san diego: the zoo

on christmas day, jeremy and i woke up, unstuffed our stockings, and then headed to the zoo. san diego has one of the nicer zos i have ever visited; some exhibits and animals were really unique and cool... others not so much. the worst part of the day happened as we were walking in the gates and i said to jeremy "i can't wait to see the giraffes - they are on eof my favorite animals!" then i turned my head and saw the sign saying exhibits closed today: giraffes. i got over it though, because we saw the only living relative of the giraffe, the okapi.

to me it looks like someone found random pieces of animals and stuck them together.

another cool exhibit was the polar bears. they were being super playful and swimming around with their toys. the dad was swimming with this big plastic santa and turning flips and stuff in the water. the mom was watching him just shaking her head and saying... who needs kids when you have a husband to take care of. then he came out of the water and tried to puch her in! it was hilarious.

other animals that we caught at a really good time were the gorillas. the keepers were throwing food off the roof of the building we were standing in and we got to see them fighting over the lettuce and red onions. no one threw down any ranch dressing though. the big daddy was sitting in the corner hoarding all the food. a mom and her baby came over to get some and he wouldnt let them. the baby hid behind a log then kept trying to sneak over and get some lettuce. it was really adorable.



after the zoo, we showered etc. then headed to the gaslamp district for some eats. we ate at the amazing italian place... the service was super slow but the food was SO good (plus we got free coffee and dessert out of the deal!). people watching in san diego is not as exciting as it is in santa monica or downtown, but we did play i spy the texas longhorns fans. they were everywhere! :D

hope everyone had as sunny and happy of a christmas as we did!

!m!

san diego:fishing and museuming

when the alarm goes off at 5 am, it seems like something is wrong with that picture. i know a lot of you guys out there prolly get up that early regularly but i do not. and the difference between 5 am and 6:30 am is HUGE. im just saying. it was pretty nippy while the sun was down and we were out on the water, but our boat had a galley with boothes etc, so we ordered eggs and hash browns and warmed up while we were waiting to load all the people, drive the boat and load all the bait, and drive the boat to the good fishing spots.

i caught the second fish on the boat. thank you. it was in a spot where no one else was catching anything either. the fish was just too small to keep but nonetheless... between the two of us, we kept 10 or so fish i think. i had to throw back three of the four i caught.

it is called a sculpin (i have no idea if i spelled that correctly). the spiny things have poison in them so whenever anyone caught one of these the guys working the boat had to pull them over and cut off all the spines. jeremy was much more of a prolific fish catcher than me. he caught prolly ten or so and we got keep six of them. at the end of the boat ride the guys gutted and/or filleted the fish that people caught. so we came home with seven fish (or pieces of fish). the trick now is to get that to feed ten thousand people. the guy standing behind jeremy in this picture was also the cook. he was baiting hooks with baby squids and sardines then going downstairs and frying up eggs. i made sure he washed his hands before cooking anything for me!

jeremy caught a variety of fish - sculpin, bass (second biggest fish on the boat), rock fish, brown fish, orange fish, red fish, blue fish, one fish, two fish. we had a pretty good time. i kept my fishing streak alive (i have never gone fishing and not caught something). i almost had my espn moment (thank you uncle mike) when i thought i caught a humongous fish but it turned out to be a big rock on the bottom of the ocean. so that was disappointing.

after fishing we cleaned up and went to the san diego natural history museum. we saw a few fossils and watched a movie about the ocean (i definitely fell asleep - i had been up since 5 am!) and then went and checked out the exhibit in the basement - the one we actually went to see. the traveling exhibit of the dead sea scrolls was in san diego until new years eve so we got to see several scrolls, including 9 that had never been displayed before. they had those little paddles with a smal speaker that you plug in the number of the exhibit you at standing in front of and it tells you more than the placard. i learned more than i ever really needed to know about scroll making and stoarage, as well as life in quaran, the town (archeologial site) nearest the location of the cave that housed the scrolls. after museuming ourselves, we headed to the gaslamp quarter in downtown san diego for dinner. we found a polynesian place that served egg rolls and fried rice so we kinda ate chinese for christmas eve. well we tried anyways! :D

!m!

san diego: entry

sunday morning we served at church stage managing. we had the piano and four singers on stage for music - very midwest and non-mosaic. but kinda refreshing for a change. we ate lunch at chipotle (karla calls it chipoodle...love it!) and hit the road. traffic was light driving down the 405 to the 5. we passed a field where the goodyear blimp was resting patiently, waiting for the next football game. i tried to get a picture of it, but by the time i got my camera out of my bag i was waaay too late. we drove by the naval base in long beach and a training facility. the boats were big. thats about all we could see - there were high walls on both sides of the freeway. we got to san diego around 3 and checked into our hotel. we had planned on going to a museum that afternoon but the museum was closing earlier than what they had posted online so we just took a nap and then went driving around looking for a place to eat. we drove past sea world and saw all the christmas lights up in the hills in a nicer part of town, and finally found somewhere to eat that wasnt fast food. it was way harder than it seems like it would be! we went back to the hotel early because we had to be at the docks by 6 am the next morning...

pub for the holidays

last saturday night, we went out to eat with the shivelys and ochsners at this little pub near our house. lottie was feeling a little bit homesick over the holidays i guess. :D we had irish stew and pudding and shepherds pie and all that good stuff. it was delicious! the desserts were prolly the best part. i practically licked my plate clean. everyone had a hapy plate that night - we were all starving for good old comfort food!!! we sang along to the christmas carols on the jukebox... and by we i mean, lottie kim and me... not so much the boys. they would have moved tables if they could have prolly. the dart boards there are positioned unfortunately close to tables with real live people sitting at them, and if you have seen me play darts (anna) you would know, steel tipped darts are not safe in my hands. it was another great christmas celebration with friends.

christmas crackers

kevin and nikki were in town for a few days before christmas and we were able to revisit a tradition we started with them the first christmas we were all living here. they stayed the night with us on friday and we woke up and went to the french quarter in west hollywood for brunch. we popped our "premium" christmas crackers from ralphs... one of the prizes was nail clippers, one was a 35 inch tape measure (not the whole three feet, just most of it), one was a little whoopee cushion. hardly premium if you ask me. we read our lame jokes and took a picture in our hats. heehee. believe you me, we fit right in there too. no one even blinked at me when i forgot and was wearing my crown in the bathroom. :)

after brunch we came back home and played settlers with cheyne and andy, another couple that we know through kevin and nikki. (shane and darci - our expansion set came in the nick of time!!!) they had to head for the airport to be back for church on sunday, so i cleaned and started packing while jeremy took them. you need a lot of stuff for three days in san diego!!!

salsa II

a couple weeks ago tera's band sang at vive again. jeremywent with me this time, and al went with lottie, so the four of us had a grand ole time. the band sounded great and the highlight was tera's stalker. for those of you from the wichita area, he is vaguely reminiscent of crazy mike, although a bit more sociable and more aggressive. he took SO many pictures of tera, with tera, of tera, of tera's backside... etc. her husband tried to get him thrown out but the bouncers could only keep him off the dance flor (since he wasnt dancing) and order a drink (i.e. be a patron of the establishment). i have never seen one coke last so long. i think he drank it the entire three hours she was singing. her mom and grandma were there, and he managed to get a shot with all the women of the family. creeeeepy!

the people dancing werent as entertaining as last time, but mike (this crazy guys name is mike too!) kept us all entertained. poor tera.

last weekend

last weekend was the busiest weekend we have had in a while. we had the cookie party on friday night, then saturday we cleaned and wrapped presents, jeremy did some shopping, i played scrabulous. then we went over to the dronens to babysit ashley while mom and dad went to his christmas party for work. we were there from 5 until about 10 or 1030. it was during this time that we composed our christmas letter. if it seems random and disjointed, know that we were watching a two month old at the same time. and we are not in the habit of doing so as we do not have a two month old of our own.

after they got home, we headed out to pasadena to russ's house for his annual christmas party. one of his roomies is a dj, so there was music going, dancing, and cookies. also someone brought one 6 pack of beer (after they specifically said on the invitation no alcohol too!). when we got there the beer was sitting on the stove untouched. after about an hour or so, people gradually grabbed them (who drinks one of the six beers at a party with 50 or more people at it where there isnt supposed to be drinking anyways??? who?) and had to be asked to drink outside. it was pretty comical from where i was standing. we got to meet russ's girlfriend, who was actually slated to stay with us for a while back in august or september or something but wound up staying at her brother's place or something. we stayed and hung out for a little over an hour, then drove to burbank to the blue room and met dan and emily. we chilled with them for a few hours, finally, around 4 am (i know!) poured ourselves into bed.

two and a half hours later we got up for church. thats right. i hung out with the 3 and 4 year olds (thankfully they halped the time pass quickly) and jeremy directed the service. after church we went out to eat with sarah and jason and a couple other peoples. then home for an all too brief nap. up again and off to a salsa club!

the singing bee

tomorrow (friday) night on nbc (check local listings for time) our friend, and mosaic's very own jon pyle will be competing on the singing bee. that is the one with joey fatone (you know we all say fat one in our heads) i believe. anyways, we have never watched the show before but this one should be fun. he is a pretty cool guy. so check it out... if you dare!

tonight is our work christmas party. we have it at victorio's, an italian place down the street a little ways. the nicest things i can say about the party: it starts at four so for the first hour we are paid to be there and the place always is decorated really nicely. other things i could say: the food is mediocre (not bad at all, but defintiely not great) and the one glass of wine we are all allowed is #1 skimpy and #2 not that great. everyone still goes every year. without our spouses mind you because we arent allowed to bring them. because dubnoff cant afford to pay for them. yep. but i guess it is free food so i shouldnt complain too much. although i heard a nasty rumor that they were not paying for any wine for anyone this year. more forced socializing with the people i see all day everyday (more than the people i actually like, for example jeremy) and half of who (whom?) i dont really like. at least when they get a little tipsy there is free entertainment. because isnt that what the season is all about anyways?

how many five year olds could you take in a fight?

24

Looking for payday loan?

rachel is 1!

our first baby in our small group, rachel yeng, turned one at the end of november. unfortunately for us, she lives in texas. so we had our own party for her here so she could add us to her first birthday scrapbook. the shivelys and ochsners showed up, along with kris's friend's adorable baby sam. he was the laughingest baby ever!!! we ate disney princess cupcakes, drank hot chocolate, watched football and wore party hats. not quite the same sort of party as rachel had in texas i am sure but it was fun all the same.

i waited so long to post this (you can see that the picture says dec 1) because i had to get the photographs to rachel (well emay really) because i didnt want to spoil the surprise. also because we have been so busy...

8 more days until san diego...

10 more days until christmas!

YAY!

!m!

cookie party

last night was the third annual shively christmas party. everyone brings heaps of one kind of cookie, we eat kim's chili over spaghetti noodles (it is a southern thing), drink custard (similar to egg nog), gorge ourselves silly on cookies, and at the end of the night go home with quite the assortment of baked goods. every year (as we, besides the shivelys themselves, are the only 3 year attendees) we bring shortbread and peppernuts, made from grandma koci's recipe. i always make extra to take into work too. the girls at work started asking after thanksgiving break "when are you bringing in the peppernuts?" each year i make them i get better and better. i am still not as good as grandma koci, and i prolly wont ever be. but thats ok because she still sends us hers along with fudge (something i have yet to attempt) every christmas. this year we made a half recipe of the peppernuts and we still are going to have too many i think. hopefully everyone at work really enjoys the ones i made and we can keep the good ones to ourselves!

several of the bible study gang were there, both old and new. and really new in ashley's case. i got her to sleep and jeremy took over when my arms got tired. he talked to eric, ashley's dad for a while. eric said "a baby looks good on you jeremy" and it really does. baby as an accesory. nice. we will have our own accessory someday, but this post was not a prelude to the big announcement so dont get too excited. (and that sentence was mostly aimed at a certain person, i am not going to say your name, <>, but you know who you are.)

three good looking ladies, yes? kim was the hostess with the mostess and lottie was not wearing a witch's hat as it may seem in the slightly blurry picture above.

merry christmas! may all your shortbread be slightly brown and your flour never run out when baking peppernuts!

!m!

christmas shopping

we have our christmas shopping mostly finished, and due to the wonders and joy of online shopping, most of the presents are on their way to their new homes. the three boxes of gifts we have at home are waiting ever so patiently for their turns through the usps sustem. so, for those of you who have received your presents, congratulations. for those who are about to receive them, we salute you. for those who may get presents after christmas, we apologize. it took a while to find the correct size of box to send them in.

also... we have been receiving christmas cards daily, slowly but surely. be sure to keep a sharp eye out for our card, but dont start looking too soon, or hold your breath. we are working on things, but the christmas show took a whole week of our lives away that we are struggling to recoup.

we appreciate your patience.

thank you,
management

christmas: a modern take part 2

as promised a couple more videos... remember when i mentioned flying baby jesus?


it was pretty awesome. during one run through jesus came loose and tumbled into a heap on the floor. sacreligious? yes. hilarious? also yes.


we started and ended the show with this dance - it got better every time. amazing.

it was awesome to be able to work with this incredibly talented pool of actors and dancers and musicians and the creative visionaries who directed and produced the whole thing. wow. thats all im saying.

!m!

christmas: a modern take

this past friday and saturday, jeremy and i were pleased to help mosaic present christmas: a modern take, this year's christmas musical/drama/live dance and musis/original films/flying baby jesus/etc. we were the backstage managers, and while i would like to say the show went off without a hitch i cant. i can say that any hitches were my fault only once (never make the same mistake twice, right sarah?) or that any hitches that were not my fault did look like they were a part of the show (we were staging a show within a show - the actors were playing the part of people putting on a christmas show. so when there was feedback or lighting problems, it was all already in the script. convenient is it not?)

the only thing i can think to compare it to is the first week you bring a baby home from the hospital... huge learning curve, lots of minor frustrations, erratic schedules, late nights, messy house, no clean clothes, and at the end - something great. but we dont have a cute baby to show for our troubles... just some youtube videos...

that was an orignal song of one of Mosaic's staff. there was a film playing on the screens showing the struggles one of the characters in the play has been through and provides more insight into her character.



this dance was towards the end of the show when everything is beginning to come together and the characters are realizing that jesus is really why they are doing what they are doing.





this video was during mary's "labor pains" and her dealing with the fact that she is giving birth to god. the person laying against the rock is mary... i know it is hard to see details in these pictures.

i will make another post with two more videos...

!m!

sprinkle doughnut

i was reading this blog called lateshowwritersonstrike.com . it is written bu the writers of the late show who are on strike. descriptive title huh? in the november archives about halfway down there is a picture of a striking writer with a picket sign and a doughnut with sprinkles only on half of the doughnut. i LOVE it!!!!!

brian regan would be so proud!

anna that reminds me of the time we went to krispie kreme and asked them to make us a sprinkle doughnut with sprinkles only on half and they thought we were crazy but they did it!!!!!

"you have seven left."

"well if i get two bavarian creams and one glazed how many would i have left then doughnut lady? huh?"

!m!

this weekend

aftertrimming our tree on friday night, we woke up kinda early on saturday and started cleaning. since we were in fresno last weekend and had people in town before that, we had quite the small mountain of laundry piled up. i did three loads on friday and three more on saturday and we finally have clean clothes and more importantly, clean sheets. the ochsners and shivelys came over on saturday afternoon and hung out for a while. lance and kris brought their friends baby sam. he is the smiling-est thing i ever saw. all i had to do was look at hima nd he cracked up (insert joke about my looks here) kris said that he hardly ever cries, just giggles all the time. in a room full of strangers, he was certainly well-behaved. jeremy and i watched football all day - the usc ucla game (lame!) and the big 12 championship. we were rooting for missouri but oh well. the big 12 did remarkably well this year in the grand scheme of things. hopefully kstate has a better year next year. today we stagemanaged at church, ate at chipotle, and took a two hour nap. it was great. then we walked to the park and played tennis for an hour or so, walked to the grocery store, and walked home. jeremy was waylayed by a drunk in front of a liquor store on our stret. he wanted jeremys opinion on if he sided with the devil against god does jeremy think he would win? or if he sided with god against the devil? well, really he thinks that he will make his own team in the middle and fight both of them. i think his brain is pickled. we came home and caught up on some stuff we had dvr-ed and now im headed to bed. early to rise + 2 hour nap + early to bed = better monday

flight 93

jeremy and i finally watched flight 93 on friday night. we had rented it from netflix months ago, and kept putting off watching it. as mentioned previously, it was my brilliant idea to watch it while doing laundry and decorating for christmas. i thought "oh i know the story it can just play in the background and i can finally return it."

oh man. this is one of the best movies i have ever seen. we were riveted, sitting on the edge of the couch the entire time. it was really well-made, with lesser known actors so you actually see the passengers of united flight 93 and not matt damon or something. we have not watched united 93, so i dont know how the two stack up against each other but this one is definitely worth watching. it was made in cooperation with the passengers' families, and based on the actual cell phone conversations they had with their family members. they knew that the terrorists were on a suicide mission and they were prolly going to die but were so brave and calm when talking to their wives and moms and kids...just amazing.

sounds like a downer movie but it isnt. the end shows the crash site over the course of a year and by the spring the ugly scar in the ground was healed over with new beautiful grass. this septmeber 11, i will have something beautiful to reflect on instead of focusing on the negativity of the day. these people were true heroes and some of the most courageous people i have ever heard of. just regular old people on a commuter flight that did something extraordinary and decided to act in such a short period of time (it was only about 40 minutes from take off until they crashed).

go rent it right now. you'll cry ( i cried for most of the movie) but it is such a great movie. wow.

where were you when you heard about the events of september 11? i was a freshman in college eating breakfast in the derb and the first two planes had hit the towers but it just seemed so surreal. it wasnt until much later in the day that i realized the magnitude of the events that took place that day. i went to class like normal and people were talking about it, but it wasnt until the end of the day when all the reports were in and we realized that it was an actual planned attack that things were really scary and real.

!m!

so fresh and so green, green

jeremy and i bought our christmas tree last night. i love the smell of a real tree. walking through the christmas tree lot is one of my favorite christmas-y things. yum. after it dried (yes it has actually been raining and cooler - yay "winter") we brought it in from the porch and did our christmas decorating. we got a small tree because we prolly arent going to be here for the actual day of christmas, but i cant stand to not decorate at all. we strung our lights and beads, then got all the ornaments out of their boxes and put them on. it was cool to see how many memories we already have going through the ornaments people have given us and those we have bought on our vacations (florida, our cruise, sequoia, the lion king musical, disney land). i love christmas! we hung our stockings by the coffeepot and memo piggie bank with care, in hopes that our spouse soon would be there, filling it with great goodies!

you will have to excuse my red puffy eyes. in all my brilliancy, i decided to put on a movie while we were doing laundry and decorating. the uplifting film i chose: flight 93. but more about that in another post. we put the star on the tree, jeremy drank his egg nog (yuck!) and went to bed. unfortunately, when i woke up this morning, there was nothing in my stocking yet. oh well. 23 more days to go!

merry christmas!

!m!

big al turns 30

last sunday we mat al and lottie, arianna, and tera and corey at the new arclight in sherman oaks for al's birthday movie: hitman. it was actually a pretty good movie. a bit more blood and nudity than i expected (the guy stomping on another mans head and the melon like sound of his brain exploding was a highlight) but overall a pretty entertaining movie. in a fight between jason bourne and 47, i think 47 would win. but jason is hotter. so there you go. ivenever played the video game, but al has, and he said it was pretty accurate.

we went to lannathai for dinner and dessert after the film. it was great as usual (green veggie curry with chicken, potstickers and spring rolls) and we had a fun time just hanging out with the slovaceks. we did not see scary transvestite person and i was kinda disappointed.

!m!

fresno trip

on black friday we made the trip to fresno... stopping at an outlet mall or two on the way. finally i have started on my christmas shopping! (not to mention the cute new clothes i got for work!) we stayed at a crappy motel in a crappy part of town (where's trip advisor when you need it???) but still had a great time. we got to see the end of the LSU Arkansas game - what a game! there was a nice park right by our lodgings so on friday night we went to dinner at tahoe joes (my salad was great, jeremy hated his burger... it was just patties from the store. not the original tahoe joe burger that they claimed) and then walked around the park for about an hour. saturday morning we woke up and watched the vh1 top20 video countdown like alwaysthen went for another walk around the park. it was similar to gage park - there was a carousel, zoo, playgrounds, picnic areas, etc. we saw a rabbit on friday night and on saturday morning, on friday i got close enough to almost touch him (her?) but for those of you who know my track record with rabbits (BABE) i was scared he (she?) would eat my clothes and scratch me. we went back to our hotel and showered and went to find food (the continental "breakfast" at our hotel sucked royally). fresno is called the armpit of california, and with good reason. there were no good places to eat that were open (11 am on a game day. seriously people.) so we just went into the stadium.

let me rephrase that. we tried to find a place to park. all of the signs on the street pointed to the lots near the stadium where people had to have season passes to park. so we drove around for like 30 minutes before a bulldogs fan finally deigned to speak to us and let us know where the other parking lots where. we had a small walk through campus - cal state fresno is actually a pretty nice campus - and then the real trouble began.

<> whats that smell? ooh k-state fans... (from a dad to his small son)

go jayhawks! jawhawks are awesome! (a bunch of drunk frat guys)

you arent in kansas anymore pansies! (real original, guys)

we walked around the stadium three times, well it felt like three times but was prolly more like 9/10 of the way (we started walking in definitely the wrong direction) to find will call, stood in line, got our tickets, stood in line, went into the stadium, stood in line while the players ran onto the field, and then made our way back around the stadium to our seats. we were sitting in a small section of wildcats mostly from northern california and there was another whole section of purple. the guys sitting behind us were really obnoxious but calmed down around halftime (more like drank himself into a stupor). he was yelling boo jayhawks the entire first quarter until willie came onto the field for quartertime? cheering and the girl with him was like "thats not a bird you idiot!" it was prolly the highlight of the game for me. one fresno state fan sitting near us was pretty cool and we traded info about our players and colleges. why cant everyone be more like that? i mean, i love k-state just as much if not more that the next guy, but the only person i ever ridicule for being on the opposing team is anna, but thats because i know her. i would never say nasty things to perfect strangers. well, thats not entirely true prolly... but in the context of good sportsmanship i think everyone should cheer on their respective teams and the only booing should be directed towards the referees. but thats just me.

we lost, and it was a long drive back to la. we tried to find a station on the radio playing the ku-missouri game but failed miserably. we did get to watch the final quarter when we got home though. this post prolly sounds really negative but we had a great time. man i miss college football gamedays in manhattan! and we figured out one place we will never move to. fresno.

give thanks with a grateful heart

jeremy and i hosted thanksgving for two of the couples in our small group this year. i cooked my first turkey. i am so glad we bought the monster crock pot for easter because it definitely came in handy for our bird. we wound up with quite the spread for just six people.

eric and christina came over after dinner and brought ashley (of course). she has grown so much since we last saw her! they brought dessert, as did adam and kristin so we all dutifully stuffed ourselves some more. thankfully, adam and kristin also brought over their wii, which is the coolest gaming system ever. first, you create your own character that actually looks like you - hair and eye color, eye and nose and mouth shape, body type (although there was no pregnant one for bridget) - and that character retains all your points that you get by winning in the games. the actual game works based on your motions so when we were playing the sports games you actually have to move your arms to swing the bat, hit the tennis ball, golf or bowl. there are attachments for the second hand so you can box. they told us we would be sore the next day and we definitely were! it was great fun. i am thankful that

they left the wii in our capable hands for the week. we do have to give it back tonight at study though. the picture shows jeremy and dan fighting while adam and kristin look on in amusement. after everyone left we stayed up until midnight playing the darned thing. good thing they are out of stock everywhere or i would be in big trouble for never showing up to work. but my serve would be excellent!

!m!

thanksgiving menu

last night i went to the grocery store and bought thanksgiving food. our beautiful hormone free, free range 12 lb bird is currently defrosting in the fridge. i get to use my new-ish (according to the number of times i have been able to use it anyways) monster crock pot oven thingie to cook it. i bought cranberry sauce (jeremy loves it from a can, which i am eternally thankful for, as i have not yet had the opportunity to learn from grandma koci how to properly make cranberry sauce) and cream cheese for cheeseballs. and water crackers. and of course, le seur peas. the abood holiday tradition. it just wouldnt be thanksgiving without them! and multiple bottles of wine, because what holiday celebration is complete without red and white libations?

dan and bridget are bringing mashed potatoes and she promised me that she was going to load them with cream and butter and all the good stuff. adam and kristin are in charge of dessert.

does anyone know how to make gravy??? help!

!m!

the week in review

last week my mom left really really ridiculously early on tuesday morning, bryce and brock came back to spend one more night with us and left wednesday for his uncle's house in LA. thursday they met the lady and her two dogs that they drove back to kansas. so i bet that was a fun trip! three days in a car with a cranky lady and two yappy dogs. brock got off easy because he got to drive her u-haul.

wednesday night sarah came over for dinner. we hung out and ate fish and salad. very mdf. we spent some time on the back porch examining jeremy's newest toy. its pretty.

thursday was small group and friday night jeremy were lazy. all we did was sit at home and catch up on all the shows we had dvr-ed.

saturday we spent the day with sarah again, only this time we were at bel air presbyterian church for the 34 degrees conference, which was focused on small groups. some pretty cool speakers were there: willow creek's bill donahue, bel air's lead pastor, mosaic's eric bryant as well as the worship bands from bel air and mosaic (separately, not together. that would have been interesting.) the church building is beautiful. i thought of all the people who could have been helped instead of building the multi million dollar sanctuary and vestry and green room and ugly stained glass. but all in all, the conference was great. i was vanna white - in charge of the give-aways between every session. anyways jeremy and i got matching free t shirts out of the whole deal.

sunday we went to church and played with the babies, then over to lance and kris's. jeremy and lance did manly things like changing the brakes on lance's vehicle and getting all sweaty and greasy and kris and i sat inside and watched football. i swear to you. prolly because we were too lazy to cange the channel. sunday night we watched part of the amas and then went to bed early. it was rather an exhausting weekend. i am SO thankful that this week on ly has 3 days of work!

!m!

vive salsa sunday!

this also is an overdue post about last weekend. sunday morning we went to church, where, oddly enough, my mom got to hear goodie preach again. she has been to mosaic twice, a year apart, and both times it has been goodie and not erwin. kinda funny. then we drove up to the mountains of burbank and ate at castaway. it really has the most spectacular view. last time she was here with my dad and max and we ate there but it was foggy. sunday it was clearer so we got to see most of burbank and into the valley. we went to ikea where we mostly bought dish towels. they didnt have a lamp or curtains that we liked. rather disappointing.

we went home and we girls changed into our party clothes and kris came and picked us up. lottie's friend ters was playing at a salsa club in pasadena. we got there early for lessons and to scope out the available men. we were all SO glad that we were all three happily married. slim pickins ladies! tera's band, red loquita, was great. the club was cool. the food was good. the highlight of the evening was when my mom and kris and i made the obligatory group trip to the bathroom. we passed by the row of unsuitable men cicrcling looking for unwary ladies to scoop up and salsa with and one of them blew his nose into the tail of his shirt. no, that wasnt the best part of the night. still coming. when we came out of the bathroom (no more than five minutes later mind you) he was dancing with one of lotties friends from her girls bible study. closely. i sure hope she cleaned her clothes well. we couldnt decide if we should tell her or not. but it was funny because he totally thought he was hot stuff but he was over fifty, with a beer gut and sweating profusely. lots of the men there had a perspiration problem. i was glad to be sitting on the side of the banquette that made it awkward for someone to ask me to dance. next time jeremy will go with me and that will be way funner. :D

game day saturday

not to be confused with today - this is actually a delayed posting about last saturday when my mom was here. we got up (all five of us - brock and bryce were here too!) and watched k state lose miserably to nebraska. so that was fun. jeremy took the boys to the conference down at lax and when he returned we ate breakfast and drank coffee and then my mom and i went to the party store. and the grocery store. we had to buy blue and yellow plates and napkins for our cal vs ucs game watching party and also food. oh and also turkey candles. for thanksgiving. the party store is right by petco and i realy wanted to go in and buy a cat. or adopt a cat. but i figured jeremy might want to be in on that decision so i held myself back. a little pat on the back for self-restraint if you please.

we had a bunch of people over for the game: al and lottie, dan and emily, doug and christine, ron, lance and kris. it was fun. we cooked out and watched another favorite sports team lose. well ron and emily, both cal alum, were more upset than any of the rest of us but it was a good game. we all had a great time.

porn for women?

i was looking through someone's shelf on shelfari and saw a book called porn for women. the cover featured a man, fully clothed, vacuuming. and that made me laugh. i do love it when jeremy does the dishes!

bird brains

I was checking my email at work this morning and i got a link to a video of this bird. you need to watch it. it is pretty cool how well trained she is and how well she performs. thanks aunt sharon for the link!

pampered friday

we went to mani kir royale for massages (by a cute NOT GAY mormon guy) and pedicures... we had to wait because the girl who was before us (a stunt person in tons of movies) and her friends were late soooo we got free paraffin wax for our hands... they were out of hand mitts so my mom got foot ones. but it was great. it was a nice relaxing afternoon after a busy morning at work. we also saw krysten leigh jones - she was getting a mani pedi too. she is from remember the titans, among other things. we watched sister act 2 together. my new claim to fame.

after our pampering, we met jeremy at costco and did some shopping for our party on saturday. yay. i love costco. but you all knew that i think. then we went home and cooked out steaks and just chilled. it was a great day!

!m!

tired tuesday

well my mom left this morning at 4:30 (jeremy was the best husband ever and drove her) and i am plum (plumb?) tuckered out. we had quite the whirlwind of a four day trip. but more on that later.

today at work i got a key to the front door. thats right folks. i can now go to work whenever i feel like it... on weekends, and holidays, and all throughout may... actually it is so when i am staying after five (which i do most nights - yay overtime) i can let myself out before the cleaning crew has set the alarm. otherwise i have to walk all the way to the side door and go out the far gate. trust me, it is a pain.

also... what happens at debbie reynolds dance studio stays at debbie reynolds dance studio. kris and i took a beginning hip hop class tonight. it was fun. we learned about 5 eight counts of a routine. the class was only an hour and i was just starting to get warmed up when we left. all the other people besides the two of us were tiny little 5 foot nothing 95 pound asians and blacks. i have never felt so fat and white. and those feelings are ones i do not experience very often. either of them. but it was still fun!

i am at home right now waiting for all my boys to get here, doing laundry and dishes... basically slaving away while they are out having fun. well not quite that dramatic i guess. jeremy and i flipped for who had to drive into la to pick up bryce and brock from brocks uncle and i think i actually won the toss. i get to watch tv and hang out instead of dealing with the maniacs on the 101. yay!

!m!

thirsty thursday

i have been remarkably thirsty lately. i bring two nalgenes full of water to work everyday (32 oz or so each) and drink one before and one after lunch. lately i have been finishing them by three o'clock. thats just crazy.

in other, much more interesting to you news, bryce and brock made it here safely. one trip to the van nuys flyaway and one trip to in'n'out later, they were safe and sound at our house. yesterday they even did the dishes and walked to vallarta and bought themselves sancks. how awesome of houseguests are they! speaking of houseguests, my mom will be here in 8 hours! YAY! if we survive the 405 at rush hour to LAX we should be warm and cozy at home watching greys anatomy and the office by 9. hurrah.

!m!

hump day

lots of people call wednesday hump day and i get it. its like the sppedbump of the week. the week goes really slowly until wednesday and then thursday and friday (theoretically) fly by. i was listening to the radio last night on my way home from the gym and i think my friends at kiis fm have taken the whole hump day business a little too far:

dj:we go now live to burbank where our hump day agent is out and about. do you copy?

agent: we are here and i have found the statue. it is at the corner of hollywood way and chandler. there are lots of bikers around.

dj: perfect. get to it then.

agent: <> happy hump day everyone!

how sick could you possibly get? the radio station pays someone to go around on wednesdays and hump statues. seriously. this is a weekly event. ugh.

grammar girl

i love to listen to podcasts at work. i subscribe to grey's anatomy mcpodcast, mosaic, slate explainer, treehugger, pandora, relevant and radiant. my new favorite podcast is grammar girl's quick and dirty tips for better writing. she is great. this is what i do all day at work. i am tied to my computer anyways so i way as well listen to something fun right?

what i really dont understand is how people can listen to podcasts or books while they are running or exercising. i have to have some good music going to keep my mind off the wunning (thats when you walk and run on the treadmil). i guess i am old fashioned and would rather read my books than listen to them. especially since alot of books on tape are abbreviated versions and i like the whole enchilada. also i like enchiladas from trader joes... they make really good ones. cheese and chicken. yum.

anyways, bryce gets here in like 6 hours. YAY! oh yeah and brock too. but seeing as i have never met him, it is hard for me to get really excited about him. but im sure i will be sad to see him go.

!m!

studio 60

the saddest thing happened today. we rented the last disc of studio 60 because we missed the las tfour episodes when they aired at random times so the stupid tv execs could fulfill the contracts of all those amazing actors and writers without acually finishing the show (and by finishing i mean six or seven more seasons) and we watched two of the final episodes last night. after church today we were warming up leftovers and i turned on the dvd player to watch the oter two episodes on the disc and then i realized that there wasnt any more. we have seen the final episode of studio 60. that was one of the best shows on television. ever.

the good news in i love new york was renewed for a second season because she didnt find love the first time. gag me with a freaking spoon.

!m!

move your body away from the cyclones

the iowa state cyclones are stupid. we apparently have the superextended cable package that includes the channel versus, which i had never heard of until kaylas baby shower, on which the k-state game was aired yesterday. the cameramen are weird, like they think they are shooting an indie film or something. on every kickoff they would should the kickers foot and lose the ball as soon as he hit it, then show the receiving team from behind so when they were running it back you couldnt tell what yard line they were on. it was strange. and k-state lost. we wouldnt have lost by quite as much if the refs had not called one of our guys out at the 6 yard line when he ran the ball in for a touchdown and upon replay he clearly was not out but since it was a dead ball or something they couldnt reverse the call. i dunno. it kinda killed the momentum there at the end of the game though.

after that disappointing game, we cleaned cleaned cleaned the house. we are ready for our visitors now! yay! we went to ikea and bought a new chair for my computer desk (that actually matches) and then went out to eat with al and lottie. we ate at buca di beppos and got to sit in the kitchen. it was fun. thankfully lottie is eating vegetarian so i had a buddy to order eggplant with since jeremy wont touch the stuff with a ten foot pole. him and al split some sausage thing that not so vaguely resembled a turd. but whatever makes you happy i guess...

we are watching bull riding right now. i like going to rodeos in person, not so much on tv. but it is kinda fun.

welp, hope you are all having relaxing sundays! yay for another week of work to look forward to! hah!

!m!

here they come!

next week is a very exciting week!!!!

#1 monday - it is our monthly opportunity to see kevin... he will be in town and is staying with us for the night - yay!

#2 tues - wed bryce and brock will (proly) be here. due to the hazards of flying stand by it is imposible to know for sure when they get here but that is our best guess!

#3 thurs - sat my mom will be here! YAY! we have some very exciting plans...

#4 sun - mon my mom and bryce and brock are staying with us - talk about a full house!


#5 tues - thurs after waking up BEFORE the buttcrack of dawn to take my mom to the airport, we get to keep bryce and brock for a while, before they leave to drive some ladys uhaul home.

busy busy bees. gt gt.

!m!

halloween at work

it was a calm day at school, which is pretty rare. most of the staff dressed up, and a lot of the kids brought costumes to change into for the dance.

karla came as a mexican indian (from the dirty south of mexico) and i think we all know who armando dressed as. he is a goof. he looooves disney stuff. we have astudent who is obsessed with disney things and armando, on halloween, is one of hie favorite things ever!

ceci and i did the set-up/tear down for the dance. not very many kids danced (even less than usual) but everyone was well-behaved and polite. which is like a halloween miracle.

jeremy and i had some trick or treaters halloween night, but not very many. mostly it was the kids from our building and the building next door. the cutest one was a girl in a group of girls with a couple of moms. they were all dressed as princesses. when i opened the door to give them candy, she was peeking around my skirt like she was looking in to see... so this is what a white persons house looks like on the inside... oooohhh... as we are the only white people in prolly a five mile radius now that kayla and ricky moved. but her last name is alvarez so she doesnt count as white anymore. ;)

speaking of, she might have hailie this weekend! i cannot wait for another new baby!!! yay!

!m!

New Book Site

www.shelfari.com/californiameaghan



be my friend. add your books. it is the best! (thanks aunt norma for the link - you are the best!)



in other, sadder news, until alfi comes in to update my adobe acrobat flash player (i hate not having administrator rights on my work computer) i cannot play scrabulous. which means i actually have to work. but today work consists of the day care kids trick or treating and decorating for the halloween dance. so its all good.

i wish i could tell you all that this was my pumpkin that i carved. but mine usually come out looking like a 5 year old did them. we didnt carve pumpkins this year, which is going to be really sad come thanksgiving when i have to use canned pumpkin instead of fresh for my pies. oh well. what are you guys doing to celebrate halloween?

have a scare-tastic day!

!m!

bad to the bone

i am kinda turning into one of those people that when you are out with your children, they stare at. but in a good way. sometimes i just get a wild hair (no not hare i really meant hair) and things like this happen.

i mean, who wouldnt want to stare at that?

i finally got the purple streaks i have been wanting for literally years. except they are a little more blue than purple. but next weekend i can touch up and add more purple.

go state!

i'm prolly the coolest person you know

yesterday jeremy took me by the library on the way home from work. i turned in my books outside and went inside to pick up the book si had on hold. i looked on the hold shelf in between knox and kyler where my books usually reside. nothing. i had just got an email saying i had stuff on hold that morning so i looked at the guy behind the check out counter with a quizzical expression on my face. he smiled and pointed. i looked where he was pointing and yes.

i have my own personal shelf at the library. just for me. he told the head librarian that i was their number one customer and she said"great! we need to drive up circulation! bring your friends!" i can just imagine hey guys lets go to the library and hang out. except we cant bring food or drinks and have to be quiet. but there is free wi-fi!

he also said that the city of la should rescind their policy on 30 books out at a time for me. he is too sweet. they're like my family.

so im either the coolest person you know... or the dorkiest. but i have my own freaking shelf at the library!

!m!

note from the author: did you notice the subtle highlighting of the correct usages of the words their, they're and there? learn it love it live it breathe it. please. and then you can hang your high school diploma on the wall with pride.

baby ashley

we got to see the baby on saturday! she is super cute. and very well mannered! we spent about an hour hanging out with the three dronens. ashley had just finished her dinner when we got there and she stayed awake the whole time. she also made an appearance later at the slovaceks after we ate.

they are going to have to keep a sharp eye out on that one when she grows up. she looks like a little doll. she is so perfect! she was totally flirting with jeremy too. i wasnt jealous though. maybe a little actually.

thank goodness for tj

it is hot outside. i dont know if that has to do with the fires, or the fires are so rampant becasue of the heat and dryness, but it is hot. shouldnt be this hot when i cant go to the beach because of the fires. malibu is evacuated, including pepperdine. it is crazy.

maybe the heat will remain after the fires are successfully fought and then we can go to the beach in november.

tijuana sent four firetrucks and forty four firefighters so that day will come sooner rather than later.

thank goodness!

sad commentary on life in america

how is it that people are graduating high school and even college without having a firm grasp on the english language? i dont understand how this happens. i took several grammar classes in school and here is what i learned andi hope it helps you in some small way.

your vs. you're
you're going to have to evacuate your house because of the rampant wildfires raging all around la county and san diego. (you're = you are. it is a contraction. your = possesive of you)

effect vs. affect
what effect are the fires having on you personally? have they affected your life in any way? (besides a sore throat and ash on our car, we are fine. not affected/no effect) (effct is a noun, and affect is a verb. how can you possibly mix these up?)

its vs it's
honestly it is always confusing to me. but instead of using the wrong one, i just change around my sentence to avoid it altogether. i could also look it up in my prentice guide to grammar that i keep by my desk (no lie) but thats a waste of time.

where vs. were
where were we? nough said.

ok. i think thats enough ranting and raving. the fires rage on and people have died, but none of our people so far. wed like to keep it that way. so far, no one we know has had to evacuate either. hopefully that remains true for the duration of this natural disaster. if status changes, i will let you know.

also, soon i will post pictures of when we got to see our new baby princess of the small group, ashley, but ive been having trouble loading them onto blogspot. perhaps tonight, while i am doing laundry and watching hosue and private practice, i can upload some for your viewing pleasure. shes pretty cute.

also viva laughlin was a weird show and i'm not surprised it got canceled.

oooh

cancelled vs. canceled OR cancelling vs. canceling
trick question - they are both right. i've had this fight before. look it up. go ahead punk. do you feel lucky?

!m!

just for new kicks

jeremy and i ran/walked (ok mostly walked) to the gym today. it was gorgeous outside. it is about 2.5 miles each way, so it only takes about 30 minutes walking. we each worked out in the weight room and then walked home. on the way home pieces of my shoes started falling off. this pair of shoes that i have is old but i didnt realize how beat up they had gotten. what with all the exercise i have been doing lately though... sheesh.

so we went to sports authority and found really cute new pink shoes! yay! then we went to the mall and i got a new hat and dress. then we went to hooters and watched football and had lunch. i know. but i love that place. i dont know what it is about it. it was a great day!

tonight we get to meet ashley for the first time and then its off to al and lotties for dinner. great saturday.

heart warming moment

simon cowell was so nice i cried. im not kidding. im a sucker for a sob story though. i just wanted to put this guy in my pocket and hug him and feed him and send him to the orthodontist. part 2 is quite lovely too. and i dont even like opera. thanks emily for passing the tears down the cubicle row! the woman in the middle (the british version of paula looked surprised at how good he was, and then i watched longer and realized she has had so much botox that she always looks surprised.

tonight we have class and then get to come home and watch the office and grey's anatomy. yay! last nights private practice was interesting. i think im going to keep watching it. jeremy is super thrilled.

i go to the GI doctor this afternoon to go over the results from my scope in august. im sure everything is fine (i would imagine if they found cancer in any of the biopsies they would have called by now) but i want him to tell me that i am so healthy i dont have to take any prescriptions anymore. we will see.

until next time then,
!m!

kansas invasion

my dad called me last week to ask what he should get for my mom for her birthday. i immediately replied "a plane ticket." so he did. and she is coming in 24 days! yay! and three or four days after that my brother bryce is coming (and bringing a friend). then, about two months after that, my friend missy is coming (and bringing a friend). all very exciting news. and i found out all on the same day last week! wednesday was a great day!

so the moral of the story is come to california and bring a friend if you want to. you can sleep in our guest room and chill in hollywood. and it will be fun. so when are you guys coming?

!m!

kayla's baby shower

thats me with some of the girls from work at kaylas baby shower. we had a good time. it was outside, but the weather was slightly overcast and cool but not rainy so it was perfect. the night before it poured so the air was clear and clean. the shower was fun. we played the clothespin game (cant say the word baby or kayla), the dirty diaper game, etc. jeremy won the clothespin game, mostly because he didnt talk very much. :)

we got her a hooter hider (this nifty nursing apron that was a wire sewn into it so momma can see the baby while feeding her but no one else can) and a little hat that i crocheted for her. ricky, the proud father to be, thought it was funny to tie the hat on his head like a pirates eyepatch. i didnt find it quite as amusing.

we came home and watched the k-state game, which was quite exciting. go cats!

and baby hailie, we can't wait to meet you!

!m!

ps i apologize for the strange picture settings on this post. i cant seem to fix it. maybe i will be able to do it tomorrow at work...

success vs failure

so the experiment wasnt a rousing success but wasnt a complete hide my head in the sand forever failure either. we have some new ideas and might require professional assistance. but jeremy looks awfully cute with a bottle of hair dye in one gloved hand and a comb in the other. so the evening wasnt a total loss.

but my hair isnt really purple streaked either. so there is a downside.

friday afternoon...

you know that horrible feeling you get when you are doing something that could be really cool or could turn out to be a disaster? thats a little bit what i am feeling right now. jeremy and i are doing an experiment that could rocks yalls faces off or be really stupid. in about an hour or two we will find out and then i will post pictures. until then... the suspense builds!

ok the requisite bulls post... blah blah blah usf blah blah blah 5th in the nation blah blah blah my dearest aunt is an alum blah blah blah. but seriously go bulls! and go state! we are dvr-ing the game tomorrow in case we miss some of it on the way home from the baby shower.

yes our dvr is successfully installed and i am so thrilled! pause live tv! record 2 shows at a time! plus we got all those music stations on the tv now too. so thats fun.

gotta run. what not to wear marathon on tlc. yes, its that important!

!m!

friday come faster!

tomorrow after a brutal morning of ieps and capses meetings, jeremy is picking me up from work early. then we are going home and waiting for the time warner cable man to come over. because we are getting DVR!!!!! he was going to surprise me but couldn't keep a secret long enough. i am beyond ecstatic. no more missing our favorite shows! season pass here i come! (house, big bang theory, private practice, grey's anatomy, the office - hopefully we can record two at once) oh i can't wait. also we are getting a few more channels, most of which i don't care about except for espn classics. because there is nothing i like more than watching a football game from three years ago when i already know who won. oh wait. i dont think there could be anything more boring. live football yes. old football games from last season or older...

which brings me to my next point. k-state is playing colorado on saturday and they are on espn 2 which we already get so we get to watch the game again. this has been a great season for us west coasters as far as being able to watch the game. :)

before the game we have a baby shower to go to. yay for kayla and ricky! hayley is only t-minus four weeks away and counting. hurrah!

and i have a hot date with baby ashley sometime this weekend!

can life get better?

!m!

You're Anne of Green Gables!

by L.M. Montgomery

Bright, chipper (chipper? i don't think i am chipper...), vivid, but with the emotional fortitude of cottage cheese, you make quite an impression on everyone you meet. You're impulsive, rash, honest, and probably don't have a great relationship with your parents (not true). People hurt your feelings constantly, but your brazen honesty doesn't exactly treat others with kid gloves (did i or did i not win most opinionated at senior prom? thank you very much). Ultimately, though, you win the hearts and minds of everyone that matters. You spell your name with an E (and an h and an extra a...) and you want everyone to know about it.

What book are you?

photo booth

ku is stupid. i had a dream friday night that jeremy and i tuned into to the k-state v ku game late and it was 55-0 k-state. obviously that wasnt the case in real life. which is sad.

dan has a program called photo booth on his computer. he set his video camera up last night and we played with it. here are some examples:

you can tell that lance, kris and i had a good time with it. everyone had a great time at dan and bridgets actually. we ate yummy chicken, green bean casserole, baked potatoes, etc. it was our pre-thanksgiving warm up. jerimiah and jennifer brought cheeeesecake. it was great.

we played taboo, which is always a blast. the only disappointing thing is that no one pretended like the buzzer was an electric razor and shaved their face. i could tell i wasnt playing with my family. :)

today jeremy and i hung out (after kris and i hit the gym! go us!) and went shopping. we met lottie over at the dronens so we could put food in the freezer. ashley was born today! yay! congratulations eric and christina! then.. westfield shopping center. while i mistakenly believed there was an h&m there (so sad that there wasnt) we got some good stuff regardless. yay for the mall! we are watching the rock of love reunion. i dont know why i cant stop watching this show. i apologize to everyone on behalf of myself because i think i am getting stupider. but i cant stop!

tomorrow we are starting the makers diet again... phase 1. when i go to the gastroenterologist in two weeks i want #1 good news about the biopsies he took during my last procedure and #2 to go off any medication. so start praying now!

!m!