Piqued

This update is a bit late because we got in late the last couple of nights after seeing fireworks.

On Sunday we spent the morning watching some sermons from Mars Hill Church in Seattle, pastored by Mark Driscoll.  I discovered the church several years back through their excellent online repository of video sermons.  Pastor Mark is an excellent speaker with good theology and who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.  He’s got a series titled The Peasant Princess on Song of Solomon which is fantastic for married couples, and I’d say is right up there with the best dedicated marriage seminars in depth and relevance.  I highly recommend it for married couples to watch together, although it’s not a bad series for singles, either.

After watching a couple messages from that series (along with some more Masterchef Australia…) we went on a relaxed walk around East Vail.  It’s actually been getting pretty warm lately, so we didn’t stay out too long.

continue reading…

After the workout yesterday, we had no plans for today until this evening and planned to spend most of it just hanging around the condo.

I slept in rather late and Teri spent the morning doing some work and totaling up our expenses for the trip so far.  Once I got up, we scrambled some eggs for breakfast and began a roughly 4 hour marathon of Masterchef Australia.  We’ve come to respect the cooks on that show a lot, especially after some of the more insane challenges.  Definitely more to it than Masterchef US.

Anyway, Teri didn’t sleep as well as I did and decided to take a nap this afternoon.  I was a bit antsy so I decided to go for a hike while she slept.  I chose a trail near us that follows Big Horn Creek.  It was a neat change of scenery being on the South-facing slope, with less dense growth and a neat variety of plants.

continue reading…

Today was a beautiful day with no inclement weather, so we decided to make the most of a gondola lift ticket and descend the mountain on foot and on bike, as well as have dinner on the peak.  We’re exhausted now, but had a great time and the weather was perfect.  I’ll let photos do most of the talking today.

continue reading…

After yesterday’s excitement, I didn’t think today’s post would be nearly as interesting.  Turns out I was wrong.

After a decent night’s sleep, we breakfasted at our condo and decided to spend a leisurely day walking around Vail without anything specific planned.  Summer in Vail is gorgeous and we looked forward to enjoying the cool weather and lush environment.  Free garage parking in summer is a nice perquisite, too.

We got there pretty early, before many places had opened, and were able to take in the town without much other activity to distract us. 

Vail had a snowy winter and the excess snow melt has made the river very strong.  Sandbags were a common sight along the lower parts of the river.

continue reading…

After being married for nearly five months, my wife Teri and I have finally taken a week off from work to go on our honeymoon.  Spring is a busy time at both of our workplaces, so we thought we’d wait until we really needed a vacation.  It couldn’t have come at a better time, with VBS just finished for Teri and a major project at National Instruments completing for me.

After considering destinations as diverse as British Columbia and Bali, we finally settled on a more modest but nevertheless beautiful destination: Vail, CO.  We found a great deal on a condo there and looked forward to escaping the heat.  In an effort to save money and maximize our time in Colorado, we opted for the earlier of the two direct Southwest flights to Denver…departing at 6:05 AM.

We awoke this morning at 3 AM, showered and ate a bit of breakfast.  Neither of us were particularly happy to be up this early, but were excited to begin our vacation.  At 4:30, we loaded up our car and headed to the person’s house who had agreed to drive us to the airport.

continue reading…