuesday, May 3, 2005. My last day working at the daycare was May 4th and on May 5th, John and I went on our roadtrip to New York. I'm currently working on my mural business, and I'm happy to say that I'm currently finishing up a mural for a child's playroom. They responded to my ad in a local paper called the Columbine Courier. I also finished a mural for my parent's house, and I'm going to continue working on my art. In the meantime, I'm also trying to get a job as a nanny, so I can make some extra money on the side.

SHUT UP, Riley!!!!!

Here is a link to the recent comedy of Sammy:

Sammy the Stem Cell

Oh, Bother!

Sadly, two character voices have recently died. Both within a short time of each other. The voice of Tigger was the first one---his name was Paul Winchell. The voice of Piglet was the second one---his name was John Fiedler. They were both in their 80s! Thankfully, their voices will forever be immortalized in early Winnie the Pooh cartoons. TTFN(Ta Ta For Now) Piglet and Tigger! :(

Saturday Celebration

John and I went to our friend's house to celebrate another friend's birthday. We had lots of fun! Here is a picture of me playing this very psychotic game that shocks you with a jolt of electricity, if you are the last one to push the button. We went to a Thai restaurant for lunch, and Woody's pizza for dinner. In between, we played lots of games. We mostly enjoyed each others company and had fun chatting about stuff. Oh yeah, we also ate a Carvel ice cream cake for dessert!:)

In a New York Minute

Harry got up
Dressed all in black
Went down to the station
And he never came back
They found his clothing
Scattered somewhere down the track
And he won't be down on Wall Street
in the morning
He had a home
The love of a girl
But men get lost sometimes
As years unfurl
One day he crossed some line
And he was too much in this world
But I guess it doesn't matter anymore
In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute
Things can get pretty strange
In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute
Lying here in the darkness
I hear the sirens wail
Somebody going to emergency
Somebody's going to jail
If you find somebody to love in this world
You better hang on tooth and nail
The wolf is always at the door
In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute
Things can get a little strange
In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute
And in these days
When darkness falls early
And people rush home
To the ones they love
You better take a fool's advice
And take care of your own
One day they're here;
Next day they're gone
I pulled my coat around my shoulders
And took a walk down through the park
The leaves were falling around me
The groaning city in the gathering dark
On some solitary rock
A desperate lover left his mark,
"Baby, I've changed. Please come back."
What the head makes cloudy
The heart makes very clear
The days were so much brighter
In the time when she was here
But I know there's somebody somewhere
Make these dark clouds disappear
Until that day, I have to believe
I believe, I believe
In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute
You can get out of the rain
In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute
lyrics by Don Henley

We have a mission!!!!!

Downtown Fun

John and I went to downtown Denver today and hung out with our friend, Jay. We went to the Firefighters Museum, and we saw a memorial for 9-11. We also saw lots of cool firefighter stuff from the past. Afterwards, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and saw memorabilia for The Beatles and Marilyn Manson to name a few. After lunch, we checked out Coyote Ugly just for curiousity reasons. We went back to Jay's to watch a chess movie about Garry Kasparov. From there, we went to Larimier Square to see artist create masterpieces on the asphalt with colored chalk. A lot of work for something that will end up being washed away as soon as it rains, but I thought it was cool. It definitely will be a pretty sight to see when it does get washed away.
Here are some more pictures from today's events! :)

Here is a picture of John Lennon on the wall at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Coyote Ugly Saloon...interesting place! ;)

Our friend Jay, with me, by Larimier Square.

Sidewalk Art

Love Doves

Here are two love doves that like to hang around our house. I saw them last year, and they have come back again. I like to see them hanging around. They are very cute when they walk around on the deck railing, and bob their heads.

IT DIDN'T WORK....AGAIN!!!!!!

How can you mend a broken heart
How can you stop the rain from falling down
How can you stop the sun from shining
What makes the world go round
lyrics by the Bee Gees

I finished a mural....

I finished this mural for my parents on June 10, 2005. I was working on it all week, while they were out of town. They'll be back sometime today to see it. I put 25 hours into this mural, and I feel really good about it. I think I'll only improve over time.

In other news, I'm working on a sketch today for a couple who are interested in a mural for their baby's playroom. I'm pretty sure they will hire me! It was nice to know that they saw my ad in the Columbine Courier, but I think after the courier is done I will put it in a paper directed towards families only. I think that will improve my chances of interest. Nothing else is new, but I'm hoping I'll have more good news to write about soon.

My Monthly Wish List

Each month I go through the same feelings----I want a baby! Anyone who has ever tried to have a baby knows all about the waiting game. Those two weeks of waiting to know whether I was successful or not is grueling. I've been going to the chiropracter, that helped my brother and sister-in-law get pregnant, for almost two weeks. My sister-in-law, who was told she would never have children, got pregnant after five months of chiropractic treatment. I'm trying to remain optomistic, but I am tired of having a breakdown every month when I get my period. I just want to be successful at getting pregnant and having a baby. I don't think that is asking for too much.

Cute Harmony

Here is a cute picture of one of my cats named, Harmony. I just felt like putting a picture on my blog, but I really have nothing to say.

The Speed of Pain

I'm just having a hard day, and I could really use a hug. I won't say why I'm having a hard day, because it would be too personal on such an open forum. Just that I got my feelings hurt and I really can't wait until John comes home, so I can get a hug from him.

John and his Nephews

Here is a cute picture with John and our nephew, James. He is our only nephew in Colorado. James is Chris and Shannon's son. This picture was taken in April before we left for our trip to New York.

I forgot to mention in New York we saw Tony Danza walking in front of us on Columbus Avenue in Manhattan. I was going to take a picture, but I was too shy to do it. Our only brush with fame! Tony was walking with two other guys, and he eventually went into the ABC building. First time I ever saw a famous person up close. I don't really care for him as an actor, but it was still cool to see someone I recognized.

Here is a picture of John with our New York nephews. From left to right: Mikey & Tyler (Mike and Carolann's children) and Anthony & Christopher (Susan and Al's children).

John and I had a lot of fun hanging out with the family, and we hope next time we travel to New York we will have an addition of our own to bring along.

We're Back

Here is a picture of John, Jeanette, me, and Chrissie at Shea Stadium getting ready to go inside and watch the Mets play against the St. Louis Cardinals---final score Cardinals 4 & Mets 2 :(.

New York was so much fun! We went to a NY Mets game, as you can see from above. We also went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, Manhattan twice---(Central Park Zoo one day and Museum of Modern Art, lots of walking past famous buildings, Central Park--Strawberry Fields, and meeting up with our friend, Chris Calabro the next day), and spending time with family and friends. I wanted to go to Jones Beach, but we ran out of time. Next year we will go for sure and hopefully, we will have Baby Boo in tow to join us.

It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but we know we will see them again. John and I were talking to Chris about coming out to see us in October, so it will be nice if he can.

Plus, if there is a Baby Boo born before June than we know we will be seeing others sooner. June is when we plan to come out next year, because the beaches and pools will be open.

New York was great but we can't stay forever! John and I are working on our side projects and enjoying the beautiful weather and having fun. See you all next year! We love you New York!

The Blanco Family

From left to right: Susan, John Sr., Jeanette, Pam, Mike, and John(Boo Boo)

A picture taken on the back deck at Susan's house in Valley Cottage, NY.

And We Are Off....

Start spreading the news....we're leaving today...John and I are off to New York tomorrow morning at 5am. We can't wait to see our New York family! It won't be too much longer now!

Two More Days Left of Work.....

I have two more days left of work, and three more days until Boo Boo and I are off to New York. I'm so excited to see everybody again! John and I are going to have lots of fun eating New York food, going to New York sites, and just plain hanging out with the family. I can't wait!!!!!

Happy Earth Day!!!

Today is Earth Day!!! Happy Day!!!
It is also Friday, and Boo Boo and I had a nice dinner at Rib City Grill. Afterwards, we went to Barnes and Noble to each buy a book, and we walked around the lake that is next to it. Later, we will venture to Dairy Queen for some yummy ice cream. Woohoo!!!!

Only 13 more days left to go until Boo Boo and I are New York bound!

First Anniversary has Come & Gone

Boo Boo & I just celebrated our first anniversay on Monday, April 18th. I wish I was feeling better, because I was a very crummy date. I felt like crap for most of the evening. I got my period with horrible cramps and a nasty cold. Aughhhhhh....I'm starting to feel better right now, but I'm still all stuffed up and achy. On the bright side, at least I'm not feeling this way on our trip in two weeks. :-)

In other news, I officially quit my job yesterday! I gave them my two weeks notice, and my last day will be May 4th. I'm going to focus on Monkey Mural and do what I've always wanted to do----BE AN ARTIST!!!!!

We also went to Estes Park on April 16th to spend the night in a Bed & Breakfast courtesy of Jackie. It was very nice, and we had a lot of fun!

Just a Little Guide

26 More Days to Go

In a NY minute....we will be leaving at 5am in the morning on May 5th to NEW YORK!!!! We can't wait! Boo Boo and I are just counting down the days to go to visit his family, and my newly acquired family. Hard to believe that John and I have been married for almost a year. Crazy how time flies! Anyway, I will talk more about our anniversary when it comes on the 18th, and our upcoming roadtrip to NY.