Day 2

Day 2: Sea World

On Sunday we went to Sea World.  I mostly had a good time there, but must admit that I was disappointed that it was so commercialized and glammed up.  We talked about it afterward and decided that we think that they are trying to compete with other attractions like Legoland and keep it new and fresh to attract the local crowd. Austin was a little grouchy too so that took away from the fun, but he eventually warmed up to it and had fun.

Shamu

Daddy tickling Austin in the shark tank.

This picture is at home, but I wanted to show this toy stuffed penguin I won in a claw machine in the arcade at Sea World.  It's kind of an ugly thing, but Austin has latched on to it and has taken it everywhere since.  In the hotel suite that night Dustin asked him what his penguin's name was and he said "Bo" which is what our pet rabbits name was that passed away last November, so I don't necessarily think Austin remembers him but interesting that he picked the same name.  It was cute at the hotel he took Bo in the bathroom and says "Bo go pee-pee in potty" then took him into the sink/vanity area and says "now wash hands" then took him in his room and put him on his bed and said "night-night."  I know little girls probably do that kind of play all the time with dolls, but it was the first time Austin did that.

After Sea World we went back to the hotel for a nap attempt, which failed, then went for a swim in the hotel pool/hot tub.  It was the first time Austin has been in a hot tub and thought it was pretty cool, especially the bubbles.  Then I cooked a big spaghetti dinner in the room and we relaxed that evening. 

Back again - Day 1

We made it home safe and sound from our little anniversary/birthday excursion.  We decided to take our laptop in to have it looked at while we were gone, but they had to send it off for repairs so I am without a home computer for the next couple of weeks.  I will do some blogs about the trip as I have time during my lunch hour.

The trip was fabulous, the weather was awesome!  My only regret is that we didn't take one-two more days so we could spend more time at the beach.  Well, that and that we forgot to have someone take a family photo with all three of us together, oops!  We stayed at a Homewood Suites by Hilton so 1) we would have more privacy and 2) so we could prepare some of our own meals to save $$$.  It worked out so well and think that we will stick with suites in the future for trips. 

 Day 1: Beach and old town San Diego

Saturday was my birthday and we headed to the beach.

We kind of have the Forest Gump head tilt going on

This was a close as I could get him to sit by his name, even then he was scowling at me

 

 

The water was pretty chilly, but Austin loved playing in the sand.  He also loved chasing the pigeons around the beach.  I know that I was tired because at one point we were laying there soaking up the sun and a pigeon walked up and I go "look Austin there is a penguin."  Dustin was half dozing off, but looked up and goes "really, a penguin?"  Oh yeah, I mixed up my "p" birds, but wouldn't have been awesome to see a penguin instead of a pigeon?

That night we went to old town for dinner.  We didn't take the camera, but the restaurant gave out complimentary post cards.  Dustin wanted to take me to a seafood place, but I knew this restaurant was good so we went there instead.  We ordered a whole pitcher of strawberry margarita, so we walked around down there for quite a while which was fun and enjoyed the music of a Mariachi band.  Dustin even got me some roses.

That something is 3 today!

You know in my blog headline I say I'm a 30 SOMETHING Mommy and Wife.  Today is my birthday, well in theory this posts today, Oct. 8, as I am relying on the scheduled date and time feature since I will be sitting on the beach in San Diego soaking in the sun (hopefully, please cross your fingers the weather is good!) and off the computer internet grid for the weekend.  Warning: this is going to be a long post, but it's my birthday, so grab a piece of cake and enjoy!

In honor of my special day I thought I would share 33 fun and random things about me in no particular order:

• I went to the same school system from preschool through high school graduation.
• I am fairly musical (but I can't really sing).  I learned piano at an early age and took lessons from three different teachers.  I played clarinet in concert band starting in sixth grade and switched to percussion for marching band in high school.  I don't really do anything with my musical abilities at the moment other than I play a mean guitar and drums in Rock Band and Guitar Hero!  I would love to learn to play the violin/fiddle.
• I was the first person to graduate in my college graduation ceremony.  They broke the order down by major, and mine was Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering which as you know alphabetically comes before Civil, Mechanical, Environmental, Chemical and Electrical Engineering.  There were four of us in that class and my last name happened to come first alphabetically as well.  

I'm in the lower right corner

•  My favorite color is blue.
• My favorite TV show is Survivor.  I missed Season 1, but loved Season 2.  Then I lost interest in it until the Amazon Season, the 6th Season I think.  Since then I have followed every season.  Who do I think will win the current season you ask?  I'm kind of liking Jim, but maybe that because he's from the greatest city in the greatest state ever!
• I'm really good at math.  (It really makes me sad when girls think that girls cannot be good at math.)
• My favorite school teacher was Mr. Trujillo who taught high school Chemistry and Physics and was our River Watch Mentor.  He is a short, small-stature guy who wore a shirt and tie with pocket protector to school everyday, nice guy, but strict disciplinarian.  But on the weekends he was a leather wearing, bandanna around the forehead Harley-Davidson guy!  He also played trumpet in church sometimes which was pretty cool!
• I am pretty creative and have artistic abilities.  I never took art class in high school because all of my electives were used up with band until I quit band my senior year and took intro to art.  My teacher said it was really disappointing that I never took a class before then because he thought I had a lot of potential and recommended that I take classes in college.  I of course never had time amongst my engineering curriculum to see out that recommendation.  I don't sit around an draw now, but I express my artistic creativity through my quilting, cake decorating, scrap booking and other crafting.
• I have been to 35 states, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
• Speaking of the Caribbean, I won that vacation by getting an instant win piece in the McDonald's Monopoly game in 1998.  They paid for our flight and accommodations at the Westin Resort in St. John.  I went with my brother since I was still technically a minor at the time and he paid for all the food and activities.
• I am President of my sorority alumni chapter and served as President, Vice-President, Rush Coordinator and several Committee Chair positions when I was a collegiate member.  I am a member of a Sigma Alpha a Professional Agricultural Sorority, so not a stereotypical social sorority.

• My favorite movie is Steel Magnolias, I cry every time I watch it!
• I am not much of a reader anymore, but my favorite book is "A Prayer for Owen Meany."
• I am very extremely competitive.  I love to play games and strategize.
• I have three brothers, a sister, and a half sister.  I have 4 nieces and 6 nephews on my side and 2 nephews and a niece by marriage.
• Even though I lived in Colorado for the first 26 years of my life I have never snow skied.  I did take five snowboarding lessons while I worked at the Boys and Girls Club while in college.

•  In my lifetime for pets I have had cats, dogs, horses, a pony, sheep, rabbits, birds and fish.  I currently have no pets since my time is devoted to Austin, but Austin would dearly love a doggy or a kitty.
• I am a HUGE DENVER BRONCOS fan.  I am obviously not a band-wagoner since they totally suck right now, but I love them anyway.  I was born in Denver on a Sunday when the Broncos played the San Diego Chargers.  I was born 10 minutes after my Mom got to the hospital and the doctor joked to her that she was just in a hurry so she could watch the Bronco game.
• I love to fish and can clean/fillet them myself.

• I drive a blue 2007 Nissan Xterra.
• I'm not especially athletic because I was in a bad car accident when I was 11 and messed up my right knee.  Even so I participated in track and field and swimming in high school and lettered in both (it was a small-ish school). 
• I have one sweet Goddaughter, Heidi.  I wish that I lived closer so I could be more involved in her life.

•  I had many part-time jobs through college that included babysitting, Program Coordinator at Boys and Girls Club, Receptionist at a Veterinary Clinic, Salesperson at a knife store, temp work including working in a bottling factory and a newspaper insert stuffing job, Receptionist at my sister's finance office, and grocery bagger.  I also had a research work study for a while and worked for the Ag Research Service as a Hydrologic Technician.
• I am a semi-cradle Catholic.  My Mom is Catholic and my Dad was pretty much atheist, but agreed to let us be raised Catholic.  I was born a year and a half after my oldest brother died in a car crash so my Mom was having a period of not being active in church so I was never baptized until I was 10.  We prayed during that time and went to church once and a while, so even though we didn't practice faithfully all those years, being Catholic is all I knew. 
• My favorite food is crab legs, yum!
• Things on my bucket list: Go to Ireland and Australia, see Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night in person, and visit all 50 states.
• I am married to my best friend Dustin.  We have been together for 8 years last Valentine's Day and married 6 years last Saturday.

Our first date.

Here is when we got engaged.  Even though it doesn't show it, it was very smokey in the cabin so we could hardly keep our eyes open for the picture.

•  My favorite potato chips are called Sterzings and they are made in Burlington, Iowa.  You can only get them in the vicinity of south-eastern Iowa, so if you are ever there look for the red and yellow bag.
• My favorite part about being Mommy to Austin is all the hugs and kisses.  He is a sweet boy and I love him dearly.

• I just noticed the other day that my driver's license says my weight is 135 lbs, which I weigh a little more than that now, LOL!
• I love all things chocolate in any shade of brown, but don't like white chocolate.
• My favorite beer is New Belgium Brewery's Fat Tire.
• My favorite/most useful piece of advice was from my Mom: "Try it, you might like it...and if you don't it was good for you anyway!"

Pigskin Predictions week 4

This is week 4 of pigskin pics in our local newspaper.  This week is a $50 giftcard to one of the local grocery stores.  Here are my pics:

1. Tampa Bay over San Fran
2. Notre Dame over Air Force
3.Texas A&M over Texas Tech
4. Houston over Oakland
5. Green Bay over Atlanta
6. Arizona State over Utah
7. Buffalo over Philadelphia
8. LSU over Florida
9. Oklahoma over Texas
10. New England over NY Jets

More catch up

I knew there were some things I forgot on my last post, not that the list needed to be any longer, LOL.

• My oldest nephew will be 16 in December and is a sophomore this year.  Even so last weekend he was crowned Homecoming King of his high school.  I am trying to be happy for him, but why did they pick a sophomore for the king?  It just does not seem fair or right to me, and I'm afraid it's setting him up for heartbreak if he does not meet those expectations the next two years of high school.  He's a super cute kid... ok that sounded like an Aunt speaking, he is a hottie-brown eyed, blond and a stud at football, wrestling and track.  On top of his athletic prowess he was in the school's production of Grease last year and plays the saxophone in band, so in touch with the artsy kids too. 
• We are starting the fishing pond renovation at the reservation where I work.  I landed a $140,000+ grant to re-do the ponds.  We are in the process of draining the current pond and it's down about a foot.  We are having a fishing free-for-all on Friday and people can take all they want so long as they promise to eat it and not waste it.  It is so exciting to make progress on a project that people have been dreaming about since long before I got here.
• I'm doing so-so on my pigskin pics.  Last week (week 3) I got 7 out of 10 and Dustin got 8.  They didn't call us though so someone must have picked more correctly or beat him on a tie breaker. 

Tuesday catch up

It's Tuesday, right?  It's October now, right?

Wow where does the time go?  It just keeps slipping by me and I keep trying to catch up to it.  I had a bunch of different posts I have been wanting to do, but I'm behind.  Here is an update post about what we have going on:

• Thanks for all the anniversary well wishes and compliments on my dress.  I will actually fess up that at the time of our wedding we were pretty broke and I couldn't see spending $500 on that dress at David's Bridal so I went on E-bay and won it gently worn in an auction for $90.  I spent about that much getting it cleaned and I did the tailoring myself.  It is a really pretty dress and the photos don't do it justice since it had white roses embroidered all over it, but there is not enough contrast in the photos to make out the detail.
• We did not get the Colorado job, boo!  Oh well, the right one that is meant to be will come along.  Now that we don't have it I can say that it was in Silt, CO which was really an ideal location, but oh well. 
• You'll be happy to know that my head did not explode today when another friend announced a pregnancy.  Did I mention there are a lot of babies in my life and on the way?  I LOVE IT!
• Last Friday was the annual open house for the tribe I work for.  Once a year they have the general membership meeting where everyone is invited back and they cover all the major business and hold Tribal Council elections.  The night before they have the open house where all employees set up a booth and meet with members to answer any questions.  For the first time in 7 years I actually had a grumpy person give me the what-for.  It wasn't personal and it was a complaint that has been surfacing generally lately, so I am not too worried about it.  It also helps that I am 99.5% sure that this was my last open house as I hope to either be moved by next year, or on maternity leave which will mean that I resigned.
• I cut and ironed the last two pieces of the quilt, a farmer and a pumpkin patch.  With any luck I will be able to finish them during our trip this weekend and then it will be quilt assembly time, yay!!!
• It's been about two weeks, knocking on wood, since Austin has had a potty accident.  
• A long time ago I taught Austin that when I ask "who does Mommy love?" he is supposed to reply "me" and point to himself.  Yesterday I asked him and he goes "Aus-Inn", it's so fun that he is getting to the point where language is a form of communication and not just memorized repetition.
• My sister asked if we were going to the San Diego Zoo this weekend and I said we thought about it, but it was pretty expensive and our priority is Sea World.  So she offered to buy us the tickets for the Zoo for my birthday gift.  She is having them sent to our hotel, so I hope they get there in time.
• My garden is still in good shape and producing lots of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.  Usually by now we have had a frost, so I am enjoying the last of it.

Happy Tuesday!

6 Years and Counting…

Well the “and counting” part is because our sixth wedding anniversary was yesterday.  I was so busy and Austin never took a nap so I didn’t get a chance to do a post yesterday.  We had a great weekend.  Last night we made a nice dinner with grilled shrimp, herb and butter rice, ensalada caprese and champagne.  Ok, no champagne for Austin, but he got some juice in a plastic wine glass so we could toast each other.  Tonight our friends took Austin for the evening and we went to dinner at the nicest local restaurant.  We got all dressed up and had a fabulous time.  Every year keeps getting better, I love being married to my best friend!

Here we go...

Just when things were looking up this week and things were going good, I went and pulled a good one this afternoon.  I had to run into town to pick up some pictures and supplies for my meeting tomorrow morning and on my way home I stopped at my house to drop off some food I picked up since I literally drive right past it on my way to work anyway.  While I was home I looked up a clinic in the phone book to inquire about another Dermalologist.  In the process of making that phone call I set my keys on the counter and since I drove my work truck, didn't think to pick them back up before driving 14 miles back to my office.  I realized this at about 5 minutes to 5:00pm.  I frantically called home with no answer, then tried Dustin at work and caught him as he was walking out the door.  He said he would drive out and give me my keys.  In the mean time a bummed a ride from my coworker to the Learning Center and got Austin.  We walked across the street and played at the park until Dad got there to rescue us.  Doh!!!

On a brighter note, this weekend when I was out with the ladies I told them about my crazy mis-adventure to the Dermatologist to have a skin cancer exam and they said there is a Dermatology Center 75 miles in the other direction, but that they also have a doctor who comes to our local clinic once and a while.  I called the local clinic who referred me to their main office.  I called and TOLD THEM WHERE I LIVED and asked when they were coming over again, and she said he is coming over this Friday and still had an afternoon appointment.  So there I go, I am still going to see a Dermatologist, go me!

And...Dustin emailed the CO job and asked if they had made a selection yet and they said they are wrapping up reference checks this week, so we are still waiting.  This is good as we were thinking they were probably already done and waiting on the candidates to accept their offers, but nope, we are still in the running!  Dustin looked at some of the real estate there tonight and one of the houses that we loved was reduced another $14,000 so that is awesome if we do get it.

Take me away

Today is like my Monday since I stay home on Mondays to spend time with Austin.  I got to work this morning and hit the ground running with a super busy week.  I found out that tomorrow I am off to Cedar City, UT which is 85 miles away for a work meeting.  I was a bit irritated since it's for a committee collaboration and we are supposed to rotate the meetings so everyone has to travel once and a while, but they hosted the last meeting too.  I have to get a bunch of stuff ready this afternoon for that meeting.  Then Friday is the annual open house for tribal members.  I have to get my presentation all ready, but I'm not too stressed about it.  Some of my co-workers have jobs that put them on the hot seat, but I am lucky and have a job that most people appreciate.

Last night we booked our reservations for our annual anniversary vacation celebration in two weeks.  We were holding out to see if we heard anything back about the Colorado job, because if we got it we would go and house hunt, but we have not so we decided to go to San Diego, California.  I have been there for work and loved it, but I didn't get to do any of the sight seeing stuff.  Last year we went to northern California for our trip and it rained the whole time.  Even so we took Austin to the beach for the first time and he was in love, so cross your fingers that the weather is good for us in San Diego and Austin can play at the beach and maybe go swimming too.  We booked a Homewood Suites by Hilton in Del Mar.  It has a kitchenette and a separate bedroom, so we thought it would be more comfortable for the three of us. 

We will drive there on Friday, then stay until nap time on Monday at which time we will drive half way home to Primm, NV where we booked a room.  They have a buffalo shaped pool, so that should be pretty fun for Austin.  We were thinking on Saturday, my 33rd birthday, we would go to the beach and relax.  Sunday we would like to do Sea World.  We were thinking of doing another attraction Monday morning, but they are pretty expensive for only a half day so we may just go back to the beach.  I am so ready for a vacation!!!

Fun times

This past Saturday I went out with four of my fellow Mommy Pals and had a get away day.  We went to the big city where we went shopping, got pedicures, went to dinner at a Japanese place, did more shopping and then went and saw I Don't Know How She Does It.  It was a super fun day, and it was so nice to be pampered and splurge on myself.

On the shopping front I got some new Clinique mascara, some fun new things to wear for my anniversary next weekend, and some kitchen supplies including some new cooling racks, a grill rack to do fish/veggies/shrimp and a bagette loaf pan.

Dinner was AMAZING!  I have had Japanese a few times and only ever had one other good experience with it.  I really need to stick to the Tapan/Hibachi (I'm not really sure what the difference is?) style because that is what I have enjoyed the most.  We all got some sort of appetizer and I picked California rolls, I know pretty plain, but they were very yummy and I am not into the raw sushi.  Then it came with salad and soup and for the main course I got Hibachi combo of steak and shrimp.  The shrimp were actually pretty boring, but the steak was melt in your mouth incredible.  One of the girls I was with was very daring and into sushi and she got this catepillar roll:

It had raw eel in it and the orange things on top were fish eggs.  She tried to get me to try some, but that was way out of my comfort zone.  

The last time we did one of these outings we saw Bridesmaids, which I absolutely loved.  I wish I could say the same about I Don't Know How She Does It, but even though it had funny moments, it was just way too real and the whole purpose was to reflect on the role of working mothers and how they have to juggle their lives and deal with society's pressures and stereotypes.  I actually teared up three times during the movie and cried afterwards.  We all talked about it after and it hit home differently for each of us.  Four of the five in our group are working Mommy's and one stay-at-home.  It's such a hard struggle to decide to go back to work or stay at home and find balance and sanity in either.  Some days I think I would love to stay home, but then I also love my work and love that Austin has been learning so much at the Learning Center.  The one line I loved the most in the movie, she says she loves having a two year old boy because he makes her feel like a celebrity in a world with no critics, I TOTALLY AGREE!

Pigskin Predictions

Yay, it's the heart of football season and I have been loving every minute of it.  Our local newspaper has a contest called Pigskin Predictions for 10 weeks.  Every week in the paper they give 10 games that you have to try to pick the winner for.  The person who picks the most right for the week wins a $50 gift certificate to one of the sponsoring local businesses.  In the end they keep track of the whole season and the overall winners get $300 for 1st, $150 for 2nd and $50 for third. 

Last week was the first week of the challenge, but I fell flat on my face and only picked 5 of the winners.  This week the gift certificate is for Subway and here are my pics:

NFL:

New Orleans over Houston

Detroit over Minnesota

Green Bay over Chicago

Baltimore over St. Louis

Philadelphia over NY Giants

College:

Syracuse over Toledo

Texas A&M over OK State

UNLV over SUU

Arizona State over USC

Boise State over Tulsa

So far we have been playing for 4-5 years and never won anything.  Several times my husband and I tied the winner and gotten our names in the paper, but the tiebreaker is to pick the combined scores of all 10 games, and thus far we have never won the tiebreaker.  This week I picked 408 as my tiebreaker.

Aloha Friday

 

 

I'm linking up with Kailani at An Island Life for Aloha Friday, a day to take it easy on blogging and ask a fun and simple question to share with others and visit others to make new bloggy friends.

My question:

 

Do you have any movies you would currently like to see?

 

Like I mentioned in my last post I am going out with four of my gal pals this weekend and since I picked Bridesmaids the last time, I let them pick and we are going to see I Don't Know How She Does It.  It seems kind of ironic to me since we are five mommies, four of the five working, and this is supposed to be a get away, and yet we are going to watch a movie about an overworked mommy.  Hopefully it is a good one!