The Nichols Family Blog

Girls Night

2009-08-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Last night I hosted some girls at work at our house for a girls' night. It was so much fun! I cooked a vegetarian lasagna from Giada de Laurentiis' cookbook "Everyday Italian" and it turned out sooo tasty! I had two vegetarians coming to the party so I wanted to make something tasty that everyone could eat. I normally don't try a new recipe when I entertain, but I decided to make Giada's lasagna because it sounded so fantastic. It completely exceeded my expectations and everyone went back for seconds! You know it's good when a group of women go back for seconds. :-) When I was preparing it the night before I started getting nervous that it wasn't going to turn out to be tasty because it was full of ingredients that I wasn't used to having in a lasagna. There are even white beans in the recipe! The combination of the beans with all the veggies, cheese, noodles and sauce made the dish amazing. I would highly recommend it to anyone!
After dinner we had a hilarious time playing Dance Dance Revolution. It is highly entertaining to watch other people play, and it's great exercise too. We have two matts so it made it even more fun to have dueling players. All in all it was a perfect night!

Summer Update

2009-07-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

Summer is flying by, isn't it? It seems like not too long ago that we were moving into our new house but now it feels like we've lived here for quite a while now. I've been finding it a little difficult to keep up with both of my blogs. I have been focusing more on my quilting blog and falling behind on this one. So this is my attempt on an update... on everything. :-)

At the end of June, Chad was closing up shop at Xump and we were getting ready to take a little trip to Mammoth. We thought he was going to be unemployed for a while, but the day after he finished up at Xump, he was hired on at Aaron Brothers/Michaels. What an answer to prayer! He found out he was starting the following Monday, so we cut our trip to Mammoth a little short but still spent a few days celebrating my Dad's birthday and the 4th of July which happen to coincide. :-) The above photo is from the 4th of July Parade in Mammoth. When we got back he went straight to work and has been doing that ever since. He spent one week in Dallas for training which was the longest we had ever been apart since we got married. I missed him so much! But we talked every night and I heard all about the fun stuff he was learning.

I participated in a placemat swap that a woman was hosting on Flickr where you are paired up with another quilter and you make them a gift and send it to them. My partner was a woman who lives nears Leeds in England and she made me a beautiful placemat. I made one for her little son and I've heard that he likes it a lot. It was fun to have a connection in England since I went to school there for a semester in college. She sent me a couple packages of digestives (yum) and I sent her some gourmet salsas and fabric with her placemat.

My mom and I went to the quilt show in Long Beach last weekend and had a very good time there. She stayed over for two nights which was really fun! We both have an affinity for shopping for fabric and we shopped till we almost dropped at the quilt show. We also had a wonderful time looking at all the amazing quilts.

Chad and I are currently looking to get a car to replace the Altima I've had since 2000. It's at that point that we're hoping nothing else breaks so we don't have to put more money into it. It would be great for Chad to have a more reliable car to drive to work. I am still really enjoying driving the highlander but it poses a little bit of a challenge because the other car can't be too big, or it won't fit in the garage. We are so happy to have a garage after living in an apartment, and we intend to take full advantage of it.

My brother is coming out for a visit in a couple weeks and we are so excited to be able to show him our new place. We are really enjoying it and look forward to entertaining more guests in the future. Hopefully some house guests... Shelly? Liesl? :-)

Affordable decorating

2009-05-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

There is a fun and unique new decorating technique that won't break the bank but will easily beautify your space. Click on this link to my other blog where I've written a tutorial on how to make framed fabric art.

Finally some pictures

2009-04-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Chad and I moved into our new townhouse last weekend and we are finally coming up for air! We've been in the midst of piles of boxes and lots of home renovations. One thing we have learned through this whole experience is that moving and renovating a home at the same time makes for some really busy days! But it's all worth it and we are thrilled to be in our new place. We don't have countertops in the kitchen yet so we haven't been able to unpack a lot of the kitchen things yet, and a lot of the house is filled with boxes. But I wanted to share some photos so you can see the progress and also some of where we started out. :-)

This has been a very familiar sight in our house the past few weeks- my dad has painted pretty much the entire house by himself. Thanks dad for helping us out and saving us so much money! I don't have any pics of my mom helping us pack the old place up but she deserves huge thanks as well. We couldn't have done it without her!

These are samples of the tile and the cabinet wood color that we picked for the kitchen and dining room.

Our countertops will be this color. We don't have them in yet but we can't wait to see them once they are in.

The view from the kitchen of the dining room and living room. The new tile is in at this point. These floors used to be old, messed up manufactured hard wood.

A before picture of the downstairs powder room.

The downstairs powder room with new tile, paint and pedestal sink.

A before picture of our kitchen

The kitchen in progress

The kitchen as it looks right now with a new window, new tile, new cabinets and fridge. Can't wait for the countertops to arrive!

Cabo San Lucas Trip

2009-03-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

I am way behind in my blogging but wanted to share some pics from our trip to Cabo that we took a few weeks ago. My wonderfully generous boss took the whole staff for a weekend trip to celebrate her birthday. We were pampered and treated like royalty and kept pinching ourselves wondering if it was really happening. I've included a few photos of our fabulous room that we got to stay in. It was right on the beach!

Losing my aunt to cancer

2009-01-29T13:42:00.001-08:00

This picture was taken over 2 years ago when my Aunt, Kieara, read scripture in our wedding. It was a wonderful day and it was so important to me that she be part of it. Little did we realize that day how precious those moments with her really were, and how quickly we would be saying goodbye to her.
We called her "Auntie Kie" and she was my mom's sister. Ever since I was little, I always enjoyed spending time with her. We had great conversations and lots of laughs together. I so looked forward to the times that we would visit her and her family or they would come to visit us. Her daughter, Laurien, and I also became great friends very quickly. Even with our 8 year age difference we have remained close over the years. Together with our moms we were a fun group that never stopped finding things to laugh hysterically about when we were together.
Last July, my aunt entered the hospital for what we thought was a routine hysterectomy. It turned out to be anything but routine and the doctors found cancer. The cancer they found was a rare uterine cancer called leiyomycosarcoma and she had stage 4. It had already spread to her lungs and her bladder. She started a harsh treatment combining radiation and several types of chemo at the same time. But nothing the doctors did could stop the cancer from spreading. It eventually spread to her spine, kidneys and liver and the cancer in her lungs completely overtook her lungs . From the day she was diagnosed, it was only 6 months before she passed away.
We are heading to Denver this weekend for the memorial to celebrate my Aunt's life and mourn her passing. But we are so thankful for the hope we have to see her again in Heaven someday. She had a very strong faith in Christ and because of God's grace we will be with her again someday. She went through so much pain and agony during those months of fighting the cancer, it is good to know she is no longer in pain. But that doesn't keep us from missing her so much right now.
I will miss her laugh, her wonderful smile, and all the love she showed to me and to my husband. In the months before she was diagnosed, we had started e-mailing each other daily. I kept those e-mails and am so thankful to have them now. In addition to the mourning my immediate family is going through, my heart hurts for my Uncle who now has to live without his loving bride, and for my cousins who lost a mom way too soon.
Among the many things I have learned from this experience, the one thing that stands out for me is that life is so precious and fragile. We have no idea how many days we have here on earth, and family is so important. I loved my aunt, and I am so thankful that we had so much fun together while she was here.

Sunset at Green Valley Lake

2008-12-19T19:04:00.001-08:00

Sunset 2, originally uploaded by dawnsquilts.

A few weeks ago I took a trip up to Green Valley Lake which is near Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was my friend's birthday and she got a cabin up there for the weekend. We took a few walks while we were there and happened to catch this beautiful sunset over the water.

2 years ago today :-)

2008-11-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

Two years ago today was an amazing and wonderful day. I married the man of my dreams at the Pepperdine Chapel surrounded by our family and friends. I am so thankful that God brought my wonderful husband Chad and I together and I am amazed to see what He has done in our lives since then.

We have been living in a one-bedroom apartment together for this entire time and I am pleased to say we have enjoyed it. You really get to know one another when you live in tight quarters. ;-) We are so excited because we are about to (Lord willing) purchase our first condo/house together and I'm sure that will provide a lot of new adventures for us.

I am such a lucky girl to have a husband who is strong, sensitive, funny, thoughtful, loving, and kind. He supports my quilting hobby and all the random projects I am working on, and is proud of what I do for a living. I am equally proud of him for all he has accomplished and how hard he works every day. I know he does it all for us and for our future and that means SO much to me.

I love you honey! :-) Happy Anniversary!

A Great Anniversary Weekend

2008-11-17T10:49:00.001-08:00

Our 2 year wedding anniversary is this Wednesday so we celebrated this past weekend with a little getaway to the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village. It was the nicest hotel I have ever seen in my entire life. The rooms were like we were living at Hearst Castle and the entire hotel felt like a museum. It's filled with amazing art and there's even pottery in the guest rooms. There was also a chandelier in our room!!! The bathroom was huge and beautiful and had a widescreen television. The toiletry items that were included were from L'Occitane which happens to be my favorite. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a wonderful getaway. We felt like king and queen for a couple days. :-)

This is what our room looked like but ours looked out to the front of the hotel

Wiener Dog riding Skateboard

2008-11-12T13:17:00.001-08:00

I came across this video the other day and it makes me smile. It reminds me of our dachshund snickers that we had when I was growing up. She never would have stayed on the skateboard though. :-)

The Breeders' Cup 2008 at Santa Anita

2008-10-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita and had a really good time. I almost didn't go but when I turned on the tv in the morning and saw the coverage of the event, I decided I really wanted to go. The main reason I wanted to go, is that one of the best horses ever was going to be there. Last year's horse of the year was Curlin, and he was coming back to the Breeders' Cup to go for a second win in the Breeders' Cup Classic this year. He had never raced on synthetic surface so this was a big change for him, and no one knew what to expect. But I just wanted that chance to see him in person and get some good photos. He lives back east and chances are, this will be the only time he will make the trip out here to CA. He didn't win the race, but it doesn't really matter because he's already won it once. He is a gorgeous horse and I was giddy that I got to take some close up photos of him. I waited at the walking ring for 45 minutes to make sure I had a spot. :-) Here are some photos from the event.

Free Blog Layouts

2008-10-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

This is a really fun blog where you can get tons of great templates for your blog! I just picked one today and it was so easy to do. I was very impressed by the amount of free backgrounds available so I will be excited to check out the launch party next week. If you add the linky button to your blog, you will be eligible for giveaways!

Chihuahua with crazy radio ears

2008-10-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

I thought this was pretty interesting!

Our Trip To Mammoth and Yosemite

2008-09-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

A Friendly Alpaca

2008-09-04T21:20:00.001-07:00

IMG_1553, originally uploaded by dawnsquilts.

Last weekend my dad and I made a trip to the Underwood Family Farm to pick some produce. They have a wonderful pick your own produce system set up there and also a great collection of animals. We visited the animals after we made our way through all the crops. This is an Alpaca that was very interested in saying hello.

Alaska Cruise Trip- Day 6

2008-09-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Today we arrived in Skagway, the northernmost point of our trip. It was one of our favorite days because we got to experience some amazing scenery and took a wonderful tour. We took the "Experience the Yukon" tour and would highly recommend it to anyone taking an Alaska cruise. Our tour guide was named Bruce and we lucked out because he's the guy who trains all the tour guides in Skagway. It was a 7 hour tour and it went by so fast, it seemed like it was about 3 hours instead.
As we headed out of the town of Skagway on our bus, we were immediately impressed by the view around us. It wasn't too long before we were crossing the Canadian border into the Yukon Territory. On the ride, we learned a lot about the the gold rush, the trail that the gold seekers took, and what life was like for them. We saw all kinds of terrain including subarctic tundra. It kind of looks like the moon because of the lack of tall trees and all the rocks. The land in that area is actually called permafrost because it stays frozen all year round. This causes the trees to not be able to grow very tall because their roots are very shallow.
After numerous stops for photo opportunities, we arrived in Caribou Crossing for lunch and some time to explore the area. The BBQ lunch was good and included all you can eat homemade donuts. We just happened to sit right next to the donut serving area so we treated ourselves to a few. They were little. ;-)
Caribou Crossing is home to an Itidarod sled dog camp and we got to visit with the dogs and hold puppies too! They were so cute and definitely a highlight. They also offered rides in wheeled sleds but we didn't do that. We watched some other people do it and were highly entertained by how excited the dogs get when they are about to pull a sled.
We did some shopping in the gift shop and it was time to head back to the bus. We took a quick little side trip to a very pretty lake called "Emerald Lake" and then headed back toward Skagway.
We stopped next in a tiny town named Carcross and had a few minutes to look around there. We were able to get our passports stamped there so that was neat. There was a little girl who couldn't have been older than 9 or 10 and it was her job to stamp everyone's passports. Very cute!
The drive back to Skagway was even more picturesque than the drive out, because the fog had lifted and we were able to see the majestic mountains surrounding us. They were all carved by glaciars and the valley is just amazingly beautiful!

The Town of Skagway

We saw this young bear from our bus. It was eating dandelions!

What an amazing view!

I loved holding the sled dog puppies

Some more beautiful scenery

One the way back, we were able to stop and walk around the subarctic tundra. These tiny trees are hundreds of years old but don't grow any taller because of the permafrost and the snow pack. It was so cold here, my hands were frozen within about 10 minutes. This area is where the movie "Into the Wild" was done.

All in all, it was a fantastic tour. If you're ever in Skagway, make sure you get to do this excursion. I would rate it a 10!

Alaska Cruise trip- Day 5

2008-08-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up at 5:30am so we could view the Tracey Arm Fjords. It was well worth it and we had a wonderful time scenic cruising. Since we didn't have a balcony, we went up to the top deck to watch the scenery go by and take lots of pictures. For a while we could also hear the naturalist narrating the tour. Once we got further into the Fjords they had to stop broadcasting on the outside decks as to not disturb the wildlife in the area. It was absolutely freezing but it was so beautiful, we stayed outside for several hours. At one point we went inside to warm up and then hurried back outside so we could see the Sawyer Glacier- the highlight of the trip through the Fjords.

You can probably tell it was pretty cold by taking a look at this photo :-)

The amazing scenery

This is the Sawyer Glacier. It was pretty interesting to see how the captain maneuvered the ship through the Fjords. When we had the glacier in view, he turned the ship sideways and then flipped it around the other way so both sides of the ship could get a good view. There were a lot of people who had balconies in their rooms and were viewing everything from there.

This shows you what our view from our room was like. We were actually quite happy with it because when we booked the room we got a discount for booking a "fully obstructed view". I was picturing not being able to see daylight at all, so the fact that we could see this much was nice. That orange thing is life boat.

We sailed through the Fjords until about 10:00am and then went back to our room to warm up and get some more sleep. The ship was now headed to Juneau and we had several hours before we would get there. After napping we got up and went to go get some lunch. Today we chose to get pizza because it was quick and easy. The buffet lines were really long because everyone had the same idea and went to eat before we arrived in Juneau.

Once we arrived in Juneau we took the shuttle to town for $3. We went shopping and walked around the town for about an hour before we had to catch the shuttle back to the ship to meet our shore excursion bus. We boarded the bus and went on a tour of the city, lead by a man who has lived in Juneau for 35 years. It was really informative and we learned that there is no property tax or income tax in Juneau. The government makes all their money from oil. The residents even get dividends each year based on how much money is made. Pretty cool, huh?

The bus took us next to the Mendenhall Glacier where we went on a hike and then went to view the glacier. We were warned that there may be black bears in the area but we only saw a porcupine in a tree. It was funny though because a lot of people thought it was a bear and starting yelling, "bear! bear!".

The Beautiful Mendenhall Glacier

Chad and the Glacier

A huge waterfall next to the glacier. If you look closely you can see people at the bottom which gives a perspective on how large the waterfall is.

Kayakers in front of the glacier

Some neat ice bergs

After our tour we got off the bus in town and did some more shopping and walking around. We found a very tasty fudge shop and treated ourselves to some chocolate mint fudge. yum! When it was nearing time for the ship to leave, we took the shuttle back to the ship and went back to the room.

Dinner that night was French themed and Chad was very adventurous and had frog legs. eeek! He liked them a lot. :-) After dinner we went to the internet cafe to try to check our e-mail but the ship was having satellite connection issues so it was closed. Because we had gotten up so early in the morning, we were pretty tired. So we went back to the room to go to bed.

Tomorrow we arrive in Skagway and get to take a 7 hour tour into the Yukon territory!

Relief at the Pumps

2008-08-13T08:45:00.001-07:00

This was an exciting sight to see yesterday in Los Angeles. $4.05 for a gallon of gas is a number we haven't seen in a long time. We were approaching 5 dollars a gallon at one point so that makes 4 dollars seem amazing! That's kind of a crazy thought. :-) I promise I will get back to blogging about Alaska soon.

Alaska Cruise Trip - Day 4

2008-07-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today we arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska. We didn't even hear the boat get to the dock so we were surprised when we woke up to see land outside our window. Ketchikan is a neat place. It is located on an island and is known as Alaska's "First City" because it is the first major town that travelers reach as they go north. We got up and had breakfast and got off the ship at 9am so we could get to our tour bus to take us to the Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary. While going through downtown we noticed a lot of Salmon shops like the one in the photo below.

Some homes in the town of Ketchikan

We reached the Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary and it was raining. It was actually raining the whole way there too. The Tongass Rainforest is a temperate rainforest and they get over 200 inches of rain per year. The Tongass is the largest National Forest in the United States and is comprised of 17 million acres. We explored a tiny portion of this forest and I found it to be one of the prettiest places I'd ever seen. It was so green and lush and quiet, we felt like we were in a movie.
Our guides warned us that we were entering black bear habitat and made sure none of us were carrying any salmon jerky in our pockets. That seems like a funny thing to have in your pocket but I guess it's common in Ketchikan. :-) We learned a lot about the black bears and saw some of their markings on the trees. The adult bears mark the trees to show the other bears how big and strong they are.
We also saw gigantic King Salmon jumping out of the water in the hatchery. They had come back to the hatchery to spawn. They return to within 6 inches of where they were born to complete that process. Pretty impressive internal GPS!

The moss you see on this tree is a type of Lichen that only grows if the air is very clean. We took lots of deep breaths so we could absorb as much of the clean air as possible ;-)

After hiking through the rainforest and hatchery area we walked through an old saw mill and into an area full of reindeer. We got to feed the reindeer and they were pretty funny... and hungry. :-)
After the reindeer's tummies were all full of leaves, we walked over to visit a bald eagle and an owl that are kept up there because they are injured and couldn't live in the wild on their own. The amount of bald eagles we saw in Alaska was astonishing. They were pretty much everywhere and it wasn't uncommon to see groupings of 10 of them sitting in a tree. What a treat!
We really enjoyed this tour and would highly recommend it to anyone who visits Ketchikan. At the end of the tour they also provided smoked salmon and hot chocolate for a snack.
We rode the bus back into town and went on a hunt for a quilt shop that I had seen online. It took a while but we managed to find it and a bunch of other fun stores too. We even bought a winter coat for me because we were starting to realize that 52 degrees was going to be as warm as it was going to get on this trip. And on the ocean, it felt more like the 30s. Thankfully the winter coats were only $19.99! I am wearing that coat in many of the photos from our trip. :-)
The boat left port at 4:30pm and we enjoyed some scenic cruising before dinner. And of course I will mention the dinner since cruising is a lot about food too. hehe It was Italian night. I had an eggplant parmesan appetizer, minestrone soup, salad, spaghetti, and a stuffed peach for dessert. That sounds like a lot of food!
After dinner it was still light out until about 11pm so we went looking for whales. We didn't find any but it was a beautiful night. Tomorrow we wake up early to cruise the Tracy Arm Fjords and then we're off to Juneau!

Alaska Cruise Trip - Day 3

2008-07-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

Today was our first "At Sea" day on the Star Princess. We were looking forward to relaxing and doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. :-) We slept in late and went up to the buffet for breakfast which was very good. There was lots of variety and it wasn't too hard to find a table. After breakfast we went for a walk around the promenade deck of the ship which is the only deck you can walk around the entire ship continuously without running into a wall or a kitchen, etc. It was pretty cold outside so we walked quickly.

This is the pool at the aft of the ship that I pictured myself hanging out in but it was a little cold for that. It's still pretty cool to have a pool there.

After our walk around the ship we decided to check out the gym and spa areas. In the picture below you can see the lap pool and the paddle tennis courts and running track in the background. It felt really odd to work out as the ship was moving. I did the elliptical and Chad did the treadmill. I kept feeling like my body was getting heavier as the ship went over the swells. The gym is in a really nice location because you look right over the bow of the boat from the windows.

Us after our gym experience...

After the workout we went on a search for the miniature golf course or "Princess Links". We found it but realized there was a tournament going on at the time and decided to try back another day.

We had signed up for a wine tasting in the Amalfi dining room the night before, so we went to that at 3pm. It was a pretty good deal ($9.50) and we got to taste 6 wines and snack on cheese and fruit. The wines were all very good and there were a couple we considered getting for our dinners. If you order a bottle of wine for dinner and don't finish it, they save it for you for the next night.

After the wine tasting we went back to the room and relaxed for a while, napped, and read. That evening was the first formal night so we got all dressed up and went to dinner at 8pm. That night I had the grapefruit and kiwi appetizer (yum), a salad, beef tenderloin medallion, and the Princess Loveboat Dream Dessert. A very very nice meal.

After dinner we headed over to the Princess Theater and watched their presentation of "Cinematastic". It was a celebration of songs performed in movies over the years. It was pretty good. Some of the songs I wasn't familiar with but I enjoyed the ones I knew a lot.

After a relaxing a busy day at sea we slept really well. I think I slept better on the ship than I do at home! While we were sleeping the ship left British Columbia and entered Alaskan waters. Tomorrow is Ketchikan!

Alaska Cruise Trip - Day 2

2008-07-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of our trip was embarkation day for the cruise! We were very excited about getting to the ship but we had some time in the morning so we decided to go to the Pike Place Market. Our hotel was only a few blocks from the market so we took a walk down there to check it out. Once we got there we had about 25 mins to walk around before we had to head back to the hotel to check out. The market has a very fun energetic atmosphere and I would definitely recommend going there if you are in Seattle.

The Front of the Market

The Famous Pike Place Fish Co. where they throw the fish around

We stopped by the Daily Dozen Doughnut Co. to get some tasty fresh doughnuts. This is also a fun place because they toss the doughnuts in the air and into your bag.

After we got back to the hotel, we got our stuff, checked out and went out in front to wait for a taxi. There were quite a few people waiting to get taxis to the ship but we weren't concerned because we had until 3pm to get there. The taxis were all tied up for a few minutes so the hotel's taxi coordinator put us into an SUV to take us to the dock. That was pretty nice considering it was the same price as a regular cab. It cost 20 dollars to get to the dock. Princess is located at Terminal 30 which is the furthest south of all the docks. Don't try to walk there from downtown- you will end up having to get into a cab at some point.

The check-in process for Princess was not bad at all. We waited in line for about 10 minutes and dragged our luggage till we got to the door. That was probably the hardest part of checking in (which isn't really that hard). Once we got to the door they took the big luggage and we went into another line to get our cruise cards. On Princess and I think all cruise ships they give you a cruise card which serves as your key to your room and your payment for everything on the ship that you buy. (things from the shops, any alcohol, and any special things like wine tasting you might participate in) That line went very quickly- about 10 mins and then we were off to the gangway. All together it took about 30 minutes to go through the whole process and be in our room. Pretty impressive! Princess definitely has streamlined that process.

Once inside the ship we decided to walk around and see everything since we had time. In the middle of our walking around we ran into the start of a tour of the ship. It was lead by one of the cruise entertainment people named "Boogie". We decided to take the tour and learned a lot about the ship and found out where everything was. That was very helpful. We continued to run into Boogie the rest of the trip and he was always very friendly and seemed to remember us.

This is the indoor pool with the glass roof

After our tour we went back to the room and our luggage was there waiting for us. yay! We unpacked a little bit and then went up to the top deck for the Sail Away Party. They had a band and the atmosphere was very fun.

The Sail Away Party

As we left Seattle, the views of the city were great

We had our first sit down dinner at 8pm in the Amalfi dining room that night. It was a casual dress night so that made it easy. We met our table mates who were two older ladies who were best friends. Very cute and fun to talk to. There were two other seats at our table but no one ever showed up for them. For dinner that night I chose the spring roll appetizer, the salad, a pasta dish and some struedel for dessert. All the meals were wonderful and consisted of an appetizer, soup, salad, main course, and dessert. Each course had at least 3 selections to choose from.

After dinner we went to the Sail Away show at the Princess theater. There was singing and dancing and introductions of the major department heads on the crew. It was fun but it felt kind of weird because the boat was rocking quite a bit. That evening was the choppiest of the entire week with 4 foot swells - probably because we were in open ocean. It wasn't bad though and we didn't get seasick at all.

The Princess Theater is the largest theater on board the Star Princess

We went to bed pretty late that night and were looking forward to a relaxing day at sea the following day. At dinner we signed up to attend a wine tasting the next day and that was the only thing we had planned.

Alaska Cruise Trip - Day 1

2008-07-17T11:47:00.001-07:00

My husband and I recently returned from a wonderful trip. We took a cruise to Alaska on Princess Cruises' "Star Princess" ship. We left out of Seattle on July 6th and returned on the 13th. It was a great trip and I'm going to be blogging about each day of the trip. I will include pics and stories about the trip as well tips for people who might be thinking about taking a cruise to Alaska in the future.

We left home on the 5th of July and flew to Seattle on Virgin America. This was our first time on this airline and it was pretty interesting. It has all kinds of mood lighting and purple plastic on the interior and each seat gets their own entertainment system that includes movies, television, video games and a food ordering system. The movies and premium television require payment to use them but most everything else is free.

The plane wasn't very full and we had a great opportunity to upgrade to first class for a very low cost so we took advantage of that. We were served a nice meal and got to use all the entertainment services without paying extra. I watched "Horton Hears a Who" and thoroughly enjoyed it. Chad watched "Sweeney Todd" but was sad that the movie didn't end by the time the plane landed. Most of movies available were too long for our flight to Seattle. But we had a nice time being pampered and it was a great start to our trip.

Once we arrived in Seattle we caught a cab to the Red Lion on 5th Avenue. It cost 30 dollars for the cab ride from the airport. The hotel is located in the center of downtown Seattle and surrounded by restaurants and shopping. It's a great location for anyone who wants to see downtown on foot. It's very nice and updated and I would definitely stay there again. We settled in and then decided to take a monorail to the space needle. The monorail was only 2 blocks from the hotel so that was very convenient. We got to the space needle very quickly and bought tickets to go up to the top. It was very fun and we enjoyed the beautiful view. The sunlight at that time was great for picture taking too.

After leaving the Space Needle we were starving and tired so we took the monorail back to the hotel area and ate dinner at P.F. Changs. After that we went back to the hotel and went to bed early so we would be ready for our big day ahead of us. It was nice to arrive in Seattle the day before the cruise. It took a lot of the stress out of getting to the ship on time and we had extra time in case our luggage got lost or the flight was delayed.

The Space Needle

Chad enjoying the space needle

The view to the south from the Space Needle

A very interesting building that we could see from our hotel room

Hands Free -Day 1- in Los Angeles

2008-07-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to "everyone needs a buy a bluetooth to talk on the phone in their car" day. :-) Today is the first day a law goes into effect that requires us to have a hands free device to use our phones in the car. I have no problems with the law at all- the less people are doing while driving the better. But I think it's funny that texting while driving is still allowed. It seems like that would be even more dangerous to do while driving. It will be interesting to see if this new law is enforced and how much of a boost electronics stores will get this week. A lot of people probably already had bluetooth but may not have used it very often. And now that they have to use it, many are discovering the one they had doesn't work that well, or in my case was never really compatible with my particular phone. The one I bought is made by Plantronics and has a little gel insert for your ear so nothing has to hang on the outside of the ear. I highly recommend those because you can hear better and they are much more comfortable.

Fake Meat is Tasty!

2008-06-23T23:32:00.001-07:00

We recently started trying out some meat substitute products and have been pleasantly surprised by how tasty they are. Tonight we tried "Yves" brand Taco Stuffers and it looked and tasted just like taco meat. And all we had to do was heat it up! No fat to drain, no stirring in ingredients, just pop it on the stove and voila! Tacos! :-) I highly recommend this brand and also the "Morningstar Farms" brand. I really like their "chick 'n" products. And since they are made with soy and vegetables, it's much healthier and full of protein. Sounds good to me!

Big Brown is still a great horse

2008-06-08T17:01:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes. At stake was the triple crown of horse racing- a prize that hasn't been won for the past 30 years. Horse racing fans were very hopeful that Big Brown would finally be the horse we've been waiting for. Most everyone was confident that he would win by a great deal of lengths and we would all celebrate seeing history being made. Instead, Big Brown didn't seem to feel like racing yesterday. And I can understand that as it was in the 90's at the track and this was the longest distance Big Brown had ever run. Running 3 races in five weeks is a lot of racing and maybe Big Brown was worn out. Maybe it was his cracked hoof that was bothering him, or maybe he got bumped in the beginning of the race and that caused him to get upset. No matter what the reason, no one can deny that Big Brown has talent. He won the Derby and the Preakness with ease and is a very fast, high endurance, beautiful horse. I read an article today that said he was posing for photographers today like he had won the race yesterday. :-) Here is one photo that I love that was taken by associate press photographer Kathy Willens. It's Big Brown' owner giving him a hug after the race yesterday.

I went to Hollywood Park to watch the race with thousands of others who had high hopes for the day. This is Big Brown getting ready to get into the gate.

A couple photos of one of the later races at Hollywood Park on the turf. It was a pretty day. If you click on this one you can see it bigger.

New way to get to work

2008-06-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

With gas prices skyrocketing, a lot of people are looking for alternate transportation options. In Los Angeles, mass transit is becoming very popular but it is rather limited depending on where you want to go. If there was a subway that took people from the San Fernando valley to the West Side, I think it will be widely used. Considering the fact that the 405 and 101 freeway interchange is the worst in the nation, there seems to be a high demand for a subway or some sort of train. It would cost a huge amount of money because the train would have to go through a mountain... but I think it would be worth it. When I got to work this morning, the gas stations near my workplace were charging 4.39 for one gallon of regular unleaded. I couldn't believe it!
Yesterday there was a news story about kids who are starting to ride horses to their high school to save money. I think that's a fantastic idea! I would totally ride a horse down the freeway if everyone else was riding horses or some other type of animal. Don't you think that would be fun? :-)

Flowers and Savings!

2008-05-19T22:50:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of fun updates. First of all I want to share that my loving husband surprised me with flowers tonight and it was such a treat! He picked pink which is my favorite color and bought them to show his love. What a lucky girl I am! :-)

And second, I wanted to share my latest grocery game news. I know I have been talking a lot about it lately, but it's so great, it's hard not to talk about it. :-) I wanted to show a photo of the items I got with my coupons tonight, so you can see that it is brand name items that I am getting for the great prices. I saved 106 dollars off of a bill that would have been 216! I got a lot of toiletry items which are on sale now so we are now fully stocked on soap, shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc. We are set for months! How fun is that! :-)

Grocery Game Update

2008-05-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of using "The Grocery Game" I wanted to provide a little update on the progress. I am still extremely happy with it and here are some quick facts and things I have learned so far.

In the last three weeks we have saved more than enough money to pay for a pantry to keep our stock pile in.
Out of 340 dollars in groceries, I have paid 155 dollars!
A vast majority of the products I have purchased are name brand items.
The 4 week trial period only costs a dollar, and after that it's 10 dollars every 8 weeks.
There are many sales on the list that aren't advertised.
Home Depot is a great place to get an affordable stand alone pantry. I think if/ when we get a house with a garage, we will get a couple more and line them up in the garage.
For Ralphs, it's important to shop on Sundays because some of the sale items are gone by Monday evening. The sale period may differ for each store but for Ralphs it's Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.
The Grocery Game has changed the way I shop for food and it's given us the gift of extra cash in our bank account.

My first try at "The Grocery Game"

2008-04-28T22:49:00.001-07:00

Tonight was my first try at "The Grocery Game" and I'm thrilled with the results! (and so is my wallet) For those of you who haven't heard of it, "The Grocery Game" is a website that a woman created to help other people save money on groceries. She created this huge database that keeps track of all the coupons and sales the happen at the major grocery stores. Each week all you have to do is clip the coupons out of the L.A. Times or other major paper, and hold on to your coupon mailings. On the weekends, "the list" is published which tells you what is on sale for that week. At Ralphs where I shop, the sales happen on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The list is color coded. Blue means it's time to stock up on an item because it's at the lowest price. Green means that you can get the item for free. And Black means that the item is on sale, but you should only buy it if you need it or want a treat. That information, combined with the coupons that she tells you to use, add up to huge savings. And the philosophy is that you would only buy items when they are on sale, stock pile those items, and then go to your own pantry to go shopping once you need the item. Tonight was my first time trying out this system and I was so happy to see how much I saved! The bill would have been 106 dollars, and I paid 53!!!!!! I'm a grocery game convert now and will definitely be using it to save money from now on. :-)

Trip to Paso Robles

2008-04-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Chad and I took a trip to Paso Robles this weekend to visit his parents and we had a very nice time. It had been a while since we had been up there and it was great to see them and catch up on everything that's been going on. As a little sidenote- my camera has been "on the fritz" lately and we were able to pick up a new one on our way up there at Best Buy. I got the Canon Powershot SD1100 IS - Digital Elph and these pics are some of the first I took with the camera. I've been very happy with the results so far.

This is their dog Skipper and he is such a little bundle of energy. He provided much entertainment during the weekend. :-)

This is Skipper posing for me with his favorite toy ball.

We went out to dinner here the first night we were there and it was very tasty!

The pretty foliage around their house.

We went over to the stables near the house and made some horse friends while we were there. This one liked Chad a lot and was licking his hand. :-)

Another horse friend posing for the camera.

My camera was on "kids and pets" mode when it caught this horse's tongue mid-lick. :-)

This horse also liked Chad a lot. :-)

And he liked Chad's shirt even better... we think he thought it was food.

A sneaky hiding horse. :-)

Lake Nacimiento- near the house.

All in all we had a wonderful time and look forward to our next trip.

Santa Anita Derby Day

2008-04-05T20:36:00.001-07:00

Today was Derby day at Santa Anita Park and my mom and I went to cheer on our favorite Kentucky Derby Contenders. The Santa Anita Derby is one of the most important races to determine which horses get to race in the Kentucky Derby. It was a slightly overcast day which made it pretty comfortable with the huge crowds. We got seats in the Club House Loge area which is now my favorite area at Santa Anita. We really enjoyed it and had a great day. The favorites to win were Colonel John and El Gato Malo. Colonel John, ridden by Corey Nakatani, ended up winning followed by Bob Black Jack and Coast Guard. We got a wonderful spot at the walking ring before the race started and as you can see, I had some fun taking pictures. :-)

Fans waiting at the walking ring

NBC Commentator

A very young owner standing on her horse's number

Corey Nakatani on Colonel John

Richard Migloire on Bob Black Jack

Yankee Bravo

A Jumpy El Gato Malo with rider David Flores and Trainer Craig Dollase

The Sea of Humanity ready to watch the Derby

The Start of the Derby

This is so cute!!

2008-04-03T11:40:00.001-07:00

This is so darling. It's amazing that she knows all the words!

Dollar Day at Santa Anita

2008-03-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful 80 degree day at Santa Anita this past Saturday and it was also Dollar Day which meant that admission, programs, hot-dogs and drinks were all one dollar. That made for an inexpensive and fun way to spend a Saturday. I really enjoy seeing the race horses up close and all the fun and excitement that goes along with a day at the track. I'm not a big better and rarely win much money (for me it's more about the fun of watching the horses), but this day was different for me. I won about 50 dollars throughout the day just betting little amounts on races and winning about 4 of them. So I came home with more than I left with which is always a good thing. :-) I wanted to share some pictures of the day because it's such a picturesque venue.

My First Quilt that isn't a wall hanging :-)

2008-03-18T13:27:00.001-07:00

I have been keeping this quilt a secret because I was making it for my brother, Steve (for his birthday), and I didn't want him to know. It was so hard to not blog about the progress but well worth it for the surprise factor. :-) This is my first quilt that is larger than a wall hanging and I'm so excited that it turned out looking like a quilt! My mom helped me a great deal (and Dad too- thanks for the help with taping it to the floor) and my parents were so nice to let me take over their living room with all the quilting debris and accouterments. I learned a lot while making this one and now I'm itching to start another. This one might have to be secret too though... hmm. :-) Also, thanks to my wonderful husband Chad for helping me pick "manly" colors for the quilt, and for putting up with my late night sewing and all the threads scattered throughout the apartment. He supports me so much in my new quilting hobby. :-) (And everything I do for that matter.)

West Coast Bash

2008-03-09T15:43:00.001-07:00

We went to the West Coast Bash at Six Flags Magic Mountain today and had a fabulous time. It was a completely new experience for us and we were so glad we went. This website called themeparkreview organizes trips and events for theme park and roller coaster enthusiasts all over the world. We were lucky to get to join in on an event because the park is only 25 mins from our apartment and we have season passes this year. Thanks Mom and Dad!

The first cool thing was they had something called ERT which means you get to ride the rides when the park isn't open. You basically just walk in and get on and ride. They had 4 rides operating so we went on Tatsu and Superman- my two favorites. yay! One thing I noticed is that these were some serious roller coaster people. We rode Tatsu and no one was screaming at all. Well, except me. It was like they were just taking it all in. Pretty interesting. It was soooo fun to not have to wait in line! When the park opened there still weren't very many people there and we were able to ride 7 roller coasters before lunch! That's like what one would hope to accomplish in a full day at a park. The only side effect we noticed from that though was that our bodies got a little tired out pretty fast so we had to rest a little bit. (We aren't teenagers anymore. )

We had lunch at the picnic pavillion with all the other theme park review peeps and we were so tired from the time change and getting up early, that we headed home after that. But we had gotten in all the fun rides already so we felt great. We came home and took naps. (Once again, we aren't teenagers anymore). :-) Next time we would love to stay the full day and take the backstage tours and do the evening ERT too. Thanks theme park review!

I'm a Quilter!

2008-02-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

I am so excited because I started and finished my first quilt yesterday! It is a small quilt- only 21"x21" so it was a good one to start with. It took me about 9 hours to finish the whole thing. I had a great time sewing it and even enjoyed the hand finishing part of putting the binding on the edges. I did prick my hands about a dozen times during that process though. :-) Here are some pictures of the finished quilt and the walking foot that I used to do the final quilting (stitching all the layers together)

A kid in a sewing machine shop

2008-02-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

The final piece of my quilting puzzle arrived in my hands yesterday. A brand new Viking Emerald 118. The Viking brand comes highly recommended by several quilting and sewing friends and there just happened to be a Viking Dealer 2 blocks from my office. The dealer is called the Sewing Arts Center and everyone there sews on Vikings. They also offer a free class to learn the machine, and an extended warranty. It didn't take long for them to show me several in my price range, and I decided on the 118 because of the extra stitch features, needle threader (which is awesome by the way), and the height that the foot lifts up to (to fit quilts under it). The sales person gave me a discount so I paid the price that the 116 (one step down) would normally go for. The box had been opened at the factory so that's why I got the discount. But the salesperson explained that it was probably to teach someone how to thread the machine.

Anyway, I am so excited to start sewing on it and spent the evening learning the machine, threading it, and experimenting with stitch length and tension. I can't wait to work on my project!

A New Adventure

2008-02-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

In a quest to find a new hobby that I can do in the evenings, I decided to embark on some uncharted territory for me and learn to quilt. eeek! :-) I'm very excited about the prospect of being able to make functional artistic items for my family and friends, and I hope that I'm able to produce some fun things. I picked up "Quilting For Dummies" and read that yesterday and today and found it to be very informative. It describes everything in a simple way that non-sewing people like myself can understand. The extent of my sewing is two sets of curtains and some shoe bags in Jr High. :-) After reading that I headed for Joann's to get supplies and fabric. I had picked out a design from the dummies book called "Pastel Nine-Patch Wall Hanging". Doesn't sound so exciting but it's pretty and small enough for my first try at quilting. I've included some pictures of the fabric I picked out after I had washed and ironed it like a good quilter.

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

2008-02-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

One of the most tasty things I have ever cooked is Giada De Laurentiis' "Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables". I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys italian food and is looking for something on the healthier side that is also great for leftovers. My husband Chad thought it was fantastic too so I will more than likely be cooking this as one of our "staple" foods in the coming year.

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables
2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 cremini mushrooms, halved (large brown mushrooms)
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence
1 pound penne pasta
3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
1 cup grated fontina cheese (you can sub grated gouda or provolone)
1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Happy Retirement!

2008-02-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

Last week we took a whirlwind trip to Hawaii for my dad's last flight with American Airlines. It worked out wonderfully because my brother and his wife were able to come and so we had the whole family together! We flew to Hawaii early in the morning on Tuesday and were able to enjoy the day there to the fullest. We had a great lunch, played on the beach and partied the night away in Waikiki. :-) The trip home was great too. The weather was fabulous and clear and we even had two rainbows greeting us before takeoff. Once we got home it felt funny that we had just gone to Hawaii for a day, but it was one of the best trips ever because we were all together celebrating my dad's great career. Here are some pics from the fun.

The retirement party that evening

Mom and Dad on the balcony

Steve and Liesl on the balcony

Chad and I on the balcony

Bed Bath and Beyond Class Action Lawsuit

2008-01-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

If anyone is looking for proof that America is lawsuit crazy, here is some interesting news. There is a class action lawsuit against Bed, Bath and Beyond that claims that the company misrepresented the thread counts on their sheets. It states that the company listed the number of threads per square inch of fabric instead of the number of yarns. The company denies any wrongdoing and has come to a settlement that gives customers who bought certain sheets from them the right to get full refunds or to get gift cards.

I found out about this through an e-mail that they sent out to their customers. I don't remember ever buying sheets there but even if I did I probably wouldn't go to the trouble of trying to find a receipt for some sheets I bought up to 7 years ago (that's what the lawsuit covers). I am curious to find out who the people wronged by the sheet scandal are. Do they have thread counting microscopes at home? :-)

Spinny ride in Dubrovnik

2008-01-12T13:39:00.001-08:00

Still testing out my new ilife '08 I found this video and it made me laugh. We are in Dubrovnik, Croatia in 2006 and we had just gone grocery shopping. This ride was outside the store and we decided to try it. Hilarity ensued. :-)

LT enjoying the wind

2008-01-12T11:13:00.001-08:00

I am trying out my new ilife '08 and one of the great features is being able to post to youtube straight from imovie. This was from two summers ago when we drove across country. Thought it was pretty cute.

Traffic in LA is amazing

2008-01-10T10:08:00.000-08:00

I saw this pic and thought we definitely need these devices in Los Angeles. Maybe they help people's blood pressure go down in traffic.

:-)

This morning was one of those mornings that make me think that our state needs to fund a research project on the science of traffic. Yesterday I pulled out of my driveway at 8:13 and there was no traffic on my street. I drove away and was on the freeway within minutes. Granted, I was off the freeway within minutes as well, as I only use the freeway as a quick way to get to the surface streets I take on my way to work. Today, I pulled out of my driveway at roughly the same time, and proceeded to sit in front of my building in traffic for 3 full stop light cycles until it was finally my turn to turn left. Once I turned left, it was all good and it took me the usual 45 mins to drive 12 miles to work. But during that time spent gazing at my building from the street, I couldn't help but think something is wrong with how our lights are timed or how our streets are designed. Thursday is traditionally a heavier traffic day is LA because a lot of people take fridays off so they all need to work Thursday. But that still doesn't explain that huuuuuge difference in traffic levels on my street from day to day. Just needed to get that off my chest. :-)

Chili on a rainy day

2008-01-06T22:14:00.000-08:00

Today it's been raining most of the day and I decided to make a big batch of crock pot chili so we could have that as our meal of the week. I generally make a big batch of something on the weekend that we can have as leftovers during the week because our schedules are a little weird and it's good to have something ready at any time of the day or late night. :-) So today I made a recipe from my cookbook called "Fix- it and Forget- it Cookbook, Feasting with your Slow Cooker." There were many chili recipes to pick from so my choice was based on how much time I had which wasn't much. (I didn't get back from the store until 4pm which is bad for a slow cooker.) I found one that needed 4 hours to cook and told Chad we'd be having a late dinner. :-) It turned out fantastic so I just had to share it. This recipe is courtesy of Jeanne Allen from Rye, CO. I don't know Jeanne but I thank her for her fabulous chili.

Trail Chili

2lbs ground beef

1 large onion diced

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

2 8-oz cans tomato puree (paste)

2 cans kidney or pinto beans undrained. I use pinto because I prefer them

4-oz can diced green chilies

1 cup water

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp. mild chili powder

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. pepper

1. Brown beef and onion in skillet. Drain. Place in slow cooker on high

2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook on high 30 minutes

3. Reduce heat to low. Cook 4-6 hours. (I chose 4 because of my lack of time. :-) )

Top individual servings with shredded cheese.

Norman

2008-01-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

Norman is Steve and Liesl's dog and he is so cute I had to blog about him. He's our nephew dog so of course we are very proud of him and love to take pictures of him. He is so photogenic. These are a few of my favorites. :-)

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

2008-01-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

I bought a wii this Christmas after having fun trying to find one on nowinstock.net . I knew it would provide fun for our family at Christmas and was so glad when that proved to be true. We had several fun and entertaining games of bowling, golf, baseball and even boxing! The games that come with the wii are fantastic. I had also purchased the mario olympics which was also fun but a little harder to do well at. The funniest part was watching my dad bowl as he looked like he was really at a bowling alley and almost smacked the television several times. These are some pics from the fun! :-)

A Great Christmas

2008-01-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was an extra special one because my brother Steve and his wife Liesl and their doggie Norman came to visit so we were all together for Christmas. We had a great time together and enjoyed each other's company immensely. We skied, played, laughed, wii'd, relaxed and had a great time together. These are some pictures from the week.

Christmas Lights display

2007-12-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

What the Holidays Mean to Me

2007-12-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

What The Holidays Mean to You

For you, the holidays are a very spiritual time. You have as much holiday fun as everyone else - but you never forget what you're celebrating.

You celebrate the holidays in a minimalist style. You are likely to give a few great presents and decorate your house with a few special items.

During the holidays, you feel happily busy. There's so much to do and not a lot of time to do it. But you enjoy every minute of your holiday chores.

You think the holidays should be nostalgic and sweet. The holidays bring out your inner child.

Your best holiday memories are of childhood foods and traditions. You secretly still wish you believed in Santa Claus.

What Do the Holidays Mean to You?

Happy Birthday Liesl!

2007-12-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to the greatest sister-in-law ever! You are the sister I never had and I am so thankful for you and for everything you bring to our family. I hope you have a fabulous birthday! You deserve it!

2007-11-29T10:50:00.000-08:00

Your Elf Name Is...

Freckles Sticky Fingers

What's Your Elf Name?

What kind of pie are you?

2007-11-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

I don't know if this really describes me but I do love pumpkin pie!! :-)

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality.

You're able to relate to many types of people with many different tastes.

But you're by no means generic or ordinary.

In fact, you're one of the most original people around.

Those who like you are looking for something (someone!) special.

You tend confuse people when they first meet you. You're not as complicated as you seem.

Even though you have a lot of spice and flavor to you, you're never overpowering.

You are a calm and comforting force in people's lives.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Turduckens

2007-11-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered some very interesting poultry knowledge. It's so interesting that I want to do a public service and share it with everyone (Liesl and Chad) who reads my blog.
A Turducken is a de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The name is a portmanteau (a word that fuses words together to give it a combined meaning) of those ingredients, turkey, duck, and chicken. The cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with a seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird. Some recipes call for the turkey to be stuffed with a chicken which is then stuffed with a duckling. But I don't want to think about ducklings so I will move on.
A variation of this interesting meal is a turduckencorpheail. This is a standard turducken, which is then stuffed with a cornish game hen, which is then stuffed with a pheasant, and finally stuffed with a quail. Ewwww is all I have to say to that.
In my somewhat unknowledgable opinion all of this sounds disgusting, but I have heard it is actually a very tasty treat. If anyone has tried these interesting meals, I would appreciate your input. :-)

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert

2007-10-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous time at the concert last night. We feel so blessed that so many great artists are coming to our church for concerts! This one was amazing! Great music, great message, and wonderful visual effects. The really neat thing about this concert was that his two sons were performing in the band. His 16 year old was the drummer and WOW is the main reaction we all had to him. He is great and has a huge future ahead of him. HIs 18 year old son was playing electric guitar and he was awesome too. It was so fun to see them all playing together. We all enjoyed it immensely and also enjoyed seeing my dad play air guitar during the last song of the concert "Dive." :-) It was also really loud and my mom's hair was vibrating to the beat. hehe. All in all a fun night!

I was tagged by Liesl!

2007-10-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

Jobs I've had:

1) Script Supervisor
2) Associate Director
3) Voice Over Supervisor
4) Associate Producer
5) Retail Sales Associate- Brookstone and Office Max
6) Technical Director- Thousand Oaks City Council Meeting Television
7) Head of the Nursery at Monte Vista Presbyterian Church (Jr. High, High School)
8) Math and Spanish Tutor

Places I've Lived:

1) Sherman Oaks, CA
2) Studio City, CA
3) Malibu, CA
4) London, England
5) Newbury Park, CA
6) San Bernardino, CA
7) Chicago, IL

Places I'd Rather Be (in no particular order):

1) Sailing on a sunny day anywhere
2) Visiting Steve and Liesl in OK
3) Shopping at Harrods in London
4) Turtle Bay, Oahu (I kind of want to live there)
5) Grand Teton National Park

Foods I Love:
(I realized that I like a lot of things that aren't good for me :-))
1) Pumpkin Pie
2) Sugar free/fat free/lactose Free Chocolate Pudding
3) Boneless Buffalo Wings (must be boneless, no exceptions)
4) Mexican food, mexican food, mexican food. I could eat it every day
5) Nutella
6) Orange Chicken
7) French Fries (Either regular fries with malt vinegar, or the chili cheese variety)
8) Strawberries

TV Shows I Love:
1) Heroes
2) Lost
3) Jon and Kate Plus 8
4) 24
5) Lost
6) HGTV- too many to list

Movies I Love:
1) Parent Trap- Old and New versions (thanks Steve and Liesl :-))
2) Sound of Music
3) Seabiscuit
4) Dreamer
5) Mad Hot Ballroom
6) National Treasure
7) What a Girl Wants

Books/Authors I Love:
1) Beverly Lewis
2) Elizabeth George
3) Harry Potter Series
4) The Tipping Point
6) The Nancy Drew Series- read every single one of them as a kid

Good News All Around

2007-10-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

This week has been so great because we found out that Chad got a new job! He will be store manager for a kids science toy store in our area which is exactly what he's been looking for. He'll be in charge of 5 employees and will be able to do whatever he thinks is best to run the store. We are so thankful for this new opportunity for him.
And in BLT news, I was able to run yesterday! It's been about 7 weeks since I broke my toe and it's finally ok with getting back into exercising. It felt great to be able to do that. Yay for healed toes!

This Little Piggy...

2007-10-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

... went to the gym! This was the first time since I broke my little toe so this was a big milestone! Today was the first day I was able to go to work wearing something other than a flip flop and that felt great too. It's almost exactly six weeks since I broke it which is longer than I expected it to take. But I'm thankful that it has healed straight and for some reason it's skinnier than the other toes.

Casting Crowns Concert

2007-10-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

We went to the Casting Crowns Concert at the Anaheim Convention Center on Sunday and it was absolutely wonderful. The music was amazing, the lighting and special effects were fantastic, and we had a great time. Chad and I went with Eric and Isaiah and everybody enjoyed it. It was Isaiah's first concert and he was mesmorized by all the lights and music- very cute. There was a really neat moment during the concert where each member of the band prayed for the audience for different aspects of life. It felt like an intimate gathering instead of a concert and we all got so much out of being there.

Our Day At Six Flags California

2007-09-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome day of roller coaster riding today at Six Flags. There were five new rollercoasters- new to me that is- and we tried out all of them. We made it onto "X", "Dejavu", "Superman", "Colossus", "Scream","Goliath", "Tatsu", "Viper", and "Revolution." Every ride we went on was a coaster and that makes for an intense day! A very fun day too though.
My Favorite ride of all of them was "Tatsu." Well, "Goliath" is also my favorite but "Tatsu" is more fun to discuss. :-) It's a flying rollercoaster which means you are completely facing the ground and flying around the rollercoaster that way. Here are some pics to further show you the fun.

My least favorite because it's the scariest ride on the entire planet, in my opinion, was "X". It is a roller coaster that has these seats that spin you head over heels while you are careening through space. The cars spin independently 360-degrees forwards and backwards on a separate axis. The added spinning effect creates an unprecedented and never before "don't know what to expect next" sensation. This sensation is exactly what made me feel like screaming my lungs out. Here are some pics to further illustrate my point.

All in all we had a great day of twisting, turning, flying, dropping, and overall being thrown around.

Summer went so fast!

2007-09-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

You Belong in Summer

Energetic, creative, and very curious about the world...
You're not going to let anything hold you back, especially a cold day.
Whether you're chilling out at the beach or partying all night, you live for the warm weather.

What Season Are You?

It's totally right about summer, I am a summer kinda girl. I have never been a good sweater wearer. :-)

Earthquakes at Work

2007-09-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

We have had more earthquakes at work since I started this job than at any other job I have had. We just had another one- a 2.7 that was basically centered under our building. I hope God isn't trying to tell us something. :-) 2.7 isn't big at all, but when it's that close, it feels bigger. This one felt like a truck hit the building. Every times it happens, everyone yells "earthquake!" and then half the people get disappointed because they didn't feel it.

I tried to put on a shoe today...

2007-09-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

So I thought that I would try to wear a shoe for the first time since breaking my toe 5 weeks ago. I have been wearing flip flops or no shoes ever since then. And I thought that today was the day for a real shoe but I was wrong. I guess I will try again next week. :-) It took three different pairs of socks to find one that felt ok, but when I put on the shoe and walked, my toe loudly protested.
In other "news" I am so excited because we are going to a Casting Crowns concert this weekend. It's for their new album "The Altar and the Door" which is an awesome album. Chad and I are going with Eric and his son Isaiah which will be really fun. yay!

Crazy Rain storm and BLT update

2007-09-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

So after a million days of no rain in Southern California, we got a huge storm with thunder and lightning and even a tornado warning. yikes! It was a nice change of pace and Chad and I enjoyed hanging out at home and relaxing. And playing Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. :-)
As for my BLT (broken little toe for those of you who aren't familiar with the term) it's doing better. It's not black anymore and I can bend it, but it still hurts to walk normally and every now and then it gets angry and shoots pain up my leg. I am thankful that it is doing a lot better. It's amazing how much a broken toe can affect things.
I just started back to work this week after our hiatus for a few weeks. It was hard to get up in the morning after sleeping in that entire time. But work is good and I enjoy it which is a blessing.
That's all from here for today. Tomorow is church and errands and probably more Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. ;-)