On the road again...

Although it's nice to travel to California for work and to see my side of the family.... the thought of our own bed and pillows and Home Sweet Home is always comforting when we make our way home.

We made the trek out to California after my Chemistry class which ended at 5:00 so most of the trip was under the cover of darkness.  This can make any 5 hour trip rather boring, unless you have Steve and I in the car together to entertain each other.  Granted... I think I entertain Steve a little more than he entertains me but what I love about my partner in crime is that he plays along with me.  Especially when we're singing to songs we both know. 

Steve gave me a light to attach to my books for when I read at night which turned into my microphone in the car, a spotlight to showcase my dancing and of course my reading light when I needed to focus on my homework.  At one point Steve was laughing very hard at my lyrics because I'm horrible at knowing the words to songs.  For example... while singing CAMEO's song "Word Up", I always thought the first line of the song was "Yo, baby lankies around the world!"  That's what I heard, that's what I sing.  Steve is laughing rather hard while trying to get out, "Those AREN'T the words!"  I said, "How do you know?  Half the songs out there don't make sense!"  Then Erotic City comes on, and I KNEW the words to "Thoughts of pretty u and me, erotic city come alive" weren't "Lot's of loogies in my eye, erotic city come alive" but when you've sang the lyrics the same way for so long, you can't seem to get the correct words out.  I could go on and on, but I won't.  My lyric interpretations are endless!  But that was pretty much our trip out to California.  Sometimes I think I could be a one woman show.  hahaha...

Rich, James, Steve and Pat after golfing at the Vineyard.

The trip was alot of fun for both of us.  Steve was able to get together with his co-workers from Genentech for lunch and then a round of golf on Monday and we were able to meet up with our daughter (Alix) and her husband (Bailey) for a birthday dinner celebration. Then we had lunch the next day at one of our favorite pizza places, Killer Pizza from Mars.  Our son, Brad, joined us for some pizza and football prior to going down to work at Nordstroms (for those of you who look at this blog and you live in San Diego...  when you visit the Woman's shoe department at Nordstroms Fashion Valley, ask for Brad.)

Bailey, Alix, me and Steve watching some Grey's Anatomy

The rest of our time was spent with my family and watching our second oldest niece, Megan play in her soccer tourney!  She had the pleasure of meeting Mia Hamm in between her breaks when they went to St. John Bosco for a baseball game that Nomar Garciaparra was playing in also.  Megan's dad played baseball at SJB with Nomar for three years.  It was a huge treat for her and her middle sister Mia to meet friends of her dad. 

Steve, me and my handsome son, Brad.

Backdown in San Diego, we usually stay with my cousin, Jeanene and her family (Martin and Lucas).  I always enjoy my time with them.  We laugh alot and that's always a great time.  One thing that I always seem to forget is watching what I say in public.  This time was with the movie "Snatch".  Steve and Martin were saying lines from the  movie and I looked at Steve and said, "Did I replace that movie or do I need to buy you a new Snatch?"  Steve just stared at me and I hear my cousin and her husband falling off of their recliners from laughing so hard.  I had no idea what I said that was so funny until Steve pointed out that he doesn't need a new Snatch.  My eyes went so wide I felt like an animated doll with those huge eyes.  Then I hear Martin, "I love DICKS!"  Because I love Dick's Sporting Goods.  You know... they should REALLY change the name of the store.  Obviously... my mind isn't in the gutter like some peoples!

That was pretty much our whirlwind trip to California.  Orange County, down to San Diego, back up to Orange County then back down to San Diego and finally... HOME!  More singing, seat dancing, bad lyrics and crappy food for the way home but with a sidekick, they make that very long drive so much better!  I LOVE MY SIDEKICK!!!

New semester, painting and a volleyball seeding...

I really thought the ASU semesters were like those in California... you get about a month off of school and at the end of January you go back to school.  Luckily I decided to look at my schedule at the end of December and LO AND BEHOLD!  I started on the 7th.  So, off I went to my first day on Tuesday with no "first day of Spring Semester" photo taken or any type of fanfare (Steve was working).  I found the parking structure I paid and arm and leg to park Pricilla in, I arrived a little early and after finding my class I decided to peruse the Life Science wing and it had displays of SNAKES!  They were pretty cool.  The snake in the picture and I had a staring contest...the snake won. 

 

 

The Chemistry class is very large, homework is done online and I had to buy this clicker thing so the teacher can poll the class, the class uses the clicker to answer the question and that's how you get points for participation.

 

Now, while we were at Lowes looking for paint, I came across this Metallic paint that caught my interest.  It's shiny.  I love shiny things.  Then while I was looking for the special rollers I found paint crystals that you add to the paint to make the walls sparkle!  You would have thought I just won the lotto.  Steve was stunned that they actually made that and the paint associate laughed at my enthusiasm at sparkly metallic paint for the bedroom.  Fast forward one week.  While I was in class, Steve was making the wall sparkle in our bedroom.  I called him as I left school and he said that the walls were almost done and they looked good.  I couldn't wait to see them!  Right when I got home I ran up the stairs and ran into the room and look on Steve's face stopped me in my tracks.  I look around the room, the wall, the bathroom and back to Steve...  "What's wrong?  Why does it smell so clean in here?"  Steve proceeded to tell me that he finished painting the wall and took a step backwards and knocked the rest of my sparkle paint over on the carpet.  He made up a few new cuss words, screamed some favorites and cleaned up the mess before I got home.  After he told me the story, I just looked at him... smiled... and got the response, "NO!  This doesn't mean you get the flooring."  I love the wall... so much that we'll be painting another accent wall and then continuing a lighter silver into the bathroom.

 

 New Years Resolution that I came up with for my sister is making a family dinner Friday nights.  I extended it to be every other week and on her off weeks I would cook.  So Friday (11Jan) I cooked enchiladas, home made refried beans and rice.  The family time continued into Saturday as we all woke up at 5:30am to get ready to head to Chandler for Nikki's volleyball seeding tourney.  It was 27 degrees,  lots of blankets, hats, gloves, coats and coffee..  It was a long day, but so exciting and I love watching my nieces play their sports.  Nikki is no exception!  Her serves, spikes, slowing play down to get her team in their places and her gazelle like moves makes us one proud uncle and aunt!  Steve and I even got teeshirts made for the tourney which we will proudly display for her first real tournament.  It was great fun watching the girls (95% of the girls on the team never played Club VB) and as the season progresses, I  know they'll find their rhythm soon!

 

Well, that's about it for this week.  Next week is a full week of school, work and driving into San Diego and Cypress to visit family and work!  Click on the link below to see a few shots from this last week.

 

 

A Week in Photos...

Pinterest is my holiday drug

To say that we went a little overboard with the holiday decorating is putting it mildly.  My sister, Kim, thought I was snorting Christmas, Steve told me he didn't want any gold decorations in the house, which had me throwing away some glittery gold garland and Pinterest made me spend alot of money at Michaels, Target and JoAnn's. 

The one thing that I thoroughly enjoyed was crafting and if you know me you know that I am not a huge crafter, but something came over me this last year and I decided to go for it.  So many cute things I saw on Pinterest that I had to try and TRY I DID!! 

I found a whimsical stocking that caught my eye and thought I could make it myself.  Steve helped me create the template for the stocking and he also helped me cut out the glittery circles that I added to the front of the stocking (all this while he was still watching football).  My sister helped me pick out the fabrics and the trim and off I went to make myself something spectacular.  What helped frame the stocking on my dark pink door was the frosted garland that I hung along with the green glittery accessories, the red and white candy canes and the red and white ornaments.  The whole thing came together so well that people started asking me if I would make them a stocking.  I didn't have time in that short amount of time, but decided that during this year, I'll be making this stocking to sell.  So, if you love it and would love one... look for me on etsy.com later this year.

I also made a few decorations for inside the house.  My favorite was the "Joy to the World" decoration.  Again, Steve had a great time "crafting" with me which made me happy and it gave him a look into how my mind works when I become focused on some thing.  He helped paint the boards and the Christmas tree and helped me put the entire decoration together.  He had so much fun that he drove me back to get more boards so we could make others!  So, I also made a "Deck the Halls" and "Let it Snow" decoration for the house. 

I think we'll start collaborating on our creations after my semester from hell is complete at the end of April.  I know I'm looking forward to creating these stocking and I think Steve is secretly looking forward to all the crafting!   Although at times I do laugh and think of that one episode of Friends where Chandler was helping Monica make potpourri sachels...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I really thought we would be riding hoverboards like Marty McFly by now, instead, we ended 2012 with our feet firmly planted on the ground!  Although it wasn't a space age entrance into 2013, it was still a great even spent with friends and family.

Steve and I bought fireworks from a local vendor and never once did the guy (who looked like my Uncle Garney) let us know that we couldn't set them off in Goodyear, AZ. Imagine our surprise and dismay at the thought of not having sparklers, black snakes, piccolo peats and fun fireworks to entertain the kids.  Well, we decided to still do it at the culdesac of my little sisters and try not to make too much noise, but with the group we had... noise couldn't be avoided.

The funniest moment of the night was when we saw a Goodyear Police cruiser slowing down on the main street.  We knew he was looking at us and our fireworks and then the cop took off.  Steve and I ran to the end of the street to see if he was turning down our street.  Although the cop kept going, my brother-in-law, grabbed the cooler (which had a few drinks on it that went flying) with one hand and his son with his other one and started running towards our house.  I had to laugh because I haven't seen my BIL run like that in a LOOONG time!  Once the hoopla died down, everyone came over to continue the celebrating.  Steve and the boys headed out to the back where the fire pit was lit and the rest of us decided to play Quelf.  If you haven't heard or played Quelf and you don't mind acting silly, it's the game to play!

 Kimmy with "Quelf" on her forehead

 Martin doing the splits

 

As we were playing the game, the door bell rang and we all looked at each other (think of the scene from Friends where the doorbell rang and they all looked at each other bewildered... that was how we looked) and just yelled "COME IN!"  The more the merrier was the motto for the night.  And was everyone ever merry!  Fireball Shots, Tequila shots, Beer, Wine, Champagne at midnight and ALOT OF SNACKS...  it was a great night over all and I'm so thankful I was able to end the year and start the new year with friends and family. 

2012 is behind us and I'm rather thankful for the year.  In a nutshell, it was a time of growing up and letting go.  We had our daughter's wedding, a move from California to Arizona, left my company as a FTE after 8 1/2 years, started consulting, made a move from CSU, San Marcos to ASU and the biggest challenge was my sister and being diagnosed with cancer.  BUT... as with everything else, it ended on a high note when we were told they caught all the cancer and she's on the road to gaining her life back! 

So, Happy New Year to all and to bigger and better adventures for 2013!!!!!!