This weekend

On Friday, I worked in Santa Fe. Eric and I drove up early in the morning. He dropped me off and went exploring for the day. That night we ate at the Shed in Santa Fe. Then we walked around the Plaza. It is getting pretty cold up there! I found a fur coat in one of the shops for $4000!

We stayed overnight and went to breakfast at the Broadway Cafe. Santa Fe always has interesting characters. We had some women sitting next to us with really outrageous hair cuts.

Lauren and Trish met us after breakfast at the Outlet mall. I stayed and shopped with them and Eric drove home. I got a lot of good deals! Then we went to Ten Thousand Waves and got massages. I didn't realize but New Mexicans get 25% off on Wednesday. We will have to go back again on a Wed! All of us really enjoyed our massages.

Last weekend

Last weekend I went to lunch with some friends. One of them has a baby that is adorable! She is even more cute in real life!

Eric and I went to Il Vicino on Central and this guy had his HUGE telescope out on the sidewalk. He was letting pedestrians look at Jupiter and the Moon. Jupiter had rings around it that you could actually see!

Jemez

Eric and I drove up to the Jemez again on Sunday. McDonald's used their power of advertising and sucked us in to buying Angus burgers for lunch. Although, the McD's in Bernalillo allows their cashiers to use curse words in spanish to each other when they are collecting your money at the drive up. The burgers were pretty tasty. We took some forest service roads (10) I think and we hiked a little, found some cows. We scared them though. They were right next to the truck but didn't move away until we started taking their picture. I guess they are camera shy. :)

Dinner with Friends

We had dinner with Eric's friends and their significant others on Saturday night. We went to the Elephant bar after dinner for drinks. The girls sat at one table while the boys sat at the other. Here is a pictures of the girls.Our prediction was that they talked about firefighting the whole time. Eric said that is ALL they talked about. While we talked about them, in-laws, kids, work, friends, shopping, Halloween, etc.

Gin Blossoms

Recently my favorite band from high school was in town. Luckily, Sabra liked them too so we went to see them for FREE at the NM State Fair. It was a 2 for 1 Tuesday and we got in for $4 each. Its funny but after their first album they really weren't all that great. The guy that wrote all of the songs for the first album killed himself before they made it big. I had seen them once before in AZ. Sabra and I ate delicious, outrageously expensive fair food. Then went to watch them. We got fairly close. We had fun listening to the band and screaming like we were in high school again!

Firestation

This is at Eric's station.

Zoo Visit

Andy, Jenny, and Christian came to visit this weekend. Christian is lots of fun. The first day they were here we went to the zoo. Mostly just to ride on the trains.

My suggestion is to get the All Park pass and you can ride both trains and go to the Abq Aquarium and Botanical Gardens. See post below for a link to the Zoo and to the Abq Aquarium.

Jonathan's Visit

Eric's cousin, Jonathan, came to work at Mary and Tito's for two weeks before school starts. He is 17 years old but he is 6'3". My neighbor thought he was 25. We took him to the California Pizza Kitchen. I think we were more excited about than he was. Eric was growing his mustache at the time.

One Month

Tomorrow will be our one month anniversary. So far marriage has been wonderful. The wedding ceremony and reception were tons of fun. It was wonderful to have our friends and family there with us to celebrate on our wedding day.

Our honeymoon was in Oahu. Our favorite parts were the helicopter ride and snorkeling. Oh and the delicious snowcones from Matsumoto's. They put vanilla ice cream at the bottom of the cone! Yum! We ate one FOUR days in a row. LOL.

Showers

Here are some slide shows my mom created from the pictures she took.

The boys and girls shower

The girls shower

Activities in NM

Places to visit and have fun:

Albuquerque Uptown - shopping

Ten Thousand Waves - Santa Fe

Site Santa Fe

The Tram

Albuquerque Zoo

Albuquerque Aquarium

Natural History Museum

Albuquerque Museum

Explora

Chow in the 505

My favorite places to eat in Albuquerque are the Flying Star, Mary and Tito's, and Dion's. Flying Star is a great breakfast, lunch, and dinner place. It has magazines you can read without purchasing and FREE wireless internet. Eric and I tried Starbucks once and sadly discovered you have to pay to use the wireless service. Dion's has great pizza, sandwiches, and subs. Mary and Tito's is Eric's grandma's restaurant.

- Flying star
- Dion's
- Mary and Tito's:
2711 4th Street NW
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 344-6266

Santa Fe is another place with amazing food. Good places to go are the Shed, Tomasita's, and Pronzo's.

Chase Smithson

Chase had a ballgame this weekend in Houston. We were not there of course, but Mindi sent the email Chase's coach had sent. In it he wrote,

" But Chase stole the show on the mound today as he came in to seal the win by holding the Astros to only 1 run in his pitching debut. It isn't easy to take the mound in the middle of a game,,,,especially when it is the first time you've ever pitched,,,,,but Chase looked mature, patient and methodical out there as he struck out a couple of the Astros better hitters. For his outstanding relief performance Chase was given today's game ball. Nice job Chase."

It was so wonderful having them in town. I miss them living here. Their cousins, Landrie and Jackson, probably like having them in Houston.

Phoenix

My mom and I went to Phoenix last weekend to shop for dresses. We stayed with Amy and her family which was lots of fun. Mary Ellen and my mom flew out on Friday morning. Conner came with the girls to pick me up at the airport Friday night.

He is the one in the picture eating his ice cream off his belly. Purple ice cream of course!

Cooper went shopping with us. With 4 girls we managed to pack his stroller full! (That is really his stroller.) I'm amazed that our bags filled it up! It was a productive trip for all of us! :)

My cousins

My cousins and I were in our cousin Katy's wedding a year and a half ago. This is a picture of Mindi, Lindsey, and I getting ready. They will be bridesmaids in the wedding. I called Mindi today and her daughter Savannah answered her phone. I guess Mindi left her phone. Savannah was playing on the computer. She says she misses us.

Andy's new girlfriend

My brother's girlfriend, Jenny, flew in yesterday. Eric and I went to meet her last night. We had a good time. They both seem very happy! Here is a picture of all of us. Looks like we haven't quite gotten to know each other just yet. (We are sitting so far apart.)

Bridesmaids

Here are some of the beautiful bridesmaids that will be in the wedding. I will add more posts as I get them.
Clockwise beginning top left: Drea Pressley, Jennifer Vosburgh, Courtney Ray, and Savannah Benton.

Wedding Website

I made a wedding website for Eric and I but you have to pay for the 'premium' service. On the website the have an area for the wedding party. I asked all of the girls in our bridal party to send me a picture. Some did so I thought I would use this space to introduce them. The wedding website is http://www.ewedding.com/ . You have to look for us by name.

The bridesmaids are: Jennifer Vosburgh, Sabra Medina, Drea Pressley, Mindi Smithson, Lindsey Goss, Savannah Benton, and Courtney Ray.

The groomsmen so far are: Paul Dow, Mike Palmer, Jordan Knight, Travis Knight, and Andy Benton.

Eric's 3rd baby

Eric doesn't really like being in the alarm room. He actually does very well and has delieverd a total of 3 babies over the phone! He has been on the news all three times. Click on the link for the latest broadcast http://kob.com/article/stories/S353652.shtml?cat=516 After the first baby, Eric was actually on the news and they interviewed him. The city council gave Eric and the paramedics that arrived after the baby was born an award.

Wedding Info

We have been busy with our wedding plans. Well mostly I have been busy and I drag Eric to taste the cakes and give me his opinion on things. He wants to go to Hawaii for our Honeymoon which is good with me. Eric and I looked online last night at hotels in Hawaii. We found one on Oahu that looks wonderful. It is called Turtle Bay resort. My favorite part is that the hotel is not in the city. It is on the north shore of the island and away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The website is www.turtlebayresort.com.
So far we have found the location. You can look online at www.lafondsantafe.com. It is a beautiful hotel on the Plaza in Santa Fe. Our ceremony will be at the La Terraza patio and the reception will be in the reception room next to the patio.

First Blog

Well I just looked at Suzie's blog and decided to write her a note. Then I had to make up an account to be able to write her a note so I decided to make one up.
The picture at the top is after Eric proposed at the St. Francis cathedral in Santa Fe. He is an amazing, wonderful man and I'm so happy that Amanda introduced us. Where would I be without such wonderful friends?