OK, I give in...

I have noticed the new "tagging" craze all over the blogworld and now it's my turn. I'll make it as quick and painless as possible...

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Getting ready for my first official "date" as a 16-year-old.
2. Getting in my 5th of like 7 car accidents before I was 18 by driving my Dad's Infiniti through our neighbor's field and ramming into their white picket fence.
3. Too young
4. to have anything significant
5. happen in my life...

5 things on my "to-do" list today:
1. Quit my job as a personal trainer.
2. Get family Christmas pictures taken.
3. See if Christian's one-year-long clean driving record will get him re-accepted to be on my auto insurance (and you thought I had a bad driving record...)
4. Get a Christmas tree for the first time ever since we've been married.
5. Workout with my workout buddy, Rachel at the gym.

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. I'd buy a big house where we both could live...:)
2. Travel all over Europe, Russia and eastern block countries, and some really exotic beaches.
3. Start a gym where really obese or old people could come to work out for free with free exercise and diet coaching.
4. There are soooooo many charity organizations that I would love to be able to help with: Darfur, AIDS in Africa, Afghan people, Save the Children, etc...
5. Help people I love.

5 things I will never wear again:
1. Puff paint shirts.
2. Twinner clothes with my twin sister, Rachel.
3. Acid-wash jeans.
4. My collection of Limited Too sweatshirts that marked my entrance into the "cool" group of girls in middle school.
5. Those really awesome slick sweatsuit outfits with all the neon colors.

5 of my favorite toys:
1. My workout equipment.
2. Cell phone.
3. My Garmin.
4. Internet.
5. I guess I need more hobbies...

New Yawk

I got that off of Wikipedia and I thought it was perfect! But, to be totally honest, I only heard one lady with an accent fitting to "New Yawk" on our 3 1/2-day trip to the city. Yep, we finally made it on our long-awaited and anticipated vacation to NY to visit Davis, Melissa, and, of course, to see the city. OK, so I must give a warning now to all readers: this is a travelogue and if you don't like 'em, stop reading NOW.
So, with that out of the way, we started in Albuquerque at 7:30am and had to make stops in two other cities before making it to New York. We stopped in Denver and then in Atlanta where my mom came to the airport to take Oliver for the weekend. We are so thankful we did that, though it was difficult to say goodbye to our little guy for a few days. Thanks, Mom, for making that happen and taking such good care of him! Anyway, it really felt like we were on our honeymoon all over again without a baby to take care of and by the end of the weekend we hardly felt like parents and had totally forgotten what it was like to have a kid. I must admit that it was kind of nice until we saw his big blue eyes and heard his laugh all through the terminal when we picked him in Atlanta. We REALLY missed him! OK, OK, back to NY.
So, after arriving Fri. night, we hopped in a taxi and drove to Davis's apt. in Manhattan. We got right down to business- started with dinner at a cute little restaurant, went straight to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and, of course, the Apple store. At the Rockefeller Center, we went to the "Top of the Rock" as they call it, and it definitely made for one of the highlights of our trip. After a long elevator ride, we made it the VERY tip, top of one of the tallest buildings in NY. It was about 11 at night and the city was buzzing. The view was incredible, though I was a little weak in the knees with the height and all. You could see all of the city and we couldn't believe how far the skyscrapers stretched. Wow- what a beautiful, unique place!
We missed our goal of being out before noon on Sat. by about three minutes. We started in Soho, went down to Canal Street, had lunch at Edward's in Tribeca, then on to Battery Park (also incredible views of the city, the Statue of Liberty, and the Hudson River), Ground Zero and the little church next to it that's been museum-ized, Wall Street and the Financial District, Union Square, Greenwich Village and Chelsea, with a stop off at Magnolia Bakery where Davis waited in the line that curled around the street while Christian and I explored (FYI: just buy a box of Pillsbury cupcake mix and make 'em yourself- at least they won't make you sick if you eat two in one sitting), and our last stop was at Rosa Mexicana, a famous Mexican restaurant (guacamole made at your table- translation: yum, yum). Are you tired yet? Because I am. Needless to say, we settled down to a movie that night at the apt.
The next day was the big NY marathon. 26.2 miles and apparently Katie Holmes finished in about 5:30. I went away from this weekend thinking, if she can do it, I can do it. Next goal: run a marathon (Though I have bad luck with these. I sprained my ankle 2 weeks before one I had trained and trained for in college.) It was seriously motivating to see all the runners and they were walking around town all day with their metals and aluminum foil-looking blankets. We went to church at the building with the temple in it and then went to lunch at Patsy's- seriously the yummiest pasta I have ever eaten. We then went to a fancy apartment, filled with fancy people, for a fancy get-together of Davis's buddies who ran the NY marathon. We chose to veg that night, stay at home and hang out with Davis and Melissa- good times. We were on our own on Monday as Davis had to go to his big shot, wall street job. So, Christian and I headed out to Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge before meeting up with our big shot brother, Davis, for lunch in Times square. We made one last stop at Dylan's candy bar before heading off to La Guardia. All in all, it was an AWESOME weekend and a special thanks to Davis and Melissa for being the BEST tour guides ever.
If you thought our trip was over, you're wrong. Since our plane was 1 1/2 hours late leaving La Guardia, we were stuck in Atlanta for the night and then had a three-hour layover in Denver before making it home to Albuquerque, more than 24 hours after we left New York. It was good to finally be home.


This is Top of the Rock...


Central Park

Spooky, Scary, Halloween Barmitzvah Part II

You're probably wondering about the aforementioned pictures with Zeus. Well...

Puppy love...


So, off to the party at the Reidheads. It was a great night, complete with spaghetti and meatballs, homemade root beer, a spider-decorated cake, and a pumpkin-carving contest to top it all off! We had sooo much fun!

Oliver with his favorite little spider friend, Berlin...

Nerd alert! Who knew those wood-carving kits and lessons would ever pay off???

And the winner is...

Spooky, Scary, Halloween Barmitzvah

For those of you 30 Rockers, you'll understand. And, if you're not, I can only say that you are seriously missing out. Alright, Halloween has come and gone. We spent the night with our friends, the Reidheads, and they hosted the first ever, but soon-to-be-annual, (Right, guys??) Halloween bash. We got all suited up, snapped some quick pics with our infamous neighbor-dog, Zeus, and headed to the party.
It appears Oliver was a little disappointed by my choice of costume for him. (I think he wanted to be a puppy.)


Making his getaway...