Wednesday, November 23, 2011

This is for You, John Young...

Okay, okay... it's not ALL for you, but a little birdie told us you'd want our hot tub up and running for your arrival. That little message was precisely the ignition we needed to light our fire and fix the HT! After our last gathering, our HT was out of commission... with all of our busy work schedules, it was difficult to find the time to fix it. BUT, once we heard JY was going to want some post-ski relaxation, we decided to MAKE TIME.
Please follow our step-by-step tutorial on how to drain and clean your hot tub.
Step One:
Extend hose to it's full length. Turn it on. Place it in the hot tub and at that very moment, turn it off. This will create a siphon. The water will then slowly (v.e.r.y. s.l.o.w.l.y.) dribble back the other way and exit the hose. How did we know this? We can thank two things: Kathryn's memory, and Mr. Kuenzel's Physics lesson in highschool.

Step Two: Wait overnight for hot tub to drain.
Step Three:  Look Good. Now, when we say "look good", we in fact mean "be prepared". It's dark. It's cold. You're going to need layers, you're going to need plastic bags over your feet, you're going to need thinsulate gloves under rubber gloves, and you're going to need proper lighting. Once this is accomplished, you can begin to scoop out the extra pockets of water with an empty pickle jar.


Step Four: Use the broom and dust pan to sweep up whatever whatever filthy water will not be scooped up by the pickle jar.


Step Five: Change your bags. You don't want to track the murky water back in the tub while you scrub it. 
Step Six: Scrub the tub with cleaner AND with special hot tub cleaner. You might have to go around a couple times, really make sure you scrub the jets. They accumulate gook.


Step Seven: Clean out the filter,  add the water, add the chemicals, and wait 24 hours for enjoyment! Hooray, now we can digest our Thanksgiving feast in our clean and operating hot tub.


Happy Thanksgiving Eve! Stay tuned for a Turkey Day update :)

Monday, September 26, 2011

From full unemployment to...

This time last year we were living in the Poor House and every single one of its residents were unemployed and riding the wave of Denver's job market. Now, I'm proud to report that all the members of the new Chateau Colfax are employed as of this week! Here is to regular paychecks and schedules. Of course, there is one member who is not happy about the change...

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Where Have We BEEN!?!

Let's play the matching game.
Kelsey                           Day and Night Yoga Training

Kathryn                        Babysitting/Working

Norah                            Biking to Work/Planning a trip to Mexico


Draw a line from the person to the activity.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

It's a Hard Knock Life For Us


Cleaning the insides and behind the refrigerators

 













The sink exploded on Kathryn's arm.

Someone decided to iron her bedskirt... Not sure who's daughter she is...

Henry in the new house, Henry in the old house. Lost, dazed, confused...
1 a.m. Ramen Noodle cook-off. You can see we still have quite a bit of unpacking to do...

 It has been a bittersweet week as the residents of the Poor House have packed up their things, made 14 million trips in the 95+ degree heat, and moved on to greener pastures. Effective yesterday at noon, our lease at the PH was terminated. After scrubbing the house for hours on end (hence the Annie blog post title reference), we turned in our keys and are moving forward. The PH will always be in our hearts.
The burning question that all four of our readers (hi Moms and Dads) are dying to know is, will the PH blog remain in tact. The answer, of course, is yes. We apologize for our lack of updating lately, we will try to be better about keeping you informed.
Fox has moved on to live with a friend, the elusive "Greg" has moved somewhere (we're not sure where), and the three Toga ladies have moved in with their friend Cori to a lovely home a little north of their previous residence. They are very excited, as the new home's amenities include a hot tub (!), a big deck, and a fenced yard with a secret garden in front. We aren't really sure what makes us think we can upgrade, since only one of us now has a real job (shout out to Kels, the mouse gynecologist), but something inside told us "wait a minute, grown women in their 20s shouldn't have to use an unfinished bathroom in a basement with only a curtain for a door". A revelation, some might call it.
Our first couple nights in the new home have been full of unpacking, eating ramen noodles and drinking boxed wine, comforting the confused and sheepish Henry, and getting used to the sights and sounds of colorful Colfax avenue. Please stay tuned for a video tour of our new digs.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

1940's Ball

Last night, Kathryn, Norah, Katie and Nora (not much variation in the names there) ventured to the Boulder airport to have some good old fashioned fun at a 1940's ball. They had a blast! Everyone was dressed up in 1940's garb, there were planes and old vehicles to take pictures in front of, there was big band swing dancing, and no shortage of veterans. One veteran named Rich took each of us for a spin on the dance floor. Rich had swing moves like no other.


Nora proudly waved her flag all night long


Monday, May 30, 2011

Camping, Winery and Friends

The last few weekends Kels, Nor and Kat have been camping. The pictures below are from our trip to Fruita aka "Fr-utah" where we went camping 2 miles from the Utah border in the desert. On this trip we took a trip to Palisade to go to Carlson Winery, Palisade Brewery, and the Peach St. Distillery. We had a great time spending time together and getting to enjoy the outdoors again! We were joined by some great friends from all around including Andrew, Spencer, Johnny, Bridget, and Billy.


Here is a picture of the crew:
We visited the Carlson Winery for some feline- and pre-historic-themed libations.

Enjoying some sun on a bench at the winery. Note fields of grapevines in the background.

Beautiful view from our campsite at Fr-Utah.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Celebrity Blogger. Maybe, someday?

Kathryn is finally becoming a celebrity blogger...well...sorta. Check out her post for Denver Botanic Gardens! Another exciting thing about the post is that it features photography by Foxy. Kathryn took the internship at the Gardens a few months ago and just found out that she would be able to cook, write, and blog for a meager living. She will also be guest blogging on a new blog called "GradHacker", launching in early June...will post when it goes live!

Saturday, April 30, 2011

'Tis the Season

...for using the push mower. Norah and I spent part of our Saturday afternoon doing manual labor, yard work, and yes, you guessed it...we mowed the lawn. This is no ordinary lawn mowing adventure and requires many runs over the jungle-like grass in the yard. Despite the near-dead appearance of the grass in some places, it still proves to be a challenge with patches of thick grass bushes and dandelion clusters. Wish us luck as this season begins...




Standing next to the push mower with pride, admiring all that we have accomplished

Monday, April 18, 2011

Thursday, April 14, 2011

What exactly...

...is in our attic?

apparently it's a 3-woman + 1-dog operation...

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Denver is Confused...

Well, yesterday we enjoyed some sunny, 84 degree weather by going to the park during the day and attending the Rockies game at night.
It was so sunny, in fact, that the majority of us got a sunburn.
Then today, we see this:

It has been snowing NON-STOP and incredibly hard! We can't complain, because we know it will melt tomorrow... and like Kelsey says, the earth is thirsty so we welcome the moisture.

Silly Denver!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

THANKS JEANNIE!

Kelsey and Norah were THRILLED when our family friend Ninki showed up at our doorstep with gift cards to Safeway (the grocery store)  sent with love from their Momma. 
Here they are,  ecstatic with their purchases shown in the background.
THANKS MOMMA!!!!

Friday, March 25, 2011

claire's boutique

Today Nor, Kat, and Kels took a trip to the mall to get some second and third hole piercings in their ears. Who would have thought that Claire's would still have a monopoly on ear piercing nationwide? Kat had her ears pierced when she was 6 yrs old at Claire's and Norah had her ears pierced multiple times from ages 7-present at Claire's (lots of re-piercing on that one)... good news to report... all piercings were had and no tears or fainting!

Here are some pictures from our adventure:


Don't mistake this blank stare for creepiness...Kat was terrified
. She got a lolly pop for being brave.

She looks very concerned...but she had to put on a brave face because Kat was going after her...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Semi-professionalism

It has been quite some time since I’ve written a blog post. I swear I have several ‘legit’ excuses for this. The first one has to do with the fact that I am always questioning whether or not I really have anything important enough to write about. Secondly, I always wonder if anyone really cares enough to read what I write. I suppose if you’re reading this now, then yes, yes you do. Congratulations! You are the lucky winner.

Okay, so the real reason that I haven’t had time to write a blog post is because I’ve become an incredibly busy person. I remember during my first quarter of graduate school, I kept thinking about the fact that most of my friends had become completely consumed by work. We are at that age now where everyone is entering the workforce, and the ‘real world’ is just beginning. Well, now I am one of those people consumed by work, and despite the crazy schedule and many sleepless nights, I am incredibly happy about that. I still think I’ve been able to semi-avoid the real world thus far.

Graduate school has been incredibly challenging and rewarding so far. I also just started an internship at the Institute for Environmental Solutions (IES). In the next few months, I will be leading a series of workshops for IES on non-toxic living in Fort Collins. I successfully made it through finals last week, and I even had time to end the week by going to String Cheese Winter Carnival on Friday. Since I went by myself, Kels and Andrew were gracious enough to meet me in the lot. Thanks guys!

I’m currently in Miami visiting family and relaxing on the beach. I’m ready to get back to Denver, ready to get back to work, and ready to see what new knowledge and experiences next quarter will bring.

Denver sure feels like home lately, and life is good. :)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Just Across the Way...

Hi! Although no longer a physical member of the Poor House, I thought I'd take a moment to update my happenings in sunny California. So, finally I'm settled...for the most part. My internship is going wonderfully. I work for a company called Little Engine Productions at the Disney Studios. Basically I read a helluva lot of scripts, write feedback and do office work. But the environment is ideal and the experience is priceless. I'm so happy!

My apartment is splendid. Plenty of space and still in the process of getting tables, chairs, etc. For the most part though, it's sorted. My mama left Sunday (couldn't have done ANY of this without her!) and believe it or not, is in DENVER! My dad (couldn't have done ANY of this without him!) and brother are there as well about to embark upon a ski trip in which I was originally supposed to be a part of. Oh how things change. My cousin Dave is also residing at the PH for the week. Love it!

Anyway, I've had quite a few celeb sightings...at restaurants, flea markets and at the studio. They're everywhere. Stars---they're just like us! Well, today doesn't have too much in store luckily. A run, the post office, script reading, and a few other random errands. That's it for now! I'm going to put a video of my apt up...so I'll link it here as well. Stay tuned.

To my Poor Housers...I MISS YOU MADLY AND LOVE YOU LOTS!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Update: Roger and Kat Spotted Together Again

Roger on the Red Rocks Trail. Wild card, that one.
Shockingly, Kat and Roger went for a hike in the Foothills on Sunday together...ALONE. Kat is eating her words after having said he was never allowed on a hike again only weeks ago. Roger is beginning to woo her with his dark eyes, playful spirit, and exquisite physique...

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Jobless PH Residents Reaching Out...

Well aren't we all glad that two out of the five PH residents have Masters degrees, two out of five have pending Masters degrees, and one out of the five is fresh off the boat from some one-of-a kind overseas direct instruction (see our 'Welcome Greg' post below!)... but all of us seem to still be struggling finding work.
I know what you're thinking: "What do they do all day? Are they even applying for jobs?"
Let us answer that for you now. We'll start with the short answer: yes. Now here's the more detailed description of exactly how far we've reached beyond our fields of experience, or even interest. 
Kelsey has recently applied to be a Professor of Biology at a local community college. You should've been here when we had to whip up a mock lesson plan for that application.
Norah has recently applied to be a Horticulture Instructor at the Botanic Gardens.
Kathryn has combined both of these positions and has applied to be a Professor of Anthropology, and Horticulture assistant (in which case she would be colleagues with both Norah and Kelsey).
Fox has an internship which recently started PAYING her (!)....




$8/hr.... but we're not a house to complain about wages. Way to go, Fox!
And we're gonna cut Greg some slack since he just arrived here two days ago. Good luck bud, the market's a little tough right now...
Whole lotta good this did us...


Although our spirits may waver, they haven't broken and here's hoping to a Spring full of job opportunities and positive thinking!

The Poor House Change-Over

We've made it clear that it was very sad to see Caiti leave the PH and that it was her time to get famous and move to Hollywood, pursue her dreams, all that good stuff...dontcha ya know.

But it was time for us to move on and get a new roommate, and so we found one! His name is Greg and he came straight from Korea!...well...he's actually from Georgia (the U.S. State, not the country) and was just teaching kindergarteners in Korea for a year. He is a musician and you can find him frequenting all the local open mics most nights. He also rides his bicycle around town.

Moral of the story...farewell Caiti, your memory will live on in the PH...and welcome Greg! It takes a real man to voluntarily join the Poor House ranks :)

Monday, March 7, 2011

The World Welcomes Little Tristan

Our wonderful friends Molly and Shane welcomed their new little baby boy to the world last week! He is the cutest little button and has teeny tiny features. We love him so.
Lennon patiently awaits the arrival of his new baby brother