2.29.2008

girls' weekend




It's all about us girls this weekend...in Sonoma! We leave this afternoon and return Sunday evening. Nothing beats a weekend with a couple of my best girlfriends (well, except for a weekend with my hubby, my other best friend).

Have a great weekend!

2.22.2008

day 4

I'm on day 4 of this crappy flu. Thank goodness for a doting husband, Advil, and Sex and the City. A friend recently let us borrow The Office too, so there's lots to keep busy with when I'm not sleeping.

This is my 100th post...Happy Blogiversary to me :)

2.17.2008

sunday favs

2 of my favorite Sunday activities: serving communion and watching back-to-back episodes of Sex and the City (I know, quite opposite treats, and one more of a guilty pleasure).

Wan said it recently also, receiving and serving communion provides a sense of peace and closeness that can only be experienced through prayer. Our church offers communion every Sunday, but the Sundays where I get to serve communion are a very special Sunday for me.

Sex and the City, well, no words can describe how incredible the show is, but I always laugh and cry during each episode. Nothing beats a good friendship message. For the last several years, Rob and I have exchanged DVDs for Valentine's Day, and this year he surprised me with the complete series! Now I can enjoy the ladies of Sex and the City any Sunday I want!


Happy Sunday!

2.14.2008

happy love day!

Happy Valentine's Day! This is definitely my favorite holiday! The pink, red, hearts, and chocolate make me really happy! I hope everyone's day is filled with hugs!

I decided to make Valentine's Day cards this year for some friends and family. Though I made the cards with the hope that they would make the recipient smile and feel special for just a moment, I have received some wonderfully kind notes and phone calls that the card they received made their day, which in turn totally made my day and made me feel special. I love warm-fuzzies!

2.13.2008

an incredible year

Just one year ago (well, one year and 3 days ago), we joyfully walked down the aisle together as husband and wife and then soon after that snuggled under an umbrella with loads of sunscreen on in Cancun. It's absolutely incredible how quickly a year goes by.





Over the weekend, we celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary in Temecula. From Saturday morning to Sunday night, it was all about celebrating our first year of marriage. And we had a blast!

Friday: We weren't going to take our wedding cake with us to Temecula, so we shared a slice Friday evening. Best. Chocolate. Cake. Ever! Torrance Bakery made us a dark butter cream frosting with white cake and chocolate chip fudge filling. We are still sneaking bites as the week progresses, dreading the day when we eat up the last bite. I'm making a new tradition: ordering the wedding cake every year.



Saturday: We woke up early and headed to Temecula. We stayed at the Temecula Creek Inn, which we thought was fairly decent, other than the lame $10 parking fee. The view from our room was awesome and it was close enough to the wineries - all of the Bed & Breakfasts in the surrounding area of the wineries seemed to be sold out when we booked our trip.




Upon arrival to our hotel, we checked in and hopped on the Grapeline Wine Shuttle ready to officially kick-off the weekend! The tour stopped at 5 wineries including:

Wilson Creek Winery, where we fell in love with the Almond Champagne & Decadencia Chocolate Port in a dutch chocolate cup.




Maurice Car'rie Winery, where we were too busy over-indulging on the baked brie & sourdough to even take a photograph. You have to try this bread next time you are in Temecula. It's absolutely to die for!

Mount Palomar Winery, where we opted to sit out on the wine tasting part and instead ordered a salad. We wanted to enjoy the day and more importantly remember the day...

Churon Winery, where we bought some sort of sherry that Rob loved.

And our favorite winery, Longshadow Winery. This winery is fairly new and so much fun! The guys working behind the sampling bar gave us a wine glass and started filling us up. We never even paid, just sampled each wine on the list twice. We were told about the "Milk Chocolate Boot", so when it came time to wrap up our tasting, we bought our Grapeline tour guide a "Boot" and enjoyed (she wasn't the driver, just the guide to ensure we all had a good time).

Longshadow was such a blast! The music was blaring, people were dancing, the owner was walking around mingling with guests and helping out his staff, and there were farm animals all over the place that you could pet (fenced of course). Caution on petting the farm animals though...I was bitten by a goat - seriously! I still have a small mark on my arm to prove it.

We would totally do the wine shuttle again. It was so fun and it's so much nicer when we both have an opportunity to enjoy the wine tasting rather than one of us having to be the designated driver. Not to mention how much fun the other shuttle passengers were. We got lucky and had a bachelorette party on board - needless to say, they were a crazy bunch!

Saturday evening we were beat after a day of wining and dining. We munched on left-overs in our hotel room, watched TV, and exchanged anniversary gifts. Rob was pretty thrilled with his album of photographs...Speechless would really be a better word.



Sunday:
Rob woke me up at 5:30am telling me we had to leave by 6am. I had no idea what he had in store, but I was so excited! All he told me was to dress warm and be ready for some more wine. I was thrilled when I discovered that we were going on a hot air balloon ride. Wow! It was so romantic and beautiful. The absolute perfect way to celebrate the day and end the perfect weekend.




After the ride and a quick brunch, we headed back to our hotel for a much needed nap. We hit up the outlets and South Coast Plaza and made it back to Long Beach in time to watch the sunset from home.

We have been so blessed over the last year and are so excited for the adventures that lie ahead. We feel very lucky that we have one another to experience life with and are thankful for that everyday.

As if Temecula wasn't enough, we are counting down the days until we leave for Maui...only 39 days left! Truly, at this moment we feel blessed beyond words...

2.08.2008

practice makes perfect

One year ago today, Rob and I were surrounded by our closest friends and family to "practice" walking down the aisle. All day today my heart smiled with joy and love - even though today is just the wedding rehearsal anniversary...The big 1-year anniversary is actually on Sunday.

Baby, a year ago today, we practiced saying, "I Do", even though I knew 5 years earlier you'd be the one that I'd eventually say "I Do" to. I love you! Happy almost 1-year anniversary!

Photo taken by Joe, Emily's hubby. Thank you for capturing this moment.

2.02.2008

the short of it

Rob and I both got our hair cut today. He just a trim, and me, I opted for something a bit more dramatic...

For the last few weeks, I became seriously bored with my hair. I've had variations of the same style for a while and I felt ready for choppin' it all off. It always takes me a few days to learn how to play with a new style, but I'm looking forward to wearing cute hair-hooties and flowers in my hair. During college and for a couple of years afterwards, I had very short and spiky hair (even had a nose ring). Here are a couple pics from my college years - you may recognize the other lovely lady in this picture.

While in Europe after college, I let it get a little afro-y:

Here's to new, yet old, hairdos!

2.01.2008

friday fill-in

Sarah, Kidultery's author, did a fun Friday Fill-In that I thought I'd mimic:

1. Once, I was REALLY into Britney Spears. Now, I just feel really sad for her.
2. Today at work I played math games with my students.
3. What are The Jonas Brothers all about (I agree with Sarah)? Maybe Wan can fill us in after she attends their concert this weekend?
5. If I make a mistake I tend to get pretty disappointed with myself.
6. When I woke up this morning, I thought I couldn't get any less motivated to get out of bed. But then I remembered that Rob would be home when I got home, so I wanted the day to fly by!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to running at the beach and catching a double-feature (Cloverfield - HIS, 27 Dresses- HERS) with Rob and Laura's BF, Jeff who is in Long Beach for a physics conference and Sunday, I want to get lots of scrapbooking done with Susan while Rob, Griff, and Corbin watch the commercials, er I mean, the Superbowl.

Happy Friday! I'm so happy it's the weekend!

dude

Okay, I need to clarify my "dude" comment from yesterday...I guess I sounded a bit square.

I will probably be right there along with many of you and occasionally call my child "dude". However, I doubt that I'll be calling him/her "dude" when disciplining action is necessary. From the many parent/teacher/student meetings I've attended, the really jacked-up parents tend to call their child "dude" during moments when the parent should actually be parenting. The result: no change in behaviors. This is why, from my experience working with parents and students, "dude" will be a playful name while my child's actual name will be used during those precious moments of actually needing to parent my child.