San Diego Babymoon Day 1

Now that it's almost been a month, I figured I should recap our little "babymoon" vacation. We debated where to go. Ideally, we wanted to go to Hawaii. It's one of our favorite places to visit, it's not that long of a plane ride, and who knows when we'll be able to make it back after the baby is born.

But it was still a little nerve wracking to be so far from home at 26 weeks. Plus we were planning our vacation for spring break and it would have been more expensive to go for a couple of days than it was to go for our honeymoon.

We decided that San Diego was a perfect location for what we wanted to accomplish (relax) and what we wanted to spend (not much).

On the drive down, I asked Brian if we could stop in Temecula for a couple of hours. That's where I went with Alexis and Rachael for my bachelorette party, and I thought Brian would enjoy it there. 

I was right! We had some awesome cheeseburgers for lunch and walked up and down Old Town antique shopping. We found a gift for my brother and some awesome old Golden Books (remember those??) for 69 cents each! Baby has quite the book collection started! Then we were on our way.

It was kind of like coming full circle because our first little vacation together was in San Diego.

San Diego Zoo, April 2010

The last time we were in San Diego, we went to the zoo, Little Italy, some museums... it was awesome, but we wanted to do some different things this time around.

We decided to spend more time in the downtown area- the Gaslamp District. So that's where we stayed! We spent the first two nights at the Gaslamp Plaza Suites Hotel.

Our view

It was an awesome location, right in the middle of the downtown area, within walking distance to all kinds of restaurants and shops.

The hotel itself was a new kind of experience! It's a historical site that was built in 1913 and at 11 stories, it was the city's first skyscraper! It used to be an office building and it was converted into a hotel in the 80s. Each room is a suite with a little kitchen and living area. They served breakfast each morning on the rooftop. It was quaint and unique!

After we checked in that first day, we explored the hotel and then decided to go for a walk around the city. We made our way down past the convention center and over to Seaport Village to explore their shops. 

I got really excited when I spotted a duck and her ducklings. Motherly instinct kicking in?

 

We walked, shopped, and people watched. Some of our favorite things to do!

We walked back towards the hotel and we passed Petco Park, where the Padres play. We had tickets for later in the trip, but it was cool walking around the stadium. It's so much more fan-friendly than Dodger Stadium. (Another reason not to like the Dodgers??)

We started discussing dinner. We were both still pretty full from lunch, but we had noticed a Ghiradelli chocolate shop near our hotel. So we split a chocolate banana sundae. Perfection! By this point, it was past my bedtime after 8:00 and we were tired from walking around all day, so we decided to call it a night. 

We had an early wake up call the next day anyway... Sea World!

To Be Continued...

Meatballs with a Side of Catch Up

Sooooooooo....

It's been exactly a month since my last post. Bad, bad blogger. But there has been good reason for my absence. Full time work, softball tryouts, thesis writing er, planning, camping, MY BIRTHDAY, and some laundry sprinkled in here and there has made my days plenty full. I'm making a come back today though... Here's what's been going on:

I'm trying to cook more often and eat healthier. It doesn't seem like it should be so difficult, but I'm away from the house from 5:45 am to 5:30ish pm right now and by the time I get home, I just want to sit down and relax. But one of my goals is to be the best wife and healthiest person I can be. So I attempted to make spaghetti and homemade turkey meatballs. This is what my meatballs looked like pre-oven:

 See the sogginess? Yeah. I didn't know what to expect. They looked ridiculous, but they ended up being pretty good.

I've still been going to the gym every morning with my mom. She's doing a great job! Actually, last week I had to take a little break because my left knee was killing me. It was so bad I thought I had torn a ligament or something serious. But I iced it every night (11 minutes on, 11 minutes off x2) and took a 5 day break and it feels great now! And even on the days I didn't go, my mom still went. I'm so proud of her!

As far as other everyday things go, I'm getting kind of annoyed at work. For reasons I shouldn't just throw out on the internet. The only thing keeping me sane is my own insanity. Like when I saw this:

I wanted to get all Dwight Shrute on my coworker's desk. 

 And then I just start laughing at my ridiculousness and I feel good again.

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In the spirit of catching up, one highlight of the last month was my birthday. Brian took me out to a very nice dinner at Gladstones in Malibu. Right on the beach during sunset. Perfection!

 I love this guy!

Also that weekend, we went camping with a group of our besties. The camping wasn't for my birthday, it just happened to be the same weekend. A weekend that was filled with carne asada, camp fires, s'mores, and bocce ball... sounds like a good time to me!

 See how close we were to the water?? For the last several years, I have had a recurring dream that a wave crashes over me. Sometimes it's been a rushing wave, like what we've seen tsunamis looking like in more recent times. Sometimes it's a tidal wave. Sometimes I'm in the water and I just float through it and sometimes I'll be driving along side of it. It's different every time. But the fact that I have had dreams like this more than once gave me pause once I realized how close our campsite was to the water.

 But we were obviously safe and it was really nice to fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the shore.

I took this picture of Brian and my brother because they were both wearing blue shirts, gray shorts, and hats. So cute of them to dress alike. I'm jealous. :)

 On the way home, we went to Ventura for some fish and chips in what has become a tradition to conclude our camping trips. And we had to reenact one of my favorite pictures from last year:

Be still, my heart!

The whole last month hasn't been all fun and games though- the day before my birthday, we actually had a break from all the So Cal heat and there was actually rain. Unfortunately, since it only rains like, twice a year here, any weather that isn't sunny tends to bring out the crazy in drivers. Brian got into an accident on his way to work. He was fine, but his car didn't fare as well.

 The bad news- his Ford Explorer was totaled. But some good did come out of it. We bought a new car. It's our first major purchase together, it was a great find, and although this wasn't how we wanted to go about it, we had been talking about getting a newer car.

Brian loves it and I'm happy that he's safe.

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On a creative front, I've been doing some projects around the house. I finally finished decorating the eat-in area of the kitchen.

I went from my usual beach theme to a more world traveler theme. On one wall, I put up pictures that I had taken in Europe two years ago and on the other wall, I just put up some art and decor that I had been collecting. I also took a note from Young House Love and put up a map with pins that signify all of the places that Brian and I have traveled together.

Hard to see, I know. But they're there! And we're planning on adding more!

With the "new" kitchen, I felt inspired to try some stuff in the kitchen. I made some cake pops!

Long story short, they're delicious! Recipe coming soon!

In other creative news, I've made these:

To help keep us organize. I'll let you know if they help.

And this:

It looks better when it's not in cell phone picture form. I'm actually pretty excited about it!

FINALLY, I really want to do this but Kevin needs a costume... what should Kevin be for Howl-o-ween???

Thursday Things

1- Brian started a new job on Monday. It's definitely a good change for him and it's a step in the right direction for our little family. Really, the only downside is that he has to take the dreaded 405 to get there, so his commute (which is shorter mile-wise) takes longer and he gets home later.

We lose some together time in the evenings, but it's good because I've been able to straighten up some things around the house, catch up on some grades from work, and check it out- even write a blog post! Plus, his job comes with some pretty sweet perks. (More on those later!)


2- I'm getting really excited about Alexis' birthday. It's still over two months away, but we're going on a cruise and it's going to be so much fun! Brian's never been on a cruise before, so it will be exciting to see how much he likes it. Oh, and we're on a mission to design some really loud and obnoxious shirts. Stay tuned...

3- We had an earthquake today. It was a 4.2 which sounds pretty big, but it didn't really feel too bad. As far as I know, there wasn't any damage anywhere. It happened during 5th period and I was on the track with my class while they were running the mile. They didn't even feel it and I'm pretty sure they thought I was on drugs when I started asking them if they felt it. I was worried about Kevin because  we still have some wedding presents on the kitchen table and I was afraid he would have an imprint of a slow cooker on the top of his head he's never experienced an earthquake.

But when I got home, he was his usual happy, wiggly self. So, everyone's safe and sound... just makes me realize I should probably be more prepared. (And put away all of the potential projectiles that could kill my dog.)

4- I ran 3 miles this morning. Well, ran/walked. I finished just under 36 minutes, so I averaged a 12 minute mile. Kinda lame, but I wasn't going 100% either, so I felt pretty good about it. Like, really good about it. Like, if I actually tried, I might really be able to get faster. There's a 5k in December that I've done 3 times before and I think I'm actually going to race in it this year. I did it 2 years ago and my goal was to run without stopping. I did and finished in 31 minutes. Me thinks I can PR...

5-I feel like I can't catch up. Like at work, they keep changing my rosters so my kids are switching around all the time. And at home, as soon as I clean something, one of the boys will go and poop on it. I feel like I'm one step forward, 2 steps back. Oy.

6- I want to move. But that's probably not happening any time soon. So after I spoke with real estate mom (glance over to the right side of your screen), I decided I should probably just give in already and start doing some of the things I was putting off around the house. They were being put off because don't want to put more money into a house that I don't see myself in forever. But the time has come to either do something with this house or move. So floors and counter tops, look out because I'm going to rock your world.

7- I'm looking forward to this weekend for the sole reason that I don't have to go to work on Monday. We're 3 weeks into the semester...

I think that's all for now. I'm going to whip up a post about the hallway project and then go clear some space for those wedding presents!

Mike vs Wood, Rachael vs Fire, Rock Beats Scissors

We went camping this last weekend with some of my favorite people that you may recognize... Rachael (bridesmaid), Human Kevin (best man), Mike (groomsman), and Dog Kevin (whom I wanted to be the ring bearer, but I was out voted). We went up the coast to San Simeon State Park.

Rach waited for Human Kevin to get off of work on Friday, but Bri, Mike, Dog Kevin, and I went up earlier to secure a good spot. We had an extremely full car and Mike was crammed into the backseat with Dog Kevin.

But I kept Mike's mind off of his confined area by yacking his ear off the whole way up. (It was about a 4 hour drive.) And Dog Kevin does really well in the car, but even he was a little freaked out with his own lack of space. He wouldn't lay down and at one point, he even fell asleep sitting up. But the time in the car seemed to pass easily and once we got there, it was all business.

It was a little after 4:00 when we arrived and we went right to work finding a campsite that would fit all 3 of our tents. Once we found the perfect spot, Mike helped us set up our tent, then we helped him with his, and we left a spot for Human Kevin and Rachael in the middle. We were figuring it would be dark- or at least darn close to it- by the time they got there, so we also set up a canopy and rigged a lantern to the top of it. Then we busted out our new camp stove (wedding gift from Mike!) and got to making some carne asada tacos... I wouldn't camp any other way!

So here's the fun thing about the camp stove. On side is a burner (hence, stove) the other side is a grill. You are not supposed to use pots or pans over the grill because it could damage the grill. We should have read that sooner.


It was fine the first night, but when we tried to use the grill side to cook pancakes on in the morning, the grate heated up so much that it melted into itself. FAIL.

We still managed to use it the whole time anyway (just more carefully) and it should be good as new once we order a new grate!

Anyway, once Kevin and Rachael got there, the fun really started. I finally had some extra estrogen around to balance out all of the testosterone  We got the fire raging, popped open a couple of beers, and had a deep conversation about the String Theory... which I intend to do more research on (because one day, I will be able to explain what I was trying to that Friday night)!

Camping nighttime is always a great time. I love the smell of campfire, I love laughing with my friends under the stars, and I love licking melted marshmallow and chocolate off of my dirty camping hands.
*Side story... While Rachael (I love you Rach!) was roasting one of her 'mallows, it accidentally caught on fire. Like Marshmallow fireball from hell. She was kind of like, "Whoa!" and flung her roasting stick. (It's all in the wrist, baby.) Fireball from Hell landed on Rachael's leg. As I watched a ball of fire sitting on my friend's thigh for what felt like forever, a million thoughts rushed through my head. It seemed like everyone was in slow motion. She finally flung it off, but she did suffer some minor burns on her fingers and her pants were ruined. I think we were all in shock.


That was towards the beginning of the first night, but Rachael is a trooper and she shook it off and was able to have fun despite her blisters. :(  While the nights were exciting (we didn't go to bed til 1:00 both nights- that's like, 4 hours past our bedtime!) the days were very relaxing...

Rachael and I mostly just hung out and relaxed. The boys played some cards games and then tried to light things on fire. Their inner 5 year old pyromaniacs came out to play. It took all I could to keep my inner mother from coming out, but I'm pretty sure I may have handed out a couple of lectures here and there. (Sorry guys.)


I gotta say, the only misbehavior I was actually expecting was from Dog Kevin, and he was GREAT!!! I told Brian we should always live outside because he behaved better camping than he does at home. He was so cute and he just chilled out on his blanket for most of the trip! And at night he had his little own area in the tent, although he did come cuddle with us for part of the night on Friday. :)

One of the best parts of our day on Saturday was when the boys attempted to break a large piece of wood that they found into several smaller pieces of wood. We had a little camping axe that Mike tried on it. The wood was so strong that the kickback almost made Mike hit himself in the face. Which wasn't funny at all.

So Kevin decided he would do something about this wood problem...

It was definitely valiant effort, but unfortunately, still not strong enough. Luckily for our boys (who were driving themselves crazy over this log), once the guys across the way were done laughing, they came over with a life-size axe and a wedge and offered these tools for our use.

It still took Mike almost 10 minutes to split this piece of wood. About halfway through, I decided I should probably be documenting this, so I busted out the recorder. The following video is my first attempt at editing a video on iMovie. It's not quite ready for Hollywood yet, but it cracks me up every time I see it...

It was pretty exciting. :)


We had a really fun trip. The next time I'm up there, I would like to explore a little bit more. This trip was really more about relaxing, and that's always nice, but my ADD starts to kick in and there were a lot of antique stores up there... that's all I'm saying. :)


We stopped in Ventura on the way home for some fish 'n chips- always delicious. And that was that! I already miss the smokey smell on my clothes and roasting marshmallows. (Not the flaming ball from hell kind, just the normal ones.) I can't wait for the next adventure! ;-)

30 Day Challenge: Day 5

A picture Pictures of somewhere you've been...

Throughout my life, I've been lucky enough to have opportunities and the means to travel. I've been to 14 of our great states (including Hawaii 4 times), Canada, and Mexico. And if you would have asked me about my ideal vacation slightly over 2 years ago, I would have told you any beach with warm, clear turquoise water and palm trees. Take me to a beach, bring me a beer, and I'm a happy camper.

Then a friend presented me with an opportunity to that I'm so glad I didn't pass up...

Sneak Peak... Yep, that's THE Mona Lisa!

 A couple of the teachers that I worked with had been planning an educational field trip to Europe for 13 of our AP Euro students. The teacher that was in charge of planning got pregnant, and after doing pretty much all of the planning leg work, she had to drop out and stay home. One of my good friends was a chaperone, and he asked me if I wanted to join the trip. At first, I was kind of unsure. It was a 3 week long trip, it was going to be about $2400 (which turns out isn't so bad for 3 weeks in Europe), and I never really had any interest in going to Europe. Why go to Europe when you can go to the beach? Plus, it would be a working trip since we had a bunch of high school kiddos with us.

But I spoke with my parents and my mom was excited, which was kind of a big deal... my mom is over protective. Like, call-when-you-get-there, who-are-you-going-with, I-don't-think-it's-a-good-idea, you-will-not-do-this-because-I-will-guilt-trip-you-into-staying-home-and-boarding-up-your-house-because-I-am-so-paranoid. (Sorry mom, it's true.) But when I told her about this trip, she was basically like, "Yeah, you should totally go!" Wow, okay, then...

So I had about 2 weeks notice and I was off to Europe! In fact, 2 years ago today, we were on our way from Paris to Lucerne, Switzerland.

Needless to say, I fell in love with old churches and crumbling structures. I fell in love with cobblestone streets and crepes. I fell in love with plazas and rivers running through famous cities. I had never seen anything as old, as famous, or as romantic as everything I was seeing on this amazing trip. I felt like I was floating on a cloud throughout the entire trip as we passed through London, then Paris, onto Lucerne. We traveled all through Italy and then rounded out our trip with a cruise though the Greek islands.

*FUN FACT: I met Brian about 4 months after I got back from this trip, and I was still on cloud nine. On one of our first dates, we ended up at a bookstore and I found a book with pictures of Italy. I got so excited and I started pointing out all of the places I had been. Then we saw a calendar with pictures of France and I did the same. This still goes on from time to time. At first he thought it was cute, but I'm pretty sure he's beyond annoyed with it now. :) I just can't wait to go back with him because I know he'll love it just as much- maybe even more- than I do!

The following are some pictures of the places I went to in Europe. They're all from my camera...

I don't usually like talking about the trip because I feel like any words that I could possibly use would just take away from the awe-inspiring and breath-taking beauty and wonder that I saw on this trip. So I'll leave it to the pictures. If you've been to Europe before, you probably understand what I'm talking about. And if you have not been... well, you should go as soon as possible!