Central Coast

After a week with the parents, we left Gilroy early Monday morning and decided we would take our time on the drive home. Instead of taking the 5 we opted for a more scenic route, 101. The drive was beautiful. After all the rain from last week, the hills were green and the trees were various shades of red and orange. It was like driving through a postcard for five hours-hillsides, farms, wineries and the coast. We stopped in San Luis Obispo and grabbed lunch at Firestone Grill. Then we stopped at a lookout point near Goleta. I could have stayed there all day. We made another stop in Santa Barbara and walked down Stearns Wharf. We ate AGAIN! Fish and chips at some place on the water. After spending the day cruising the coast and plotting out which beach house/mansion we are going to move into--reality set in and we were stuck in LA traffic.
Steve says that Northern and Southern California are two completely different worlds. I think I agree, but it's always nice to go away for awhile and come back HOME. Now its back to work.

San Francisco

A trip to visit my parents wouldn't be complete without a day in the city. Usually we walk around Chinatown and North Beach, but this time we ventured to Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square. The girls shopped and the boys went to go watch the games. After we all met up and ate at this hidden little sushi spot. The food was terrific! Every time we go Steve tries to convince me to move there, don't think that is going to happen. I keep telling Kelly to go to college there, then we will have an excuse to visit more often.

Steve & Jenn with Alcatraz in the distance

Mom & Jenn

Mom & Dad

Kelly

Dave & Laila

The Girls

What We've Been Up To

The past couple of days we have been in Northern California visiting family doing a whole lot of this-

Baking

Eating

Relaxing

Working on our Guitar Hero skills

Shopping

And we are loving every minute of it!!

Christmas 2008

Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade

Wintry Weather

Some of our centers closed due to snow today. Here is proof that it really does snow in California.

Lunch Break

Today I spent my lunch break by the lake. It is not too far from my office and it's a nice place to read a book or just sit and people watch.

See that white stuff? It snowed on the Saddleback Mountains last night.

Holiday Party, It's A Girl & Missing Keys

Jenn and I went to a holiday party this weekend at the Epsteins. They hosted a great party with tasty food (Jen's crab dip and pumpkin cake), music (shout out to Pearl Jam) and entertainment (Rock Band). They are also expecting a baby in May and wanted to share the sex of the baby with close friends and out of state family over the phone.

Jen's Spread

The Guys Rockin OutAt a recent doctor appointment, Jen and Darren had asked their doctor to write the sex of the baby onto a card and seal it in an envelope. Jen then took the sealed card to a bakery and had the baker create either a blue or pink cake, depending on the sex written on the card. Well this weekend, Jen and Darren untaped the tightly sealed cake box and shared at their holiday party that a BABY GIRL will be joining their family next spring. We are so excited for the two of them and can't wait to meet their new addition.

And It's A....

GIRL!

Steve and the Mom To Be

We also went and saw the movie Four Christmases. When we were getting ready to come home, we were unable to find our keys. We looked all over the house and even went back to the movie theatre and restaurant where we had breakfast earlier that morning and no keys!!!!!!!!! I started blaming Jenn because she always misplaces things and Jenn started questioning and blaming me. There was definitely some tension building. Suddenly Jenn started feeling around in her coat pocket that she had been wearing the whole time and discovered that there was a hole in her pocket. The keys had gone through the hole in her pocket and deep into her coat!!!!!!!!! How crazy is that. Needless to say a feeling of relief and joy overcame us. So after a 10 minute lecture that I gave Jenn when we got into the car, all was forgiven and life moves on. I don't get many opportunities to give Jenn the "I told you so" talk (usually it's the other way around) so I definitely relished the rare opportunity. I am going to use this incident later on when I do something wrong or stupid and Jenn attacks me. When she starts in on me, I can say "At least I didn't lose the keys and make us drive all around Santa Clarita Valley looking for them while you had them in your coat pocket the whole time." You don't know how happy that will make me. So all in all we had a fun and eventful weekend. Thank you Darren and Jen for being such great hosts and great friends.

Butt Camp

...I mean boot camp. It's what I will be going to everyday for the next two weeks. I am on day two and can I just tell you how much my derrière hurts. Boot camp consists of early morning workouts, as in 5:30 a.m., at a local junior college. We run, jump, stretch, sweat and most importantly BURN calories!! I am not going to lie, getting up out of my warm bed when it is still dark outside is tough but so far it has been worth it. Before camp started we were given pre-evaluations, measuring and weighing everything. Talk about motivation!

If any of you watch Real Housewives of Orange County, it is the same boot camp they showed on one of the episodes. Tomorrow is day three...wish me luck!

Alma Mater

Yesterday I gave Steve a campus tour of the University of California, Irvine. It is where I spent four years of my life. I showed him where I used to study into the wee hours of the night, where I used to eat lunch and where I lived my freshman year. UCI's campus is shaped in the form of a circle with a huge park in the center. A lot has changed since I graduated. There are new parking structures, buildings and a new student center, but for the most part the atmosphere is still the same. Finals are next week so it was pretty quiet.

Ring Road is the walkway that will take you all around campus.

This is the dorm where I lived my freshman year. Third floor corner behind the tree.

Aldrich Park and in front of the library.

Lecture Hall and Arts Center.

UCI's mascot is an anteater.