hot town summer in the city

I know what you're thinking..."Dani and Tommy, what ever happened to that power couple?" or "last I heard, Dani and Tommy inherited an alpaca farm and moved to Guatemala". Well, that's not true, but we are alive and I do have a sweater made from alpaca fur so that's pretty much the same thing.

We are sorry for the extensive delay in blog posting these days.  We've been so caught up in...life, that we've neglected our blog enthusiasts.  Consider this our deepest apology.  

With summer upon us we've been busy with camping trips,climbing, trying not to melt from the outrageous heat, things like that.  Summer in Colorado has been wonderful.  HOT as hell, but wonderful.  Our days mostly consist of city bike rides, gardening, mountain hikes and a lot of icecream eating from our favorite local shop.  

We recently had a plethora of guests that have kept us entertained and busy.  By plethora, we mean 5 people...but still.  Our first summer guests were the original "power couple", my godparents (or earthparents as the preferred name) from California.  They drove from California to Colorado to spend a long weekend with us.  It was very low-key and perfect in every way.  Some light hiking, lounging, and a lot of eating.  We absolutely love the jo-boo family and every time we see them are inspired to love more and deeper everyday.  They are a true inspiration to us, our lifestyle, and our love.  

Following the earthparents, all the way from the Big Island of Hawaii were our friends Danny and Zulay and their adorable almost 2 year old-Zadie.  Technically, they didn't travel from Hawaii.  They've been in Utah for the past few months working but they are from Hawaii and they are moving back to Hawaii in August. So that counts. 

And let me just say that their daughter is perhaps the cutest child on the planet. 

Spending time with them was such a treat.  Lots of 'talk story' about the islands, dreaming of sailing back, SPAM, and just good aloha feelings.  We definitely got the island bug after talking with them.  No plans to move back as of now, but we would love to plan a visit there soon. 

No other visitors planned for the rest of the summer as of now but I'm sure that will change.  Consider this an open invitation....

With August creeping up fast we have a few more summer thrills to get before its over. We have a few Red Rocks concerts coming up, hopefully some more camping trips and perhaps some wild rides down the rivers.  We recently traveled to Aspen for a pretty 'epic' backpacking trip.  That trip deserves a full blog so stay tuned....

With the brutal summer heat this year, the hardest part has been being so far from the ocean.  So many days we wake up and say, "let's just pack up and go to the beach"....only to realize that the closest beach is a mere 15 hours away.  Not as easy as our 2 block walk in Hawaii.  We are definitely missing the ocean and beach feeling but are still so happy to be back on the mainland and in Colorado.  The ocean is wonderful but the mountains aren't so bad either.  Stay tuned for more summer adventures.....

Love, 

Dani, Tommy and

Miss Munson 

toon town USA

I recently returned from the speediest trip ever to the East Coast.  I spent Thurs morning-Sunday night bouncing between Maryland and PA.  It was great to see family, my only complaint was that it was too short.  And the humidity. 

Upon arriving back in Denver, I pulled up to a brand new house.  Our landlord has been talking about repainting our "aged" cottage for quite some time now.  Painters worked hard all weekend just in time for me to arrive.  Our adorable house now resembles Mickey's Toon Town USA.  Blue and yellow with white trim and a soon to be red door. It's absolutely perfect and just makes you smile.  The garden is bursting with color and the grass is thick and green (thanks to the sprinklers).  Munson is in heaven.  All day she just lays in the sun, smelling the flowers and admiring her new Disney dreamhome. 

spring sprung

Big news. Big. Its official. We are a 2 full-time-income family. I was recently offered a position with Mount Saint Vincent Home, a residential treatment center and school for children with trauma and other emotional/mental issues. I start tomorrow working in Aspen House, a section of the residential program where kids that are preparing to transition out of MSVH can practice their soon to be used social and life skills. Its similar to the work that I've done before, but this will be with a much younger population and in a residential setting, rather than wilderness. For now I plan to still work at Patagonia part-time one or two days a week. The extra income will be nice, but we'll see how thin that stretches me.

Other happenings in the DTM (danitommymunson) world have been positive. The weather has turned wonderful. There have even been hints of occasional moisture in the air which has made me thrilled to consider switching down to just 'Regular' strength Head n Shoulders. The garden has been filled with weeds and we are excited pick em and plant some beautiful flowers veggies fruits tubers and antiques. We also made it back to Des Moines a few weeks ago to see family and get my Tasty Taco fix.

Another wonderful trip was had last weekend. We made it over to our favorite place, Moab. We got to do some sleeping under the stars, humbling climbing, gluttonous smore making, canyon exploring with a muddy puppy and munching on muffins in the cutest cafe in the world, The Love Muff.

Things have been great.

love and miss you all.

d&t

Terrific Tail Waggin' Two's

Happy 2nd Birthday Munson!!!

you still melt our heart everyday.

love is all you need

Last Valentine's day we spent it in a bowling alley parking lot at a Damien Marley and Nas concert. This one, was a little different....

We got two groupons for Sippin' n Paintin' and let the creativity

flow. We painted what was suppose to be abstract wine paintings and turned them in to Olympic circles and magical unicorns. All while sippin' wine and paintin' canvas.

After our painting extravaganza we headed up the hill to our favorite sushi restaurant. Not only did we gorge ourselves on delicious sushi, but the chef made us our favorite hawaiian dish...poke. Raw cubed ahi seasoned with shoyu and wasabi on a bed of seaweed salad. After a few contemplative moments of strongly considering moving back to the islands....we decided that this is where we belong. Valentine's day isn't the only day that's great...every day in this beautiful state with each is even better. (awww)

Beers and Mayonnaise.

Our blog has typically been about our adventures, daily stories and new outfits for our dog. However, this story was recently sent to me in one of our work newsletters and it just warmed me so much that I had to share it with all of you...enjoy...

Two Beers & a Jar

of Mayonnaise

by Dianne Stobnicke

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things; your family, children, health, friends, passions, and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house and car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children, your parents, your grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house, fix the disposal or deal with things from your job."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.

The professor smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked. The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend."

2012

January 2012:

-Tommy got a job (at Patagonia!)

-I turned 26

so far so good.