Michelle

This past weekend my MBA friend Michelle came to visit.  The weather couldn't have been any better for her trip down from Northern California.  We enjoyed relaxing on the beach and watching a beautiful sunset on Sunday evening.  Have I mentioned how much I love living here?

Christina's last day

Today was Christina's last day.  We went on a morning hike in Torrey Pines, to lunch at the Glider Port, went to the beach and finished it all off with some Sushi Deli.  I'd say it was a pretty successful and delicious day ;)

Safari Park

Today Christina and I went to the Safari Park.   I had never been there before, but was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  On the way back we drove by an orchards with a sign that said we could come pick our own oranges, naturally we had to. :)  I also introduced Christina to Extraordinary Deserts, of course she immediately became a fan.

Catalina

Christina came to visit me.  Our 1st stop: Catalina, well the first actual stop was the DoubleTree hotel in Orange County we enjoyed some delicious warm chocolate chip cookies. 

We rented a golf cart and drove around the island, it was a nice way to see a lot of the island for our short day trip.  Christina and I were also highly amused by the fairy, so of course we needed a shot of that too.

Girls Camp

This year they asked for volunteers to go to Girls Camp and I figured, why not?  The theme was BUGS and I was with the 1st years (12-13 year olds) we had so much fun camping right next to the beach and enjoying hours of laying in the sun.  It was definitely different than the camp I used to go to as a kid in the mountains of Colorado, but it was such a blast! 

We even enjoyed a little pranking on the 2nd years, not the best TP job I've ever done, but it had a nice look.  And when I came back from camp, my sister was here.  Life's just one fun party after another...

4th of July

 Since my company doesn't let us have much time off for the winter holidays, they give us 2 days off for the 4th of July, which also happens to be my mother's birthday.  So, I decided to take a much needed trip home for the nation's, and my mother's birthday.  I tried to make it a surprise... but wasn't entirely successful at that :).  We had a blast going to the Royal Gorge, meeting my niece and nephew's new ginny pig, brownie.  Watching my nephew's ride 2 wheelers, going to swimming lessons, and spending time at Crystal Reservoir on Pikes Peak.  

The Royal Gorge Bridge

Brownie

Walking w/ Konnie

 And of course, getting to hang out with Konnie.

 Many many years ago, we took my dad's yellow canoe that he made in college, out on the 4th of July.   We came home and had a slice of watermelon cake for my mom's birthday.  This year, I thought it would be fun to reenact that birthday again.  My dad brought the big yellow canoe down, we had so much fun!  And of course my brother-in-law and the boys enjoyed some fishing time. 

Arcata round 2

My time at the flower farm was much more enjoyable this time.  I finally knew the ropes and wasn't as confused as to what my role was.  I made some friends, and overall it was a blast.  I didn't get to explore as much being as Mother's Day is literally our biggest holiday.  One of  the employees put it best when he was comparing it to Valentine's Day, he said, "Not everyone has a valentine, but everyone has a mother"  I was exhausted and ready to come home from my 2 trips.  I left crazy early Sunday morning and was able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise from outside my little airplane window.

I left my heart in San Francisco

 For Mother's Day, I went back up to Northern California to make sure the flowers got delivered.  On my way there I made a pit stop to see Michelle in Palo Alto.  She picked me up at around 6 and we did everything I could have wanted to do in San Francisco for my 1st visit.  We drove down Lombard Street, saw the Golden Gate Bridge, drove by China town, saw Alcatraz from afar, ate at Ghiradelli Square, took pictures of the painted ladies... let's just say we got the city covered.

The rest of the time we hung out in Palo Alto, it was awesome to see my other MBA friends who live there.  There was also a big single's conference that we got to go to.  And.... I ran into Katie's brother, what a small world?  Needless to say, it was good times in NorCal.

Shari's Berries anyone?

As many of you know, my company also owns Shari's Berries.  On a regular basis we have brown bags where the company feeds us lunch and we learn something about our company.  Well this time we learned how to dip our very own Shari's Berries.  It was so much fun and all of us got to take home a dozen of our creations.  Mine don't look as good as the real ones, but they sure do make me happy, not to mention, they were delicious.

Mini vacation

 It's around this time of year that work gets crazy busy from all of the recruiting for Mother's Day, and I just need mini breaks from reality.  This weekend I went up to Orange County to visit my friend Marie.  It was super fun, we went on a crazy long walk at Crystal Cove (and got a little lost on the way back), ate some awesome Mexican food on Balboa Island and made a few new friends.  It was awesome to just get away for a little bit and enjoy the sights of one of my favorite past time TV shows, the O.C.

Spring break in the Springs

Last week I went to Colorado Springs to see the Narayans for Spring Break.  We enjoyed going to the Children's Museum in Pueblo, some indoor soccer and my niece's 4th birthday!  It was a blast.

Double Rainbow

Well you can't really see the second rainbow in this photo, but yesterday we had the prettiest rainbows outside my window. The most amazing part... you could actually see the end of the rainbow.

Vegas Baby!

My sister's family had invited me to meet them in Vegas for the USA Rugby Sevens Tournament. I was able to stop by Vegas on my way back to San Diego from Arcata. I hung outw/ my niece and nephews while my sister and her husband went to the Blue Man Group. And what better thing to do while hanging out in the hotel room without any parents around? Well jump on the bed of course! We also had to make a trip to In-n-out since they don't have one in Colorado.

I've fallen in love with Northern California

Since I work at a flower company, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are pretty big deals. The week prior to Valentine's Day I went to one of our 3rd party flower distributors in Arcada, CA to make sure everything went smoothly. It was awesome to see all of our flowers being packaged up to make everyone's Valentine's day special :)

While I was up there I made sure to do some sight seeing. I enjoyed some awesome runs on the Samoa beach and drove up the coast to see the Redwoods. It was amazing!

Staycation w/ Konnie

Konnie came to visit me last weekend. It was so great to see her and have my own little staycation in San Diego. We took the ferry ride to Coronado, walked around Balboa Park, saw the Seals in La Jolla, went to a bonfire on the beach (Konnie thought that was really cool esp in the middle of winter. :) ) Unfortunately the sun didn't come out much while she was here so we never ended up going swimming in the water. Although every time we went to the beach Konnie pretty much got soaked from going too far in the waves.

On her last day we went after church and she pretty much stood like this in the water for about an hour and didn't want to come out. It's fun to see how much other people love the water too.

Something you may not know about California

I don't know why, but since moving here I've noticed a lot of beautifully painted electrical boxes. They're all over the place and with different paintings. I'm not sure who owns it, or if the city actually commissions people to paint these things, but either way, it's highly entertaining, and I always enjoy seeing what they'll come up with next. Near my house, there are a set of 2 perfectly square boxes that someone has painted to resemble rubix cubes. If you're ever visiting, check it out.