A little bit of VA in CO

Mom and Dad came to visit us for 9 wonderful days in September. We had a great time together with lots of fishing, eating, relaxing, shopping, and bonding. We loved having them here and they spoiled us BIG TIME.

We loved their company and appreciate everything they did while they were here. Dad fished almost every day in a sweet spot really close to our house. He caught 19 Colorado sized fish, some were even picture worthy.

They helped us with lots of little jobs around the house. Mom always had dinner ready for us and they even conqored the job we had been dreading and putting off for months, painting our bedroom!

We were so glad to have them here with us and can't wait for their next visit. We love you Mom and Dad!

Growing Like a Weed

Boone is growing more and more every day. He is very active and playful and he unfortunately loves to eat my shoes. Bonus for me...NEW SHOES :) He is getting taller and taller so he has the longest little legs. He loves to play with the other dogs in the neighborhood and go for long clumsy runs on the trail behind our house. He has definitely gotten faster but he isn't quite graceful yet.

He also still LOVES to sleep. He sleeps quite a bit still and in the funniest places and positions. He is really snugly and likes to curl up right next to you or in your lap. We love it now and think that it is cute but I'm sure we will regret it when he weighs 50 pounds!

Montana

We have been incredibly busy since the arrival of Boone and the start of my new job so I am running a little behind in posting Montana pictures. We drove for 2 straight days to get to Montana to pick up Boone but it was really beautiful and worth the trip. On the way back we drove through Yellowstone National Park and camped with Boone in the Tetons! We had such a great time and Boone was a great traveler.

On our way out of the Tetons we were lucky enough to witness an entire pack of elk crossing the road right in front of us. We saw them coming up the side of the road and decided to stop and see what happened. A "leader" elk ran up to the edge of the road and back to his pack 2 different times like he knew to watch for cars. Then finally on a 3rd attempt he led them across the road. It was so amazing to watch! We caught the end of it on video.

And then there were three....

Will and I spent 4 days, 16+ hours in the car, and roughly 1500 miles to pick up our sweet new addition, our puppy Boone. He did such a great job in the car on the way home and spent the majority of his time asleep in his little pet taxi. He cried to get in and out of it but that was all. We would stop every couple of hours to play with him and let him have a potty break. He got to camp out and sleep in the tent his very first night with us! He slept all night long.....He is ALL puppy; chewing, running, chasing, falling over. He is still very clumsy and falls over himself a lot and is providing great entertainment to Will and I. He seems to be getting very comfortable with us and loves playing with us and his new friend Bella (our neighbors dog). He was well worth the trip!
We got to meet most of Boone's brothers and sisters but he was still the one we wanted! They were all such great puppies and SO cute but we knew Boone was ours.

He was a great camper, he loves his duck and other bird toys AND he already loves to sleep on his trout bed that I made him! He is a perfect fit for us!!

House :)

Will and I have spent A LOT of time working on our house and even though we have much more to do we have gotten a whole lot accomplished. It seems to finally be coming together (inside anyways, outside is a whole different story). We are both really happy that our house is becoming our home.

We have 2 new, much needed, fans thanks to Will's hard work. One fan is in the master bedroom and one is in the living room. They have been a HUGE help in keeping our house cooler. Did I mention that there is no A/C in

Colorado?!

We also recently hung curtains, added new pillows and a new rug to our living room. It all looks really great and now we are ready for some visitors to show it off to!

New Job!

I finally got a job!! As you know I have been on the search for a teaching job since I moved to Colorado in January. After several opportunities and interviews I was still unsuccessful and had settled on working as a substitute teacher and volunteer in order to get my foot in the door and my name out there to hopefully have a better chance in an extremely competitive job market. On a whim (and because I already had my resume together), I applied for a job at a non-profit agency called Partners. And.......I GOT IT!! I am really excited about this job and start tomorrow (8/16) I will be the Case Manager and oversee the "partnering" of at risk youth with adult volunteers. I think it is a really great program and something that I believe strongly in so I am very excited that I have been given this opportunity and will be able to work with such a great outreach agency!

So even though this is a change in directions from the teaching path I was on I think it is a great opportunity for me to do something good and as my mom so wisely reminded me.....

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans" -John Lennon

Check out the Partners website if you want to find out a little more about the program and what I will be doing :)

www.partnersrouttcounty.org

Trip to VA

I was very fortunate to be able to make a trip "home" to spend some quality time with family a few weekends ago. Will was not able to come because of work but I managed to sneak away for a few special days. The "Salyer Girls" (minus Katie) spent 24 hours in Pigeon Forge, TN catching up and shopping til we dropped. We had such and great time together (as always) and made some pretty great purchases as well. We were exhausted and all shopped out when we "stalked" down a lady (literally) to take our picture in the parking lot. She was a little leery of us but I sure am glad we got the picture :)

I was happy, as always, to "model" for Dad all of my lovely purchases and come to find out he had a lime green t-shirt too! Who would have thought? We had to capture our twin moment :)

I feel very fortunate that I got to spend time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, Mom, Dad, Drew and Katie and even some quality time with my sweet niece dog, Bonnie :)

I already cannot wait for the next trip back to Virginia and we are even more excited for Mom and Dad to come out and visit in less than a month!!