Cellphonicopia

As Wes and I were both heading towards Colorado and back to St. Louis earlier this month, we noticed one thing that annoyed us quite a bit--people's obssession with their cell phones.

I like mobiles. I think they're great to have while traveling, and I'm not ignoring the fact that they're replacing the POTS lines that have existed for close to one hundred years now. But it seems that people are addicted to this cellular device. They need it attached to their ears all the time, even when they have been instructed not to use it.

While on the plane traveling to Oklahoma, this one particular man began his cell transaction before we even entered the plane, completely ignoring the fact that it was completely rude to be talking while attempting to board. The man at the counter was trying to ensure all was well with his ticket and carry-on, and this passenger just kept on talking. Then, as we realized he sat right across from us on the plane, he continued to talk to some other dude until he hung up with him and proceeded to call yet another "friend." Wes and I both thought, "What the...do you really need to discuss these things right now? Can you not be without your cell for an hour?"

On the way home to St. Louis at the end of our trip, another man used his cell until the flight attendant had to tell him to shut it off. And her comment during this time was, "Oh, don't worry. I've had to ask several people to turn off their phones."

Really? You really had to ask people to seperate themselves from their cells? Are they really that attached that they can't not talk for even a couple of hours?

So, yeah...we were annoyed and we don't understand this obssession with adults and their mobiles. We understand that pre-teens and teenagers have a ridiculous obsession with cells (much of it supported by their parents we might add), but adults? Come on... Maybe that drug commercial during the 90s where the father comes into the son's bedroom and asks where he learns how to do pot, and the son replies, "You dad. I learned it by watching you," is so right on. Perhaps these young kids learn how to become addicted to their cells by watching their parents and other adults addicted to their phones, as well. Either way, society needs to learn to let go of mobiles a little. Besides, I'm sure techology will birth an even cooler, hipper tool to use in the future. Perhaps ears with chips that can carry voice transmission will be invented...avoid the whole need for any device.

That's frightening. I'll take the cell over that.

Ray Romano on Dr Katz on Bugs

Hilarious clip of Dr. Katz and Ray Ramano discussing bugs.

Inspiration

John Mayer's "3 X 5"

I'm writing you to catch you up on places I've been
you held this letter, probably get excited
but there's nothing else inside it

don't have a camera by my side this time
hope that I would see the world through both my eyes
maybe I would tell you all about it
when I'm in the mood
to lose my way
with words

today clouds are painting colors of the cowboy clich
it's strange how clouds all look like mountains
in the sky next to the mountains anyway

don't have a camera by my side this time
hope that I would see the world through both my eyes
maybe I would tell you all about it
when I'm in the mood
to lose my way but let me say

you should have seen that sunrise
with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
you'll be with me next time I go outside
just no more 3 by 5's

Know what I love?

Sitting on the couch on Monday night, with the puppy on Amanda's lap and my around her, wildly anticipating another episode of "The Hills" and what is to come later tonight...Monday Night Football!

The Beauty of a 3 x 5

Here are some cool pics of our awesome honeymoon:


Me at the bottom of Rocky Mountain National Park



We came upon this elk as he was sitting under a tree--you can barely even see him


Wes looking all suave after rock climbing

The Pros and Cons of Colorado

There arne't too many things about Colorado that I didn't like, so this list may look a little lopsided. :)

Wes' Pros:
The Mountains
RMNP
Aspen Trees and their leaves turning gold
Elk
Beaver-like animals
Climbing
Rocks
Waterfalls
Lakes
The Beauty
Estes Park Downtown
Comfort 8 Hotel
Climbing to the top of mountains

Amanda’s Pros:
The Vastness
The Mountains
RMNP
Waterfalls
The sounds of running water
Elk
Climbing rocks and getting stuck (what a rush!)
Lakes
Estes Park Shopping
Grand Lake, CO
The Beauty of everything I experienced
Climbing to the tops of mountains and being 13,000 ft high
The neverending things to do


Wes' Cons:
That we're not living there now

Amanda’s Cons:
That we're not living there now
The limited amount of oxygen
The high altitude and what it does to me
(Warning**Gross) My constant need to poo
Gas is expensive in Estes, but comparable to IL everywhere else

So yes, pros and cons, but we're definitely making a plan to move to Colorado sometime in the near future. Beforehand, we just thought we'd retire there. Now, after being in this beautiful state together, we've decided to scratch waiting for retrirement and move there while we're young. We can't wait!!

The Rockies, Elk, and So Much More

This past week, Wes and I went on our official honeymoon to Colorado. Yes, we did marry back in June, but to see the Rockies in the Fall is to fall in love. It was just amazing. On Friday the 7th, we headed to St. Louis to catch a flight to Oklahoma where we would, the next day, see the Sooners totally cone Miami and where I would get a pretty bad sunburn. On Sunday, we then headed to Denver by plane for my first Colorado experience. I was impressed with this big city. It was quaint yet commerical, busy yet suburbia. We had some time to kill before we needed to head to our final destination, so Wes introduced me to the U.S. Air Foce Academy in Colorado Springs where I got to see a real B-52 Bomber plane that was once used during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. It was pretty amazing to stand right under a plane that actually flew during actual wars.

From Colorado Springs, we headed into Loveland, Colorado. Such a cool place. I swear, even their Storage Units were fancy. The Lowes looked spectactular, the restaurants, immaculate. I could live there, but one of my favorite places we passed through on our way towards our honeymoon stay was Boulder. I loved Boulder! It was Everwood meets Big City. The denizens of Colorado are extremely health conscious, so there were all of these neat little cafes that were nutritionally driven--lots of Sushi, smoothies, natural grocery stores. I could live in Boulder and be incredibly happy.

But alas, I must spend most of my post actually writing about Estes Park, Colorado. Part resort, part small town, part awesomeness. This town is considered the "Gateway to the Rocky Mountian National Park" and has so much to do, you don't really know where to start. When we arrived, we first headed to our hotel where we came across two of the largest male elk Wes has ever seen. These beautiful creatures traversed the road as if they weren't stopping taffic and headed towards a residential area. I mentioned to Wes how frightening it would be if the owner of one of those homes who was just minding his own business, doing lawn work or just taking a quick walk around his home, came around the corner and ran into this huge male bull. Once we have downloaded our pictures to this IBook, I will post some pics we took of Elk. They quickly became one of our favorite attractions to the Park.

Once capturing the elk on film, we headed to our hotel room where we had a fireplace, two very nice large queeen-sized beds, and, humerously, where Wes and I brought down the average age by atleast thiry years. The next day, Monday, was our first day to spend in the Park itself. It cost only $20 for the whole week, so we could come and go as we pleased. We started our honeymoon off driving Trail Ridge Road up through the Rocky Mountains, ascending to atleast 13,000 ft above sea level. What was so cool about this first day was, as the clouds lifted slowly through the air, we experienced driving up the mountians without actually seeing the mountains. At one point, as we took pictures at one of the many rest/viewing areas, Wes looked as if he was just standing in thin air with nothing behind him. What was actually behind him was huge, cold mountians that extended for miles and miles. Once we finally reached the Bear Lake parking lot, Wes and I headed out for a nice two mile hike. Reaching Bear Lake, which resides in the mountains, was quite easy, and we headed on to Alberta Falls (waterfall) where we climbed rocks, took lots of pictures, and made friends with a very gregarious chipmunk. However, as easy the trek to was, the trek from heading towards our car was excruciating. Please keep in mind that the oxygen level is sparce when you're so high, and if you're not drinking water regularly, you find yourself in much trouble. It's what the doctors like to call "Altitude Sickness." I got it. I hated it. I don't ever want it again. Our trek back to our car was all uphill and I didn't have enough water in my body, so once we got back to the car, I felt ok, but as we descended on the winding roads, I started to fell like ridiculously awful. I couldn't look out the windows for fear that I would get sick on the spot, and I had to put my head between my legs to ensure I didn't pass out. I was just praying the whole way down, "Please, Lord, get us down as quick as possible and just get me to the hotel room." Once we hit ground level, I didn't fell any better and upon reaching the hotel, I felt worse. Wes left to get me some Gatorade (something about needing electrolites) and I then proceeded to upchuck five times. I'm like Sienfeld...I hadn't pucked in like seven years. My streak is broken. Lame!

So yes, this was just the first day of the honeymoon and I was sick. But it soon passed and we then experienced an amazing six days in the Rockies, Estes Park, and in the beautiful state of Colorado.

For the sake of this post being way too long (oops! I think I'm already there), I'll break it up a bit and post later. But I just want all to know how beautiful this place is and how creative God can be with colours, animals, mountains, the Tundra, the Fall and everything else.

Stay tuned...