Mark's 23rd Birthday!

For Mark's birthday, I of course had to continue my family tradition
of waking him up bright and early to open presents. He didn't really
know this was coming, and was... well.... a little upset that i had the
nerve to turn the light on and come in singing at 7:00 in the morning.
(its not like we weren't supposed to get up at 6:30 or anything) But,
once i reminded him that it was his birthday, explained to him that it
is tradition and he better get used to it, and he had a minute to adjust
to the light and wake up, he was quite excited.

After presents, Mark informed me that he would like some danishes
for breakfast. Of course he couldn't think of that the night before when
i asked him what he wanted, so we didn't have everything to make
them with. So me being the little people pleaser that I am, got dressed
and went to the store to buy some ingredients for his breakfast. (I have
to admit, that they were so good, it was well worth the trip to the store.)

So then, we both had to go to school and work all day. But later that
night we met at Olive Garden for dinner. I got there a little before Mark,
so I asked the people if when they called our name, if they could call
"Mark, the birthday boy!" they agreed, and it was quite funny. When they
called us, Mark just stared at the girl and said "Are you serious??" Yeah,
what can i say? I'm a dork. So dinner was wonderful, except for the fact
that Olive Garden has stopped doing their endless pasta bowel. i know.
its quite heart breaking. Also, I told our waiter that it was Mark's birthday,
and all we got a was a "oh, happy birthday man!" no free dessert, no
singing happy birthday, no nothing. But the food was great despite that.

So after dinner, we went to the store and bought Mark a new pair of jeans,
which he looks so cute in. Then we came home and i made his cake of choice,
Strawberry Shortcake. I of course hate strawberry's, so i had some wonderful
brownies instead!! As you can see from the pictures, we didn't have any
traditional candles. So we had to improvise with the only candles we did have.

Anyway, thats about it! Sorry we didn't take more pictures, even though i
had my camera with me, i always forget to actually use it. oh well.

OK OK!! so here is the honeymoon.

For our honeymoon, we only had a few days because of school, so we went to Park City.
Its a way cool old fashion kind of town. It's usually a big place to go skiing, but in the off
season it is just a touristy place. Also, they had a lot of the Olympics there.

So, we stayed in the mountain side Marriott. It was nicer than our apartment. we even
had a washer and dryer in there. (I'm so sick of coin operated laundry!!) So when we got
there, Mark went in to check in and i waited in the car because it was freezing and raining.
When he came back he had this big cardboard box. He got int he car and said "Callie look!!
i told them it was our honeymoon to see if they would up-grade us, and they gave us this
HUGE box of condoms!" (by the way, this blog is not for children's eyes) It turned out to
be some lame vacation starter pack that had granola barns and head and shoulder's shampoo,
but it was a good joke mark! (he is going to be so mad when he reads this! ha ha)

So we got there on Friday late afternoon, and just hung out and watched whatever was on
TV and then went shopping at some great shops that they have there. We didn't actually
get anything, but it was fun. Then we ordered pizza that night.

On Saturday, Mark had arranged for us to go on a hot-air balloon ride, but the guy that was
in charge of it called us at 6:00 that morning and said that it was raining it, and that it was
canceled. So that was kinda a bummer, but at least we saved A TON of money, and we got
to sleep in! So as a last minute plan that day we went up to the Olympic park that they have
there and took a tour. It was way cool to see where they actually do all of those events we
always watch on TV. in Park City they had the bobsled, skeleton, luge, and i cant remember
the exact term for it, but the skiing where they are basically just flying through the air forever.

So after the tour was over, we decided we wanted more. So we took a little bobsled ride down
the Olympic track. They said that we got going over 80 mph, and had 3G's pushing down on us.
We did the 8/10 of a mile track in just over a minute. When we started the ride, Mark was sitting in the back seat with his knees to his chest. I was sitting just in front of him Indian style. Then there was an empty seat between me and the driver. By the time it was over, I was practically smashed onto the driver, and Mark was laying flat on his back. It was awesome!

So after that, we went and hung out at our hotel and ate the rest of our pizza. Then we did the
tourist thing and went around to a some more cool shops. We were walking down the street
and i saw a sign that said $1 hot chocolate. So we went into the store. It was a GREAT little
fudge shop. So we got our hot chocolate (we even upgraded to the $2 size!! i know, big spenders)
and it turned out to be the most amazing hot chocolate either of us has ever had. we are
seriously considering going back soon just to get it. It was so wonderful.

Then that night we went out to eat at a nice restaurant. The next morning we got up and drove
back to salt lake. We stopped at the Little America and had a FABULOUS breakfast. Then we went back to Mark's parents and opened all of our presents from the reception. We are very
blessed with wonderful family and friends who give us amazing gifts.

So now, we are trying to get back into the swing of things with work and school. It's kinda hard
since all we really want to do is be on vacation and hang out. but we're trying.

so i hope this will suffice for now! Love ya!