Katie & Todd Blake

A is for anniversary! And also because the California Adventures letters have no B for Blake... Because guess what this last weekend was? Todd and I's first anniversary! And we went to disneyland! As you are about to see in this photo journey, Disney plays a big part in the story of our love...

A long time ago (or October 2007), my dear roomie Sarah Mary let me tag along on her Disneyland trip. You can probably spot Todd's smiling face amongst the group. He's a big fan of Disney and for the past three years had organized an annual trip. I don't know if it was the magic of Halloween at Disney, but we were smitten. He held my hand on the Haunted Mansion Ride and the rest is history...

One year later, after the best wedding ever (yes, seriously, it was the best), I introduced Todd to the Disney of the South... Disney World! After our honeymoon cruise, we had a few extra days that we were able to spend in Disneyworld. We bought our first Christmas ornament as a married couple there. It, of course, had Mickey and Minnie on top. We wore our Bride and Groom mouse ears all over and basked in the newlywed glow!

One year later, we were deciding how to celebrate our big anniversary, and it just seemed natural to return to our roots :) Because it was also my birthday weekend, we brought along the whole crew to celebrate with us! Disneyland at halloween is my favorite! They go all out with the decorations and there are pumpkins everywhere! It was way less crowded than I expected (thank heavens it wasn't UEA...) and we went on every ride we wanted. It was a perfect weekend!

And because I find us too adorable for words, here's a last picture of us in all our anniversary/disneyland bliss!
Thanks for reading!

For those of you who have never experienced the fair, I have to say that you are missing out. Flashing lights, sweet-smelling foods, animals of all shapes and sizes; it’s a cornucopia for the senses.

Our first visit to the fair was quite the event. We had already attended the Strawberry Days rodeo in my home town a couple of months earlier, so it seemed only natural to go to the STATE fair. Not only would there be all the food and events we could handle, but our cousin Maddie had a quilt on display that was getting rave reviews. The whole event was defiantly something there worth seeing.














The fair has so much going on that it is bound to appeal to everyone in some way. For me, it’s the food and the rodeo. For Katie, it’s the uber-furry animals. Honestly, when she discovered that there were plushy-soft animals on display, she was almost overcome with the cuteness of it all. Most the animals were kept in pens with big signs saying, “Don’t pet the animals. They may bite.” Though this was distressing to Katie, occasionally one would be laying next to the front of the cage and its’ fur would be pushed between the wires. This allowed Katie to touch and pet without getting in trouble. However, this also gave her the courage to stick her fingers inside the cages to pet the extra-furry critters that were close enough to reach. She really is quite the rebel when adorable little animals are involved.

A year later, we went back… this time as newly-weds and veteran fairgoers. Katie gussied herself up by curling her hair and donning some smokin’ hot jeans. I threw on a mother-of-pearl button shirt and a leather belt with a huge buckle. We were quite the couple; not so extreme that we stood out, but not so tame that we didn’t make a statement. We were perfect.

We indulged in everything we could find. Again we saw (and voted for) Mattie’s quilt, petted the plushy animals, and looked at the incredible horticultural wonders of the event. We even put Katie in a shark tank. More important than that, however, was the sampling of all the great food. Slow-churned ice cream, barbecued beef brisket, and roast corn-on-the-cob were just a handful of the culinary masterpieces available to us. It was awesome!

Now, I love the Wild West. The cowboys, horses, and getting off spectacular hip shots, it’s all magical to me. However, three broken arms have made me leery of anything too extreme, including the mechanical bull. I’ve always wanted to ride one, but never had the guts… until this year. With Katie operating the camera and eating slow churned ice cream at the same time, I gave the operator my money, climbed up on the beast, and told him to, “turn it loose!” I rode like a pro, even if only for a couple of seconds. The thrill was so great that I didn’t even notice falling off and burning my arm. I didn’t care, I was a cowboy. And I kind of think Katie was impressed by it too.

Honestly, there is just something about the state fair that is quite mesmerizing. Maybe it’s the abundant population of downy-soft animals that even though you are forbidden to pet, you deem it worth the risk to gently pet them. Perhaps it the way the sweet smell of cotton candy and funnel cakes swirl together with the hickory smoked BBQ, causing your mouth to water and your mind to drift away. Regardless of what it is, you can multiply that joy by 10 when you are there with someone you love. I don’t think there’s a cowboy or girl that would argue with that, especially not us.

What's better than getting a paid trip to New York City? How about getting to spend it with your incredibly cool brother-in-law? Yes, Katie and I got to go to New York for my job's annual business conference, and while we were there Matt happened to be doing an internship for PC Magazine. Thanks to him we were able to see all of the best sites New York had to offer without spending most of our time trying to navigate the labyrinths of city streets or spending a mountain of money on "two bit" attractions. I think it's fair to warn you that this is a hefty blog entry!

Our adventure began on Friday evening. Katie had gotten in the night before and I was going on my second night in the city. My time up until then had mostly been spent in meetings and training seminars. Thankfully, however, Matt came to my rescue and showed me around the town a bit. By the time Katie came to town we were well seasoned veterans of the New York City streets...and we were looking to get the party started.


That night there was a cooperate dinner and party planned for all the employees and their guests. It was an old west theme; compete with cowboy hats, bandannas, and sheriff badges with our individual names on them. It was great. There was mounds of barbecued meat everywhere and western dressed waitresses that were bringing us a never-ending supply of Diet Coke and Ginger Ale. In fact, Matt "the baddest gun in the west" Reichman caught the eye of our love-struck waitress without even trying. Some guys make it look so effortless.



The next day we spent looking at the inner-city sites. I was particularly excited because we went to the New York Metropolitan Museum; the same place where the Ghostbusters got their start. In case you didn't notice, the table I'm sitting at is the same one Dr. Spengler was listening to with stethoscope when Peter Venkman slammed a book it. I was so excited I could barely keep from suddenly bursting with childish glee. It was one of the best moments of the trip, though we did have to be quiet while we took the picture. We were in a library, after all.


Our next adventure was to head across town to see the Manhattan, New York Temple. Honestly, if Matt hadn't have been there to point it out to us, we may have missed it. It's located in the middle of a very urban area which tends to hide it from view. Once we got a little closer, however, we could see the temple spire with the statue of Moroni gleaming in the sun. It was a sight for sore eyes. We entered the temple and mostly looked around in the lobby, but the most impressive part was how quite it was. The building is located on the corner of a busy intersection but it was so quiet inside that talking louder than a whisper seemed too excessive. It truly was a world unto itself.


That evening we spent underneath the bright lights of the big city. Matt had secured us some tickets to see the Broadway show "The Little Mermaid." The classic Disney movie was now a theater play, complete with the classic songs and a couple new ones. Before we went in we stopped by Toys R Us and each got a gigantic sack of candy, so we were well prepared for the show. The play was great and I was happy to see that Ursula still gets it in the end...even on Broadway!



That night we walked around Time Square searching for the best souvenirs. After some searching (and putting up with some very ornery Middle-Eastern store owners) we found the perfect items: A Christmas tree ornament, a key chain license plate with the name "Blake" engraved on it, and an I 'heart' NYC t-shirt. We don't have pictures of those, but your more than welcome to visit us and take a look at them.


Sunday we traveled where millions of immigrants had traveled before us: the Statue of Liberty. It was incredible. I never really imagined how cool the iconic statue is until we were chugging into the harbor. I can't say if I've had any ancestors who had crossed that way, but that didn't matter. I still felt some sort of connection to the ol' gal.
















After getting back on the main land, we made our way down town On our way there, we came upon a sandwich shop named Blake & Todd. Katie squeed with delight, She demanded I take a picture next to the sign. What she didn't know is that I already had many second hand encounters with the resturant seeings as they marked their goods on my jobs website. My co-workers loved to point the fact out when I was first hired on. So, needless to say, taking a picture with the cause of so much lame jokes wasn't exactly cool by me. But, It's katie was to excited to say 'no' to. We took our pictures and headed to Rockafeller Plaza. It was pretty neat, but it had been raining most of the day and Tina Fey was nowhere in sight, so we decided to head indoors. The lumanecent glow of the ESPN Store attracted Matt's and my attention like moths to a flame. That place had everything. Honestly, I think Matt and I could have played Hoop-it-up all day. The funny think was Katie didn't even mind. I though that was kind of funny until I saw the gigantic bobblehead of Yao Ming standing in the middle of the store. In case you didn't know, Katie has an odd crush on the 7' 6" chinaman, so in return for letting us play in the store she wanted a picture with him. I wasn't too jelous, but that hasn't kept me from wondering if she keeps that picture under the bed somewhere.


You know, I think that if we were to visit New York City again, we would do it exactly the way we did it the first time. It was a great vacation. We really got to see a lot of what the city has to offer in the couple of days we were there. If you ever find yourself looking to go to New York City and would like some advice about where to go, be sure to drop us a line. We may not be as good as Matt, but we'll be happy to point you in the right direction.

Almost one year ago to the day, Katie and I had our first date as an engaged couple. The adventure was to go canoeing up at Mirror Lake. This time, however, we wouldn't just go up for the day. We would actually be spending the night. We were goin'campin'.


Though I would have presumed Katie to be a very outdoorsy type of girl (she does drive a Suburu WITH a 'Life is Good' bumper sticker) she told me that she really isn't that big a fan. My philosophy is that those who don't like camping just haven't done it the right way. So, we loaded up the canoe and set off for the weekend into the High Uinta mountains of Utah.











We left just after work on Friday, so by the time we made it to the camp grounds they were full. We ended up driving for over an hour (and almost into Wyoming) before we found a spot. Thankfully, however, it ended up being a fantastic place! It was dark when we got there, so we had to do our camp setup and cooking by lantern light. But, thanks to the a little elbow-grease, we had everything done relatively fast. Katie made the best foil dinner I've ever eaten, and we had about 4 inches of padding for our bed that night. I think it was a combination of the full stomachs, plush bedding, and the little stream next to our tent that helped us to sleep so well.












We woke up in the morning refreshed and excited for the day. Thanks to Katie's bear-repelling techniques like clacking sticks together and putting our garbage in the front of the truck and locking the doors, we didn't have any visitors in the night. Hooray! We set about making breakfast. I made German pancakes and Katie made campfire bananas with Rollos. It was great. I like to think that it was because of the fiery intensity that I chopped the wood that made the fire burn so well, which in turn made the food cook better. But I could be wrong.





















After breakfast, we packed everything up and headed for Mirror Lake. Just before we left it started to rain just a bit, which made us worry about whether or not it would get worse just as we got to the lake. Luckily, the rain let up just as we got there. The shoreline was choked with visitors, but we pretty much had the open water to ourselves. During the process of trying to take pictures we almost flipped the boat, but we were able to get a couple nice ones here and there.





























On the way home, we stopped by Provo River Falls. It's a very impressive cascading water fall that has three different 30ft drops in just under a quater-mile stretch. That may not seem great for some, but in Utah it's pretty unique. It was the perfect way to end the best camping trip ever. And, since this one went so well, there is a good chance there will be more in the future. Keep an eye out for us in a campground near you!

Now that we've got six months of marriage under our belts (going rather well, if I do say so myself) Todd and I have decided it's time to take up a productive hobby. Whilst mulling over this and what to get Todd's mom for Mother's Day, we came upon the perfect idea! Gardening. We'll plant a rose bush for Todd's mom and a windowsill herb garden for us. Todd already knows a bit about growing green things from his time on the botany team. (I'm not even joking. Just call the man Neville Longbottom.) So, we head off on a whirlwind tour of Millcreek Gardens, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart to gather all the supplies. Todd's roses come in big pots. My herb seeds come in tiny paper packets that only cost 50 cents each.

This is how Todd gardens.

















And this is his result.


















Pretty impressive, right? You only think that because you haven't seen what my pink elephant watering can and I can do!











This is how I garden.











And here's what I end up with.













Those are going to be fragrant thyme plants, to be used in conjunction with my other prospective hobby, gourmet cooking.
So, it turns out that adding pictures to blog posts is very complicated for me. This may or may not end up looking like a ridiculous jumbled mess. I'll practice though.