oh no!

i think i might cry! say it ain't so!!!!

ides of january

january is half over but i keep thinking it is still october or something. although i haven't written 2007 instead of 2008 yet. so i guess i am living in the future... october 2008 here i come!

sunday we played with the three and four year olds at church. we had a good time as always but i still prefer the babies... :D after lunch and cleaning out the car (during which jeremy somehow broke the vacuum cleaner... so our house is really dirty right now... hopefully we get a new one soon!!!) jeremy went to the mayan for church and to hang out with zac. he saw nate torrence there, from our dearly departed studio 60. this week at work we have both been really busy which is unusual. we are looking forward to the long weekend so we can go camping! yay! i made sure that jeremy reserved a campsite by flush toilets and running water this time... :) this past weekend we almost turnedon te air con - it was hot. this upcoming weekend it is going to be cold. prolly because of el nino. which is spanish for the nino.

im very happy that american idol is back on. jeremy watched part of it with me last night. so far (i know it has only been one day) there have been no stand outs to me good or bad. we will see what tonight brings!

!m!

merry christmas to me!

i would like to take this opportunity to thank our corporate sponsors who made this possible: grandma and grandpa koci, grandma pat and grandpa phil, dad, mommy and daddy, grandpa bussey and barbara, and last but not least, jeremy. and west elm for delivering on a saturday so that we could be home to receive it. isnt our new headboard beautiful??? and our bed is actually made for once... not for long because today is laundry day and i am washing the sheets but i couldn't wait to post the picture. tonight will be my first night in a long time where my pillows dont get stuck between the mattress and the wall! yay!

i got home from the advanced laser center this morning (i love kris!) and found it almost put together. (it is shake and bake and) i helped! i had to hold the little thingies on the front while jeremy tightened the screws on the back. and then i lift the bed with only my pinkies and moved it back against the wall... ok jeremy helped some with that part... then he left me to go to the sporting goods store (i told him to bring me back anything for camping that is pink) to get his fishing license renewed so when we go camping in a couple weeks (or maybe next weekend... hmmm... whenever martin luther king junior day is) he can fish for sharks in the surf. which i will not eat because they don't have scales and fins. he will prolly throw back whatever he cathches anyways. we still have fish in the freezer from san diego.

!m!

fogo de chao churrascaria

last night we went with lance and kris and ryan and kim to the most amazing brazilian steakhouse called fogo de chao. we all pulled up in style in the escalade and headed in for our tutorial. everyone receives disks - green means bring more meat and red means no more for now. there was an amazing gormet salad bar and twelve different kinds of meat coming around: lamb chops, filet mignon, etc etc. plus did i mention the bread with cheese baked inside? man those brazilians know their business when it comes to food! too good for words. we ate until we couldn't eat any more and then we had dessert. apparently papaya aids in digestion so jeremy and i shared the papaya cream with blackberry liquer. wow! we took the time to take a few group pictures - lance was celebrating his 25th birthday (or something like that...). if ever you make it to los angeles... this place is a must stop for an amazing dinner and eating experience.

!m!

963Coffee

jeremy and i signed up to get a monthly delivery of fair trade, shade grown organic coffee from 963coffee. we chose the african morning blend and it came a couple of days ago. this morning we brewed our first pot. yum! i cannot normally taste the difference in coffees but this stuff puts starbucks to shame. wow. basically buying our coffee online through this company helps support economic growth in whichever country the coffee comes from (in our case africa) instead of in howard schultz's pockets.

mosaic screened the movie black gold a while back, which talks about the issues of fair trade coffee vs. not etc. we missed the movie, but the website also directs visitors to the black gold website as a way to promote awareness of these important issues. i am not trying to convince anyone of anything except this: this is the best coffee i hav ever had, and i feel especially warm and fuzzy drinking it knowing that i am helping people across the world.

check it out - you will be glad you did!

!m!

getty, h&h, the grove, santa monica

we were all over los angeles on saturday and sunday. saturday morning i got up early and went to the gym (i actually got up too early and the gym wasnt even open yet - i was not a happy camper let me tell you) then came home and we all got ready and headed to the getty center. we spent some time exploring the upper floors with all the paintings, then headed to the downstairs sections: household art (like decorations and bowls and furniture), the traveling medieval treasures exhibit (featuring a reliquary of a golden arm containing the arm bone of a saint that priests would use to bless people), the gardens (spectacular view of downtown los angeles), and a cool video installation called "please be seated." it featured copies of chairs in the decorations part with webcams aimed at them and one would sit in the chairs and be transported into a scene from the past (or future).

we headed to hollywood and highland for lunch and spent the afternoon walking up and down hollywood blvd looking at the stars, the chinese theater, the hollywood history museum, and the hollywood sign, etc. etc. etc. the best apart was eating shabu shabu at koji's. soooo good. they bring very thinly sliced pieces of meat and pieces of veggies and each person has a hot pot that is seasoned according to taste. one cooks one's own food and dips in the sauces. too good for words. lottie introduced me and i love it! shabu shabu means swish swish in japanese and is named for the sound made when one moves the food around in the water with chopsticks. (or a fork if you aren't proficient enough with the sticks) after dinner we headed home for an early night because we had to be up early for church.

jeremy and i stage managed so missy and audrey took the car and drove around beverly hills while we got things in order at church. they came back for the service and then we headed to the grove, more specifically the farmers market, for lunch. i love the french crepe place they have there!! we shopped around a little bit then drove to the promenade in santa monica. we shopped in the rain then trudged out onto the beach in the rain, then walked on the dock in the rain, then ate dinner at the end of the dock looking out at the ocean in the rain. it was wet and cold but beautiful! we headed home for some settlers of catan (wouldnt be an out of town visit without it!). jeremy and i headed to bed early because we had to be at work on monday.

monday the girls dropped us off at work and went to warner brothers studio for a tour and then out to zuma and point dume for some beach time in the sun (at least not in the rain). monday night we went to vallarta and got carne asada and ate dinner, watched football, and played settlers. early to bed early to rise because they had to be at lax before work...

we packed a whole heck of a lot into a few short days. we had fun and i think they did too...

!m!

missy and audrey!!!

last thursday afternoon, i left work early. missy (one of my oldest friends - we used to get babysat together) and her sorority sister audrey, who i had never met, arrived around 4 from kansas. they came for a long weekend and we had SO much fun! thursday night, lots of our friends came over for a small dinner party - the slovaceks, stellers, stiles, kris, and sarah. i made cuban chicken and black beans and yellow rice. it was, as always, delicious. i dont really feel like i am bragging because it is mostly out of my control how good it is (the mojo criollo pretty much takes care of that).

friday i <> called in sick to work and we girls dropped jeremy off at work and drove out to pasadena. we went to the rose bowl and shopped at xi. after lunch at in-n-out jeremy dropped us off at nbc studios and we saw a taping of jay leno. i asked for the tickets months ago before the writers' strike and was very happy that jay decided to go back on the air and write his own stuff so that missy and audrey could have the experience. audrey was taking pictures in the lobby where they graciously allowed us to wait (since it was raining) against the rules and almost had her camera confiscated - bad girl!he had an animal guy and a comedienne guy and an idol guy as the guests. my favorite part was blake lewis as the musical guest. he was runner up on american idol last season and his new band is pretty good. jay was funny, the studio was cold, and we were finished in an hour. all the things one would expect. we ate dinner at the italian place muceli's or something. it was delish! after dinner we came home and changed clothes then headed to universal citywalk to howl at the moon (a dueling piano bar). it was SO much fun! everyone who had a birthdya had to go on stage and they would make up a song about the birthday (usually) girl, rhyming their name in the song. often risque, but very funny. they did a medley of fight songs, starting with lsu and changing to whichever school put money in the tip jar. we didnt waste our money to hear the k-state fight song although we (we meaning the three girls, not so much jeremy) did sing it over the ucla song. it was raining when we left (actually it was raining when we got there too) and we tromped through puddles to take the requisite pictures in front of the globe. back at the car, we wrung out our jackets etc and headed home.

my shoulder was even wet through my jacket!!! arent we cute when we are bedraggled?

san diego: coronado and exit

this post is really out of order as it should fall on the 26th of december etc. but i have no idea how to reorder my posts and i forgot to post these pictures when i was writing about our trip...)

the last day of our trip to san diego we woke up late. it was great. we had no plans to be anywhere at all. after we checked out of our hotel, we headed to coronado island (not to be confused with catalina island which i keep calling it in my head) via a loong loong bridge. when we got to the island, we drove down the main strip and... that was it. i was rather disappointed to be honest. i was expecting something like key west or another resort/island town with cute boutiques and cafes etc. we ate a really disappointing lunch at this sandwich shop (our other choice was panera, which i love, but we try to eat at places we dont have in la while on vacation, but we both wished we had chosen panera) where the service was slow, the food was mediocre, and the people weren't very friendly, and then drove back through san diego up the 5 and home again home again lickety split. i took a couple pictures of the industrial docks and part of the bridge we drove over. we got back to la around 3 - plenty of time for grocery shopping and going to the gym. yay.

new year's resolutions

i don't usually make resolutions, but this year i am going to. on the radio this morning they said that only 12% of people who make new year's resolutions keep them. this year i am counting myself in that 12%. i think part of the reason i am going to keep them is that i am making achievable goals that i actually want to accomplish (not those vague lofty things like lose ten pounds or keep a cleaner house etc)



1. run a 5k. and by run i mean actually run (or at least jog... but not walk). i signed up for one in conjunction with the la marathon on march 2. so yesterday i started my training.



2. only use reusable bags at the grocery store (or reuse the ones they give me). no more bringing home a bunch of bags and throwing them away.



3. keep eating healthy. by january 30 i will have had no soda or super crappy junk food (good bye cheetos) for an entire year. jeremy was shocked when i said i will prolly never drink soda again. although sometimes a coke still sounds pretty freaking good. by the end of the year i hope to be completely medicine free. last year (2007) i cut down by half so i think 2008 is my year!



i feel like i am leaving one out... anyways, did anyone else make resolutions? i asked jeremy if he was making any... "why? do you think i need to??" and since he is pretty much perfect (ha ha) i said i guess not.



today i am cleaning out my email inboxes and starting over. also tomorrow i am cleaning off my desk at work. tonight is set aside for the cleaning of our house because missy will be here tomorrow!!!! yay! we took down all of our christmas stuff yesterday and i cleaned out my closet on sunday.



new year, new beginnings.



!m!

new year's eve

for new years eve, we headed out to al and lotties. they always throw a great party. lottie's friend michelle was there, arianna, the dronens, the ochsners and us. we started the night with appetizers - quiche and bruschetta, then moved right along to a baked potato bar (yum!). we watched some of the nye coverage on tv, listened to lottie's new cds, and just hung out. it got to be midnight really quickly so we headed into the tv room, got our champagne, and toasted the new year. we took some pictures, hung out for a while, and then headed home around one. a pretty chill evening all in all, but a very nice time. we missed you all! it is funny how we just stand around talking... run into another room... blow noisemakers and kiss everyone... go back in the other room and stand around talking. the actual countdown doesnt seem to be a featured portion of the evening like it was when i was in grade school. a couple years ago we even missed midnight and had to celebrate the next time zone year change. hmmm... maybe because now i can stay up until midnight whenever i want to (not that i ever actually do that) and back then it was like one night only. anyone else feel the same way?

something is fishy here...

jeremy and i cooked the first meal from the fish we caught in san diego. after he cut the heads and tails off of them (EW!) we stuffed them in foil with veggies and lotsa butter. yum! it was actually really good... fishier than the tilapia i am used to eating (learning to like fish has been a slow process for me). some of the fish we brought back were filleted (just like one would find at the grocery store - that is how i prefer all meat to be brought to me... i always tell jeremy if he is hunting something i will cook it as long as it looks like it came from the store when he brings it to me) but the ones we cooked were just gutted. so after we cooked them jeremy had to peel the scales off.

i am just thankful all the things we caught had scales and fins so i could eat them!

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.