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Post by shanniebananie on Sept 25, 2023 18:58:57 GMT
I truly don't know anyplace affordable in the Denver area, but my in-laws lived in Littleton for about 20 years and it was a nice area. My sister currently lives in Fort Collins and they are looking to move closer to Boulder. They can't find any place under $1 million to $1.5 million that doesn't need serious renovations.
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Post by shanniebananie on Sept 19, 2023 13:18:27 GMT
I had reservations at The French Laundry for my 50th - in June 2020. So obviously I didn't get to go, but maybe for my 60th.
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Post by shanniebananie on Sept 17, 2023 18:13:20 GMT
A couple of summers ago, we stayed in a condo there. We felt it was a great location. We took the gondola up to the restaurant and it is a great view. We spent a couple of days exploring Grand Tetons NP (we attended a beautiful wedding down by the Snake River), went into Jackson for a few hours and took a day trip to Yellowstone. We only saw half of Yellowstone and I definitely recommend at least two or three days. We had dinner at the Teton Marina which was so beautiful. A boat ride on Jenny Lake is fun too. We didn't have time for hiking but there are a lot of them to do.
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Post by shanniebananie on Sept 14, 2023 14:56:02 GMT
I grew up in CA and pronounce it cray-on.
However, my daughter was born in Arkansas and for a few years would pronounce it "crown" because her preschool teachers had very heavy southern accents. We moved away from the area and she lost her heavy accent.
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Post by shanniebananie on Sept 9, 2023 21:36:07 GMT
Farm girl Flowers are amazing. Not a local florist, but they have top-notch product. farmgirlflowers.com
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Post by shanniebananie on Aug 16, 2023 13:24:08 GMT
We love it in our family! We have made it with chicken and shrimp. We are fans of the original feta/pasta version as well. So easy and good!!!
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Post by shanniebananie on Aug 1, 2023 23:13:11 GMT
Some of my favorite scenic places are Rocky Mountain National Park, Tracy Arm Fjord in Alaska and any Norwegian fjord. Banff and Lake Louise in Canada are beautiful too.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 31, 2023 16:33:46 GMT
I am a former elementary school teacher who has been out of the field for 20 years. My youngest is two years away from leaving the house and I am trying to figure out what to do with my time. I am going to start substitute teaching at our local school, but trying to come with another flexible hustle that makes some money but where I can stay flexible with my time. We recently had to have some real estate paperwork notarized and we were able to do it over zoom and just sign online. I think the cost was a few hundred dollars for about 20 minutes. This got me thinking as this is something I can do from home and it has some flexibility.
I am not looking to make full-time money but just trying to supplement our budget as we have college and private high school expenses.
If you are a notary, can you give me some insight into certification and job opportunities- especially remote and mobile notary jobs? How do you find your jobs? Are there any annual fees/re-certification to keep in mind? Do you like this kind of work? What kind of industry knowledge do you need to have?
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 24, 2023 14:03:47 GMT
I have hosted my brother's family of 5, my parents, and my sister and husband at our house for several days twice in the last 10 years. It requires a lot of organization but we have have 5 bedrooms, game room and media room and two patios to spread out. It is a lot of fun, but exhausting.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 21, 2023 23:44:13 GMT
We LOVE Estes Park and just returned after spending a week there.
Eating - Antonio's Pizza, Smoking' Daves BBQ, Ed's Cantina, and Twin Owls (a bit more fancy).
Activities - we did tons of hiking. Not sure what you can do with snow on the ground. Sprague Lake and Bear Lake are very level and easy to walk around.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 18, 2023 14:12:34 GMT
I absolutely feel your pain. This summer it has fallen mostly on my shoulders to help my daughter get her required 30 hours of practice. I helped with my son 4 years ago, but for some reason it is more nerve racking this time around. Though I will have to say, she has improved so much since the beginning of June that I am relaxing a bit more. She too, loves to hug the right side of the road and comes "thisclose" to hitting the curb so many times! She is getting better, but I am cringing inside. God willing, she will pass her test next week and we can move on. She definitely still needs freeway practice and night practice, but we can continue to work on that in the months to come.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 14, 2023 16:54:03 GMT
We currently have a 3-in-one and it works fine but is several years old and in an inconvenient location for me in the home. Looking to get a second one to be used by myself and the kids. Looking for up-to-date recommendations for a printer/ color copier/scanner. Will definitely be printing more than anything else with it.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 11, 2023 15:48:46 GMT
When my FIL was having urine accidents, bowls of coffee grounds in the bathroom eliminated all smells in his bathroom. Charcoal briquets will do the job too.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 10, 2023 22:14:25 GMT
We don’t have bus service here. It’s one of the ways school districts are judged. No buses = involved parents, better neighborhood, better schools. School districts literally advertise being a no bus district and are ranked higher the lower their bus rider numbers are. In districts that do have buses, “bus kid” is definitely teacher code for not favorable things. Suburbs here are also extremely against public transportation buses and fight hard to keep them out of their cities and towns. Mayors and city council candidates literally run on keeping buses out of the city. This has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen you post, and that’s saying something. I can’t imagine advertising that I live in a racist/classist suburb that is afraid of people who ride buses from the city. Pathetic. Our school district is in the top 10 of the entire state of Texas (and is one of the most wealthy districts) and we most certainly bus our students. I have never, EVER heard it mentioned as a negative thing. Guess what? In order to pay these sky high property taxes to fund these excellent schools, most parents both have to work and they count on the busses to get their kids to school!
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 10, 2023 22:06:20 GMT
It’s an older nonfiction book: Tatoos on the Heart. It’s about a priest who works with gang members and formerly incarcerated people. One of my friends is ordering baked goods from Homeboy Bakery, one part of the nonprofit that offers jobs to youth. My son used to volunteer with Homeboy when he was in high school (Jesuit school, Father Boyle is a Jesuit Society priest). It's a great organization, and we purchase bread from the farmers' market when we go. My son also attended a Jesuit high school and Father Boyle came to a visit a couple of times. Tattoos on the Heart is one of the best books he read while in school. He still talks about it.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 10, 2023 15:22:27 GMT
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Post by shanniebananie on Jul 10, 2023 14:19:17 GMT
I am hoping to take advantage of Amazon Prime Days and purchase a cordless stick vacuum and/or robot vacuum for my downstairs which has tons of hardwood and carpeting. I prefer a vacuum with a long charge life and one that you don't have to push the "on" button down the whole time you are using it. I prefer quality over low price. Also, I have never owned a robot vac, but I may consider one if it is high quality and easy to use.
Hit me with your recommendations or ones to avoid. Thank you!!
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Post by shanniebananie on Jun 30, 2023 0:18:10 GMT
We saw Moulin Rouge and Six in May. We were BLOWN AWAY by Moulin Rouge. It was amazing!! Six sadly paled in comparison.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jun 30, 2023 0:12:40 GMT
Our home has two master bedrooms and we do sleep apart. I take the dogs. We both snore and we each sleep much better alone. We still arrange "visits" but all sleeping is done alone. We will sleep together on vacations when it is not possible to separate, but much prefer to have our own bedrooms.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jun 29, 2023 14:23:59 GMT
My daughter and I have made several blankets through our chapter of National Charity League for Project Linus. It is a fun project to do together.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jun 23, 2023 23:49:26 GMT
One of my proudest accomplishments is that I raised my kids to love to read. My 16 year old daughter currently has 50 novels checked out from the library. She carries a book everywhere and prefers it over her phone. We LOVE books in our home. I read a dozen books to them a day from the day they were born until kindergarten.
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Post by shanniebananie on Jun 22, 2023 13:25:55 GMT
Yes, we bless every dinner whether we are at home or dining in public. My husband blesses his breakfast and lunch as well, but I tend to only do dinner. We are devout Catholics.
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Post by shanniebananie on May 26, 2023 15:08:06 GMT
I just had one a few weeks ago. I took a prescribed pill a few hours before that softened my cervix and a couple ibuprofen an hour before to help with pain.
Honestly, it was not bad. She had me cough when the she did the jab or whatever caused pain and it was over very quickly. It was not anything horrible. I put it off for months because I was so scared.
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Post by shanniebananie on May 1, 2023 21:28:38 GMT
North Dallas area. Up until last month all my doctor's offices required them. It was surprising to see it lifted, I thought they were just going to keep it forever.
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Post by shanniebananie on Apr 29, 2023 18:46:30 GMT
How has no one mentioned Cousin Eddie wearing his black dickey under a thin white sweater in Christmas Vacation?!
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Post by shanniebananie on Apr 25, 2023 0:55:17 GMT
My husband and I just had this discussion as we attended 3 shows in NYC this past weekend. We always dress up for a show (no jeans) and we were amazed at how few people were dressed in anything other than jeans. I can see it more at a matinee to be casual, but a 7pm show should have a little effort.
One of our shows was seeing Bono at the Beacon theater. I had on wide leg black slacks and a sparkly top. DH had on a button down shirt with a jacket. I saw probably only 10 other people not wearing jeans. Some even had shorts on. This was a very expensive ticket and I would have excepted a little more effort, but I guess that is apparently out-of-date thinking on my part. Oh well, I wanted to dress up so I did!
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Post by shanniebananie on Apr 12, 2023 18:58:04 GMT
I didn't know prom bouquets were a thing - seems like a hassle to me, what do you do with them during the dance? But whatever, I don't like boring bouquets, and don't like super formal, so I'd probably do something like one of these. I Of course, I recognize they're not for everyone but I like 'em Here in North Texas at our school (private), bouquets are the norm and almost no one does a corsage. Took me a while to get used to it as it looked like the girls were bridesmaids. However, that's what the trend is here and there is a lot more creativity that can go into a bouquet than a corsage. I love seeing what they come up with. However, as a boy mom I can say that they are $$$.
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Post by shanniebananie on Apr 12, 2023 18:49:17 GMT
I would suggest red as the pop of color.
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Post by shanniebananie on Apr 8, 2023 13:57:26 GMT
I just traveled with 25 high school students over spring break to Rome, so some of my info will hopefully apply to your son. Most of our students got by with a carryon and backpack, but several completely over-bought on souvenirs and were having another piece of luggage over-nighted to our hotel from Amazon! I would check a bag if he plans on buying items just to make sure he has enough room.
If he does check his bag, make sure his carryon has underwear, socks, toothbrush/paste, medication, clean shirt, just in case his luggage doesn't make it and he needs to survive for a day without it.
We were instructed to keep our passports on us at all times and indeed we had to show them when entering many sights (I had never encountered that before in all my previous trips). Most of us had our passport, money and credit cards in a lanyard worn under our shirts. I would never recommend carrying in a pocket.
Allow at LEAST three hours at the airport for boarding. It is much better to be way too earlier than stressing if the security lines are a mile long.
How exciting for your son! He will feel very accomplished when he returns.
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Post by shanniebananie on Apr 5, 2023 14:52:29 GMT
In the past twelve months, we have traveled to Italy, France and Norway. Each time, months in advance, we (including my 16 year old daughter) would start Duolingo in each of these languages. We always try to learn phrases and cultural differences for each locale we travel to. It is just a common courtesy and it enhances our experience. We eat and drink what the locals do and we love trying to fit in. Why travel if you are just looking for the same experiences as at home?
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