10.20.2010

2nd Anniversary (plus updates)

So it's been awhile huh! Lots to report I guess. Spencer and I are STILL getting settled in our house, even though it's been a year. Bowser is a BIG BOY now! He got up to 63 pounds but the vet said he was a little too heavy so we cut back his food and he's down to 59 now. He's such a good dog and he has such a quirky personality! He LOVES sleeping on the couch. He'll climb up on the back of the couch and make a nice little bed to prop himself up on. And he's the same color of the couch so he blends in! So I'll walk into the room and I'll be able to hear him (Cause he's such a loud breather) but I won't be able to see him. It's absolutely hilarious.

So we have 3 dogs at our house: the bulldog, a german shepherd named Daivi, and a chocolate lab named Koda. Well, Koda went into heat a couple months ago and we tried our darndest to keep the shepherd away from her but we must not have done a very good job because last week we had puppies! And yes, we knew she was pregnant before the puppies were born. We're not that clueless! And after a few failed attempts at counting (and a couple stillborns ): ) we ended up with 6 live, healthy puppies. They are all black (not surprising) and they have BIG noses like their father! Haha Daivi is such a good dad. It's SO cute cause dogs are not generally paternal in nature, but he's SO interested in them. He'll sit next to the puppy pen for hours and watch them with his ears up, and every now and then they'll make noise and he'll cock his head cause he's curious. And when we actually let him at the puppies, he'll lick them and nose them a little bit. It makes me so happy. I miss having puppies so much so I'm just LOVING this! I'll post pictures soon, as soon as I take some that aren't on my phone and aren't fuzzy.

So Spencer and I passed our 2-year mark last month. September 20th marked our 2nd anniversary. And I have been trying so hard to avoid making "best 2 years jokes" but I haven't been succeeding. We've been together 6 years now, though it doesn't feel like that long. And yet, it feels like forever. It's very weird. But we actually celebrated our anniversary this last weekend. We couldn't get any time off in September, and because of the way our pay periods work out we get an extra paycheck in October, so we decided to go out of town. We went to Park City and stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, one of only three 5-star resorts in the area. It was WONDERFUL! We drove up Sunday after church and checked in about 4 o'clock. It was so nice to be treated like someone special!
the view from our room

Champagne!


When we pulled up the valets opened the car doors, they knew our names already, they opened the door to the hotel and carried our bags for us. When we got to our room there was a bottle of real champagne waiting for us, with a personalized note welcoming us! We changed into our suits and went down to the heated pool and spent some time swimming and soaking in the whirlpool. Because we went in the off-season the hotel was almost empty so we had most of the place to ourselves (plus we got a great deal on the room)! After we soaked up some chlorine we went back to the room and we just had to order room service. We both ate shortrib chili (served with sour cream, promontory cheddar, green onions, avocado and lime) and cornbread popovers. Then for dessert we ordered beignets; little doughnut-hole-like pastries that were served with vanilla creme anglaise and raspberry preserves.

The room had a gas fireplace and cable-HD tv so we enjoyed the fire and some Discovery Channel while we ate. :) The next morning we woke up early and went a couple miles down the street to a local stable to go horseback riding! It was my anniversary gift to Spencer because he had never ridden a horse before. We went on a 2-hour tour and got LOTS of pictures! Because we actually get a Fall this year and the leaves were turning WHILE we were up there, the views were absolutely stunning. And Spencer loved riding the horse (so did I, for that matter!). I knew that we would both be super sore afterward (I'm STILL sore!) so I booked a special treat for us that afternoon.

After the ride we went back to the hotel and had lunch and then we went to the on-site spa. It's called the Golden Door spa and it's one of only 9 in the country. We got a 50-minute couples massage in their special couples futari suite. I also took serious advantage of their onsen. They had a steam room which felt incredible, and showers that had those funky square heads in the ceiling so it was like getting rained on. After the spa we went back to the room to get all "spruced" up and went to dinner at the Spruce restaurant, which is also on-site. It was expensive but it was SO worth it. Spencer had a bavette steak with greens and duck fat potatoes, and a French Rhone Valley red wine. I had the - get this - honey-lacquered duck breast with caramelized black mission figs and cinnamon foie gras, with a New World Pinot Noir. It was incredible! Then after dinner we took the hotel's complimentary "shuttle," which was actually a Mercedes SUV, up to main street so have ice cream and Java Cow. I LOVE the ice cream place. I have an affinity for holstein cows and they sell a bunch of cute cow stuff, so I make it a point to go there every time we're in Park City. We each got sundaes with hot fudge of course! Then we went back to the hotel and had a nice soak in the extra-large jetted tub in our room. Mmmmmm. Yesterday morning we woke up and ordered breakfast from room service. We their full-moon cake (a GIANT pancake big enough for three hungry people) served with sweetened nut butter and vermont maple syrup, and local honey yogurt which I could have gorged myself on. Seriously. Then we checked out (sadly I might add) and came home. Turns out Bowser missed us so much he refused to eat the whole time we were gone. It was so cute to see him absolutely flip out when we got home! And it was so nice to be treated so well by everyone at the hotel. They all knew who we were. When I would call room service they'd pick up the phone and say "What can I get for you Mrs. Miller?" I definitely want to go back!