Vail

Today, I'm suffering a little bit.  Why?  Because I'm hungry and I want to eat cake, sushi and gravy cheese fries.  After a weekend of gluttony and pleasure it's hard for me to get focused again and maintain my disciplined eating habits.  I just want to let go but doing that brings it's own set of miseries like- I hate myself for looking like a slob (which because of my crappy genetics, happens in no time).  The thing is, I'm happy most of time but sometimes you look around and realize that there is a price to pay no matter what decision you make.  One of the four noble truths of Buddhism is that to live is to suffer.  That guy was onto something.  He also says that to overcome suffering we need to work on becoming enlightened -see shedding carnal desires, become the masters of our emotions, detachment from physical things.  In other words, more pain and discipline.  On this topic, I would argue that LDS teachings are basically the same with a few differences thrown in for good measure.

What does this have to do with Candice's birthday?  I'm not sure but I'm feeling a little introspective and it probably has something to do with the fact that I'm listening to smashing pumpkins, sunny day real estate and say hi to your mom right now.

Ok, so about hedonism, I'm a fan and this weekend is perfect evidence of that.

Not to toot my own horn but making Candice happy is basically one of the few things I feel I'm good at.  Lloyd Dobler and I are kindred spirits.  Here's how it all went down.


Let's start with gifts.  There's no need to go into details but I was proud of one gift in particular.  As you know, Candice is a yoga gangsta' if ever there was such a thing.  She can now do all the downward dogging she wants on this custom mat featuring her coupled with all sorts of potentially dangerous creatures.  Alligator, timber wolf, lemon shark and mountain gorilla to be precise.  She is a little worried about appearing narcissistic in yoga class but she's just going to have to deal with it.  I'm hoping that the spirit of the wolf will carry her onto new yoga heights.

I gave Candice a massage and tickle sesh that lasted for a few hours.  I actually really like giving massages and if you've never had a tickle session, you're missing out on a seriously good time.  She gave me the best compliment by telling me it was her favorite part of the day.  Some of the best gifts are the ones where you give of yourself, you know?  I'm super cheesy. Sorry.

As expected there was good food at every corner of the weekend.  During dinner on her actual birthday, I busted a joke that sent Candice into a fit of belly laughter.  She leaned forward only to have her perfectly manicured bobble catch fire in the candle sitting on our dining table.  Luckily, it just singed the tips a bit.  You still look hot babe, burnt hair or not.

This cake doesn't look like much but it's our favorite.  It mostly has to do with the fact that there are 4 sticks of butter in this bad boy and it takes about 6 hours to make.  Labor of love homies, labor of love...

Lobster Ramen from sushi den. I wish I could work out everyday with a camelbak full of this broth on my back.  I'm pretty sure my bench would go through the roof.

If you don't want to kiss her cheek in this pic, I think it's pretty safe to say that you don't like money, rainbows or the American way.  I feel bad for you.

We got a beautiful room at the Arrabelle hotel in Vail for the weekend.  There are some things you should know about Vail.  It's flippin' adorable.  The town looks like a bavarian ski village that is jam packed full of water features, flowers and charming architecture.

Don't really have any great pics of the room but it was large and luxe.

Gazing on the mountains and quaint village of Vail in between swim sessions.  

Fake laughter, a specialty

One problem I have is that I fall instantly in love with anyone that brings me breakfast in bed or in this case, breakfast on our balcony.  To Anthony, the room service guy, I shall never forget you...

Candice always loves the really small bottles that accompany room service food.

Hiked around 

We dipped our toes in a river and talked for hours.  The best part about getting away is always the removal of distractions like business and electronics and reconnecting with each other.  Maybe our country wouldn't have a 50% divorce rate if people took more vacations and worked a little less on obtaining material possessions?  Look at me getting all preachy, sorry.  Truthfully, there's only like two things I know for certain.

1.  I love my wife

         2.  Chocolate is of God.

We took a kayaking class.  I was really surprised how much I sucked.  I'm an okay athlete but the instructor kept focusing on helping me the whole class.  Some times I get pissed-off when I'm made to feel "special."  I guess with kayaking, it's all about finesse and not muscling anything.  All I really understand is muscling things, so I failed miserably.  It was fun though.  I want to do it more often.

Cartwheel contest before we got into the water.  I lost again..dang it.

Blisters from the oars.

The only thing that tainted the weekend was that we couldn't help but talk about the Batman killings a lot.  Being a proud Coloradoan, I hate that our state is associated with some of the worst mass killings the country has ever seen.  It's been said so much lately, but it's true- life is precious.  Hungry or not,  I'm going to suck it up and appreciate this day because there are 12 people that don't have that chance.

This post is to remind me of what we've been up to.

It's been a while since we've updated the blog.  Here's what we've been doing.  Sorry, we don't have a lot of pics.

-Watching movies at the park.  So far we've watched The Wizard of Oz,  Ghostbusters and Goonies.  This activity, along with otter pops and nachos at the pool, make me feel like a kid again.  It's important to feel like a kid again.  In fact,  I'll vote for any presidential candidate that runs on the "everyone gets summer break"platform.

This picture has nothing to do with anything, we were having fun though.

-Candice has been modeling a lot for Gaiam yoga, check out her stuff here http://www.gaiam.com/category/apparel.do


-Candice lead the way on the Hot Rocks Griller challenge once again.  Great event, all the chefs represented in a big way.  Myself, I worked the strongman pole thingy.  Sadly, I couldn't get the bell to ring, came within inches though, got some loving for my efforts.

-Fourth of July fun.  We played four square, went to a drive-in (saw Madagascar 3 and The Snow White and the Huntsman), ate like hogs, had a 4th of July quiz, Wii tournament, went swimming, ate some more, played board games.  Sadly, because of all the fires, many of the scheduled fireworks shows were cancelled.  We did manage to catch some shows from our roof top deck, it comes in handy.

-Went to a burlesque club, saw a bunch of fun/crazy acts.  Candice is part of a group of dancers that will be performing around town with a burlesque theme (no stripping unfortunately).  Keep your eyes out for them.

-I've been addicted to playing Battlefield 3 online with my brother and the rest of the world.  It's this alternate reality chocked full of guns, strategy and 13 year old nerds.  I fit right in.  It's the only scenario that I can think of where war is a fun/good thing.

-Last night, I started running again.  Running is big here in the CO and last night's experience was the first time I started to understand why.  The rain was keeping me cool, my girl and doggie were by my side and I wasn't suffering or bored. I'm planning on doing 15-20 miles a week until the end of the summer.  Nothing too hardcore but a lot for me.

-Candice has been watching this show called Gossip Girl, not sure what it's all about.

-I've/we've been doing a lot of shopping for the queen of my universe's birthday.  Here is a small sampling of what she tried on.  What do you think?

Not so much g-approved but still a pretty back-had to try it on.

I think this is my fav of this group.

Finally, this picture is basically the best thing I have ever seen.  I want a bulldog.

Backpacking with the mastiff

Here are some pics from our latest backpacking trip.  Rocco is so cute when we are in the woods.  He's so happy and wants to run and explore everything.  He packs his own 20lb pack that includes everything he will need, including his sleeping bag.

     

I tested my new Gregory pack for the first time and it is awesome.

 Yeah, I should have worn my hiking boots but I was feeling nimble in my old nike runners.

 Beautiful lake full of brook trout

 We have video of rocco swimming, he basically taught himself.  We're so proud of that guy.

As I mentioned earlier, Rocco is awesome in the woods but instead of sleeping that night he was on guard dog duty.  He was amped and ready to take on any creature that wandered too close.  He finally went to sleep when we put the rain fly on our tent so he couldn't see out of it.  That was at 4:30 am. Wasn't the best night's sleep we've ever had.

 We ate well, homemade chicken parmesan, homemade berry cobbler with whipped cream, breakfast burritos with green chili and hashers.