My New Running Buddy

I just purchased this little gem:

It's a Polar rs200sd heart rate monitor! It comes with a chest transmitter strap and a foot pod to gauge my distance, pace and heart rate! I can't wait for the little guy to get here! Quite an investment but I am hopeful that my training will drastically improve. Since I can't do all of my workouts and runs with my friend/coach Jenna, this will be the next best thing!

YouTube Rocks!

I absolutely love YouTube. You can "YouTube" just about anything- kinda like googling but you get a short film rather than a hyperlink to read a bunch of words! Clark has "YouTubed" how to make potato salad and other various recipes. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I missed the first 10 minutes to Twilight when we went to the theaters. So I youTubed Twilight and, to my great luck, found the portion of the movie I missed! Of course Summit Entertainment is trying to restrict the entire movie from being played on YouTube but various members have posted the entire movie split up into 12 different parts. So it's like watching segments of the movie 8-9 minutes at a time. Maybe it isn't exactly honest but I was DYING to see what I missed and I didn't have time to drive to the movie theater. I may just have to watch the entire movie via 12 segments on YouTube tonight!

Another great find: does anyone remember this song from the 80's? I absolutely LOVE it. It makes me want to sing karaoke like no other.

I also love reading the random comments to videos. People and their comments are so entertaining.

Maybe He Really Would Do Anything For Me....

I made Clark see Twilight with me yesterday. He was so unwilling; he made a big fuss about feeling like less of a man. But he knew it would make me happy to have him there by my side :)

I told him we couldn't lose, since the movie is now only showing at the $2 theaters in town. Leave it to me to wait until the movie is almost OUT of theaters and on DVD.

(I think he secretly liked it. He keeps asking me all sorts of questions about vampires and such, as if I am an expert. Dude, I have only read the books ONCE, I have only seen the movie ONCE. I am not a "Twihard" but yes, I am a fan.)

I happened to like the movie. Of course. I knew I would. And now I'll probably want to see it again since we did miss the first 10 minutes. It is only $2. I can handle that.

Very Bad News (Ok, it's not that dramatic)

I feel so....OLD... having to admit this:

I went to the dentist on Tuesday. Turns out I have two cavities. No biggie. I kind of expected that. In addition to those cavities, however, I have to get a CROWN! Oh my gosh, I thought only old people needed crowns! I guess one of my old fillings is so worn down that ANOTHER cavity has formed on the same tooth, and now I need a crown?! Uggghhhh.


I don't even know how this happened. I happen to have good oral hygiene. I brush twice a day and floss... but probably not as much as I should. But at least I do it!

I was very depressed for about two hours after my appointment. Clark was sweet and ordered Hungry Howie's pizza since I was in no mood to cook dinner. Then he ate himself into oblivion. Seriously, he ate himself sick. I thought I had a super-human appetite but man, can that boy eat.

Back to the teeth issue though...I have now resorted to having floss handy at ALL times. I bought extras to keep in my work bag and to keep in my purse. I REFUSE to let this happen again!

A "Healthy" Snack

Vegetable is in the item description so it must be healthy :)

These are quite tasty, you should try them!

A Little of This and A Little of That

The last couple of days I have felt the need to blog A LOT since I neglect our blog on the nights I work. And since I work the next couple of nights I thought I would just add a few pictures:

Here is a picture of Mom's Thanksgiving Green Jello. I posted the recipe several months ago but didn't add a picture. So here ya go. This is what it is supposed to look like. Stellar recipe. I made it just a couple of weeks ago while Clark was sick, thinking he might enjoy something fluffy and sweet. Turns out, nothing but powerade and toast sounded good to him so I finished off the entire batch of the Thanksgiving jello myself. It only took two days.


Last night Clark and I had several friends over for dinner. Now I am not a fantastic baker/cook by any means. But I decided to branch out and try a new dessert. Here is what is left of the pinapple upside down cake. SO delicious and scrumptious! Wish I would have taken a picture of the ring in its entirety BEFORE we chowed down!


Here is Gretchen sitting on our Foosball table. She does this all the time.



Hope you all have a great weekend! Have a great Valentine's Day ( that is, if'n you celebrate the holiday. If you are like me and you really don't, have a great Saturday.)

Super Stoked on Two Tongues!

I realize I just blogged about music, but I love music with a passion and I have to spread good news when I can.

I happen to enjoy a good tune or two, or three, or a thousand. So when two bands I completely adore come together to create 'musical fusion' (name that movie) I get EXCITED!
Saves the Day and Say Anything have created a new band called Two Tongues! You can listen to some of their music here. I just can't explain my love for both Saves the Day and Say Anything. Their talent is apparent in their music. Their lyrics are both intriguing and intoxicating.

The album for Two Tongues came out on February 3rd so I assume they will be touring soon :)

A list of our current favs

This one's for you, Whit!

Clark and I are currently obsessing about:

1. Six Flags. Oh yes, we will venture to the thrill park either in March or April. We were going to go for our 1 year anniversary (veeeeery romantic, I know) BUT the ASU nursing program has the students doing their preceptorships at the hospitals DURING spring break....One more reason to be bitter toward ASU. So if we can't go on our anniversary, we will go in April when Clark is done with his assigned hospital shifts.






2. Diet Dr. Pepper. We've taken to calling our pop "medicinal" after Dad Tobler. We aren't out of control with drinking pop, though. One a day isn't bad, right?

3. Rula Bula. We went out to dinner with some friends last Saturday at this Tempe resturant. It was unbelievable. I got the shepard's pie and I think Clark got the Reuben sandwich. MMMmmmmmmmmmm.... wish I would have been aware of just how good this resturaunt was while we were living in Tempe.

4. Big, Freakin Chunky Rings. I guess it's just the Bohemian gypsy in me that loves big rings. Clark asked me what I wanted for Valentine's Day so I sent him an email with the links to four rings I just love. He gets to choose, and if he so desires, he can get me more than one! He should be very lucky I'm not requesting diamond jewelry.........yet. Actually, I prefer gemstones and silver as it is.


(Just an example of one I like. Clark, don't think you have to get me this one just because I posted it. YOU choose.)



5. Youtube. Oh my gosh, we could spend all day watching any and everything! Here's a link to the band we'll probably go see next month. I'm sure you'll recognize the sound :) I haven't been able to get this song out of my head for the past couple of days.

6. Spending as much time together as humanly possible. AWWWWWWWWW!

7. Clark's Congratulatory Graduation Vacation. Don't know where exactly we're going yet, but I have already talked to my supervisors about taking one month off from work. Who cares if I don't have the vacation time to cover the days I will miss? We're thinking (if airline tickets are reasonable) that we'll go back to Europe and tour Eastern Europe this time around. OR we may go to Brazil or South Korea. But if airline tickets are extremely expensive we may just do a tour de America. See all the sights we probably wouldn't see otherwise. So we'll see what happens...

That's about it. Nothing much new in our lives other than working and going to school. I can't wait for Clark to be finished! Being on the same schedule would definitely be sweet.

EODM!!

Just this past Monday Clark, myself, and our friend Dan went to go see these guys at a venue in Scottsdale. They ROCKED THE HOUSE! It really was an incredible show. Sweet dance moves, great charisma; these guys know how to put on a show. I even got a "hey baby" from Jesse Hughes before the show started. Wow. What a rock star. Clark and Dan had a good laugh about it. Wish we would have brought our camera. We had an incredible view the entire show AND we were sitting.

If you watch the link above, you will realize that Eagles of Death Metal are NOT death metal.

One of the things we've come to learn about this band is that the lead singer/guitarist Jesse Hughes is NOT an Obama fan! YESSSSSS! Here's the link to prove it. He makes his case clear in the last minute of the interview.

Here's another link to a video that is pretty wild. Some of their videos are not quite appropriate...nevertheless, they are all very entertaining. Jack Black and Dave Grohl make appearances in this particular video.

If the Eagles of Death Metal come near you, definitely check them out!

STELLAR GAME!!!

I'll take college football over professional football any day. But I have to admit, last night's Superbowl game was INCREDIBLE!

If only the Cardinals had a minute longer in the 4th quarter....

January In a Nutshell

I think I am going to dedicate one blog per month to what Clark and I have accomplished within the month's time. I am so bad at keeping a journal so I thought I could post a list each month as a reminder of what I did and when. Maybe I'm just trying to justify not writing in a journal....but it's a digital world and I can't deny that typing is more convenient than writing...

I'm so glad to be rid of the terrible cold I had for about a month. New Year's Eve was not so fun. I was quarantined to the house because my cold was so bad. We tried to stay up and watch The Godfather III but I couldn't even make it through the movie (granted, it is a long movie). I also had to call in sick to work several days in a row and I had to miss my friend's wedding and the first dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrioUH6OneM

Somehow Clark avoided getting sick at all. Lucky guy.

JANUARY ACCOMPLISHMENT LIST:

1. Clark has worked super hard on the backyard, clearing out rocks and transporting them to the front yard ....




I tried to help, really I did. But even Clark said that it's a "man's job."

2. I ran my first marathon and finished (whew!). I was 16 minutes off my goal time but I had no idea I would have to go to the bathroom so many times. After stop #2 (mile 15) my groins cramped up like crazy and somewhere between mile 19-20 I actually had to stop and stretch. And then find alleys two more times for you-know-what. Uggghhhh, it just stinks to finish and not feel tired. Just cramped up. Even though I qualified for Boston, I think that would be too soon for another marathon. I need to run a couple of half marathons to get my confidence back up.

here is a link to pictures that I wish I could buy but just can't afford. Or rather, I don't want to afford. This photography company must make a killing.

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=44488&BIB=2120&S=230&PWD=




3. I finished the four books in the Twilight Series. I'm sad to be done, but glad I'm not obsessing about it anymore. Man that fictional Edward is SO stinking hot! Kind of makes me wish vampires were real...




4. Finally, I picked out various samples of colors to paint our kitchen and living room. Clark said we can only paint after he finishes the busiest part of his semester, which is the first 5 weeks. So, after spring break we can FINALLY splash some stinking color on the walls!



5. We finally made it out to the San Tan Mountains with Mom and Dad Tobler the day after the marathon. I have been wanting to go hiking out there for some time. The hiking trails don't quite compare to Mt. Charleston though.





6. I bought a bunch of picture frames for our bare walls...believe it or not, the best deals I could find were at Ross. I checked out Michaels, Target and Wal-Mart as well. Michaels sends out those 40% off coupons each week, but even those won't bring the prices of frames down to the price you can get them at Ross. Of course, Ross doesn't have a consistent supply so you never know what you're going to find...but here's what I found:



(Actually, the smaller 4x6 frames on the left side of the picture I did get at Michaels. But the three multi-picture frames were from Ross.)

7. I started to learn to play drums! Clark is teaching me the basics and hopefully we'll find a good deal on craigslist so we can get another drum set. Since I'm lefthanded we need another one so we can set it up differently.



Clark is extremely good at drums. It is so sexy to watch him play. Maybe I shouldn't type that, but hey, it's the truth.

Hope this post finds everyone happy and healthy. I am so thankful to finally be healthy again. My cold lasted long enough that I shouldn't get sick for another 3 years.

The Sweetheart Tag

1. Where did you first meet your hubby?

Clark and I first met during 8th grade track practice. He asked if I had a brother named Cedar. I responded with something like yes, how do you know that? Turns out my oldest bro and his oldest bro were buddies during high school. Several weeks after meeting him I told Melinda of my crush and asked her to find out if he liked me. So eighth grade, I know. Turns out, he did! So yeah, our history starts when we were just 14 years old... and Melinda, you were more instrumental than you probably thought!

2. What do you remember about him most?

Clark was just so funny and everyone loved to be around him. He really could make anyone laugh. He was also very, very cute. I remember telling my best friend, Whitney, that I thought he looked a little like Matt Damon. I remember she just giggled and rolled her eyes. Now it seems whenever we're out he'll get comments like, "has anyone ever told you that you look like Matt Damon?" Now I just roll my eyes while he smirks and gloats.

3. Who asked who out first?

Well, this is truly a complicated question! I will try to keep the answer short, though!

Clark was the first to ask me out in 8th grade. At a track meet, of course. Maybe I shouldn't be posting this since his Dad was a Bishop at the time and Clark was not supposed to "date" until he turned 16. Sorry for springing this info on you Mom and Dad Tobler. But dating and "going out" are not synonymous and in 8th grade it just means you hold hands and talk on the phone a lot.

Flash forward to the summer before our freshman year of high school. Clark and I were still talking on the phone nightly but I heard through the grapevine (through Melinda) that he was HOLDING HANDS at church dances with a girl from Basin City! **Shudder** I was so upset but we continued to talk anyway. I had no idea if we were still "going out" or not. So the night before school started I decided to ask him out. His answer was "I'll get back to you on that." (He waited about nine 8 years to get back to me.) So I guess his answer was a big fat NO and instead of "going out" we would just hang out all the time. I think we confused a lot of people since it was obvious we did like each other.

Times changed as we got a little older. We didn't really talk during 10th and 11th grade (though Clark will tell you he remembers us being friends). Then we were friends again our senior year. We were also "friends" my freshman year of college but there was some sort of love triangle going on on both our ends. Oops. But after he left on his mission he apologized for being a jerk and the letters started pouring in. Lots and lots of letters and tapes. I couldn't keep up. He would just send so much mail, and I had running, studying, and partying to do.

But when he got back from his mission he and his parents flew to Pasco so he could report his mission. I guess you could say we rekindled that old flame, but by the time he flew back to Vegas our status still had not been established. So a month and a half later I flew out to Vegas and I had to be the one to bring up our status situation! Uuggghhh! This guy! But it turns out it was well worth it :)

4. What did you do on your first date?

We established we wanted to be a couple in Vegas, and the next day he took me to a concert. Alkaline Trio and My Chemical Romance. Although I made us leave during My Chemical Romance because I thought they were terrible. And then he treated me to In and Out. So that was our first date.

5. What was your favorite thing to do together while you were dating?

We did go to quite a few concerts and shows. Strung Out, Dashboard, Saves the Day. That would probably be my favorite thing we did together, aside from snuggling.

6. When was your first kiss with your sweetheart?

Ummm...to answer or not to answer? Our very first kiss was on the bus coming back from a track meet in 8th grade just hours after Clark asked me out. I probably shouldn't be sharing that info.

And then our first kiss after we'd grown up and matured was the very first day I had spent with him in over two years, in Pasco after his mission. We spent all day together catching up, visiting his old friends, eating mexican popsicles. And that night before I left for home he walked me out to my truck and kissed me. I was shocked. It was unexpected. I guess the hormones as a returned missionary overtook him. But it was very sweet and satisfying to know he still cared about me.

7. Who said it (I love you) first?

Clark, definitely. We would say it back and forth to each other in tapes and letters, but I didn't think we meant it that way.

But then he said it to me the night of our "first kiss" after his mission. I could tell he meant it differently.

8. When did you realize you first loved him?

A loooong time ago. No joke. Even though I was a kid, I knew I loved him. And I still do and I always will :)

9. How did he propose?

I love my man, he is so clever. He made a huge collage of pictures of us taken during the two years we dated. There was a picture missing from the center of the collage and when I asked why there wasn't a picture there he said something to the effect that we could put a wedding picture there from our wedding day. Then he got down on one knee and proposed!

10. What do you remember about your wedding day?


Oh man, I just remember it being crazy busy up until the ceremony. I scheduled my hair and makup appointments too late in the day, which made us late for pictures...and it was just hectic. But then as soon as the ceremony commenced it was beautiful. I remember looking into Clark's loving eyes and holding his hand and fighting back the tears. He wasn't crying, so I wasn't going to cry. I had already had a breakdown with my Dad before we walked down the aisle, so that was enough tears for one day. I think we both were just so relaxed and knew we were meant to be together. Everything turned out exactly as we hoped. It was relaxed and beautiful and went by too fast.

I tag: all my sister in laws and Mom Tobler :)

I've Been Sucked In...

I've been sucked in, and I can't find my way out!


I was never really all that interested in reading these books until Christmas rolled around and I needed to keep my mind busy somehow....and Target provided a simple solution with the $5.99 paperback version of Twilight.

I am now on the last book and I can't seem to put it down, and when I do, I can't seem to stop thinking about it! Arrrrgghhh!

So I know all of you out there are like, really? You just now discovered this fantastic series? Yep, sure did. Better late than never, right?


Anyway, Melinda, thank you for tagging me. I will get right on it! Probably tomorrow as I need some time to think through the answers :)

Also, Joe May family, if you are reading this, PLEASE email Clark your blog address! Or at least re-invite us to access your blog! We are dying to see your baby child! Hope Omaha is treating you well!

MY NEW VICE

I absolutely LOVE this tea. It is so good and you don't even have to add sweetener to it. A fellow co-worker of mine introduced me to it. And now I can't stop drinking it. And the best part (other than the sweet-on-its-own taste) is it is HERBAL! MMmmmmmmmm

What a Lovely Christmas Vacation in Washington!

I love the holidays. I love to be around family. I love not having to work. Here is a glimpse of our Christmas vacation to Washington. The weather was not suitable for appropriate training outdoors and I now have a massive head cold but hey, it was a fun trip. So this may seem like a looooong blog but really we didn't take very many pictures. These were basically all we had. We relied on the other family members to properly document the holiday festivities. So go look on their blogs!

Our bus ride from the airport to Lakewood.


Gingerbread houses! Clark and I couldn't agree on an idea so we created our own ideas :)


Playing with Charlie


Attempt at a self portrait amidst the snow.

Off on a walk to a nearby park.

Awwww!

Photo of the brothers with their children. Apparently Jeff is playing "daddy" to Charlie.




I love this picture of the brothers (minus Jake). Clark and Chad are the only ones with their right hand on the brother in front. Love it!


Clark sure did love the karaoke machine!

Cookie decorating frenzy!


Holding precious baby Greta.


Kyle directed the Tobler version of the Living Nativity on Christmas Eve. Too fun!



The reason we risked driving the Snoqualmie Pass: to see Scott and Dagmara, who flew into WA from Germany for Christmas!



My parents held an 'open house' for Scott to thank him for his military service. Neigbors and friends were invited. Notice the Chinook helicopter at the top right of the cake! He's an amazing man, that Scott Ellison!



Cute Chase

Chase helped Dad play Santa during the Ellison Christmas morning gift giving session.


The next day Clark, Cedar and Rachel joined the Ellison celebration. Clark opening a funny gift from Mom Ellison...


Little Cole.

No luck. An Ellison tradition at trying our luck on Christmas with scratch cards.


This present was labeled to both Dagmara and Rachel. We had to 'fight' over who got to keep it.


The official Ellison family photo of 2008. So glad everyone could be together!


I had to add this picture. Too cute of Cole!