Colorful Colorado

(I think I love Colorado.) We had a great time visiting Denver and the surrounding areas! It was great catching up with Clark's high school buddy, Joel, and meeting his awesome girlfriend, Jen. We went snowboarding Monday as Joel is a regional sales rep for Rome Snowboards and had all the gear we would need AND was able to get us discounted lift tickets. It had been years since both Clark and I had been, but it was a blast. And I'm still sore. For some reason Clark isn't feeling the pain. This isn't quite fair since I am supposed to be the one who is in shape. Anyway, here are some photos of our lovely little trip:

Downtown Denver from a moving vehicle...

Ping Pong action in Joel's basement. Notice the black dog in the corner. This is by far the smartest, most well behaved dog ever...

Of course the day we wanted to explore downtown and visit Wax Trax Records it rained and snowed. Other than this day, the weather was beautiful so I really can't complain. And I kind of like how spontaneous the weather is in Denver. Dagmara, notice the purse :) ...

Clark amidst buffalo on the 16th Street Mall...

Hanging out ...

Clark and I went to visit a family he was close with on his mission. The Moffets were so excited to see him! Did I mention that Clark showed me several placed where he resided on his mission? He did...

A fun night at the aquarium with Joel and Jen...

I think eels are the most disgusting of all sea creatures...this thing just gives me the chills...

A lionfish and Clark's profile...

Petting a sting ray. Slightly reminiscent of swimming with the sting rays in Grand Cayman. If you ever get the chance to swim with sting rays, do!

Clark gently petting a sting ray. Two fingers!

Dinner at the aquarium. Butter infused everything, and that included the vegetables...

Group shot with Joel and Jen. They are so fun and cute! And don't mind my face, I thought we were doing a funny picture...

On the chairlift at Loveland. So much fun! So pleased that Clark and I can still ride pretty dang good. But I must admit that I have found I am a master at something. (Steph, I never responded to the "tag" awhile back because I feel like I'm more a jack-of-all-trades, master of none, kind of girl. But I have found something I truly excel at.)
***I am a master at falling when dismounting from the chairlift.***
I don't remember having this problem six years ago, but I could not conquer this task! I think there were 4 runs where I actually got off the chairlift without falling down. It would help if the hill at the end of the lift was less than a 45 degree angle, but still. So embarrassing, but at least I could still ride!

Ahhh, love on the mountain...

Yes, thumbs up to the weather and still being able to ride!

Clark looking dazed at the bed and breakfast, post snowboarding...

How cool is this mural? Clark was excited, he just doesn't show it here ;) poor, tired boy...

I was going for a "hiding in the forest" type of picture...

The outside...

Our balcony...

And our beautiful drive home.

We ended up taking the route through Grand Junction back to Utah. This is Garfield Mountain. Clark hiked this mountain a couple of times as a missionary. Clark asked if I would like to hike it and said he carved me a message there years ago. I got super excited, until he told me that he carved "I love you babe. -Clark Tobler" on the mountain. Since the message didn't specifically include my name, I decided the climb would not be worth it.

We had such a great trip and can't wait to visit again! There is so much to do in Colorado, and restaurants stay open past 9 pm! We actually had burritos downtown around 11 pm one night! Ahhh, the joy of being in a place that actually has a true downtown. I guess Colorado may be a place to look at for grad schools after all...

Red Letter Day!

Today marks our second anniversary as man and wife! Oh the wonderful memories of our joyous union on March 8, 2008...



Seriously, the wedding was great and all, but being married to my best friend has been AMAZING! That's the most important thing anyway, right? It's fascinating how we women fantasize and idealize over the perfect wedding, when the important thing is the marriage itself... though Clark and I do like to fantasize about what we would have done differently if we had thought of it sooner...like pass out airplane peanut packets to everyone waiting to watch the ceremony...or have had an all American buffet consisting of charbroiled hamburgers and hot dogs instead of a Mexican buffet. Mom Tobler was gracious enough to cook up some delicious taco meat but burgers and hot dogs would have made everything 10x easier. And who doesn't like hamburgers/hot dogs (vegetarians excluded)? Ok, enough with my silly ramblings, I could probably state a few more things if I wanted to type more...

Last year for our anniversary we went here...

and here.

This year we are going here:

(Denver)

and staying here. CAN'T WAIT!

The last snow day of the year?

It was snowing the other morning as Clark and I walked home from work. It was beautiful while it lasted. Of course, it was mostly melted by the time I woke up in the afternoon. Last snow of the winter?? I'll be kind of bummed if it was. I never even got to play in it!

Gretchen has been hogging the throne lately. No matter how many times we shoo her off of it, she still plops back down as if she owns the chair.

Dang cat.

What Clark has been up to...

Clark has made a commitment to "sound proof" our extra bedroom so that we can play drums and not tee off the neighbors. Here is some of his beautiful work. And yes, those are egg cartons and crates and cereal boxes as well. The brown sheets are some sort of sound-muting insulation we found at Home Depot. And the shower curtain? Well, that just ties the room together.


Inspecting a work well done.


We will definitely have to spackle the walls like crazy when we move out.


Nail holes everywhere...

And Introducing....
Nolan Van Hoy!!
(Clark's alias in his band.)

Nothing says creepy like men's traditional glasses, a polyester shirt, and a gun belt buckle. Clark is so happy to finally own a prescription pair of men's traditional glasses. Thank you, www.zennioptical.com.


Would you let this man babysit your kids? Handsome devil, he is!

Classic

I think everyone can enjoy this 10 second video Clark and I have been enjoying for years now:

Let's put aside our empathy, people. This is hilarious, plain and simple.

The Best and Most Friendly Place on Earth

Clark and I took a two day trip up to the best and most friendly place on earth. Look at the sign in the picture. States it right there.

(Goshen is in Idaho, just so ya know. Because I didn't know until I went...)

I got to meet lots of fun Palmer relatives and spend some QT with Grandma and Richard. And guess what? Aside from the above picture and a few others, we took ZERO photos of family. We suck, I know. We totally forgot about the camera when it came to socializing and catching up.

No matter. We will be going up again soon. We're excited to go hiking with Uncle Brent. And I think I should bring up my American Girl dolls to have a doll party with Aunt Amie and all the girls :) And I want to go walking with Grandma. I bet she is a brisk walker.

Anywhoo, here are the few other photos we took. Wish they were of family. Next time I will leave the camera in my purse and not in the freezing car!

Our very first stop in Goshen: the cemetery where Clark's Grandpa is buried. When we got back into the car I asked Clark whether we should start thinking about investing in burial plots. He asked where. I answered Pasco. He asked why. I answered because we grew up there... and so ensued our morbidly romantic conversation. We still have not decided on a burial plot plan. Perhaps it is too soon. But you really never know when your time is going to come.

What I presume was the old hospital in Idaho Falls?
Where we spent some of our QT time Grandma and Richard.

We look forward to going back! The weather was fine and the socializing even finer! Thank you, Rosemary and Brent for opening your home to us! (And for the yummy food!)

Lent

This year for Lent I have decided to give up junk food. That's right. No ice cream, no cake, no cookies, no brownies, no soda, no doughnuts, no fun... for 46 days.

In years past I have given up cookies, only to replace the cookies with doughnuts. I have given up soda, but I rarely drink soda as it is. Looking back, what was I thinking. Did I really believe that giving up something I barely consume would be a sacrifice?

If you know me well, you know I love my sweets. This is going to be a challenge for me. The only form of chocolate I can have is in the form of a protein bar. And let me tell you, protein bars never curb my sweet cravings.

Good bye:

And

I had to con Clark into giving junk food up with me. Sadly, I need someone else to be accountable for me. And he's going the extra mile. In addition to junk food he is giving up pizza and Doritos.

Of course, on a spiritual level we are going to strive to read more of the scriptures daily, but I'm not concerned about doing that. Giving up junk food is going to be the real sacrifice.

Is anyone else giving anything up or doing a little extra something this Lent? Do share :)

Most Romantic Gift Idea EVER

Nothing says, "I love you," like a heart shaped pizza. Thank you, Papa Murphy's.

Jist In Time for Valentine's Day...

A Redneck Love Poem:

SUSIE LEE DONE FELL IN LOVE,

SHE PLANNED TO MARRY JOE,

SHE WAS SO HAPPY 'BOUT IT ALL,

SHE TOLD HER PAPPY SO.

PAPPY TOLD HER SUSIE GAL,

YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER.

I'D JUST AS SOON YO' MA DON'T KNOW,

BUT JOE IS YO' HALF BROTHER.

SO SUSIE PUT ASIDE HER JOE,

AND PLANNED TO MARRY WILL.

BUT AFTER TELLING PAPPY THIS,

HE SAID, 'THERE'S TROUBLE STILL.'

YOU CAN'T MARRY WILL, MY GAL,

AND PLEASE DON'T TELL YO' MOTHER.

BUT WILL AND JOE, AND SEVERAL MO'

I KNOW IS YO' HALF BROTHER.

BUT MAMA KNEW AND SAID, 'MY CHILD,

JUST DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.'

MARRY WILL OR MARRY JOE;

YOU AIN'T NO KIN TO PAPPY.

*****************************

(Kinda brings a tear to yer eye, don't it!)

Little Black Dress

I pee my pants a little every time I look at this dress. Just imagine it without the scarf and the necklace.

Love at first sight. (**sigh**)

CUTENESS

"The denim dress all baby girls should own."

--Rachel Tobler

Do you like how I incorporated my own quote into this post?
I bought this dress for a friend's adorable baby girl a couple of months ago, and now I wish I had bought the store out! Seriously, it almost makes me baby hungry. Almost.

My sister is prego with baby #3 and they found out it is going to be a girl! Katie didn't find out the sex with her second baby child and wanted to be surprised with the birth of her third as well but curiousity got the better of her and her family.


When I bought the above dress I was contemplating buying one for my sister just in case the baby was a girl. Now I know it's going to be a girl. And I have not the dress all little baby girls should own. Dang it.



But the good news is that I found a close second. A very close second. So similar that it can rival the above dress in cuteness. They're both made by Carter's. They're both denim. With belts. And some plaid.

As Kevin on The Office would say : "Niiiiiiiiice."

Maybe I shouldn't be posting this but there is probably only a 2.4% chance Katie will look at my blog. She's just not into the blog scene.

Walk About

I went on a walk about the other day to familiarize myself with the Avenues neighborhood. Can I help it if I am secretly loving where we live right now? I thought I would be miserable in Utah but SLC proper is actually pretty awesome. I guess I will survive the year we plan on being here.

This is probably one of the most cleverly named establishments in SLC. Kudos, Jack Mormon Coffee Company.

Here we have a beautiful protestant church...

Competing with the Catholic church right next door. See, Mormons aren't the only people in Utah. Maybe I should show my Mom these pictures. Then maybe she would visit me...

I love this one. This cathederal totally reminded me of the gothic cathederals we saw in Italy, France, Germany and Spain a few years ago. Looking forward to attending and Easter of Christmas Mass here.

Oh, and look. Straight shot to the LDS Temple. So many pretty religious structures, all in one city!

On my walk about I noticed many homes for sale. Here is a picture of one of said homes. Looks nice, don't you think. Would you believe the owner wants $675,000 for it!? Ummm, it's very nice, but come on. This is Utah and not California. I guess you pay premium to live in the Avenues?...and I guess the fact that it is across the street from a park that overlooks the capitol plays a factor, too. But still...

Chillin' at a little park that overlooks Canyon Road (where I go running) and the Capitol. One of my date ideas for the spring is to have a little picnic at this park with the Clarkman. Is that lame? I thought it was an excellent idea but Clark wasn't all that enthusiastic. Too bad, the picnic will prevail.

Can't wait to make more discoveries here in SLC. I hope next time Clark can come with me rather than sleep. Boy, work does put a damper on things sometimes.

She's back, but it wasn't a pleasant experience.

The other weekend we went down to Vegas to get Gretchen (and participate in the Mom Tobler catering event). The trip back was, I believe, an unpleasant and upsetting experience for Gretchen. She worked herself into a frenzy within the first 5 minutes and would not stop panting, leading us to believe she was dehydrated. She kept tearing at the nylon/mesh cage with her claws so I eventually took her out of the cage to hold her on my lap. She freaked out even more and tried to escape through the windshield. So we zipped her back up into her cage and draped a sheet over it and ignored her cries for help. Within 30 minutes she quieted down and remained in a hopeless state for the majority of the drive. Occasionally she'd work up enough strength to try to tear through the cage, all to no avail. She also managed to tip her kitty litter box upside down at one point. Poor thing, once we got her home we noticed that she had rubbed her nose raw against the nylon/mesh trying to escape.

Here she is in her cage...

A closer look reveals that she won't even acknowledge us...she is so hopeless and helpless.

Straight up terrified.

And still terrified.

Oh wait, what is this?? Gretchen LOVES her little kitty bed. Thanks Mom Tobler for donating the bed to us. She loves it! And she is getting way more comfortable with her new home.

Now she only gets skittish and scared when hearing wierd noises, like when the heater kicks on above our bed.

But usually she's happy as can be on her kitty bed.

Thank goodness she's getting comfortable here in SLC. We didn't want to have a cat that hid under the bed for weeks. Fortunately she only hid under the bed for one night. She even cuddled with me on the couch last night as I watched episode after episode of LA Ink on Netflix. We are glad to have Gretchen back. When she isn't scared of the world she is so fun to annoy and be around!