Girls Night

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 :-)

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

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

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

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

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

I thought this was pretty interesting!

Our Trip To Mammoth and Yosemite

A Friendly Alpaca

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

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

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

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

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

       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!