The Birthday Boy

Is my hubs!



Today we celebrate 27 well lived years, and pray for many, many more to come.


What did we do to celebrate this momentous, joyous occasion you ask? Why, we worked opposite schedules (fun, no?), and I gave him 27 spanks, with an extra one for good luck. OK, maybe that was TMI. In a perfect world, we'd be hitting up a restaurant in SF, or maybe our favorite restaurant Kincaid's. Unfortunately, it was a no-go tonight. The turn around time between me getting home and him leaving for work was just too tight. I did manage to swing by Whole Foods after work and pick up his favorite schtuff to make a kick-butt birthday dinner, just for him. I really try to limit my shopping there...it is not far at all from where I work the majority of the week, so it is a BIG TEMPTATION, because it's beautiful. The produce section looks like an artists palette the colors are so bright, and they have just about every food product you could think of. But it is uber expensive for everyday groceries...so only for special times do I let myself enter the front doors.

So here's the spread...rack of lamb cut into chops, tomatoes stuffed with couscous topped with breadcrumbs and cheese, throw in the Martinelli's and you've got yourself one scrumdiddlyumptious meal/party a deux. It looks great, but it tasted amazing, if I do say so myself.





Here's to you Joe, my darling husband. I love sharing life with you and watching you become more and more of the man you were meant to be with each passing year. Happy Birthday!

A Wicked Awesome Feat

So while I was slavin' away at work on Friday, Joe was out enjoying the great outdoors with a buddy from work at Yosemite. They decided that they would drive up, hike up Half Dome, and drive back home all in one day. Like all goodly planned things, it didn't exactly happen that way. But nevertheless, they had a great time. When I saw the pictures the next day of their hike, I had to post them because one: they're pretty cool, and two: I'm really proud of Joe. Now, he did this hike once before by himself, so, obviously, I knew he could do it. But it's a lot different when you go with other people. And this hike is not to be sneezed at. It is massive, and tough. You had better have the right gear and mental toughness otherwise, you're in trouble with a capital "T". This is no little walk in the woods - it is a pretty big endeavor. Granted, you're rewarded at every point along the way by absolutely amazing views, but this is not for the faint of heart. Depending on the pace you go at, it's a 6-8 hour trek, that really becomes a climb at the end straight up the granite back with just cables to help you, so you're pretty much hugging the rock, trying to scoot up and not think about what would happen if you tumbled and took a fall. It wouldn't be pretty. I don't think I'll ever be able to do it, because of my fear of heights, so I'll just stick to the Yosemite falls and Vernal falls hikes. Guess I'll just have to live vicariously through Joe...



Almost to the top. See how high up you are?

There he is, reaching the summit...I love how the setting sun looks. I know that technically this picture is a little too dark, but dang it, this is my blog, and I have the artistic license here, OK?

I know this isn't Joe's favorite picture of the bunch, but I like it, especially for those of you who have never been to Yosemite, this gives you some scope for just how high and big it really is. The valley floor of Yosemite is below him, plus you get to see how he is sitting right on the top of the curve of it. My feet and pits start to sweat when I look at this picture, because there he is, swinging his legs off it. If it were me, no way would you have gotten me to the edge, and I would probably be face down clinging to the rock crying my eyes out, and dreading the trip down, cursing whoever it was that talked me into doing it in the first place. Not Joe. He looks completely carefree and at home on the little ledge, right?

Here's the winner shot of the batch in my opinion. The lighting is gorgeous. A man and his mountain. Gotta love it. He told me as he tumbled into bed upon arriving wearily home in the wee small hours, that despite the screaming sore muscles, total physical and mental exhaustion it is worth it. So I'm sure that he'll be right back up there again. And, just in case anyone out there has forgotten...

YESSSSS!!!!!

Special Day

I can't let yesterday go by without saying that on July 24th 3 years ago, Joe proposed to me at Yosemite. Like everything else about life that I am figuring out, the reality of what it has turned out to be is better and different that I imagined. Life with my buddy by my side is so satisfying and good. He amplifies my life in every way. Even though the wedding was 6 months later in January, and that's when we made vows to each other in front of everyone, July 24th is really the start of it all, when we promised to be each other's for life. It has a special place in my heart. That's all.

Super Duper

That's how I feel. Just good. Happy. Content. This whole past week went smoothly, and things got done. Ross and Monica from Friends used to say "check" when they either remembered or completed something, and that's how I feel inside too. Geeky, I know, but true. Taxes? Done. Jury Duty? Called in, didn't have to go, and done for a year. Grocery shopping? Taken care of. Cleaning the bathroom (which I hate)? Smelling good and lemony. Since all those things are now behind me, now I'm really looking forward to what's ahead of me...
So, I've been flexing my crafty muscles and honing in specifically on embroidery. I was taught really young by one of my grandmas, and for whatever reason, just kinda gave it up. I guess it got lost along the way of Girl Scouts, piano lessons, gymnastics, church stuff, life in general, you get the jist. I hadn't even though about it till I was introduced to the website Sublime Stitching and was amazed at what I saw. No geese or hearts or teddybear patters - totally awesome, retro, kitchy stuff, which I get a big kick out of. This little voice in the back of my head kept saying try it, give it a shot and why not? So I caved. I figured it would be a lot like riding a bicycle and getting back on, and all that. And if not, no one would have to know. Here are my first two (in like 17 years) dish towels. I love, love, love stitching! Already my brain is starting to formulate things to do. I have some ideas for Mother's Day presents, I would eventually like to participate in a craft swap, and the ULTIMATE goal is to have some things to sell at our church's Holiday Boutique this coming November that is headed up every year by my mother in law. All the proceeds go to missions, and I would really like to be able to contribute something. All fired up with my new found confidence, I hopped back onto Sublime Stitching and ordered up some more stuff, all the while telling myself , "this is really not an expensive hobby, especially compared to Joe's (hello- mountain biking? 4 wheeling? airsoft?!?!)", and "I'm really just building up my supply base now...I won't always order like this". Right. I should monitor myself though because I would hate to go into financial ruin via that website. So that's that.
On Saturday, I'm going to a book signing of Giada de Laurentiis!!! I am SOOOOOOOO excited!! I absolutely love her, and you should to. I think there's something wrong with people who don't. There is no way I'm missing this. I will probably be tongue tied and act like a goober in general, but I cannot wait. I love my foodTV girlies. I still kick myself that I didn't head to a book signing of Rachael Ray's when she was in Berkeley. I went to work like a schmuck. I'm grabbing Marisa, and we're heading down nice and early to San Jose where she'll be at a Sur la Table shop. Another reason why I shouldn't spend all my money on that stitching site is 'cause I'll want some to spend there too. She'll be at a really ritzy shopping center called Santana Row, and they have all kinds of fun stores like Anthropologie (a fave), The Container Store, Urban Outfitters, and the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!
Another thing on the horizon for me is I plan on going to this ginormous antique flea market that is held the first Sunday of every month in Alameda, right by the bay. How lame is it that I've lived here my entire life, and never gone to it? One of my mom's good friends goes religiously, and the things she finds there are unique and beautiful. Again, I'm really excited. I have a few things in mind that I'd like to find...some wall art (anything to alieviate the whitness of the walls), antique linnen, some old suitcases/ steamer trunks...did I mention that I'm excited? I also hear they've got great food there as well to munch on while you browse. May 6th, I'm there.
And perhaps the biggest news, is that it looks about 95% certain that Joe will get some time off before the next shift change in September, about 10 days worth...so we are starting to plan a trip to ITALY!!! Or maybe England. Or Spain. But Italy looks like the definite front runner, and either way, we are definitely getting out of the country. It's where we've said we would like to travel together even before we were married. My feet don't even touch the ground at that thought, and my heart rate majorly accelorates. It seems way too good to be true. I'll definitely post more details about it later, but it just seemed that there would be no way possible at first. Which was very discouraging. In the grand 5 year plan we mapped out during pre-marital counseling, part of the reason that we wanted to wait 5 years to start a family was to travel. A lot. But with vacation time routinely being denied to rookie cops, it was making less and less sense why we were waiting (since everyone and their sister is pregnant around here), if we couldn't even travel. When Joe injured his ankle in January, it seemed even more remote. All I have to say about that, is that God's timing is perfect, and it really is through Him that things are made possible. So, I've been to Rome as a kid, but would love to go back, and I also want to see Venice...but, any other ideas of must sees? I'll welcome any and all advice!
So with all these thought whirling around my head today, I was a very happy girl. But do you know what the best part of the day was? I came home from work to find MY HUSBAND MADE ME DINNER!!!! This may not be a big deal for some of you. You may have guys that love to cook. But Joe wasn't trained up like that, and it is definitely outside his comfort zone. Normally this is OK, because as stated before, I really like to cook. But with me working full time now, I'm wiped out a lot of nights when I come home...and right now, he's got Sat-Mon off, so it just makes sense for him to slowly branch out and take on Monday's cooking. We're still in the tweaking faze of that though...a lot of other things will have to be divided up too. But this was great. So here it is, Joe's first roast; a combo of chicken, potatoes, and asparagus with lemon and thyme. It was fantastic! Talk about giving me the warm fuzzies and proving to me once again why he is the cream of the crop.