The Forecast says sunny....

I had no idea the weather here was so crazy. I think living in Texas, you associate Denver with what the weather in the mountains is like. Because that's what you see, travel to, and hear about most often. But weather in the mountains is predictable. Most likely, it will be cold and snowy until late April. And after that, a little less cold and sunny. In Denver, it's just crazy! This weekend was a great example of that...

Yesterday was the perfect Saturday. We slept in late, cleaned the house, and stayed outside most of the day, enjoying the beautiful sunny, 80 degree weather. Last night, we cooked out with Austin and our neighbors Jason and Andrea while their two year old Addison colored our sidewalk with the chalk the previous owners left in the bungalow. It was 70 degrees and the perfect night to enjoy a burger on the grill and hang out in the backyard with a beer (or really sweet wine for me, who just can't come to like beer no matter how many times I try!) All the yards around here have chain link fences, so our older neighbor Don came out and struck up a conversation with the boys while he barbecued on his grill. We waved at our neighbors two doors down as they played wiffle ball with their kids in their backyard. As corny as it may sound, I imagine this was what life was like before iphones and internet took over the world. After our little cookout, we all came in, made cookies, and watched the final four. We don't have the swamp cooler turned on yet so we slept with the windows open to stay cool. This of course led to many nightmares of big men climbing in my windows and robbing me and a terrible night's sleep for me. That won't surprise you if you know me! Grant, of course, slept through my getting up all night long, and even was snoring when I turned on the lights and shut the windows at 5am. If you know him, this won't surprise you either. :)

Yes I said swamp cooler. For those of you in Texas, who like me before moving here, has never heard of a swamp cooler, it's a cooling device that cools air from evaporative water. They are huge in Denver. AC is not near as frequent in houses, especially in neighborhoods like ours.  But you have to turn it on for it to run and it's not something you just switch on and off like AC and heat from the same device. Since we are swamp cooler virgins, our landlord will have to come do it. We have no clue how to use it! But it may have been a blessing in disguise that we were too novice to try and figure it out because today was a whole different season in the weather department! This morning, when I let Sage out before going to church, it was sunny and 65. By 10am on our way into church, it was cloudy and had dropped to about 45. When leaving church around noon, it was 40 and raining. And during lunch in old town Arvada with our new small group (who we LOVE by the way!), it started snowing. Now, at 6pm, it is still snowing on and off, our grass is covered in white, and it's 30 degrees. And I thought Texas had crazy weather! This place is nuts!

At least we enjoyed warmth yesterday. It encouraged me. I'm pretty sure I'll love the summers here. There is just something special about a sunny day in Denver with the mountains in the background. I can't say I love the snow yet, especially not 12 hours after warm weather, but it was great cuddling on the couch and watching reruns of the Office all afternoon today with Grant and Sage while the snow came down in the background. Maybe I'll get used to the madness? Maybe.....