One big hunk of meat!

I made brisket for our meal exchange this week...not realizing that brisket came in such HUGE pieces...look at the size of it compared to the cutting board! :-) . It worked out fine for 4 families we exchange with; however...didn't realize I would become a butcher in the process! There was so much that had to be cut off this!! Jeff couldn't believe it...kept saying "I've never seen a piece of meat like that!"

San Diego

We had such a good time in San Diego this weekend...great to get away for a few days!!

We really ended up enjoying where we stayed...the Paradise Point Resort & Spa...

Rooms were really cozy and spacious...walk in closets even!

Patio off our our room - I really enjoyed sitting out here in the morning...there were lots of flowers around the patio as well!

There were all kinds of walkways throughout the grounds...it was all so green!!

Little coffee stand Jeff really enjoyed in the mornings

Lots of great places to sit

One of our favorite spots in San Diego is called Seaport Village. There are all kids of little unique shops...kite shop, mug shop, spice store, soaps, etc., etc...things you would never see anywhere else. It's right on the bay and we just love the setup.

This is my favorite shop in Seaport...all Christmas "stuff!" :-)

We got chocolate covered strawberries at the Candy shop...Jeff's favorite!!

This was taken on the outside of Seaport

This is a central place in Seaport Village...there's often a band playing and all kinds of people gather around to watch. This band was a "Vintage" Rock Band. It was so much fun to see all the people out there dancing...yes...that whole group out front of the gazebo are dancing...and I would say the majority of the dancers were 65+!! They were brought to their youth with the music the group was playing. :-)

The best part of the Vintage "dancers" were these 2...they were going around and around the gazebo using their walkers doing they best they could do to "dance" as they moved along. When "Rock Around the Clock" came on, they were almost running with their walkers...it was so funny!

Always ducks in Seaport, but this time there were a bunch of ducklings...with there mom close by making sure no one got too close! :-) Aren't they cute, Emily?? :-)

We had a couple of GREAT dinners while were were there as well...

This was at the Crab Catcher in La Jolla...we had a beautiful view!! We went to this restaurant last year and Jeff said the Hailbut he got was the best he had ever had. This year he got Salmon...and said it was the best Salmon he'd ever had! I think we found a winner!!

This is the desert we got both last year and this year...a Macademian Nut Ice Cream pie...absolutely wonderful and we both agree...one of the best deserts we've had! :-)

And of course...Ruth's Chris for our anniversary dinner. You can't see the view since it was dark, but we had another beautiful view of the water from the 2nd story of this restaurant. Numm!

We had to finish off our trip by heading to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Store...they have the BEST hot fudge sundaes!!

Of course...I got the hot fudge sundae! Jeff ventured out and got a shake which of course was great...it was made with Ghirardelli...would you expect anything less??

New Place

The resort we are staying at this year is a new place for us. Whenever we have stayed here before, we've always stayed downtown....this year, we're staying at a resort on Mission beach. It's not a resort like you think of...a little lower scale, but pretty nice still. We used priceline.com again and got a great deal doing it. It's set up like little "pods" of buildings where several rooms are together in a building. It's really quaint...each room has a little porch in the back with chairs and a different views...our is all green with big flowers, palm trees and grass. It's really cozy...it's where I'm writing this right now! The beach is just a walk across the parking lot...it's a great setup! Tonight we're going to our annual dinner at Ruth's Chris for our anniversary...can't wait! Nummm!

Forgot...

...has been the word of the day. We made it into San Diego safely today, but I forgot just about everything I intended to bring! Jeff keeps giving me a hard time every time I say, oh no...I forgot.... Oh well...the important thing is that we both made it here and I have at least some of my clothes and my makeup. :-) One of the things I forgot was the cord to be able to download pictures to my computer which I intended to do while we're here, but that will have to wait until we get home!

5 years ago...

Hard to believe it's been that long! Thinking back, it was such a special day...some of my favorite memories are...

Sitting in the girls room before the wedding and having a card and gift delivered from my husband to be...don't you know you're not supposed to make the bride cry after the makeup is done! So sweet...so special...

Dad and I walking down the aisle together before the ceremony so that I could see the flowers before anyone came...we got to the front and he said "hmm..." and teared up a bit...

During one of the songs in the ceremony, Jeff whispering sweet nothings in my ear...well, maybe not sweet nothings...he was telling me how many doughnuts his groomsmen ate in the groom's room before the wedding... :-)

Grandpa Lindo...he was in so much pain with shingles, but wouldn't miss our wedding for anything...his tears and love meant so much to both of us that day...we miss him so much and I'm so thankful that he was able to be there...

Grammy Lindo and Grandma & Grandpa Erickson as well...we are so blessed they were all healthy and there to support us...more tears and love...

Walking into the reception room and seeing Mom's surprise...beautiful chair covers...the final touch that made the room at the Broadmoor...my dream reception...with all the red roses absolutely beautiful...

Getting to wear Grandma Harvey's diamond necklace that Aunt Peg so graciously let me wear...

It was such a special day...we will never forget it. The most important was that I was able to marry the man of my dreams who I love so much more now than I even did 5 years ago!! I'm so thankful we have the rest of our lives together!

Pirates...

We went and saw Pirates of the Carribean 3 tonight...was a little more sci-fi than I'd prefer, but it was still really good! Definitely couldn't understand the story line for a second, but there was so much going on it was still fun to watch...and Johnny Depp, true to form, was incredible and made the movie what it was!

Home!

I got back in town last night from New Orleans...I'm so glad to be home!! I love the warmth without feeling like you've taken a shower and not dried off! Today I took the day off work and did virtually nothing...it was wonderful!! I haven't really had a day like this since the start of busy season so I loved every minute of it! Tomorrow is our anniversary (5 years!) and then we leave on Saturday for San Diego for a couple days...should be fun!!

Static

The static in my hair has been out of control lately and I've tried everything...different hair products, linen sheets, etc....however....I found the solution. Go to a place where the air is made of water!! Granted...then I look like I have a mop on my head, but you can't have everything! This humidity is crazy!!

Bourbon Street

The smells...beer, sewage, smoke and other unidentified smells...

The sights...drunk people, strip clubs, shots in viles held by girls in little clothing outside bars, beads, lots of inappropriate pictures of women on the street...

The sounds...LOUD...

Just my kind of place...Ha! :-) But...I made it in safely to New Orleans tonight for my conference this week and at least got to "experience" Bourbon Street tonight...an experience I don't care to ever have again!

We (a co-worker and I) did finally find a restaurant on a more quite street which was pretty good and gave us a taste of New Orleans flavor...plus I got to eat Lamb on the Company! Num!

Craft Night!

Last night, while several of the guys from our small group went to one house and watched the NBA playoffs, the girls went to another house and had a "craft night!!" Despite my complete lack of creativity and desire to have everything orderly (it's the accountant in me!), I did come away with a craft...


...of course, the food came first though...strawberries with pina colada dip, carrots & dip, wheat thins and cream puffs with chocolate sauce...nummm!! (The guys had pizza...)
(Left to right...Erin, Lisa, me, and Rachel (Krista was taking the picture)


The girls hard at work...well, at least acting like it...as soon as the picture flashed, Rachel popped up and said, "did I look like I was hard at work? I held that pose for a while!" :-)

Our final products...

Mine up close...look at that, an accountant can be a little creative (with a LOT of help from her crafty friends)! But...I have to admit my mess up...right after we took the picture above of our final products, I went to proudly stand mine up on the counter and it fell over...I realized that I had taped everything to the back of the frame upside down to which we had different reactions...

Mine...To scrap all I did (and probably shouldn't craft again!)
Krista's...Take the hinge off the stand on the back of the frame backing and then find a way to put it on the opposite way or just get a frame stand
Rachel's...Laughter...more laughter...

Fortunately though, Dave (Krista's husband) had just gotten home and had some common sense...he just pulled what I had taped onto the frame backing and turned it around...why didn't I think of that??? :-)

Roses

Roses…my favorite flower…appropriate for the happiest of times as well as the most sad. Today when I came home, Jeff had roses sitting on the counter for me…it was one of those sad times. Last night Joey…the baby of our family…our precious cat we all loved so much…went into insulin shock from his diabetes and had to be put down. It’s hard to believe when I go home next, he won’t be there. He has been such a special part of our family and has been a part of so many memories and we will all miss him so much. He would take his paw and rub Mom's face with it...he loved her so much. As thankful as I am for such a thoughtful husband, I wish this wasn't the reason I have roses on my counter tonight…

Friends Home!

Our friends Chris and Lisa got back this week from 2 months in Spokane, WA where Chris completed one of his rotations for PT school. We are excited to have them back! On Saturday, I picked Lisa up to spend some time together. When we left, Lisa told Chris we'd be back shortly...4 hours later, I dropped her back off! :-) We had a great time reconnecting and discovering the best peach lemonade freeze at this cute little coffee shop near our house!

New car!

I'm finally attaching a picture of our new car...as I mentioned in my very first post! Jeff has been loving it! As I mentioned before, Jeff has never had a new car before so he has really appreciated this car being new! My favorite comment he's made was how much he loved the hubcaps on this car... :-) I suppose after having 2 of the 4 hubcaps gone on the Saturn, it would be great to have all 4 again! :-)

Phoenix in April...

April...most places is the fall, but in Phoenix, it's the start of the summer! Although we had a dust storm and 100+ degree weather, it was so great having Mom and Dad in town a couple weeks ago!!

Gelato...num!!!
One of our new favorite breakfast spots!

These were wolf dogs that were being "socialized" at this outdoor mall so that they could go on the set of a movie according to the guy on the right. Dad found this very "interesting" while Mom wanted to leave right away because she was certain that they could sense her fear! :-)

Life Changes

Life changes...they're often not fun to go through, but you hang onto the promise that the Lord is walking through them with you. This will be the last picture of Jeff with the Basha Bears since a couple weeks ago, they did not "renew his contract" for this year.

I can't understand why things happen the way the way they do at times and I hurt so much to see Jeff go through something he simply did not deserve. I'm so proud of him for all he did with these guys and am thankful for the encouragement he's received from a number of the parents who did support him during the year. It's hard to not be in control of a situation that you know is being handled wrong, but I'm so thankful to know for certain that God IS in control. I know the Lord has a huge plan for him...to use his coaching talents and his gift with working with kids of all ages...who knows where the journey will take us next. I saw this quote on another blog and it really stood out to me so I thought I'd post it here as well...

“I am convinced that God longs to put His fingerprint in our lives, to act on our behalf and surprise us with His magnificence. I am equally convinced that most of the time we do not give God a context in which to do this. The mundane is not really the best context for a miracle. When we play it safe, we squeeze God out of the formula. If we go only where we know and do what we’re certain will succeed, we remove our need for God. Whenever we respond to God’s invitation, our need for God becomes heightened. Whenever we take on a God-sized challenge, self-sufficiency is no longer an option.” (Erwin McManus)