Special I Like Post for Christmas Eve... life continues but is different!

Nurture the Artist within!

Welcome to Colorado! We are in the rental for a few days now, surrounded by boxes and carelessly arranged furniture, and lots of new stuff.

I wanted to do a bonus Christmas "I Like" post to remind myself of so much bounty we have amidst all the changes. Change is hard y'all. Even if it's chosen.

beautiful red Christmas Welcome to Colorado roses from my friend Mary in Boulder!!

 The Christmas card was waiting for me in our rental home's mailbox from Diane in Texas and her two poodles! What a great welcome! ( my friend Z in Wash. state sent one too but it's gone missing) (thanks z)

Lots of pictures for you to share in the new digs... let's get started...

The tree was easy to find because the movers didn't pack it, they carried it in it's bag, and half the lights were knocked out that way. Okayyyy... have no idea where the ornaments are... okayyyyy. We'll make do with...

My friend Bonnie had this flamingo ornament waiting for us here in CO and said, don't let any ole HOA tell you not to have flamingos! We got the cow in Casey Ill. the town full of super big things. Where we also found a flat tire at 5 pm in the dark and cold, when we returned from our walking break! I'll now remember the town when I see that cow! And the pop-up flat tire and coping with a packed to the gills car having a tire change in the street.

Speaking of pop up, the temps went from 50's to 8 deg last night, with a freaky snow blast of 3 in closing down the interstates and putting out power. We sold our generator because all the people and agents we talked to said the power never goes out.

MILO: Daddy is out shoveling but they don't plow the neighborhood streets, expecting the sun to do the job. OMD, I could help! I can dig! All I can do is watch from the front poodle perch windows and bark.

 Oh well, I'll get out there eventually. I might eat all the snow. At least I can run around and bite the Daddy's arm and have fun while they say people curse words.

LeeAnna: AS IF! Milo, bad dog telling on us!
I slept in this morning til 8AM from sheer exhaustion... and happy to sleep on our new mattress finally. Our old one was 17 years old.

We got one like our old one, and the one before that. A beautyRest individual coil plush top. The difference in them now is the plush has some gel in it. s.i.n.k. in... we might buy an actual bed frame when we choose our next home. I rested my head on my flannel flamingo poodle pillowcase...

good to have the familiar around a bit, right?

We set up our new coffee maker, yea! The old one was left in MD as it leaked and owed us not one dime, as it was over 10 years old...

but having a new one means learning new buttons, and new filter systems, and check out the manual... sheesh! Now folks, we've had this in the box for at least 4 years under our dining room table. When our old one started to leak, we got this on sale at Khols but I kept using the old one for some reason. Cheap... wring the very last drip out of it, and doggone if the last drip went on for years!
Coffee maker on life support!
Which allowed us to move this one in the original packing box, which was a good thing. We found Horizon Organic milk here, and Peet's coffee so we're setting up camp!All we needed was our new coffee cups...

bought along the way at that candy store in Casey Ill.
cheerful!

Even against the fresh snowfall. The yard is EXTREMELY small, and along a path, which causes a hyper-vigilant poodle to bark at every. passer-by.
MILO: gosh! I thought that was my job! Let you know of eminent danger!
LeeAnna: It's okay... you can take a break honey... the homes are packed in here and there will be lots of people walking by. Relax!
MILO: AS IF Mama!

My flamingo plant stand guards us in the front, holding the plant my friend Bonnie gave me when my beloved poodle son Cole left us... we brought it all the way, four days driving, from MD to help us settle in here.
along with the croton from MD that reminded me of my roots in Florida...

which sits on the dining room credenza next to my temporary blogging perch...

This little mermaid will also remind me of the beach in Maryland and in Florida...

betcha no one here has a mermaid like her.













or towel girls like these

still so much to unpack and check on for broken items... so much hidden and lost which is hard for me....





This will become the temporary studio

a loft space that reminds me of a courtyard. If you stand at that one window, crane your neck, you can catch a glimpse of the front range of the Rocky Mountains. Breathe in and stretch.....

MILO: Hey! you're not the only one moving in! I was relieved to see this open up!!! My nest! My safety!
And these...

let's see, I have food, my water bowl and stand, my toys, my crate, and my peeps! I'm good!

LeeAnna: good? wellllllll.... yes my lovely, you're a good boy and Mama loves you.

now please stop barking so much! My ears are hurting!

So that's it for now... hope you enjoyed the tip of the iceberg!

I have hopes for this move. Return to school for my masters, write a lot, be creative and healthier, make new friends, keep the really missed, good friends now so far away. And live...