Neighborhood pets

When Erik told me he wanted to move to the mountains of Colorado all these images of living in the mountains went through my mind, and I didn’t like the idea. After coming out here to find a house all those images faded and I fell in love. Not only were the views amazing, the people kind, but I didn’t have to drive an hour for milk and I actually had neighbors, nice neighbors. I wasn’t all alone like I was picturing, but just the opposite, I felt instantly at home.


After moving in I soon began to realize that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore!!

When I called up “Mountain Waste” to set up our garbage service the kind lady on the other end gave me the run down on what I needed to do. She told me that I needed to put my garbage out the morning of, because once the bears find your garbage they don’t easily leave. “The bears?” Talking to our neighbors further about this issue, yes we have bears!!! The parks here do not have garbage cans, why? “The bears!!” Don’t leave food outside or, in our neighbors case, in your shed from a left over camping trip, why? “The bears!!” Okay so I can handle Yogi, just don’t leave my picnic basket outside, got it!!

“Hello, Mr. Ranger, sir!”

We were unpacking boxes, getting settled in and then one fine day I had a nature encounter, this time face to face. I walked to the top of our driveway to bring down our garbage can and a few feet from me was this massive animal with these eyes, starring me down. Okay so the deer was kind of cute but literally in that moment I froze and didn’t know what to do. I started to yell, “Mom, come here” she couldn’t hear me. So I just began to converse with this deer in hopes of making friends. “Hi, deer, I am just getting my garbage can, are you enjoying your day?” I don’t know what I thought it would do to me, but just being that close to a big animal is a bit intimidating. Come to find out the deer are already our friends and most of the neighborhood feeds them. They are our backyard pets, my kids found out they like popcorn. I have since come to love the deer and most evenings we see them in our backyard, the other night we counted 22
of them!!!

Out in our front yard!!! Wish I had a picture of the whole herd to post, I will work on that!!

It was a gorgeous day yesterday so we decided to walk to the bus stop to pick up Abby. When we got to the bottom of our hill, I noticed some neighbors hunched down over the ground, not sure what was up!?! They soon said hi and began to tell me about the mountain Lion that lives in our neighborhood and they were looking at the tracks it had left behind.

“Mountain Lions, what?” They said about a week ago they heard it screaming, probably on the hunt, they like deer, see the paragraph above!!! They said that they wanted to make sure I knew because they see me running. That was nice of them!!! I started to talk to them about how I like to run on this dirt road closer to Bailey, but that one day when I was running I became concerned. On about mile 3 the road becomes isolated, no houses, no one could hear me if I screamed. I became a little anxious when thinking about this and it caused me to pick up the pace and turn off my ipod. I started to think what the heck would I do if I came across a Bear or a Mountain Lion, I really had no idea. My kind neighbors suggested I run with mace. Well that is sweet and all and I guess as a last resort, but you better believe that if I was close enough to a bear or a mountain lion to squirt mace in their face I would of already passed out. I really don’t think for me mace will work. I know that if I ever saw any kind of wild beast I would be running so fast I might actually start flying!!! I even get scared when I see a stray dog for goodness sake!!!!

"Nice Kitty"

So here are some facts I found on mountain lions:


This powerful predator roams the Americas, where it is also known as a puma, cougar, and catamount. This big cat of many names is also found in many habitats, from Florida swamps to Canadian forests. (They forgot to mention the mountains of Bailey Colorado)


Mountain lions like to prey on deer, though they also eat smaller animals such as coyotes, porcupines, and raccoons. They usually hunt at night or during the gloaming hours of dawn and dusk. So I guess running at dusk is out!!!! These cats employ a blend of stealth and power, stalking their prey until an opportunity arrives to pounce, then going for the back of the neck with a fatal bite. They will hide large carcasses and feed on them for several days. Nice !

I am new to this wildlife thing but for the most part it’s really cool. My mountain friends were laughing at me the other day because I was going off about how I had seen these amazing animals. They looked like a deer but the size of a moose or more like a giraffe. I was in Erik’s jeep and they towered over me. There were five of them and had stopped traffic on the highway to cross. One of the most amazing things I have seen that close to my car, outside of a cage. They quickly responded with “Linsey have you never seen an elk before?” I guess not!!!!

"Wouldn't want to converse with this guy and try to make friends, you can have the road Mr. Elk, sir"

A friend said the other day at bible study, “we just send our kids out to play with a bell, and we tell them if you see any wildlife just ring the bell!” I love it!!!!! Even though it was kind of a joke it’s not a bad idea!!!

I love living in the mountains, it really does fit us well. Yes the wildlife thing will take some getting used to but don’t let this post scare you; we want you to come visit!!! Who needs a zoo pass just come to my house!!!!

"LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS, OH MY!!!!!!"

My list accomplished

I am not a morning person, never have been. But my new thing is getting up at 5:00 a.m., thanks to my friend Heather who put me to the test. Her busy life challenged me to get my butt out of bed each day and enjoy these amazing hours of quiet. Watching the sun come up every morning with my wonderful cup of coffee in hand, is a time now that I wouldn’t give up for any amount of sleep. Well occasionally it happens but for the most part I love my mornings. I am a better Mommy when I have had a cup of coffee and some me time before I see their little faces.

Erik had told me on Sunday that I could order my new computer. What an amazing husband I have, he works all these crazy hours of overtime and lets me use the money to buy myself a new computer. HE LOVES ME!!!!! When I woke up on Monday the first thing I did was get on B and H and order my new huge screened amazing Imac! My first Mac, I am so excited!!After ordering it and then looking at my office, I couldn’t put this new beautiful computer on my current desk situation, a folding card table. That would look so pathetic; I had to prepare a room, a proper resting place for my new baby. So I then got on craigslist, and there it was, the perfect desk. A Pottery Barn desk for a fraction of it's original price and it would fit and match my office perfectly, now a plan to get it home was forming in my brain. I don’t think Erik was planning on this computer leading to the purchase of a new desk, but hey I was under budget on what he told me I could spend on the computer, so all is good.

Isn't she pretty!!!!!!

Well so now comes my amazing busy Monday. Drop Abby off at the bus stop, head to Denver to pick up this desk. Now living in the mountains and going to town, you have in your mind that you are going to accomplish as much as possible while you are there, it’s a 45 min+ trip. So on this day my plan was to pick up the desk, go to Costco and then go to Macy’s to return something. Doesn’t sound too bad.

The desk is perfect, except for the fact that even shoving all three kids in the second row seat of the Suburban, it wouldn’t fit. Luckily the guy that sold it to me was kind and helped me load it's heavy bones and then helped me ratchet down the trunk door to hold it in. I was getting this baby home!!! But I still had to go to Costco and Macy’s, it didn’t matter that my trunk was open with a huge desk sticking out it’s rear, I was in town and I was going to accomplish my list.

It looks like this desk but just a lighter wood that matches my office closet door perfectly, I love it!!!

Everyone’s hungry, but they knew Costco held the magic of a hot dog, we always get a hot dog when we go to Costco, doesn’t everyone!?! When we go to Costco, everyone knows we are there, nothing quiet about my boat! We are now in the back of Costco and Ella runs her head into the cart and starts crying (when Ella cries the next town can hear her). She then looks at me with these worried eyes. As she is still whaling at the top of her lungs she tells me she has to go potty. We are at the back of Costco next to the rotisserie chickens. I tell her she is going to have to hold it until we get up front, she then starts to scream “I can’t hold it, it’s coming, I’m peeing, I’m peeing, I’m peeing.” Not only is she peeing a huge puddle between her legs but the whole store knows she is doing it, including our old realtor, that we ran into, that sold us our house (he is an older gentleman that never had kids, you get the picture). Thank goodness I had just loaded the cart with enough paper towels to wipe up Niagara Falls and so I just quickly soaked up the puddle and kept on shopping. I was actually relieved that I didn’t have to walk her all the way up to the front of the store to go to the bathroom, just being honest.

We got all we needed at Costco, all I could fit in one cart with three kids, time to leave. With a waddling Ella next to me the lady at the door checking my cart asks me if I had already used my paper towels because one was missing. She must have been the one person in Costco who couldn’t hear her screaming “I’m peeing!” Yes I said, they came in handy when Ella had to go Potty next to the chickens, she just giggled at my situation. I loaded all my goods into my tailgate that was left open and then off to Macy’s we go. You would think I would just give up on Macy’s, but I was on a mission to complete my list. Don’t worry I laid a jacket in Ella’s seat.

So we tackle Macy’s and now we are headed home. Erik calls me about two minutes into my drive and asks, “ Hey do you want to drive home, get Abby and then come back to Denver and go to a Rockies game?” Of course I do! So we get home, unload, I set up my desk (yes I unloaded the desk by myself, sometimes you just do what you have to do), Ella got a bath, we got Abby from school and then back to Denver we go. The Rockies game was awesome!

All that to say Tuesday morning I didn’t get up at 5:00 a.m.

Blogging has begun

When trying to come up with a name, one that stuck was "Organized Chaos." That is what comes to mind when I think of my life and my family. The picture I chose to pair with the name is a perfect example!!! This is one of many pictures that were snapped in my mom's efforts in helping us get a family picture for our 2009 Christmas card. We didn't end up with one worthy enough to use because no one wanted to take pictures that day, many times that's just how it goes.

Blogging is something that I have been putting off because I don't see myself as a writer. I never enjoyed English, in fact I despised it. So when reading this blog you will have to excuse and look past my writing skills!!! I decided what the heck, blogging isn't graded and what really do I have to lose. I know I will at least have two dedicated fans (love you honey, and love you mom) that don't care if I punctuate correctly!!!


So as my family and I continue down this adventurous path called "life" feel free to journey with us!!!