A little bit of this and that...

since I'm obviously dropping off the face of the blogging-world, I thought I'd make an appearance by just lazily throwing together some of our recent photos... well, sorta recent.  from the last few months anyway.

one of my most favorite people in the world came to visit  - LaNell!  she drove her party-mobile all the way to my house (seriously - check out that vehicle, and if you saw what was inside, basically she was prepared for any outdoors activity that might come calling).  it was SO awesome to see her.

                      sometime in the last several months we went camping, down near monterey.  can't remember where, but it was basically in the middle of farmland, right on the coast.
i love waking up to these guys in the morning after a horrible night's camping "sleep":

       

 eating breakfast on the beach in the morning:

then...

brett's bro and his girlfriend came to visit a couple months ago...

                                        let's see... what else...
                             we took a weekend trip to monterey not too long ago:

and this fall was all about Tahoe.  First, with Brett's family (already blogged about that one), then with our dear friends Kyle & Mel (though we were idiots and forgot our camera), and we squeezed one last trip in right before snow began to fall:

                       the look on our faces = pain. the water was beautiful, but oooooh, so cold.

 maybe one day we'll start asking someone nearby to take a photo for us, so all our pics don't look exactly the same.  till then:

           so happy fall is here.  maybe i'll post again soon, maybe not.  probably not.

Flashback...

It's been quite a while since my last post - I was just poking around at my old photos, and found these gems.  We threw together a last minute Cinco de Mayo party last May, and some of our favorite folks came... (some complete with celebratory mustaches)

                                         saaaah-wing, and a miss!

                                      Mel... even at 9 mo pregnant, she took the bat to work.

who is this imposter?  marley couldn't figure out if he was being replaced, or what.  

Good times, maybe this needs to become a tradition...

tahoe, we love you

DIY week

Brett was out of town last week, so I kept myself busy with some diy projects i've been wanting to do since we moved into our new place.

project #1) first off, i made new curtains for the teeny-tiny kitchen:
Here's the "before" pic - i got rid of these fru-fru red lacy curtains:

 and made these white ones with embroidered flowers, and added a hanging plant.  if only i could have made the kitchen bigger... but at least it feels better to be in now.

project #2) then i repainted 2 solid wood desks we got on craigslist:
this one cost us $35:

i painted it black and replaced the hardware, did a little distressed look:

this one cost us $65:

 i painted it white --

project #3) this was the project i wanted to do most - our bathroom has a whole slew of problems, but the one that screams at you when you walk in is the dark, rust colored walls.  sorta like stepping into a closet:

i painted it a pale blue:

ahhh... it's like a breath of fresh air. ok, not quite because the bathroom is still tiny with tons of other issues, but way better!
diy was fun, but 4 projects in 4 days wiped me out.  i think i'm ready for a nap just thinking about it.

Spoiled by Luck

To kick-off Brett's bday celebration, we headed to another Giants game.  We were just crazy lucky enough to go to not just any Giants game, but the 6/13/12 Giants game, in which Matt Cain pitched a perfect game.

How lucky can 2 people be?   

This was definitely the most exciting game I'd ever been to of any sport, and the crowd was electric especially after the 7th inning on.  But the best part was the incredulous, thrilled look on Brett's face.

In case you're like I was a few years ago, and have no idea why the Perfect Game is such a big deal, here are the stats:

In 137 years of Major League Baseball, there have only been 22 of them (including Cain).

In 129 years of Giants baseball, there have been none - til now.

If we went to every baseball game ever played, our odds of being at a perfect game would be just 1 in 18, 182.  

Incidentally, 3 years ago Brett and I (and Brett's bro Ryan and our buddy Brett Hearn) went to our first-ever Giants game. We went on  July 10th, 2009 - Which was, again, not just any game.  It was the night Sanchez pitched a no-hitter. 

I remember after that game (since it was my first, and the first time I learned about what-the-heck a no-hitter was) I thought, "How can you top this?"  

How?  

Go to the game on 6/13/12.

Done. 

  

This weekend we celebrated five years. We actually celebrated 2 months ago in Hawaii... here is a little peek of our trip...

back to our roots

we are in hawaii for an early 5 yr anniversary trip - leaving tomorrow for california.

more to come later, but it has been an amazing trip.  a walk down memory lane, and a swim down memory beach.

The Field

Last Night I had the chance to hear Mason Jennings again at a small venue in Santa Cruz. This time he stayed out in the lobby after until everyone who wanted to had a chance to meet him.

He also sang "The Field" which I had listened to a million times before, but this time he started by talking about how the song came as a result of his conflicted feelings over the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said so many of the soldiers he talked to said they came back and just felt nothing anymore. Then he played, and I heard the song for what it really means, and it was so moving to me. Now that my little bro is there...

Livin' in a van, down by the... ocean.

so the day after christmas, brett and i embarked on our first real road trip.

i highly recommend it (obviously, notice this is by-far my longest blog post ever)

looking for a real good time, a chance to get closer with your friend/spouse/partner, and an opportunity to really appreciate the beautiful world we live in, comfortable beds, and clean bathrooms? try this:

step 1: rent one of these: (like the car version of a mullet - all business/driving in the front; all party in the back)

just make sure you park in a safe, quiet, dark, and inconspicuous neighborhood to sleep - we got better at this as we went along.

step 2: spend 6 days covering what should be just a 7-hour drive. pick a beautiful place. (we drove from san jose to malibu along the coast hwy.)

malibu:
big sur:

step 3: eat like kings! (or pigs)

morro bay sunshine health foods and cafe: (i couldn't stop talking about this place after, and i am now trying to decode their recipes)

pismo beach splash cafe:

santa barbara silvergreens:

step 4: get near the water! (or go ahead and get in it, if you like the ocean more than you like feeling your skin, like brett) we were lucky to be at the beach for most of the day, every day.

swimming at pismo beach:

swinging in cayucos:
sunrise in san simeon:
big sur:

brett body surfing (aka freezing his buns off) in malibu:

more malibu, i think - can't really remember, it's all starting to blur together...
foggy day at zuma beach in malibu:

pismo beach:

step 5: check out the wild life!

birds in malibu:

sea otters in morro bay:

mega-monarch butterflies: (annoying sideways video)

dolphins in malibu:

marley in the van: (okay, he's pretty much the opposite of wild, but he was a great travel companion)

step 6: check out the local scenery:

"the rock" in morro bay:

hiking in big sur:
solvang, the danish capital of america, and the most christmasy place on earth:

more big sur:

step 7: just relax!!

obviously we had a great time, but more importantly it made us really appreciative and grateful for the many things we have, and where we live.