Summer Lovin'

We rounded out our summer in Lake George with my family.  It was liesurely and somewhat gluttonous, as our vacations often are.   We all did a little falling in love.

Stella with her Sassy Seat (aka Jolly Jumper).  She now turns it at will, frees up her arms as needed and walks forward (until being yanked back).  She also mastered what we call her RiverDance--kicking one leg in and out while bouncing on the other.  If I let her, she'd spend hours dangling from the doorway. 

Stella also fell for Noelle's song and dance routines.  I have a hunch Matt fell for Stella.

Like many great affairs, we didn't see this coming.  Jason and I fell in love with the race track--the big hats, impressive horses, tiny jockeys, program stats, maybe a little betting.  I was in heaven.  

My uncle's horse, Quiet on the Tee, getting ready in the paddock.  He didn't win but he ran a hell of a race, pulling from behind to tie for second. 

Belmont, anyone?

The final installment...after all we were there for a wedding

The celebratory events were supposed to take place at Cap Juluca. Unfortunately hurricane Omar did some permanent damage and the parties were relocated to an enormous villa near-by. This worked out for our contingency as the rest of our family was moved from Cap Juluca rooms to the villa right down the road from us! And the parties were held there.
@ the welcome BBQ

Not your run of the mill place cards. Seriously cute!

Ocean side ceremony. More legit than I had imagined (keep in mind this was my first destination wedding). Krysta and Adam were so happy1
We left our mark on the beach before we took off. While we may not have gone the extra mile and wrapped our initials in a heart, the sentiment was there.

One 1/2 in Mexico City, The Other in New York City

When friends and family ask if I'm missing Jason, I should say, "How could I not?" Its true. I'm his biggest fan! I love spending time together. He is funnier than most people know, so comforting, and deals with me (almost) perfectly. How could I not miss this guy...

The most difficult part was flying and traveling home from the airport by myself. I'm not used to keeping track of my passport and ticket. It felt weird to be responsible and alert and make sure I got to the right place at the right time--lazy, right? And as I got out of the cab with bags in hand, I realized no one would be offering to lug them up the stairs for me. Sunday night felt odd and it is safe to say that I strongly prefer Jason home but, the truth is, I'm an independent person.

And while I wouldn't say there are perks to his work travel, I have enjoyed covering the bed with clothes which I shove to a corner to sleep...diagonally. I go to bed at 10 and wake up at 5:30 (my preferred sleep schedule). Upon waking I flip on the lights, turn on some tunes and the day has begun without disturbing someone's last 2 hours of beauty rest. Also this week my diet has consisted largely of cheese/crackers, pizza, and corn chowder. I made the soup Tuesday night and consumed it throughout the week. These types of dietary patterns are difficult for Jason--no variation, high calories and little nutrition. I completely understand but sometimes it's just so easy.

But...even though I've enjoyed the crappy diet, a permanent sweat pant wardrobe, and guilt free late nights at work, I am ready for Jason to be home. Friday can't come soon enough.

(post script)--without jason, i still haven't fixed the busted interned & the fact that @ some point i'll have to take out the trash is hanging over me like eeyore's cloud.

wedding bells...part 2

Jason rose to the wrong side of the road challenge and chauffeured all weekend. One day as he opened the gate he watched it scootch a turtle off the driveway. When he got back he dove right into the bushes (such a boy) and pulled out this little guy.
Nicolais can eat. My mom jokes that we plan dinner while we eat lunch. Needless to say, the food was enjoyed. We had several plates of these rock lobsters."
Meet Glenis,aka "The Mayor". Adam hired him as our bus driver/tour guide around the island. He knew everyone and everywhere (I realize the island is only five miles long). One night, after dinner when the main island was all but shut down, my father asked if there was a store open so he could buy some milk. In two minutes Glenis pulled over, opened up a store and acted as cashier while Franky got his milk. I loved that he was also a guest at the wedding!

Wedding Bells Were Ringing...part 1

my cousin announced a destination wedding in the caribean, so we were obligated to spend 4 days in st.martin/anguilla. of course by obligated i mean ecstatic.
we got over the cost, use of personal days, distance from nyc, customs checks & international travel-- anguilla is english and st. marten is 1/2 dutch-1/2 french.
instead we focused on spending time with family, delicious food, exploring a tropical island, and working on our tans.

jason and i flew into st. martin a day early to spend a day at the dawn beach resort. BK on the dutch side supports obama!

we started planning the excursion and our eyes popped at the $600/night rooms rates at cap juluca, where the wedding was being held. noelle quickly decided a beach villa was the way to go and found an incredible property--beach access, separate houses, and a pool. sadly noelle and matt didn't make it but we enjoyed her work!
by the time we arrived at anguilla we had slowed down and adjusted to island time (nothing rushed, nothing is even close to being on time).
jason spends a lot of time with flip in hand--A LOT! here he is catching a video of our beach.
i'm changing my original "i don't like beaches" to "i like caribean beaches." the sand is smooth. the water is clear. a place i could actually relax! angelique, jason, and i spent saturday morning snorkeling in shoal bay. the reef and fish were breath-taking, and we saw a sea turtle!


actual wedding festivities coming soon to a blog near you...

Best Trip Ever-photo essay

It happens every time. We get back from Utah and I think "that was the best trip ever." This time I mean it--really. Three full days (thanks to Yom Kippur and Columbus Day) was just enough time. Here (inspired by the Smylies) are the his and hers highlights. His-Finally being present for a Team Snake softball game. Please understand this is not laid back, old man softball. It is serious...very serious. You should see the cuts Mr. Fowler procured sliding into third (don't worry, Mrs. Fowler is a cute nurse) and a team mate was derobed of the beloved Snake jersey after a commitment issues. Serious.
Hers-Getting to watch in 30 degree weather as my 30 year old husband make solid contact every time at bat, snagged balls fielding @2nd base/right field (where were you, honey?), and was "signed" as an honorary team member. Also seeing Ashley and Jill and Cynthia for 20 freezing minutes.
Mutual-We miss them in New York. Due to circumstances, we now miss them in Utah. So we drove to Idaho to meet our dear friends for lunch. Thanks Mom G for going an entire day without your car! Both parties traveled far for the yearly visit. Maybe next time we'll meet up in Hawaii.
His-Leo liked Jason. Without a benchmark for Leo's level of caring, I can only say for sure (see picture) that he frequently reached for Jason and even requested that Jason put his shoe on.
Don't Ashley and Nate look great? We satisfied our cravins for Mexican fare. Yes I do like Mexican food.
Hers- Getting a kick out of how much Leo loves the bottle...I hope it isn't an indicator of things to come.

Mutual- Finally going to Bukos and getting items at exceptionally low prices is almost better than getting them for free. Jason was giddier than I was...and just look at this chair! So what we had to leave it in the basement. So what we don't have a home to put it in. It was 80% off.
Mutual-A birthday celebration at Tucanos. Happy Birthday Dad! Someone told our waitress ("'kay?")that we had two birthdays to celebrate.

His- Breaking out the 80s BYU ski hat. He was so tickled by that hat, the expired foot warmers, cutting holes in garbage bags to use a emergency ponchos, and game time hot chocolate that I'm not convinced he was upset about the rain/snow forecast.
Hers- That the game only lasted 3 hours and we spent the whole time with Derreck/Karen (and a tiny bit of time with Scott).

His- BYU won! (guess that could be a "mutual")

We left the snow behind for beautiful NYC Fall weather. We can't wait to visit again!

Did you hear? We went to Spain...

One of the biggest "start your blog" motivators was wanting to share pictures from our trip to Spain. We celebrated our first year together in Madrid, Seville, and Barcelona. Yet the task of sorting, editing, selecting, saving, uploading, captioning, etc proved too tedious. But before we utter another word about what's going on currently, we're airing Spain.

Welcome to MADRID
We arrived at the Madrid airport 4 hours later then scheduled after a Seinfeld-esque delay and hopped into a cab for The Westin Palace. I need to take a moment to praise Jason 's planning and hotel selection. The amount of time we had in each city was perfect and the hotels were unreal. There's nothing I like better than being spoiled at a fancy hotel. When we got there, our room wasn't ready so we left our bags and headed over to the Prado (a 5 minute walk).
Jason wowed me with his art history knowledge and we saw some famous works of art. The main entrance is under construction so we had to use this side entrance.


Madrid's largest post office is on one corner of the plaza de Cibeles. It's known as the "Palacio de las comunicaciones" (communications palace, duh?) but is lovingly nick named The Wedding Cake.



Even the streets are beautiful. We fell in love with the old world feel. Look closely here and you'll see the Museo del Jamon on the left....and this is what it looks like inside. The people of Spain LOVE ham. They eat it cured, sausaged, ham sandwiched...LOVE it.

Plaza Mayor is the main square in Madrid built in 1619 by Felipe III, which is why a statue of him stands in the middle. Much Spanish history was lived in this center: bullfights, fires, royal pageantry (like inaugurating kings), and the public punishments imposed by the Inquisition.
By the way, the sky was this picturesque for entire time in Madrid.It took Jason a little while to warm up to Spanish cuisine. To cushion the fall into the world of tapas, we had ice cream for lunch every day (balanced out with miles of walking) and this was the one MickyD's stop (we were in desperate need of a fountain soda). Ah the joy that comes from a familiar hamburger.
We toured the Royal Palace, the official residence of His Majesty The King of Spain, who makes use of it for official ceremonies but doesn't actually reside there. Although his earlier constituents, Charles III did, and we saw the room he ate breakfast in, the room he ate lunch in, and of course his dinner suite. All much larger than his office..how exactly did they run that empire?


A fountain on the side of palace and the most gorgeous lamp post I've ever seen.








Jason mastered the public transportation so we took a subway out North of the city to check out the Madrid temple. There was a MTC on site, although we didn't see any missionaries...or other people around for that matter. Nothing beats the peaceful feeling that accompanies temple grounds.

Just in case you haven't heard, soccer is kind of a big deal in Spain. Make that the biggest deal ever. Think rich history, hundreds of awards and titles, and high revenue. On our very busy day (notice the same clothes in all the pictures? all the activity afforded our ice cream lunches) we did a self-guided tour of the Real Madrid stadium. We went through various seating levels (120,000 seats), the field, saw where the spot where Tomkat and Posh sit when they come to cheer on Mr.Beckham, and a museum which helped me begin to understand the level of pride associated with this team.






And that was Madrid. We took the AVE (super fast, comfy train) to Seville...and those pictures are coming soon.

Capital Adventures

Last weekend Jason and I took a shuttle flight to Washington D.C and met up with our friends Derrick, Karen and Scott. We left Friday evening and got back Sunday afternoon (the rest of the crew had a couple extra days). Don't let the length of our trip fool you, the expert planning (thank you Callisters) allowed us to be part of some stellar sight seeing. Friday night when we landed, took a super-easy two minute subway ride to our hotel and headed to the Cheesecake Factory straight away. CCF is not only a group favorite but a deep seeded tradition (going back much farther that my life with Jason but I'm gladly a part these days). Staying true to form Jason had Spicy Cashew Chicken and I had a Luau Salad. This fueled us up for a evening in the mall checking out the monuments. My favorite was definitely the new WWII Memorial. Check out the picture of a wall of stars, representing the 400,000 lost lives, reflecting into a pool below. After two hours of walking around Jason and I were pooped, but it was great to see everything (everything being the Washington Monument and the WWII, Vietnam, Korean War, and Lincoln Memorials).


Saturday was gorgeous and sunny, we got up and headed over to Arlington National Cemetery. I had been there in 8th grade but it was nice to go back without teenage attitude and a crush to follow around (John Curley...I was quite smitten). I didn't follow Jason around because I get to go home with him. This time I was able to take in the history, landscaping and significance of the place. All those monuments, graves, tombs for service men and women, astronauts, explorers, nurses, and politicians, many who gave their lives for what they believe in and our freedom...It was an emotional experience.

We then took a break to check out the Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian. The place was PACKED. Once through the general geology exhibit, I was about to skip the viewing line to see the precious stones and historical jewels (Marie Antoinette's earrings and a grapefruit sized emerald) to get to the Hope Diamond and on with our excursions. Luckily Derrcik encouraged Karen and I to check them out...INCREDIBLE. Crowns, necklaces, pins and even a ringdent (a ring so flipping enormous that they have to up the name by combining ring and pendant...the first I've ever seen). Then the Hope Diamond...

For the sake of the readers, I'm going to abbreviate the rest of the trip...
Holocaust Museum: A must see, highly recommended, well designed tribute to the Holocaust tragedy. Informative and heartbreaking.

Over to the Jefferson Memorial: My 3rd favorite memorial, after WWII and Lincoln. There's a picture of Jason and I, with a lake and the Washington Monument behind us.

White House...lawn. There was a much smaller crowd there than anywhere else we went, except maybe McDonald's for breakfast.

Cheesecake Factory round duex: This time we wised up and didn't stuff ourselves. We were fully functional after dinner...leaving plenty of room for Coldstone Ice Cream before bed.

The trip was awesome but one side note...I left NYC feeling a little smug. I am quite proud of my continued efforts to pack light and bring all the just in case stuff and outfit options I used to. I packed Jason and I in a medium sized Puma duffel. The bad news this time...I left our camera, so all of these pictures are courtesy of Karen who remains queen photographer. I think they're incredible! (thanks Karen)