Ten Years...Really?

My ten year reunion took place about a month ago. On the day I graduated high school I started thinking about my ten year reunion. Romy & Michele's High School Reunion had come out just a couple years before that and how could one not fantasize about what it would one day be like. Would I be the one that had to show up and make up lies about what I had done the past ten years? "I invented Post-Its." - HA! Would I be married? Would I have children? Where would I live? Graduating from high school was an exciting time in a teenagers life and your ten year reunion seemed to offer some sort of future gauging mechanism for what would be in the years to come.

A few other girls from my class and I took it upon ourselves to start the planning. At first, I was just as gung-ho about the whole thing as I had been on graduation day. But, as the planning went on, and the majority of our class showed such apathy toward the whole thing, it got me thinking, "maybe this wasn't going to be as cool as I had always thought it would be. And, why didn't anyone care? Should I even go?"

The planning progressed and it wasn't until about two weeks out from the festivities that I finally said, "ok, we are going. I don't want to ever look back and think I wished I would have went to my reunion." Overall it ended up being a great time. It was absolutely wonderful to see some people I hadn't seen in years. The strange thing was that for the most part, everyone seemed to still be the same person - looked the same, acted the same, still got made fun of for the same old things, etc. - but for some reason, those "same people" that had been inseparable ten years prior, were now nearly complete strangers. How did that happen?

I am from a small town, so the majority of my graduating class was with me on my first day of kindergarten (a few even with me for preschool). We were all friends over the years. But were we all just friends because we had been since we were 5 - we didn't know anything else or more specifically, anyONE else? It isn't until you are separated from them and go your different ways that you start to realize that although you love those people and they will always be a part of your life, you will come across other individuals throughout life's path that you will find a connection with unlike anything you had ever experienced previously. You become friends with these new people because you "choose" them to be your friend, not merely because you had known them since you were 5. I have extremely fond memories of growing up in Warrenton, Oregon and I absolutely adore each and every one of the special people that helped me to become the person that I am today. I miss many of those people and there are even parts of me that sometimes wish I would have done things a little differently in order to keep those people in my life more over the years. And, there are certain friends that I have been fortunate enough to reconnect with in the past few years - thanks to the wonders of the world wide web I have a great means to communicate and stay in touch even though we are thousands of miles apart.

All in all, I have to say that I am really glad that I attended my reunion and more importantly, I am extremely proud of Warrenton High School's class of 1999. Each and every person that I was able to catch up with at my reunion seems happy and whatever it is they are all doing, they are trying to be the best at it. Be it a stay at home mom, a nurse (Sammy that is your shout out), a teacher, a mechanic or still trying to find there way, I am sincerely proud to know each and every one of those people and so thankful for all of the memories we made together and shared over the years. I also have to admit that the hubs - who's high school was bigger than our college - got a complete kick out of my little small town reunion. I love being able to share exciting milestones such as this with my husband during my Life As A Wife.

Slacker...

I am such a slacker. I am over a month behind on blogs now. I can't even believe it. Lots of things to catch you all up on...stories coming soon :)

June And Fourf

June 4th, or for those that knew me when I was 3 - June and fourf, was my birthday. Jeff had been asking me what I wanted for a while and (in the spirit of wanting to experience all that Southern California has to offer) I told him I either wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo or Sea World. On the night of my birthday the hubs cooked me a great dinner - halibut, my favorite. And, bought me cupcakes from this cute little Cupcakery in Thousand Oaks. We had a great night celebrating together and when I opened my present from him it was a print out of pictures of the San Diego Zoo, a Hilton hotel and the Padres Stadium - we were heading to San Diego for a weekend-o-fun!

We drove straight from TO to the Zoo on the Saturday morning after my birthday. I hadn't been to a zoo in years - actually I can't remember the last time I went - and the San Diego one is world famous so I was extremely excited! My favorite was the monkeys, they are just so cute. As much fun as the zoo was, I have determined that the zoo is one of the best forms of birth control one could ever imagine. That place was full of screaming children, impatient and mean parents (treating their children like dogs - "sit," "stay" and walking them around on leashes), and strollers everywhere that kept running into us! Definitely no children for us anytime soon! Here are some pictures from the zoo... (notice the Bearcat - go Bearcats! - and the aragatang up against the window, he loved the little kids!)

We left the zoo to check into our hotel, the brand new Hilton on the waterfront in San Diego. When we were checking in I noticed the girl as the front desk looked extremely familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it how I knew her. When we walked up to her I noticed that her name tag said her name was Katie and that she was from Seattle, WA. That gave me a frame of reference and it suddenly hit me, she was the little sister of one of my friends from college. I had only met her once - over 6 years ago at my friends wedding - but she remembered me as well. Lucky for us, she hooked us up with an upgrade to a corner suite, paid for our parking and gave us VIP vouchers for breakfast at Starbucks. Nice! That night we hit up the Gaslamp area of San Diego for dinner and then headed to the Padres game. It was a great weekend, a wonderful celebration of my birthday and a happy little staycation with the hubby during my Life As A Wife.

A Visit From The In-Laws

For some, the thought of this would be harrowing. But for me, I love my in-laws and was super excited when they decided to come visit us. The trip turned into a 4x celebration of Happy Mother's Day to Jan, Happy Birthday to Jeff, Happy Birthday to JoLee and Happy Father's Day to Mike - all of which were happening within a few weeks of when they came to visit. They also instructed us not to try to pack too much in - last time they were down we didn't sit still for even a second. So, we tried to keep this weekend a little lower key.

On Saturday, we had decided on evening plans to dine at Nobu for our 4X celebration. For anyone that reads Us Weekly or any of those other trashy magazines you will know that Nobu is quite the hot spot for celebrities. And, being that the location is actually in Malibu, just heading to that city you are sure to spot some famous people. They also have amazing sushi!!! Yah to Jan for trying sushimi and sake for the first time. Anyway, when we first arrived there were paparazzi strolling around the area as if they were waiting for someone - someone had to be coming! We even asked one of the professional photographers to snap this photo of the four of us in front of Nobu (not many people can say they have had their picture taken by a paparazzi - suffice it to say it was with our camera, but oh well, still cool if you ask me!). When we sat down Mike noticed someone of recognition at the table next to us - Rob Reiner. He isn't anyone I would have recognized but once I looked him up online I realized I had seen a ton of his work.

Now for the best part!!! On the way out of the restaurant we walked out the door and noticed a car mysteriously parked right in front of the restaurant in the middle of the parking lot (not in a spot). There was a TMZ camera man filming it and talking about what it was - that TMZ link is a link to the actual video that guy was shooting while we were standing there!!!! At the very beginning of the video you can see Jan and I standing in the background and then at about 30 seconds into the video you can see Jeff and Mike standing in the background. Hilarious!!!! While we were standing there trying to figure out what was going on I could overhear the cameraman say, "...here we have Cloris Leachman's car, she thought Nobu had valet so she just stopped her car, left the keys and headed into the restaurant." How random? Jan and I were immediately excited and decided we needed to see her! We went back into Nobu, telling the hostess that we needed to use the restroom again and made a loop. We were on our way back out when we suddenly spotted her sitting with a family. We obviously didn't want to bother her so we just had our personal moment and left. When we came back out to her car a man was getting in and the camera man was drilling him about who he was (he is the bald guy walking out with her at the end of the video). They asked if he was her personal valet and he said, "no, I am just dating her daughter so I am lucky enough to park her car too." It was hilarious.

Anyway, on Sunday we headed to church, ate a huge lunch and then decided it would be fun to drive around and look at houses for sale in the neighborhood. We came across this one brand new house that we all fell in love with...isn't it cute! We are not sure if we are quite ready for a home purchase but seeing this place made us realize that there are definitely homes out there that are within our price range and worth a little more investigation. A huge thank you to Jan and Mike for coming to see us, taking us to dinner to see celebrities and urging us to look at homes in our area. Who knows, I might just become a home owner during my Life As A Wife.

Happy Happy Birthday To Jeffrey

Jeff's birthday was May 19th (that gives you a better idea of just how far behind I am on these blogs). He didn't want to do anything too exciting for his birthday so we decided on a low key evening the actual night of his special day, and then a little weekend staycation to further celebrate. I had planned out a great feast to cook for Jeff on his birthday, making him his all-time favorite food - lobster. I purchased everything and was ready to go. That morning I got a call from my friend - she had tickets to the American Idol finale and wanted me to go with her...that night. I was thrilled for her but I was completely torn - it was my husband's birthday, could I really ditch him on his birthday so that I could go and do something totally amazing? I opted to turn down the tickets and cook Jeff that amazing meal instead. He appreciated it, and looking back (although I still kick myself) I am really glad I made the choice to spend his special day with him.

That weekend we decided to head out to Pismo Beach and explore the area including San Lois Obispo. Neither of us had really spent time there and thought it would be a great little weekend get away. We had a blast. We stayed at a complete dive of a hotel - the Quality Inn - and spent our time shopping, eating, winetasting and riding ATVs. It was amazing, an absolute blast. Kind of funny too, on our way out to the dunes to rent our ATVs I talked to my dad and he asked if Jeff and I had ever rode ATVs together and asked who was a better rider. My dad also said, that I better kick Jeff's butt! Needless to say, Jeff was impressed with my skills and during the one and only race we had that day I passed the finish line at least a football field in length before him! There are not many thigns I can beat him at so I have to brag about this one for a while!

On our last night there we decided to eat at the Cracked Crab. It was amazing and definitely worth the two hour wait! We ordered the Big Bucket For Two in which they cook everything all together and then come and dump it directly onto your table. It was fun and the food was great - growing up with a father as a commercial fisherman I am pretty picky when it comes to seafood, this was good stuff! Jeff and I ate way more than we should of but we didn't care, we were on vacation. The fun times and sacrifices I make to celebrate my hubby's birthday during my Life As A Wife.

I Am Sew LA

My husband has always thought that the greatest benefit of having a Mormon friend was that you always had a built in designated driver (we love Skipper for that, he has been clutch on multiple occasions). For me, I love having a Mormon friend for she has brought out the inner-craftiness in me. I always had it in me (I mean I enjoy it and I am decent at craft projects), but I just needed a reason to bring it out. Recently, my coworkers (which includes my crafty Mormon friend) talked me into taking a sewing class, the name of the place - Sew LA (cute, right?). Growing up my grandma was an extremely talented seamstress and she made all of my Halloween costumes - Rainbow Bright, Space Girl, Belly Dancer and more. She taught my mom and I think my mom would have also been an amazing seamstress had it been more hip to sew. About the time my mom was coming into her own with the sewing world, I think the craft was starting to diminish. You could by things cheaper at the store and I was reaching an age where wearing things that your mom made you was pretty much not cool.

On top of me being too young when my grandma was sewing and my mom not picking up the art during my prime, about the time I was in Junior High is when they eliminated home economics from the schedule as an unnecessary course. So needless to say, I didn't really have anyone to teach me to sew. Fascinated with the activity, I became addicted to the sewing TV shows (especially the quilting ones) that were popping up on the DIY Network and HGTV. So, between my obsession to watch other people sew, my recently found Mormon-friend-inspired-inner-craftiness and a desire to want to spend more time with my girl friends, I signed up for the Machine Intro sewing class. During the course learned how to operate a sewing machine, all the necessary tools one would need to begin sewing and we practiced how to do a straight line. After we had down all of the basics we then proceeded to actually make our own little bags!

Mine turned out decent and I was extremely proud of my little bag - it could have been a little better (we all know how big of a perfectionist I am) but it was a valient first effort. I was so excited I told my mom about it and she actually ended up giving me money for my birthday to purchase my very own sewing machine. I haven't purchased it yet, but friends and family of my life, be prepared to start recieving handmade gifts during my Life As A Wife.

It's Been A While

I know, I know...I am a slacker. All 5 of the people that actually read my blog have been on me for the past month about needing to update my blog. I owe you guys all a few blogs...here they come :)