Secret?

So, I apparently suck at keeping a secret; last night I told Todd what he is getting for his b-day (mind you- it's not for two months). I was just SOOOO excited and couldn't handle it anymore. He is getting a 4night 4day road trip to Colorado; Denver & Fort Collins. Why you ask? Well, not only are we going to the BYU away game at Colorado State University (because the season tickets were not enough:) BUT, we are going to a Denver Broncos' Football Game!!!!!! We're SO excited!!!!

I can't beleive it work out the way it did. I had the idea one sleepless night awhile back and could not believe it when the pieces all came together. I guess it started when I was writing BYU's schedule in my planner and thought, hmmmm, Todd would love to go to an away game. Then, as fate would have it, BYU happened to play in Colorado the DAY before the Broncos play Miami. I'm sure it was quite comical watching me (geographically special ed) trying to map out the trip to see if it was even feasible. I knew the drive to Denver was doable (we've done it before) but I wasn't sure how far the drive to Fort Collins was etc. It's only an hour drive and all the game times work out perfectly!! I was soooo excited to tell Todd- he truthfully teared up! I knew the big 3-0 b-day was not going to be well received but I thought a trip to see his favorite college team AND his favorite NFL team would soften the blow- and it definitely has! The only downsides are that Miami sucks, that there were only nosebleeds seats left (which shocked the CRAP out of me bc the game is FOUR months away) and that it will be a bit chilly in November. Oh well, it will be the first NFL game for both of us! Obviously, we're really excited so thanks for letting me tell...again! Oh, and all friends/family/stalkers who know Denver, please, please, please share any tips about good restaurants, hotels and entertainment!

Shakespearean Festival, Taming of the Shrew

Happy Anniversary to ME!! Todd got me tickets to The Taming of the Shrew for the big 2-year. I LOVE this play and thought it was so very thoughtful of him (bc lets face it, costumed individuals speaking in prose is NOT his thing). The play was very well done-great acting and I liked the artistic liberties they took to make the play a bit more modern (usually I HATE that). I think I like this play so much bc I see our story kinda similar (minus the whole marrying for money thing and hag-like qualities of "the shrew"). I like that she's an independent woman even in the late 1500s AND the deception, etc. Its such a goodie! We had fun at the Greenshow and both very much enjoyed the play.

Pioneer Day

Yay for Pioneer Day. We hope all you Utahns (and/or Mormons) out there had fun celebrating our heritage. It seems ironic to me that most 24th of July traditions (including ours') consists of indulgence; gluteonous eating, fireworks, recreation, etc. Going without food, loosing a limb or walking without shoes seems like more of a tribute, but WHATEVER! I'll take any excuse to celebrate- and I imagine our ansestors would rather it this way. Moving on, We had a fun 24th; BBQ'd with the family and had a little firework show. I was sad at the parade bc Todd had to WORK (damn governement-JK) but, I got over it and we enjoyed ourselves in the evening:)

An unhealthy consumption

With having my life back, it seems its been all things entertainment for me lately!! Okay, that's a slight exaggeration but here's some bubblegum books (AKA easy reads) and movies I've thoroughly enjoyed lately.

Wildflower festival, Cedar Breaks

Friday afternoon we went to the Wildflower Festival held at Cedar Breaks!! I read about it on National Park Website awhile ago and pitched the idea to Todd...he took the bait obviously. It's basically a festival featuring all the beautiful wildflowers that bloom in summer. The festival is held June 30 to July 16 in the trails around Cedar Breaks. You can tour with a geologist or just take the flower guide info and do a self-guided tour. We opted to do the self-guided, 2-mile hike to Alpine Pond where, as promised, the view of wildflowers was the very best! I would definitely go again. We had fun identifying all the flowers on the flower guide and basically enjoying the BEAUTIFUL landscape. BTW I would like to brag about the fact that I took all these pictures by my very own self. I read the "tips for taking pictures of wildflowers" and I think they helped!

Although we've both been there before, we had to go to THE lookout. It always AMAZES me.

Cedar Breaks: The term Cedar came from the Cedar trees. The term Break came from the way the land breaks off from the mountain.
SOOOO Purdy
AND magnanimous
AND striking
AHHHHHH! Look out! Cheesy couple pose
My sexy tourguide :) Yellow Evening Primrose
Bristlecone Pine
Red Bristlecone
Yellow BristleconeLittle Sunflowers, Scarlet Paintbrush, Aspen Bluebells
Marsh Marigold
Aspen Bluebells
Bristlecone Pine
Scarlet PaintbrushColorado Columbine

Yarrow
Larkspur
Beetle Tracks (those little scratches are from when the beetles nest here and the larva scratch through)

Pooped

We made it!
More COLUMBINES (I love em)

This tree was struck by lightening. See where it struck?

Alpine Pond in all its glory (not that glorious due to bark beetle)

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Since we were already over the mountain, we decided to head over the Duck Creek for the chili-cook off festival. Todd had heard about it from a coworker. It's basically a big fair with live music and vendors galore....from jewelry to fruit smoothies, to fry bread, to whatever! The randomest part? I saw NO chili anywhere. Regardless, it was lots of FUN!!!!!!

FRIED TWINKY!!!!! (and one clogged artery)

Me checking off my flower guide ;) We didn't find them all BUT pretty close!
The food was define! Todd had a pork sand, I had a Navajo taco and then I had a fried doughnut w/ dipping sauce...holy moly was it good eatin.

Bear Lake

Just three days after returning from Mexico, we repacked our not-so-empty bags and headed north to Bear Lake for the Gambles family reunion. With another 12 hours of driving under our belt, we're really pounding the pavement. Anyway, we had a great time. The best part had to be the AMAZING cabin we rented. I'm already plotting a way to stay there again. It rests on the hillside surrounding the lake, with gigantic A-frame windows. Obviously, the view was majestic from just about every vantage point. I loved the back deck and most of all, the hot tub. One night it was pretty cool outside so we hopped in that puppy at dusk and basked in the glorious view!!! The weather the entire time was also just perfect; not too hot in the day and almost jacket weather in the evening. Of course, we also had a wonderful time spending time with the fam and catching up! We love you family :)

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So here's the DL on these pictures. The truth is, I'm sick of looking at Todd and I's faces on this bloody blog. If I'm sick of us, I'm sure the rest of you are. I started this blog in part to journal our lives but also to talk about things that matter!! Lately, I feel like I post picture after picture of our cheesy couple pose; I guess bc we've being doing a fair amount of things this summer...but it's got to STOP! Now, like I've said; I am an addict. So, I won't abstain from those pics entirely but I am sick to death of them for now. So, while these pics may be random, at least you don't have to look at our cheesy grins (that much).

p.s. all the pics of the lake were taken from our BALCONY!!

Viva la MEXICO

Hola! We went south of the border with my family for the fourth of July!! We spent July 3rd to July 7th in Puerto Penasco Mexico (AKA Rocky Point). The eleven hours in the cramped car was definitely worth it. Memories include: crossing the border (Mexico borders secured by machine-gun equipped men...SCARY), our amazing resort, paying THREE bucks for a can of soda, MEXICAN FOOD for every meal (nearly), swimming 24-7, humidity, sipping pina coladas, tanning, chilling out in the CABANAS, street vendors (knock-off everything!), AND OF COURSE, walks on the beach ;)

****Warning, I took a crap-load of pictures on this trip (having this blog has created a picture-taking monster; I'm possessed and can't stop!) I couldn't decide what to and to not post, so just stop looking when you get bored, fall asleep and/or begin plotting your own death.

Load em' up

On the ride there...THANKS GOODNESS for IPODS and DVD playersCrossing the BORDER!

The town-so small, so poor The POOL (p.s. I do see the irony of the last two pics)

The Mayan, another resort about 15 miles from the town. We went there one day to check out their facilities (for future reference) and to mooch of their, really cool pool. The way we got to use the Mayan pool was by J and K attending one of those time-share presentations. This is us waiting for them to get done. Without going into too much detail, things didn't go as planned, we waited forever and never got to swim :( Oh, well the pool looked pretty.
We were bored while we waited...Todd thought he needed to take pic of my AFRO that makes its appearance in humid weather. FRIENDS lovers will know what I mean when i say just call me Monica.
Another shot
On OUR balcony (that overlooks the ocean :)

We celebrated our 2-year ANNIVERSARY while we were there (since we'd just be getting home the day b4 our real anniversary). We went to the restaurant in the resort, walked on the beach, and sat along the beach and watched the FIREWORKS. It was quite romantic! Oh, yea and we had CHEESECAKE
Such nerdy LOVERS Don't ask me why but the resort did celebrate our Independence Day, but they did it on the 5th (presumably for people who only came for the wkend). The fireworks were set off by a 15 year old kid, no firemen there, and we were allowed to sit just 20 yards from the actual fireworks. THAT WOULD DEFINITELY NOT FLY IN THE US!They had these creepy people walking around all day on the "4th" at least they tried right??
We also did some seriously "swap meet' shopping. Note the TAT
All the shops that lined the beach

The girls and their TATS
Todd's new shades...yea he thinks he's tuff
He couldn't wait...
The story of this birth certificate is EPIC. We found out the NIGHT b4 leaving that we needed to have our original BC to enter back into the US. Neither of us had ours'. So, no prob for me bc I could just pick mine up the next morning. Well, getting an original from Idaho in one day is less simple. We had to have a notarized copy sent and then had Vital Stats send us the original IN MEXICO. It seriously was amazing that he got it. The bitch of it all, the border security people never EVEN LOOKED at it. bugger. Our last night :(

Farewell Mexico :)