What's the Best Job at the Samuels' House???

Is it being a full time handy man, sweeping a haze of drywall dust like John? NOOOOOOOO!



Is it being a fulltime student studying for finals, while being a mom, wife and business owner like Jamie?


HEAVENS NOOOOOO!!!!!
Is it being an elementary student writing an essay on U.S. Grantm while studying for the Civil War test, like Whitley?


"Like, NOOOOOOOOOO!", she says.





IT'S BEING THE FAMILY DOG LIKE GOOSEBUMPS!!!
HOW NICE TO NAP ALL DAY, CHEW ON MILK BISCUITS AND CHASE TENNIS BALLS!!! LIFE IS SO NUTTY LATELY IT SEEMS WE ALL WANT THE DOG'S JOB THESE DAYS!
HOPE YOU ARE ALL WELL AND ENJOYING "YOUR JOBS", WHATEVER THEY MAY BE!

LOVE-THE ROCKY MTN. RAMBLERS



AND GOOSEBUMPS TOO! (wOOf wOOf!)

Nature's Clasroom

I've thought many times to post a picture of where I attend school. I decided to snap a picture while we were doing an outdoor lab last week. The corner of the buiding most visible is where I spend all my time; the Science Department...which also includes adavanced Math related classrooms as well.

Of course nature's classroom is right out our back door. This particular lab was for Botany. The life zone is mixed. As a whole it is called Plains Grasslands. Since there is a watercourse that cuts through this area, it is called Riparian. Condensed, we call it Plains Riparian.

We had a beautiful evening to look at specimens although it was on the chilly side. The sunset was beautiful; I miss that part about living in the "hills", as you do not get the mountains as a backdrop.

Tomorrow, we are going to the Hogback at Redrocks to study the fossil and geologic records. I hope it is nice and not snowing.

Only 5 classroom days left until a break; YEAH! Then it's two weeks off and then summer classes start. I am signed up for two classes for this summer,but we'll see time wise; I want to feel like I have had a break!

Gotta run!

THE LAST TEMPTATION

How I wonder
what it is
in people
and their fettishes;

that they find
preference
in the same
pan of brownies

the center
the side
the corner
or not at all

of the same deluctible sea
of brown confection
confined to a 9x13 cell
of utopia

Perhaps the buds are awakened
on their tongue
by the texture
assigned to each plot of the sugary grid.

Chewy
Gooey
Gooey in the center
Chewey on the side

an yet
it all goes
right to
our "center".

Perhaps there is
wisdom
in dieting
anyway you slice it.

Spring has Sprung!

Earth Day was yesterday, April 22, 2008. Perhaps a few decades ago, this day was dedicated to what most people described as "tree huggers". In present times however, the significance of Earth Day is very real to all of us as we clearly see the need to "GO GREEN".

I have been learning alot in Botany about our Earth, the plants that evolved and inhabit it and how important they are for our survival. I can clearly see how Botany is a prelude to studying Pharmacology as so many specimans are medicinal and are derivatives in prescribed formulas.

Yesterday, I visited the Denver Botanical Gardens and the Earth is once again teaming with life as "Spring has Sprung!" There is beauty to behold from these showy flowers and petioles, but I now know that there are life saving nutrients pulsing through the phloem, vascular cambium and various structures as well. Science has caused me to look beyond what meets the eye and you know what? There is even more beauty behind the curtain of the performing stage!

HAPPY EARTH DAY AND PLEASE HELP CARE FOR OUR PLANET!

Your Colorado Democaratic Delegate

I just received notification that I have been voted to be a Delegate at the Colorado State General Assembly and Colorado Congressional State Convention!!!! I am told that two people I know made it to the General Assembly, but I made it to the Congressional as well!!! Unreal!!!

I am soooo excited!! I am one election away from being able to attend the Democratic National Convention in August, which will be hosted right here in Denver! There are record contenders wanting these seats, as we truly have an opportunity to witness an event that is sure to go down in the history books.

I am very excited to be a thirty-something female voter that embodies a homemaker, small business owner, wife, student and volunteer. I am especially pleased to share my "conservative views/ideals" and bring balance to what is stereotypically known as a "liberal party". To GOD be the glory and may GOD BLESS and HAVE MERCY on this NATION as we seek CHANGE!!!

THE IRS and APRIL 15th...our way!!!

The IRS and April 15th does not mean Internal Revenue Service and Income Tax Day at our house. We try to submit our taxes no later than "February 15th" to "Uncle Sam", because if we waited two additional months, it would ruin our very special day.

At the Samuels, April 15th happens to be our anniversary and IRS, means John will (I)nfinately (R)emember his (S)pouse, or he will indeed, pay a hefty "penalty".

Why did we ever pick April 15th as our wedding date???

Well, the year we were married, April 15th happened to fall on Easter. Income tax payers were graced with an additional day to pay the following Monday. Only once in 13 years has our anniverary fallen on Easter again. We happened to be in Pennsyvania visiting family the year that it did.

This year has been a bit odd. I have a really big test tomorrow so I need to study. Therefore, we enjoyed this beautiful 80 degree day, momentarily, by breaking for a Dominos pizza at the park, and then back to work!

Whitley's present to us was a photo shoot, so here is the place to publish her work and show the happy couple.

Now you know why this day doesn't bother us at all....especially with Bush's belated wedding gift!!!

The beat goes on

Okay, the master bathroom is done. This picture is taken in our master bedroom. Up in the left hand corner, you can see the entrance to the master bath. To the right of the master bath you can see a dark blue suitcase. That will be a linen closet with a bi-fold door. The suitase is there on purpose, because I wanted to make sure we could get 2 suitcases in there for storage as well (they fit by the way). Head on in the picture you can see a wall being drywalled. Behind it is a walk in closet. You enter it by walking directly out the master bathroom. It too, has a pocket door like the bathroom. For those of you that remember, the whole wall used to be closet doors and I "lost" one whole wall in the bedroom. The wall you see going up has been moved out 18 inches to make it a walk in closet. We have now gained a "new wall" that is open and long enough to put a king sized bed on (something we've always wanted...I won't disclose who the thrashing bedhog is, but I'll give you a hint; the first two letter in HIS name are Jo!!) Anyway, this should be done in a week. Once the walls are textured and painted, we plan to roll back down the old carpet and save up for some hardwood floors and that king-sized bed. Whitley will then inherit our bedroom set as she said her twin beds are too small and we, will get a "king-sized set! Then, we don't care if we lift a hammer ever again!

And we are done.....

...in the master bathroom that is! We have been up and running of about 8 days now and have really enjoyed the new room!

Some people have asked me to post what/where the materials are from so I thought it'd be a good time to do that as well:

Cabinets: Lowes (kitchen counter top bases, for height) with Minwax's English Chestnut stain. Brushed stainless hardware is from H. Depot

Faucet: Price Phister (Lowe's)

Granite counter/unerwmounted sinks: Home Depot special order Pegasus-warm beige

Mirror: Basic mirror cut down from H. Depot. I took decorative trim and stained it with the English Chesnut color

Lighting: $12.99 a piece at H. Depot,mounted it on the sides for a unique look. Cans up on the ceiling were $20 a piece.

Toilet: Pegasus ADA height from H. Depot

Shower Doors: European seamless-H.Depot

Tiles: Are from Floor Decor. All tiles are tumbled travertine in the Dark Noche color. On the floor, we used 12x12 tiles on a 45 deg. angle to make the room look bigger. The shower floor is 1x1 sized, then back to the 12x12 up the shower wall. We used a border to break up the flow and then switched to 4x4 tiles turned on its side to bring the diamond pattern up on the wall.

We used a sealer (a total of 5 times) on the travertine to bring out the color. *TIP* 1.Seal once so before using tiles so you can see the color variation and arrange accordingly. 2. Seal two more times before mortaring to the wall. This made the grouting wipe up process tons easier! 3. Seal two more times after you are done grouting to ensure no mildew,etc.

Wall Paint: I love Behr products, but it made my color choice to red based so I went with Glidden. This is an eggshell interior called "Desert Floor".

A picture from an Easter long ago

This was taken Easter morning in 2001. Here Whitley is 4 years old; what a cute age!