Ugly Sweater Party!

I have posted other fun activities involving my work, but I think this was probably the most silly! We decided to have our first annual Ugly Christmas Sweater party. Oh it was fun! Everyone had baked/cooked something to bring for our potluck lunch.

The food was delicious and we all had a good laugh. The best part was that we took pictures of everyone, including overall, hair, and favorite accessorie. We then sent the pictures to our Chicago office and asked them to select the winner for each catagory and then send it back to us.



Yes, I was the official winner for best hair! Rock on 80's! Look for more next year!

Finals!

So fall quarter, I worked myself to the bone. I was working and going to school full time. Since starting at the Art Institute, Interior Design skills have come easily to me but the school work builds up. This quarter was espcially hard because I had a portfolio review that makes sure that I am still a good fit for the school. I had to create a portfolio of my work that I had completed up to this point.
After I had stressed out and pulled multiple all nighters, everything was turned in. I got my grades back and a glorious 4.0 stood at the base of my grade report.
I was so happy, all my hard work had payed off. So Stephen took me out in Huntington Beach in celebration. The picture at the top is the Huntington Beach pier which was just beautiful with the Christmas snowflakes that were up, which was as close to snow as we saw this year.

O Christmas tree!

I must say, this year was quite an experience getting our tree. We are so used to pulling on the rain jackets and boots, bogging through the mud, to find the tree. But this year was a balmy 68 degrees, so a pair of shorts, t-shirt and flip flops would do!

Thanksgiving

I am really far behind on my blogs! New Years resolution: be better at blogging =)

Stephen and I love the holidays! All of the cooking, baking, good smells, and of course, the family. Since we were taking time off to go to Oregon for Christmas and New Years, we knew that we wouldn't be able to make it up there this year for Thanksgiving. So my mom and step-dad, Ron, decided to come down and stay with us. We were so excited to atleast see some of our family. Plus, I was going to be put to the test regarding my cooking and baking skills.



I pulled it off, with lots of help from my mom. We had a delicious turkey dinner with all the fixings! Not only did we have a good dinner, we had a wonderful time with my parents.




They stayed with us for a week, so we got to go to Cirque du Soleil, the Getty museum and Boomers (a family fun center). Mom and Ron were very good at go karts, but Stephen and I wouldn't let them win. Although we did cause a few accidents out on the speedway. Leave it to us to mix things up!




It was hard to say goodbye, knowing that we only get to see them every so often. But we were headed up to Oregon in just a few weeks.

USC Game!

We are die hard Beaver fans, we fly our car flag high every Saturday (as we pass all the USC and UCLA fans!), we cheer loud and wear bright orange!



We got our tickets for the USC game weeks ago, they were on our refrigerator, keeping us excited. We couldn't wait to go to the Coliseum and to see the Beavers in person. We made the long drive up to LA, parked in the ghetto somewhere, and made our way. Seeing the coliseum in person is breathtaking, it is a spectacular structure.



Finally, we found our gate and our way to our seats. We were in row 93, so we started hiking, up up and up! Well, we quickly learned that there are a total of 94 rows in the coliseum. Our seats were so far up that we had a great view of the downtown skyline! But we couldn't complain because we were there in person.



It turned out to be a depressing game, the game Shawn Canfield was hurt, he got sacked 10 times, and we lost, I can't even remember how badly. We got to see some friends that had come down from Oregon, which is always a plus. We are looking forward to going to the OSU vs UCLA next year!



GO BEAVS!

Just hanging out!

When we can, we love to take a breather and just relax for a while. We hardly ever get the chance to go out on dates since we are both so busy. We did get a chance to go out to this beautifully designed club that I had heard a lot about. It is called Mesa. It is a very modern space with a retractable glass roof, many low-light fireplaces, and comfy leather couches. They also have some of the best wines I have ever tasted, we met the manager and he brought us his favorite choices.

We had a wonderful and relaxing evening!

Our family is expanding!

No, I'm not pregnant for those of you that jumped to conclusions! But Stephen and I did adopt a fuzzy little kitten! Her name is Deka and she is 8 weeks old. She is so cute and snuggly.



She likes to sleep on Stephen, play with my hair and run quickly around the room. It's quite funny watching her little legs and tail bounce around. Deka did give us a scare on the second day we had her, she decided to find a hole in the bottom of the cabinet and crawl into it. We had no way of getting to her and thought we were going to have to saw through the cabinet to get her out. But thankfully we coaxed her out with her feather toy. We will be covering those holes.



All in all, she's already given us some big smiles and a few laughs.

Halloween Party!

My boss puts on an annual Halloween Party! It is the party to be at this time of year. Stephen and I wanted to dress up, but with in a budget, so we raided our closets and here we are....



Yup, we got creative =)! Stephen was a barista and I was a coffee cup! Everyone at my work loves Starbucks so this was a definite hit!



We had a lot of fun and everyone got in the mood! We are already starting to think of ideas for next year!

Race for a Cure

Fall is in the air and what better way to celebrate that by running for a good cause! That's right, Race for a Cure. Last year, I had the privelage to walk the race with my mom and Auntie Nora. We had such a blast, I knew for sure I wanted to do it again. But this year, since I am in California, I couldn't walk with the Sisters in Pink team. All the girls at my work had been interested a while ago so I made sure to join the Gettys Girls.

I joined six other girls from work and we decided we were going to run it. So I pulled out my running shoes and started my training, which was last week. I think I ran once. =) The day of the race, we all showed up in our matching tank tops and socks and were ready to go!



We all spread out and ran at our own pace. We had a Boston Marathoner with us who finished in 24 minutes and then a few walkers that came in at around 42 minutes. I was right in the middle with my good friend Jolene at 32:45. Pretty good but I look forward to improving that time next year!

GO PINK!

Boating with my work!

I really am enjoying my job, it keeps me busy and I get to work with some very funny people. Guaranteed, we will always have a good time no matter what we do. (As you can see from the Race for a Cure).

Every once in a while we have "outings". One of these "outings" was a boating adventure, and growing up with a boat myself, I couldn't say no. Plus it would be an opportunity for everyone to get to know Stephen.



So the weekend finally arrived, Stephen and I were stoked! We met up with the group at the docks up in Long Beach. We climb aboard to have a good time! We drifted through the canals in a residential neighborhood, stopped by some waterfront restaurants where you can just tie up your boat and go in.



Maria, our captain, then headed back to the area where they typically wakeboard. A smooth chanel, that to our disappointment, had been rented for the weekend. So I said, heck, lets hit the ocean! We finally get out there and it was so windy, it was nearly a roller coaster ride hitting each wave. It was really choppy, but my bull-headedness, I was determined to wakeboard. Plus, I had talked myself up since no one else had ever boarded before. I was the pro that had to live up to her name! (Plus my boss was with us and I wanted to impress). Stephen kind of thought I was nuts by this point.



I got all geared up and hopped in the water. I was ready to go! They threw me the rope, got set, and I got up! They were really impressed! I did my job, had a great time, and boarded for quite a while. Stephen was next, he hopped in, got up on his first try! I was so proud.



Everyone was really impressed with us. After we went, we become the teachers and tried to get my friend and my boss up. They were unsuccessful but got super close! Anyway, it was an awesome day!

Vegas Baby!

One of my good friends was turning 21. What better place to celebrate than Vegas! Stephen and I got invited to head over there with Brittani, her boyfriend, and Brittani's family.


Stephen and I had each been there once before but it was when we were younger and didn't really understand that concept of Vegas. We had a blast, we played a few penny slots (we actually won $45 and gambled about $5 the entire time, so we came out ahead!)



We went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in the MGM Grand. We stayed at the Venetian, what a beautiful hotel! Stephen and I got up early on one of the days and walked around the strip by ourselves for a bit. We went through Paradise Island, Ceaser's a few others. And we couldn't pass up the roller coasters. We went to this really fun Irish pub so we all had a beer and danced to some folk music!



All in all, we had a really fun time being with our friends and getting to see the glitz and glamour of Vegas!

The Honeymoon! =)

We drove down to Eugene and spent the night in a beautiful suite at the Valley River Inn. Enjoyed some room service, chocolate covered strawberries and champagne! The next morning we flew out of Eugene to San Francisco. There was a bit of delay because of fog in San Fran, but not enough to stop our party!

We flew from San Fran to Oahu, which was just beautiful as we flew in.

We decided not to rent a car since we would be staying in Waikiki. There was plenty for us to do within walking distance. We settled in the first day then hit the beach on the second. We went to some nice dinners, had some fun adventures finding our way around, and really enjoyed relaxing for an entire week, with no cell phones, emails or work!

We hiked Diamond Head, funny story that was. Stephen and I decided to take the city bus, which cost $2 each. Stephen only had a five and two ones. He asked the bus driver for change, (I was laughing at this point) but the bus driver said sorry no change. So we gave them the five and took our seats. We got off at the base of the mountain and began making our way to the entrance. 20 minutes later of walking up the side of a mountain, with no entrance insight, we finally asked a shuttle of tourists if we were headed the right direction. The driver said, just through that tunnel. Tunnel? We look past the shuttle and see this tunnel, only two lanes wide with no sidewalk that we were supposed to walk through. What?! He said we'd be fine as long as we hug the side. So Stephen and I are now sprinting through this tunnel as cars are driving past us, praying that we would live to see the other side! So we were finally there, the park cost $1 per person. Now we have no cash, but decided to worry about that later.

We took these pictures at the top of the mountain, a spectacular view of the island and Waikiki.

So now is the descent. By the way, we felt great by the incredible workout we got from the hike. We make it back down to where the bus would pick us up, but we have no money. We decide to start walking until we found a place with an ATM. A few miles later, we decided to just have fun with the walk, and walk back to our hotel. We later discovered that we had walked about 6 miles round trip. Along the way we got to see a lot of different sights including a really cool tree.

We went parisailing, that is us way up there at the smiley face. It was so much fun, the boat driver kept dunking us in the ocean. I've turned Stephen into a little thrill seeker like myself. On the last day we rented a car and drove around the entire island. Such a spectacular place! We enjoyed that the most. It gave us a chance to see the smaller and less populated areas. We ate dinner at this cute little restaurant called The Shack. They had amazing burgers and curly fries.

We had a wonderful time and hope to go back in the future! Aloha!

Our Wedding!

July 21, a day we both will remember forever! The morning began with rain outside but that couldn't cover up the excitment from us and our family for the afternoon. I kept thinking about how long ago we had met and how excited I was to become Stephen's wife. I walked across the bridge in the back with all of my girls to see Stephen with his back turned as I came closer.

He slowly walked backwards and as I grabbed his hand, he turned and looked at me. It was one of the most precious moments of the entire day for me. To see the love and strength behind his eyes. I love him and am so excited spend our lives together!

We both had so much fun and were so happy that so many of our friends and families could join us! If you would like to see more pictures, just send me an email and I'll send you the link!