¡Mi nueva casa!

I snuck in there tonight to snap a few quick pictures, not the best, and it was dark so I couldn't get any good pictures of the mountains but I will definitely post more later. These are just for those of you who have been asking. :)

Passing The Time

So I'm sitting here in the hotel laundry room, lit with a timed light. I"m listening to my clothes dry and taking some career advice from my former boss over IM. Also I'm debating on whether I should go back to being a true brunette. Not even a month ago I got my hair re-highlighted so it would be kind of foolish for me to be so rash but I think that color matched my Florida surroundings more; Colorado, not so much. I think since it's so wintry here I might need to go back to a rich chocolate brown, maybe I'll wait a month or so.... Also I need my bangs trimmed- they grow so fast!

In just a few days I'll be flying back to Florida, packing the rest of my stuff, celebrating Christmas with my family, seeing my friends one last time before the long journey to Colorado, I'm really excited....kinda nervous too.

I signed my lease yesterday so I have the keys to my new place with a view! Work is good, still learning a lot about their processes but making some good progress.

I sit next to Ryan's office and Ryan has a dog named Kodi (short for Kodiak, like the bear). He is a giant and black Labradoodle - he is so cute, but sadly he has serious issues with his digestive system ---meaning he farts all day long, it's pretty disgusting. At first I thought it was Matt (sales guy that sits next to me), but then I saw him hold his nose then I was scared he thought it was me. Pretty soon I found out that this is pretty much an everyday occurrence with Kodi---the dog has gas. I'm going to bring in an air freshener just to keep it smelling a little less like a gas chamber.

I almost slipped about 5 times on patches of melting ice today. Seriously, our office parking lot is comparable to an ice skating rink! I guess that's what happens when the snow melts then freezes again. The weather here wasn't that cold today, I think it got up to 45, not too shabby!


Let me tell you a little bit about what I know so far about Boulder. It's a college town. There are plenty of hippies here. Also they are very environment conscious - everything is organic and a lot of people drive hybrids. Also it's really artsy and funkey. Pearl Street is big here...it's got a huge walking mall and little shops and restaurants (funky artsy restuarants) and in the summer time there are all kinds of contortionists, musicians and other types of street performers. Everyone here is into the outdoors (kinda have to be I guess). You can do almost every outdoors sport imaginable (camping, hiking, fly fishing, white water rafting, skiing, boarding, rock climbing, ice skating, hockey, and the list goes on...) The scenery is majestic and the wildlife is plentiful. In boulder alone, there are 65 parks! Also there is about 1 bicycle for every person here (about 100,000) which I think is really cool! It's a very smart and tech-savvy town, and it's been voted the best place to live/work on more than one occasion. Ok, now I feel like an encyclopedia! I really think I'm going to like it here though and I'm very excited to make some new friends (outside of the awesome ones I've already made at work), maybe even find the love of my life.....


Alright I'll leave you with this. Estes Park is about 40 minutes North of Boulder, it's the site of Rocky Mountain National Park and also a hotel (pictured above) called The Stanley Hotel. This place is actually the place Stephen King based his novel "The Shining" on. If you've seen that movie, it's really creepy! Anyway, supposedly the place is seriously haunted, especially room 406 where there are many accounts of people hearing children's laughter in the hallways! I hate ghost stories and everything like that but I think it's really cool about the Stephen King thing (I think he lived in Boulder at the time he wrote the book). Just a little plug! I'll put the article below. Enjoy!



The Bottom Line:
If you are a Stephen King fan, request room 217. It was in this room that King, inspired by the Stanley Hotel, wrote half of "The Shining." The ABC miniseries was filmed at the Stanley Hotel as well.
The Stanley Hotel Haunting:
The ghosts in the Stanley Hotel aren't evil as in the book. Room 418 seems to have the most ghostly activity reported. In fact, the entire fourth floor of the Stanley Hotel (formerly the servants quarters) is quite active. Often, the sound of children playing in the halls of the Stanley can be heard, even when no children are present.
The Stanleys:
The Stanley Hotel's original owners, F.O. and Flora Stanley, are said to haunt the hotel as well. Mr Stanley plays the piano in the music room, and frequents the billards room and the lobby.

Should I go on a date with this man?

It's a long story but yes there is an offer out there. He's actually a Christian too, which is nice.

check out his site, it's pretty funny

www.maybemike.com

New Year, New Job, New Adventure.

Hello everyone! I figured it's time for me to start blogging again. Most of you know I kept pretty good track of my adventures in Martha's Vineyard a good 3-4 years ago on Xanga so I figured I'd do the same for my wild west adventure! Now you can keep track of all my life happenings without actually being here:)

The last few weeks have really just been a whirlwind of change and excitement. I took a job in Boulder Colorado with a great young company in the online industry. They are nestled right at the foothills of the rocky mountains (flatirons) and  the scenery is like nothing I have ever seen. I am so blessed to have this opportunity to move to such a beautiful place and work with such wonderful people. 

So I have been here since Wednesday the 5th. They flew me to Denver and paid for my rental car and hotel while I'm here. I'm flying back for Christmas on the 21st and then I'll drive here from Florida with my Mom and Bailey after Christmas!!! 

I found a place to live last week. It's really a blessing b/c housing is really slim this time of year in Boulder. The condo I found is literally across the street from work! It's a live/work loft development! Basically it's mostly 2 and 3 bedroom lofts above studios that people work in (jewelry makers, graphic designers, artists, journeymen, etc) My one -bedroom doesn't have a studio beneath it, but how cool is that. Basically you walk up a flight of stairs then you're in my living room and kitchen. The development was just built in September. All hardwood floors, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and best of all brand new! You walk up another flight of stairs and you're in my bedroom loft. you can see out into the living room, it's such a sweet setup! Best of all it has an absolutely AMAZING balcony view of the flatirons. All of you are invited to come visit!

I also found out that a friend from my hometown lives near me! It was so good to catch up with her. We went to the Flatirons Mall to hang out and shop. I'm really glad she lives here.

This weekend we had our office Christmas party in Breckenridge! THAT was an awesome experience. They rented a huge 20 bedroom house in the mountains that we stayed in for 2 nights. We played beer pong, Catch phrase, watched Superbad, had a white elephant gift exchange, it was soooo much fun. Really good to get to know my coworkers on another level. On saturday we went to the slopes, I took a skiing lesson and fell in love with my instructor, it was an all around great time! It was -12 pretty much the whole weekend in the mountains there! Can you believe it!? and I still got sunburned!  As my friend Nela and I were driving back through the rockies today we saw a MOOSE! Yes, he was chillin in the snow on the side of the road. We took a  picture. Here he is below along with a few other pictures of my new snow-covered home! I'll be posting a lot more soon but for now here you go. 

Love you all,

Arikka