Identity Crisis

So, amidst all of the things I should be doing right this very minute ( I have a literal list 2 pages long), I've decided to get something off my chest:

I have a hard time referring to myself as "Amelia."

I decided last August that since that is my name, that is what I'm ready to be called - except by the people who have known me all my life, or at least more than 3 years. So, everyone I've met since August calls me Amelia. All the people in my neighborhood have had to learn to call me Amelia.

So hard, I know. I can't even call myself Amelia sometimes - I slipped up just today.

Ian calls me Amy. My family calls me Amy. In my head, I'm Amy. I have to remember who I'm talking to when I call someone on the phone so I am sure to call myself the right name. This is ridiculous.

Flip side of that coin: eventually this will feel natural, right? Ian tells me, "Who cares what other people think. Do what you want to do." Sound advice, for any situation in life. I would continue on in the same path...except I'm not sure that I really feel like "Amelia." I might as well have changed my name to "Jane" or Katie." It feels that foreign.

So, have you been dying to tell me how you really feel about this name changing business? Take the poll on the left and let me have it. I'm hoping for some honesty.

OK, so this post is completely self-absorbed and indulgent. You'll have to forgive me.
I'm having a bit of a moment...ok, it's really just been quite a day...make that a week...

Silly Shaylor

Some things I just don't want to forget!

This morning, Shaylor was being a stinker and wouldn't share his books with Gracie. I tried over and over again to get him to share, but he refused.

So, I said, "Shaylor, you can either be a good boy and let Gracie look at a book and you get to keep looking at books too, or you can be a naughty boy and not share with Gracie and go to time-out. What do you want to be?"

He thought for a minute and then replied, "I want to be a superhero."

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He was eating Club crackers today while playing with motorcycles. He ended up 'driving' the cracker around going "Vroooooom, Vroooooom," and then said, "Look Mommy! I have a cracker-cycle."

He just makes me smile. Love that kid!

Aspen - Part 4: Ian's Surprise

So, Ian has told me many times that he would love to try Paragliding and I arranged for us to go while we were in Colorado. On our way from home to Aspen, we stopped for dinner at Outback Steakhouse in Grand Junction. I couldn't keep it from him any longer. I told him about it and he was so excited!! We were supposed to go the next morning, but it was too windy. It was too windy the next couple of days as well. It seemed as though we would lose our chance to go. However, Saturday came along with the perfect weather conditions and we stopped in Glenwood Springs one last time to run off the top of this mountain:After all, we had been around a mountain, on top of a mountain and inside of a mountain; might as well run off the edge of one! :)

Paragliding is when you are strapped to a harness which is connected by 30 ropes to a parachute. (Each one of the ropes is strong enough to hold a person.) Ian and I each flew tandem with a certified paragliding pilot. They were each from South Africa and had awesome accents which made the experience even more adventurous! I flew with Pine and Ian flew with Manoo (my kids couldn't stop giggling about that one!)

First, you sign your life away on 6 different pages. We literally had to copy down the sentence, "I understand that Paragliding has inherent risks and could cause injury, paralysis or death."

Party Poopers!

We drove up to the top of the mountain and got instruction from our Pilots on how to take off. I went first. Ian kissed me goodbye and Manoo called out, "That's not your last kiss!"

I got strapped in and we started running for this edge:

(That's Ian getting strapped in.)

As the parachute caught the wind, it pulled us back a couple of steps and then we were able to keep moving forward and ran ahead until there was no ground underneath us. The wind carried us up and I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. It wasn't scary or intense. It was peaceful, graceful and so surreal. There was no sense of falling out of the sky. It felt very controlled and relaxing. The scenery was just beautiful and both Ian and I were able to each get a 30 minute flight. (They say it can last 10-30 minutes depending on weather conditions. We were glad to get a "long" one.)

I had the camera and took most of these pictures of Ian while we were both flying.

At one point, Manoo let Ian take over their controls and fly the paraglider. He said it was freaky knowing that he was in control, but also thrilling. Both of our pilots did a maneuver where they spin the paraglider around and around really fast; like you're in a nosedive headed for earth. (See the picture above. I'm taking the picture straight. It's Ian who is horizontal!) Pine asked me, "You like roller coasters?" I said, "Yes!" and it was so fun! If I didn't trust him completely, I would've been screaming in terror instead of delight, but he assured us on the way up the mountain that his company - in 7 years of being in business- had not had so much as a sprained ankle for anyone. So, I had faith in him.

Here are some views while we flew in different directions:

Then, it was time to land. Here is the landing zone: It is just below the football field.

We came in kinda fast, and touched down , running a few steps before the parachute gently fell to the ground. Ian did even better and simply landed - didn't so much as wobble forward; just plop, and they were down. The other instructor there said he'd never seen such a perfect landing before, and there was a couple who had been watching him fly and land who clapped and cheered for him when he touched down.

We were exhilarated and felt so happy and alive. Ian wore a perma-grin for quite some time. I'm pretty sure I'm up for "Wife of the Year" because I not only gave him that gift, but was willing to do the experience also! (After the Swing Shot, the Alpine Coaster and the Climbing Wall, I wasn't even nervous to run off that cliff!) It was such an incredible experience to share together. We hope we can do it again.

This is my favorite picture (above). I focused so much on the beautiful green mountains, but after a long time, I noticed the beautiful blue snow-capped peaks in the distance and then there was my man: floating thousands of feet above the earth; having the most incredible experience that he'd always wanted (You'll have to click on the picture - he's in the top right corner.) This picture just brings a lot of emotion to my heart. It made me so happy to see him SO happy!

There was a photographer who offered to take pictures for us on top of the mountain for a screamin' deal (I'm all about the screamin' deals!) and so we should get more pictures by the end of this week that I will post.

We had such an amazing vacation. It was so special for us to get to spend that quality time together. We'd go back and do it all over again in a heartbeat!

SO. MUCH. FUN!!!!!

Aspen - Part 3: The Hike

After sleeping in all morning, we decided to go for a hike the afternoon of our 3rd day. We started up a trail called "Hunter's Creek" which followed, you guessed it, Hunter's Creek up the mountain. It was very wooded with lots of climbing over big rocks and crossing bridges over the beautiful rushing, tumbling water.

I was on the lookout for bears - I heard on the news that there was one in the area. I asked our concierge about the bears and he said, very nonchalantly, "Ya, there's lots of bears. You might see one." To him it was no big deal. To me... a little bit of a bigger deal. I made Ian go back up to the room and get his gun. Relax, we never saw any...but that doesn't mean they weren't there.

Anyway, we know why they call the place Aspen - duh!

It was a beautiful hike and it felt so good to be out exercising, breathing the fresh (albeit thin) mountain air. Hearing the rushing water, seeing the beautiful scenery, surprising small forest animals (We were walking and I heard a squeak and a rustling in the bushes, which made me squeak and jump which made Ian jump - kinda funny!)

We got to the top of the trail and it connected with another trail on Smuggler Mountain, so we took that path and we got confused by some maps, got sprinkled on just a touch, and accidentally ended up in the right spot! The entire way down was overlooking Aspen and we got some great shots.

It was a wonderful way to spend 2 1/2 hours of our last full day in Colorado and we committed to take more advantage of the hiking all around us back home.

Aspen - Part 2 : Glenwood Springs & Window Shopping

So, on our first full day in Colorado, we took a 45 minute drive through the Canyon from Aspen to Glenwood Springs. It is beautiful town with lots of fun things to do. We headed towards Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. There was a gondola to take us up to the top of the mountain where the park was located, but it was too windy and they were shuttling people up on a school bus instead. We were disappointed - ya, I've ridden a school bus before; nothing adventurous about it. :( Well, we were wrong. It was the craziest bus ride we've ever been on! We went on a dirt road that zig-zagged up the mountain; no guard rails but plenty of sharp drop offs. The bus driver didn't even slow down for the sharp curves. Ian and I sat at the back of the bus, where we really felt the back tires sliding over the dirt. We laughed (and clung to our seats) the whole way up the mountain. I was sure we were going to slide right off one of the edges. We got to the top safe and sound, feeling like we had a much more adventurous ride than the gondola would've given us!

We had about 45 minutes to spend before our cave tour, so we went on the Alpine coaster - of course, with Ian in control, we flew down that mountain at top speed and felt - for the second time that day - like we were going to fly off of it. We laughed and I screamed the whole way down. It was so much fun! We went a couple of times throughout the day.

Next, we went through a giant maze and raced to see who could find each of the 4 towers and punch their cards with the letters "M", "A", "Z", "E" first. If you could do it in under 8 minutes, you won a prize. Ian was just under 8 minutes and won a sticky climbing guy for Shaylor. I made it in 9 minutes. Darn. :(

Next, we went on an hour long cave tour. It is such a bizarre reality to be so deep INSIDE of a mountain. Do you know that the inside of a cave stays the same temperature all year round? And that the temperature of a cave is the average yearly temperature of the surrounding area? So, the inside of the cave we were touring, called the "Fairy Cave", was 52 degrees. We saw stalactites and stalagmites and found out that for a formation to grow 1 cubic inch, it takes 1,000 years. So, in these pictures, the stalactites you see - even the small ones - took thousands of years to form. We saw some that were estimated to have been forming for 30,000 years. It was sad to see that some of them had been broken off by careless people. After the formations are so much as touched, it won't grow any more because the oil from the person's hands won't allow the water to touch the rest of the stone and leave the limestone deposit which is what they are made of. (See, I paid attention to the tour guide!) It was a very cool tour! (If you are getting this by e-mail, you should really go to our actual blog so you can click on the pictures to see them better! www.thejacksblog.blogspot.com no user name or password required.)

After the tour, we took a ride on a giant swing called the "SwingShot." It pulled us backward until we were about 20 feet above the ground, and when it let us go, we swung out over a cliff and were 1,200 feet above the Colorado River. It was so fun! The initial drop and first couple of swings were intense. After that it was like a mellow swing until it gradually came to a stop. We went on it 3 times! We went at the absolute slowest time of the year and so there was no line and we could do whatever we wanted, as many times as we wanted with no wait. It was so great!

Ready to go

Pulling us back

AHHHHHHH!!!

After the Swing Shot, we went and did "Doc's Climbing Wall." I have to admit that I really worked out my fear of heights on this trip! Believe it or not, this was the freakiest thing I encountered. On my first try, I chickened out halfway up. Thanks to Ian's encouragement, I tried again and made it all the way to the top. I don't know why it freaked me out so bad, but I was proud of myself for doing it regardless of being scared! Ian went up two or three different times and did the hardest levels and aced them all. He's so awesome!

Next, we went and had lunch in a restaurant that overlooked the Glenwood Springs valley. There were great views of the canyon and the Colorado River. It was so beautiful!

After lunch, we went and played laser tag. That was a blast and we played 3 different rounds with lots of other people. It was a good time!

It was about 3:00pm at this point and we felt we had done all we wanted to. The wind had calmed down so we could ride the gondola down, and it was a peaceful ride with fantastic views.

We drove back to Aspen and enjoyed the Hotel the rest of the afternoon and evening. A fun-filled first day, for sure!

The next day, we were very lazy and eventually made our way out into town to do some window shopping. The streets were practically deserted and many of the shops were closed down until after Memorial Day. We like it that way, though. It felt like the whole world was just ours. We were able to go in a bunch of shops and were SHOCKED at the prices. We saw a sculpture for $275,000, a throw pillow for $800, a pair of jeans that were on sale for $100 - marked down from $275 - what a screamin' deal! Even if we had the money to throw around, I could never spend $800 on a throw pillow. There is something very wrong with that.

We had a nice stroll and ended up at a Barbecue place called Hickory House and enjoyed a yummy lunch. We then headed back to the hotel (courtesy of our very funny 'smart car'-like shuttle), where we relaxed in the hot tub.

A very mellow day! It was so great to not have a schedule; to do what we wanted, when we wanted. The stress we feel on a daily basis, along with the pressure of constantly shouldering various responsibilities, slowly melted away. It felt awesome.

Stay tuned for more Aspen adventures...

Aspen - Part 1: Lodging

The Hyatt Grand Aspen Hotel

Ian and I took a wonderful, much-needed vacation last week to Aspen, Colorado. I have so many pictures, and so I'll share it in different parts.

We got the idea to go to Aspen a few months ago. We love EBay and I was searching one evening for good travel deals and I found this one for Aspen for the week before our 11th wedding anniversary. What an amazing deal! We got four nights for 2/3 what ONE night regularly costs. We stayed for less per night than we could've at a Motel 6 - and this place was the NICEST place in Aspen! We found all the pictures we could online and read reviews and we couldn't pass it up.

I was a little worried that spending 3 months anticipating our vacation and the great hotel would turn out badly if we showed up and it wasn't everything I had built it up to be in my mind. Not the case. It was so much nicer than what I imagined and by far, the nicest hotel we have ever stayed at (and we've stayed at a few really nice hotels.)

We got to our room, tipped the bellman, and after he left, toured the place. I was giddy; ok, I was beyond giddy. I couldn't stop giggling and shouting "WAHOO!!" It was such a beautiful place and the style was exactly what Ian and I LOVE. It was rustic without being harsh; elegant and yet cozy. It was warm and inviting. It had beautiful wood plank floors, solid wood doors and paneling on the walls, iron lighting, and beautiful artwork on the walls.

(I LOVE this rug! we contemplated how hard it would be to smuggle it out of the Hotel without being caught!;)

There were 2 fireplaces (living room and bedroom), 4 T.V.'s (kitchen, bathroom, living room bedroom), an extra deep jetted tub, a shower that shot water out from very angle - which was also a steam shower, it had two sets of double doors leading onto a balcony which had an amazing view of the pool, two hot tubs and mountains.

It had a washer and dryer (ya right, I'm on vacation!), a fitness center with the coolest equipment I've ever used (and yes, we worked out every day!), and a little funny looking car that would shuttle you around for free. We called it several times to come and pick us up at various locations to get us back to the hotel when we wandered too far! They thought of everything from robes and slippers to a humidifier. And get this...there were people who came in every day and cleaned. They even did the dishes! ;) I was in HEAVEN! They brought us a paper every morning and turned down the bed at night; leaving the yummiest chocolate covered toffees on our pillows.

We had a delicious breakfast in the "Wine Spot" every morning (think of a decadent, lush spot with overstuffed chairs and large sofas surrounding a fireplace where, during the winter, skiers come in to relax and mingle) with pastries, yogurt, fresh fruit, waffles, bagels, and hot chocolate among other things. They would open the doors and you could hear the rushing water from the waterfall that was at the head of the swimming pool. With the green mountainside in the background and birds greeting the sun, it was a beautiful, relaxing start to every morning. They also had a fire pit surrounded with benches, but we never actually made it there in the evening. This Hotel was so amazing that we actually spent almost 24 hours without leaving it just because it was so enjoyable to just relax in our room.

Aspen is a beautiful town - and actually rather small. It took about 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other. (More about what we encountered on our walk in another part of our "Aspen" series!) We had AMAZING weather the entire time. It could not have been more perfect.

I'll leave with you with these pictures of Aspen and end this post for tonight. Check in soon for more of our adventures!