Just a hello. Not a whole lot going on around here. Rodeo is in town. We might go next week. Bigger events happening next week. My cousin, Kass is getting married! Going home to FL for the wedding. I am so excited to see my family. I'm sure there will be a lot of pictures to show for the big event. Kass, or as I lovingly call her "Kashmene" and I were born ten days apart. We have always been close and I am so excited to see her make this great step in her life. Because in case some of you were unaware, I basically think that being married is the best thing in the whole world. We are ridiculously happy.
A side note, just happens to pop in my head. Gabe is the choir director at church and I watch the kiddies so Gabe has larger numbers. He gets oh so excited when he sees lots of people show up. There is a little girl I have been taking care of for awhile. She is so cute and sooooooooooo smart. She is 3, but I find that I need to talk to her like an adult most of the time. I always have stories about her for Gabe. This week...
We are sitting in church and she keeps walking by me. I gave her the "come here sweetie" finger motion and she just kind of stared at me, so I smiled. Then, later when I'm watching her while choir is going on she says, "So, I saw you this morning, and you wanted to hold me."
I said "Yep, but you looked a little sleepy and not interested."
She says "Yep, I didn't want to."
"That's okay, because I get to see you now."
Then she says...
"Yeah, maybe next time I'll let you hold me."
We just came back from an amazing ski trip to Park City, Utah. The mountains, the snow, and the slopes are so awe inspiring. There is nothing quite like your first ride on the lift and then your first slope heading down the mountain. The views were breathtaking and the feel of skis going over the snow is one of the best things ever in my opinion. How lucky you would be to live there and take part whenever you want, if you can pay the price :) Yikes! The first two days we were there, it snowed non-stop. They said that in 72 hours, Park City received 13 inches of snow. It was hard to see ridges in the snow or bumps of powder. A little tricky, but we all survived. Gabe actually did remarkably well. It was techinically only his third time skiing, last time being 4 years ago. He was a little nervous, but just like the rest of us, he remembered right away. Like riding a bike. He became very motived by Bodie and Lindsey, beat us down the mountain everytime.
He even felt like trying a black diamond.
This was roughly our discussion...
G: I think I'm ready for a black run
C:You sure Gabe?
G: Yes, definitely ready. Definitely, yes
C: Honey, it's just the first day. We should wait.
G: Nope, I'm ready
C: Ok, if you say so...
We approch Black Diamond Run "Know You Don't"
Gabe and I both stop and look over the rough terrain with unease
G: This has moguls
C. Yeah, I know, all the black runs here have moguls. I think you should wait.
Gabe stares a little longer, then skis over the edge.
About 4 feet down...
G: I don't like moguls, we shoudn't have done this.
C: Too late, just get to the bottom, you can do it
Gabe falls a bit, I fall too.
Gabe falls about ten times and after losing both his skis he decides to slide down the rest of the way
His pride was hurt just a bit.
We went down some greens to make him feel better.
The third and last day of skiing was remarkably clear. Even though we were all sore and tired we were renewed when we all woke up to clear skies. By far, the best day. We loved it. Gabe's confidence is renewed once he can actually see ten feet in front of him.
G: Honey, I want to try a black diamomd again
C: You sure Gabe?
G: Yeah, I need to redeem myself
C: Ok
We approah "White Owl." Location of the 2002 Winter Olympics aerial events, now converted into a black diamond run with moguls
Gabe does amazingly well. Just a couple of falls. I was very impressed. I didn't fall at all, also proud of myself. Needless to say he felt much better, like a true skier. A job well done.
Here is s little clip I got of him heading down a blue run...
It all started Christmas morning. A wonderful Christmas morning. Lots of presents and love. One of the presents I opened was a New Moon puzzle, a picture of the movie poster. Oh, how I loved it. After the presents were opened but before all the cooking started it seemed like the perfect quiet, relaxing activity. Some of us huddled around and started. Very quickly I thought to myself, "This is one hard puzzle." Two faces surrounded by shades of black and brown. 1000 pieces. The very relaxing activity we thought we started turned into a frustrating, obsessive compulsion. After several hours it truly seemed like we might never finish. We also realized that several pieces were exact duplicates of other pieces. Realizing it only after the parts of the "New Moon" logo that were already finished were reappearing. How maddening. What kind of puzzle has duplicate pieces? We thought about writing the company, I thought about giving up, but everyone wanted to press forward. The general consensus was that we would burn it once we finished...
if that would ever happen.
Days passed. We ran a rate of about 1 piece every 5-10 minutes for a while. Then, it was time for us to make the long 14 hour drive home, puzzle still incomplete. We drove home knowing that Mom, Linda, Sarah and Kris would continue to work on it. It was coming together after all. Several hours into the drive I received the following message on my phone from Sarah...
"Peace on Earth"
It looks perfect in the picture, but if you look really, really close you'll notice pieces missing. It was finished, but imagine the frustration. Duplicate peices, and them some missing. Stupid puzzle.
Then, imagine my surprise when I received this package a few days ago. What could it be?
What?????????????????
The Completed Puzzle
Apparently the missing pieces really bothered Linda. She went and bought another New Moon puzzle. Mom and Linda sifted through all the puzzle pieces to find the pattern on Edward's shirt. After trying only 5 pieces, it was over. DONE.
The best part- Linda took the second one back to the store (with duplicates from the first) and got her money back. HAHA!!!!!!!!!!
The puzzle is now sealed with mod podge. A card came with the package from Linda and it read "To the victor goes the spoils! You both worked so hard on this- Gabe almost obsessively! You deserve the trophy!"
Gabe celebrated his 26th birthday on January 6th. We had a date night just the two of us. Then came home and ate cake, a cake I made for him. I know-shocking. I usually always fail when baking anything other than break and bake cookies. Needless to say he was thrilled. (Notice the Wii remote not far from reach)
Then Saturday night we went out with friends to Maggianos. It was amazing. Good friends, good food!
And then Gabe sang. Our friend Scott told the hired singer in the bar that a professional opera singer was there celebrating his birthday. They offered the mic and how could he resist? He sang our song, Unchained Melody to us, and the entire restaurant. Priceless.
He is so wonderul and I am so lucky to be married to him!
If I had known 4 years ago how happy I would be today, I don't think I would have believed I could love him more. I've loved him for ten years. It just keeps getting better. Here's to a new decade. Makes me smile to think of all the things we've yet to experience. Happy Anniversary to my one and only!
We are high school sweethearts and have been married for six years. Gabe is an opera singer and I am nurse. This is a blog about Gabe's singing adventures and my craft endeavors. Family and friends are subject to exposure as well. Enjoy.
