5 Years Ago Today...

Laurie and Mike in the backyard with our Bailey dog

The wedding party at Christ Chapel:

Kelly, Clint, Laurie, Mike, Steve and Kelly

Mike and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary today: we received our anniversary blessing at church, went to Costco and ran some errands (just like every other married couple does on a Sunday), worked in the yard, and then went to the Josh Turner/Carrie Underwood concert. Here are a couple of photos from our big day in 2003.

Conor Gets Baptised!

Pastor Steve and Conor

Conor with his beautiful Mom, Samia, and proud Dad, James

Pastor Sandy holds Conor while the congregation welcomes our newest brother in faith.

Samia and James' son, Conor, is now 8 months old, and was baptised on Sunday morning. I think it's funny that part of the prayer following the baptisms at our church includes: "May Conor grow up to be a great man of faith" and, at the end, "Please welcome our newest brother in faith." I don't know why that strikes me as funny, but it does. I guess it's better than saying, "Take a look at the purest little Conor may be in his whole life...from a faith perspective, it's all downhill from here." Anyway, after we welcomed Conor as our new brother in faith, we suitably celebrated with mimosas and brunch at his house while he took a nap.

Happy Birthday Sue!

Sue's possible birthday wishes:

Win the lottery;

Successfully launch a "Boo for President" campaign;

Move to Napa and open a winery.

Mike opened his birthday gift, too.

Sue and Knox

Laurie and Mike

We were fortunate enough to be invited to celebrate Sue's birthday with her and Knox at Chandler's on Saturday night. It's great to have friends with whom we have so much in common, but mostly a great love for good wine and good food. Happiest birthday to you, Sue!

File This Under: "It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time"

On Saturday, Hank and I ran the Famous Idaho Potato half-marathon. I signed us up in early April, when our long weekend runs were routinely 10 miles or longer. Then, I went on vacation. I missed 3 long runs...we were in Mexico for 2 Saturdays, and then Las Vegas for a Saturday. During that 3-week period, I only ran 4 short runs in Mexico and a 3-mile run back in Boise. The temperatures on the day of the race were hot...warming to the mid-80s by the end of the run. Luckily, the run went right by our house, so I was able to drop Hank off after 9.5 miles...it was a little too warm for our pup to finish all 13 miles. My friend, Win, and I finished in 2:22. While it wasn't technically a PR, we spent over 3 minutes dropping Hank off, and his GPS clocked the race just shy of 13.4 miles...they had to reroute several portions because the Boise River has been running over its banks...so it was "kind of" a PR. I felt great on Saturday, but man, was I sore on Sunday and Monday! For my next half-marathon, I think I'll actually use a training program of, get this, RUNNING...not tequila drinking. For photos of the run, click on this link and type in my bib number: 686.

http://www.backprint.com/view_event.asp?pid=bp%18%7ED&eventid=38117

Vegas, Baby!

Laurie, Mike, Knox, Sue, Wendy and John

Wendy and John at the pool

Knox and Sue at the pool

Mike in the pool...too bad that he doesn't know how to relax!

For the second time in 6 weeks, Mike and I made a quick to Las Vegas. This time, we were there to celebrate birthdays...Mike's birthday, Wendy's birthday, and Sue's birthday. We spent several hours at the pool in some great chaise lounges that were in the water. On Friday night, we attended Bon Appetit's Vegas Uncorked Sip and Stroll event at Caesar's Palace. This was the second year the food magazine sponsored an event in Las Vegas...and the Sip and Stroll was fantastic. Over 100 top-rated restaurants with delectable food samples, wine tastings, premium liquor tastings, and lots of elbow-rubbing with many of the best known chefs: Wolfgang Puck, Cat Cora, Guy Savoy, Daniel Boulud, who were all just mingling with the crowd! We may make this an annual event.



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Trip to Zihuatanejo

Mike and I just returned from an 8-day trip to sunny Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Zihua, as it is known by the locals, is situated on the Pacific Ocean between Puerto Vallarta and Acapaulco. Zihua is an old, established fishing village that has maintained a great deal of its history, character and charm, despite the more touristy Ixtapa developing just over the northern hills on the neighboring bay. The people were so friendly and helpful, and particularly accommodating when we were fumbling over our Spanish. We had a great trip!

Amuleto = Muy Bien

At the Club Intrawest before leaving for dinner.

Amuleto is located on the hill in the background, just over Mike's right shoulder.

The dining room is perched above the infinity edge pool, which is perched on the side of the hill.

I have no idea what "Amuleto" actually means in Spanish, but we had a wonderful dinner there our last night in Zihua. Amuleto is a small boutique hotel and restaurant high above the Zihua harbor. There are only 6 tables in the outdoor garden setting. We watched the fishing boats return to the harbor while the sun set into the Pacific Ocean. Not only was the view spectacular, the food was amazing -- the best meal we've had in a long, long time.

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere

On the boardwalk in downtown Zihua

Cerveza in the Pool

Cerveza y margarita in the pool

In Mexico, no matter where you are, it seems as though there is always another cerveza or margarita just waiting to quench your thirst. We particularly liked the swim-up bar in the hotel's pool. They also introduced us to a new favorite summer drink: the Paloma...tequila, lime juice and Squirt. Muy satisfying!

Mike's Birthday Dinner

For Mike's birthday, we went to dinner at La Casa Que Canta...the hotel where they filmed "When a Man Loves a Woman" with Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia. The restaurant was rated the best restaurant in Mexico and Central America by Conde Naste magazine. The food and the service were perfecto.

Mike Turns the Big 4-0!

Miguel y Jorge, the bracelet maker

Elyon serenades Mike with "Happy Birthday" on the trumpet

Our vacation friends: Mike, Laurie, Eileen, John, Melissa and Brian

What a great way to spend a birthday! We got up, went for a run on the boardwalk, had fresh pastries and coffee in the room for breakfast, headed down to the beach to celebrate with friends, Mike had a beachside massage, and there were plenty of birthday drinks to toast Mike's Mexican-style 40th birthday.

Happy birthday, Miguel!

What Humidity?

Curly hair + Humidity = You look like this in the morning...EVERY morning.

Another Low-Key Day

Mike on the balcony after our morning run

View from the lounge chairs...looking into Zihua harbor

View from the lounge chairs...looking south

Mike, Luis (the jeweler) and Laurie

After I purchased a ring and Mike purchased some silver cuff links from Luis, he insisted that we get a photo in front of the picture of Sir Paul McCartney, who visited Zihua in the '70s. He is pictured behind us with Alberto, the original owner and jeweler at the store. Alberto's son now owns the business.

A Day Out of the Sun

Camarones Molcajete at Bandido's

We ate molcajete shrimp or mahi mahi three times while we were in Zihua. It is SO delicious! Fresh seafood in a tomato stew with grilled peppers and onions and cheese. Muy bien.

La Comercial Mexicana: Mexico's version of Wal-Mart.

La Comercial is Zihua's "super mercado" -- you can get anything there...food, socks, shirts, generators, ladders, TVs...you name it, they will sell it to you. It's interesting to see the poverty that surrounds La Comercial and, although it is situated on the outskirts of town, the turistas and nationales alike flock to La Comercial. We visited twice to stock up on cerveza, tequila and agua purificada. The most surprising part: they sell Kirkland-brand products. It looks like Costco is expanding south of the border.

After several days in the hot sunshine and mild sunburns, Mike and I spent most of the third day shopping in downtown Zihua. We did venture out on the beach for dinner...and snapped this photo using the self-timer...only to realize about 30 minutes later that we had left the camera in the sand near the table we set it on to snap this photo. Luckily, the camera was still there when we went back to find it.

Another "Tough" Day in Mexico

The Love Boat sailed in overnight and anchored in the harbor for several hours.

Love the infinity pool!

We spent so much time in the pool on the second day, we both ended up with sunburns.

Dinner at Kau Kan near our hotel.

Mike had the mahi mahi. I had the shrimp and lobster stuffed potato. Muy bien.

Welcome to Zihuatanejo!

After hours and hours of traveling, we finally make it to the beach...

just in time to witness a wedding!

Dinner at Bandido's...when we discover the molcajete mahi mahi.