Thanksgiving

We had such a great Thanksgiving. The weather was beautiful and everyone had such a wonderful time. 

I woke up in the morning and sat on the couch with my cup of coffee and cuddly Cubby dog to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This is one of my favorite traditions and even now I still feel like a kid as soon as it comes on.

 

This year we started earlier which meant that the appetizers came earlier and we had a longer period of time between the appetizers and cheese plates and starting dinner. I was hungry when we actually sat down for dinner which might have been the first time in history. Everything that we cooked was absolutely amazing and I didn't take any photos at all.
Before dinner we had a scavenger hunt and potato sack relay races which were hilarious and took some family photos.

 

L for Losers



The guys won as usual.

Friday morning we woke up went to Target and shopped our little hineys off with egg nog lattes in hand. Target is the only black Friday shopping that I will do and we got so much good stuff!

This Thanksgiving was the first year that I didn't have one of my parents with us and I was a little sad about it but we will be spending a late Christmas with both of them and I think that will make up for it. We just had so much to be grateful for this year. I am so thankful for this wonderful family that I have. I can't imagine what life would be like if I hadn't married into this wonderful family.

5 on Friday - Thankful Edition #2

This has been a weird week. Maybe it is the weather change {finally} or, maybe it's because November is the month of budgets for me at work and I am literally drowning in budget packets, either way I am exhausted.

I'm linking up with April & Co today and reflecting on 5 more things that I am thankful for this month. You can see my first 5 here.

One
I am thankful for my job. I might wake up and sigh a big sigh every morning when I think about going to work, but I am sure thankful that I have a place to go. I don't have the most fulfilling job in the world. I would love to do something that made me feel like I was making a real difference to other people, but that just isn't the path I took when choosing a career. Working for Homeowners Associations can be a thankless and tiring job, but I can't lie and say I don't enjoy it. I work with some pretty awesome ladies and we have a good time. So, for that I am thankful. Also, I'm thankful for my paycheck. Obviously.

Source

Two
I am thankful for my roots. I have blogged about where I come from a little bit here and there but not many details. I was born {at home} in a tiny mountain town at the tippy top of California. Practically Oregon. The closest Starbucks was about an hour away. I graduated from High School with a class of 80. Almost every single person in my graduating class I had known since I was in pre-school. Needless to say I didn't date boys from my hometown. Sorry.. I've watched you pick your nose on the playground dude. Someday I will dedicate an entire post to this, but I truly believe that I am who I am because of where I came from and I think I'm a better person for it. Also, my hometown is quite possibly one of the most beautiful places on earth. How many people can say that a Bing photo was taken in their back yard? Literally, that photo was taken right next to where my dad lives. {toot toot, I know sorry.}

Three
I'm thankful for the rain. We haven't seen much of it here in Northern California lately, until this week. We needed it so badly, and I needed it too. I think a little rain is good for the soul. I love sitting in my cozy cubicle at work with my desk heater blasting and looking out my window to the rain and the streets below {and yes, I do have Christmas music playing.} I love being snuggled in bed with my husband and our baby dogs listening to the rain and wind outside. I even love driving in the rain. I love every thing about the rain.

Four
I'm thankful for my husband. I know, I already said that on my first post, but this is my thankful list and I can do what I want. I am thankful to have married a man that is so supportive, loving, and selfless. He always knows exactly what to say when I need encouragement the most. He has given me such a wonderful life and I cannot imagine what I would do without him.

Five

I'm thankful for the family cabin. It is so nice to have a quiet place that we can escape to, just the two of us. We are going today as soon as Nick gets off work. I can't wait to bundle up and sit by the fire, play some board games, and wear pj pants and Uggs all weekend with no makeup without being judged. I'm thankful that someday we will take family trips and our kids will learn to swim in the lake and play under the pine trees with their cousins.

Happy weekend!

A Surprise Visit & Thanksgiving 1 of 2

Several weeks ago I got a text from my Brother in Law asking if we were going to be around on the weekend of the 9th. He said he was planning a surprise Birthday trip for my sister and that they would be flying in from Boise on Friday afternoon. I was SO excited and starting flooding him with text messages. Seriously blowing up his phone for like, 3 days asking questions and telling him about plans I was wanting to make. I think I got one response for every 20 texts. Poor guy.

He had invited my momma too and the first thing I thought of was an early Thanksgiving. Our family is so spread out and we rarely get to spend a Holiday all together. It's usually just us and my Mom or us and my Dad and his wife.  This year we won't have either of my parents with us for Thanksgiving, and my Sister and Brother in Law will be in Maine with his family. So, Thanksgiving on the 10th was the perfect solution to this never ending problem.

I picked them up at the airport on Friday afternoon and we sat in traffic for what felt like an eternity. Nothing like a car fire on the bridge to turn the rush hour crawl into a dead standstill. D & A live in a beautiful mountain town with not even one stop light. So, Bay Area {Friday} traffic was far from a warm way to welcome them. Sorry guys! Anywhooo, we finally got home, waited for the Momma to arrive and headed to Danville for sushi.

Saturday morning we made breakfast and got ready to head out to the city for the day. My sister's boyfriend Sean Hayes was performing at a small venue and we had all bought tickets for that night as part of her birthday surprise. We started with a delicious lunch at Pacific Catch right outside of Golden Gate Park and then walked through the park after lunch. There was a little art show going on by the fountains and it was such a beautiful day. After walking off some of our lunch calories we drove down to Ocean Beach where they were holding a sand sculpture contest. We got there long after the judging had ended but we still got to see the sculptures. The sand was freezing and the wind started to pick up and the fog was coming in so we left to go find a happy hour.

 

 

Instead of happy hour we found a funky little hipster bar in the Mission District that offered some of the craziest cocktails I've ever seen. Like, the Ike Turner, a $9 shot of Hennessey served with a slap in the face. Classy.

We had some time left until the show started so we found a little pizza place, apparently the most popular pizza place on the planet where we waited almost an hour for a table. The pizza was amazing and totally worth the wait. Plus it was only a few doors down from the show so that made it extra sweet. We got to the show right after they opened the doors and had just the right amount of time to order another drink and find the Momma a place to sit down.

Okay.. so.. we've been to some pretty good concerts. This summer especially. We saw John Mayer not that long ago and that was amazing. I love John. But, this show was maybe the best. I now know why my sister made Sean Hayes her honorary boyfriend and we had such a good time. I also discovered my new favorite artist. Ever heard of Jillette Johnson? Probably not but seriously, Google her, listen to some songs. She's like, what you would get if Nora Jones, Lady GaGa & Amy Winehouse had a baby. Her voice is amazing, I've heard some people say they want to eat her voice with ice cream. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean exactly, but she's good and she's gorge. She was recently on Rachel Ray's talk show, so I know I can't be the only one with this new obsession.

Sunday we woke up, a little, let's say... dehydrated. But, we had a Thanksgiving to cook and cook we did. Nick made his first turkey and did a fantastic job. We invited his parents over so the whole family could enjoy and spend some time together. We made way too much food for 8 people and now we can't even open our fridge for all the leftovers. I'm pretty sure we will be eating left overs until the real Thanksgiving. I'm not complaining though, I love leftover Thanksgiving sandwiches more than Thanksgiving dinner.

D & A had a flight out at 6:50 which meant we had to get up at 4:45 to get them to the airport in time. Turkey hangover and a 4:45 alarm did not treat me well and I ended up taking the day off yesterday and hating life on the couch while catching up on every single show. You name it, if it's on Bravo, E!, or TLC I watched it yesterday. Sorry, I'm not sorry.

5 on Friday - Thankful Edition #1

2013 has been a really special year for us and we have so much to be thankful for. I think that it is so important to keep in mind how blessed we are, and to give thanks all the time. Not just because of a Holiday, but Thanksgiving is a good excuse to share those thankful thoughts.

I try to make it a point to pray every single day. Sometimes, depending on what is going on, I find myself praying consistently on and off, throughout the day. I am noticing that a lot of the time I am asking for things. Lord, please give me strength. Lord, please... instead of Thank you, God… I am trying to make a conscious effort to express my gratitude not only in prayer but also in my actions. {Believe me this is something that needs work.}

We have a beautiful life and it is important to remember that. Every. Single. Day.

One
I am thankful for my husband. For endless reasons. But really... he gives me butterflies, makes me laugh, makes me feel SO loved and appreciated, and even cooks dinner more nights out of the week than I do. He loves my family, like really loves them.  And most importantly? He puts up with me. My bed hogging, laundry piling, reality TV watching, Candy Crushing, ways are not always a walk in the park. But he loves me a lot and I am thankful for that.

Two
I am thankful for my family. My sister doesn't know it yet, but today, her husband will be loading her onto a plane for a quick 90 minute flight to San Francisco. My mom is driving down and we are going to be able to spend a weekend together for the first time since their wedding in June. I am thankful that my parents are going to be the most loving, sweetest grandparents. That is something that I wasn't fortunate enough to get to experience, being loved and spoiled by a grandparent. {That's a story for another time...} My sister is going to be the sweetest, most loving aunt. Something else I didn't really get to experience. 

 
Three
I am thankful for my husband's family. I have talked about this a million times before, but I seriously hit the in-law jackpot. Nick's family made me their own after we had only been dating a few months. We get to spend so much time with them and I have never been made to feel like an outsider. Not once. They are so welcoming and inviting, loving, and provide so much for us. And, they are so respectful. Of our space, our lives, our plans. Nick's parents are, at times, our favorite couple to hang out with. We have so much fun with them, they like to drink {Husby got his bartending skills from his Pops}, love good food, and are always down for a good time. I got a sweet sister out of the deal too. A sister that wears the same shoe size as me {a microscopic size 5 to be exact}. She's a built in best friend, confidant, and another amazing auntie to be.

Four
I am thankful for our home. Our house is currently undergoing one hell of a transformation. This will be the 4th Christmas in our house. A house that started out as an empty shell, an ex-rental house, a bachelor pad. We had roommates living in the 3 extra bedrooms for the first few years in our house. This helped pay the bills, built our savings, and enabled us to pay off our wedding in full, only months after it was over {another blessing all on it's own.} Anyway, when we had roommates we didn't do much to the house. We kept the décor simple and didn't have any photos of us up or around really. Our house became home, but it still felt temporary. We felt like renters in the home that we owned for the first few years we lived there. For the first time in a long time, we are finally roommate free and are able to start making some real changes to the house. Adding bits of furniture, adding gallery walls with photos, painting, personalizing, making it ours. This is really just the beginning. Once the holidays are over we are going to start some real renovations and I cannot wait to fall even more in love with this home we are building.

Five
I am thankful for our friends. I have always been very particular about who I became friends with. I tend to prefer to have a small group of extremely close friends, rather than a large group of not quite as close friends. When Nick and I started dating, I'm pretty sure I made about 100 new friends. I'm seriously not exaggerating. Nick came with the biggest group of extremely close friends that you can imagine. Many {most} of them are girls. Luckily they liked me and made me their own so quickly. I had never experienced anything like it. They are the most beautiful, sweetest group of girls you can imagine. These girls have never made me feel like they are my friends because of Nick. Of course I have my own amazing girl friends who I love more than life. Each of them is so special to me for different reasons. I wouldn't be me, if it weren't for each one of them. A network of people who love and support you is probably one of the greatest blessings of all. 

 

Weekend in the Mountains

I come from a tiny town at the very tip of California.

Most people, especially people in the Bay Area don't realize that California extends above San Francisco. It does, in fact, and quite a bit actually.

Fun fact: there's about 6 more hours worth of California before it becomes Oregon.

 

Sometimes the traffic and the work week becomes too much to bear and I need to escape. Back to my tiny town with 4 stop lights, back to the comfort of my mom and dad, to made from scratch pancakes and the smell of the wood stoves burning in every house on the block. This past month has been one of those months that makes me crave simplicity. Nick and I have been busy, and we have been stressed, the need for an escape became overwhelming.  

 

We took off Friday afternoon before the impending doom of the BART strike traffic got underway. After spending 2 hours a day sitting on the freeway surrounded by other commuters, there is no better feeling than driving 80 on a highway with no other cars in sight.

 

 

 

We got to my dad's late and after a warm welcome from the dogs, we had a glass of wine and went to bed. We woke up Saturday morning to the sounds of coffee brewing and the nails of the impatient pups clicking on the wood floors. My dad made some amazing pancakes from a recipe in his head and we spent a long time talking and catching up. We went down to the river to see the salmon run and took some deep breaths. My favorite part of a trip home in the fall is the colors. The trees explode into bright reds, oranges, and yellow up there. It is just so beautiful.

 

Saturday night we made dinner at my mom's, took a walk to the park I played in as a kid, drank more wine and caught up with mama. The next morning we cooked a delicious breakfast and packed up to head back home. On our way out of town we stopped for stuffed breadsticks at my favorite small town pizza place and to see my friend Katelyn and her boys Benjamin & Noah. I love some quick snuggles with those big babies.

 

 

Sunday night as we got closer to home the freeway started to clog and we both sighed. Our escapes to the mountain always go by too quickly but Monday always feels just a little more relaxing after even a quick trip. Also? this is only a 4 day work week for me and that is preeetty awesome.

5 on Friday: Life Lately

I haven't been very good at blogging lately. You know it's bad when your husband starts asking.
The truth is I just haven't felt like I have anything new to share and as usual, work is kicking my back side and the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is look at my computer. Let's catch up shall we?

One
Dog Injuries - Nick & I had a very eventful week last week. It started the Friday before when we found a giant lump on the side of Teddy's head. It was hard to see since he is so freaking fluffy. We watched the lump over the weekend and took him to the vet on Monday. The morning after his first vet appointment we woke up to what looked like a murder scene on our bedroom floor. Poor Ted's head had exploded and we rushed him to the emergency vet at 6AM. They found he had an abscess that had ruptured and they had to do surgery to put a drain in his head. He looked like Frankenstein for about 4 days. He is doing just fine now and is back to his rascally ways. He's pretty stoked about not having to wear his giant satellite dish anymore too. No explanation whatsoever about what might have caused said abscess.

Two
Home Makeover - I caught a bug called "decorate every room in the house like a crazy person." Up until about two weeks ago we didn't have any photos of us up in the house except for in a little bookcase in the front living room. I've been bugging Nick for weeks to hang up some floating shelving that I bought and finally he caved. Our family room finally looks like real people use it! Now I've moved on to obsessing over our bedroom. I feel like that room should be my favorite room in the house, it right now.. it's my least favorite. I picked out some new bedding and have slowly been pulling pieces together that will fit perfectly. I am loving the new Threshold collection at Target and fell in love with the bedding we got. I'm pretty much designing the entire room around the bedding. I can't wait until it's done.

Three
Fall! - We pretty much had all of our fall decorations up by September 1st. I like to decorate in phases. I started in September with Autumn only and then slowly started adding Halloween decorations. As soon as Halloween is over we will transition back to Harvest & Thanksgiving pieces. I am very particular about how we decorate and I hate to rush the seasons. I cannot stand to start decorating for Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. It seems like the year passes by so quickly that I hate to rush through my favorite time of the year. I am absolutely loving how cozy and warm our house is feeling right now. And.. it smells amazing at all times with all the crock pot meals and spice candles I've been burning.

 

Four
Getting Crafty - I caught another bug called "craft all the things!!" I have been refinishing furniture like a fiend and spending more time at the craft store than at home. My favorite of all Pinterest successes is this pretty little burlap wreath. I am in love.

Five
This one isn't really relevant to what we've got going on right now but I'm excited about it and wanted to share. I finally found a phone case on Etsy that I liked, it showed up yesterday and I am in love. Bee Covered has some of the cutest designs I've seen and her prices are so reasonable. Also I love anything with a cute monogram. I always prefer a sleek, slim case to a bulky rubber one. My problem is that for my job, I spend a lot of time walking construction sites and have to have my phone handy to take notes and photos to send to my assistant. I have dropped my phone way too many times and the thin plastic cases never give the screen any protection. This case is firm rubber and has the tiniest lip that would protect the screen if it fell but is thin enough not to bug me. I will definitely be using this shop again.

 Happy Friday!! Hallelujah.

30 by 30: Update

1. Complete my professional certification. Done & Done

 

2. Be Matron of Honor in a wedding. My sister got married this last June and I was the only wedding party attendant & Maid of Honor. I'm not going to check it off yet though. My sweet friend Jeanette is getting married next May and asked me to be MOH. Two is better than one!

 

3. Work from home full time

 

4. Go parasailing

5. Take a hubs & me only trip to Las Vegas

6. Go skydiving

7. Become a mama {number one, most important ever lifetime goal. No pressure...}

 

8. Go stand up paddle boarding

9. Find our family church

10. See the Grand Canyon at sunset

11. Go on a hot air balloon in Napa - Check! My sweet husband planned a surprise hot air balloon ride in Napa for our anniversary weekend. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever done.

 

12. Become an aunt

 

13. Do yoga on the beach - Check! The resort that we stayed at in Maui offered yoga classes once a week. The morning we went it was raining, so yoga on the beach turned into yoga in the pool cabana instead. I didn't have my camera because, well I was doing yoga.


Source

14. Go to Disneyland

 

15. Buy our forever home 

16. Go white water rafting

17. Watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade with my kids.

 

18. Become a confirmed Catholic & get baptized

19. Start a new job

 

20. Ride horses on the beach

 

21. Pay off my student loans

 

22. Get my real estate license

 

23. Spend 4th of July with my kids & family in my hometown

 

24. Go camping at the beach

 

25. Visit our friends in Denver in the winter

 

26. Have Thanksgiving with the entire family. {This means mom, dad, sister & BIL, and Nick's family. My parents divorced when I was in 5th grade. My 10 year old self is absolutely beside herself with the idea of this actually happening}

 

27. Visit our friends in Dallas & eat Texas BBQ

 

28. {Still need some ideas...}

 

29. {Need something else to put here... }

 

30. Go somewhere really cool for my 30th birthday

 

I added a few more items and I only have two more to go. In January I'll be 27 and I'm pretty quickly running out of time to make some of these things happen. The next few years look like they're going to be pretty fun!

See the original 30 by 30 post here.