Eat More Chicken

We were at Chick-Fil-A with the Grovers we ran into their cow and we had to take pics. LOL

Back in the Water

Every year over Christmas break my high school water polo team hosts our annual alumni game. I have skipped playing a couple years for various reasons. But this year I was SUPER excited to get in the water and play.

I was the oldest player this year, representing class of 2000. Kelly and Jess played for '01 and then a lot of younger girls that i didnt know. I scored 3 goals but our team lost to the current varsity team. oh well. there is always next year. and it got me itching to play more polo. stay tuned.

ready for the sprint... sort of.

driving to score

of course i made this one

coach jeff with us. just like old times.

jess and i

kelly, jess and i

Champions!

My softball team - The Karate Kids - won the championships! woo hoo

Here we are with our huge trophy:

December Went by Way Too Fast!

the whole month of december flew by so fast that i didnt get a chance to blog at all . so i am going to catch up by posting one looong post full of our months activities. so here goes.

we kicked off the month by picking out our christmas tree. Jameson really wanted a flocked tree but i thought it would be too messy in the house so i vetoed that idea. sorry jameson, maybe next year. here he is posing with the huge tree that he wanted:

jameson wrote a letter to santa telling him how nice (and not naughty) he had been this past year and we took him to macy's so he could drop it in their santa mailbox. he was REALLY excited!

then we waited in line for almost 2 hours at south coast plaza to take his picture with santa. i couldn't believe how long the line was.

the next sunday was my moms annual tamale day. all the girls gather at my moms house and drink wine while we make a whole bunch of tamales. we make the traditional pork with red sauce and also green chili and jack cheese ones. both are delicious. hats off to my mom who prepares everything before we get there so we can just spread the masa and chit chat all day!

dec. 19th was my last day of work for the year. yay! that evening ray and i headed down to the hard rock san diego for a new era / danny way party. we had soo much fun at the party and the hotel was nice too. i highly recommend staying there.

This year we hosted all of our friends and family at our house on christmas eve. thank you to everyone that came over. we love seeing all of you and enjoyed having you over to our house.

christmas day was spent at my moms house, rays moms house and my grandmas house. in that order :) its kind of hectic going from place to place but we made it work.

and the last event of december .....

jameson took all of his christmas money and piggy bank change and opened his first bank account! he already has more cash than me!

Happy 09 everyone!!!

Thanks!

Its my favorite time of year! I love the cold weather, the christmas lights, the food, the gatherings, the cheer, all of it. Thanksgiving this year was spent at Rays moms house in the morning, then the afternoon at my dads and finally dinner at my moms. We had a great day with the family!

Hot to (Turkey) Trot

This thanksgiving morning Ray and I got up and ran our 

annual turkey trot 5k. I have ran it the past 4 years and 

have Ray to run it for the past 2. I love it. About 4000 

people showed up and ran along the beach path in Belmont 

Shore. At the finish line they give out pies to random 

finishers. Every year I hope I get one and every year I don't. 

This year Ray actually got a pie, but he thought that 

everyone got one so he told them he didn't want to take it 

yet. They gave it to someone else. Oh well. Maybe next year!

It's Britney Bitch

If you know me, you know how much i love Britney! Tomorrow is an exciting day. Her album drops, she turns 27, she is performing on Good Morning America and her tour tickets go on sale. Can't wait! For those of you that want to join me (hint hint Mandy) i will be going on April 16th to the Staples Center and April 19th to the Pond. LMK

My Bionic Dog

If any of you have met my dog Bentley than you know how wild and crazy he is. Full of energy, always wants to play and ALWAYS wants to run. Well last night I was taking him from inside the house out to the dog run so I could go to my softball game and he broke off the leash and sprinted out of our yard. Instead of going over to our neighbors yard and eating their cat food which is what he usually does - he ran the opposite way full speed up towards 3rd st. I was chasing him, leash in hand as fast as I could because 3rd st is a very busy st. Well he ran out and I saw the car coming, heard the brakes screech and a loud Boom and then saw Bentley flying through the air. Bentley got up and took off running again. I continued to chase him thru the neighborhood until I found him playing with another dog in someone's front yard. I put him back on his leash and walked back to see if the driver of the car was ok. He was was a little shaken up but not hurt. Bentley seemed fine so we exchanged info and I took Bentley home. I checked Bentley's whole body to see if there were any marks or if he showed any signs of pain, but he seemed fine.

This morning I took Bentley to the vet just to make sure I didn't miss anything and sure enough the Vet gave him a clean bill of health and said he was perfectly fine. I can't believe it. Bentley is truly a "Bionic Dog". First he lived thru parvo as a puppy and now he walks away after getting hit by a car.

On my way home from the vet I swung by the guy's house that hit Bentley so I could see his car in the daylight. Check it out:

Halloween time

Jameson and I carved our Jack-O-Lantern tonight that we bought yesterday at the pumpkin patch. He scooped all the seeds and pulp out of the inside even though he hated his hands being all slimy. He asked me to carve a ghost on the front and then he added a "J" and an "L" for our names since we worked on it together. He carved the letters all by himself with the pumpkin carving knife and was very proud of himself. I am hoping our Jack-O-Lantern will last until Halloween since we carved it so early. But Ray and I are off to Cabo and then it's Halloween already. Man this year is flying by.

Look who's riding without training wheels.....

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday afternoon we took Jameson to the Pumpkin Patch to pick out our pumpkin and of course to play for a couple hours. Pumpkin patches are not what they used to be when I was a kid. Nowadays it's more like the Orange County fair with rides, animals and snacks than just a place to buy your future jack-o-lantern.

This year we switched it up and instead of going to the big pumpkin patch here in long beach on PCH - we went to the "Pumpkin Factory" in Westminster. I spotted this one off of the 405  the other day it looked really fun.  The Pumpkin Factory didn't disappoint - it had a few bounce houses, a bounce obstacle course, huge inflatable slides, carnival rides, ponies and tractors for the kids to ride. Jameson had a GREAT time and so did Ray and I. Somehow we managed to get him to pick out our pumpkin in between rides.

Since it was only Ray, Jameson and I -we didnt get a picture altogether - but Jameson did a really good job taking this pic of Ray and I!

Miles in the Morning

This morning I woke up early and decided to take my bike out for a nice morning ride. It was the perfect morning for a bike ride, not to hot or windy, the sun was shining and the beach was gorgeous. I ride down the coast to seal beach and then back home. I even stopped in the beach parking lot on the way to seal beach so i could work on switching gears. Ha ha. Yes Jared - bike rides are a little more fun when you switch gears!
Here is my route - total miles = 12.05 miles

Dev Monster Turns 2!

After the bike ride Ray, Jameson and I headed to Whittier for Devynn's 2nd Birthday Cupcake Party! 

Devynn looked so adorable in her tutu:

CCC, Ray, Jameson, Me, Lorena, Cesol:

Sprinkles cupcakes and I dont know who sprinkled that bottom one:

Crystal, Me, Megan, Lorena:

Jameson crushing the cupcake (milkshake?) pinata, lol:

Kristin and I:

26.2 Miles of Fun

I decided this past Saturday that I wanted to bike the Long Beach Marathon on Sunday morning. No preparation. No Worries. I mean I have already run a marathon, how hard could it be to bike one? Right? Wrong! 

I rode down to the starting line at 5:30am sunday morning in the freezing cold, with my next door neighbors (who are both experienced bikers).

Starting line - it's still dark out:

I was feeling pretty good the first few miles and gaining confidence until we hit our first HUGE uphill at mile 5. I don't really have much experience on my new road bike and I am not too sure about switching gears. So I kept my bike in the same gear up and down the hill. I know I wasn't in the correct gear going up hill cause people on beach cruisers were passing me. But I didn't want to risk losing my chain so I kept it in the same gear. Dumb, I know.  When I got down the hill I felt better again and cruised the next 5 miles. I got to watch an amazing sunrise over the Queen Mary and Shoreline Village as I was riding in to mile 10. Before this ride 10 miles was the farthest I had ridden on my bike so I was pretty excited that I still felt good and could ride farther.

I kept pedaling, down the beach path. The sun was completely up by this time and I could see everything. I saw a lady with a baby in a carrier take a nasty spill and cause a bike pile up on the path. But I kept pushing forward. We rode uphill towards Cal State Long beach and eventually thru the campus. I haven't been back since I walked in my graduation ceremony there in '04. It was a little nostalgic to see the dorms where I lived my freshman year and to see how much still looked exactly the same. Sororities and Fraternities were lining the bike route with signs and water cheering for us. The athletic department was there cheering "Go Beach". Out of CSULB we rode back around the campus to head down towards the finish line at Shoreline Village. This was my favorite part of the ride. Mostly downhill with the sun shining and peace of mind knowing that I was on the latter half of the 26.2 miles.

I finally crossed the finish line at 8:10am - after a 130 min ride. I felt great! Until I got off my bike and could hardly stand straight up let alone walk. My back was a little tight and my legs were sore. Also - sitting on that bike seat for that long wasn't really comfortable since I don't have those padded bike shorts! 

I finished!

All in all it did make me want to ride more. Anyone want to join me??

Things to know for my next ride: 

1. How/when to switch gears

2. Wear padded shorts

3. Get more than 4 hours of sleep the night before 

When you Wish Upon a Star.....

Amy's Wedding was this past Saturday at the La Mirada Golf Course. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony under a gazebo on the golf course. I have been friends with Amy for the past 21 years and I consider her family as my own so I got kinda teary eyed watching my friend get married. It was also nice to see and re-connect with so many old faces from my childhood. The reception followed at the Ritz Garden in Whittier.

Amy and I:

Ray and I:

Laurel Elementary Students with our Principal Mr. Lewis:

Back Row: Sara Kelly, Katie (Hilliard) Procedo, Amanda (Anderson) Brookes, Amy (Kliewer) Maxwell, Mr. Lewis, Monika (Mott) Oess, Mary Jo (Amys Cousin).

Front Row: Amanda Malave, Kelly Kliewer, Jessica (Uroff) Burleson, Me, Beth Maiquez.

Mr and Mrs Maxwell:

Mom and Me:

Rehearsal Dinner

Amy's Wedding party in the back row:

Elin, Aubrey, Kelly, Amy and Erin (missing: Elena)

Old school Friends in the front row:

Monika, Katie, Sara, Me

Step by Step

Last night I had the opportunity to go to a concert that was 15 years in the making (yes that makes me feel old) and see The New Kids on The Block! OMG! I was seriously having flashbacks to being 10 years old again dancing in my room to their cassette tapes. They were AMAZING live. They sang, danced, played All of their old stuff, a few of their solo songs and a few songs from their new album. The concert was 2 1/2 hours of solid screaming, dancing and feeling giddy (on my part). Ladies were even throwing their bras on stage!

I was invited to the show by my friend and Vivian who went all out for the occasion and got a box with open bar and food. Thanks SOOO much Viv! I took my friends Kerry, Brittany and Adarra who all enjoyed the show. Kerry and I even wore vintage New Kids tees :) The only bummer was that my camera battery died so i don't have that many pics but hopefully I can gather some from everyone else's camera's to post. 

Another highlight of the show - the opening act - LADY GAGA. I absolutely LOVE her and have been playing her music all week in my office, coincidentally. So I was sooo excited when I found out she was opening. Here is a sort video I took of her song Just Dance:

and is her video from youtube: