Happy Weekend!

Hope you have some fun things planned this weekend! We have dinner plans with our good friends, the Spencers. We are going to Jake's in Del Mar to soak up the view of the ocean and have a nice meal out. We're helping the Spencers escape for a couple of hours from their twin one-year olds, Jon and Will. The boys are so adorable, but they are a handful for mom and dad! I am sure we will all enjoy the evening. Talk to you next week! :)

More adventures

The other side of Torrey Pines State Reserve, the Torrey Pines State Beach side. Breathtaking, and gorgeous 70 degrees temperatures yesterday (and today as forecasted). I went for a walk after work and shot some beautiful pictures. Love taking the time to get better acquainted to my favorite city. Hope this sends some sunshine your way today!

Happy Happy

My yoga teacher on Saturday opened our class with a focal theme- what makes you happy? Not just giddy, giggly, on the edge of your seat happy, but contented, reflective, peaceful happy too. How many levels of variation are there between the two extremes and how do you determine the difference between them? I would love for you to comment back and share your thoughts, but in true blog fashion- I will share mine first!

1. Little things- Totally number one for me. Right before our wedding, Chris took our rings to the jewelry store to get them cleaned. He left mine for me on the nightstand with a post-it note that said "Will you marry me?" I got it right before I left for our rehearsal dinner. That note was so special to me amidst all the crazy extravagant wedding stuff. I have kept it to this day...

But also, little things like the fact that this morning I am having tea in a beautiful mug that I totally love. It makes my morning a little more special.

2. Accomplishments- Big and small. Sometimes it's just getting an area of the house clean, and even though it's fleeting, for a while I just revel in it. The big things are important too- meeting a deadline at work, finishing a big project, getting done is good, but that feeling as you are making progress is really great too. Keeps ya going.

3. Friends and family- (awww) There is nothing like spending time with the people that you love and that love you right back. Even getting phone calls, emails, etc. from these people just make my day.

Please, if you have a moment, share a little or big something that is making you happy today!

Monday Monday

Torrey Pines state reserve on Saturday evening- first picture was taken by Ryan Whitlatch, second one is mine. It was really pretty kind of overcast day with a little wind at the top of the hill, but it got nicer as we walked down a little bit. We could hear the waves crashing while we were on the trail. Chris is anxious to go back with our running shoes on- I was wearing sandals, so we didn't get too adventurous. We were just getting ready to take a picture of Crystal and me, and my media card read full! Arg. Next time...

We also had a great night with the Whitlatches watching the U of A game- and the guys pulled off a victory against the ranked Washington State Cougars. It was nice to see the team come together for a "W". The LA schools are up this week in Tucson, let's hope for some continued good results! It's a tough go for the rest of the season.

Ryan and Chris also moved furniture this weekend and we finally got our old behemoth tv out of the bedroom and our sleek new LCD in it's place. Hooray!! Thanks again to Ryan for his help- we got it all set up later this weekend and is already looking great.

All in all, a quick, relaxing and fun weekend with friends. We wish you could have been here too!

Hope you are all off to a great start on Monday and I hope to talk to you soon!

Oscar buzz

It's that time of year! Chris sent me this interesting link about the ballotting process and PwC's Involvement over the last 74 years of the Oscars. Click here to see it for yourself. Also, here is a link to the nominees. Don't forget to print your list to have with you while watching on Sunday! Good luck to Juno!

Rainy Friday

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you are having a good morning and are looking forward to the weekend! I know that I am. It's raining here in what is normally Sunny San Diego. Makes you want to go home and curl up on the couch with a good book and something baking in the oven. Found these cool things online yesterday and am trying to decide if they would work anywhere in my house. I like the flock, iron vines, baby, and classic. I also like the Ilan Dei designs, would love to do the flowers in my pink extra bedroom. Thinking about that.

I am really struggling with a paint color for our bedroom. I keep thinking I have decided and I am going back and forth. Know that it isn't a life threatening issue, but still, just want to be decided. I was so sure of the previous colors, this one is proving harder. If you have a minute and don't mind checking out the Behr site, let me know if you prefer the carriage door or the sandwashed driftwood. Hopefully I will be able to finally make a decision here!

In other news, a disappointing loss last night for the wildcats. Looks like the tourney hopes are going to be difficult this year, especially if Nic Wise doesn't get better soon. We are just not deep enough, and despite the great players that Budinger and Bayless are, they can't do it on their own. Saw a lot of frustration in those guys last night, hope that they will be back for one more season with Coach Olson next year. Tomorrow night we play WSU- should be a tough game as the Cougs are still nationally ranked. Anything can happen, but hope not to be swept by the Washington schools. We'll be tuning in as always.

Hope you have a great Friday!!

Love this man

9 years as of yesterday... Can't believe it and don't know where the time has gone. Miss those long lazy days at U of A where we met, but love our busy life here in San Diego also. Thanks honey for always being my biggest fan, best listener, most supportive and loving friend and husband. I can't believe how lucky I am to have you in my life. Here's to another 9 years and many more to go. I love you!

Reading...

The Other Boeyln Girl by Phillipa Gregory. Bought this on a whim from Costco on Saturday night. I had seen the trailer and thought it looked interesting. I can't resist period drama. Something about those dresses.... I would gladly trade my wardrobe for Kirsten Dunst's in Marie Antionette. I know that they would be super uncomfortable, but it would be so much fun!! The movie looks interesting enough, but honestly, the book sucks you in. I started reading it just to get a feel for what it would be like- I had planned to not start it until after I see the movie because I didn't want to have to wait to see the movie, and I don't want to miss it on the big screen. But now I can't put it down. So, if you are looking for something fun to read and don't mind spending the $10 at costco, check it out. So far, 100 pages in, so good!

La Jolla Monday

Low tide. Really low tide. We walked down to the tide pools and couldn't believe how much was exposed. We weren't really planning on doing a lot of exploring, so we didn't venture out too far, but we got to see some beautiful waves and take in the overcast gloominess of a February afternoon. The water was aquamarine- I wish that I had a telephoto zoom so you could really see it... I haven't ever seen it that color.

We had a day off of work, so once we got back home we just hung around and relaxed. There are some cool flickr groups where people are taking a daily photo of themseleves and watching a transformation over the year... I don't think I am up to that challenge, but I took one in a mirror playing with my manual camera settings which didn't turn out half bad.... so I posted it above. I always feel a little victory when I take a picture on manual and it looks good. :) I feel like it's such a gamble so I always try to take the same thing in auto just in case I missed something good- but lately I am getting better. Yay! Plus trying to finish out my flash card- only have 5 more pictures to go... Can you believe I have 500 photos on that first card?! Incredible. (Not shooting in RAW, obviously.)

Back to work today and loving that it is already Tuesday- hooray! Looking forward to some AZ

folks coming to visit this weekend. Crystal and Ryan Whitlatch are heading out for hear break before her final quarter of ASU MBA. (Probably the only time that ASU will be mentioned favorably in this blog...) But they are lucky to have Crystal and she's almost done! Woo hoo! Congrats girl- you're amazing.

Welcome weekend.

The sun setting over the pacific ocean... what says relax and weekend more than that? I can't believe how beautiful it is out there. I got some fun shots, but I always tend to like the random ones the best. This one of footprints above is just really interesting to me. This area is right where the water from the San Diego area where we live empties into the ocean. It's hard to know where the freshwater ends and the saltwater begins.

Friday!

It's Friday! Hooray. Somehow we both turned off our alarms this morning and apparently were trying to pretend it was the weekend already! Luckily we woke up in time to not be too late.

Congrats to the U of A Wildcats who pulled off a victory against the Cal Golden Bears last night. {Insert sigh of relief here...} Phew. It was a little scary over the last week after losses to both UCLA (not surprising) and ASU (surprising, and very frustrating!) All is right in the world again, but we'll hope they can do it again this weekend against Stanford.

It's sunny and bright here this morning in San Diego, so I am going to try to get some pictures of the ocean on my way home, and maybe even some sunset action. Hopefully it will stay clear between now and then. I will post them as soon as I have them uploaded.

I am so anxious for all the awesome things people are posting about to show up in the scrapbook stores soon. Looks like CHA had a lot of great new things for scrapbooking! My plan tonight is to work on my everyday something album. I am in love with the D. Reeves albums, if you haven't used them yet, you are missing out. They make layouts look great, and they are so versitile. Also, Basic Grey has 4 new lines out- check out Sultry, my favorite so far. I also want to try their cool new rub on tool, the one with the roller. Has anyone tried it yet and do you like it? Looks like it would work well. Hope you are planning on enjoying a great long weekend ahead!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day!! It's always a good morning when it's started off with a great big latte. We went out to dinner last night to avoid the crowds tonight, and I went shopping at my favorite market for some yummy fare for the evening. We'll be having real russet [organic] mashed potatoes, which we have avoided for a while due to their carb content! We're looking forward to it. : )

It's a little rainy today and cold out, which makes everyone in their pink and red just look so cozy. Hope you have something special planned with your loved ones!

Balboa Park Love

We made it over to Balboa park over the weekend... cherry blossoms everywhere. Gorgeous white little flowers everywhere. I thought I liked them best with the sunlight on them until I got underneath and saw them with the sunlight coming through them. The pictures don't completely capture it, but you sort of get the idea...

Color

It's official, I am obsessed with color. After painting my family room a bright orange, I have been bitten by the painting bug. I have been eyeing a smooth grey for my bedroom and a spunky red for the U of A room/workout room. The color names even get me- the red is called 'California Poppy' - how coud you not like that?! I even considered a dark brown called 'Chocolate Cupcake' - simply because I also love chocolate cupcakes! I think it''s the instant gratification you get by making a drastic change to a room you had gotten used to one way. I don't go overboard, I like to keep a lot of the color neutral, but I love a bright pop of something different. We'll see if I give in to the new colors above... but for now, here is a photo of our family room with the orange. So fun!

power of writing

Why is it that the written word is so powerful? Can you count how many times you have been brought to tears in reading a novel- and somewhat more so than movies or television. Not that those formats aren’t also moving, and it is amazing to see someone portraying emotion. But simple words on a page, no pictures, no visual cues aside from your own memories or imagination of the thing being described is amazing. That we can reach out and touch one another through the page. I was reading a novel about someone who was traveling after a divorce and a failed love affair. She finally admits to herself that the love affair will never work, so she breaks it off with the individual over email. She describes her heartache and her sobbing as well as the reaction she received from her new acquaintances abroad. It was so moving, and there is nothing to it but words on a page. Powerful.