Santa Barbara, 2010

I had a trip for work planned to SB this past week and I decided since David was off it would be great if we went together and he could visit his friend Heather. We had such a fun time. We stayed at the Hotel Mar-Monte, right next to the beach. The sound of the open air and ocean when the door was open on our patio just made you wish you had your own ocean to listen to!

We hung out and went to a great little place for breakfast one morning (awesome pancakes and waffles) and then went to the farmers market that evening and bought some amazing strawberries. We ate great mexican food, hung out with dear friends and met the cat that talked. We went for a run on the beach, went to Trader Joe's and ate pastacios.

The coffee was amazing, the local farmers fare fantastic and the friendship, priceless. I can't wait to go back to SB.

Moab 2010

We decided for our anniversary this year to head out to Moab, UT. We really had to go see the arches!

It's a really small town, with not a lot to do. But we were okay with that as the hiking was amazing and the arches really great. We had a ton of fun, and will probably be back this year. The 3 hour drive wasn't that bad!

Race day photos

To illustrate how cold it was on race day check out the photo with the garbage bags. Ha! You can see we had a great time taking photos with raf-i-ki and donkeys all along the way.

Honestly, Disney made the marathon fun with all the great things to see and do along the way. This time 26.2 miles didn't seem so bad!

Disney Marathon 2010

Yep, it's true. We braved the Disney Marathon 2010 this past weekend! Who would have thought that Florida would get colder than Colorado and snow while we're there? We definately didn't. Race day started at 2:45am and included buses, garbage bags (to block the 20 mph wind)and fireworks. It was a warm 27 degrees up until about the last hour of the race. We started at 5:50am and were definately on the lookout for additional clothing to layer on our already 3 layered pants and sweatshirts. Hats, gloves and scarves were a necessity. There were 25,000 runners and 22 aide stations. The water was freezing cold and actually created ice patches all along the race path.

We started our 26.2 mile journey at Epcot, then wound our way to the Magic Kingdom where Peter Pan's gang, Donald, Goofy, Minnie and a few other characters met us. Yes, you stop and take your picture with the characters along the way. How fun is that?! After the Magic Kingdom we wound around to the Animal Kindgom and Disney Studios. Our run ended at Epcot where you take a final lap around the countries walkway. It was the coolest race (literally) we've ever done. But it was a great run and worth the time. Even though we almost froze (and probably left with severe head colds), Disney is the way to go.

Happy Holidays!

May this next year bring your families much love and joy!

Brooke and David

NYC- Marathon 2009

Yes, this year David did the NYC marathon! It was so cool. We went to just have a great time in NYC (unfortunately before the tree was up....) and celebrate David's birthday in November. The marathon was the most intense we've seen thus far! He left on a bus from 40th and 5th Ave to arrive at Statten Island to sit for 4 hours to wait for the start of the race. I met him at mile 16 and we ran through Harlem together. It was pretty cool, considering we were there the day before at Sylvia's the fried chicken queen of the world! The day we visited Sylvia's is where I got my job offer at the new place while in Harlem's Foot Locker. AND we found a Starbuck cup that says Harlem. OMG... yes we had to buy it!

Of course we made our annual visit to Chesley market and bought some cibatta bread, bree cheese and some beverages (wine for Brooke and some caffeinated beverage for David). We then proceeded to Central Park where we watched the ice skaters and ate a lovely late lunch. At the same time, David had planned a surprise for me...a new ring to celebrate all the amazing things that have happend in the almost 4 years of marriage! To say the least, I was quite surprised, and Central Park will always hold a dear place in my heart.

We got a great place at the Hotel Buckingham on 6th Ave and 57th. Right down the street from Times Square and Central Park. We got great local advice on places to eat...and come to find out the old Hell's Kitchen area is where all the locals go. We spent 2 nights for dinner there, and to say the least, it was reasonably priced and GREAT food (not full of a bunch of tourists...just up our alley). We'll go back to Hell's Kitchen next time too!

All in all, NYC we'll be back for Christmas time hopefully next year.

Australia- Melbourne

After our trip to Sydney we went down to Melbourne for a few days to just relax. Of course we spent some great times with our friend Shannon. She was our designated tour guide, and she did a great job. We had lunch with friends, went shopping (Ashton found a great coat) and we found some cool picture spots. Melbourne is a bit more laid back than Sydney. melbourne seeems a bit more liberal!

We took a day trip up to a Wildlife Sanctuary and got to pet a kangaroo! We then did a few winery tours and tastings. All in all, our last day in Melbourne was quite relaxing. We even got a few bottles home to enjoy later.

Melbourne was such a great time and I really enjoyed the time with Ashton. It will be great to take David there next time.