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Saturday, November 1, 2008

Best Customer of the Day

We had a yard sale this morning. Found new homes for quite a few things that we no longer used and took the rest to Goodwill. I love that "less-clutter" feeling. I had run into the house to grab something and when I came out, this guy was standing in our yard.


We have a pond across the street from our house & we've seen him swimming around. We just never expected him to visit us.


Jenna & I enjoyed tossing some bread out to him before he headed back to the pond.


Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I'm going on tour!


The newest version of Guitar Hero hit the stores today. I found the play list and there are many songs that I like on it. You may be a little surprised to know that I like this game, but seriously, I do. It lets the rocker side of me out (ha, ha, ha!) How can you not like a game that constantly reminds you that "YOU ROCK!"? Right now, we have Guitar Hero 3, and I have done really well on it. I actually finished up the "career" game and made it to the end. Alyssa and I played together this afternoon, working on our co-op career. There were some new songs on that game. Lots of fun! So I officially have my first item for my Christmas wish list!

And to my honey, who I hope is reading this, Sam's Club seems to have the best price :)

ROCK ON!

Friday, October 17, 2008

A makeover...of sorts

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Today was the PTA Walk-a-thon. It actually turned out to be a family affair. I was able to talk dh and Alyssa into coming out to the school and volunteer. Through all the hustle, bustle and hullabaloo, I think everyone had a good time, myself included.
Dh walking laps with Jenna
Dh & Alyssa marking the lap tally sheets for walk-a-thon participants. We are trying to raise money for new playground equipment. Hopefully we'll have a successful return and be able to purchase something nice for the school grounds.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

There's gold in those hills!

I got back from California last night. I left last Sunday and stayed the whole week. I was there on business but managed to sneak in some fun too.

I arrived at Oakland Internation Airport around 12:30 PST so there was plenty of time to geocache before I headed to my hotel in Pleasanton. I had already picked out Oyster Bay Park because it was very close by and there were 6 caches in a close vacinity.



Once you walked to the back of the park, you got a great view of Oakland Int. Airport. I watched the planes land for a bit. As they descend, they come down over the water (not too comforting when you are on the plane), but then finally the runway comes in sight and all is well.



A couple more view photos...




It was a great week in the San Ramon area, but it is great to be back home. Now to tackle that mountain of laundry!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Fall is Here


There's something about the cool, crisp air this year that made me want to pull out my fall decorations. Maybe because it seems like the cooler air is here much earlier this year, or maybe because I'm tired of melting each time I go outside so I appreciate it more. Either way, yesterday I felt a tug from Mother Nature to give my front porch a touch of autumn. I spent the morning dusting off the fake pumpkins (aren't they great?) and cleaning up the porch area.


Jenna needed a pumpkin for school so we headed to Timmy's Roadside Stand to see if we could find the perfect pumpkin. Not only did we find ONE perfect pumpkin, we found TWO perfect pumpkins. How could we ever choose? So we just brought them both home. They also had the most beautiful flowers. I could have spent hundreds of dollars there easily. But I roped it in and settled for 2 large pots of mixed mums as seen in the photo above. I also got a large concrete bunny. He must weigh about 50 pounds, but he's a cutie. He's yet to find a home in the back yard yet, but maybe tomorrow he'll hop on back and find a good spot. I bet I will find my way back to the stand and get more goodies before it is all over with!

And because I just can't resist....HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I want to be a loser!

I watched the first episode of Season 6 of The Biggest Loser last night. I really like this show for inspiration on losing weight. I had actually joined The Biggest Loser Club 3 weeks ago. I have already lost 8 pounds - yahoo!! There are some really tough days, but for the most part, it is going pretty good. I've set my first goal to get to pre-preggo weight before Jenna. Got a ways to go there. I think my next goal with be to get to pre-preggo weight with Alyssa. Hubby is going along with it, even if there is a moan or groan every now and then. He's lost 3 pounds. Here's to being a "loser"!

Speaking of losing weight...I took this photo of Alyssa and Angel the other day. Do you think they have The Biggest Loser for animals?


I saw this on the net...someone was asking would this kitchen look dated in 10 years. Not sure, but it sure is gorgeous now. I would **love** to have a kitchen like that.




Honey, sweetie pie, love of my life...are you reading my blog? This is a super big hint of what I'd love to do to the kitchen ;)

With that, I should check in at work. Until then...

Friday, September 12, 2008

Save the 'dogs'

I remember seeing these cute critters on a trip to South Dakota. I sure hope this petition helps!



Not much going on around here...work is picking up, that is a good thing, right? I stayed busy with that most of the day. I may have a trip to San Ramon, California coming up soon. I haven't been there yet...should be exciting.

I spent part of the evening picking up sticks and pinecones from Hurricane Hannah. I did get the yard mowed in some of the drier spots. I am so thankful that Ike went the other way. Sending lots of positive thoughts for those in his path.

Off to watch some dvr'd shows. Have a great weekend!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The river is low

Jenna and I went geocaching today and ended up at Neuseway Nature Park. We had a chance to pop into the museum, play on the playground, and take a ride on the train. We walked down towards the river to take a peek. I thought we were out of our drought situation but it didn't take long to see that our water supply is still low. The river used to run where Jenna is standing in this photo.



Of course, that didn't stop Angel from jumping in and having a swim!



We ended up with 7 caches, some of them very tricky. It won't be long before I hit 3K!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Bob That Head!

Alyssa and I took a trip the first weekend of August to Charlotte to see Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts in concert. It was great to have some girl time with her. She is so grown that at times I thought I was out with a girlfriend. I guess that is a good sign, right? It was an amazing concert. We had great seats pretty close to the stage. My pics didn't come out the best but I found some great footage on youtube.

This is the opening song. This video is taken from the Charlotte concert...how cool is that? Maybe that is me screaming? ha ha!



And for my Mom & Dad because I hear they're reading my blog these days (Hi Dad! Hi Mom!) I didn't make the video, but this is the song I was talking about this weekend.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Fun Times

Zach is spending a couple days with us. I took the kids to a nearby water play area. They had a blast! Zach keeps saying that the waterpark was exciting! For only $1 each, you just can't beat it!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

A new do!

I finally did it...I got it all chopped off and it feels GREAT! I asked a friend of mine (whose hair I love) who cut her hair and made an appointment with her hair stylist. I told the lady I wanted it cut like hers. My hair wasn't quite as long as hers but it still would work. She started cutting and I sat with excitement. You know when they have to sweep up half way through that you lost a lot of hair! You can see from my profile pic and other pics on my blog that my hair was all one length in the back. It is still the same length as before, just now it is much thinner.



I am really loving it so far. We'll see how it goes after I wash it and try to fix it myself. Jenna got a hair cut too. I was surprised that she actually WANTED a hair cut. She is too stinkin' cute!



Jenna is going to Vacation Bible School this week and loving it. It's great to see her participating in the singing and dancing. She has grown by leaps and bounds this summer!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

My Princesses with the Princesses

I finally got the pictures from Alyssa of the Disney Princesses. That was quite a morning. Jenna loves them all, but Alyssa is especially fond of Jasmine. That was her favorite as a little girl. I'm so glad we got to see them!





I'm still dreaming of going back to Disney. Maybe at the beginning of the year...we'll see. We really love the Polynesian Resort so I think we'll go back there. Either there or the Contemporary. Crossing my fingers!

I've been in travel mode a lot this year. I am really starting to get into it! I just got back from California a few days ago. I had a great trip out to the "office".



I had to do some geocaching while I was there. This cache gave me a great view of the bay.



The Golden Gate Bridge is right over to the left, but it was too foggy to actually get a good view of it.

What is a road trip without a traffic jam? At least I had a chance to look around.



I'm working on getting to the El Segundo office. That is close to Los Angeles. So much to see there! Maybe next month I can go out that way. Crossing my fingers for that too!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

A Vacation with a little Character!

We recently got back from our trip to Disney World. It was such a fantastic vacation.

I had booked a room at the Polynesian Resort with a water view. We were upgraded at check in and we had this fabulous view.



Yes, that is Cinderella Castle! Not only did we have a water view, we had a perfect view of the Magic Kingdom. We were upgraded to the concierge building and down the hall from us was the concierge lounge. We had access to snacks, drinks, and supper each day. The 'adult' drinks were the icing on the cake. We were able to watch the fireworks each night from our room. It was just amazing.

Our first morning, we headed over to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort for our character breakfast. I love doing these character meals because the characters will come around to your table for pics and autographs. No need to stand in line at the parks.

Here are some pics from our breakfast:








We were fortunate to have my parents along with us this time. It was their very first trip to Disney! Here they are at the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom.



One of my favorite parts was Jenna's birthday breakfast at Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom. We made our reservations early enough where we could enter the park BEFORE it opened. I highly recommend that! The walk down Main Street was amazing. Very few people walking around at that time, and there was more time to actually look at the neat things there.



I got some great shots of the castle on our way to breakfast.



Inside the castle, we met Cinderella.



Once we were in the dining room, more princesses came around to our table. Cinderella had left Jenna a birthday card and all the other princesses signed it for her. Unfortunately, my batteries in my camera died right at that time, but Alyssa saved the day with her camera!! I would have been so disappointed without any pictures of my girls with the princesses.

One last picture for now...love this pic of Jenna and Kenneth.



Lots of magical memories made that week. Definitely a vacation to remember! I'll post more pics soon!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Friend or Captive?

I managed to complete a layout! Wow...it's been a while. I did this one of Jenna and Angel. It's titled "friend? or captive?". It is so true of their relationship!



K has been away on business for a couple days. I've been staying extremely busy in the yard and in the house. I guess it helps the time go by faster. I worked on several projects outside today that have been on my "to do" list. I'm glad to have those taken care of. Still more "to do"...isn't that always the case? I am very pleased with how our yard is looking. Things that we've planted in the past are really starting to take shape and everything is coming along beautifully. It's taken a couple years and a lot of effort, but it is worth it!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Up, up, and away!

I got back from a business trip to Oakland, California just a few days ago. Thanks to the wonderful folks at Chevron, I was able to travel all the way across the country. I didn't really want to go, but once the process was started, I enjoyed the adventure.



Unfortunately, my batteries died on the plane so I didn't get many pictures on my way there. I did get to drive across and see the Golden Gate Bridge. That is one thing I wanted to do while in the San Francisco area. This monument to veterans was closeby to the hotel.



I spent 2 days in Pleasant Hill/Oakland getting some things done for Chevron. I did my best to stay on EST. It was weird to be tired at 8pm Pacific Time. Everything went really well and before I knew it, I was on my way back home. I left from Oakland International Airport.



My worry was that I'd get caught in traffic and miss the flight out. I arrived at the airport in plenty of time so I was able to eat breakfast there and pick up a few souvenirs for my family at the gift shop. Finally my chariot arrived and it was time for me to go. I flew Southwest both ways and would highly recommend them.



The view from the plane is phenomenal. It's so interesting to see everything from so high up. Here is a shot of California as we were leaving. I'm not sure what bridge this is, but I think it is the Bay Bridge.



My first stop was Las Vegas. I had never been before so I thought it was very interesting to see the "strip". It didn't seem like much from the airport, but I bet it is more spectacular at night when everything is lit up.



Another 4 and a half hours and I was safe and sound at RDU Airport. It was wonderful to be back in my own car and headed home. Even more wonderful to actually get home.

That is my grand California adventure. I will probably have to go at least one more time but now since I've done it, I'm sure I will be more relaxed about the trip. And on the up side, all this flying has me ready to fly to Orlando next month! Only one month left until our Disney trip!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The countdown begins!

I am looking forward to this movie!! How many re-runs can a gal watch while waiting for the movie to come out?






Monday, April 7, 2008

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

Jenna's class went on a field trip to ride the train. Jenna has loved trains for quite some time so this was very exciting. I had never ridden a train like that so I was a little excited myself.

Here is Jenna at the train station. They had a really cool picture on the wall.



The train was running a little bit behind but finally we were able to go out on the platform and wait for it to arrive. It didn't take long before we could hear it in the distance. Everyone got really quiet and then excited as we heard it blow its whistle. Next thing we know, it was heading toward the station.



We rode until the next town and then back on the buses to go back to school. It was quite the adventure. The train station guy said the train goes all the way to New York. Maybe one day I'll ride it that far.