The Wood Family

I am READY!!!

2012-02-20T15:20:00.000-08:00

But apparently baby Jacob is not :0( As my online tracker indicates, Today is the Day!! Well, it's supposed to be anyways. There seems to be no signs of him coming soon, which is a bummer. However with Mike's team making the playoffs, with the first game being tomorrow, I do hope he will hold out until tomorrow night...say 930 pm. Yeah I get that I have no control of this situation, but I really want the team to do well... gosh I am such a wonderful wife :0). Well I think tomorrow I turn into a pumpkin, so at least the fruit will change...lol. I guess it's about focusing on the little things right now while I am waiting. Anyways, just thought I would give the blogging world an update.

In the mean time I have also kept myself entertained by practicing my Moby Wrapping. Now for those of you who don't know what a Moby is, it is a long piece of cloth that when wrapped in a specific, semi-complicated manor, holds your baby. Well I decided to practice on Baloo. He actually really enjoyed it!!

Anyways, hopefully baby Jacob will be here soon, cause I am not sure Baloo can take much more of my nesting!! LOL

My Furry Chidren

2012-02-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

Since Jacob should be here any day (fingers crossed), I thought I should blog a little bit about my furry children who are about to get a wake up call. When we got our cats four years ago (I can't believe its been that long!) we never thought we were cat people. They were strays and offered to us for free, so we took them in. We had no idea how much our lives would change! So it has been four years, 3 moves, two kitty surgeries, multiple shoe laces, hairbands, and pant strings eaten, 2 almost escapes, and many hours of cuddling. They have kept us laughing the whole time... here are some recent pictures as they have prepared for baby Jacob also.

So this is Bagheera post landing in Mike's hot chocolate. Bags was trying to drink the hot chocolate, so Mike tapped him on his belly. Well Bags got startled and went about one foot into the air and his back foot went fully into Mike's mug. I think Bagheera ultimately won this battle because he got to lick the chocolate off his leg for a good 20 minutes.

My next story doesn't have a picture because I was a little nervous. Baloo got into the garage and my waddling nine month pregnant butt could not catch him. Well, I tried to bribe him in with treats which didn't work. He found a sticky mouse trap which got stuck to his foot... needless to say he was panicked!! I finally got it off him, but the sticky stuff was still on his back foot. He kept sticking to the ground or if he walked over papers they just came with him. It was pretty funny.

Here are just some funny photos of them...

Needless to say we are very glad to have gotten these creatures by accident. We love them very much!

Cranberry Chuck Roast

2012-02-13T16:18:00.000-08:00

Three recipes in one day...man the blogging world is getting a treat from the Wood Family Household!! This recipe is another on of my very spectacular crock pot concoctions. It's a cranberry chuck roast...it's super good served over mashed potatoes!! And honestly the prep time could be less than five minutes!!

Cranberry Chuck Roast

- one package of dried onion soup

- two cans of cranberry sauce (pick your favorite)

- one chuck roast

Pour the dried onion soup on the bottom of the crock pot, place the chuck roast on top, then place the cranberry sauce on top of that. Cook on low for 8 hours. Yup that is it people!! And an added bonus is that your house smells like Thanksgiving when you come home!! Enjoy!!

Thank you Pinterest

2012-02-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

As my technology knowledge grows, so does the distraction time I can spend doing pretty much nothing. Pinterest is one of those things! For those of you who do not know what it is, it's a place where people can share ideas, recipes, and "How To's." Well I have been looking for easy, yet yummy, recipes for when Jacob arrives. You know something besides my crock pot specialties ;0) Anyways, Mike and I discovered two amazing recipes, so far! Since not everyone has Pinterest, I thought I would share them on here.... The first one we tried was a calzone (but as Debbi informed me it's actually called a Stromboli (yup just like Pinocchio)).

(First I wanna say I took this photo from Pinterest cause I forgot to take a photo when we actually made it twice)

It was super easy to make and actually really cheap, about seven dollars total! We put bell peppers, onions, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni in ours. It was so good!!! Also the braiding may look complicated, but it isn't at all. Let's face it, if I can do it anyone can! Here is the link for the full directions http://www.squidoo.com/homemade-calzone

The Second recipe was for Frozen Hot Chocolate!! Yup, you read that right! Ever since Mike and I visited Gabby and Jason in New York we have wanted to replicate our tasting of frozen hot chocolate. And low and behold Pinterest came through!! The above picture is us enjoying our first tasting of frozen hot chocolate in New York.

Anyways, we made this last night... a couple of things you should know before hand is that you will need a double boiler and you will most likely have to make a trip to the grocery store because it calls for some random ingredients. Here is the link to that recipe...

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/drinks/frozen-hot-chocolate-2/

This is what our final product looked like. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!

Baby Shower

2012-01-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my amazing friends and family threw me a HUGE baby shower!! They worked so hard on everything that I really want to make sure that this blog post reflects how amazing it was. I figured I should start with the decorations, since that's what everyone spent the most time on (I'm guessing). The shower was a jungle theme, which I loved!! Mos of the signs read "Welcome to the Jungle Jacob!" little does Jacob know how true this statement is ;0)

The cake in the middle was the cake that Matt and Kimmy made to make the announcement on the gender of their baby (that will be a separate post, but I am way excited!!) Anyways all the little animals you see are edible!! And of course the diaper cake on the bottom left made my Tori... awesome!

Now let's get to the party part of it. Of course all the ladies looked beautiful!! We played a couple of games, the clothes pin game which people couldn't say "baby," "boy," or "Jacob." If someone did they got to steal that persons. Surprise, surprise... Jaybee and Cindy won that game. Both of whom are very competitive and have questionable rule following techniques...lol. We also played bingo when opening gifts (which there was tons!!) and a memory game. Which everyone wrote down a memory of either me and Mike and we will read it to Jacob at some point (obviously depending on the stories depends on what age if ever he gets to hear them.)

I was so excited that almost my entire family made it to the shower!! I love this picture!! Tutu with her grandchildren and first great grand child!!

Then of course Gabby, who looks amazing!! It was baby Sweet's 4 month birthday on that day! I can't believe it!!

Then of course the token picture of everyone's generosity... Jacob is one loved little boy!! Obviously!!

Thank you everyone for one of the best days ever!! I appreciate everyone's hard work and generosity! I love you all!!

No Knife required...

2012-01-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

With the much anticipated arrival of Baby Jacob and my weeks of time off from work, I have decided to get into the kitchen a little more! (really at all). I have re-found my love for my crock pot!! I love that things come out yummy without even really trying. For example this recipe... Prep time was about 10 minutes (but it all varies on how fast you can open a can)

South Western Style Chicken in a Crock Pot Recipe (I think I need better names)

2 cans sweet corn (drained)

1 can black beans

1 can hot chopped peppers (or whatever spice level you like)

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

16 oz of salsa

Cheddar cheese

This is super easy... put the sweet corn, black beans, and some salsa into the crock pot and mix together. Set the four chicken breasts on top. Put more salsa and the peppers on top of the chicken and cook on low for 7.5 hours. Honestly I didn't measure the salsa and just went by what I felt. When you are about to serve it just throw some cheese on top and let it sit for about 5 minutes and the cheese will melt.

You can pretty much eat this with whatever... make it into a burrito. As for Mike and I, we forgot to buy tortilla's so we made some noodles and mixed everything together so it was like a casserole. Turned out fantastic!! The chicken is so tender it just falls apart with a fork, no knife required!!

Car Seat/Stroller

2012-01-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Chris and Sue our car seat and stroller combo arrived on our doorstep last weekend. It is extremely fancy, the Chicco Fit 30! Whoo hoo! Anyways, as most already parents know, some assembly is required on almost all baby stuff. Mike is in his nesting mode and was very excited to put it together, which was comical to watch, to say the least. Some of the best quotes from Mike were as follows:

1. "I feel like everything is connected, so how is it supposed to come apart?!?" (this was after about 5 minutes struggling to unfold the stroller after getting it out of the box.)

2. After looking for the directions for 10 minutes..."Oh that's a great idea! What genius decided to put the directions in the middle of the stroller where its all folded up!!"

3. While putting on the wheels..." Wouldn't it look cool if there were spinners on these wheels?"

4. "I am gonna practice folding and unfolding it, so I look like a cool Dad."

Needless to say, it was a fun day to watch Mike put it together... and I tried to show off to everyone about how easy it is to put up and down and of course I had to ask Mike for help... go figure!

Baloo was of course helpful the whole time. He really focused on the box to help out.

And here is the finished product!! (1.5 hours later) Good job Mikey!!

Back to my Roots...

2012-01-12T13:28:00.000-08:00

Mike got sick last night (big surprise...lol), nothing major, just a sore throat and a stuffy nose. So he requested to have me make him adobo for dinner tonight becuase it always makes him feel better. Oh, I love when my Italian husband turns a little Filipino :0). Anyways I thought it would be a great recipe to share with everyone. I will say this... there are exact measurements but I don't follow them. Just season how you like it.

Pork or Chicken Adobo

3- 4 lbs Pork or Chicken, cut into bite size pieces (the more fat the more authentic, but obvioulsy not everyone enjoys fat as much as my Dad)

1/2 Cup Vinegar (doesn't matter what kind, just use what you got in the cupboard)

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

1 Cup Water

2-3 Bay Leaves (whole or crushed, whichever you prefer)

2 Teaspoons Peppercorns (whole)

4 Garlic Cloves (crushed or chopped)

1 Medium Onion (color doesn't matter, whichever you prefer)

3/4 teaspoon Ground Pepper

Secret Ingrediant is sugar. I add about 6 spoonfuls of sugar, but I also use more vinegar, soy sauce, and water. The thing about Filipino food, which I learned from Grandma Shadd, is that nothing is exact. Just put in stuff to you liking.

The easiest part of this recipe is the cooking. Throw all the ingredients together into a crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours. Serve over rice. If you want to be really authentic (which for us is the only way to eat it), chop up a banana to serve with it. The banana may sound weird but its AMAZING!!

Anyways your house will smell amazing all day too... whenever Mike comes home he always says, "I love when our house smells like Little Manila!"

Pin It

21st Century

2012-01-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

First I would like to note that writing a blog everyday is a lot harder than it seems. I didn't realize that without working life can actually get.... well boring. Not that I am complaining because I do feel much better. Even my Dad noticed! The other day he said " Wow, you have color in your cheeks again!" LOL. So yes getting pulled out of work was the best thing for me. Anyways, staying at home has allowed me to start a lot of life changes. While we have been getting ready for Jacob's arrival, I have decided that I needed to step my game up as a mother. Well at least in the technology department. I am now the proud owner of a fancy camera (16 mega pixels and HD movie capability) and an iPhone 4s! Yup the one that talks to you (which is completely unnecessary, but fun none the less). Everyone has made fun of me for the last year because my phone still had buttons, but I never realized how bad it was until I handed my phone to the Sprint guy and he actually chuckled!! Anyways it is nice to join everyone else in the 21st century... I will see you all on Scramble with Friends, Words with Friends, and Hanging with Friends! (Cause really let's face it, that is why we all own one of these things!)

Another Photo Shoot...

2012-01-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

I feel like December was full of pictures (considering that was the primary gift to everyone, we had to take a lot of them). We tried to get all the "kids" together who go to Sunday night dinner, but that was harder than it sounded. So we did the best we could, but there were very important people missing obviously! Well here are some of my favorites... (We took them with Tori's special camera, which Mike and I purchased a similar one yesterday!! YAY!!)

Us girls in a tree... oh our natural habitat :0) lol

This picture took forever to get cause they kept competing...weird I know.

The Auntie picture for Jacob... I wanna do something with this picture also, but I just need ideas!! Come on people you know I do not do well with craftiness... so suggestions please.

The beautiful couple...Love this photo!!

Although it took some encouraging to get Kimmy into this tree... this photo was totally worth it!!

Again in our natural habitat... Kimmy looks kind of far away cause she did not enjoy being up there, but as usual she is always a good sport about it!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

Taking a break from baby posts one more time, to talk about the lovely celebration of Christmas Eve!! We had a great Christmas Eve at Debbi and Dayton's house this year! Everyone was able to come which made it extra special. Also the fact that I didn't have to work on Christmas Day didn't hurt the celebrations ;0) Anyways we had a 22lbs prime rib for dinner which was amazing!! Great job Dayton!! It was just a really good calm night with everyone and their families. Its amazing how much our family has grown in the last 12 years and to think that we are adding two more for next Christmas is crazy!! Its really exciting!!

It was really great to see Jenny!! She came up from LA to visit for a bit!

And of course the token pictures of the beautiful ladies... the fashion happening that night was amazing!! Look at Sam color blocking like a champ!!

Nursery Complete!!!

2012-01-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

Seven weeks in advance the nursery is complete!! I can't believe it!! The credit really goes to Mike... he worked really hard on putting things together and hanging things exactly where I wanted them. I feel like we have a lot of stuff already... which makes me wonder where we are are gonna put everything after the baby showers (yes that is plural cause I am blessed enough to have 3 thrown for me). Anyways here are the updated completed pictures of the nursery!

Here is the crib complete with blankets... the second one from the right is the most special. Sam's grandma made it!! Impressive I know!

This is the diaper changing area... Baloo is demonstrating where Jacob will be going.

A close up so you can see exactly whats up there.

The closet went from one of my least favorite areas to my most favorite areas. Mike did a great job of organizing it and Dayton had the genius suggestion to take the doors off so we have more room. All together I am extremely happy with the way the nursery turned out... now we just need baby Jacob!

Preggers Update

2012-01-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

Well its official...I am on maternity leave!!! I can't express how much better my body already feels just a week into this leave. Granted the pregnancy tiredness is still there, but now its JUST the pregnancy tiredness, not complete and utter exhaustion! So I got to thinking about this time off before Jacob arrives, what the heck should I do? Mike already did the entire nursery (Yup, he is pretty amazing!) and of course there will be cleaning done, but let's face it I can't clean everyday for 7 weeks! One thing that I am going to do is bust out my Rossetta Stone and learn some Spanish (you know after 3 years of owning it I figured it's about time to open it). But other than that I would love some suggestions. I also wanted to use this blog to show you some of the new pictures from our photo shoot. I love them all!!!

I love this photo!! I just need a cool idea with what to do with it!

Saw this sign and just had to take a picture in front of it!! I thought it was just too perfect!!

Nursery Update

2011-12-20T14:06:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Mike started working hard on the nursery (with help from my dad of course). Although there were some questionable decisions on how to put the furniture together, it has come together quite nicely, so far. One thing we have figured out in this assembly journey is that 800 square feet is extremely small!! Mike's quote of the weekend was "All we have to do is Jenga everything together...its a good thing that I am good at games like Jenga." Well the Jenga Master did get everything to fit...so I guess I am very thankful that I am married to the Jenga Master.

The start of making the crib... they only had to start over once!

This was one of the funniest moments cause they were just trying to get the box off the dresser but the ceiling kept getting in the way. As I am taking a photo my dad is saying "Hurry Mike I don't want a photo of this!" LOL

Okay to put the feet on the dresser they decided that the best way was to put the dresser on top of a chair. While my dad is holding the dresser Mike screwed the feet on...at least it all ended well.

Here is a somewhat finished corner... I may rearrange some stuff, but I wanted to contribute to the nursery before I left for work.

And of course the blocks that we love so much finally got put up on a shelf!

Another one...

2011-12-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

turns 30!!! I can't believe how much we have all grown up... marriages, babies, careers, and turning 30! It doesn't seem that long ago when I met Jaybee on the soccer field at CSUH, and within 10 minutes of meeting her I told her, "I hope you know that we are gonna be really good friends!!" I am always right ;0) My dearest friend Jaybee celebrated her 30th birthday this past weekend. We went out to dinner and then to the all famous Saddle Rack!! Well, Kimmy and I didn't go to the rack because being pregnant and going dancing in a bar doesn't really bode for a great combination. Anyways we enjoyed an awesome dinner at The Elephant Bar and went to a hotel to help the girls get ready to go out. Everyone had a blast that night... especially at the bar (judging by the pictures on facebook!!) It was a great way to send Jaybee off into her 30's!!! I know this next year will be amazing for her!! The above photo is pre Saddle Rack... we all dressed very classy to dinner (new favorite photo!!) And of course the beautiful birthday girl to the right with her birthday dessert.

Here are Tori (AKA LC) and Sam at dinner...both looked so beautiful all night long. Please comment on how good Sam's hair looks cause she spent two hours doing it and developed an arm cramp for the rest of the night!! LOL But her hair did look amazeballs!!

Here the preggo ladies of the night... Kim decided to take the classy approach and stay dressed to impress till she got home. Me on the other hand... being seven months pregnant makes you uncomfortable all the time so I decided to change. Mikes reply was "All your missing is your doorag and a can of worms."

Here are all the ladies dressed to impress!! I am sure they were the most beautiful girls in the bar!!

Beeze and Tweedy having fun at the rack!

Thought I would also document that Mike was the only guy there (other ones cancelled), but he stuck it out even at the hotel while all the girls were getting ready. He is one great husband!!

Christmas Craft Day

2011-12-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

I feel like our blog has turned into baby blog central lately, not that its a bad thing at all. Cause I am super excited with all these new babies coming into the world!! But I thought I would give some props to my crafty friends and all their projects lately! So every year we do a day dedicated to Christmas crafts. So everyone picks their craft and brings it to Debbi's house and works on it. It's a lot of fun... especially since we banned any craft done by Martha Stewart ;0). Anyways here are some pictures of the craftiness...

This is Sam's craft... a snowman family for her office at work. They are made from water bottles (which Mike did very good contributing too)and paper mache. They turned out super cute!!

Granted Tori didn't make these on Sunday, but she made them a while ago and I thought they needed some recognition. They are cake pops and they are delicious!!

Some other crafts this year that are not pictured above are ball garland (Kimmy needs to post on this craft cause I am still a little confused) but it involves water balloons and wrapping them in string and gluing over them. No picture yet because its not done (yeah I am just as surprised as you are that Kimmy didn't finish a project...lol) I guess I can't talk cause I didn't even attempt a craft this year...lame I know. Tori's project is a stocking for her dad....those take forever to finish, but when she is done I will post another picture.

Preggo Pictures

2011-12-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

To add to the theme of our blog lately I thought I would post some of my new pregnancy pictures from our photo shoot this past weekend. Yes, I said photo shoot, like I am a pop star!! If Kimmy is like Beyonce then I guess that would make me Kelly Rowland?!?! I don't know... anyways there is an access code to view more pictures on their website, so I will give that to you also. I think the photos turned out great!! I absolutely love them!!

I love this picture of Mike and I... we have never done professional photos before, so it was nice to get some really good ones.

I always wondered how pregnant I actually look, well this photo shows that I guess I am pretty pregnant!! LOL I have been waiting so long for this belly to show up!! Here is the website to view more of the pictures (its still not all of them!!) Click on the link then go to sneak peek, then type in bball. There are 14 pictures. I think the last one is my absolute favorite...even though I like them all.

jaebirdphotography.com

Who Doesn't Love Babies?

2011-12-05T17:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I figured for my 2nd time ever writing on the blog I should pull out the big guns. The exciting news I have to blog about is that Matty and I are having a BABY! We dropped the baby bomb on Facebook today with this video we made so I figured its safe to share with the blogosphere. Our little babe is due in June 2012. We couldn't be more excited!!! I like to think I waited until I was 30 to be pregnant just like Beyonce (it's one of the many things we have in common!) The greatest part is that our little babe will only be 4 month's younger than his handsome older cousin Jacob Wood. I grew up being really close with my cousins so I am beyond thrilled that our kids will be so close in age. Ash, who knew our hair-brained scheme of being preggo around the same time would work? I look forward to all that 2012 has to bring!

Below is the video that Matty and I made for our Facebook announcement. Yea, it's stop motion animation so feel free to be impressed. (Really we were trying to keep up with the likes of Gabby and Ash. Thanks for the inspiration!)

Story of We. from Kim Villamar on Vimeo.

Gender Announcement!!!

2011-11-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

We made our announcement at the Halloween Party a few weeks ago. Since most, if not all of you know, that the baby is a boy, I wanted to show off my cool collage that I made with the assistance of Tori's pictures. Also the name of the baby is Jacob Matthew Wood. We got the name Jacob from my mom's side of the family (her maiden name) and Matthew is after Mike's brother (cause he is so wonderful). Oh and I passed my blood glucose testing!! YAY for no diabetes!! Anyways just a little happy blog to help get you through your day!

A Frightfully Fun Party...

2011-11-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

I realize hat it is now almost mid November and I am still talking about Halloween. Well for two reasons... it is my favorite holiday, so I have a hard time letting go of the month of October and I have been laid up on my couch for the last week with the worst sickness ever. Its official, being pregnant and sick is the WORST combination in the world... its like traveling back to the 1500's when modern medicine did not exist. Anyways back to Halloween. We had our annual Halloween party at Debbi and Dayton's house this year. It was an extra special year because we were making the announcement of what the sex of baby Kirby was... and placing a bunch of bets. I think this year we actually out did ourselves on decorating. Dayton had the week before the party off, so he was able to get his creative juices going and make so really cool projects. I deem the party a complete success!! We had a lot of people there and everyone seem to enjoy themselves. Here are some pictures from that night...

Even Melodie made an appearance in her lobster costume!! She was so cute!!

And of course Mama Gabby looked adorable as Sponge Bob

I think most creative costume of the night goes to Matt and Kimmy- the Hamburglar and the hamburger!! And Kimmy made both costumes which makes it even more impressive!!

Funniest costume would have to go the Sam and Tyler as the "Wet T-shirt" contest. Very creative and impressive that they stayed connected as long as they did. Oh and there is Tori in her devil costume (Jaybee was an angel)... They decided to switch personas for the night.

And yes Tyler and Sara came down!!! Ironic that they were steak and eggs considering how specialized eaters they are... but I am sure Sara was a free range egg and Tyler killed that piece of meat himself. I am so glad they came down!!

Here is the gang... Debbi was Abby from NCIS and Dayton was a creepy Dumbledore!! I think Dayton had the most fun scaring everyone in his costume!!

And of course last but not least the goofy Shadd family. I think my dad won most shocking/obscene costume. He was a crack baby!! LOL!! Complete with authentic (but not used) crack pipe from Hayward. Every year he out does himself!!

Mike and I were Juno. Fairly easy costume to do while pregnant... so it worked out well!

The Most...

2011-10-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

ridiculous baby purchases yet!!! LOL!! So a little background before you see these purchases. Last weekend I went to a baby swap thing with Gabby in Sacramento (something like the one Mike, Sam, and Kimmy went to). I went with the idea of finding a jogging stroller... didn't happen, but low and behold the next day found a double jogging stroller made by a great company at a garage sale for twenty bucks!! AMAZING!!! Anyways moving on with the story... I had one rule to abide by. DO NOT BUY ANY MORE COSTUMES FOR BABY KIRBY!! to Mikes credit he didn't yell this but repeated it enough times that the statement needed to be in caps. I was doing great at the swap until I came across a Winnie the Pooh costume for about a 2-3 year old (For those of you who don't know... I bought a Tigger costume two years ago for a five year old). As I sat there contemplating the $8.00 purchase (yup it was practically free!!) My dear friend Gabby says, "It's really cute, you should just get it. You know Mike will love it." My response was "Its actually really practical because when baby Kirby is five and wearing the Tigger costume, Kirby's younger sibling can wear the Pooh costume!! How cute will that be?!?!"

Needless to say Mike didn't agree with mine and Gabby's reasoning, but the costume has grown on him now.

Second most ridiculous purchase of the day was a robe for baby Kirby. LOL!! Gabby found it!! I couldn't believe they make robes for babies!! It was just $3.00... so I just had to have it. I told Mike the reason we bought it was so that we can have a family portrait in our robes!! How awesome will that be?!?! Needless to say, Mike laughed a lot at this purchase.

Yup She's 30 People!!!

2011-10-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

My lovely sister-in-law turned thirty a couple of weeks ago. I decided since I had to work on her magical day, that I would dedicate an entire blog posting to her!! Although doesn't she look amazing in this dress!?!? Yeah that was her birthday gift from Mike and I!! So, I was trying to think of the best way to do this... and in true sporty fashion (which Kimmy loves to hate) I am gonna do a Top 10 List! Just like Sports Center...

Top 10 List on Why We Love Kimmy

10. She let's us call her Jimmy...just because that's what her name auto corrects too.

9. Her small hands (which may sound weird...but it makes for lots of jokes...which we can always appreciate).

8. She tolerates watching sports... even though she tries to occasionally switch the channel to Kindergarten Cop or a Lifetime movie.

7. She always is willing to try a new thing even if it is a sport. For example snowboarding... she almost killed our instructor, but kept laughing the whole time!

6. When she doesn't want to participate in our sporty shenanigans (which sometimes get a little crazy) she is always willing to photograph or video tape. (sledding...lol)

5. She moves slow in most things she does... but for the most part finishes her projects (minus snowball wreath).

4. She is really patient... I think it has to do with her slow moving...lol.

3. Her craftiness!! And I say this as an understatement!! Some of the ideas she comes up with I would have never thought of in a million years. Although some are flops (Martha projects no longer allowed) they are always fun!

2. She taught us girls how to dress!! I think all of us agree that if it weren't for Kimmy and her fashion know how we would all be in sweats all day everyday.

1. Finally... we love her because she is a great best friend, sister, daughter, and wife!!! We love you Kimmy!!

As an example of number 2 on the list I wanted to post some pictures of girls night out get together... we all got dressed up super cute!! So please enjoy...

Baby Aiden is 1

2011-10-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

I think everyone I know was born in October (okay a little bit of a hyperbole), but there are a lot of birthdays in October. My friend Krista's son turned one on Saturday. What was funny was I was looking at older photos and came across her baby shower, and it really doesn't seem that long ago. Anyways baby Aiden loves Elmo, so she threw a wonderful backyard Seasame Street Party. It was really great seeing him, Krista, and other girls from nursing school. Here are some pictures...

Close up of Aiden after he ate (and I really mean played with) his cake.

And Krista made these by hand!! They turned out so cute!! And super good too!! Apparently they were hard to do as her direct quote was "When your baby turns one, please don't ask me to make these. Cause I think I have carpel tunnel from these. Seriously I think I do!" LOL But if you are interested in making them... apparently there is a youtube video on how to do it.

Anyways I had a lovely day at Aiden's party.

Spicy Fever!!!

2011-10-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Last night Mike and I decided to skip out on Granada Homecoming Football game and stay at home and cook a fabulous dinner!! Now that I write it out... we chose cooking over watching sports?!?! I guess we are becoming parents...lol. Since I haven't posted a recipe in a while I thought I would indulge you with these new things we tried. All of these recipes came out of Better Homes and Garden. And laugh if you will, but yes we have a subscription other than Eastbay and Sports Illustrated.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

1 rotisserie chicken

2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies. (Two 14.5 oz. cans)

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup (2 10.75 oz. cans)

1 can cheddar cheese soup (1 10.75 oz cans.)

1/4 cup 2% milk

1 Tbsp. ground cumin

1 Tbsp. chili powder

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 pkg (8oz.) cream cheese

20 flour tortillas warmed

4 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Shred chicken and set aside. In a large bowl combine tomatoes, soups, milk, and seasonings. Transfer 3.5 cups to another bowl and add the chicken and cream cheese to that bowl.

Spread 1/4 cup just soup mixture into two greased 13x9 inch baking pans. Place 1/3 cup chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in baking dishes. Pour remaining soup mixture over tops and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake on pan at a time uncovered at 350* for 30-35 minutes.

It makes a lot so you may want to freeze the other one- it can last for 3 months in freezer.

Thaw in fridge overnight. Cover and bake at 350* for 45 minutes. Bake longer until cheese is melted to desire.

Tropical Guacamole

3 medium ripe avocados

2 cups finely chopped pineapple

1 medium tomato seeded and chopped

2 jalapeno peppers seeded and chopped

1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro

2 Tbsp. lime juice

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Basically all you do is chop all the fruit and veggies and mash the avocados, then mix together and enjoy!! This was super good... but if you like a little more spice then leave the jalapeno seeds in...YUM!!

Spicy Watermelon Salad

This was our experiment... we just got a seedless watermelon and chopped it into cubes. Then added lime juice, lemon juice, cayan pepper, and fresh cilantro. Everything was added to our liking and it actually turned out really good.

Well I hope you try at least one of these recipes cause it was all really good. And it did not take very long at all. Once we started we ate within 45 minutes to an hour. Here we are chopping and mashing with the best of them!! Obviously very focused!!

I Finally Met...

2011-10-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

Baby Sweet!!! And she is the cutest baby ever!!! Gabby and Jason are adjusting very well. And Gabby of course looks amazing!! Baby Sweet, aka Melodie, is a very calm baby. She just let us hold her and cuddle her, pretty much as long as we anted until she got hungry. Here is a picture...

I know you can't see her super well because Mike and I decided to take pictures as we were leaving (so organized as we are...lol). So you will just have to trust me on the cuteness factor. This of course made me even more excited for the arrival of Baby Kirby.

Goodbye South O Street...

2011-10-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Rose Street! Due to unforeseen circumstances Mike and I have to move before the end of the year. We are very sad to be leaving this place not only because the price was just absolutely perfect, but because it has treated us very nicely for two years. We have many fond memories of this place already...especially in the backyard. I have decided to make a Top 5 list of what we will miss most about our humble abode...

5. The screened in back porch that Baloo and Bagheera always sit at.

4. The island. As lame as this sounds I have always wanted an island in my kitchen and this place finally gave that to me. (Even though its more of a peninsula).

3. The garage filled with ping pong table, baseball Foosball, and a dart board.

2. Roasting s'mores in our backyard with our fire pit.

1. And of course growing wonderfully tasting veggies in the backyard... that I will definitely miss most. Even though it was back breaking labor :0)

Although it is sad to be leaving... its just another chapter in the Wood family life. We will be back in Pleasanton... we sign the lease tomorrow. The new place we are moving into is not going to be our permanent residence, but it will do for a while. And it will be Baby Kirby's first home!! Quite exciting!! So here is some pictures of our new residence...

From the front there is not much to look at, but maybe my green thumb can spruce it up a bit :0)

The token bathroom shot... I am just excited how clean it is!! Minus there is no bathtub for Baby Kirby...but that's what the sink is for.

Here is the kitchen (no island) but it will do just fine...PS hardwood floors are through out the house. The cats are either gonna love it or hate it...lol

Here is the garage...which will be used as a storage unit basically.

Here is the living room...but where this picture is taken from it looks small but there is a good size space where the person is standing.

Here is the backyard... needless to say we may have some trouble finding space for our fire pit and Adirondack chairs.

So now that you have toured our place who wants to help us move?!?!? LOL See I suckered you in...

Hello World!!!

2011-10-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

Meet Baby Kirby! So yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound and everything looks good!! Yes, Mike and I know the sex, but we are not telling anyone until Halloween. For those of you placing bets that night on the baby here are the categories... Height, Weight, Labor Time, Due date, and Time on the due date. Each bet will be $2.00 for each category. It will be a 50/50 betting situation... so the winner of each category will take home half the cash of that category. There will also be an overall winner which that person will get a secret prize!! Fancy huh?!?! Anyways here are the new pictures of baby Kirby... and know there are no pictures of that area on the body to give away the sex. But I like the effort people!!

So I can't figure out how to rotate the picture... but this is the profile of Baby Kirby. This one the doctor is going to blow up for us at our next visit so we can frame it.

Again I can't rotate it but this is of the spine.

And this is Halloween Kirby...lol!!! It's a front view of the face...so you can see the bones pretty good. I just figure in this photo Baby Kirby is representing how much he/she likes Halloween just like us!! The pictures look better in person and there is a few more of them, but I thought this would be okay until I see some of you.

Baby Shopping

2011-10-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

The excitement of having a baby and finding out the sex tomorrow, finally got to Mike this weekend. We found this event online that sounded pretty cool called "Twin Valley Mother of Twin's Club equipment and clothing sale", that was going on at the Pleasanton Fairgrounds. It was only on Saturday and of course I had to work. So Mike went with Auntie Kiki and Auntie Blam to this event. Let's just say I have never come home from work and seen Mike so excited to tell me about his day. He actually said, "This was the coolest event ever!!" "We are definitely going to another one!" Well $204.50 later our extra bedroom is now filled with baby stuff... and Mike could not be more proud! I will let the pictures do the talking.

Here is the giant pile of stuff.. some stuff to point out are a baby swing, an umbrella stroller, the trash bags are filled with clothing, receiving blankets, books, and smaller toys. There is also a bumbo wedged in there too, and I think that U-shaped pillow is called a boppy (don't quote me on that people I am new at this...lol)

This is one of my favorite purchases (and Baloo's too) the seat rolls around so all the toys can be played with. Baloo has already tested it out... he seems to like it so I think Baby Kirby will too.

This hippo flashlight I think was more of a purchase for Mike, but it made us laugh for many hours. Whenever his mouth opens to shine a light it makes the goofiest laugh ever. I love it!!

Not that we know what we are having, but Mike saw this onesie and just had to have it. Since it is Mike's motto.

And last but not least the costume purchases. I think Baby Kirby has more costumes than any other child on the planet already...lol. Auntie Kiki and Auntie Blam found the frog costume and Mike found the lion costume. I think they are amazing!! Good job guys on all the purchases and thank you so much for going for me!!

Baby Wood...

2011-09-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it's time to make the announcement on the world wide web... most of you already know, but since you have been patient not saying anything on Facebook, I thought I would reward you all with some creativeness. ENJOY!!

PS... Thank you Gabby and Jason and of course Baby Sweet for letting us steal some of your craftiness!!

Summer Update

2011-09-12T11:23:00.000-07:00

So as I am writing this and going through pictures to post, I am trying to figure out a good excuse on why I have not posted in so darn long. At first I thought well I have been super busy, but as I am going through pictures and struggling to find something interesting I have done this summer...being busy is probably not the best excuse. I have just decided that I haven't had a super interesting Summer to post about. Not that it hasn't been fun, but I think I used up all vacations and huge events in the first part of the year. Anyways let me update you on the last 2.5 months of the Wood Family's Life...

First thing to happen to kick off Summer was our old roommate (yes I said old...Sam has now moved on to bigger better things and now lives with her boyfriend down the street in Livermore...she's still close so its no so bad.) Anyways she graduated from the teaching credential program and now works for a Middle School in Baypoint!! YAY Sam!!

This Summer we went to A's games to see fireworks, hung out by the pool and just relaxed, and a couple of girls night out dinners which are always hilarious and fun... hmmm what else? Oh we went on a vacation to Tahoe with the Burkholder Family and extended family. We had a great time in Tahoe playing tennis, swimming, miniature golf...oh and stalking a bear that was hanging out in our neighborhood. Tori got a little close for my liking, but she got some cool photos of it. I guess since she didn't get eaten, it was worth it. All in all a good Summer...calm a restful. But I have a feeling things are about to get super crazy!!!

Been a Slacker...

2011-06-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been such a slacker on updating this blog and I apologize for that. But things have been a little busy. I have been officially moved to nights at my work... but don't you worry its just for another month and then I am back to days!! Whoo hoo!! (new schedule is updated at bottom of page...remember nights people!! So when you call during the day remember nights people!! ;0)I am trying to think of what else has been happening, but I can't, so maybe I don't have any good excuses for not updating. Well in that case I will make it up to you with both a video and an awesome outfit picture!! Yeah you feel special now ;0)

This video is gonna seem really random, but it was just an ah-ha moment I had and wanted to share with people that I care about who also do some bad things that they shouldn't... don't worry I won't mention names but you know who you are after you see this video!!

This is my fashion photo of the weekend from Sam's graduation party (which I will blog about tomorrow). The top is thrifted from this amazing store in downtown Livermore. The skirt is from Banana Republic, tights and belt are from Sam's closet. And the shoes, which you can't see too well, are from Payless. The garden looks really good too... which is Deb and Dayton's backyard.

My 30 before 30 List Update aka This Girl has been Workin

2011-05-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

I'm here to update my 30 before 30 list! I know a couple of you will be surprised that I completed some tasks on this list but to you I say " stop hating, haters." Most of these tasks were completed because my parents are coming into town tomorrow and I have to meet Momma Rosa's high standards. Now on to the completed items:

#4. Organize my home office desk and #5. Decorate my home office walls.

Okay this task was sadly a year in the making. I like to say our house is small and storage is limited so we liked to just put all our crap in the home office. You might ask "Hey I thought you had a garage?" and I'd say "Have you met my husband? He is a home wine maker and the garage is our makeshift winery." Duh, what else would we use our garage for? Let's take a look at some before pictures (please don't judge or report me to hoarders.)

Before pictures:

Yea it was a hot mess in there! Now look at the new and improved home office.

After Photos:

I love how it turned out! I added my Ikea shelf and my new bulletin board. Now I'm all inspired and can start making Matt's wine labels.

#8. Organize/decorate the floating shelves in our living room.

I was a bad blogger and didn't photograph the before of the shelves, my bad. Nothing drastic really changed, I rearranged some of the items and added a couple of books for height. I like the balance of the shelves more now. I'm trying to work with what I got as far as decorating goes at the moment since my cash flow is more like a trickle.

#10. Take an art class.

I took a calligraphy class in San Francisco and I loved it! And contrary to Mike's statement it wasn't filled with 80 year old grandmas. Some day people will realize I'm way more hip than 80 year olds. Almost everyone there was around my age or younger. There were only 2 older ladies. Calligraphy is awesome but something that takes years and years to perfect. I hope to work on it here and there and get halfway decent at it. My next art class I want to take is letterpress printing. Now I just have to find the closest senior center ;)

So there you have it my friends. I have completed 4 items off my list. Sure its June and I have 26 more items left, but slow and steady wins the race. I think I'll have 3 more items completed by next week.

Vegas Fashion...

2011-05-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

As most of us girls know, things you wear in Vegas you probably won't ever wear again in real life. With that being said I think we looked fairly classy for being in the Sin City. My quote when shopping for this trip was "Yeah wear whatever...its Vegas," only to be scolded (and I mean that in a very loose term), by Mike saying, "there are still rules in Vegas!!" Gotta love the husband! Well us girls never pulled a "Britney Spears" and with enough tape our girls never made a surprise appearance. So all in all it was a great fashion weekend of things that we may never wear again...

I am not one hundred percent sure where Sam got her dress (but I wanna say Macy's in the prom section, I forgot to mention that they best time to shop for Vegas dresses is during prom season...go figure!) And her shoes are from DSW.com

My little (and obviously using that word generously, probably tiny would be better) black dress is from a store in the Pleasanton Mall ($23.00... cause it was damaged!!! YAY!!) And to be honest this was one of the more conservative choices in that store...lol.

And here is Tori in her amazing blue dress... I am not sure wear she got this though. All I know that this dress was picked out 1 day before we left. I also know that it was between this dress and a dress that had zebra print and feathers on it (Let's just say I think we all think she made a good choice here). Her shoes are Jessica Simpson slingbacks from my closet (Yes, people do occasionally borrow from me).

What Happens in Vegas...

2011-05-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

ends up on my blog. (should I say our blog even though Kimmy never posts...hmmmm). Anyways we went to Vegas this past weekend because Mike had a coaches clinic. Maybe I should rephrase that, Mike went to Vegas because he had a coaches clinic and everyone else tagged along ;0). The weekend was a total blast!! Of course I can't reveal everything that happened because I love my friends way too much to embarrass them like that (or myself). But lets see if I can give you a few highlights...

TOP 10 EVENTS/ QUOTES from this past weekend...

10. Wooty (Sam you don't spell it with an "i"), Half-rican, Canadian, and Bubbles (our name tags on our club crawl the last night we were there... guess who is who)

9. Th Blue Smurf Martini... the greatest drink ever!! Doesn't even taste like alcohol (always a good thing).

8. Tori's Birthday being celebrated at Hard Rock Cafe... with a very specific shot.

7. Everyone winning some sort of money gambling by the end of the trip.

6. Sam going to the bathroom at a club with the stall door wide open thinking that her stall was the only stall in there without a door. (It had a door...lol)

5. Tori cleaning gum off her "Biggest Fan's" T- shirt at 3 am on the strip for an hour.

4. Tweedy and Sam's sunburn (inner thigh and armpits... really ladies???)

3. A note written by someone in their sleep (not that hard to guess who) saying " I finished Tweedy's Vegas Drink."

2. Jon tanning by the pool with socks and a t-shirt wrapped around his head like a durag, then getting in the pool saying "I am just like Michael Phelps, this is my natural habitat."

1. Tweedy falling down the stairs at the MGM Grand... pretty much the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life!!

We had a great time and created some great memories... we definitely missed a few people though!! So we will just have to do this again (Maybe next Mother's Day...lol Just kidding Deb.)

Yes we clean up nice... but take a look at the shoes. We had heels (of course) but as we learned the hard way the first night, we could not walk everywhere we wanted to go in them. So we purchased Dr. Scholl's Fast Flats... the greatest fifteen dollars we have ever spent!!

Jon in his "natural habitat"!!! Notice the girls expression behind him...lol

I got my backless shirt!!! As Kimmy pointed out its circa 1998 (I am all about the classics). And of course the thug life part of our little group... lol. They look so hard don't they?

Had to have our standard bathroom photo... and this one had doors on the stalls ;0)

Fun by the pool...just ignore my antenna hair

And of course the photo of our entire group... which we took four of because Mike kept having his eyes closed... we finally gave up as you can see.

Sometime you have to borrow...

2011-05-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

to make outfits work. I have learned many things on my road through fashion rehab, but probably the most important thing is to borrow from your friends. In this out fit I wish I could tell you I am wearing something that I own (okay besides bra and underwear), but sadly I am not. I think rule number one of having girlfriends is have friends all around your relative size and you will never run out of clothes to wear ;0). Thanks to Tweedy I am wearing a beautiful dress and shoes (which as high as they are, were pretty comfortable). And Kimmy lent me the tights and jacket... granted I haven't given her the tights back, but I will buy her new ones. I would show you more pictures of this outfit, but Tori has them all and refuses to share. I swear between Kimmy and Tori we never see any pictures...lol.

Fashion shoot...

2011-04-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

Okay not really... but Tori's camera is so amazing that it makes everything she takes pictures of look amazing!! Before you look at this comical photo shoot you have to remember that it was our first one and that we were out in the middle of Galt on a farm, (and we don't make very good cowgirls). Another thing you might notice is that it looks like we are stuck in Pleasantville (according to Kimmy)... but that was the creative mind of Tori to take the pictures like that. Please feel free to laugh and pass judgment on all the photos, however the outfit is pretty cute if I say so myself. One thing of advice on the outfit... if you are looking for a white sweater vest you may have to go all the way to New York to find one!!

We started the photo shoot in Sacramento... and yes that is a power box I am leaning up against. LOL

We found a bike on the street and thought it wold make a good prop in our shoot. (Although I really wish I did own this bike)

I am being a serious model in this photo.... which lasted about 2 seconds...

As for the clothes...

Black/white shirt- Banana Republic Outlet

Sweater Vest- Boston TJ Max

Joe Jeans- Macy's

Necklace- from Kimmy

Boots- from Debbi

The Easter Bunny came and went...

2011-04-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

After we went wine tasting on Saturday... Sunday was Easter!!! I am beginning to think that there is hardly a weekend that happens that we don't have something planned to the max on. Anyways it was just another weekend full of events!! Easter was a calm one this year, thank goodness. We spent the morning at Chris and Sue's house where the boys cooked us a wonderful breakfast. After we went to Debbi's house where everyone came over. We had a wonderful dinner and celebration. Again we laughed a lot and took lots of pictures... (nothing different than any other day...lol)

Very good photo taking Tori... I love this picture of the boys!!

I forgot to mention one major detail of our Easter celebration... The Egg Roll. This is a Burkholder family tradition, where two people roll an egg at each other. When they hit only one egg will break (physics is weird , don't ask me why this happens). anyways the winner stays and plays the next person until we are all out of eggs. We started a trophy four years ago and unfortunately there are only two people with their names on it... Kimmy and Mikey!!! Grrrr. Anyways Tori and Dayton were the only ones not to win an egg roll match...lol!!

Here are the "losers" of the day... and I mean that in the kindest way possible...lol

Here is the champ with her trophy!!!

Tori's Big Suprise!!!

2011-04-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated Tori's big 27th birthday!!! We planned two days of fun with all the girls. Of course Tori was freaking out because anything out of her control she freaks out of course (she can't help it, that's the "mom gene" in her). Anyways we took Tori to Sam's parents house for the weekend. On Friday we hung out and played with animals (miniature donkey, baby goats, and sheep). That night Kimmy and Tweedy met us, so we had a huge bonfire in the backyard. (I have failed to mention that Sam's parents house is located in Galt... where there is tons of land and farms). After the monstrous fire calmed down a bit, and we knew it wasn't going to catch the whole wilderness on fire... we made some s'mores! The next morning we got our fancy clothes on and went wine tasting for the day. We started at 10 am ... needless to say we were home and asleep by three. It was a wonderful weekend with the ladies... we spent a lot of time eating and laughing. And thanks to Sam's parents we ate a ton of awesome food. Nothing like having your own personal chef for the weekend!! Anyways... enjoy the pictures!!

Sam loved this setting of the table, so we had to take a picture. It looks like we were served here... but let me tell you they kind of freaked when we sat here cause it was reserved (not for us..lol)

I don't know when Tori and I will stop trying to be cowgirls... in this picture we look like we know what we are doing, but I am not posting the ones when the goats baaaawed. (Even though I think sheep make that noise...I am not sure what noise a goat makes, but what ever it is its startling)

Love this photo!!

Here is a lovely view of how dressed up we actually got... even though it took ten minutes for Kimmy to walk into this picture it was well worth the wait ;0)

What I've Learned...

2011-04-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

Until recently most people who know me or who have ever known me would never start a sentence about me with "She has great style..." or "She always looks put together..." In fact those statements would probably have been coming out of peoples mouths in sarcasm or while laughing, if they were to describe me. That is until recently. Not that I am a "fashionista" or anything close to that, but I have come to enjoy some fashion blogs and shopping (thanks of course to Kimmy). I can finally understand the relationship between women and their clothes, maybe because I have an income I finally understand this...lol. The story begins a month ago when my friends decided to either put me on What Not To Wear or take me to the outlets. Seeing as we had no idea how to get me on TV, we went to the outlets and the mall. Anyways it was tons of fun and Mike didn't get upset at the whole new closet I purchased (yes the old clothes were that bad that the husband said good job shopping).

Anyways you might ask yourself why the heck is she posting this weird thing... well I am going to start posting some fashion outfits that I have tried and either failed miserably or succeeded nicely. But seeing as I work a ton and don't always have something to post I figure this will be a good filler. So the "fashion show" starts in the fashion capital of the world ... New York! Now these outfits are for the beginner (the women who are trying to convert from daily scrubs to nice outfits...please follow closely ;0)

First you have to understand... clothes don't completely make sense to me yet (especially scarfs). Sometimes it requires an expert to teach you how to place a scarf around your neck. As you can tell Mike is very focused cause he knows that he may have this responsibility once we get back to California.

Here is a blurry view of the outfit... Jason, the photographer of the day, sometimes liked to focus on Mike a little more than the actual subjects of the photo shoot.

Here is the good close-up... yes with the peacoat (but hey its Boston and that's how they roll)

So where did all this come from-

Boots- birthday gift from Debbi

Leggings- Gabby's closet (yes they were to small since the height difference is 1.5 feet)

Skirt- Forever 21

Jacket- my closet (don't remember who/where from

This is a typical (semi-dressy) outfit I would have chosen in Boston 3 months ago (had it been warmer). See the outfits have come a long way!!

My Friends are AMAZING!!!!

2011-04-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday Tori and Sam ran their first half marathon. These two have been training for months!! And when I say training I mean waking up at 4 to 5 AM and running for an hour or so!! They actually carry mace with them on their runs (now in my head that would trigger something saying maybe we shouldn't do this). The race they ran was to help raise money for Saint Jude's Hospital... the race raised about $17,000!!! I must say they did a great job running and I am very proud of them... even though they dragged Kimmy and I out of bed at 415 AM to get them there (it was well worth it). Although I still do believe I am owed a Starbucks for that...hmmmm. Anyways the girls finished right at 2 hours (almost exactly on the dot!!) and that was their goal!! I must say though Sam looked like she had a better time when she crossed the finish than Tori did...lol. Although you wouldn't know it since Tori is now fully addicted to these runs and has already signed up for another one!! Maybe the title of this blog should be my friends are AMAZING/CRAZY!!

Here are the great supporters that were there in the early AM!! Yeah Kim and I were supposed to make Tori a sign, but lets face it that early in the morning our brains were not functioning!! In this photo is Sam's boyfriend and family.

I wanted proof that I was there before the race started... I must say it was a pretty sunrise and pretty day!!

They finished and got medals!!! I don't think they give those out to everyone ;0)

And of course we had to get a group photo with these awesome ladies!!

Yup....He's Thirty People!!!

2011-04-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

Matt Wood just turned thirty...isn't that old? Just Kidding Matt!! Ironically enough I am the one who is writing this post even though Kimmy planned the whole day, did the decorations, and not to mention its her husband. But I figured if anyone wants to know about it I better blog it. ZING!!! Matt's big day we all went wine tasting, which you may be thinking to yourself... his family doesn't drink? Well not only that but Sam and Tori were running a 1/2 marathon the next day so they didn't drink either!! I think out of the 14 people that went only 8 people did wine tasting. Anyways it was tons of fun!! We went to two different wineries, The Big White House and another one that I can't remember...lol. I can't remember due to forgetting not to drinking too much! After the wineries we went back to mama Deb's house and had a big feast of lamb and chicken. It was a wonderful day spent with friends and family. I still can't believe Matt is thirty... not that its old, I just remember him turning 21 so vividly and it doesn't seem that long ago. Man, that last sentence sure made me sound old.

Mike and I decided to take "wedding photos" while we were there...turned out pretty good!! Good ob Tor and Sam!!

The Birthday Boy and his beautiful wife!!!

We finally made it to New York!!!

2011-04-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe, but after two years of talking about taking a vacation to see Gabby and Jason in New York... we finally did it!!! Thanks to a wonderful birthday and wedding gift from Debbi, Dayton, Matt and Kim! We could not have timed it better!!! Jason was on his spring break, we got to see Gabby preggers, and we spent another vacation with Jeff and Rondee!! (According to them, 3 out of the 4 kidless vacations they have taken, Mike and I have been on...lol).

It was the first time Mike has ever been to the East Coast (in his words... "Florida doesn't count cause it doesn't snow there"). We went into this vacation saying whatever we see is fine... no real plans or anything. Well turns out when you say things like that, you tend to see everything. We were non-stop going for the five days we were there. We did everything from going to a Ninja Restaurant to Ground Zero to Boston to seeing a play on Broadway. The show we saw on Broadway was "How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying," with Daniel Radcliff. It was super good and I got to see Harry Potter in person!!! That was pretty awesome!!

We spent a whole day in Boston... which was probably my favorite part of the trip. Boston is amazing (almost as amazing as weddings). There is a trail that goes through out the city called the Freedom Trail, and it shows you all the historical places in Boston. It was so cool seeing everything from Mother Gooses grave to the site of the Boston Massacre. I just really enjoyed everything about this trip... thank you Gabby and Jason for being such great hosts!!! And thanks Jeff and Rondee for letting us crash another vacation of yours ;0) On the left is a picture of us following the Freedom Trail... it is so cool!!!

The boys at the Ninja Restaurant... oh how they loved being Tum Tum, Colt, and Rocky from the Three Ninjas.

And of course we went to Fenway... for not being super baseball people we sure went to a lot of parks.

Getting a little excited...

2011-03-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

So as my lovely roommate pointed out this evening in a text, (while my favorite movie was playing on ABC family), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is coming to video April 20th!!!! That news got me extra excited about the last movie coming out this July. I decided to try and get a sneak peak at part II, and I found this... so I decided to share it with you all. It looks amazing!!! Can't wait!!! Now I just need to figure out who I should dress up as at the midnight showing...

Weekend in Monterey

2011-03-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I actually went on another vacation, believe it or not!! This time Mike and I went to Monterey for the weekend and stayed at this awesome hotel, thanks to Deb and Papa. The weekend was super relaxing, we just hung out on the beach and went antiquing (yes we are 80 years old). We also had some great dinners at the Charthouse and the Rio Grill. The weather was amazing... I actually got to wear a skirt!! Every morning we woke up to seals barking, otters swimming, and dolphins. I am not even exaggerating...it was amazing!!To the right is a picture of our view from our room!! Take that in Dayton cause I want those windows in my imaginary house...lol. Minus the fact that seagulls were constantly trying to get into our room... it was pretty unbelievable. During our three hour trip to the antique store we came across the strangest thing we have ever seen!! Of course we all know how creepy old time dolls are... but Mike and I found the creepiest thing in the world.

Take a look to your left... it could be yours for a measly $85.00!! We told Matt and Kim since we haven't bought them a wedding gift yet, that we will buy them this... Matt's response was " You have held off for almost two years, another week wouldn't hurt." LOL priceless. Needless to say it was a great weekend... now its time to go back to reality. But in one month we are going to NYC!!! Can't wait!!

Finally a blog/life update....

2011-03-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

I really don't have much of an excuse for not blogging in months... but I am gonna come up with one anyways. I have been traveling like a maniac lately (well since the first of the year really). We have done a lot of trips with the girls... so the start of the year has been really good for all of us. If the first three months of the year are any indicator for whats to come, 2011 is going to be quite the year!! I am looking forward to it. Instead of explaining each trip individually, I thought I would just do a one post recap of the last three months... so here it goes.

Tahoe was our first trip of the year... all the girls got together and we drank wine, went sledding, and made giant snowwomen. We figured out this year that it helps to have a genuine east coast person helping with the snowfriends (Sorry Kimmy you don't count... no snow in Florida, therefore not east coast...lol) But Sara not only decreased our time of making a snow man by at least 5 hours... we also increased our number of snowfriends by 3!!! We made a snow Gabby, Tweedy, and Jaybee. All of which were accurately portrayed of the real person. Sledding was a blast!!! We went to Granlibakken (Swedish, therefore incorrect spelling) and we did all kinds of crazy stunts down the hill. It was like we were all ten years old again... one word AWESOME!!!

Next trip... almost exactly one month to the date... we went to Disney land, another all girls trip. (As I am writing this blog I have realized that we don't like to invite boys very often...hmmm.. but we have more trips planned this year that are coed.) Disneyland was a blast!! We spent three wonderful days at the Happiest Place on Earth!! I don't think we stopped laughing the entire time. One day we all wore matching seven dwarf shirts... each girl was a different dwarf that represented their personality. I was sleepy cause I sleep about 12 hours a night, Tweedy was Doc cause she always talks medical stuff and she's the smartest ;0) lol, Sam was happy cause she wanted to be (lol!!!... just kidding she is always happy) Tori was Sneezy cause... if you ever heard her sneeze you would feel bad for her cause she doesn't let it out. Kimmy was bashful cause lets face it she is embarrassed by us a lot, and Jaybee was Grumpy just cause we thought it would be really funny to see her reaction... and it was! We didn't have a Dopey cause we were hoping we would find him there...but we didn't. Anyways it was tons of fun!! We have many more trips planned this year... New York is one of them and Vegas is another!!! YAY!!!

This photo may look awkward at first glance, but there is an explanation. Jaybee said give me your best scary face (cause we were standing in line for Tower of Terror) I heard "best scary face", Tweedy Sam and Tori heard "best scared face," and judging by this picture Kimmy was not paying attention.

Getting ready to go on the best ride in California Adventure!!! Toy Story!!! So much fun!!

We tried to do a jumping picture... which actually turned out alright!! Go Team!!!

TAKE THAT TOR!!! I ACTUALLY BLOGGED!!!

My 30 Before Thirty List

2011-01-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

Update: I had to change one of my 30 because #10 the exhibit at the DeYoung sold out before Matt and I could see it. I changed it to taking an art class which coincides with me signing up for a Calligraphy class that I'm taking in March.

As anyone will tell ya (especially Ashley) I am turning the big 3-0 this year. Wow, it's semi-depressing to write that out. Anywho, I wanted to do a "30 before thirty" list to accomplish some things before I hit that milestone. I took inspiration from people like Gabby who are doing the 101 in 1001 list but frankly I had trouble thinking of 30 things so there was no way I could come up with 101 items. Now these aren't bucket list items like skydiving or sailing around the world. These are just some simple goals. I decided to put them up here on the old blog so I can have some accountability and can share my progress. So without further ado here is my list:

30 Before Thirty List

Write each of the bunnies (my east coast ladies) a letter once a month.
Cook 2-3 recipes a month from the Pioneer Woman Cookbook.
Organize the hall closet.
Organize my home office desk.
Decorate my home office walls.
Put pictures in my jewelry box frames.
Hang up all our artwork.
Decorate/organize our floating shelves in the living room.
Start a gratitude journal and write down 5 things I'm grateful for every night.
~~See the second half of the Impressionist exhibit at the DeYoung Museum~~. Take an art or crafting class.
Find a neutral eyeshadow for everyday wear.
Save money towards my Nikon D3000 DSLR Camera.
Utilize all the frames I have at home before buying others.
Buy fresh flowers at least once a month.
Start a Blurb album of wedding photos.
Make an album of all my past stationery projects
Call my dad (on his cell phone so he feels special) twice a month.
Find a lipstick/lipgloss color I enjoy and wear it a couple times a week.
Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day.
Build or buy a bookcase for the living room to store additional books or dvds.
Visit Lily Kate over the summer.
Take my parents to visit Napa.
Make curtains for our bedroom.
Make a pillow for our couch.
Teach Emerson to "drop it" while playing fetch.
Visit SF Moma.
Take pictures at a gathering and actually distribute pics afterward.
Dine at 2 new restaurants in SF.
See a performance of the SF Ballet.
Make a handmade gift for Matty's 30th Birthday.

I hope to take pictures of each of these goals as I complete them. And God willing put them on the blog too. The first one off the list will be #10 because I am going to the DeYoung on Sunday to see the exhibit. Wish me luck!

Christmas Craft Day

2010-12-15T21:24:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had our annual day of crafts!! The day was spent trying to be like Martha Stewart, watching Christmas movies, and cooking A LOT!! Although we all tapped into our little Martha, the day was spent mostly cursing at her (probably something she does not do). Debbi, Matt, and Tweedy spent the day in the kitchen (thankfully Tweedy spent her time in the kitchen cooking us breakfast---YAY for Tweedy!!!) The rest of us spent our time doing our little projects. Sam made a snowflake light out of rope lights, I gave up on that one after the first round. Tori spent her day sewing. Kim spent the day making a cupcake liner tree, which turned out a lot cuter than it sounds. Mike spent the day making a penguin wreath (made for ages 6 and up). Dayton and Mike did a side project of making root beer, which unfortunately will not be ready until New Years... that was disappointing to find out because we were all ready for root beer that day! Here is Tori's insane project... from the looks of it in this picture it looks very basic, but wait till its done... that will require a whole post in itself. Also lets take notice of the fabulous bangs!!! I love it!! Then there is good old beeze... crafts are not her forte and apparently neither is grating cheese. Deb definitely recruited the wrong girl for the job...lol. The picture of Sam is with her final project... she made four of them!! Major kudos to that, because they may look easy, but let me tell you... zip ties are not your friends!! As for me the picture below explains most of the day for me... I mostly watched the movies and then when I did decide to get ambitious I tried to finish Kim's craft from last year. Advice number one... never make a pom pom wreath. They may look cute and seem like a really great idea but its not. Here we are a year later and the dang thing is still not done!! As usual Jaybee and I were the least productive of the day ;0)

Oh, A Tree Hunting We Will Go!!!

2010-12-06T16:35:00.000-08:00

You may be wondering why we skipped such a major holiday, going from November to December without so much as a mention of Thanksgiving. Well I had to work... so I left it up to Kim to document all the Thanksgiving festivities that happened... well guess what?!?! Kim not only did not blog, but did not take any pictures!! Kim I believe you just got herbed!!!

Anyways Thanksgiving weekend we did our traditional tree hunting with the entire Burkholder family. Another great year with family, eggnog, saws, and the smell of winter in the air!! We all drove down to Morgan Hill and found our Christmas tree. Little did we know then that the trees that we picked would cause us so much grief!! Since the lighting and decorating of both trees (one at Debbi's house and one at our house), the Burkholder's tree fell over, and it wasn't even Emerson's fault!! Believe it or not we just picked that crooked of a tree. As for our house... our tree must have had a lady bug nest in it because we have had an infestation of the little red bugs since. Its been hard to rescue them before the cats get to them. Talk about peace on earth between all creatures!!

After we chopped down our tree we went home and hung ornaments and listened to Christmas music. Sam was the honorary guest to put up Christmas Bear on top of the tree... she is officially in the family and there is no escaping us now!!

Funny Pictures

2010-11-18T16:25:00.000-08:00

I recently started to notice that when we all take pictures for an event or something that we set aside the "bad ones"... well I decided that some of these "bad ones" are actually the best ones!! The saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words... well these pictures are worth more than a thousand. I began my search of my library to find a couple of photos...however there is a lot more than a couple. So on slow blog days I have decided to show you these awesomely hilarious photos... so you have some sort of entertainment at work ;0) We will just start with a few random photos...

Here is Molly and Kim... so hungry for s'mores they can't even put it down for a picture

Okay, now this photo is extremely awkward... but to know Dayton's sense of humor is to love Dayton. Although I do love how terrified both boys look...lol

To justify my face in this picture... I thought sense it was being taken in that sienna or whatever its called... I thought I should embrace my John Wayne side!!

Tweedy's Surprise 25th!!!

2010-11-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

So our dear friend Tweedy turned 25 this year in August... you might be asking yourself why the heck did you throw her a birthday party in November then??? Well the answer is two fold... one, she was in Europe for her actual birthday and two, we really wanted to surprise her! We decided to invite all her friends and family to meet us at Roux Louisiana Kitchen in San Jose, off Santana Row. We told Tweedy that we were planning a girls night out, so she would suspect anything. And it worked!! We got there and her first response was "Why is Dayton here?" (even though that is most peoples response when they see Dayton somewhere...ZING!!! lol) Then we yelled SURPRISE!! And she was still a little slow to understand what was happening...lol. After she caught on...it turned out to be a great night. We got her these sweet purple heels to add to her collection (not that she needs any). The dinner was great and we all got these drinks called hurricanes, which were super cool cause they put dry ice in them, so it bubbled. After dinner we went to a bar in Los Gatos (forget the name) but it was really fun!! We had a great time dancing the night away...unfortunately they didn't play our song, The Cupid Shuffle, before we left. Sam was super disapointed ;0) It was another great night out with friends and family!!

Tweedy with the boys

Oh the birthday girl had a grea night with her date ;0)

All Hallows Eve...

2010-11-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

Peanuts style!! This years Halloween we decided to take it a little bit easy on everything, so we only slightly decorated...lol!! The entire group decided to do a theme... and we decided on the Peanuts gang!! It turned out super cute!!The party was a big success because it was the same night as the World Series... and we all know how that turned out. So needless to say the bay area embraced the black and orange, so it made for a great Halloween.

Everyone seemed to have a great time and the costumes this year were amazing!!! Jon won best costume.. he was a hillbilly. Of course I had to leave early cause I had work the next day... but it was a fun day at work!! Gotta love Holloween!!

To the left is Dayton's spider that he worked super hard on... it moves and everything!! Very impressive!!

I told Jaybee to dress as a peanut character... and this is what she interpreted Mr. Peanut!!!

Jon with his hillbilly costume... lol!!

Debbi was a gypsie and baby lucas and the whole Burkholder family were some version of Santa Clause... they looked super cute!

My mom was a biker chick...I think the tatoos were very natural looking ;0)

The most creative costume of the night went to my brother and Dominic. I saw them earlier in the day and they were covered in styrofoam dust... then five hours later they show up at the house like this!!

Mike's Hidden Talent

2010-11-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

As most of you know Mike and I are not the most crafty people on the planet. Its hard to believe that such athleticness cannot translate into sewing, paper cutting, or scrapbooking...but it doesn't. However, in the recent years we have discovered Mike's hidden talent... pumpkin carving!! He does it all without tracing!! I am very impressed with his craftiness... now if only I could find my crafty side.

This is the barfing pumpkin and the skull pumpkin from last year.

Dwight K Shroot from The Office, from two years ago

This year was Snoopy... the whole gang dressed up as Peanuts characters...so it went with the theme!!

Krista's Baby Shower

2010-10-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

It is quite amazing that we are in the section of life that baby showers are out numbering bridal showers!! I can't believe how many of my friends are having babies... I love it!!! Puts the baby fever on the back burner for awhile... lol. Whats a little ironic about this post is that as I am posting this my friend Krista is giving birth... so obviously I am a little behind. Anyways we had a "nursing reunion"/ baby shower for Krista's baby boy Aiden!! It was so great to see everyone and play games and just catch up on life! I of course, being the competitive one that I am, won one of the games. It was the guess how big the belly is with ribbon game (I am sure that is the official title)... I swear I was only a centimeter off!! I was quite excited to say the least. It was a wonderful day with my nursing friends!!

So my friend Grace painted this free hand for baby Aiden's room!! He has a jungle theme room and so she did it from memory!! I can't believe how good it turned out!! It put my store bought present to shame...lol

Katie apparently has craftiness too!! She made this blanket.. and it also matches the room!!! These girls are AMAZING!!!

Kimmy's Birthday Fun!!!

2010-10-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Kimmy's last birthday in her twenties, we went to Campo di Bocce for a nice dinner and some bocce ball. Earlier in the day we took a family trip to the fabulous city of Oakland to see the Pixar exhibit, eat at Sauls, and get some Fentons ice cream. Both were fabulous... apparently Mike and I like museums that show cartoons. And of course Fentons and Sauls were fantabulous!!!

Bocce was a lot of fun... there was a lot of food, wine, and "friendly competition." We decided to do guys vs girls... well lets just say that the girls absolutely dominated!! We were so good that the boys wanted to stop or they started changing the rules!! I believe at one point the score was 15-1!!

It was a really fun night to spend with the girls and boys. We all cleaned up so nicely!!! LOL!! I can't wait for the in laws to turn thirty cause I know we will do it up big!!! Only cause we love them so dearly!!

A Be-witching Night

2010-10-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

As new Livermorons we have yet to discover some of the great quality events this town offers... until last Wednesday!! Thanks to our non Livermoron friend Tori, we discovered a tradition that consists of everyone decorating witch hats and walking around downtown drinking different types of martinis. Although I am not much of a martini kind of girl... I am very much a dress up in costume kind of girl. So Sam and I decorated hats... which I was very impressed with Sam's ability to sew!! The night turned out to be a lot of fun... even though we didn't make it to the top ten in cackles and hats (apparently I am losing a lot of contests, I just realized!) It was a fun night out with the girls!!

Mike didn't want to come out with us because he thought it was mostly for women... which he was right, but he decided to be a hooded scary man before we left.

We tried to cheers before every martini... but after the tenth one we kind of started to run out of things to cheer about... apparently that means life is pretty good!! But there were sixteen different martinis to drink!! Anything from jalapeno watermelon to pumpkin pie!! AMAZING!!!

Me and the Blam sporting our craftiness... I think we did pretty good! But our competition was stiff, so next year we will be better prepared!!

Salsa Competition

2010-10-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago at Alden Lane Nursery, we entered a home-grown tomatoe salsa contest. Since we basically have a salsa garden we used all our veggies... hoping it would garuntee us a win. So we did a major harvest, chopped all day, Sam cried over our onions, and we didn't even get in the top three!! We were the only ones that did a pico de gilo (not sure how to spell that) , so we think thats what hurt us. However, when Mike went to pick up the container the women working there said they liked ours the best because it was a pico style! So I guess we learned for next year that we will magic bullet all our veggies!! Or just enter in two styles, so we can please everybody.

We obviously had tons of veggies... these pictures don't even show all the onions we picked!! Our sink is about a foot deep and it was almost filled to the top!!

The ingredients were:

white onions, green peppers, jalapeno, red peppers, banana peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, lime, lemon, and garlic!! AMAZING!!!

Here is the final product!! We had to make a quart of salsa... so we made twice the amount because we knew we would eat a lot of it before the contest started. We thought it was really good!!

My New Humble Abode

2010-10-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

And when I say humble I mean humble!! As most of you know I recently started working at UC Davis Medical Center as a RN on the Pediatric ICU unit!!! YAY for having a job!!! Anyways the location is in Sacramento, so it is about one hour and twenty minutes away... so that kinda sucks. But on the bright side I met two girls at orientation who were also planning on commuting... one from Richmond and one from Reno!! So we decided to get a place together by the hospital, so we have somewhere to crash when we have back to back shifts. Anyways we found this one bedroom apartment right accross the street from the hospital for 650 a month!! So split that three ways and we are paying as much as we would just to park!! The place is clean, but it looks like it never made it out of the 70's. So here are some pictures... and don't worry it looks somewhat sketchy, but there is a police station right accross the street!! (I am not sure if that makes it more sketchy now that I think about it...lol)

This is our kitchen which came with Glad Wrap (weird). And now we have plastic silverware thanks to Debbi!!

Me and Gloria claimed this room because there is a wall AC unit and it is BLAZING in Sac!!! And we are on the second story so it can be like an oven sometimes!!

This will be Erin,s room when she moves in and another girl may move in too!! YAY!!

Here is the bathroom... and the towel is up cause there is no curtain.

First Country Music Experience

2010-09-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

It may be hard to believe that me, yes the horse back riding cowboy hat/boot/flannel wearing girl, doesn't listen to country. Even the girl on my blog wears cowboy boots... all this seems to be slightly ironic. So I decided to take Sam and Tori up on their offer and go to the Brad Paisly concert last night. One word... WOW!!! The atmosphere was absolutely amazing!! Although I had no idea who was on stage or what they were saying... and I was the ONLY person in the entire stadium that didn't know every song, I still had a really good time. It seems as though country concerts are just one big party and everyone will have a good time whether you like the music or not. But be warned there are two cardinal rules you cannot break at a country concert (I only broke one). Number 1: Absolutely DO NOT step on anyone's blanket... this could result in a root-n-tootin- fight (I didn't break this one, but saw it get broken many times with some really mean words said afterwards). Number 2: Do NOT blast rap music in the parking lot with bare feet... this may result in people calling you a hippie with hairy feet. We found this one out after the concert... after six hours of country music I needed a change. I can always rely on my man Fifty Cent to help me get back to a normal frame of mind...lol. Overall, it was a great experience and to be honest I am probably going to go to another one in my future...considering every friend of mine listens to country. Next time I will try and learn the words, so I don't stand out too much!!

Tori bought us all a shirt because she is the sweetest girl in the world!! So Tori got a pink one (weird...lol) while Sam and I got the same one, but we are showing the front and back of it in this picture.

I had to put this picture up because after the other weekend seeing how girly Tori was, then last night she is in the car with make-up...I just thought it was priceless!!

We actually made it to the end of the night... even though we were almost derailed by 4 locos...lol

A Dinner Full of Stuffed Stuff...

2010-09-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

For dinner last night it was just us girls (Mike was at back to school night)... so we decided to get creative with what we wanted to make for dinner. We decided on having a stuffed stuff for dinner... Stuffed Bell Peppers, Tortellini (not homemade but still stuffed), and for dessert Chocolate Stuffed Pears. Mmmm Mmmm delicious!!!
So here are the recipes for both....
STUFFED BELL PEPPERS...

These are bell peppers from our garden, Papa's garden, and the store. (Yes the bigger ones are store bought).

1. Chop one whole yellow onion and three cloves of garlic (we used five cause we really like garlic). Saute on stove with olive oil.
2. Cook 1 Cup of rice or quinoa (we like this alternative, less carbs more protein and gluten free!!)
3. Cut the tops off the bell peppers (so the tops can be used as lids) and clean out the seeds and white membrane. Set aside.
4. After garlic and onions are sauteed, add ground turkey or ground beef. Cook until no longer pink.
5. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of Cumin, 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon, and the rice/quinoa to the meat mixture. Take off burner. (You can add fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes at this point if you would like).
6. Stuff the bell peppers (we added cheese in the middle and on top) put the bell pepper lids back on. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with foil. Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes.

We really enjoyed this recipe...so hopefully you will like it too!!

**If the explanation on cutting was not clear above, this is how you do it ------>

The picture of the final product before it goes into the oven (and without their hats on).

RICOTTA CHOCOLATE STUFFED PEARS

This is a nice alternative to a heavy dessert... it does have a different texture, but it is actually pretty good. Definitely worth trying...

1. Beat together 1 Cup Ricotta cheese, 1/3 Cup powder sugar, 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla in a medium mixing bowl.

2. After mixed stir in 2 tablespoons of miniature semisweet chocolate pieces (you can use more...lol) and 1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel. 3. Set aside and start dealing with the pears. Cut the pears hot dog style (that's long ways for those of you who did not grow up in the Pleasanton school district). Remove any seeds or unattractive looking things inside the pear and make a small divot in the pear to put the chocolate mixture. 4. Brush the pears with orange juice and spoon in the ricotta mixture.

This is an interesting dessert, we will probably make it again, but it is a perfect way to get you chocolate in for the day, in a healthier fashion. ;0)

Under Water Fun!!

2010-09-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

On Memorial (just kidding) On Labor Day this year we went to Tori's parents house and enjoyed their salt water pool and hot tub!! Yes, a salt water pool and hot tub is as cool as it sounds! Since Tori, Kim, and I had such a restful weekend (sarcasm), we decided to continue with that theme and relax by the pool all day. My cousin and his girlfriend came down for the weekend because they were flying to Boston the next day...so it was nice spending time with them too. Tori has this sweet new camera that can go under water...so that kept us entertained for quite a while. Not to mention Dibble Down... which those of you who don't know the coolest game on the planet. It consists of two teams on the edge of a pool trying to find a toothpick in the water. It sounds lame, but I promise it is a lot of fun!! Mayhem too, but mostly fun. It was nice to spend the day with family and friends just BBQing and swimming.

Okay these next few photos become a little crazy... we were trying to fit all of us in a frame...well about fifty shots later we actually succeeded... but it was complete mayhem for a while.

I had a hard time sinking myself...and lets face it this is probably the creepiest photo of Mike ever!!

Sam posing trying to look all cute under water (If Sam went this weekend she may have taken the crown for the girliest girl there!!) LOL love you Sam!!

So close...Tori's head got chopped off...but notice her hand around my throat?!?! Whats up with that?!?!

This one probably would have turned out the best, but Mike took so long to press the button I started to float away.

We finally all made it into the frame... although Mike is still wearing his creepy face we ended on this one.

Kimmy's First Hike

2010-09-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

This picture is of the base of Vernal Falls...with my new fangle camera that does a panoramic picture!!!

After our Saturday full of horseback riding, we decided that another day filled with riding a 800lb animal probably would kill us. Therefore, we decided to go on a hike in Yosemite!! Yeah okay it still isn't the most relaxing decision, but we were so close and Kimmy had never seen Yosemite, so we had to go. We decided to hike Vernal Falls...which I didn't quite remember involving so much climbing, but it did!! Its about a three mile hike round trip, with almost all uphill on the way there (oh and 700 stairs you have to climb too). Tori and I had failed to mention these details to Kimmy... but Kimmy failed to mention the tiny detail that this was going to be her first hike in her life. (What they do in Florida, I have no idea ;0)) Kimmy decided to tell us this fact about half way up. I thought Kimmy was going to stop a few times and say screw it. But we all made it to the top!! At the end of the hike Kimmy said " I thought I was going to stop and turn around about 40 percent of the time." Priceless. But it was well worth the soreness we had for the next few days... the view was beautiful!! Also Tori and I climbed down to where the water from the falls lands... it was so beautiful!! I wanted to jump in, but I got nervous and figured Mikey would probably not be too happy (neither would Tori). It was a lot of fun and Kimmy had a good time on her very first hike (although she did have a peg leg for work the next couple of days). After we got done with the hike we treated ourselves to a crab and steak dinner... SO SO GOOD!!!! That night we drove home to spend Memorial Day with the boys at Tori's house... let me tell you there are not that many Starbucks open late on the way home from Yosemite ;0)

Start of the hike... those of you who think Kimmy is more girly than Tori may be surprised here. Tori brought hairspray and was looking in the mirror for about 15 minutes to make sure her buns were equal before a hike!!! lol I still love you Tor!!

This is after the first leg of the trail...yup we were all out of breath at this point.

We made it to the top!!! We decided to take our shoes off and enjoy the freezing water for a while.

Finally, only four hours later and very hungry, we made it back to our car!

Steve-O the Horse

2010-09-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

Where to begin with the start of this past weekend's adventure?? Well we left for Mammoth at five in the morning on Saturday, got lost a few times, but managed to arrive by eleven. When we arrived we knew that our luxurious cowboy weekend was out the window. We were shown to our trailer... now it doesn't look so bad from this picture. However, it was slanting to the right and when we walked in there was a steak knife on the floor. That's when we started getting butterflies!! after be shown to our humble abode... we were told to get ready to ride (4 hours)!!! I decided to embrace our conditions and dress like a cowboy... boots and all!! But before we rode we had to have our cowboy lunch (half way cooked Top Ramen noodles) mmmm mmmm good...lol. Then we met our horses, Kim got the coolest and most steadiest horse, Tori got a horse named Mike, that started growling towards then end of the trip, and I got Steve-O, which by his name you could figure out that he was a little different. Steve-O was a big eater and not a very good listener. To make him do anything I wanted I had to make sure he had a mouth full of whatever greenery was around. On our way up Steve-O and I were both stung by wasps, and let me tell you a horse freaks out more than a human does!! Let's just say I was a little nervous!! After we got to the top of the mountain and walked around a bit, it was time to get back on the horse. Well I was the second one to get on, so I had to wait for everyone else to get (which takes some time)... therefore by the time everyone was on Steve-O had a fine patch of vegetation way off the path we were supposed to be on, and he refused to leave!! The guide had to actually come over and drag him away!! Coming down the mountain was so painful and uncomfortable. I almost fell off once, but I just bit the back of Steve-O's neck... so that saved me...lol!! When we got to the bottom and off our horses, we were so sore!! That's when we decided that we could only ride for one day and that we aren't very good cowboys. We stayed the night in about 60 mile an hour winds (thinking the whole time our roof was going to fly off or that we were going to tip over). Needless to say we woke up inspired by Dorthy and wore our hair in pigtails for our hike in Yosemite....

Here is a picture of Kimmy riding her horse... it was a really beautiful ride through dessert, trees, and water.

I had to chase down this horse before riding. His name is Trigger and he was really nice. However I learned that tying a horse knot so they stay is nothing like tying a shoe (even though that's what they will tell you)

Here is Tori on her horse!! This is Mike and he gets crabby when walks/hikes are too long, just like the real Mike ;0)

50 After School Snacks...

2010-09-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I live with two teachers now (Sam is now officially student teaching at Granada), the after school snack has become a staple in our household. Sam got a book called "50 After School Snacks" which should keep us busy for a while. The first one we made was called Artichoke-Pesto Bites... they were super yummy!!! Here is the recipe...

1. Mix 1/2 cup each of ricotta, chopped artichoke hearts and pesto.

2. Mix in 1/4 cup grated Parmesan.

3. Add some salt and pepper.

4. Spread mixture on top of focaccia bread (we used the one with jalapenos in it)

5. Add some mozzarella on top of the mixture

6. Bake for 10 minutes at 400*

Its really easy to make and its really, really yummy!!!

For dinner that night we made miniature hamburger inside of pita bread with a Greek yogurt sauce. It was really good and pretty easy to make (we used turkey meat instead of beef).

I will call this recipe "Mini Burgers in a Pita" (Its really from Bobby Flay, but he didn't name it on the video)

This recipe is not an exact science, so keep adding spices until you achieve the flavor you desire.

1. Mix together 1 small can tomato paste, 1 grated (like on a cheese grater) red onion, chopped garlic, cinnamon, ground cumin, all spice, and Cayenne pepper. (When you taste this it should be a really strong flavor).

2. Mix this mixture with your ground meat (turkey or beef) and let sit in refrigerator for one hour.

3. After one hour of sitting BBQ the meat, but make sure the patties are a little on the small side, so you can fit 2 patties per pita.

Second part of recipe... Greek yogurt sauce. Its going to sound a little unusual, but I promise its good!!

1. Chop one green apple into bite size pieces

2. Mix together apple pieces, Greek yogurt, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and honey.

3. After mixing let this stand for one hour in the refrigerator.

This is Mike making the patties, they are small enough that 15 patties fit on one baking sheet. Hopefully that helps with the size factor.

And here is a picture of the final product!!

It looks a little weird, but it is super flavorful and good!! Hope you guys like it as much as we did!!

P90X..

2010-09-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

is as hard as it sounds!! We only stuck to the routine for a few weeks because then I had knee surgery (again). Anyways, it is a serious exercise routine that totally kicks your butt!! Sam and I don't use any weights, but Mike was feeling strong one day and decided to be creative with the weights, since we don't own any! Baloo became an active participant in the P90X workouts...

Its funny because he doesn't seem to mind the workout...he never even tries to get away!!

A Fiery Combination

2010-08-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

Here is another recipe that we just tried last night... it was a combination of mango, cayanne pepper, jalapeno, and mexican crema. I will call it a Spicyza Mangoza!!
              1. Put olive oil on the magos
              2. Put cayanne pepper on the mangos
              3. Grill the mangos about 2 minutes each side
              4. (Pick the jalapenos from your garden) Cut the jalapenos and sprinkle them on top
              5. Drizzle the Mexican crema on top
And wahhhhllllaaaaahhhh you have a very yummy (yet spicy) side dish!! It was really good...but extrememly spicy, so keep milk by you!!

This recipe is super duper easy...we had it with the mago side dish above and some brussel sprouts dowsed in cheese (the only way Mike will eat them).

I will call this recipe Pork a'la BBQ Sauce

Buy a Pork Roast and stick it in a crock pot.
Put one bottle of you favorite bbq sauce in the crock pot.
Add some cayanne pepper, jalapenos (home grown), onions (home grown), and garlic cloves.
Cover it and turn it on high for three hours, then turn it on low for two hours.

Its a super easy dinner to make and its really, really good!!!

Slip-n-Slide

2010-08-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

Last week there was a blistering heat wave!! I think it was between 100-110 degrees for almost a week!! It was crazy!! Seeing as our neighbors have a pool and we could hear them having a grand old time jumping in the water, we became very jealous!! So Sam decided to take matters into her own hands and buy a slip-n-slide. The best five dollar purchase ever!!! Nothing like becoming five years old again!!!

I feel like they go a lot faster than when we were younger... cause that little bumper at the end definitely did not stop us from flying off the end!!

Job Celebration

2010-08-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

In honor of me finally finding a job (8 long months later) the girls and I went out to celebrate! In our usual fashion we went to sushi and then to a bar afterwards. We tried out this new place in downtown Livermore called Sushi Ya... it was good sushi, but extremely slow service! It was an entire night of new things... new sushi restaurant and new bar. The bar we went to was called The Livermore Saloon. It is a total dive bar that plays really good music. Although we walked in and everyone sitting at the bar turned to look at us, with not very nice looks, we decided to be bold and go in anyways. I am really glad we did because it turned out to be a great night!! The bartender was awesome and the people were super nice!! It was good to spend quality time with the girls... a much needed fun night out. And after living here for six months we found our bar!!! Thank you Sam!!!

Now if you are wondering where Mike was during this time... he went to a Dave Mathews Band concert!! Which is really weird I know!! His direct quote at the end of the night when asked "How was the concert?" Mike replies,"Well, I didn't know any of the songs. Did you know there is a guy who plays the violin?" Ashley"Yeah I knew that, he has a solo in almost every song and is really really good!" Mike,"He was really good, but I had fun but I can't tell you whether the concert was good, but everyone else said it was."
Classic Mike, if its not rap he usually doesn't know what is happening...lol.

Here are some more pictures from that night...

Tori and I having a blast at the bar... we had A LOT of fun dancing!!! I can pop and lock like nobody's business!!! ;0)

Sam's Big 23rd Birthday

2010-08-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

My roommate finally turned 23!! Yup you heard/read that right, she is only 23 years old!! For her big 2-3 we had a get together at our house. We bbq'd some burgers and Kimmy made the most magnificent dessert you could ever dream of making: A cake, thats a pie, thats a cookie!! It is hard to explain but basically it is three great desserts rolled into one. It was a fun day with the girls... Sam was so special that Gabby even came to the party, all the way from New York ;0)

On of the best things about Sma's birthday is that her boyfriend gives her lots of flowers, so it makes our house look and smell so nice!!

Here is Kimmy's cake... its no coincidence that Tori and I started a diet fairly soon after eating this!!

Home Grown Pizza

2010-08-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

So with our new garden I wanted to start posting recipes that we have used with our garden fresh veggies. I could be slightly inspired by my roommate's addiction to top chef, but things have actually turned out pretty good. So here is the first one...

So we took red onions, tomatoes, and banana peppers from the garden and sliced them all up!
Then we got a Boboli pizza and mozzarella cheese and made a wonderful vegetarian pizza (so good that Mike even liked it).

We ate half of it before realizing that we hadn't taken a picture yet. Anyways I realize this is not a complicated recipe, but I promise they will be getting tricky... wait till you see what I made tonight. I don't want to say yet because we haven't tried it and if it turns out bad then no one will know about it ;0)

Tahoe Vacation

2010-08-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

The above picture is awesome because we look like GIANTS!!! We of course missed our Kimmy, who couldn't come because she was in Virginia....boooo ;0)

A couple of weeks ago we were able to get away to the cabin for an entire week!! It was amazing to just sit and relax and basically do nothing for a whole seven days. We were able to play tennis, horse shoes, roasted some marshmallows (s'more time) go crawdad fishing, and go to South Lake Tahoe to gamble.We timed it perfectly to meet up with Gabby and her family, so we were able to use the amenities at their luxurious hotel. Thanks Gabbles!! We also got to meet up with Tyler and Sara, which is always a good time (even though I couldn't use the slack line this time!!)Half way through the trip I got a call from UC Davis Medical Center wanting an interview for that Friday... let me tell you, getting ready for an interview while on vacation in Tahoe is pretty difficult. Thank goodness for the hotel's business center because out cabin is not exactly up with the technology times! But I did well (all thanks to a lucky necklace!!) and I got the job!!! So I am going to be a pediatric ICU nurse!!! I am so excited!! All in all I think it was one of the best vacation!!

Debbi and Matt while we were playing horse shoes... and yes for those of you who have yet to see Deb's hair, it is really that short. Doesn't it look amazing!!!

Graduation

2010-08-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

Yes this did happen a while ago... but my dear friend Tori took forever to get me the pictures!!! ;0) Anyways in mid-June I finally got to walk with my nursing friends to get our degrees. I am officially Mrs. Virginia Ashley Wood RN, BSN, PHN... yup that's a lot of letters...lol!!! Who would have thought!! I could not have done it without all the support from my friends and family!! You guys are the best!! Thank you!! It took a team effort for me to get through nursing school and it looks that way on the job front too!! lol!!! Anyways here are some pictures from the special day...

My mom graduated the weekend before (although she didn't walk!!) from medical assistant school!!! YAY for Mama Shadd!!! And of course a thank you to my girls sitting there for so many hours in the blistering heat!! Your amazing!!

Thank you Mikey for putting up with me for the crabby two and a half years!! Your the best!!

Saki Bombs + Vampires= Amazing Night!!!

2010-08-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

So believe it or not, but majority of the girls sitting at this table have never done saki bombs before (myself included). We decided to have a very "quiet" evening in a quaint sushi restaurant. Well lets just put it this way, they may have our pictures posted in the back, so we can never eat there again. However, we did have tons of fun. Needless to say we are all now pros at saki bombing!! (Oh the sushi was good too!!)

After our sushi extravaganza we WALKED (key word there) to the movie theater to watch Eclipse. I do realize that the movie came out a long while ago, but the theater was still packed. We showed up slightly late, during the previews, but we were quiet sitting down. However, the ladies sitting next to Sara and Jaybee decided to call security on us!! It was unreal!! Of course the security had nothing to tell us except for Sara to put her phone away. Anyways the women sighed and gave us dirty looks through out the movie...very un-needed.

The movie was of course terrible...which was expected. But it was a great night out with the girls!!

It's so FLUFFY!!!!

2010-08-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, for our two year anniversary, Mike, Sam, Tweedy, and I went to see Despicable Me. Expectations were somewhat low, but it was so so so funny!! Mike says its his new favorite kid movie. Which he actually has a good reference; the last three movies we went to see have been kid movies. Despicable Me, Toy Story 3, and How to Train Your Dragon. All three were excellent... can't wait till we actually have an excuse to go see these kids movies, so we don't look as weird. But I love this little girl!!! I wish she was a real human cause she is the cutest thing ever!!!

Tunnel Cat

2010-07-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

Baloo and Bagheera recently got a tunnel from their Auntie Kimmy and Uncle Matty (because Emerson got stuck in it cause he was too big). However, every day we go through the same routine... Baloo gets in the tunnel and pretends like no one can see him...

Then he lays in there a while relaxing... He looks a little high in this photo but I promise you we didn't give him anything.

Then once the high wears off the mania begins...

There is a hole in the side of the tunnel that he sometimes does sneak attacks through..

Needless to say they enjoy their tunnel very much, and yes Bagheera sometimes gets a chance to go in it (but he gets nervous approaching it because he thinks Baloo's in there about to pounce) Thank you Matt and Kim for the hours of entertainment!! The best two bucks ever spent!!

We Harvested!!!

2010-07-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

This is the picture when they were straight from the ground, so they are all a little muddy!!

Finally our fruits (well veggies) of our labor paid off!!! We got tons of veggies today... and there is a ton more! We got carrots, radishes, tomatoes, hot peppers, jalapenos, and onions. It was an awesome day in the garden (perfect for an anniversary day). They taste great... and look just as good!!

Here they are after their bath... the carrots we think are two different kinds, but they both taste pretty good!!

Fourth of July

2010-07-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is Dayton's hot dog eating contest team (yes that is Dr. B) They all had nicknames on their shirt... it was pretty funny!!

This Fourth of July we celebrated this great nations birthday in true American fashion. Dayton entered a hot dog relay contest at the fair. It was completely disgustingly funny!! He was on a team of four and each person had to run with a squash between their leg, eat some chili (without hands) and then they could start eating the fifty hot dog... one word GROSS!!! Anyways it was a good time... afterwards Mike and I went to the Hahn's house and played a mean game of dibble down (find a toothpick in the pool) its a lot more fun than it sounds!

Hot Diggity Dayton was very focused before the competition.., then he found out the prize was A's tickets, then he was as motivated as before. lol

And let the contest begin!!! This was the relay race part with the chili... you can see the squash somewhat between Dayton's legs... they had to hand it of to their teammates without their hands (pretty funny).

Mid action shot of the actual hot dog eating... they were supposed to eat fifty hot dogs (which no team did). The team took third place and won 4 tickets to the A's game... Dr. B Dogmeister was the unsung hero towards the end... the rest of the team started to slow down and he actually got better towards the end!!

Happy Birthday Canada

2010-07-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

Today is July 1st and my birth nation's birthday!!! Today that great country is 143 years old... so in honor of the country I was born in I decided to make a top ten list of why our neighbors to the north are more than just America's hat...

1. I was born there... so that makes Canada's awesomeness even greater!!
2. Mike won't like this one... but the game of basketball was invented by James Naismith... who yes was Canadian!! So apparently Mike owes his whole life to us Cunucks!!
3. Santa Clause is believed to be Canadian !!!
4. Lacrosse was invented there... which is an amazing sport that will eventually catch on in the west coast.
5. Canada invented the snow mobile... which was invented in 1937 (look how technology savvy they were so early).
6. This ones for you Dayton... the modern baseball glove was invented in Canada in 1883 (the all American sport eh?)
7. Canada is an Indian word meaning Big Village.
8. Canadians consume more mac n' cheese than any other country on earth. That makes sense cause that's all I eat!! Its in my blood I can't fight it.
9. Canada's groundhog is Wiarton Willie, who is an albino groundhog from Wiarton, Ontario. Okay try and tell me that isn't way cooler than Punxsutawney Phil.
10. Both English and French are its official languages... hows that for bilingual!!

I love the United States but I had to honor Canada on their day of birth.... So HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

2010-06-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

So I can't believe the time is actually here (well its not quite here) but in November the first of the two final movies of Harry Potter is coming out!! This is the trailer and it looks amazing!!! Gabby I think you should come home in November to see this movie with all the girls. There will be no margaritas for me that night because I know this movie is gonna be good!! Enjoy the trailer...

Sharon's Wedding

2010-06-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

This past week I was apart of my friend Sharon's wedding. She is Hindi, so I had a lot to learn including a dance to do in front of 400 people!!! The Hindi culture knows how to do weddings... they last five days long!! The wedding started on Wednesday night. (the picture on the left is from Wednesday night...that is Sharon with me) That night the women stayed at home and "partied" while the men went to the grooms house to do a couple of ceremonies. It was tons of fun!! On Thursday night Mike and I both went. (the picture on the right is from Thursday night... that is her cousin) It was also held at her house. This is when all the women get henna done on their hands... while Sharon gets it done on her hands and feet. She was stuck in her room for about four hours getting it done... but it looked so beautiful!! The women also performed a ceremony that night at a neighbors yard, which was really neat to watch. The men stayed back and drank Kava... which Mike wasn't a real big fan of...lol.We missed Friday night because my cousin was in town... but that night she got oil put on her, so that her skin would look amazing for Saturday, which it did!! On Saturday night, it was the actual wedding ceremony, which lasted about 5 hours!! It was really amazing to watch and Sharon looked absolutely amazing!! Saturday night was the night I did my dance and I have it on film, but I have to figure out how to post it on here...lol. So enjoy the pictures till then...

We had a great time through out the week... Sharon's family was so nice and welcoming!!

Giants game with the Family

2010-06-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

On Friday, the family finally got to meet my cousin's new girlfriend (who he is head over heels in love with). She is from Boston, so for her birthday we all went to the Red Sox vs. Giants game. We decided to spend the day in the city, since she had never been to San Fransisco. We took the trolly down to Fisherman's Wharf and saw the sea lions an had some crab and clam chowder. Then we went to Pier 39... ate some giant chocolate bananas (and looked kinda funny doing it...lol). Then we walked down to the game.

In true Red Sox fashion, there were more of them than us...which kinda pissed me off!! Cause the chants were for them the whole time!! Grrrrr... so in retaliation I decided to purchase a panda hat and growl at the Red Sox fans. Needless to say the panda hat worked and we won!! YAY!! It was a really fun day and I absolutely love his girlfriend! She is awesome!

Sara is in the middle on the picture above... and us riding the Trolly in true 1935 fashion!! And yes I almost lot my hat... but I caught it... yup I got skills like that ;0)

And this is an awkward picture of Mike eating his chocolate banana (enter joke here....)

And of course a picture of me and Tyler!! And me and Mike!!

Sex and the City 2

2010-06-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I went out to dinner and the movies. In keeping with our ritual, we went to mexican food and loaded up on margaritas!! Which was a good thing because the movie was pretty terrible...lol. But it was fun to go out with all the girls and spend some quality time together!

Next movie we are all gonna go see is Eclipse...which we will have a pitcher of margaritas for each of us cause I think we all know how bad that movie is gonna be!!

Kevin's Welcome Home Party

2010-06-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

After three months of boot camp, Kevin finally came home. So we thought in true Shadd fashion we would throw him a last minute party... it actually turned out to be a lot of fun!! It was my first time hosting a Shadd party, and I did it without major catastrophe!! YAY!!

This is my favorite... Both Amber and my mom look really cute!!

Surprise From Canada

2010-05-31T17:23:00.000-07:00

On Friday night my family and I got a surprise of a lifetime... one of my friends who lived across the street from me when I was four till I was eight, came and knocked on our door. It was completely unexpected, considering I have not talked to her or seen her in about fifteen years!! Her and her sister were my best friends growing up, I pretty much owe them my soccer career because they got me started in it.

Meghan and her boyfriend (Terry) were on vacation from Canada. They drove down to Mexico, in a camper, and stopped where ever they wanted to surf. They had been on the road for about a month. (Now that's my kind of vacation!!) I feel very blessed that she just walked back into my life and we were able to reconnect...

We still kind of look a like, but when we were younger we looked a lot a like!! We always tried to trick our parents, not that it ever worked, but they were good sports and played along.

My parents were so excited to see her... my mom even cried!! Of course my dad had no idea who she was until we told him...lol!! I thought he would for sure recognize her, cause she looks exactly the same!!

Empty Nest Syndrome

2010-05-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Since Kevin's departure my mom has taken to help care for a baby blue jay right outside the kitchen window. So a few days ago the baby bird fell out of the nest and my mom heard the parents go crazy. She went outside and picked up the bird and put it back in the nest. Later that day, my mom was sitting in the living room minding her own business when she heard a knock at the window. The mama blue jay was fluttering around the window and occasionally ran into it, to get my moms attention. My mom thought it was a little weird, but didn't get up to do anything. So the mama bird flew to the front door and perched on the window sill and started tapping the window with her beak. My mom decided that she better go check on the baby bird, and of course the baby had fallen out of the nest. She picked the baby up and put it back into the nest. The baby has been in there since, until this morning. My mom went to check on him and when she did, Joey went running to the bushes by the pool. Joey started to walk through the bushes and before my mom knew it, a little baby blue jay pooped up from behind the bushes with dog in tow. So she picked it up again and put it back. This is the prime entertainment at my mom's house now...which I guess is a good thing now that Kevin isn't home very much.

Kevin's Home

2010-05-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, sorry about the delay, we went and picked Kevin up from boot camp in San Diego. We were super nervous to pick him up, just because we were thinking he wouldn't be the same goofy kid he was... but we are happy to report he is the same kid, he just says mam and sir now. anyways the ceremony was pretty cool because of the marching that they did. It was really neat to see 300 soldiers march in unison. Kevin ate more than I think anyone has eaten in their life,,, the day we saw him he had 3 donuts, prime rib, veggies, mashed potatoes, 2 king sized Snickers, fries, 3 sodas, and an ice cream bar. Let me remind you that we only saw him for 5 hours that day and that's what he ate in front of us...lol!! He had ten days off which was really nice, but too short. He is now at School of Infantry for two months, but he can at least call this time. After that he will know more about his future in the Marines. But we are very proud and miss him a ton!!

Here he is all dressed up in his outfit... I guess uniform. Its just weird because I remember when he wore this same outfit for Halloween when he was three...

Happy Earth Day

2010-04-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

As I hope everyone knows, today is Earth Day and in honor of Mother Earth I planted some flowers in our yard. It was so nice of her to give us good whether on her big day!! WE are planting more and more in our big garden every weekend. Last weekend we did almost everything... we planted tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, banana peppers, hot peppers, herbs, carrots, radishes, peas, beansl, watermelon, cucumber, and zuchinni!! WE may plant some pumpkins and maybe rip out the tree thats there and plant an avacado tree!! But that will probably be a little bit down the road... can't wait to eat it all!!! We finally got to try some of our strawberries (squirrel issue long gone) and it was super good...I even liked them!!

Poly-pharmacy

2010-04-20T17:06:00.000-07:00

So as some of you may know I have been sick for about a month now... I was taking my medicine this morning and realized that I have aged about 60 years in the last month. I have never taken so many meds in my life!!! Although I am feeling a little better... and no pneumonia, it is a little disconcerning having to take so many meds and not magically feel better. Every night I go to sleep and tell Mike to be Harry Potter and make me feel better...yet it hasn't happened :0( But the update is that I am finally out of bed and feeling about 70 percent...so YAY, I guess...

The Academy of Arts and Sciences

2010-04-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

We finally went to the new Academy of Arts and Sciences three weeks ago. One word....AMAZING!!! We went to it on a Thursday night where it is only open for people over 21 because they serve alcohol. Everything was open, but we got there a little late sp we couldn't see the rain forest.... they close it a little early so the animals can sleep. But everything there was really neat!!! They had an amazing aquarium and swamp section!! They also had penguins, which Mike loved of course. The living roof was really neat too... since it was night time they set up telesccopes and had them aimed at Venus and Mars!! But by far the best part of the museum is the albino section... they had albino catfish, turtles, and an aligator!! IT was crazy to see these animals because they weren't just a little white they were as white as a white-t. Anyways I highly reccomend it to everyone... and its pretty cheap!!!

Here is a picture of the albino alligator... it was sooo cool!!!

Disneyland and Price is Right

2010-04-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

The week before last Mike and I drove down to L.A. for Mike's spring break. Although I was still feeling a little sick I couldn't back out cause Mike was way excited to get out of town. The first day we were down there we went to the Price is Right and met Drew Carey!!! ALthough we didn't get called up, cause half our group bailed!!! It was still fun. Side note: if you ever get group tickets to that show make sure you ask like 30 people cause they all won't show up, so you will end up with 15 which is the minimum. Just a little hint that everyone should know. But it was a lot of fun. The second day was the day I was looking forward to the most cause it was DISNEYLAND DAY!! We went with the Hahn family, for those of you who don't know them they are one of mike's coworker's family. It was the first time we went to Disneyland with young kids... a three year old and a one year old. It was a lot of fun to see them get so excited about the little rides...who knew the carosel was so fun?!?! Anyways we stayed for the whole day, which I think was the hottest day of the year (90 degrees!!). The next day we went home cause I wasn't feeling good...of course. Then what do you know a week and a half later I am finally able to get out of bed and write this blogs...GOOD TIMES!!

Brittany and Trisha on Buzz Lightyear!!! And for the first time in history Mike beat me in that ride...DAMN!!

Brittany and Bryan standing in line for the cars. Literally 20 people from the front of the line (after waiting for 45 minutes) Brittany says "Daddy I have to go pee." Bryan says "Can you hold it?" And before he could even finish she says noa dn starts dancing around... so of course we had to get out of line, but the nice Disney people let us in to our exact spot!! It truely is the most magical place in the owrld...where else is that allowed? ;0)

Another Kevin Update...

2010-03-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

Although he didn't write to me, he wrote to my parents. Whatever...lol. He is doing really well, I guess he moved up to recruit level two and is one week away from moving up to recruit level three. He didn't say whether he named his gun, but I did give him everyone's suggestions, so hopefully he picks one of them because they were all pretty funny. He also had his PFT's last week or two weeks ago. He did really well; he did 20 pull ups (the max), he did 104 sit ups in 2 minutes (the highest level) and he did 3 miles in 20 minutes. He wasn't to happy with the last time because he got stuck behind some fat people (in his words). So he thinks he will do better when it comes to the real one... he scored a 284 out of 300. So pretty good!!! He needs to get a 290 if he wants to qualify for recon, but he thinks he will do it no problem!! He now weighs 143 lbs, which I didn't think he could get skinnier, but apparently he can!! He seems to be doing really well, but is very excited to come home.... thank you for all the well wishes!! He will graduate on May 7th, so its just over a month away!!! YAY!! Here are some pictures from his last night here, just in case you forgot what he looks like ;0)

Oh the brother and sister love... I am very very proud of him!!!

Here is the cute picture of proud Aunt Jeannie and Tutu... and of course Andy!!

Oh and of course the proud brother-n-law!! Which I never realized, Mike is a lot taller than Kevin, or he may be standing on the fireplace, I don't know. If you would like to write to him just ask me for his address. He says his favorite time of the week is when he gets to read everyone's letters.

What's Missing?

2010-03-28T12:35:00.001-07:00

My big fat red beautiful strawberry!!!! A freakin squirrel ate it one day before I was ready to pick it!!! So pissed!!! Any suggestions on keeping the squirrels away? I told Mike we should get a dog...

Flea Market Treasures

2010-03-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, Matt, Kim, Mike, my Dad, and I all went to the flea market off of capital in San Jose. The day started out as kind of a bust, but at least entertaining. We wondered for about an hour and finally got to the good stuff... Matt and Kim got a framed poster and a giant spoon. Random but good stuff. My dad got a mop, so that was how we found him the entire trip (and is now called mop man). I discovered two hidden treasures, one was a Run TMC framed and matted cards (Run TMC are guys from the Warriors when I was like 6) and a gardening table... AMAZING!!! Gotta love the flea market!!!

And it was only $25.00!!! Granted it took a while to get in the car, and we could barely fit... but it was definitely worth it!!! I couldn't be happier!!! Now I have a place to put all of my potted plants!!

Gabby's Welcome Home Dinner

2010-03-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

In true welcoming home fashoin we went to sushi and frozen yogurt!! The sushi place we went to is Kane in downtown Danville, its soooo good!! The rolls are freakin huge, with the greatest names... like the Skank roll...lol. Everyone came to welcome Gabby home, well for the week that she will be visiting. The people who came were Molly, Alfredo, Kenny, Blaise (no Z), Chris, Dusty, Nate, Kim, Matt, Mike, and I. So it was quite a big group. After we walked over to the yogurt shack... the best place on earth to get yogurt cause they charge you based on how much your bowl weighs. Molly and Alfredo took the cake on that one ;0). In fact I don't think I have every seen Alfredo eat so much in my life!! I swear we put anything in front of him and he just ate it... lol!! But I think he started getting mad once wfigured it out and played tricks on him. Here are some pictures to enjoy from that night...

It was nice to see everyone... we hadn't seen each other in a long time. Also everyone got so dressed up, so it was kinda weird to see people without their soccer stuff on!!

Team BurkWood

2010-03-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

Let the Madness begin!!! As in March Madness... Last night we had the draft party, and it was my rookie year!! Dayton and I are on a team, I am the only girl, which I think made a few people mad, but oh-well. So for the next month every weekend will be devoted to college basketball and hopefully a little bit to our garden... lol.
I guess this our team photo... a little awkward but it makes me laugh!! Hopefully this season we will be in the money (top 3) and I can just shove it in Mike's face!! I think our house is gonna be a little crazy for the next few weeks.
Mike and Dayton are in two other drafts and I am in one other. So hopefully between all of us we can make some money... cause we need it!!
This month is awesome... according to mike... "March madness is way better than Christmas!" I won't take it that far, but thats how serious our family gets about it.