10 Reasons Why I Hate Albuquerque as of Saturday

So, the boyfriend and I jumped on a plane early Thursday morning (I think like 7ish… but that’s early to me). Around 11 AM after a whopping 50-minute flight, we landed safely in…

drum roll…

Denver, Colorado!

And that’s exactly what this post is about, for the most part.

So, being spoiled by the absolutely breathtaking city that is Denver, I present to you: Ten reasons why I hate Albuquerque as of Saturday.

Requisite note: I really, really loved Albuquerque until Saturday.

Requisite note 2: Yes, we did arrive in Denver on Thursday, but I didn’t enjoy it until Saturday.

Unnecessary note 1: I dislike suburbs. A lot.

And on with the story:

I hate Albuquerque because…

1. We don’t have cows:

SO AWESOME!

When we showed up and I pulled out the phone, there was a girl standing there fingering the cow’s mouth (yes, that does sound dirty, so I’ll leave it worded like that). She ran out of the shot. I told her, “No! Stay in there! I can just say we made a friend while we were here.” She was like, more or less, “No!”

Camera shy?

I think yes.

2. Pete’s family isn’t here.

Yes, Jeanie, since you read this apparently, this is here for you. Call me when you see this. We’ll have a chat.

In all unseriousness, and yet perfectly sincerely, I was completely overwhelmed by how nice and not-afraid-of-me everybody was (the exception being one of Amber’s two dogs, Otis. I’m seriously not trying to hurt you).

The line-up:

Myria*, Pete’s baby sister and the whole reason we were going to Denver in the first place (Oh yeah, and I didn’t take any pictures at the graduation… I’ll get some eventually. Maybe.)

*Myria has absolutely amazing photography skills. We stole a lot of pictures, including one that was super-high-quality and on display, of the Hard Rock Cafe at the 16th St. Mall. And a whole bunch of black and whites that were printed many times just in case. If you would like to view her work, Myria Hoppal Photo has some great examples.

Matt, Myria’s boyfriend. They picked us up at the airport.

Shortly after, we left for Amber’s house.

Amber, Pete’s middle sister, is the shortest (barely), nurse-iest (by a long way – she was trying really hard not to yell at me about infected cuts), and also the one I spoke to the most, I think. This is probably mostly because Myria was busy getting her presentation ready on Thursday and busy with her dogs, Jasmine and Mecus, the rest of the days (they found some anti-freeze… Thank goodness they’re both doing just fine). And Jeanie, Myria’s and Amber’s mom/Pete’s stepmom/my future stepmom-mother-in-law-thing, was busy getting Myria’s presentation ready on Thursday and busy with Myria’s dogs the rest of the time.

Amber and Jeanie were hanging out at the kitchen table (which is probably insanely smudged now… Sorry, Donny) with Jim, Pete’s (and Myria’s. And Amber’s. And Tabi’s. And…) father. Shortly after, Donny, Amber’s boyfriend returned home and… I didn’t have to meet anybody else for at least 10 minutes. Donny’s parents, Helen and George, showed up with their dog, Theo, AKA Devil Dog, who is (I’m not sure at all what breed he is. I just kind of assume most dogs around their family are miniature Australian shepherds and if they don’t fit the loose description then I guess…) after googling, a pomeranian.

The next day, Friday, I met Tabi, Pete’s older sister, and her husband, Dion, who didn’t speak more than three words, which I would have loved to accomplish myself, but I failed, Kassia and Dylan, their children (Pete’s niece and nephew, if you’re having as hard a time following this while reading as I am while writing), Peggy (who makes absolutely incredibly cookies) and Harley, Jeanie’s parents, Jeanie’s uncle Lauren (he’s grrrreat), and Jeanie’s aunt Betty, who I am very bummed we didn’t get to go out to lunch with. Matt’s parents came up to visit as well from Ft. Worth, Texas. Their names are Debbie and Ronny.

So, in short (hah!) I really like the people there. Or at least around 10ish of them (I don’t want to count).

At the risk of putting way too much in one post, I’m going to cut this off at two. Look forward to reasons 3 through 10. Don’t worry. I’m tired of writing this already. I just want to show off the fact that I actually like my someday-family.