Blizzard # 2

As I am sure most of you are quite aware, Denver was hit again this week by a blizzard! That makes 2 in 1 week. Goodness. Luckily Brooke made it out of Denver last Friday for her trip back to Wichita. We both made it back safe and sound this past Tuesday. Only to find out we'd get to spend lots of time together trapped inside! At least this time I wasn't all alone, with the cats.
We hope the snow finds it's way to your doorstep soon! Make sure you have a shovel handy.

Merry Christmas!!!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year! Let's hope that Brooke get's out of Denver today so she can spend some time with family. Here's our tree and the gingerbread house we so painstackingly put together!! And of course, our santa, Gracie. She loves her shoe strings!

Rudolph's Revenge

So we are running a winter series race in the Denver area. The first was December 16, 2006 at Chatfield Lake. It was a 5K/10K. David and I did the 1oK (that would be 6.2 miles). The next one is January something, and the final one is in February. January is a 5 mile/10 mile and February is a 10 mile/20 mile run. Trying to stay focused to maybe do another 1/2 marathon or a full one this next year. Or maybe concur a few 14ers! We had company with us for the run... Celina from my work and Anne a friend of ours. WOO WHOO! Way to go! And what gorgeous weather we had. Here's to the crazy world of running. I think we may get addicted.

Adventure Blizzard

And no, I'm not talking about a DQ blizzard, I'm talking about 3 feet of snow in Denver blizzard! It started this past Tuesday night and didn't stop until noon today, Thursday. So, I have been locked in the house while David is in Omaha visiting family and friends. The cats and I have watched John Tucker Must Die and Little Miss Sunshine. I would definately recommend them both, but if you're not into chick flicks... John Tucker may not be for you.

I went up to the club house this afternoon as the sun was out and I needed to be somewhere other than my couch! The snow that had been shoveled on the side walk was up to to my hips. Yeah. There's a lot of snow. DIA is shut down until tomorrow at noon. My flight out isn't until 1:20 so I am hoping that means I get out in time for the Christmas season! There were like 500,000 passengers stranded because of the DIA shutting down.

Here are some pictures so you can see all the fun we're having!

More pictures from Europe

As requested... here are a few more pics from our recent trip over the ocean!

Streets in Paris


Big Ben in London

Buckingham Palace


Other random photos!

Adventure Madrid, November 23-26

Remember to ask us about the rain. I swear it never stopped. Madrid was by far the most city with stories to follow. If you get the chance ask us about Vueling and Iberia airlines... especially getting out of Madrid. They didn't want us to get on the plane. Our hotel was about a 2 minute walk from prostitute alley. Don't ask how.
More like why. Mom, dad and Ashton met us in Madrid on Thanksgiving day. It was great having more familiar faces around us... especially considering that we didn't have very good luck with anyone speaking English. At least they pretended not to be able to. Our very rough Spanish turned out to be very handy down the road.
We did manage to almost get ourselves kicked out of a resturant (the one pictured here... Lizarrian)... they obviously didn't get it that we didn't want the food they brought out. Merely a language barrier. Tell that to the waitress that almost threw the plate of chicken at Ashton. Great start to our trip in Madrid!
We ate great food... tapas and sangria were the best to be had. Cheap leather shoes and purses, a must have. Madrid's metro station was the nicest thus far and very much like the one in London. By the time David and I are home we should be ready for the light rail in Denver!
We had a great time with the family. I don't know that we'll venture back to Madrid, but at least we have a stamp on our passport!

Adventure Rome, November 21-23

Ahh Rome! Needless to say, it does have some of the Italy flare we all expect. Luckily only one of our suitcases got lost (Brooke's) from the flight from Paris to Rome. But it came later that evening. We were about a 10 minute walk from Trevi fountain and the main shopping center for tourists! Gleato, margherita pizzas and vino... boy did we have fun.
The weather... partly rainy with some sun. Luckily we had more sun in Rome than in Paris and London. That was by sheer luck I am sure.
While in Rome we experienced the Metro, not as advanced as Paris and London, but functional. We visited the Collisuem (Gladiator style), Vatican and a few mom and pop resturants where the pasta was fresh, the bread fantastic and the wine to die for! All in all, Rome was a great adventure.

So far... so good! London and Paris

We successfully made it to London last Friday. Needless to say, we have had one good day in each city and the other has been all rain. I guess it can't be perfect all the time! We've eaten good food, bought some crazy gifts and seen beautiful scenary.

In London, the family's house is very nice... considering it's a London home. Nice and big with lots of bathrooms. The cats are well inducted into the house and the family is doing quite nicely. They live about 5 minutes walk from Abbey road... where the Beatle's took that famous picture. I guess tourists stop traffic daily to try and take their own pictures. Wierd.

Paris has been good so far. We leave for Rome in the morning. Hopefully our crazy cab service won't show up. Long story you'll have to ask about sometime. I booked us a great little place about 5 minutes from Nortre Dam and 10 minutes from the Louvre. Although, it is in the gay district. We were informed of that last night while buying some wine to bring home. All in all it's been a good place.

More tales about our journey yet to come.

A beautiful Denver morning...

For those of you who haven't had the chance to see a mountaintop morning here is a quick few of the sunrise we had yesterday morning. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it gives you a good idea. It was the most extreme colors of reds and purples I've yet to see. Sometimes you just have to sit back and go... ahhh.

Denver Marathon 2006

For those of you anciously awaiting to hear if we actually did the marathon... the time has come! David and I both completed our first marathon ever this past Sunday. It was a great time... definately harder than either of us imagined, but not as bad as we thought. The last 4 miles were definately the moment of truth. Without a goal in mind we never would've finished! There should be pictures out on the website in the next few days. If you go to denvermarathon.com and look up numbers 1411 and 1412 we should be there. Yippee!!!

Pocono Mountains

Have you ever tried to find your way around New York City's Manhattan without directions and a very non-detailed map? Well, we decided to add that to our list, not on purpose of course. Last weekend we ventured from Long Island up to Deleware's Pocono Mountains. Rush hour NY traffic all the way there made the typical 2 hour trip take 7. Plus I got us lost a few times. Needless to say, once we were there, the cabin was great with a little waterfall in the back. I think we both slept the most we've ever slept at one time both nights we stayed at the Martinville Cottages. We found a great candle factory there where they had the old school barrels full of candy. Gummy snakes, worms, chicken's feet, bears and cinnamon dollars here we come!

At the end of our trip we met our friends Oliver and Isabel in Manhattan's infamous Chelsey Market... one of my fav places in the whole wide world! While there we saw Rachael Ray and Larry King... you can never pass up celeb sightings! Needless to say, having a loft above Chelsey Market would be incredible. As Oliver says, you'd have a fresh grocery store in your basement. Overall it was a good trip... we learned a lot on this one and needless to say will probably never find ourselves without directions or a map ever again.

Labor Day trip to Keystone

Keystone and Baseline Slops. We took the 1 1/2 hour drive up to Keystone on Saturday for the night. It is gorgeous up there. We rented mountain bikes on Sunday and biked up to Frisco, about 5 miles from Keystone. There we found a frisbee golf course!!! The first nice one we've found in Colorado thus far. As for the course, there was one that you had to throw over the water. Mine didn't make it over, it made it into the water. David being the good sport that he is...went into the water to fetch it out. It was a good time. It's always so nice to get out of town for awhile and have nothing to do. The trip was much needed, but as always, it's good to be home. Next stop... New York's Pocono Mountains. Pictures to come soon.

London

We decided to try the whole getting a fish thing last week. When the family moved to London, we took my mom's betta fish tank... a cylinder vase with some red marbles in the bottom that has a fitted top with holes in it. You can grow a plant out of it and then the betta lives inside the vase. It's really neat, actually. So we bought London, our Crown Betta. Instead of solid fins, he has fins that look like they are shredded so when he puffs up, he has a crown. Check out this website for info on Crown Betta's... London is blue with red fins.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=844

Trip to Boulder

We took a trip up to Boulder a few weekends ago for a couple of hours. David was interviewed by the local news, thanks to our friend Oliver. What he was asked exactly, we're still not sure. We had some good sushi, sake, chocolate covered carmel apples and laughs. Always a good time in Boulder.

Denver Midnight Ride

David finished the Denver Midnight Ride this weekend with his clients Pat, Anne and Rod. It was a 15 mile "race" through downtown Denver that started at 11:30 pm. Needless to say, one slight crash and a few good laughs made the night a memorable experience! Pictures to follow soon.

Half Marathon Pictures.. for those of you interested!

If you want to see some pics from the 1/2 marathon we did... check these out! Here's a link for the Georgetown 1/2 in Idaho Springs... look up bib number 2035. That is David's... but we're both in the picture. http://www.verismile.com/mp_includes/index.asp

Here are a few other ones, curtesy of our dear friends, Isabel and Oliver.

Trip back to Omaha

We went back to Omaha to see the family off to London. Mom, dad and Ashton are leaving today for their 2 year treck across the pond. Hopefully we'll be there to join them for Thanksgiving this year. How cool is that... Thanksgiving in Europe? Well, they don't celebrate it there, but still, it'll be cool to go somewhere fun for the holiday!

Completed 1/2 Marathon

Well, we offically finished our first 1/2 marathon together! It was a great experience to have together and is definately a motivator for our full marathon here in Denver on October 15, 2006. Let us know if you are interested in joining us for our marathon...we can always use runners to help run pieces of the race with us! 2, 4, 6 miles or whatever you can handle.

The half marathon...

For those of you who have not heard yet... we are planning to run in the annual Georgetown 1/2 marathon this coming Saturday. That's right, 13.1 miles. Georgetown is in Idaho Springs, about 30 minutes from Denver. If you are in the neighborhood and want to cheer us on, stop on by between 8 and 10:30 am. We'll be the tired ones =).

The cats

So, we have 2 cats.. Gracie and Scuttle. Scuttle is 12 and Gracie is 1 1/2. They love to fight and destroy the house. As you can see.. Gracie is the evil looking one. She encountered her first dog this past weekend. She wasn't quite sure about Spencer, but decided he was pretty cool after all. Scuttle did the usual... she hid in the closet.

Decorating

David and I went to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival this past weekend. Lots of cool paintings and art work.... but neither of us could understand how you pay that much for a bunch of splotchy paintings. So... being the crazy creative one that I am, I made a trip to Michaels and bought some canvas, paint brushes and acrylic paint. My next task is to create some really fun paintings for the house. The one is almost done, and I am hoping that my efforts are not in total vain. Pictures to be posted soon.

Lovin' Colorado

It is finally summer here and the weather is AWESOME! We are so excited to get out and go camping soon.... there are fantastic camping sites all around the mountain range. If any of you are in the mood to come and camp with us... just let us know! We have a tent big enough for 20. Yes, you read that right, 20. We hope to see you soon!

Reception at Kathy's

Kathy had a shower for us (my old boss at First Data) on Saturday, April 29. It was such a lovely shower.. friends and more friends came to support us and bid us good luck! It is so great being married, and we are so blessed by your support! Thank you for all you have done to be apart of our lives together.

My other job...

Just in case I haven't shared with you my newest adventure, I have started my own Mary Kay business on the side! So... if any of you are in need of a consultant, or would like a free facial and makeover, send me an email, or check out my own website: www.marykay.com/brookerenae. I'd love to do a facial on all of you (and besides, what female doesn't love to play around with new make-up?!)!!

Brooke

Bridal Shower

I didn't realize how fun bridal showers could be until I had one thrown for me. My dear co-workers, Carolyn and Maggie, organized and held a very sweet and dear shower. The gifts were awesome and the fellowship priceless. Thank you ladies, family and friends who've sent gifts and cards... your thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Brooke and David

Registry

We decided to register at the following places...

Pottery Barn and Linen's N Things. We are planning on getting to Target this weekend, so add that to the list as well!

the cake and flowers

Here is our wedding cake (with a box of tea) and my flowers.

The rings

Here is a picture of our rings... for those of you waiting to see them!

Our wedding day

As you may know, David and I decided to get married on February 11, 2006. We decided there was no reason to wait until October, so we went up to Estes Park and were married on Saturday afternoon. I wore a cream sweater and khaki skirt... he wore black slacks and a green shirt. It was very simple, yet very much our style! What a relief to not have to plan a big wedding anymore. We are so excited to get our lives started together.

We stayed at a cabin called the Solitude Cabins. Wow! Were they amazing! Fairly new, and 2 stories... for a very cheap price. It made me wish we could buy something in the mountains and just live up there forever. But I don't think that would work right now. We bought some flowers (2 gerber daisies) and an ice cream cake (for our wedding cake). A local judge came to our cabin at 4:30 p.m. and performed the ceremony. It's definately different being married, but definately worth it!

All our love to you all... Brooke and David Page-Thompson

Friends are hard to come by

Amazing to me is the fact that friends come and go at very key moments in your life. David and I have both realized that maintaining true friends is sometimes harder than it seems. But life changes, and so do the people you allow into your life. All good changes, but sometimes hard to do. It's hard to see friendships you may have held so dear fad away. But amazing to me is the fact that dear friendships tend to go through cycles and change. You may loose contact for years, but then something happens to rekindle that friendship and you pick up where you last left off.

Two dear friends I have made since moving to Colorado have been my lifeline and saving grace this last year. To them, I owe my sanity.