Albuquerque Aloft

Just as a quick reminder to our family and friends, OCTOBER is coming up in a month and a half! That means the International Balloon Festival is rapidly approaching. Here's a little preview as to what we've been waking up to every morning. It was launched at the park right next to our house:

I have also convienently placed links to Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Expedia, CheapTickets, and Hotwire here so that you can book your flights as soon as possible. Remember, you'll be flying into the Albquerque Airport during October 4-12.

Eli and I have toyed with the idea of being balloon chasers sometime during the week of the fiesta. We've heard it's the best way to get free rides in the balloons. Let us know if you want to come visit. Our place is perfect for the two of us, but we do have an extra guest room with a nice full bed, as well as room for the two air mattresses that we own. It'll be great fun!

Let us know when your flight is booked so we can put it on our calendars! We don't want to forget to pick you up (unless you've rented a car!).

I love to see the Temple...

Sunday was such a nice relaxing day. Eli and I finally took the time to go see the Temple. Usually on Sundays we go home after church and crash (Eli wakes up early and I work late), but not this last Sunday. We had heard that the Temple wasn't too far away, but we weren't quite sure.

We got a little lost, I'm not gonna lie, but we finally made it. The Albuquerque Temple is definitely a lot different from other temples I've been to. Most are made out of the gray colored granite and have some very intricate designs, but the Albuquerque Temple is very earthy and simple. According to LDSChurchTemples.com it's made of a "Desert Rose concrete trimmed with Texas Pearl Granite," so it's more of a rose-y, sand color. It's beautiful in it's simple surroundings and blends well with the pueblo-esque look of the rest of the city. I love the stars near the spire. You can click the picture for a closer look.
There is always such a good feeling around the Temple. Even when you're not inside. It reminds me of such happy times in my life; the first time I did Baptisms, being sealed to my family, marrying Eli, and all the times I drove to the Oakland Temple when I was a teenager. It's such a peaceful, happy feeling where you know everything is okay. I'm so grateful for temples and Eli and I are so excited to go in one of these days (when our schedule allows; we're recommend holders!).
I have a fascination with the waters that are usually found on temple grounds. The smell and the cool mist is so refreshing and the sound is so peaceful. It definitely enhances the temple experience!

Date Day

Eli and I have a pretty interesting schedule right now. I'm working at Barnes & Noble right now and Eli is working part-time as a lead at Sam's Club and working to get the business up and running here. What this all means is that Eli pretty much works all day and I usually work evening until midnight. We don't get to see one another very much except for Sundays.

We have decided that when Eli and I have time off together other than Sunday, we get to have our date night. We think it's pretty stinking important to spend time together; you know, happy marriage and all.

Usually for date day we go out to eat and watch a movie. Today was a little different. We went out to breakfast at a place here in New Mexico called Weck's. It's amazing! It's a ton of good food for a decent price and it's delicous! I had lunch and Eli had breakfast (his favorite). I had the chicken fried steak lunch special w/ homemade chips and potato wedges and a salad. Eli had Biscuits n' Gravy, another favorite. If ever you pass through New Mexico or come to visit, a stop at Weck's is necessary!

We contemplated going to a movie, but then remembered hearing about a ceramic store nearby called the Painting Corral. It's one of those places where you go in and pick a ceramic piece to glaze. You can use pieces that have already been fired or glaze a piece that hasn't been fired yet.

It was a tough decision for us to pick something, but we finally settled on some pirate pieces. I told Eli that I know we don't have any kids yet, but when we have a boy I'd like to decorate his room in a pirate theme. I love pirates! So we made our choices and got to work.

Eli worked pretty hard. His focus totally paid off because his pirate skull came out amazing! All you do is paint the project with an acrylic glaze. Once you're done painting you blow dry the project with a blow dryer. After that you apply a thin layer of glossy glaze and blow dry again. It was fascinating to see Eli work. We've both taken ceramic classes and were pretty anal about our projects

Here's Eli applying a barnyard red color to his pirates do-rag. And here are our finished projects:

This was one of the best dates Eli and I have been on in awhile. It's amazing to think that we have one another and have so much fun together! If you don't make the time now to do it, you really should have a weekly date night with your spouse. It does wonders!