Party of one

It's New Year's Eve and I am having a party of one. I've got my glass of wine, a fridge full of food and a tv ready to go to watch the ball drop in all four time zones. Hopefully E will get off work early so that we can have our new year's kiss!
I am not sweatin my party of one because I think new years is over rated and tomorrow we are hosting a brunch/open house. Taking a cue from Linds and a dear friend from Chicago, I decided that we should start our own tradition of new year's day fun here in the bay. We have no idea if our neighbors or friends will show up but at least we can try. I am making a spinach and cheese strata, breakfast pizza, bagels with cream cheese and lox. Plenty of mimosas and bloody mary's for everyone or just me! :)
I loved Platinum Rose's blog entry and how she recapped this past year so I think I will do the same. I am such a coppy cat these days and I love it!!! :)

2007, a year of change....

E and I started this year in Orange County. At an April wedding in the bay, I started to feel like I could live in the bay area. The reason why we didn't move here originally is because I wasn't ready to leave my friends and family and immediately live where his friends and family are. The next month, May, while visiting his mom, we had a coming out conversation--meaning we both came out and admitted we weren't happy in the OC. Two days later I came to Eli and told him I was ready to move up there.

In Febuary, Eli embarked on the pathway to his dream of becoming a pilot. He started flight school at ATP in Riverside and Long Beach, CA. It took a lot of hours and his time away from me. Seeing him come home from flying and the big smile on his face had made the sacrafice so worth it. I also got to take a flight with him to Catalina Island.. He finished his training in November and is now on his way to becoming a commercial pilot.

In March, I started this blog as we were all jumping ship from the nest. Do you all remember the nest?? I have met so many wonderful friends and I really believe you ladies got me through my lonley times in SoCal and still get me through on a day to day basis. If it wasn't for this blog, I would have never met in person Jenny or Rusti or reconnected with Tracey, a friend of mine from Chicago, who has the cutest child ever! Nor would have "virtually" met anyone one of you. I am very, very fortunate!

My baby brother got married in July. While I had issues with his soon to be wife. From this post after the wedding I truly have come to love her like my own sister. She is wonderful for my brother. When my grandfather past away, we had a total bonding moment in the limo. I literally cried in her arms as we left the grave side. I am helping her with her job change in Seattle. I know this is the start of many wonderful memories with us as SIL's as well as the four of us.

In August I received an offer letter to join an awesome company here in the bay. I am so lucky to be apart of this great company. I am constantly challenged recruiting for a skill set that is always changing. I truly feel apart of a great team and know the contributions that I have made thus far have not gone unnoticed. I am excited to see what 08 brings.

August 14th we made the move to the bay area. We also moved in with my MIL and lived with her for 12 weeks! I am so appreciative of this woman and how she opened up her home for us. While I had issues with her ability to cook chicken, I love her to death. She is the coolest MIL ever. I also was given the opportunity to take a month off and go see my family back in the midwest. I was able to spend time in Des Moines. I saw my grandfather. This will always be a special memory to me. He still knew who I was and I was able to get past my own sad emotions about how much Alzheimers had taken him away to really get some quality time with him. I believe this is why I was able to get through his passing with such peace. I thank my husband so much for giving me this opportunity.

In September I turned 32. Now I know this isn't a big deal but in my world birthdays are big. I look at the year before and figure out how I have grown. I love being in my thirties and I can see how much I have changed for the better since my teens and my twenties. I am ready to take every year with grace and determination to be better then I was the year before.

In October we celebrated our year anniversary and buying our first home.. I love it! I am so happy we are here and we had the guts to do this. Being a homeowner is my biggest accomplishment. I know without my husband I will would have never been able to do this. Our year anniversary was perfect. With all the change that took place, I am so happy we were able to stay on the same page. As year 2 moves I think our biggest challenge is to keep up the communication as our lives start to settle down and Eli begins his new career as a commerical pilot.

December was a bittersweet month. My best friend got married and my grandfather passed away. Both happend with in a few days of each other. It was amazing to go and celebrate a couple pledging their life together and then go be with my grandmother as she said goodbye to her life partner. They were married at 16, he was 78 when he passed. Both experiences taught me stop sweating the small stuff. Though my recent post still shows i am still sweatin it, I am trying each day to let the unimportant things roll off. I hope 2008 will give me the ability to grow in that pledge.

I also want to thank everyone for their advice on my desire to embark on the dream to become a career coach and starting a blog as a begining to that pathway. I have taken Mrs M's suggestion and started brainstorming on various topics..now all I have to do is start writing, well, actually start having the confidence to write. I am hoping to start doing so in 2008.

Cheers to a great New Year to each of you and I can't wait to see what 08 has in store for all of us!!!

Here are pictures from my front porch of the sunset for this new year's eve.

note to self--don't take things personally

Throughout the day today I've been rehashing a conversation that took place last night. I can't help but feel extremely pissed off, annoyed and personally attacked by this individual. I recognized that this person was giving my husband "pilot career advice" and validating some of the thoughts Eli has about certain airlines or a pilot path he should or should not take. However,when you tell the wife that it sucks that she is in a good job or not mobile..meaning able to pick up and move for her husband's job as a pilot, you piss the living hell out of her and she is not going to be nice in future conversations you have with her for the rest of the evening.
Let's go back in time....
Eli and I head over to a family friend's home for a great Christmas dinner. Upon arriving, Eli meets a friend who is a pilot for a commercial airline. These two immediately start talking for a very long time. I am chatting up everyone else, catching up with my MIL, etc. Next thing I know, we are in a conversation of why we decided to buy instead of rent, questions on whether or not I am mobile or if my job allows me to be mobile and then I hear that I suck because my job is good and that Eli can't move around for his pilot training and that he should be sleeping on couches etc. When this comes out, I become extremely defensive and say that I have been there done that--paid my dues for my job and that we are lucky that I have a decent paying job so that Eli can pursue his dream. I understand what it takes for him to get to where he needs to be--being away ALOT of the time. I get that, I am not happy about it, but I get that. Eli comes in on my behalf and explains to this guy how supportive I am, etc. Finally this guy gets it and is all about how great I am. Sweet.
I know Eli knows that I am fully on board with his dream and I am beginning to understand that being married to a pilot is not going to be easy. Right now we are getting by on my salary which is great but I know how much he hates that I am pulling the weight around here. I think what pissed me off about this guy is how one sided he was. I know you don't know what you don't know and it is very obvious that he has no idea what being married means or even how your choices in life affect others. I guess it just made me so mad that here I am giving up things--willingly so that my husband can have the career of his dreams--so don't tell me that I suck. Because honestly I don't.
I don't know if this guy meant it or not or that it was the wine talking but he seriously made me upset. This of course lead to me being very sarcastic--I daresay bitchy towards him at dinner. Eli then got pissed at me for being a bitch--ummm didn't this guy tell me that I suck????!!!!

note to self--get over it and don't take things personally because it is not worth the extra energy it takes to get upset over it.

If I build it, would you come?

Some of you know, I am a recruiter. I have been in the recruiting industry for about 9 years now. I was an in-house recruiter for two years, then went to work for a recruitment adveritsing agency in account management for three and now for the last four years, a 3rd party recruiter.

My dream is to become a life/career coach. I've been putting this dream on the back burner for awhile and now I am wondering if I should start taking steps to get closer to that dream. I just got off the phone with my sister in law (brother's wife) in counseling her on resume writing, interview techniques and advice on working with a 3rd party recruiter. As I got off the phone, I started thinking about my personal blog and whether or not I should start a recruiting advice corner blog. I know I am not the first of its kind out there so it begs the question should I even start one. If I did, I would need to make it relevent or maybe even nichy so it stands out.
So, dear internet, what topics as it relates to job hunting, interviewing, resume writing, career change, getting back into the work force would be of interest to you? What burning questions are out there that you would be dying to ask a recruiter.

Let's ponder this, shall we?

happier me...

Today was such a pisser of a day that by the time the day was over I was feeling kind of lousy.To help ease the pain, my sweet co-worker offered me a ride to the BART station on her way to the gym. This saved me a good 15 minute walk down hill in my 3 inch heels--god love her and she decided that the nights she is working out after work she would give me a ride to the station after work. Um, can I say I LOVE YOU!!!
I had a bit of a walk to the station which gave me some time to look around and see a new part of San Francisco. It also gave me time to reflect on my day and to try not be so upset about everything. As I took the escalator down into the station, there was a guy asking everyone if they had an extra "bart" card. Of course everyone ignored him. Usually I am one to by-pass people asking for money or a transfer card because after living in a city environment for the last 10 years you become jaded. Today though was different. I had a extra bart card in my purse and for selfish reasons-- really to make myself feel better I knew I had to give this guy my extra bart card. Walking past the guy, I stepped aside and fished around in my purse for the card. Finally I found it and I checked the amount left on it...$7.64--perfect! I walked up behind him and tapped his shoulder and without saying a word I gave it to him. He looked at me and said thank you and we walked toward the entry, he then looked down at the amount on the card--smiled and said now he could go the north pole and back. That my friends made me laugh out loud as I took the escaltor down to meet my train. I have no idea where this guy needed to go as he didn't follow me down the escalator, however I know in my heart that card would absolutely get him there and possibly back to the embarcadero bart station, if need be.
When I got home, I was able to end my day on a good note by talking to my dear friend Lindsay--who really has me convinced that I should name my first born after her but only if she moves here :). Seriously though this girl is my chicken soup for my soul and she is hilarous! You should check out her blog--"get your eat on". The link is located on my side bar. I also have to give a shout out to her dear friend, Cat, down in atlanta--rumor has it she has stopped by here and I hope next time she does, she will say hello!!!

okay...seriously???

http://omg.yahoo.com/jamie-lynn-spears-says-shes-pregnant/news/4928

pass me a tissue please...

It finally caught up to me...a stupid head cold. I have been dodging this thing for some time now and it finally knock me down. All weekend I was out for the count. Which sucked because it was a beautiful weekend and now it is cold, dreary and rainy :( blah!

folks, keep your fingers crossed that we finally sell this damn jeep and go back to 2 car family like normal people.

Here are a couple of pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

One of me and my niece Raelyn


And Eli, me and Raelyn ( I think we look very nice with 3)

Thank you

I would like to thank everyone for their sweet,sweet thoughts and prayers. Eli and I did make it home to Iowa as well as my brother before my granddad passed. If you have ever witnessed someone pass then you know it is the most amazing thing to ever witness. I don't normally do recaps but I do need to put my thoughts down on what this past week was like....

Eli and I decided that we would take the red eye Monday night and arrive into Des Moines at 8am. My brother had already booked a flight from Seattle into Des Moines and he was set to arrive by 9am. My dad picks me and E up and takes us straight to the health center where my granddad was living. We arrive and my grandmother, i call her mommal (cross between mom and grandma) was there as was my mom, my uncle mike and pastor Millens. My granddad was in a deep state of sleep--he was doped up on morphine to help with the pain. I went over to him and put my hand on his and kissed his forehead. He twitched a little but I am not sure if it was his reaction to me or the morphine. I proceeded to talk to him in hopes he could hear my voice and told him to hang on just a bit longer for Bryan to get there. His breathes were getting longer a part so we knew it was only a matter of time.

Bryan arrived at 930am. We gave him some private time with granddad and then by 945am we were surrounding his bed holding hands. The Pastor said a prayer for my granddad to go on home and that we were ready for him to go. We all said the Lord's prayer together. I think this is the first time in my life I felt proud that I knew the Lord's Prayer--which is something that I learned from my granddad and mommal. As his breathes were getting longer, the tears were falling, I cried out, I love you Granddad as we all thought this was it...what felt like an eternity of no breathing, he came back with a heavy and deep breathe--this put everyone into a fit of laughter amongst the tears.It was tension breaker. However,after that last deep breathe, it was over. 10am on 12/4 my beloved granddad went home to his maker. This was exactly a week before his 79th birthday.

I left the room shortley there after and took a walk with my husband. I felt complete peace. It was the strangest feeling. Tuesday night, the family gathered at my mommal's. We had an abundance of food--special thanks to my uncle's friends who certainly made sure the grandkids were well fed. The grandkids pick out pictures for the slideshow and the adults tended to the funeral planning. It was so great to look at all these pictures of my granddad--even though I had seen so many of them before. This time around I could actually see my granddad's spirit in these pictures. Jump to Thursday and that is when the sadness started to creep in.

Thursday night was the visitation. Des Moines got hit with a bad snow storm. Despite the snow storm we had an estimated 140 people come to the visitation. It was wonderful to see so many people who came out to pay their respects and share wonderful, heart warming stories about my granddad. I always knew this man was special but hearing these stories really reinforced it. Friday was the funeral. My mommal decided to do an untraditional funeral service. The service was truly a celebration of my granddad's life. My dad did the eulogy. Eli and Bryan did a reading. We had someone playing the alto sax in a jazzy version of amazing grace. I want to find this version and add it my mp3 player. It brought tears to my eyes when I heard this. During the recessional, the family walked out to the song "When the saints go marching in" This song conjuers up a warm memory of my granddad banging on the piano playing this song and singing his heart out.

We went to the cemetery and had a quick grave side service. My granddad was in the military so we had a military person playing taps on the bugle. Oh wow is that the saddest thing I have ever heard. Once the graveside service was completed, I walked past the casket, I put my hand on it and whispered "I love you". Ever since yesterday I have had an empty feeling in my heart. This new feeling of a hole that now resides in my heart. I asked Eli about this and if he experienced the same thing last year when his grandpa died. He said yes, he felt the same way. Over time the feeling will subside but you will never be able replace that hole in your heart for that person.

I am so thankful I made it there on Tuesday. I can't believe I have been gone for a week and missed a whole week of work but after what I experienced with my family. I don't even care that I will most likely have to have last week go unpaid.


FRANCIS W. (JIM) MORRIS

Urbandale

Jim Morris, 78, formerly from West Des Moines died peacefully, surrounded by family, Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at the Deerfield Life Care Retirement Community on Hickman Road in Urbandale, Iowa.

Jim was born December 11, 1928 in McWhorter, West Virginia. On June 27, 1946 he was united in marriage to Phyllis Badgett of Fairmont, West Virginia.

He graduated from Fairmont High School in 1946 and went on to Fairmont State University where he graduated cum laude with a BS in Business Administration. He served two years in the Army at Fort Benning, Georgia from 1950 through 1952. He worked for General Mills for 36 years which took him from Parkersburg, WV, Columbus, OH, Cincinnati, OH, Chicago, IL and then to Des Moines, IA, in 1967 as a district sales manager. Retiring from General Mills in 1988, he then volunteered at the Polk County courthouse as a small claims mediator. He enjoyed worshiping his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by serving on many church boards, singing, directing music, spreading the good news, leading bible study and greeting visitors on Sunday mornings. His favorite bible passages come from Psalms 121 and John 14 with special love of John 14:2, "In my father's house are many rooms; if it were not so would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?" In his leisure time Jim would garden, and he enjoyed watching football and baseball, especially when it came to the Chicago Cubs, da-Bears, and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Jim is survived by his wife, Phyllis; son, Larry (Diane) Morris of Atlanta, Georgia, son, Mike (Jan) Morris of West Des Moines, Iowa; granddaughter, Heather (Eli) Robbins of San Francisco, California; grandson, Bryan (Amy) Morris of Snoqualmie, Washington; granddaughter, Alexandria Morris of Iowa City, Iowa; granddaughter, Samantha Morris of West Des Moines; sister, Alice Lee (Jim) Rogers of Clarksburg, West Virginia; brother, Buddy (Mary Louise) Morris of Tyrone, Georgia; sister, Jane (Wendell) Beveridge of Niles, Ohio, as well as four nephews and six nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Waitman Wayne and Mable Morris of Fairmont, West Virginia.

Visitation will be Thursday, December 6, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 3900 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines, IA.

Funeral services will be at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church on Friday, December 7, at 10:30 a.m.

The family requests no flowers. Memorial contributions can be made to Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 3900 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines, IA 50265 or the Alzheimer's Association, 1730 28th Street, West Des Moines, IA 50266, http: //www.alz.org/greateriowa/in_my_community_donate.asp

One wedding and one funeral

talk about highs and lows....I learned on Friday that my granddad was admitted into the hospital for pneumonia. With his body and mind already detoriated he didn't have the strength to fight off the infection. He was moved into hospice and making him comfortable is the ultimate goal. I had a good cry on Friday and was able to suppress the sadness and turn it into happiness for my best friend and her wedding. The wedding was GOREGOUS and so much fun! She even got her white wedding as it started snowing during the ceremony so as we opened up the church doors you could see the snow blowing like you were in a snow globe.

Today I am back in SF and received a call around lunchtime from my mom telling me I need to get on a plane and come to Des Moines. Eli and I are taking the red eye tonight. I left work this afternoon and managed to finish out the day working from home. I tried to say good bye to him over the phone but just couldn't say the words. I am not sure if he will make it through the night, part of me wonders if he is waiting for his two grandkids to come home. My brother and I arrive tomorrow morning.

Even though I knew this day would come, I was not prepared for the deep sadness I feel. This is the first of my four grandparents to go. I am so very fortunate to had my granddad in my life for this long. He wasn't able to make it my wedding but in his mind he was there and he would tell you that he was there :)

Because you asked...

but don't be mad, I only have a few pictures....



Here is our kitchen. It is all orginial 1949 cabinetry. I am in love with my kitchen. It is so big and roomy. Once I get my dishwasher installed and more electrical outlets I will be more in love with the kitchen. The walls are painted a cool mint green color. I added a splash of cranberry red with the throw rug. I have cranberry red plates from pier 1 and a big bowl that i use as fruit bowl that really compliments the rug well. My goal in the next month or so is to make a valance to hang in the kitchen window that will tie all the colors together.






This has to be one of my favorites in the house. It is the library table that is on loan from my MIL. It sits right near the front door and is the perfect fit for the wall space. I have a little candy dish that we use to put our keys in. For all you chicago lovers, the picture hanging above is the "bean". Now my only question is, does the picture look to small above the table???



our living room. The fireplace is a working fireplace. The chimmy dude coming out next week to make sure it is safe. I am craving a night by the fire and some yummy red wine. The painting above the mantle was painted by his cousin...again, I am concerned that it is too small....I think the cards make the mantle look way too cluttered.



in the corner there is E's pride and joy...the man bar!! that thing opens to twice its size. Drink anyone??

So you can see we are slowly getting the house together..I spent Friday and Sunday last weekend weeding the front yard. Couple things I learned about weeding..it is really good therapy and it is really tiring!

More pics to come....

My Best Friend's Wedding

Thursday I will be making the cross-country flight to OHIO for my best friend C's wedding. She is the last one of the 15 of us that are still friends from college to be married. I could not be happier for her and her soon to be husband. She has truly found her partner in life. C is the closet thing I have to a sister--her sisters are even sisters to me. Care--I can't wait to be by your side as you say "I do" to wonderful, wonderful man. It seems like only yesterday we were in Dana Point on a beautiful sailboat on cool SoCal Feburary day when Sergio proposed to you. I can hardly believe I kept that secret from you :) Cheers to you and sergio!!

A memorable Thanksgiving

What a lovely evening last night was. Surrounded by friends and family for a very delicious thanksgiving meal. Even the turkey came out fantastic--though there was a quick scare but we did figure out the turkey was indeed done.

The conversation was flowing as was the wine. Here is a snippet of one of conversations from last night.

Phyllis-" I work at a non-profit that helps homeless, convicts, etc that helps them back into the workforce.

Me: Do you have any volunteer needs? Because I would certainly love to help the homeless get back on the street.

Charles: Heather, the homeless are already on the street.....

Because I am scared...

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Turkey-Roasting-101/Detail.aspx


My MIL is cooking the Turkey this year. I am reading up on how to cook a turkey so I can make sure all will be safe at thanksgiving dinner this year.

This is why I think all new homeowners should go through training

so when you walk into your house and it smells like paint fumes (for no apparent reason) that you don't freak out and call the gas company thinking it is a gas leak. After speaking with the nice customer service lady who swears up and down that it is not a gas leak. (now, I know that gas smells like rotten eggs) You are still not satisfied in what she is saying to you, that you call 9-1-1 for the fire department, who come with sirens a blazing into your new neighborhood and walk into your house and come out laughing to tell you that it is not gas and that it smells like paint. You proceed to tell them that is THERE IS NO REASON for your house to smell like paint and all they can do is shrug their shoulders while laughing at you and tell you again that it is not gas.

You then call your MIL who was your realtor who then calls the termite guy who was supposed to come to your house to clear the pest report to find out if he came over. You then find out the next morning that it was the termite guy who sprayed some sort of spray that does indeed smell like paint.

I guess this is why I pay taxes for freaks like me to bother the fire deparment.

I am here..I promise

just trying to catch my breath and settle into a routine. Eli is officially a commerical pilot! YEAH!!! So we will be analyzing job opportunities in the next month or so. I have made it through two girls trips and a weekend with the inlaws. Now I have thanksgiving and my best friend's wedding and then I am officially signing off for 2007. All I want to do is put on my osh kosh bgosh overalls and get my hands on the weeds that have totally invaded my beautiful yard. Linds--I will be "tilling" the soil in my garden..you just wait.

I am here..just out of breath and time....

This is what happens....

This is what happens when your husband's work schedule changes from an 8-430pm shift (which you would carpool together to the BART station) to a 4:30 to midnight-thirty shift and public transportation stops running at 11pm. On top of that, he is working doubles (5am-1230am the next two days)

This is what happens when the car that you have owned since the summer and was deemed "not driveable by your husband" and sat for 3 months, finally is picked up by a mechanic to fix.

This is what happens when you move into your new house and are so consumed about making sure everything happens smoothly. On that same day you had to coordinate the car pick up with the mechanic, which meant bolting after you paid for lunch to those who helped you move.

This is what happens when you realize it is Sunday and most, rather all car rental places are closed. You don't have time to drive down to the airport to rent a car so that your wife can get to the BART station and back. She refuses to hoof it to the BART station even though it is probably only a 2 mile walk down hill because she considers living at her mother in law's for 3 months "roughing it" enough.

This is when all of the above happens...you drive this......


Yes folks this my transportation for the next 2 days. If I wasn't secure in my husband's love for me and that we are not in fight..I swear I would wonder.....

I did make it home and back safe and sound. Though, this morning I could not work the defrost--so I had the windows down and the windsheild wipers going and prayed to the good lord above that I would not hit anyone. I am hoping tomorrow will be a better drive down the hill

No, it does not beep when I back up and I did park it straight in the parking lot

Yes, it is a u-haul flat bed truck...

this makes me sick to my stomach

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/25/fire.arson/index.html

Safe and Sound

Thank you for all the inquires if Eli and I are okay or if we are affected by the awful SoCal fires. Luckily for us, we moved to northern california---we are in San Francisco now. So we are doing just great--busy but doing great. I have checked on a few of my friends that I have in SoCal and the it's just unreal what has happened. Luckily those friends are safe and sound in their homes but many are not. Please keep all those families who lost everything in your prayers. There are many great stories coming out of San Diego about people helping each other. Those who were affected and those who weren't coming out in the dozens to help each other.

I promise after next weekend, I will be back to my regularly scheduled blogging.
I will catch up with each and every one of you! I promise!!!

What a difference a year makes

Hard to believe that this time last year all 140 of our closets family and friends were gathered in Des Moines, Ia for our wedding. A year ago on 10/22 I married my best friend. All week long, I've thought about what I was doing this time last year and this morning I woke up to remembering my day with my girls and getting ready for the rehersal and rehersal dinner. Tomorrow when I wake up..will be our wedding day a year ago.
We've been through a lot this past year. Immediately when we returned from our honeymoon, we packed up Eli and sent him off to Orange county. I followed a month later. New jobs and a new city. We learned alot about each other in the 9 months we were living alone. So far away from family and friends. We discovered the importance of communication. Communication is the key to making a marriage strong and healthy. While my best friend and I have come together to pledged our lives and to love and respect one another--we are still two individuals with different dreams and goals. Communication will forever bond our dreams and goals on the same path.
Communication lead us to both discover we were not happy in Orange County. So we followed our hearts to Northern California. Another new job for the both of us and another new city. I know deep in my heart we made the right decision to come back here. As I look at Eli, I can tell he is so happy and content to be here. The fact that he is so happy, makes me so happy. All the things that were missing in southern california are here. We've bought our first house and are begining to plant our roots. This is something that I have wanted for a very long time.
Tonight we are heading to the Westin SF--we are using the last of Eli's points for a very romantic and quiet evening. Because are still living at the MIL's house, all we really want tonight is just to have our time with out any interruptions. I doubt we will even go out to dinner--probably just order room service. We have my favorite champagne waiting to be popped. I love Eli and I can't wait to celebrate our first wedding anniversary!

falling in love with a house....

Today we had our house inspection. It took about 3 hours for the inspection to be completed. If you've gone through a house inspection, you already know what I have been through today. If you haven't let me try to sum it up for you.

Think about when you first meet someone and you've decided that you really, really like this person. You find yourself falling in love with this person as you spend more and more time together. You think about the future with this person. You feel all giddy inside like this person is the one. You then as time goes on, find out all the good, the bad and the ugly about this person. Then you have to make a decision whether or not you can handle the bad and the ugly for the rest of your life. This same exact scenario is what happens when you get the house you fell in love with inspected. You learn all the good, the bad and the UGLY about the house. Especially if the house is an older house. It certainly changes the way you look at the house.

I learned so much about our house. One thing that absoultely shocked me that there were no (at first sighting) electrical outlets in the kitchen. I about fell over and died--twice. This girl needs her appliances--her coffee pot for one! Then as we looked a little deeper or rather in the cabinets--we noticed the one electrical outlet to be used for kitchen needs. The refrigerator is near one. So we now getting a quote to add some electrical outlets to the kitchen.

We also learned that the house needs to be retro fitted for earthquake preparation. When the inspector told me that the house could slide off its foundation, my brain came up with this cartoon of a house sliding down the hill and onto the street. We will be getting this done ASAP. Welcome to earthquake country!

Everything else seemed to be fine. The foundation is good. The insulation is good. Drainage is good. We are moving forward with this purchase. :)

Next up is the appraisel!

We did it

I just signed our counter offer acceptance! My salary is going to our mortgage and I am so freaking excited and completely overwhelmed. I have already downed two glasses of wine and making my way to the 3rd. I just found out that we will sign the papers on 10/22. Our first anniversary date. We take ownership of the house on 10/30.
Inspection is on Saturday. We are fairly confident all will go well.

How cool is this?

I so want to do this... anyone want to join me??

San Francisco Ghost Tours

emotional highs and lows of buying a house

after pouring over the disclosure notices, we have decided to hold off on this one particular house. It sucks. It was such a cute little place. However, it being the same age as my grandmother and like my grandmother, the house is not so stable..this is not the type of project we need to take on as first time home buyers. So we are back to square 2. After talking with my MIL who is also our realtor, I shared with her my sadness of letting this house go. She understood but offered such great insight that made me appreciate her more and more. She said to me that her desire is to put us in a home where she can look my parents in the eye and with out a doubt say that we have a home that she feels and knows that we are safe and secure in. This particular home she could not. I respect that view point. Especially as we are embarking on Eli's career change. Which means, I will be without him more then I am with him as he begins his new career as a commerical pilot.
On Thursday, during her broker tour, she came across this cute thing of a house. She was so excited to tell me about it. When I got home Thursday eveing, she showed me the listing. I instantly fell in love. We called eli who was in Vegas to tell him about it. He was so excited to hear my excitement that he gave me full permission to write an offer if I was still in love with it after I go and see it on Saturday. Now because it is a new listing it is safe to say that we can wait for Eli to get home on Monday to view the house himself before we make any plans on offers. ahhh, the saga continues.....

Let's try some pictures..shall we

my new "do"



little rae rae making eyes at her uncle eli



Raelyn watching football with her uncle eli and daddy

Happy Birthday to me!!

Today I am 32. Hard to believe I am over 30. It feels like yesterday I was turning 25. I am getting closer to mid 30's! Wowser! I love being in my 30's. Though I could seriously do with out the hair on my head turning gray. I have seen a few hairs and made a vow that I would not pluck them out. I will however, pluck out my gray eyebrow hairs that have been growing in lately. I mean seriously, gray eyebrow hairs. Does that really need to happen?!?!?!
My birthday weekend was great. Eli and I were able to spend the whole weekend together..minus the time he was at work on saturday. While he was at work, I got my hair cute (5 inches cut!!) and eye brows waxed. Ah, I love a day beauty. The apartment hunting has now turned into house hunting. And, we found one we love! I am trying very hard to keep my emotions under control. We've filled out our loan papers so we are waiting to get pre-approved. We are also waiting for the disclosure papers to become available which will happen on Tuesday. Thinking all goes well, we could be making on offer by Wednesday or Thursday of this week. Of course, Eli is leaving tomorrow for his cross country flight for 8 days. He gets back next Monday.

This should be an interesting week! Stay tuned!

Here are a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The first picture is of the necklace eli bought for me for my birthday. It is a smokey quartz stone and I have the matching earrings.

oh well, it looks like blogger won't let me upload pics today. I will upload them tomorrow.

Acts of kindness go a long way

Here is a blurb about Eli in another blog.


www.tangodiva.com



Be kind to one another......

Awesome Autumn ***updated***

Inside you will find:
A- Autumn Candles & A pumpkin Holder to warm your home
U- Ultimate bag of my favorite fall goodies as a treat
T-Tale of Autumn to keep you entertained when it's cool outside
U-Ultra cute Autumn socks to bring the season into your closet
M-mmmm Apple cinnamon tea to make you warm & toasty the whole season through.
N-Nice pearberry lotion to bring the scents of autumn to each Fall day.



This is the cutest thing! I hope I find a place to live before Fall comes to a close!!


Missing: The jelly bellys are being held for ransom by Eli and I devoured the chocolate covered strawberries by Godiva the first night I received my package


I can't wait to start reading this! Especially now I have a 30 minute commute to work on public transportation everyday. The title is covered, it says: It happend one Autumn.


The socks are tooo cute! They are going to be so fun to wear.


This is perfect for the chilly bay area mornings and evenings!


I have already started using this!

As you can see Jenny created such a wonderful package. I love the level of detail she put into each of the goodies. I really hope we find a place soon b/c I want to be able to use the autumn decorations she used on each of the goodies. Then I will have a little bit of Jenny in my new home.


My awesome autumn package arrived yesterday. I walked into my bedroom at MIL's house and saw the package sitting on our bed. I was so excited to see that my partner was Jenny!! I had such a crappy day apartment hunting on Sunday that this really brightened my day! I still need to take pictures of everything-my camera cord is packed somewhere in boxes. Jenny really out did herself. I haven't felt so special in a long time--Thank you Jenny. I am hoping I can upload pictures on saturday and share with you the thoughtfulness, creativity, generousity that my awesome autumn partner has.

Afraid

I just got home from work and I see chicken defrosting on the kitchen counter. Now we all know what happened last time my MIL cooked chicken. Eli is not even here this weekend to save me.

I need a back up plan--FAST!

**** update***
crisis adverted!!! Nothing like a bottle of wine and fake craving for chinese food to save you from chicken nightmares!!!

Balance and randomness

OMMMMMMMM.... cue in the the yoga relaxation music..ommmmmmmmmmmmm
Oh internet. I am in need of some balance and a home...can you help me with that? please?? I will seriously be your best friend.

Prayers to Rusti and her family. She lost her mother in law this morning after a long battle. Sending many hugs and prayers.


Crap--I have to hit the shower for work. Work is going great, the people are chill, the client list is fantastic and I can't wait to get my hands dirty. My trouble is getting back in the groove of getting up and getting ready for work. All last year, I just had to roll out of bed.

The housing market here SUX! The rental market is a joke. We had a would be landlady call us at 3 minutes till our scheduled appointment to tell us she is renting the place to someone else. Um, didn't we confirm with you the appointment 5 hours earlier??? So annoyed.

Funniest thing--we got it on in the car last night at the local make out joint for highschoolers. We figured if a cop caught us, we would have a great excuse. "officer, we are married and living with our mother in law and we need to have sex" In all my life I have never had sex in a parked car.

Back to reality

Sorry I have been MIA---I am back at work! I am in Seattle for training and heading back home tonight. I will write more when I get back!

La 'Shana Tova

Happy Jewish New Year! Tonight at sundown marks the Jewish New Year. Jews all across the world tonight will be celebrating with the sound of the shofar and apples dipped in honey. Eli and I will dip hallah into honey since it is still our first year of marriage. It symbolizes a sweet first year of marriage.

We will go to synaggouge tonight, the same one he grew up in; went to hebrew school and had his bar mitzvah. I love going to temple with E as it reminds me that we have so much yet to explore together as husband and wife, especially when it comes to religion.

Shana Tova!

We pause during our regulary scheduled program to

give a shout out to my husband for saving me from my MIL's cooking and bloody chicken.

He is a good man my friends, a good man.

Perfect way to end my whirlwind trip to the Midwest

Sunday I met up with Rusti and Jenny. These two lovely ladies were so kind to drive up from where the live to Kzoo! It was about an hour and a half trip (one way) for them. I was so honered that they would even drive that far to have lunch with someone they barely know. That whole weekend, I was so excited--never nervous. I just knew it was the perfect thing to do--to meet them.

I knew that Jenny and Rusti's significant other's were a little leary about having them drive to meet someone they have not met. So to help ease things, I had my mom drop me off--I figure that would put me in the harmless category :) Lunch did get off on a rocky start--the resturant I had picked was slammed! I guess it is a hotspot for Kzoo folks. Plus the kitchen started to back up so it pushed our wait time backward instead of forward. So a quick call to Mom lead us to Burdicks. The whole time we were laughing and chattering non-stop. No awkard silences. It was too perfect! Like we had always known each other.
Lunch ended, they dropped me off to meet my mom at the shell station. Snapped a couple of pictures and off we went--separtely. We waved goodbye to each other from our cars. It was a perfect way to end my week. I am so happy that we were able to meet. Both of these girls are so fun, caring, hiliarous--everything you get from reading thier blogs is truely who they are in person.

Blog world meets real world

in two and a half hours, I get the pleasure of meeting both Rusti and Jenny! I am so excited! I hope the drive for them is okay, it's a little cloudy this morning. It rained all night. I hope the sun decides to come out. I am mentally running through a list of topics to chat about just in case we don't have anything to say--though I know I doubt that will happen. The 3 of us have google chatted before and we were going back and forth with a ton of things to say. EEK! I am bouncing off the walls!

5 things you didn't know about me

I was tagged by a couple of you so here I go...5 things you didn't know about me. ( bare with me, I am a little nervous here trying to come up with some stuff)

1) I will be 32 on Septmeber 30th and I have lived in 6 states-
Utah, Colorado, Alabama, Ohio, Illinios and Califorina. I even had a southern accent for awhile.

2) I was 8 weeks premature. Weighed 4lbs when I was born then dropped to 2. My parents thought I wasn't going to make it.

3) On both hands, my fingers are double jointed--this means I can make them look like witches hands (or at least I think they look like witches hands)

4) My good friend R from college is my sister in law. I married her husbands younger brother. Eli and I "met" each other 3 times before it finally clicked btwn the both of us. 8 months later, he moved from the bay area to chicago and we immediately moved in together and never looked back. We will be married a year on October 22nd.

5) I puked on the golden gate bridge. When Eli and I were dating, I flew in for the weekend and we went on a bike ride in SF and then on to ride across the golden gate bridge. On the way up to the bridge is a MASSIVE hill. I am from the midwest--so there are no hills and I was trying to impress my future husband on my biking skills so I tried to keep up with him. (remember, he was born and raised on those hills) I maxed myself out so bad that I had to stop right as we got on the golden gate bridge, get off my bike and find a quiet, secluded spot to hurl. Eli was a good sport about it and the best part was, that night we ordered pizza. I downed about 5 slices and promptly fell asleep on him. yeah, i am a winner :)

Hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about me :)
I think everyone was tagged but if you were not--then you are now!!!

Made it!

After waking up at 430am and getting to the airport at 5am, crusing the various ticket counters to see which airline would be so kind to let me board their boeing..Northwest Airlines won!!! I flew from OC to Minneapolis and then Minn to Des Moines. I barely made to the flight as I had haul my booty from one side to the airport to the other. I was so thankful the little puddlejumper had some open seats for me.

Ah, back in Des moines. It is a relief to be here again and not be crazed with wedding stuff. This time last year I was a little over a month out from the wedding and as soon as we drove in from Chicago, it was a race to get everything we needed to get done. Now I am back to hanging out with the grandparents.

Last night I hung out with my momma (her picture is on the side bar) We went out to dinner, had some drinks and stayed up talking until 1am. We do a good job spanning the topics. Now that I am married some new ones popped up--sexy time. I could not believe I was discussing sexy time with my grandmother. My how I have grown up.

Tomorrow will be devoted to my other grandparents. They are mid 80's and filled with pure stubborness. They are still kicking it in their home my mother grew up in. I will be running them around for various errands that they need done. It will be good for us to be together, but I will need to take an extra patience pill with me.

Thursday I leave again for MI--I am hoping the airplane gods cooperate again!

Life married to a southwest employee

Yesterday we decided we needed to go down to OC to pick up our credit report for our apartment search. Hopped a 3:35pm flight. Made it down here by 5pm. Looked for said credit report, gathered some other things eli needed and then decided we should stay the night. We ordered pizza, consumed adult beverages, watched college football and fullfilled our desires for some adult time. Staying at the MIL's house=no sexy time=crabby H & E.

This morning we hopped a 10am flight back up to the bay area. Looked at 3 apartments. No dice. Went back to MIL's house, I packed for my upcoming trip to the midwest and headed back to the airport. The suave non-revenue flyer I am, managed to hop a 3:35pm flight back to down OC with TWO MINUTES TO SPARE! I sat down and the doors closed!

Tomorrow the real adventure begins--my voyage to Des Moines, IA and August, MI. I hope the airplane gods will have mercy on me--rather the other airline employees will have mercy on me. I am non-reving on few different airlines. PRAY FOR SPACE AVAILABLE!

Randomness

The drive went well yesterday though it was HOT has HECK out there. I think at one point during my drive it hit 110 degrees. I was never so thankful for the bay area coolness then I was last night.

It is 2pm on Thursday and I have already had an eventful day.

1) Eli waking up at 4am b/c his phone was beeping--low battery. This caused me to wake up. He then asked me to set my phone alarm for 4:30am, which of course I did. We both fall back asleep. He finally gets up at 5am for work. I fall back asleep.

2) 8:30am. The door bell is ringing repeatedly! I hear in between the doorbell, knocking on the door. I am trying to remember where I am as I wake up to figure out someone is at the door.I stumble out of bed--mind you I am blind as a bat w/o my glasses. I make myself to the door and find my MIL next door neighbors telling me they cannot park in their driveway b/c of a tree that hangs over onto their property. I kindly tell them that I cannot do anything about it until she or my husband comes home. They look defeated but kindly turn around and leave.

3) My poor kitty is having problems urinating. So after the ruckus of this am, I call the vet and dropped my MIL's name and they took us in at 10am. Poor kitty is now on two antibiotics and we have to keep watch on him to see if he is urinating. I have to take him in tomorrow morning for another checkup. I have been at the computer for about 45 minutes and I watched him go to his litter box about 7 times trying to urinate. Really breaks my heart. I hope I don't have to take him to the emergency room.

4) Not more then 5 minutes ago, I hear someone trying to open up the front door. Upon inspecting I see a tiny asian lady using a spare key to get inside. I can hardly understand what she is saying to me but hands me the key and says she is here to drop off key.

I think I am ready to go back to work.

On the road again

View Larger Map

Today I am heading back up to the bay. This time is just me and the jeep and a huge load of all my stuff. I still need to pack up the car this morning but I have everything ready to go--almost. I think if I leave here by noon, I can squeak by the LA traffic and miss the SF traffic.
I was going to wait until tomorrow to drive up, but I miss my hubby and I hear that louie is on a hunger strike--he has never done this before. Makes me a little worried.
My weekend in Chicago was again, quick but very fun. My best friend is getting married 12/1 so this was her first wedding shower. I was so glad that I could be there with and for her.

Off to go pack up the car, take a shower and get ready for a loooong road trip ahead.

My Meez

It's that time of year again----Awesome Autumn

If you participated in the "Summer Swap" you know about the fun I am talking about. If you didn't, I highly recommend that you email Jenny to get in on the fun! Hurry, the deadline to sign up is September 1!

Up and back

The first trip to SF was successful. Louie was a champ in the car. After walking around the whole entire car he finally settled into his cat carrier and chilled the whole car ride up. The rest of the ride was uneventful. We started out on the PCH but quickly realized it was going to be a long trip up if continued on that way. So we switched to the 101 in Malibu--which is goregous! The whole drive up was goregous on the 101.
On the drive up I experience the first time I have gotten mad, i mean real mad at my husband. So mad that i was banging on the steering wheel. I was driving and needed to get on the entrance ramp to the highway leading up to berkeley. My night vision sometimes isn't that great coupled with a busy 5 lane highway and first time driving on it, I couldn't see if I had room to get over. E was busy fiddling with his mp3 player and wasn't either paying attention or just didn't think I needed help. Well I missed the exit and he was griping at me b/c I missed it and I just got so angry--more at myelf and partly at him. It's been a long time since I have felt such abundance of anger. I couldn't talk to him for a good 10 minutes. Finally what broke the ice is when the "are you going to San Francisco" started playing. Then I started to laugh and ease up. That is what he was doing--was putting together a play list of all the SF songs he had so we could listen and celebrate that we were there and accomplished what we have talked about and planned since May.
I flew back down in OC to go out with some friends tonight. I will pack and leave for Chicago on Saturday and fly back to OC on Monday. I think the plan right now is for me to drive our jeep up on Tuesday or Wednesday since we have not sold it yet.

Up an at em!

Today we started the preparations for our move. Up at 6am this morning to meet with the box assestment guy. This dude surveys our stuff to see how many boxes the packers will need to pack up our stuff. As the box dude was milling around our apartment, it made me wonder how many homes he must see on a weekly basis and what kind of states these homes must be in. My real hope is that we aren't as messy as some other places he has seen. The whole deal took about 20 minutes.
The rest of the to do list:
-Call doctor-get in to get medicine for an infection-blah, i feel nauseas and my lower back hurts
-Get eye brows wax- starting to look like groucho marx
-Dontate 10 bags of stuff to Goodwill or Salvation Army. I am having a hard time figuring out which one to take my stuff to. Both are for good causes.
-Go to BBQ where E does his flight training. He has a check ride today to become instrument rated
-Call eye doctor to schedule eye exam
-Pack Car-leave on Tuesday to drive up E and Louie to the bay area. E starts his new job Wednesday. I will be floating back and forth since I am off for a month.

Bonita Mama!

Bonita Mama.. this was shouted at me at 9am on Friday morning as I was half awake watering my plants on my balcony. Now this normally would not bother me and I might on a good day take it as a compliment. However, knowing the lurkers, aka the construction men that are literally a stones throw across the street.. I mean fire lane away from my apartment saying this, iritates the crap out of me.

The reason this iritates me so much is that I accidently gave these men a peep show one morning. I am so embrassed even writing about this. E and I like to sleep with our patio door open. Now that we are living in California and so close to the ocean, we are spoiled by how cool it gets in the evening thus we like to open the doors to get a cool breeze instead of turning on the AC. Well, of course the one morning that i FORGET that we had the door and thus the blinds open. I trot out of the shower, with very little clothing and proceed to put lotion on. I start to feel like I am being watched and of course, I turn around and see a construction dude just lurking at my window. Mortified, I crouched down and scramble for some decent cover up so I can crawl my way to the bathroom to put on any sort of clothing I can find.

Needless to say I did manage to recover and cover myself and close the blinds so I could finish my morning routine without the lurkers. Everytime I step outside to my balcony I am a little grossed out. Let's just say I am so happy we are moving out of this joint and i have learned my lesson to be fully robed or clothed when I walk out of the bathroom.

Last Day

It is my last day of work! One more commute up to LA and back. I feel a huge weight begining to lift off my shoulders.....

Green Tea Partay

I had to add the west coast version!!

I am in love

Introducing my little niece Raelyn.






The little pumpkin kept stretching out when I was holding her. So it barely looks like I am holding on to her. She is sound asleep!




a little bit of tummy time

Teah Partay!

martinis, pink penis pinata, vinyl NYPD cop uniform and toothless bouncers

In Chicago this weekend, we toasted/roasted one of my best friends in her last night out as a single girl. 25 people showered her with many wondeful gifts as we ate and drank champagne outside near the Chicago River.



Later that night we met up at a Martini Bar and the Bachelorette festivities began. Champagne and cosmos flowed...again We played the mystery panty game which we coined "panty dropper" in honor of the infamous drinks her husband-to-be created for his soon to be wife.


We had a trolley filled with penis balloons and a penis pinata. The bachelorette had to take a wack at the pinata after we roasted her on her past boy encounters.



Then what came to be the hit present of the night--a vinyl NYPD cop uniform. CA proudly put on that uniform and struted her stuff. Repeatedly.



Next on the bachelorette agenda was a country western line dancing bar. However, the country western bar wanted nothing to do with our bachelorette cuteness. We were turned away by two toothless bouncers. None of us could speak. We were in shock. However that did not stop our determination to find another location to finish out the night.

The bachelorette had a fun night--she was in rare form and took everything with class and grace. She gave us many laughs as we shared her bachelorette memories. Today she is a little hung over as she tried to recount the night festivities.

pictures to come...i promise

Eli's lunch

this is what my husband packed for his lunch tomorrow:

1) Turkey and cheese/hummus sandwich
2) Big slice of leftover lasgana
3) left over breast of grilled chicken
4) plum
5) rest of the grapes
6) carrots
7) almonds
8) bbq sunflower seeds

as he read this list to me, he said if I am still hungry..I quickly interrupted him to say "you have a tapeworm". he just looked at me and replied..."punk"

btw: this lunch is justified b/c he works a double tomorrow....

Is this happening to anyone else

For some reason blogger keeps freezing my computer and when I click to read blogs, the pages are not downloading. Is it just me?

Tagged by Jenny

Here is my meme....

Things in my refrigerator:
1. Green grapes
2. Gallon of Milk
3. Turkey meat to make Lasgna tomorrow night!
4. Leftovers from tonight's dinner
5. French vanilla creamer (my morning delight with coffee!)

5 Things in my car:
1. Yoga Mat
2. Summer Swap CD-Love it Brit!
3. Battery charger
4. GPS
5. Eli's fleece

5 Things in my purse or backpack: ( i change purses so much that I keep very little in them)
1. wallet
2. sunglasses
3. chapstick
4. papers from work
5. receipts from TJ Maxx

5 Things in my closet:
1. Purses, purses and more purses--I am using this one Jenny!
2. Way too many winter coats from my chicago days
3. My keepsake box from our wedding
4. shoes
5. Clothes

5 Things in the world I want to see before I die:
1. Machupicchu
2. Chile
3. Israel
4. Greek Islands
5. My grandchildren and possibly great grandchildren

5 People to Tag:
1. Kristen
2. Angela
3. Trish
4. Erin

13 more days

I can make it....i think

Finished book 6

I am a little behind but I just finished HP book 6. E has book 7 and just started it today. I think we are going to have share the book. I am too excited to find out what happens and if I wait for him to finish it, it will be 2008 before I can read it. Plus I know my friend L is just aching to talk to someone about the book :)

Going Commando

Well not really but it certainly feels that liberating!! I have officially gone private with my blog. I am excited about my internet friends who have asked to join the party. Going forward I hope to be more vocal about my opinions, thoughts and my daily happenings. My hope for you who are along for the ride will still receive the same if not more reading enjoyment as before.

I hope you have a glass of something with you because it is cause for celebration! I have my wine with me and I am waiting for Eli to get home so we can crack open the cheap bottle of champagne.

WE ARE MOVING TO SAN FRANCISCO!!!!

Yes...i am trading in my year round swimsuit, my ragging summer tan and SoCal warm temps for year round fleeces, morning and evening fog and most importantly for having solid, wonderful friends and family around us!!

This "movement" started back in April when we were in the bay area for a wedding and as we were walking around the city. We started talking about how neither of us just wasn't happy in the OC. We each shared what we thought was missing/problem. I then got annoyed that it took us 6 months to have this conversation but I guess we as individuals needed to figure it out on our own if we liked it here or not.

A couple of days later I went to E to tell him I was ready to move to the Bay Area. Last year, I was not. I hated the idea of moving away from MY friends and family to go live near HIS family and friends--this is how we ended up in OC. Now I am fully ready and willing to be near those individuals who I have come to love and trust dearly and have welcomed me with open arms.

So here we are. I have a NEW job waiting for me and E is transferring with SW. Now it comes to the details of when the move will take place. I feel like an old pro at this.

Back at the homestead

So I am back working from home. I drove up to LA on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. I had it by Wednesday. I set my computer back up at home--oh I forgot to mention that I was carting around my desktop back and forth. THAT topic is a discussion for another day. Anyway..back at home to where my life is no longer in danger. I got to witness a rear end accident on the way into work last Friday. The accident occurred a little too close to my car for comfort. For all of you who have to commute. I empathise so much. I understand commutes are all relative to where you live and if it sucks for you, I feel your pain.

I am excited for the weekend. No beach yoga this weekend. Darn! We don't have many plans or rather any plans. E has to work his normal double shift. I am sure I will find some trouble to get into on my own. Next weekend, I am heading to Chicago for my good friend's shower and bachelorette. I also FINALLY get to meet my niece. I will for sure have pictures to post.

***I am going private this weekend*** Please send me your email if you would like to continue hearing about our lives.

Made it...in about two hours

I did make it to my new office today. However, it took me literally two hours to get here. When I got here, I found out that the furniture did not arrive so me, my coworker and my boss are all sitting on the floor working. I am trying REALLY hard to keep my grumblings to myself.

It is 3pm now and I am starting to dread the drive home. I am wondering what time should I leave so that I can sqeak by on the traffic--then I remember--oh wait I am in LA there is no such thing as no traffic. I am definitely heading to Coffee bean before the trip home. I will probably come up here again tomorrow but the rest of the week I am working in my safe confines of my apartment. Maybe a hair ball or two isn't so bad ;)

My Turn

After thinking and reading the reasons why others have turned their blogs private.I have decided to make the switch as well and make my blog private. It just makes sense. So please if you would like to continue along in our journey please let me know your email address. I would love to have you along for the ride. I will be making the switch next weekend.

Also-do any of you know how to move this slide show into the sidebar? Blogger is winning right now as I cannot figure this thing out. The slideshow is from this morning's Yoga class down at Hiesler Park in Laguna Beach. Perfect way to start my Sunday morning. I could not believe how crowded the beach was at 930am. I start my commute up to LA tomorrow so this helped get me "centered" for the 50 mile drive one way to the office. They say I don't have to up every day but we shall see.

Still in my PJs and loving it plus other randomness..

1) It is saturday morning at 11:15am and I made a personal choice to stay in my PJ's this morning. With all the chaos is going on this month. I decided to forgo Yoga this morning and sleep in. Poor Louie (my cat) didn't know what was going on. He tried to wake me up at 8am when I normally wake up to go to Yoga and when I didn't move, he decided all was okay and he was going to sleep in too. He was cuddled up right next to me with his paws covering up his eyes.

2) We finally were able to get the missing pieces of paper for our BMW. THis all went down last week. Now we can register the car and start on the necessary mechanical issues that need to be fixed in order for me to start driving it. YEAH!! And we can focus on selling our Jeep--which will enable us to be car payment free for awhile!

3)My brother's wedding was terrific. I really do feel 100% about this marriage. What did it for me is when A walked up to the altar to meet my brother. She was bawling the whole walk down the aisle. She took his hand that he held out for her, faced the crowd and looked over at him and mouthed " I love you". My heart melted for my little brother. My mom and I were in tears the whole weekend and we realized why--he has found true happiness and love. Everything that he was searching for, he found in his beautiful bride. I have comfort in the fact that those two will always beat to their own drum and do what they want to do. E and I made a pact that we are going try to get together with them as often as we can because we want to start to forge a closer relationship. My hope is that my brother and A will want to as well.

4)We saw the new Harry Potter movie last night. I remembered why I couldn't get through that book--very dark and scary! E is a harry potter nut! He is dying to receive the 7th book. I decided that I would pick up the series again and read the 6th book and when he is done I will read the 7th. However, me not having any patience at all, I am so dying to hear what happens at the end of book 7.

5) Private or not private blog? I know this question has been raised by other bloggers a number of times lately. Each time I have responded to those internet friends, "do what you need to do, it is your choice." Now when I am faced with the choice and I am not sure what to do. There are few things that I can't blog about just yet for the fear of not knowing who is reading this. Part of me loves the fact if there those whom I do not know reading this blog and enjoy reading it, I would hate to shut them out. On the flip side, this blog has become my diary...i used to keep one as a kid and teenager. However this diary includes the warm advice and thoughts of others that I have come to know through their blogs. I trust and value their opinions so I don't want to hold back more of my thoughts or share in what is taking place in our lives.

6) I want so badly for my parents to sell their house in MI. They are in midst of a move to Atlanta. My dad is there now living in an apartment. Since May he has been separted from my mom. My mom is still in Michigan trying to get their house sold. My parents are high school sweethearts. Together in their marriage they have moved all over the country and have experienced this situation numerous times. However, I think this time the uncertainly of whether or not the MI house will sell has taken its toll on them. I am going to take some time off in September to go hang with my mom. I miss her so much. We were so spoiled when I lived in Chicago and they were in Ohio and then especially when they moved to MI. We were short drive away.

7) My favorite picture of my aunts and my girl cousins.

We laughed, we cried, we partied till dawn...well almost

The wedding turned out better then we all could have imagined. My brother and his new wife were happy as can be. There were many laughs, some tears-- tears seem to happen when our family comes together--our emotions run so close to the surface that the pure happiness evolves into tears of joy.

E and I hung out with my cousins all weekend long and we managed to close down the bar both Friday and Saturday night. Seattle is beautiful depsite the rain.

We visited my friends T and S who now live in Seattle. It has been a few years since we have seen each other. I am so grateful for their friendship. I also met their cute little boy, Owen. He filled me up with cute baby smiles and sent me off on my way with a cute little wave of his hand.

It was a very good weekend! Here is my favorite picture of the bride and groom.

it is time...

time for me to go back into an office. I just watched my cat throw up a hairball.

gross!

Little Raelyn

Proud Uncle

Resting on Uncle E's chest


mommy and baby






Here are some pictures of E's recent visit to meet Raelyn. I head out there in August to meet her. Can't wait!

Falling Behind

I am definitely lacking in my posting these days. The main reason is most of the stuff that is going on, I just can't quite talk about yet. Hopefully soon though. I appreciat everyone's thoughts from my last post. Many of you hit it on the head on the cause of my feelings regarding my brother's wedding. Truth of it is, I am not sure what to expect this weekend but I know no matter what I am there to support my brother and his soon wife and welcome them with open arms into our family. Many family members i have not seen since our wedding so it will be great fun to hang out rather then feeling like I need to circle room like we did for ours. My dress is hella sassy and my heels make me at least 5'6 so I am REALLY excited. hee hee.

The one annoying thing we are dealing with is we got scammed or so it seems on a car we recently purchased. We wanted to get rid of our jeep so we no longer have the heavy car payment to get something used with no car payment that would last for a year or two until we can get back on our feet. Once Eli does quit his southwest job and flies for Regional carrier his take home pay will decrease and his loan payments will kick next year--so instead of trying to stay ahead of the game--we got screwed! Bottom line the schmuck that sold us this car--did not give us all the paper work. We have the title but not the bill of sale from the dealership that sold the car to him. In order to register the car we need that. The guy is MIA and not returning any of our phone calls. We tried to call the dealership--no luck--private seller who sells cars wholesale to Mexico. WE got HOOOOSED. The sad thing is I love this little car--1994 black BMW that is in almost perfect condition. We would need to do some work on the transmission but we were more then willing to put forth the $$$ in this car. Blah. Thank goodness we did not sell the jeep. We are just now the proud owners of 3 freaking cars! 1984 volvo, 1994 BMW and a 2004 jeep cheroke. Yes, go ahead and laugh. We are nuts.

Strugglin....

My brother's wedding is a week away. I am sad to say I am not sure how I feel about it. I will back up and let you in on the fact my brother and I have never been close. I was your typically bratty teenager and he was your typical aloof teenager. Never did we see eye to eye. I went to college, he visited me once. He went off to college, I never did visit. I moved to Chicago. I flew him up from school to surprise my parents when they were in town for my mom's birthday. In college he joined ROTC which after graduation he went to Korea for 18 months. He did Army Ranger School, became an Army Ranger. He went off to fight a war in Iraq, twice. He came back-he visited me in Chicago. He moved to Seattle. I am now going to Seattle for the first time next weekend for his wedding.

I barely know his soon to be wife. My husband is in the wedding. I am not. My brother and I were raised Jewish in an inter-faith marriage. My brother converted to Catholicism for his soon to be wife. My husband was asked to do the ceremonial Jewish prayer over the bread and wine for the rehearsal dinner. I cried when I found this out as this is something my grandpa would normally do but what crushed me was that I wasn't even asked to be apart of something that was the only thing my brother and I had in common. I looked at my wonderful, loving, caring husband through my tears and he asked me to stand next to him and we could say the prayers together. He said he would even try to teach me to sing them. This pulled a smile out of me b/c he and I both know I cannot carry a tune.

My mom says she needs me next weekend to be her rock. I am not even sure I can be a rock for myself let alone her. At least I have a cute dress and awesome shoes :)

Live Earth-Concerts for a climate in crisis

If you haven't heard of Live Earth, it is a bunch of concerts held on July 7, 2007 to support a climate in crisis. Many big name performers will on on stage in
US, UK, Germany, Japan, China, Brazil, Austrailia, South Africa to help generate awareness of how things need to change in order to save our precious earth.

E and I are super excited as E's cousin Terra Naomi is playing at the Live Earth Concert in UK.

She kicks ass!!! I have seen her play twice now once in Chicago at the House of Blues and another time in LA. Go Terra!