A Long December

I love that song by Counting Crows but really I just thought it was a more interesting title than most anything else that came to mind. December has been very busy but that’s not really different than anyone else since it is the holidays. We went up to Santa Rosa last week (very briefly) and got to spend some good time with Josh (yay!) and family. Friday and Saturday we were in San Francisco with friends to hang out and go to the 49ers game which, miracle of miracles they WON! It was their 3rd win of the season. Woo. Definitely not like the glory days with Joe Montana and Jerry Rice but still a fun experiance. Plus, I love San Francisco at Christmastime. It’s fun to see the city decorated and pretty. We exchanged Christmas presents with my family on Sunday morning and left around 12:30pm. We had to take the 101 because we wouldn’t be getting over the grapevine before nighttime if we took the 5. And past experiance has caused us to not do that because it gets icy and dangerous. Anyway, the drive home was loooooong but we made it home safe and sound. Between loads and loads of laundry needing to be done due to travel, getting enough rest from a tiresome trip and prepping for Christmas, it’s been very busy. But, on top of all that I have been doing some side work for a friend who Matt does side work for. I basically test the website they’re making, checking for spelling/grammar errors, making sure everything makes sense and works properly. It’s very different to have a deadline to work within but it’s a fun challenge and it’s always nice to earn a little extra money. I’ve put in 6 hours and have 14 more to go. Christmas is almost here! Ahhh! Still have some presents to get so we’ll see if I survive 🙂 Will post again soon, hopefully with some pictures if I get the chance to upload them by then.

Trip to Napa and Santa Rosa

Well we had our trip a couple weeks ago and I’m still adjusting to being back home, getting into a regular routine of things. On top of that there have been a lot of events going on as well as the girls being sick so it’s been difficult to find time to post.
Our trip to Santa Rosa went well and we got there pretty quickly, even though it was so late at night. Traveling so late really is helpful with the kids because they can spend the time sleeping instead of whining and getting bored. We spent all day Friday keeping the kids busy and showing them off to whoever my mom could find at work. We left for Napa after my mom got home from work and took her car so she could get around with the kids if she needed to and we didn’t have to feel like old parents driving our minivan. It was nice. We found our way into Napa and to our hotel in Yountville, although it wasnt very easy. Street signs are conspicuous and located in odd places so it was difficult to see which street we needed to turn on. Our reservations weren’t until 9pm so we had a couple hours to relax in our room and get dressed for dinner. The room was really nice and large. An upstairs condo-like room with a large and comfy bed, deck, large bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and a bottle of wine above the fireplace.
We had dinner at Celadon, which was one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life. Honestly. We split the Caprese salad (made with a variety of heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil) which was AMAZING. For dinner Matt had the Kobe Beef with Blue Cheese, Green Bean and Mashed Potatoes and I had Roasted Duck Breast with Wild Mushroom Risotto and Black Truffle Jus which was phenomenal. For dessert we had Chocolate and Hazelnut Mousse Bars fresh Berries and Chocolate Sauce, also very tasty.
The next morning we woke up rather early, about 7:45 and went to the complimentary breakfast the hotel provided. It was insane! The best spread I’ve ever seen. They had a chef ready to make an omelette any way you like, a chef to make you a belgian waffle with all sorts of toppings and inside they had granola, cereals, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, herbed potatos (SO GOOD!) tarts, OJ, champagne, water, coffee…everything. It was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had! And we ate it on their beautiful patio outside.It was great!
After we ate we went for a bike ride around the local wineries on the Silverado Trail, which ended up being 13 miles long! We had no idea it was going to be that long but it was a highlight for us and very fun. After that we went to a winery but didn’t really like it so we went back to our room to relax for awhile. We tried to think of things to do but if it didn’t involve food or wine, the options were limited. We drove into downtown Napa and walked around for a bit , (even went to Target!)and then we went and saw Oceans 13. Afterwards we drove back to our room and decided we were hungry so we got a light dinner (at 10pm, mind you) at a restaurant across the street from our hotel. I had a caesar salad and Matt had some sort of beef skewers. Dessert we had this fancy icecream sandiwch which was delish! Next morning we woke up and I walked to the spa to get a pedicure while Matt slept in. That was a really nice treat! Afterwards we packed up and left for our lunch reservations at Martini House in St. Helena which is right next to Yountville. We both had a chef’s tasting which included a salad which I loved, Bison on top of a corn risotto with arugala and for dessert, I can’t remember what it is called but whatever we had was very good. After we ate we headed back to Santa Rosa but first stopped at a Dean and Deluca store, which was very fun! (In my favorite show, Felicity, Ben and Felicity work at Dean and Deluca.) Once we got into Santa Rosa we went and had ice cream with Josh and Christine, as well as Patricia and Leslie. It was really fun to hang out and and spend time with them before heading to San Jose to drop Matt off for his conference. Traffic wasn’t too bad but it still took over 2 hours to get to San Jose State University. Once there it took quite a while to figure out where Matt would be staying but eventually it all worked out and we quickly went to get some dinner before I headed back to Santa Rosa. That took 1 hour and 45 minutes so I made better time.
The rest of the week I spent as much time with Josh and Christine as possible, having lunch, dinner, going to Jr. High group and even the mall. Tuesday I had a birthday party for Emma and Felicity, getting pizza from Round Table and salad from Mary’s (Mmmmm!), with Christine making the cake. The girls loved having another party and presents to open to I think it went really well.
Wednesday I went to Mt. Gilead with Christine, Jen and Patricia to go visit Leslie. That was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the fellowship. In some ways it is very difficult to not live in Santa Rosa because all of those girls I have known for a long time, and we have a lot in common. Thursday I spent the day at Patricia’s house having a play date with her girls Alexis and Hannah. It’s not as intimidating to be their friends becaue I already know them. Peter and Patricia’s house is awesome because there is nothing that my girls can get in to that they aren’t supposed to. They have their entire living room gated…it’s awesome. Very stress free and fun. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with Josh and Christine and it was hard to say goodbye come Thursday night.
Thankfully I met up with Jamie at Aroma Roasters so her company kept my mind off of being sad about leaving. Coffee with Jamie was really fun and it was great to be able to catch up. (We grew up together and although she goes to Master’s differing schedules have gotten in the way of our seeing each other very often.) I left Friday afternoon to pick up Matt and head back to Santa Clarita, but before that I went back to Mt. Gilead to see Leslie (I had left my sunglasses at her place) and figured since I was already going there, I might as well find a way to encourage her. Leslie is about my age, maybe a year older than me and has been married almost as long as Matt and I have. Anyway, she had her daughter, Emma, just a few hours before I had Sophie. Leslie ended up getting rheumatoid arthritis from her pregnancy and has days where she is in so much pain she can’t walk. Anyway, she has an amazing attitude about it and doesn’t complain about having to take care of a 7 month old while feeling like that. After I hung out with Leslie for a while I headed back to my mom’s to pack up the van and go to San Jose. Driving there was the most stressful part of the trip I think, for me, tons of traffic and a couple of times where I know the Lord was protecting and watching over me. It took us aboiut 8 hours to get to Santa Clarita (normally only 6) but we still made reasonable time considering the circumstances. We stayed the weekend with Matt’s parents which was really nice! They watched the girls for us all day Saturday so we could go look at new cars (the entire time we were in Santa Rosa our ABS light was on and since it has been a recurring problem we felt it was time to just get rid of it as soon as we could). Later Saturday night we went and say Live Free or Die Hard with Brian and Sandra, which was really fun. Sunday we went to church and headed home after the girls naps.
All in all it was a good trip but it is wonderful to be back in the comfort of our home 🙂

New Adventures

Well, I recently drove up to Santa Rosa with the girls while Matt was gone in Long Beach for a conference. Yes, I drove by myself but it really wasn’t that bad. In fact, it was rather enjoyable. I was really missing my hometown and an environment I was more than familiar with, filled with family and friends I have known my whole life but not seen in quite a while. I stayed with my mom, and although it had its stresses, it worked out pretty well and she was very helpful with the girls. It was nice she was so happy to watch them at night so I could spend time with other family and friends. I got to spend the most time with Josh and Christine and it was much needed! I’ve been close to them but it can be difficult to maintain that when you see each other only a couple times a year. Spending time with them made me realize how much I’ve missed them and being apart of their lives. I hope I can visit a little more often as the girls get older. I also got to see a lot of people which was nice, and my mom was very happy to have me show off the girls to anyone and everyone. It’s nice to see her so proud of her great grandchildren:) Unfortunately, my stay was cut short two days because our van started acting weird (which it has done in the past, we’ve taken it in and been told nothing is wrong….grrr). Anyway, not wanting to take a chance driving home by myself with the girls with the van acting funny, Matt flew up to Oakland, where I picked him up and we drove straight to Santa Clarita. We got to Matt’s parents house at about 1:30am, went to sleep at 3am and left for Camarillo at 10am. Although it was a bummer how it all went down, it was wonderful to be home and be with Matt.
This past weekend Robyn and I went down to Hollywood and spent the day there because I had my hair colored blonde (although, it’s not nearly as blonde as I want it and it’s more streaky with my brown hair there a little bit, so it will take one more appt. to get it to the color I want) and cut. Not very short at all, but it just needed all of the split ends cut off. I really like it even though it’s not done and it’s really fun to have a change. I’ve had my hair very basic ever since I got pregnant with Emma so I was ready for something different. I’ve noticed the older I get the less daring I become, which isn’t necessarily bad, but I wanted to do something a little out of my comfort zone so it’s a fun change to make. It was also nice to get a day of some pampering and having it done somewhere fun. (It was at the Argyle Salon & Spa, in the Sunset Tower Hotel on Sunset Blvd). I’ll post a picture when I get them onto my computer.
Emma’s potty training seems pretty complete and she’s really got it down. She can tell me when she needs to go (both#1 and #2) and very little accidents have occurred. Yay!! Definitely worth the effort, even if those first 4 days were stressful.
Sophia had her 6 month check up and she now weighs 15 lbs, 7.3 ounces. She is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight (both Emma and Felicity were in the 5th and 10th at this age, so Sophie is definitely bigger, but not obviously so). The doctor said she’s very healthy (although she did get a cold, like, the minute we came home from the appt!). I’m just thankful all the girls are healthy and doing well. Things are still busy and will get even busier as Emma and Felicity’s birthdays are in a couple of weeks! A 3 year old and a 2 year old! I can hardly believe it.
We had some friends who made a movie spoof that was one of the top five entered out of over 500 and nominated for an MTV Movie award. We were excited for them because they’re both such talented, down to earth guys. Anyway they were told right before the show (which they attended) that only 3 of the 5 would be shown and it ended up theirs wasn’t. Not only does that seem rude, it was embarrassing to be at the after party and have to explain what they were nominated for since no one saw their clip. Just another reason among many to despise MTV.
My Trusting God Bible Study just ended and so I have now started doing a study on the book of Galatians, accompanied by reading the book The Fruitful Life by Jerry Bridges; I am also going through The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace, which I can’t seem to get enough of—I always am convicted and learn something when I read it!!
Anyway, that’s enough rambling for now, I should be able to post again soon 🙂