Random Rainy Day Musings

It's Saturday morning and I'm stranded at Coffee Bean with a slow internet connection. Daryll left me here while he went into work to finish up with a coworker who quit yesterday. So now I'm stuck here and I can't watch my videos for my Photoshop class because each one takes 20 minutes to load. Boo to that! My Photoshop class ends this week, so I'm trying to suck all I can out of the videos that I haven't had a chance to watch yet (and there are a lot of them). I'm a sponge for Photoshop knowledge. I need to finish my final project before Wednesday (restoring an old photograph) and my scanner won't work with my new computer. Or Daryll's computer. But it did work with my old computer...you know, the one that was stolen. So a lot of good that does me today! But I think I just might have previously stored it on my external hard drive. But I can't check right now. Because I'm stranded at Coffee Bean!

I have a lot of things to look forward to this week:

-Game night tonight

-Church and potluck tomorrow

-Being busy at work

-Megan visiting for a few days next week!

-Going to the zoo

-Whale Watching

-My final sewing class/ dessert potluck

-Beach volleyball

-Constructing/painting our media center

-KA sign ups

Snowy Weekend Getaway

After the crazy events of Friday afternoon, it was nice to escape it all and head up to my Dad's cabin for a fun weekend getaway with Jeff & Lindsay and Greg & Jen. We had a nail-biting drive up the mountain (lots of fog), but finally made it just before it started snowing.

Saturday the boys headed out for some snowboarding fun and the girls stuck around the cabin to chat away the day. The puppies also got into the action sprinting around the snow covered ground. Such a fantastic weekend of fun, fellowship, snowboarding, games, hot chocolate, and plenty of snow!

Violated.

I really can't believe what happened earlier today. I'm sitting here feeling violated and saddened, yet grateful that it wasn't any worse.

When I came home around 1:30 this afternoon, I was a little surprised to see that the front door was unlocked and that the dogs were out of the kitchen. Hmmm, I though to myself, Daryll must have come home and left the dogs out and forgotten to lock the front door back up (all things which he has been known on occasion to do). I gave him a call to check, but he didn't answer so I flopped down on the couch with the puppies for a while. When Daryll called back half an hour or so later, I asked if he'd been home earlier. He said no. I said, are you sure? And he said yes, he hadn't been home. I said someone's been in our house. Heart dropping. I started looking around and noticed that the back slider door was opened up. Panic started setting in. I started scouring the downstairs and discovered that my old computer was missing. And my camera. My good camera. That I love. I couldn't believe it. I called Daryll back and told him to get home immediately. Then I went to talk to the neighbor's house to ask him if he'd seen anything suspicious. The police came and took a report and I don't expect that I'll get my things back. But I also know that we are incredibly lucky that only those 2 possessions were taken from us. The more I think about it, the more things I think that could have been way worse. It could have been my new computer. I could have procrastinated and not moved my pictures and everything else off of my computer and onto my hard drive last week. They could have taken a lot more things. I could have come home in the middle of the theft. The dogs could have escaped. Or, or, or... So yes, I am thankful. And I am also angry. I can't believe that somebody would have the audacity to break into my house and take my things. In broad daylight. And I'm sad. I miss my camera already.

New Years Goals Update

One and a half months through 2010 and I'm doing exceptionally well on making good on my new years resolutions. Here's a few brief updates for you:

Take a Photoshop Class:

This is the 3rd week of my photoshop class and I'm really enjoying it so far. I have learned a lot more than I expected already.

My assignment this week in my photoshop class was to create a digital collage. After much deliberation I decided to make our little family my theme. I am actually quite pleased with how it turned out.

Make New Friends in San Diego:

Well, this is quite a complicated matter. I wouldn't say that I've made any new life long friends yet, but I have created several situations for myself in order to create opportunities to make new acquaintances. My sewing class has been going great and inspired me to attend a sewing meet up a few weeks back. Overall, I'd say my sewing class is more conductive to friendship than the meet up was though. I also recently joined a book club with a bunch of friendly women in it. It's too early to determine if it's meant to be though.

In January Daryll and I started going to a new church, and this more than anything else has given us ample opportunities for new friendships. I'm excited to see how they blossom in the next few months.

Take a Picture Everyday:

Yep, it's a success! It just might be possible that I have taken more pictures so far this year than I took all 4 years of high school...

Wish me luck moving onward! How have you all been keeping on your resolutions?

Lots of Lovin' and a Little Carpentry

Valentine's weekend got off with a jump start on Friday. Since Daryll had Friday off and not Monday, I decided to take the day off too to spend with my loving hubs. We headed down to La Jolla Cove where I surprised Daryll with a Hickory Farms picnic lunch (his favorite!).

We spent a few hours down there enjoying the sun, seals, sea lions, and tide pools.Later that evening Daryll treated me to a dinner out at Hunter Steakhouse. We'd never been before, but I think it's safe to say it could have just become one of our favorites.

On Saturday we took care of some stuff around the house and ran some errands,

including picking up some wood for part 2 of our entertainment center.

That afternoon Jen came over for a snuggie-making party! We headed out t

o the fabric store and picked out 2 very cute designs. Once we got back to the house, we sewed up our snuggies and curled up for a good old fashioned chick flick (at which point the boys came over, I might like to mention...).

Sunday morning Daryll made me a ham and cheese omelette with hash browns for

breakfast before we headed off to church. (Don't I have just the most wonderful husband?) We spent the better part of the afternoon drilling and screwing the pieces of wood together to make our hutch. It's nearly completed, and not too shabby if I do say so myself! I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend Valentine's day than working on a big project with my incredible husband. I am truly a very lucky girl!

A Super Weekend

Another fabulous weekend down in the books for us. (Really, why must we work for 5 days a week and only have 2 days to rest, relax, and enjoy life. There is something sooo inherently wrong with this system... but that's another post altogether.) Friday Scotty came in to visit and brought with him yet another rainstorm (and today too! and I'm wearing flip flops!). We had a restful evening of In-N-Out, some tv, and cookies in preparation for the following 2 days festivities.


Saturday we rearranged the living room (which meant a lot of vacuuming, which you knooow I secretly love from a previous post) so that we'd be better able to accommodate the hordes of people we expected for the Superbowl party. In the afternoon I left for a sewing meetup and Daryll and Scott went downtown to the Yardhouse. I was able to nearly finish my pj pants for Thursday's class and also finish a tank top, which I wore that evening. Saturday night we headed up to Temecula to meet Crystal and Kira at Stampede. In college me and my roommates would make that trek more often than I care to admit to dance the night away. Although I think that things have changed around there recently (meaning that I can't predict down to the minute which song is coming up next), I still really enjoy myself when I have the chance to go up there! Not to mention that line dancing is just a really fantastic leg workout. ;-)

Sunday morning we woke up and ate Martino's cupcakes, which Crystal delightfully surprised me with the night before, and then headed out to church. After our spiritual nourishment we headed home to prepare for the Superbowl party! Crystal and Adam set up cornhole out front and I prepared some guacamole and heated up the chili.

The guests soon started pouring in, toting many a different kind of chili for our tasting pleasure. We had a packed house, but luckily plenty of bowls and spoons to go around and the tasters quickly got to work as the game kicked off. One thing became clear as we started tasting the many different variations of chili... people had definitely stepped up their game this year! The tasters clearly had a more difficult time choosing which chili should be named tastiest, most uniquely flavored, or spiciest. At halftime a bunch of people went outside to toss around the football and play cornhole, while others stayed inside to cast their ballot for the chili cookoff.

Although the majority of the crowd was cheering for the Colts, there were a few amongst us who were pulling for the Saints (including myself)! What a surprise it was when the Saints did an onside kick to start off the 2nd half! I've never seen such a thing myself and it immediately drew people back to the game.

Eventually the winners were announced:

Spiciest Chili- Crystal

Most Uniquely Flavored Chili- Frank and Kellie

Tastiest Chili- Michael Holl

Not to mention that the Saints were able to pull off the Superbowl victory, making at least a handful of our crowd exceptionally happy! Overall, I'd have to say that it was a very successful 2nd Annual Superbowl Chili Cook-off and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Life 101

There is nothing like wine tasting in Napa and an all day trip down the 101 to leave you feeling tired on a Monday. But believe me, it's a good tired. We had such a lovely weekend visiting with Daryll's parents. I must admit that I've been thinking all day about getting home and editing the pictures from Napa to post on the blog and elsewhere. (Even though my time is at a premium this week!) We visited three wineries on Saturday: Beringer, Mumm, and Arcada. We chatted with each other, walked the grounds, and had sufficient time to take in the beautiful green rolling hills that are patiently awaiting next season's bounty.


Saturday night Daryll's parents treated us to a delicious teppanyaki style dinner before we capped off the evening with a toast of sparkling wine.

Sunday we left Fremont around 9am for the long journey ahead of us. We decided to take the scenic 101 route instead of the efficient 5 and were rewarded with a more delightful and stress-free journey. We stopped for a bbq sandwich lunch in San Luis Obispo before continuing to Thousand Oaks, where we briefly visited with my Dad. Our final stop before home was in Burbank for a quick and tasty dinner with Amy and Conor. We reached home just before 9:30pm, much to the delight of 2 excited little pugs!