Twelve great years!

I met my husband at an ultimate game one summer in Greeley. A couple of months later one of my roommates, Paul, invited him over with a few other people. We had a great time and I remember thinking Art was fascinating, but I was still dating someone, and besides Art had this huge beard, and a really wild hairdo that desperately needed cutting. A couple of months later I went to a Christmas party at Art's. (I had ditched my dead weight boyfriend at this point. That one was not pretty!) I think Art was trying to hook up with my friend Erin, even though Erin was suggesting that I talk to him... After winter break, my roommates girlfriend encouraged me to go out to the Armory (bar) with her. Lo' and behold, Paul was there with Art. With a freshly shaved face and a nice short haircut. Many of our other friends were also there. I was sitting talking with Robin, when Paul and Art came over. Mysteriously Paul left, then Robin and we were alone. We looked at each other and joked about how we were set up, and not very subtly. A little later that month Erin was having a party at her house and she said I should come because Art would be there. So I went, and we ended up talking the night away...
We were married a little over three years and four moves later. Our twelfth anniversary is this weekend. I wouldn't trade a minute of those twelve years, and I look forward to many many more with my best friend, business partner, and love.

The happy couple.

The wedding party.

The great cake debate. Smear or be nice? We were nice and the cake was yummy!

Me with my parents. Poor Dad got his first speeding ticket today. You would've thought the mean old fuzz would let him off for a warning on his daughter's wedding day!

Art with his parents.

Getting ready. I was ssssoooooooooooooooo nervous!

Our darling neices.

February 24, 1996

I was so glad that my Grandpa Jack was able to be there. I didn't see him a lot growing up but he made it special when we did visit. I still miss him dearly.

Paul. My Lord of Honor. He was a great friend and co-worker. He and Robin are the ones who get credit for getting Art and me together. It's amazing how we can lose touch with people who were such good friends.

Many of my cousins were able to make it to the wedding. It was nice to have so much of my family make the trip to Colorado from Wisconsin.

Gary's great mustache experiment. I think his mullet topped off the look :)

Even my Mother's parents were able to make it.

The air guitar was a bit hit. Kevin got his licks in, as well as Peter and Natalie.

A new novelty for weddings were the disposable camera on the table. Now commonplace, we thought we were pretty clever...

It is nice to see that others enjoyed dinner. We were so excited and had so many people we wanted to talk to we hardly ate a bite.

Good friends.

Many of Art's friends made the trek from New England for the festivities.
Thanks to all of our friends and family for the memories. It was one of the happiest days of our lives and we were glad you were there to share it!

The thrill of the hunt.

Our business is approaching it's ten year anniversary this year. Hard to believe on so many levels. We have grown and expanded along the way. Moving our shop after only two years for more space, adding a warehouse a few years later, then doubling the warehouse space and adding a loading dock. This has been all well and good, but the down side is that we have been leasing all of the above. So we have had to make do with existing conditions, pay for someone else's investment, and pray that each time a lease matures that we can renew the same space for not too much more money. Historic property in a now industrial zone. Too bad it's on wetlands...
We were going to start looking for property to buy a few years ago, but the real estate market was out of hand in our area. There would be no way to finance the outgrageous sums people were asking even if you wanted to. Then we had a great year that made it all seem possible. Then it hiccupped and we along with our whole industry had one of the worst years ever. This year things seem to have leveled out, and the market has stabilized a bit. There aren't many properties to choose from, but with our warehouse lease coming up we are going to try (cross fingers and toes) to make the plunge.
Searching for business property is not quite quite as fun as house shopping. It's not warm and cozy. You don't picture yourself having a cocoa by the fire. Especially warehouse space. We spend most of our time figuring out how a fifty-three foot trailer with a sleeper cab can get in, turn around, get unloaded, and get out several times a day, possibly along with the 30 or so people that come in to the store or to buy pellets (there needs to be space to load these folks up as well). Wetland studies, variance requirements, road cuts, lot studies...

There is never anything ready to go of course. Unless you count the one down the road (on a very possibly too small lot) that is not only priced to high to get financing for, it's also under contract. :(> So we have to look at buying the property, doing site work, getting a building and road in all before either our warehouse lease runs out at the end of May, or at least before our largest stove shipment of the year lands (hopefully we can push until June.) Good location, bad variance nightmare. Plus we have to vacate the old warehouse, move a forklift, empty it of inventory, shelving, workbenches... Oh, and we are gone almost a month between now and then. No pressure.
These are some of our highlights/ lowlights/ mighthavetomakedo's

This would be the make do. Short money, stupid layout that doesn't allow anything bigger than a Luv pickup to get in or out.

The Good, the bad, and the ugly

Here are some shots on top of Temple Mountain of the recent snow/ice storm. So pretty.





Hate the plow truck driver...


Love the Bobcat! and DH the driver of course :)


Here is a shot of the house whose garage and breezeway fire Art helped fight with mutual aid to a neighboring town this week.

This shot from Monadnock Ledger

Quebec or NH?

Art has tromped off to Canada on a boondoggle with a few of our pellet manufacturers. I decided to sit this one out as I am still recovering from the winter slime/ear infection.
Quebec has had official Carnaval celebrations since 1896, but this is Quebec City's 400th anniversary so it is/will be quite the show.

They missed the opening and closing parades which were last and this Saturday, but I hear they are quite the spectacle.

High on their list was to see the ice hotel, or ice castle, constructed 100% from you guessed it, ice. I hear they are pretty chilly although people often stay in them. (this is a swiped carnaval photo as with the others;) real ones from his trip should follow once Art gets back)

Other activities on their list were the canoe races where a bunch of crazies put their canoes on the frozen river for a canoe race. What nutter wouldn't want to take part in the annual Snow Bath? (note the deranged looking snowman mascot they use- creepy!) They also have sledding hills set up with large water park like tubes that send six or eight people plunging down a snowy hill, tons of food, entertainment and an all around good time.
Three days in the subzero frozen tundra that is Quebec this time of year did not sound fun to me. Ssssooooo, I opted to stay in NH instead. This is what we have:

A subzero frozen tundra that snowed eight inches last night, and expects one to three inches of ice on top of that today!
Put that on top of that (excuse me, I meant UNDER that) the snow and freezing rain that accumulated (and froze) while we were up in Conway and you get one big friggin' mogul to hop to get the car in the garage. Yeah, that is our driveway. ((((Sigh))))

The world's worst plow driver has just done his usual less than satisfactory job at plowing the drive. aka one swipe sideways across leaving a huge honking pile of snow (I'd wager almost eight feet high at this point)with a snow boulder about five feet in diameter right in the path of the Element as it tries to enter or leave the garage. Not that the Element (or a Hummer) could hop that frozen snow ball and bank... He avoided the other drive completely because Steve's truck was parked on one side.
I fully bundle up just to get the mail. It is like an arctic expedition. While the frost(ice) on the trees is beautiful I have to wonder- Is it spring yet???

North Conway

We stayed at the Glen Forest Inn in North Conway. We started the weekend with Art's sisters, Kevin & Lindsay, followed by our guys coming up during the week. We had a great time. The units were not all that big, but they were big enough. The basement was very well set up with a game room including billiards, ping pong, and video arcade. They also had a nice sofa area, and game area. They had hot tubs, and saunas with a breakfast area and more seating areas on the main floor. It was a little dated but had that cozy ski lodge feel.
Art went skiing Saturday with his family at Black Mountain.
I walked around the town and started a puzzle. I also visited the local hearth shop. I like to see what they are doing with their displays that I may use, or things that didn't look right to watch out for. Nice shop overall. Strangest thing was a big hot tub in the middle of the shop that made the whole place smell like chlorine. Didn't remind me of fireplaces or stoves at all. I did like that they had all of the units up at eye level, and took the glass out of the doors so you could easily see in. Sunday we went around to some local places to check things out and ended up at a local bar to watch the Superbowl. Bad Patriots. You could have heard a pin drop when the other team got that last touchdown.
Just as with Vegas and the fire that occurred right after we left there was a big fire at a hotel in Conway while we were up there. So while I went into a cool little shop with my sil/bil, Art poked his head in the fire station to chat with them about the blaze. Seems it isn't the first and they are due to failing boilers on aged duraroc floors. We ended out the day ice skating. Monday we had a day to ourselves so we drove up over the pass and on to Gorham, then back down to Jackson to ice skate. Great day!

Reward

John, Art, Mark, Steve. Sean was there but photo-shy and Mike could'nt make it.
In 2006 our shop received the award for 6th best dealer in the nation. We took a vote as to how they wanted to celebrate and ski trip was the vote. They usually go to Vermont, but this year we thought we would stay in New Hampshire. They arrived Monday night after closing the shop early. We took them out for a nice dinner at the 1790 Homestead Restaurant. They sat us in a cozy room with a fireplace. They up to the lodge for drinks and to hand out the new jackets we got them. They got up early Tuesday and headed off to Wildcat. Art was able to ski free because it was his birthday. They had a great time on the slopes and I had a great time shopping. Liz Claiborne is going out of business so I scooped up many bargains including shoes for $7, $8 pants, and $4 shirts. A visit to Bean, of course, taking advantage of their 30% off sweater sale. I picked up a coconut cream pie ordered on Saturday for Art's birthday. Tuesday night we tore it up. Off to the local Mexican place for dinner, with a local hitting on one of our guys, then back to the lodge for pie and cards.
Wednesday half of the guys went skiing again, and the rest of us hung around the lodge. I finished my puzzle with Art's help and cleaned the room up and packed.
The weather was only going to get worse so we decided to head out that night. We stopped at the New England BBQ in Ossippee on the way home. Best food we had all week. Ribs were awesome! Great trip overall.

Dead (wo)man walking

As we enter our second week of snow every day I am emerging from the cave. Sure, snow is great when you go skiing, but quite frankly anything more than two or three days and I am cooked. I finally went to a real (new) doctor who gave me a chemical cocktail for my tinnitus. He warned me that it would probably be unpleasant when the goo started to leak out. I did enjoy five blissful pain and ring free days. Add to this scenario two employees were sicker than dogs, Art's sister, and Art himself. All of these folks joined us on our trip and shared whatever it is they were carrying. By Wednesday My ears had shot right back to ear shattering pain and decibel levels. I took it easy in the afternoon and slept all the way home. Thursday I could not move. I think I slept 21-22 hours this day. I even broke down and took the antibiotics newdoc prescribed. Friday I had to shake the fog long enough to finish year end reports for the town, but had to cancel a fun night with friends so I could collapse in bed again. The jury is out as to whether it was the goo that caused my three day vaca in bed or the shared flugoo that has been making the rounds. Is it spring yet?