I haven't gone missing...

I've just taken a little break from blogging, has it really been 5 months?? Wow that's bad!

We've been traveling a lot this summer and it doesn't seem to end. We were invited to 5 weddings this summer, so far we've attended 3. The first wedding was in June and it was a Vietnamese wedding, which was VERY interesting. The bride had 4 outfit changes and we were served a 9 course meal over a period of 4 hours. It was a really neat experience.

The second was a very good college friend of mine from San Jose State, Gina. She got married on a beautiful golf course in Northern California. Her wedding was simply breathtaking and beautiful. We were 45 min late because we got lost in Gods Country, we missed most of the ceremony but the food and the reception was great!

The third was my youngest cousin, Claire, on my mom's side. This wedding was in Iowa and I wanted to combine it with visiting my other cousin Jaci, who lives in Alabama. I took a week off from work and flew to Alabama, spent a couple of days there, and then we drove to her parents house in Peoria Illinois. We drove through Tennessee and Kentucky, the scenery was beautiful. We spent the night in Illinois, where Jeff flew in and then drove to the wedding in Iowa the next day. Jeff then flew back home the next day and I stayed a few days longer in Iowa to visit with family. I love going back to Iowa it reminds me of my childhood and long summers. This trip I hit 6 states in 6 days. It was a very fast trip with great company and lots of fun.

We have another wedding this weekend up in Northern California so we'll be driving 6+ hours to spend the weekend with friends I haven't seen since 1998. I'm really looking forward to this weekend and getting back into touch with some of my high school friends.

The last wedding of the summer is in October, which is Jeff's cousin's wedding. This wedding is thankfully, kinda sorta, local. Its about a 2 to 3 hour drive so we'll just do it in one day.

Unfortunately our camera broke and I don't have any pictures to document these beautiful weddings. I'll see if I can snatch some pictures from some friends.

Jeff and I are eagerly awaiting winter so we can enjoy snowboarding again. This year we decided to do a rent lease program which will allow us to rent a condo with other members anytime we want from Nov. to April. This will give us 6 months of access to a condo in Mammoth, so you can bet most of our free time will spent on the slopes.

I'm tried of this hot muggy weather, bring on the clouds and snow in the mountains.

Take care,
Glo

Its here, its really here!

We had our custom entertainment center built and installed today!
As I've blogged about before we have been saving up for this for a very long time. We had a couple of financial set backs, one including with my knee surgery in July of last year.

Here is a before picture:

And now here is the finished picture:
Sorry the pictures are so dark. I'll try and take better ones and re-post them.

Now that we have our living room just about complete we are going to move onto our "game room/office" downstairs. We have plans to do a long built in desk below Jeff's "gaming TV" but we don't have any plans drawn up yet. I have been looking on Craig's List for the perfect desk to re-finish, but I haven't found one that is right for the space.

Spring is here!

Okay, I know its been almost another month since I last posted, but its been a crazy month. At the beginning of the month Jeff and I took a weekend trip to Mammoth to turn up some new snow. We were planning on getting 2 full days of boarding in, however our plans were cut short. On our fourth run Saturday morning I dislocated my patella (knee cap). This was excruciatingly painful. At the time I didn't know what I had done to my knee other than it hurt, very, very bad. Mammoth Ski Patrol came and took me down the mountain in one of those nifty toboggans. I don't remember much because I was mostly trying not to think about what I had just done to my knee, and the pain I was in. Once we got down the mountain Jeff took me to the Emergency Room at the local hospital, where they couldn't tell me much, but they gladly took my $200 co-pay.

Once back home I saw my surge0n who did my left knee back in July. He scheduled an MRI and a week and half later I found out the damage wasn't as bad as I thought it was. I had only dislocated my knee cap and no major tendons were torn. I've been back to physical therapy and I'm doing much butter. I still have some swelling and soreness, but I'm hopeful I wont need surgery.

On Monday something very exciting is happening, we are finally getting our custom entertainment center installed. It took us over a year to schedule, design and save for it, and now only two short days a way it will be installed. Jeff and I are so excited. I will post pictures as soon as I can. I also need to post a picture of the new "game room" which was our office. Back in November Jeff bought a flat screen TV to put downstairs so he could play his video games and no take up the main TV. We have now converted that room into the "game room". We have plans to do a built in desk down there but for now the TV is hung and Jeff is able to have his rock band drum kit set up down there and it doesn't take up any space in the living room, which makes me very happy. :)

It's been a while...

Sorry its been over a month since I've posted, but we haven't been up to much. Mostly we've been getting in as much snowboarding, in Mammoth, as possible. We had a week long trip planned to Mammoth for a long time, fortunately we had a really nice storm come in the weekend before so we went took advantage of the fresh snow and headed up January 24th for the weekend.
We came home Sunday to work the next day, but the foll0wing Friday Jan 30th couldn't have come soon enough. We took off Friday right after work and we were off for 9 days. We were blessed with great conditions and Mammoth received 3 ft of snow the last few days we were there.
Jeff and I both held out for 8 days of snowboarding IN-A-ROW. I've never gone more than 3 days in a row before so it was a hard goal to meet. We sure got our moneys worth with our season pass in fact we surpassed the amount of days we needed to ride to break even . We've already started saving for next years pass, which go on sale in a couple of months.After our week vacation, Jeff didn't get enough powder so he went back up the following weekend for another 3 days of boarding and 4 ft of fresh powder. I stayed home and battle a major tooth ache. Before we left for Mammoth for the week I had a root canal, which is were the problem started. I ended up getting an abscess and I was taking vicodine every 2 hours for the pain. I'm still battling the aching tooth, but I'm off the pain meds, which I'm grateful for.

We haven't been working on the condo much, but we do need to get some painting done. I'm getting tired of the white walls. All I have to do is pick out the colors, but that is not as easy as it sounds.

I found some time to re-pot some plants in larger pots and plant some new ones. The plants in the front row are the ones I re-potted and the tall ones in the back I planted in larger containers for our front patio.
The plants look a lot better since they found new homes.
Even the kitties enjoy them. This is a picture of some of them on the front patioNext I hope to post that we have started some painting. We are getting very close to saving up enough for our custom built-in entertainment center, so soon I'll be posting pictures of that.

I hope we continue to get a ton of snow so we can enjoy some more fresh powder.
Love ya!
Gl0

Christmas Gifts put to use.

I love my new waffle maker. I got up early the day after Christmas to make waffles for my dad and Jeff. Thanks Jeff for this wonderful gift!Thanks mom for this great gift, I've always wanted a food processor and now I have one. I have already used it three times and I'll never buy pre-shredded cheese again! (Please don't hold me to that.)



You know I'm a fan of organizing, which is why these storage cabinets are the best gift. I've already put them to use in our garage. I'll post pictures of the organized garage later. Thanks dad for the gift of organization.
My sister gave me the gift of seeing the best tribute band ever! We went to a 40 oz. to Freedom concert at the Coach House in San Juan. It was the best show I've been to in a while. Thanks Gayla!

My mom gave Jeff an Omaha Steak Gift Pack, which we will definitely being putting to use this spring, or this weekend depending on the weather.

I got Jeff a Blue Jackets (Hockey) hoodie and a pair of goggles with changeable lenses. Both came to good use in Mammoth.

Thanks for a great Christmas everyone!

Jan. 4th 1982

Twenty-Seven years ago my mom gave birth to ME!

This post is dedicated to my parents for everything they have done for me. I want to first thank them for making it to the hospital on time, because I've heard stories of that very frosty and windy day in January. Depending on who you talk to, my mom or dad, it was a sketchy drive to the hospital.

I was born in Ceder Rapids, Iowa, and the weather had taken a turn for the worse and no one was supposed to be on the roads or leave their house. My mom had been moving furniture (don't ask) earlier that day and she started feeling contractions so she knew it was time, but neither my dad nor sister were home. She patiently, or maybe not so patiently, waited for their return. Once they returned my mom and dad headed to the hospital. My mom said she almost had me in the car because the road conditions were so bad, my dad had to drive slow and cautious, or maybe he wasn't so slow and cautious because my mom tells me there was almost an accident. And this is where my first thank you comes in to play. "Thank You dad for NOT crashing on the way to hospital, and Thank You mom for not having me in the car."

My next thanks comes 4 years later in 1986. I never thought I'd say this, but "Thank You for moving to California." I wouldn't be the person I am today if we hadn't. I wouldn't have had the same opportunities and I wouldn't have met all the wonderful friends I have now. Things would be a lot different if we had stayed in Iowa. Although, years after we moved I wanted SO BADLY to move back, I now see the bigger picture and I say Thank You! Don't get me wrong I LOVE Iowa, and I love where I came from, but the path my life has taken would be different for sure.

I've probably always had this personality trait, but I'm LOUD; sometimes too loud, too obnoxious, and too wild (okay so maybe more than one trait). I have learned to accept that about me and I have learned to control it, for the most part. I want to say Thank You for putting up with me. I should also say Thank You to my sister, Gayla. After all, she is the one who had to put up with me ALL the time. Sometimes my parents would send me along with her to the mall or over to her friends house to make sure she didn't get into trouble. There is a fairly big age gap between us of 7 years and 6 months, so for her it was SO NOT COOL to have her little sister hanging around, but for me it was WAY COOL, because I got to hang out with my cool older sister. While I'm at it I should probably say Thank You for all the trips to Clarks for ice cream. Having an older sister that could drive also made me WAY COOL.

I want to thank my parents for instilling good values in me as a youngin'. I definitely wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for their love and Christian values. As a child they always talked to me about making the right choices for myself and my future.

In 1995, at the age of 13, I had the opportunity to go "Down Under" to Australia. I was chosen by People to People to be a student ambassador of the United States. This was one of the best opportunities ever. As I recall the cost was expensive, so my parents goal for me was to raise half of the money myself and the other half they would pitch in. I worked hard selling things in a craft fair and doing chores around the house. I started earning an allowance and most of it went towards my trip. I don't think I came close to earning half, but I did learn how to manage money and I did learn that hard work pays off, so for that I say "Thank You".

If it weren't for my parents I would have a TON of college debt. Thank You for paying for my college tuition! I can't say that enough and I certainly didn't take it for granted. I have a lot of friends who had to pay their own way through college and years after they have graduated they are still paying off their school debt. Thank you for not allowing me to go head over heals into debt. Two years and eight months after graduating college I was able to buy a condo, and I wouldn't have been able to full fill that dream without your help through college. Thank You!

There are so many other "Thank You's" that I could give but I can't think of all of them right now. Mostly, thank you for being there for me when ever I've needed you, and thank you for everything you've been able to teach me.

THANK YOU!

We got snow!

Mammoth received 4" of snow yesterday and today we are heading home. Of course the bulk of the snow falls the day before we leave. I'm just glad we had a good amount of "good weather" days. There was only one day where most of the mountain was closed due to weather.

This is the view from the living room, at one point it was snowing so hard that we couldn't see across the street.

All in all I got 3 days of snowboarding in, I think Jeff got 4. My knee, which I was worried about, held out and didn't give me any problems. I was a little sore at the end of each day but nothing like the last couple of years. I guess boarding on a torn meniscus was a lot more painful than post surgery weakness. At the end of the day, over the last couple of seasons, my knee would be so wobbly and painful I wouldn't be able to make the last run without cringing at every carve. But this year I felt great going down the hill and I had a lot more control of my turns. Its good to know the pain from surgery was very much worth it.

With that said I'll leave you with a picture of how you go to the spa in the snow. That's Brad a long time family friend. We grew up together so I consider him a brother.

Goodbye Mammoth, we will return soon! (Jan 31, to be exact)

Live from Mammoth Mt.

We made it!

As we climbed in elevation we started seeing snow at about 4,000 in Big Pine.

This picture was taken a couple of miles after passing through Big Pine.

This picture was taken as we turned off the major highway into Mammoth. POWDER!

We arrived Saturday Dec. 27th and we're in town until Saturday Jan. 3rd. That leaves plenty of time to hit the slopes and rest in between. So far we've hit the mountain 3 full days. We've done a lot more relaxing and laying around then I intended, but having a full week off from work has left me not wanting to do much but lay around.

Here is a picture of all of us New Years night. Left to right Lora (my mom), Jeff, Me and Brad.

Happy New Year!!

Today it started to snow and the wind gusts are up to 20+ miles per hour so we've stoked the fire and are planning on staying in for the second day in a row. We leave tomorrow, so today was out last day to hit the mountain. We'll be back in February for another week.

I'll have to post some more pictures later. I'm going to go play in the snow.

Holi-daze

I absolutely love the Holiday Season.

I love the weather.

I love Christmas music.

I love the smell of the air.

I love the snow when it falls.

I love the feeling of Joy and Happiness.

Most importantly I love being able to spend time with family and friends.

This past week Jeff's parents made it out from Ohio to visit. It was really nice to have them in town, although I regret being so busy I didn't get to spend a lot of time with them.

They arrived on Wed. and I had to work the rest of the week. Jeff and I had his company Holiday Party on Friday, and I had my LA Architecture class on Saturday. We snuck in a few dinners and even a breakfast, but I wish I would have had more time to show them around town.

Front left to right Jeff's mom, Marylin, Jeff himself, and his dad Don.

Sunday it was Jordan's birthday. He turned 10 years old! I can't believe it.

For his birthday we got him roller blades and took him to a local skating rink. He loves his new roller blades!

Happy Birthday Jordan!!

This Monday through Wed. Jeff is in Ohio helping out Sighlo at a big show. They are opening for Mudvayne, which is a national act, so they are hoping to hook a lot of new fans. I wish I had the time off to go with him to Ohio, but I don't.

I'll be getting our Christmas Letter and card out in the mail soon, so be looking for it.

I have to add this picture of my other nephew Nicholas, because he is just the cutest little thing.

Love ya Lots!

Black Friday Findings

We got out of bed at 4 am to get in line at Best Buy with the rest of the insane BF Bargain Hunters. I don't remember what was on our list at Best Buy, but it seems we have to make it there every year and its usually one of our first stops. The line inside to pay can get very long though out the course of the day so the best time to get in it is with in the first 45 min of the doors opening otherwise you should pack a lunch and dinner, because the line could take a few hours. I think we waited in line close to an hour.

This is the first year I didn't see frantic people running and gathering stuff off the shelves. Considering the down economy there were still a large amount of shoppers with cart fulls of goodies.

I unfortunately didn't get either major bargain I had on my list. The first being the black and Decker garage cabinets from Lowe's and the other was a 5 piece Christmas decoration set from Home Depot. It's probably better that these items weren't purchased because 1) I was on a tight budget and 2) there wouldn't' have been room in the car. Keep in mind we drove 5 hours to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with my Grandma, so what ever we bought had to fit in the car. The big spenders this year were the Men, and it was up to them to fit their findings in the car and what a task that was!

My dad's purchases included a 14 gal. shop vac, Sony home entertainment speaker system which came in a huge box. And Jeff's huge purchase was a 52" TV for his new 'game room', formerly known as the office. This way he can play his video games, Rock Band and keep it all down there and out of the living room, which makes us both happy. It's a win, win situation. Now I have the TV in the living room to watch all my shows and he can play down there and we aren't fighting over the TV, not that there was fighting before, but I have to admit I was getting a little tired of watching FOOTBALL.

So the challenge was to get ALL of this into the car.

And what a challenge it was. I think the whole packing process took a little over an hour.

They re-packed the car more than a couple of times.

Here is Jeff making sure nothing is going to move around.

They didn't leave much room for Jeff, but that was the sacrifice he made for finding a TV almost $1000 off retail price.

A 5 hour car ride without moving an inch and somehow he can smile? He's probably just excited about the TV!

We had a great time in Arizona, and great food. Here is a picture of my dad and me with Grandma Z (Viola).

Love Lots!

It's almost here...

...Turkey Day that is.


Hope everyone is getting ready for the big feast. I can't wait!
My dad arrives Wed. night and we are all driving to Arizona to spend a few days with Grandma Z. It's been a while since I've been to Arizona, which is where she spends her winters.

See ya soon Grandma!

9 more days until Black Friday

As a huge bargain hunter I LOVE black Friday. If you have never been shopping the day after Thanksgiving I suggest you try it at least once. I've been doing this for the past three years, this year being my fourth, and I hope to never miss another year. I owe my addiction to bargain hunting to my mom and owe my addiction to Black Friday to my wonderful cousin Jaci.

At the time, Jaci lived in Seattle, Wa. and I went to visit her just after they closed escrow on their first home. Her and her husband, Tim, kept talking about going shopping Friday morning and I didn't understand what the big fuss was over"Black Friday".

Oh I had no clue what I was in for. If you think shopping should be a sport then this day should be considered the super bowl of all shopping days, with elbow and knee pads included. I've seen fights, shoving, loud cussing and a whole lot of line cutting. Oh the joys of bargain hunting, everyone wants a piece.

So the key to getting a good Black Friday deal is planning. This year, my dad, Jeff and me will be driving to Arizona to spend time with my grandma, Viola, so the planning of our great attack will be a little tricky since I'm not familiar with the distance to the stores or the times they open. Last year Jeff and I were living in San Diego and we drove up to Lake Elsinore Outlets late Thanksgiving night to go to KB Toys. It was amazing how many people were already in line.

Last year we were getting ready to move into our new house so most of our items were focused around things we needed. My favorite purchase of all were my dishes, which I found at Kohl's for $40 (8 place setting) so I bought TWO. I know have 16 of everything and I never have to do half loads in the dishwasher because we are out of plates or bowls. I love it!

This year I have my eye on some Black and Decker garage cabinets that are MORE than 1/2 off. Originally they are about $100 and their BF price is $39!! I'm not going to give away the location because there better be two left for me when I get there, and they better fit in my car for the drive back to Ca.

Thanks Jaci and Tim for this wonderful addiction, and thanks mom for teaching me what a bargain is when I see it.

FYI: I'm going to be an auntie again, my sister is due in June. I'm really praying and hoping for a niece. I've been doing the niece dance so I hope it pays off.

Record High Temps in Nov.

What is with this weather? This weekend we had record high temps of 93 degrees. I'm tired of it, I want the rain and the 65 degree weather.

Saturday, Jeff and I started washing windows in the guest room. After thoroughly cleaning three windows we had to stop because of the heat. We cleaned the blinds, inside and outside of the window and the screens. The screens were so bad you could hardly see through them. Since we live in a construction area, war zone, the dirt gets everywhere and in everything. Once the cooler weather gets here we will be able to shut the windows and I'm hoping it will cut down on the dirt and dust in the house.

Bring on the cooler weather, and it wouldn't hurt to get some RAIN!!

<3 GLO

Ohio in 4 days

We had a great time in Ohio, the weather definitely got cold enough. The last morning we were there it was 34 degrees, Burrr! Ohio is so beautiful in the fall, I just love all the colors and the nice crisp air.

As we always do when we are in town, we spent a lot of time at Sighlo's Work Shop (aka the studio). Here is a picture of Jeff going over some tracks with Trevor.
I can't leave out a picture of the famous "Buck Nasty" who watches over the studio 24/7.Friday was the Sighlo show, which turned out great. Despite the rain there was still a great turn out. Saturday we took Jeff's mom to Chilis for her Birthday. We were able to spend time with his sister and her husband. It's always good to get together with everyone to get caught up. I'm looking forward to Jeff's parents coming to visit at the beginning of next month.

Next weekend we might be going to Mammoth to get a few early season runs in, but I'm not sure the snow will last since they weather is warming up again. I guess I'll have to have to start doing my "Snow Dance".

Mammoth opend yesterday!

We are so excited, the mountains have received over a foot of new snow and Mammoth has opened almost two weeks early. This is great news!

Last week we got a package from Jeff's mom, Marilyn, in Ohio. It was two beautiful pictures. We used to have one of the prints, but it got ruined during the move. I'm so glad we have both of them now, I've always loved these prints because they remind me of Europe, where I want to go, some day. But for now I can only dream or at least mindlessly stair into these paintings and pretend I'm there.



On another note Jeff and I head to Ohio in a few days. We leave really early Thursday morning and get back Monday morning. We will be celebrating Jeff's mom's birthday and going to a Sighlo show. We are expecting very cold weather with possible rain, which I'm looking forward to.

Experiencing a season is always a good thing. That's one complaint I have about Southern California, but I am not sure I would even call it a complaint because I enjoy the 70-80 degree weather almost year round. However year after year it can get a little repetitive.

Unmotivated

I have a lengthy laundry list of things to do around the house like wash windows and blinds, dust and clean bathrooms, but I can't find the energy. It seems the longer the list gets the more I don't want to start.

Where has my energy level gone?

Could it be that the 90 + degree weather that has wiped me out?

What is with this weather anyway? It's October, I want Fall weather! Fall is my favorite season (if you can say Cali has seasons). November and December better be full of cooler weather and bring lots of snow to Mammoth. It wouldn't hurt if it rained here in Orange County, but that might be too much to ask.

In a couple of weeks Jeff and I are taking off to Ohio to surprise his mom for her birthday, and to see Sighlo play a show at the Newport, our favorite venue. Jeff's parents will be visiting for the first time in six years, and they will get to meet my parents for the first time. I'm excited about them coming to town and I am sure we will have a great time.

Well I'm going to see if I can scratch a few things off my list.

Take care!

Weekend update...

Last weekend was busy but full of excitment. Saturday I went shopping with my sister and later that night I watched my nephew Nicholas, who is 17 mo.

He was very good for his Auntie Glo! He is a very mellow kid so he is very easy going and easy to take care of. Nick is just learning to talk so he is at the cutest stage. He loves to play "patty cake" and sing "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands..." he gets so excited, its adorable. Her is the only picture I took of him. Isn't he precious? I just love to kiss those cheeks!!

Nicholas loved chasing the cats around the house, but I'm not sure they enjoyed it as much. It was so cute, Sasha would sit right outside the door where Nick was sleeping, I think she was protecting him.

Sunday my sister picked Nicholas up early and Jeff and I took off for Six Flad Magic Mountain. Last year we bought season passes for the same price as a day pass. What a deal! Since our passes were good for the rest of '07 and all of '08 we have gone a few times.

Jeff is a roller coaster finatic, (even if he won't admit it) he can tell you the speed, how many loops, twists bends it has, what year it was built, and most importatnly how to navigate through the park to get to it. If it weren't for him we probably would have spent 3+ hours just locating the coasters. It is a very confusing and hilly park.We took 4 guys from Jeff's copmany with us who are from India. I think they had a blast. None of them had ever been on an upside down roller coaster before so it was a real treat for them.
Here is a picture of Jeff and the guys before we went into the park.

From left to right: Arpit, Bhupendra (boo-pendra), Amit, Jeff and Rajesh (ra-shish).

We rode 10 roller coasters, with 39 inversion or loops total. I sat the last three out because I had a raging headache by the end of the day. So I can't say I rode on all 10.

Here is a pic of Jeff and me loaded on Tatsu, which has 4 inversions.

And here is a video of us taking off from the plat form. (sorry about the clairity these were taken from a camera phone) On this coaster you ride on your stomach and it feels like your flying through the air. We were riding in the front row for the full effect.

Here is another pic of us on Viper, which as 7 inversions.

Backrow left to right: me looking straight at the camera with the largest smile I could make, and next to me is Jeff with is tounge sticking out. The front row left to right: Bhupendra and Arpit. We were having FUN! I think Bhupendra was holding on for dear life.

I just want to say think you to the guys for sharing such a great day. It was long and tiring, but well worth it. Thanks to Bhupendra for supplying most of the pictures with your camera phone. This post wouldn't be the same without pictures!

Thanks!

Look what arrived today....

For Jeff's birthday, in April, I bought him a season pass to Mammoth, and that is what arrived in the mail today. Can you see the pure excitement in his expresion?

Check out the size of that map!! Happy birthday babe!! We can now enjoy snowboarding when ever we want and we don't have to worry about scrapping together the whopping $80 or so for the ONE DAY pass.

Lately I've been so busy I haven't had time to sit down and post. I'm going to try to fill you in on everything that has been going on.

First of all, I have one more day of physical therapy. Although it has been time consuming, I'm not sure I'm ready for it to end. I have been having strange onsets of pain, but both my surgeon and my physical therapist have assured me it's normal and my muscles are still adjusting. Boy, it's amazing how much my quad muscles have been effected after the surgery. I've been told it could take up to 18 months after surgery to be back to normal muscle strenth and activity.

Aside from physical therapy twice a week I have been taking a class on Thursday nights, which is a Leadership Class put on by our city. I was lucky to be accepted into the class, which is 9 weeks long. Each night I learn about the community we live in, and I can't wait to run home and tell Jeff all the fun facts I've memorized. One night we took a field trip up to the Orange County 911 dispatch center. That was a dream come true for me, because as a little girl I always wanted to be a 911 dispatcher. My favorite show was Rescue 911. That field trip was very informative on how our County reacts to disasters and other emergency situations. The dispatch center we visited also houses the counties emergency planning. Since there wasn't a disaster or city wide emergency we were able to visit the many rooms that are need for the great organization of disaster relief. It was such a rush to think of the chaos that must go on in these rooms, the important decisions that were made at those tables.

Over the last couple of weeks Jeff has been traveling for his company. One week he was sent up to Norther California for work, where he was able to meet and have dinner with 3 of my girlfriends I went to college with. I sure wish I could have joined them, but it sounds like they had a good time. Thanks Gina, Megan and Jordana for taking the time to meet up. I know Jeff appreciated it and enjoyed it. The following week Jeff was sent to Minnesota for some more training, and then back to Norther California. He was a busy guy, but I'm glad he is back home, because the girls and I sure miss him when he is gone.

My mom and I enrolled in a college class offered by Saddleback College, which is only a once a month class and it focuses on Los Angeles Architecture. The first Sat. of every month for 5 months we have been venturing up to LA to wonder the streets with our professor. We both enjoy the class and I think we have learned a lot, but we also have fun. I'll have a post dedicated to my favoite buildings and houses we visit, along with lots of pictures. Next month we are visiting the Holly Hock house of Frank Lloyd Wright so I'm excited about that.

September 27th was Founders Day and my best friend Tiffany, her two adorable sons (Christian and Luke), her sister Tammy, and my mom (Lora) all went to the Aliso Viejo Ranch for some great fun and activities. Christian rode his first horse, we had a water baloon fight, and we won TWO cakes at the cake walk. I'm not sure either of the cakes made it home or even had a bite taken out of them because if I remember correctly it was about 100 degrees that day and the cakes melted like crazy.

Here is a picture from Founders Day of Christian on his first horsey.

Here is another of him trying to break out of jail. What a cutie pie!

Unfortunately his little brother Luke slept through the whole event, so I don't have any pictures of him. That just means we'll have to do it again next year!

This last weekend Jeff and I drove up to Montery for Megan's birthday. She is one of my College friends from San Jose. Happy Birthday Megan!!Megan and Jason holding the Barbie Doll cake. She had a "kids" theme party. Like the ones we used to have when we were kids with goodie bags, lots of candy, and more candy. It was a great idea and a great party. Thanks Megan for having us and for all the hard work you went through to throw such a wonderful party.
Jordana and me at Megan's party.

It was so good to see my San Jose girls. I wish we could do it more often, but seeing that I'm so far away it makes it kinda hard, so I definately cherish the time spent together.

While Jeff and I traveld the 6+ hours to Montery my dad drove down to meet us. I think it was a 2 hour drive for him. We enjoyed the Montery Bay Aquarium, which was very cool.
My camera didn't take very good pictures inside the Aquarium but here is a one at the jelly fish tank. These creaturs are so intersting to watch manuver through the water.

Sorry to make this post so long. I hope I haven't put youto sleep by now. Since it's been a while there is so much to catch up on. I promise I will do my best to post as often as I can. I didn't realize I had so many people still ready my blog, until these past few weeks I've had several people mention that I haven't posted in a while. So I know your out there please send me a comment from time to time as a reassurance that your there. I always enjoy reading your comments too.

Take care everyone. Love and miss you all!!

Glo, Jeff, Sabian and Sasha

Some unexpected organization...

Saturday Jeff and I got busy in the garage. When we woke up that morning we had no intentions of spending 4+ hours building shelves in our garage, but that's what we did.

We keep our garage relatively organized thanks to the ceiling shelves we put in a few months ago. But we have always had an eye sore in the corner of our garage because of the deep alcove under our stairs, leading up to the second floor.

The master plan all started over breakfast at our favorite pancake house, here in town. We started strategizing over how exactly we would construct the shelves. For the past month we have had the idea in the back of our minds that "one day" we would build these shelves, but after breakfast we were sure we had a final design and we wanted to implement it right away, so we jumped in the car and headed to Lowes.

Here was the problem area...

Lowe's here we come!


Jeff got handy with his new hand saw.


First we built the shelving support.

Here they are all finished. The bottom shelf is 8 ft deep and the top shelf is almost 6'.

And here they are being put to use.
I'm so happy with the outcome and we can sure shove a lot of stuff back in there. Currently we have all of Jeff's drums on the second shelf, and we designed the bottom for our snowboards. I have a feeling we will be building more shelves in our garage now that we know we can do it ourselves.