My Birthday and Lake Tahoe
FRIDAY – We had thought of a brilliant plan to get to work/Tahoe. Jeff had a meeting in Morgan Hill, so I was going to catch a ride with him to San Juan Bautista so that he could swing by after work and pick me up on our way up north to Tahoe (usually I would leave my car at work). We both got up really early, and on our way there. POP! His tire went flat. Jeff had no clue what to do. I (being a veteraned woman with such car troubles) instantly said, “Call Triple A!”. So we did that, got them to put the donut on, and went BACK to Salinas so I could go to work in my own car, and he could take his to get fixed since we needed it for the long weekend. So much for carpooling to work!
Friday was by far the HOTTEST day I’ve experienced in San Juan Bautista ever! It got up to 106 degrees and we have no AC and one rinky dink fan! Since it was my birthday, my boss took my coworkers and I up to Windhaven Ranch after picking up some lunch at the Windmill Market. Despite it being so freakin’ hot outside, I had a fun time up there discovering all the animals. I wished I had my camera to take some pictures.
We saw (in order):
1) 2 Female Peacocks
2) A Brown Dog
3) A Herd of Goats
4) A Gray and White Cat
5) A Flock of Chickens and Roosters
6) A Tan Horse
7) A Llama
Quite a bunch of animals for a 45-minute lunch break! It was a nice little adventure and I throughly enjoyed it. After the work day, Jeff came to pick me up to go to Tahoe. There where a couple of traffic jams, but we got there with enough time to gamble the night away! We stayed at the Montbleu Hotel/Casino. The prices for the room were about approx $250+ a night – which when we got there we realized was not really worth it. The room didn’t have a fridge, had a really crappy view of the roof of the auditorium, and the toilet made a running noise all the time. The shower looked cool though, it was a really big circle. It would have been perfect if it was jetted – but no.
SATURDAY – After losing about a $100 gambling (of my money anyway – Jeff’s money, another story), we were ready for a gamble break. We drove up to Northstar, which is about an hour away on the top of Lake Tahoe California side. They where having some cycling race there, so there was shuttles and a nice crowd of people at the mountain. We rented out bikes and rode up the gondola. During the first run down, Jeff got a FLAT TIRE! How’s that? Twice in one weekend! Luckily it was easy for the people to fix. Jeff’s bike sounded pretty crappy still though – his brakes made an awful noise!
The most fun part of mountain biking for me was NOT downhill – i liked more of the cross country. I realized it is way more rewarding to go downhill only when you pedaled UP the hill! (Not taking the gondola up, that is!) At any rate, it was a fun experience and I’ve been wanting to do it ever since I moved to California so I’m glad we finally did it. Here are some pics:
South Lake Tahoe was having some kind of “Opening Days” street festival where they blocked off the main road and caused a MAJOR traffic jam. So on our way back home, we where stuck in traffic for a couple hours (3rd time for this trip!) and that kind of cramped our mood. But we quickly got out of that with a few hours of gambling!
Jeff and I went to dinner that night at the hotel’s steakhouse “Ciera”. He had a “Steak Diane” (Awwww, how cute). I had a Steak with peppercorn sauce. It was SO yummy, but we couldn’t take home leftovers since we had no fridge!
I wanted to go clubbing – but you guessed it – we just ended up gambling all night! We were having too much fun throwing our money away. =P
SUNDAY – We got our last round of gambling in, then drove home to see Butters! (Our neighbor Angie took care of him while we where gone.)
All in all I had a great birthday. For the two and half days we where there, I only lost $100 (from that first night). I kept playing and playing, but never lost anymore. I think I won most of my money back from Roulette and Blackjack. Though Craps used to be our favorite game, I am quickly realizing its pretty hard to make money from it because your bets on the table often amount to $15 or more per point, and those damn 7s get rolled PRETTY often!
My friend Patti baked me a wonderful cake! Patti-cake!
Things that must die.
My great friend and co-worker Markus left employment at Schipper design+ last Monday. It’s been pretty crazy at work – crazy quiet that is. =) Well anyway, I mainly wanted to post this in tribute to one of Markus’ many web site ideas: THINGS THAT MUST DIE!
It’s funny – check it out!
Point Lobos
Jeff and I have been talking about going to Point Lobos State Reserve for about … oh … a year now? Maybe even longer than that. The park is only about 30 minutes from here, right off the coast in Carmel. Well, we finally went a couple weekends ago! It was a nice day in Salinas – sunny, not too hot. Of course when we drove out to the coast, it was foggy and pretty darn cold for a summer day in June. Can you believe the the entrance fee was $10.00! Dang! I’m all for supporting the California State Parks but come on, can we at least get a locals discount or something? Anyway, we hiked a short loop trail and stopped by Hidden Beach. Here are some pictures from the day:
I love where the water has that turquoise-blue color.
There was a weird tree that was all flat and angled like a wall. We thought it looked like one of those things you stick your head in at the fair. Picture time! I’m standing in front of some trees covered by orange moss!
Here’s a closer look at the orange moss.
There are a lot of flowers blooming this time of year. Not sure what this weed-like thing is here, but it isn’t it neat looking?
Can you spot the bird in the photo to the left? I love all the colors and textures that live on the side of this cliff.
I don’t remember taking this picture of the tree/bark. But i like how it came out. And finally – this picture of Jeff. He plucked a weed from the ground and stuck it in his hat. He says his Dad used to do this a lot. It reminds me of something from that movie A Bug’s Life. I’m not sure what he’s looking for…
We hope to do some more hiking this summer! I wanted to go to Big Sur – hopefully there is something left after the “Big Sur Basin Complex Fire” is put out. It’s only 3% contained!
Relay for Life
Jeff’s work, Pinnacle Bank, participated in Relay for Life (Gilroy, CA) and raised over $14,000 for the American Cancer Society. We went to the event on Saturday and helped support the cause. Cancer is such a scary illness that affects so many people. The only Relay I have been to was years and years ago, when my jump rope team was invited to do a show – so I don’t remember much.
We decided to go in the late afternoon, which was perfect because the weather wasn’t too hot or cold. I was amazed at how many lanterns where lining the track. Each lantern represented someone who was Relaying in Honor of someone, or in Memory of someone who was affected by cancer. I wanted to dedicate one in honor of my mother, who fought breast cancer a couple of years ago. Thankfully she is doing really well now. My Aunt also had breast cancer approximately a decade ago, and just recently got it again. It is a very real possibility that I may suffer from cancer in the future. So it is pretty important that I do my part to help support research, prevention, and a cure.
After our walk, we finished the day with some yummy popsicles, which where being sold at Pinnacle Bank’s booth.
Maile’s Graduation Party
Jeff and I went to my cousin’s high school graduation party on Sunday. Maile will be going to Hawaii Pacific University on a softball scholarship. It was nice to meet with all my family here in California. The Kawaakoas are always very friendly. The party was at Bayonet Black Horse Golf Club. One of the courses was under construction at the time, so a lot of the grass was torn up. I thought the food was pretty good, but I don’t think Jeff thought it was as good as I did. Maybe I was just hungry. We got to take home a centerpiece! Here is a pic of Jeff and I and Maile. They where taking photos after dinner and made this nice frame for us to take home.
San Diego Padres @ San Francisco Giants
We went to our first baseball game of the season last night, and it was Diane’s first time at AT&T stadium, which is a cool park. Diane and I drove up with Jason, who gave us the tickets. He got four of them through work and was nice enough to invite us. We met up with Michelle who took the BART train in from across the bay. It was a foggy and cold San Fran night, people wearing winter hats and blankets after Memorial Day! Our seats where “club level” so we had the comfort of indoor concessions and shorter lines (not to mention wait service too) ! Check out the cool field and Coke bottle. There is a slide inside of it!
The Giants lost after giving up 4 runs in the 13th inning (close to midnight by then!) but it was a very exciting game 🙂 I caught a foul ball – well almost. The group behind me jumped on my head with their mitts, just as it approached, and I lost sight. But it smacked my hand pretty good and landed down by Jason’s feet, who was quick to snatch it up. He said I deserved the ball for taking the pain, so once again thank you Jason! Also, the Giants scored a triple play in the eighth inning or so, the park went wild.
That’s me with the prize and a commemorative certificate! 🙂 After the show there where some fireworks! A pretty eventful night!
Wedding Ceremony Videos
I finally got in touch with Ramzi to download the wedding videos from him. Check out the wedding ceremony videos at the end of this post. We absolutely love the way our ceremony turned out! Kathy did an amazing job. Looking back, I wish I had spoke a little louder… but it was still a good video – at least you can hear Jeff and Kathy. =) Please enjoy the footage, especially those who where not there at the actual event. Mom – you should show these to Grandma & Grandpa and Grandma S. (you will need the internet though)
Today we received the DVD of wedding photos from our photographer!! Yay! So I will be uploading these to Costco so I can get them printed and of course starting our wedding book. Wonder how long that will take… For anyone wanting prints, just “Favorite” the ones you want from the Pictage site and I can send you a CD or a zipped file with the images.
Thanks to Jim, Christina, and Ramzi for helping video our wedding! Here it is, RAW and UNEDITED and on YouTube!
Processional:
Ceremony:
Memorial Day Weekend
Well, its almost the end of the weekend and we didn’t go to Macy*s to do our exchanges! I did manage to get the blog set up just how i wanted – it only took my 2 full days. Haha…but I had fun. Today’s a very nice day and we didn’t do anything, since I wanted to get this blog set-up done.
Yesterday, we went over to Jason’s house. Jason is a buddy of Jeff’s from Rabobank. His house is in the sticks of Watsonville. But the view is awesome! Check it out:
You can see Elkhorn Slough, and to the right of this picture you can see some strawberry fields too. He had a pretty cool deck and a hot tub too. It’s pretty sweet.
I made some California Rolls and Spam Musubis! Everyone seemed to like them a lot.
Also there at Jason’s BBQ was Michelle (Jason’s girlfriend), Mike & Shelby, Amy & J.D., and Missy & Adam. We watched that ridiculous Japanese game show “Unbeatable Banzuke” on G4. Its a show by the makers of “Ninja Warrior” – thats all I pretty much have to say. We also played some Wii and RockBand, which was really fun with a bunch of people.
I’m glad we got to get out of the house and do something fun. I think we’re finally starting to feel better. My sinuses are getting better. Can’t wait till we’re both 100% so we can fully enjoy our newlywed status!
First Post
So, this is my first post. Not sure if there are going to be very many more after this, but you never know…
Hello World!
Yes, this is my first post to our new blog! How exciting! I’ve been wanting to create it since we got married, to keep track of our lives together and share our lives with our family and friends who live far away from us.
I have been sick with a cold since before the wedding. I was starting to recover a week after we got back from our honeymoon, but then it came back with vengeance! Jeff finally got the cold, (after I jinxed him saying “You never get sick!”) and so this 3-day weekend will be dedicated to recuperating. Also planned is returning our duplicate and not-needed wedding gifts. We don’t have too many to return, but it will be a chore, since I literally have to drag Jeff to the mall! It might be easier to go by myself, but we got a duplicate KitchenAid, and I don’t want to hurt myself bringing it in, especially since my back has been hurting pretty bad recently.
We have been invited to a BBQ at Jason’s house this weekend, so it won’t be all chores! I want to blog at least every other day, since every day would be nearly impossible I think. I want to take more photos to remember everything. I really hope I can keep it up – I know we spend way too much time watching TV, so with it being summer, I am hoping we don’t resort to sitting in front of the tube and instead going outside or playing some games.
Well, I’m off – need to create a layout for this blog!