GREAT NEWS!!!! And graduation pictures!

Things we are celebrating at the suite-mangum/mangum house (not necessarily in order of importance):

• Danny's swanky new job with Zions! Some of you have heard us talk about this opportunity... and just a couple of months ago we were thinking it wasn't going to happen as the timing was just not seeming to be there. He had got a great offer from First Utah Bank, but Zions was where he wanted to be, and yesterday he got the call... the offer... and accepted!  He starts on June 9th.  I'm so proud of him!!!!

• King bed, yo! Danny's family (mom & dad and aunt & uncle) bought this swanky pad in upstate-Utah (Eden in Ogden Valley) and asked if we'd be willing to trade out our Queen bed for the joint and replace it with their King bed... um, HELLO!?!?!  Twist my arm?  Ok, yeah... don;t even need to think about it.  So Monday we're going to hit the memorial day white sales and pick up some 800 thread-count linens!!! Hollah!!!  

• Yoga a go-go. Well, I finally got my paperwork completed and have officially applied for Flow Yoga's Teacher Training program.  It starts July 7 and is a month-long 200-plus hour "intensive" that if completed successfully means I would be a certified yoga instructor. I haven't been accepted yet, but we're anticipating a positive response. I'll need to be away from my official job at SkyWest during this time... so there's a lot of pieces that need to fall into place, but I'm super excited about this new opportunity. 

• We got the house! That's right!!!!  The pad that we've been living in (basement-status since we relocated to the East bench early this year) is going to be ours!  They took our offer, and paperwork will be processed this week.  I can hardly believe it.  Of course, I must make note that this whole deal wouldn't be possible without help from our families. We're so blessed...There are so many memories in this home for me. It was my grandparents.... in fact, we even lived here when I was a wee little tot for just over a year when my grandparents were serving a mission in Montana. I lived across the street, and down the street around the corner...I love this piece of property... and am so thrilled we are back to the neighborhood of my childhood!

• "I is now a GRAD-U-IT!"  OK, not so much me (well, I think Danny and I figured out I had actually graduated with my bachelors two years before he graduated from High school... man, am I a cougar or what?!?!?!)  Anyway, he is now officially a graduate from the U of U -- with a bachelor of Arts in Economics and a minor in business.  I am so proud of him.  I think I was more excited for him to graduate that I was for myself!  (Actually, I wasn't really excited to graduate. I was only 21 and would've stayed studying for years in the safe-walls of institutionalized learning as long as they would've let me... but the $$$$ was not there.)  So, please enjoy these pics from Danny's big day earlier this month. 

Below: Danny's Dad, the grad and Princess Di 

(oh, wait... that's my mother-in-love Stevie.  Doesn't she have 

a striking resemblance to "the people's princess"?

Below: Three generations of Mangum men.  Danny's grandpa Garth used to teach (head of the dept of Economics at the time, actually)  at the U.  While we were there, all of these professors and the dean of the Social Sciences came up to talk to him and shake his hand. 

It's pretty cool to be part of a family 

that's so amazing and well respected.

Below: The Suites and Us. Do I look tan?  

I got a spray-on tan earlier that day that my husband thinks 

smells like teriyaki sauce -- nice!

Below:Danny just chillin' ... wishing his wife would stop

 yelling at him to "Smile!!!"

Below: the greatest picture of Garth Mangum possibly ever taken.  To the left, his wife and Danny's grandma -- Marion (she's hilarious... and also has the same name as my college town in Indiana, so we've got a connection.)  To your right... barbara.  

I could not adequately explain the dynamics of this woman in one post-- she's hilarious and I love her: we'll leave it at that. (Oh, and Barbara is Princess Di's mom)

Below: Um, if you don't know who this is... 

why do you read this post?

Below: Barbara and the grad... Every year Danny and Barbara 

go shopping for his B-day and do a lunch date.  

I LOVE that I am married to a man who has 

lunch dates with his g-ma.  It warms my heart. 

 

***Danny says he likes this post because he is the star.  I like it too... and for the very same reasons***

Also, did you know that neither of us like hot fudge on our brownies and ice cream?  If that doesn't prove we're soul-mates, I don't know what would.  Also, neither of us have showered today... but all that proves is that we're dirty hippies... well, maybe just dirty. ;)

Have a great night!  We're counting our many blessings this evening, and it feels great!  We could go on forever... but I've heard complaints form my sister that my posts are already too long... so I'm shutting it down now. ;)

Namaste.

ssm

3PD - more form colorado

So here we are celebrating an over-priced meal at Kelly Liken in Vail..

Here's Danny's fancy dessert.. complete with sugar-hair.. that's what I call it, because I don't really know what it's called when one whips sugar like that... Dessert was totally the best part of the meal.

As I mentioned, we took the scenic byway... and this was one of the towns..

By far... my favourite part of the trip!!! (It's a town people... come on!)

The 3PD Photo Journal

So here's some photos of the ball game:

This is a photo of me and my crazy curve ball... smokin!

While we were expecting a compact, we ended up with this SUV and some GR-R-R-REAT parking at the ballpark.  I bought "lot A" privileges online with our tickets, and around town parking was going for 20-bones; so I think this was a great thing.

Some pics of the digs... as P.Diddy would say on Cribs:  "where the magic happens." ;) 

Can you say "Club Level?!?!"

In case you don't know what a baseball field looks like... here's one for reference.  (Also, there is no half time... and apparently Drew Barymore ONLY attends Red Sox games... not the Rockies.)

Day Three: 3PD

Well, it's day three and we leave Colorado tomorrow (see "Three Perfect Days" post below).  

We had such a fabulous day... slept in late (again), and awoke to a literal winter wonderland outside our window. 

It had snowed like three inches... which in SLC would've made me sad because the weather's been so psychotic, but it was bloody brilliant to see this place all covered in white frosting... I think it's how one ought to experience Vail; especially if you're not hitting the slopes.

We decided to get a jump on the day, so we made our way to Glenwood Springs.  It's just an hour outside of Vail, on a totally picturesque journey through Glenwood Canyon. We were hungry by the time we puled into town and I was craving french toast (partially because I know it's back to no-white-bread when I return to real life.)  There was a Village Inn... but I'm so thankful to be married to a man who will opt for the non-chain restaurant adventure. So we tried the local's joint "the little bavarian."  It was pretty authentic... especially with Huevos Rancheros on the menu.  ;)  

The food was alright-- the adventure was better. And the hostess was total eye-candy... I think Danny enjoyed that (although it seems I check out a lot more women than he does...)

We took a little tour of the Hotel Colorado -- where the Teddy Bear was invented while Theodore Roosevelt was staying there... and a bunch of Chicago gangsters spent time. And then spent an hour in the springs ... There's a lot more tattoos per capita in Colorado than I had ever expected... 

We made our way back to Vail, FINALLY found the Lodge at Vail and walked back through Vail Village ... it reminds me of the ski village in Zermatt... or maybe it was Chamonix. Anyway, it totally reminded me of those darling ski villages we visited last year (I can't believe it's almost been a year since our European Vacation!) 

After a little rest from our busy day, I took a much-needed nap and then we played another round of Racquetball. Danny took the first set 2-1, I killed him two games to zero in the next set and then he beat me 2-0 in the last set.  (Not that you care about how crappy we are at the game -- we don't even know the real rules.)

I will mention that I did find one more sport that I KILL danny in... wii Bowling! (Which is not really a sport... but I totally killed him last night in the game room.) And anyone that knows me that I don't really do board games, card games or video games... so it was pretty surprising that I took so quickly to the sport.  I bowled a 196 and a 199 last night... which is about 120 pins more per game than I bowl in reality. 

We finished the evening with Chinese takeout from the locals favorite in the valley -- May Palace. We ordered way too much food... which is pretty standard for ordering chinese food, eh?   

Man, I just looked at the time... sux that we have to get up tomorrow and head back to reality; but it has to come sometime.

I know the post before was really long --and maybe you don't need a play-by-play of our va-cay; but I left my journal in SLC, and so I'm thinking Danny and I will actually really appreciate having these memories jotted down. 

We really love one another, but it's been AMAZING to me to spend all of this time together and remember just how well we get along when it's the two of us... so here's my plug for all my married friends out there (especially those of you with kids that NEVER find time for yourselves,) take some time to reconnect.  Danny and I haven't even been married 2 years, but I can already see how important it is to step back and take time to just be... and more importantly, be together. 

Namaste

Suite

PS.  That Kelly Liken restaurant we ate at the first night... well apparently even the New York Times has done a bit on it.  It's supposed to be way famous.... 

    

Three Perfect Days in Colorado

United Airlines' Hemispheres Magazine has a special section in its publication called 3 Perfect Days.  They've highlighted everything from Sun Valley to Shanghai... I think the 3-dayer is about the perfect mini-break.  So we made plans to head for Vail in the oft season to celebrate Danny's graduation from the U (BA in Economics, minor in business if you've got any leads on the perfect job for him.) 

Day 1: Thursday, May 8:

It was an early rising day.  Up at 5:30 and rush to the airport to catch a 7 am flight.  Good thing we took the early one though; because even with an 8:30 arrival into DIA, it still took us 2 hours to pick up our car, get the GPS unit figured out and pick a car.  I had ordered a sub-compact of sorts because they never have them and ALWAYS end up upgrading you for free.  Enterprise was sooo overbooked, they sent us to national and we ended up with a gas-guzzling Toyota Forerunner SUV for 18-bones a day.  Honestly, I think we'll spend as much (if not more) on gas than the cost of the rental for our entire stay.

Danny is a HUGE baseball fan, so I bought tix to the Colorado Rockies game for the afternoon.  When I ordered the tickets, I just hit the "best available" button, and we ended up on the "Wells Fargo Club Level" ... this is the way to go people... I mean, if you're not going to be in the 1st 10 rows behind home, 1st or 3rd... drop the cash and buy into seats that are padded (yeah, ours were), where the bathrooms are NEVER crowded, AND there's a guy that walks around and takes your order for drinks and food and can do it with a credit card.... menu items include sandwiches from their "carving station," chocolate covered strawberries and a potato bar with toppings that look like Mount Everest. I ate a ton of junk food, had spilled an entire 32 oz of Sprite, stepped on some guys plate of food on the floor AND made friends with a few of the ushers and the cop that kept saying "here comes trouble" every time I walked by. 

The game was fantastic!  The Rockies killed the Cardinals AND our seats were fabulous (as I mentioned). Danny was cracking up because he had suggested we get tickets in the "Rock Pile" ... I think those seats go for 4-bux a pop.  We could've got season tickets for the price of the club level. ;)  JK, but it was totally worth it!  I could do more baseball games like that.... who says I'm not an avid sports fan.  Now if only I had a giant foam finger -- now that would be something!!!

After the game, we drove to Vail and checked into our uber-fabulous condo that my parents had hooked us up with as their Marriott time share was about to expire and apparently Vail in the off-season is the only place with availability in May (west of the Mississippi) when you're booking three weeks out.  But it's been divine!!!

Last night we at at Kelly Liken... this swanky restaurant with small pretentious food and a price tag to go with it... But, HELLO!  Bonus for being in Vail in the off season... everything was 50% off.  

We started the night with an oversized spoon (yes, literally, they delivered a SPOON) of beet soup with anise. Divine.  I ordered some type of rhubarb(sp?) mint drink that tasted like liquid nectar... we ordered a duo of Kurobuta Pork (not sure what that actually means, except we ate some "little piggy"... poor wilbur). It was described as crispy braised pork belly, avocado smash with pulled pork, a tostada and marinated cabbage slaw cilantro coulis (translation = some park of pork that looked like bacon... and a bunch of pulled pork on a tortilla chip that looked like it needed BBQ sauce, cole slaw and some guacamole on the side of the plate. Which can be eaten in a total of 6 bites and comes with a price-tag "in season" at $17.... but like I said, we paid $8.50 for it with the 50% off dealio.) 

For our main course I chose the Lavender Honey Glazed Duck Breast (tastes like chicken.. if it were to mate with a cow) with baby carrots, creamy farro (don't even know what that word means, but there was something on my plate that tasted like orzo pasta) and some blueberry conserve (yep, blueberry jam). 

Danny opted for the  Braised All Natural Colorado Beef Short Rib with creamy parmesan grits, pickled onion coriander salad topped off with a roasted tomato vinaigrette.  We also ordered a side of haricot vertes ... which  apparently is pronounced "air-eee-ko-ver" and means "green beans." ;)  I think this is the food served to the masses at all parties in the Great and Spacious Building... didn't Nephi mention something about "creamy farro"? 

So after all of that rich mini-food... served in portions fit for a smurf... we had no other option but to each order dessert.  

Danny's Choice: The sticky bun sundae... comprised of warm bite sized pieces of cinnamon sticky bun stacked and drizzled with warm caramel, toasted pecans and topped off with vanilla bean ice cream. The menu didn't mention it, but Danny's dessert also came with a mass of whipped sugar... I mean literally, like a big glob of sugar that looked like a pile of white hair on top of his dessert... except it was edible. Sounds bad, but it was actually delicious.  Even better than...

Sabrena's Choice: Banana toffee pie with a flaky crust (made from cream cheese... can you say "decadent?!?!"), creamy toffee, layered with fresh banana, peanut butter whipped topping (but that piece just tasted like a giant glob of peanut butter ice cream.)  Again, super rich... I couldn't finish it... 

Oh, and I almost forgot... they're "digestif & dessert wine flights" made me chuckle with exasperation as their "best of Remy Martin Cognac" came with the price tag of $110 for 3 "testers"... the menu said "all flights include once ounce of each selection"... so since you're getting the "XO," the "Extra Perfection" and the "Louis XIII" ... that's totally worth it right?  I mean, it's under 100 ml, so you could actually carry that sucker onboard a flight and TSA wouldn't even have to confiscate it... (except that they would because you can't bring liquor on a flight if it's corked/open.)  Sheesh!  Talk about over-the-top!

Our server ended our experience with a homemade cherry lolli, a raspberry-something gelatin (read: jell-O), a chocolate truffle and a slice of peanut fudge.  Danny and I went to be crystalized, and totally stoked to eat "real food" on Friday. 

The rest of the evening was spent getting to "know" one another... in the most Biblical sense of the word (Danny says that piece is not necessary to share... but I don;t know what he's talking about), and relaxing in front of the TV... ready for our adventure on Friday. ;)

*****

Day 2: Friday, May 9

We slept in until 10:30.  The last time we did that was over a year ago... I pulled all the curtains and closed the door and our room was like a cave.  Plus, the linens at the joint are fab-u-los!  All plush and fluffy... your whole body sinks into them and you feel like you've been enveloped in a bed made from the clouds. 

We headed to the on-site gym.. took a little jog, lifted weights and then hit the racquet-ball court... because Danny and I are hip like that.  Sad to say, it went to three games; and even though I had a chance to close the game on more than one occasion... I still lost.  But at least it's a sport that we're pretty equally yoked in.  He kills me in basketball, running, baseball and tennis.  I eat his lunch in swimming, volleyball and water polo (even when he cheats and stands on the bottom of the pool.) 

So post game -- we hit the pool (I did some laps) and tried to teach him how to float without his legs sinking ... but it was hopeless.  We spent some time in the eucalyptus steam room and then headed back up to our room for granola and to get ready.  Since we had had a lazy morning getting out of bed, by the time we got on the road for our adventure, it was 2.

We took the scenic by-way to Minturn, down to Leadville and up to Climax (hehe) and past Copper Mountain.  Minturn, Leadville and Climax are all mining towns (or were at one time.)  Leadville has 50 historic buildings and Minturn looks like Springdale crossed with gingerbread houses... it's pretty quaint.  The drive was nice... the conversation was even better... and I can't remember ever being more in love with my husband.

We got back to Vail, went to the Vail Village to walk around (though most of the shops are closed) and headed to Avon for deep dish pizza. 

Tomorrow we're headed to Beaver Creek and Glenwood Springs... I've only been to Glenwood once, but I'm totally stoked to introduce Danny to the healing waters of the springs.

Safe travels... hopefully, I'll post pics soon.

ssm

Raindrops on Roses and Comments on my Blog

Totally my favourite things people!!!  

I need to write vents on "politique" more often.  I've loved reading what everyone has to say.  

As far as the polygamy bit -- I think Danny and I need to start praying for these families (you might think about doing the same if you haven't yet. But you're probably already doing that.) It takes me a while, people...

Anyway, I feel so sorry for the moms who have had their kids taken right out form underneath them; but Em, Miss (and the rest of you, it sounds like...)  I have to agree with you... even under the banner of "religious freedom," I don't think it's ok for a man to take a 13-year old to be even his "spiritually" wedded wife.

One time in St. George a couple of teenage polygamists came into Maurices to shop.  I was with one of my girl friends and I was so sick of "averting" my eyes... you see a lot of polys in SG... and I think there's like this unwritten rule that we don't talk to them and they don't talk to us.

But anyone that know me, knows that wouldn't fly with me for too long... so of course, I wanted to strike up a conversation.

First off, I felt like they were judging me because I had on a strappy tank and a mini skirt of sorts (this was a few years ago, obviously).  Anyway, they seemed REALLY taken aback that I would be talking to them  (again, the "lepers" code of conduct and all.)  

It's like we looked down at them because they were so weird living on the compound... and they looked at us, like we were so evil and vein and part of the world. 

These two teenage girls told me they covered themselves up; and that it was completely their choice to be where they are.  There was a part of me that respected them for not being scantily clad (that's a big step for a teenager, eh?); but I didn't have the cahones (sp?) to ask them if they were married to their uncles....

I kind of wished I had...

Like I said, they seemed pretty resolute that they were choosing into their lifestyle. 

So here's my question -- 

Is it: 

a) scarier to believe you have a choice in your life when really you are trapped?

Or 

b) to believe that you have no choice in your situation in life and just feel that you are trapped, playing the victim? 

I hope I am choosing  not be trapped, not playing the victim and always having choices.

Namaste

PS.  Fred is dead (our mouse).  Danny found him under the fridge today. I wanted to have a wake, but Danny decided it was best to just throw him away.  I hope he goes to rodent paradise and realizes that I tried to work it out with him.