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!

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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!

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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.

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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!