Top Crash Locations

For some inexplicable reason I was surfing around the Colorado Springs Police Department website tonight.

I found the statistics they had on their site interesting (under the stats, facts, and graphs menu). I was able to look up a map of our neighborhood's crime activity by week, as well as a myriad of other information about the city of Colorado Springs. For those of you who are the big picture type, as I am, you can rest assured that you live in a relatively safe place. Compared to other cities of comparable population in the United States, Colorado Springs has roughly half the national average of crimes and half the national average of violent crimes. Add to the fact that the majority of crime happens near and around the downtown area, we're all probably pretty safe. I guess this is demonstrated by the fact that elementary and middle school kids in our neighborhood are still able to walk to school every morning by themselves.

For those of you who won't bother to visit their site, I thought you'd at least be interested in this information. Below are the 2007 top locations for automobile crashes. By my count, over half (6) are in my neck of the woods!

RANK
STREET INTERSECTIONS

1 BRIARGATE PY/N POWERS BL
2 N POWERS BL/N UNION BL
3 S ACADEMY BL/S CHELTON RD
4 HY-83/N ACADEMY BL
5 NEW CENTER PT/S CAREFREE CR
6 AUSTIN BLUFFS PY/RANGEWOOD DR
7 E WOODMEN RD/N UNION BL
8 N POWERS BL/OLD RANCH RD
9 E BIJOU ST/N ACADEMY BL
10 HY-83/N POWERS BL

Hello Doggie, Hello Kiddie?

To follow up on my previous post, Julia at least uses the phrase "hi kitty" towards other animals and people. While at the library for story time this morning, she kept saying "hi kitty" to the golden retriever and the other kids that were in her "class". OK, maybe she doesn't know that "kitty" refers to the feline species. At least she's using it as a sort of greeting or at the very least a reference to other 4-legged creatures that crawl, drool, and poop indiscriminately. You can understand why she hasn't yet differentiated between the two.

Hello Kitty

Julia has officially said her first words. Her first words were "Hi Kitty"!

At least a month ago (if not more) she started to make different sounds whenever she saw an animal, particularly our cat. I think it all started because she was trying to imitate the sound of a meow. At first it was just a high-pitched "eee" sound. It was really funny and cute to watch her try to meow, that's for sure.

After awhile she probably picked up on the fact that we always referred to this animal as "Kitty". Over the past few weeks Stacey has been saying the phrase "Hi Kitty" whenever Kitty has come around, since Julia likes her.

A few days ago Julia started to say "Hi Kitty", but I wasn't sure that it counted since I wondered if she really knew what she was saying. Today I was convinced that not only was she saying the words clearly, but that she associated them with Kitty. Kitty came down to the kitchen this afternoon and when Julia saw her, she started to crawl towards her while at the same time saying "Hi Kitty!" over and over again. It's unmistakable, even though she's only about 9.5 months old.

At some point we'll hear "dada" and "mama", but until then "Hi Kitty" will do just fine.

Mueller State Park

We spent the day up at Mueller State Park which is located just outside Divide, CO. From what we heard, this weekend was supposed to be a good weekend to see fall colors. The park didn't disappoint...and at only $6 for a day pass it was certainly a great value for this time of year.

The aspen were full of greens, yellows, some oranges, and even reds. I didn't know that certain aspens can turn red, so that was a pleasant surprise. We did a lot of hiking on the park's numerous trails. We had a great time and will certainly be doing this again next year.

I hope you can make out enough detail in the slide show to see how pretty it was.

Music by John Mayer (Free Fallin', Live)

Day 18

...and they work too! :)

Paper Art

I didn't realize our printer at work was so creative. How this happened I have no idea. It sure was cool as far as printers go!

I realize that many people may find it sad that this was the most exciting thing that happened at work today. I can't decide which is worse though, the fact that it was the most exciting thing that happened today or that I actually found it entertaining? The latter is probably the product of the former, but that still doesn't help me decide which is worse.

5 For 1 Special

Hmm…I hadn’t realized this until I was talking with Josh today at the gym. We are finishing the basement mainly for space reasons. We’ve always known that it will increase the value and equity in our home, but those were secondary reasons. Anyway, today at the gym I realized that we are increasing the living space in our home by 50%, yet it’s only costing us 10% of the purchase price of the home. Not too shabby. I won’t try to guess how much of a money making venture this will be, but at least it’s good to know we’re pretty much guaranteed to get this money back in the long run if we ever decided to sell the house.

Day 15

For those of you who might be getting tired of seeing these updates, take heart! We're really close to being done with this project. Really, the only major things left are to install the shower tile, toilet, sink, and faucets in the bathroom and the carpet. There really won't be any more pictures worth taking until the bathroom is done and then when the entire project has been completed.

Today the electrical trim was installed...which I was surprisingly happy about. We can finally see everything now, and with the exception of carpet, the place pretty much feels complete. We also had the flooring in the bathroom installed. We're about a week away...

Day 14

They painted the trim and walls today!

The basement is really starting to look like a living space now. We choose to have the same color as we have in our kitchen and up the stairs, because it was a warm, subtle color. Additionally, we knew that although it was a light color on the main level/stairs, it would seem a lot darker in a basement. The pictures don't do the color justice (lighting), but in person it looks really nice. The window sills look great too. We like them so much that we'll probably add sills to the rest of the house at a later time. I pretty sure I can cut and nail a board and a piece of trim to the wall and paint it!

Broncos vs Saints

Stacey and I went the the Broncos game today while Julia cheered loudly with Grandpa and Grandma at home. The game was entertaining, and it was good to get out together. All in all though, this will be something we do once every 10 years. We paid a lot of money for the tickets (and parking, gas, and 2 drinks). My supervisor has season tickets, and he sells a lot of them to his coworkers when he can't make the game.

Unfortunately, we spent most of the game sitting next to explicative shouting drunks. Although we were in the 6th row, most of the game was played 100 yards away on the other side of the field. Considering we had to squint because of the sun, I doubt we would have seen much anyway. The game came down to a final field goal, which New Orleans missed handing Denver the win. The problem with our seats in the 6th row is that they looked right down the goal line. The deciding kick of the game went up and through...or maybe not through...the field goal posts. I couldn't tell. Everyone behind the end zone cheered, so I cheered too. I guess he missed the kick.

In case anyone is wondering, going to the game took about 8 hours total. Counting only game time, it cost us $3.84 a minute to watch the game in person from "good" seats. I heard somewhere that in a 60 minute football game there are about only about 15 minutes of actual playing time. So, better make it $15.33 per minute of playing time. Anyway, the point to this story is that we had a good time, but if you're interested in watching the game, save the time and money. You get a much better seat at home and if you don't like what you hear or see, you can push the mute button or change the channel.

Probably the best part about the day are the pictures below. We were able to get a few good family and individual shots!