05.02.09

Yeah champagne.  Yeah wedding.  Yeah friends.

Nuff said.

*I, sadly, did not get a good photo of the happy couple (that I took myself --- I did get some with the bride --- so I decided to use this fun champagne photo instead*

05.01.09

Lily

This is my dog Lily. I got her as a birthday present for my 15th birthday. When I moved to Berkeley when I was 17 --- Lily could not join me so she became my parent's dog --- and when my parents got divorced, she became my mom's dog! She is so smart & loyal & loveable! I miss her and I enjoy getting to spend time with her whenever we go home to visit family (like we did this weekend - the wedding we attended just happened to be up by where I grew up). Lily's favorite trick? She can hold 3 tennis balls in her mouth at one time. She loves her tennis balls. If you throw them for her, she will be your very best friend for the rest of your life!

04.30.09

New shoes

New Shoes

I kind of have a shoe obsession. It's not something that I indulge in as often as I use to ... ever since Mervyn's closed (I always found just the right pair of shoes there). I had to make a trip to Payless this day to get shoes for a wedding and they just happened to be having a BOGO sale ... so I couldn't pass up getting these new kicks for only $3.50! It's all about bargain shopping!!!

04.29.09

Cops

Cops

Everyday on my break I walk 1/2 way around our block & back to the office with a co-worker. Some days we even go twice (once in the morning & once in the afternoon). On this day, during our afternoon break, we couldn't quite get all the way to our turn around point because the cops were out on the street doing some training at the sub station facility. Of course I snapped a photo to share!

04.28.09

Mr. Coach

This winter/spring Jon has been the assistant coach for the women's soccer team at the school he teaches at. Jon has played soccer his whole life and really enjoys coaching with his fellow co-worker. In the fall he will be the head coach of the mens team!

04.27.09

Silly kitty on the heating pad

Over the weekend I pulled a muscle in my back while working in the yard ... so I was in desperate need of my heating pad to releive my pain before bed on this night. I plugged it in and went about finishing up getting ready for bed and when I headed back into the bedroom I found this little kitty curled up on the heating pad sleeping. She loves to be warm and is missing her heating blanket that we kept on the bed for her all winter that has been retired to the closet for the spring/summer.

04.26.09

Jon mowing the lawn

Now that spring is upon us, I've realized just one more reason I love owning a home - having a yard that is all our own! We have a fairly decent size front yard with some hedges & rose bushes & irises and we also have a huge backyard where we are really loving spending some quality time together planting flowers & growing our first garden :)

04.25.09

Lady bugs

We have 5 beautiful rose buses in our front yard ... that are infested with aphids (along with our irises) ... so we took a trip to the local OSH and picked up some lady bugs! Let's hope the do their job :)

04.24.09

Layla the Kitty

My cats often entertain me for hours. Chasing jingle bell balls, following lasers all over the house, snuggling with me ... or moving the water to hear it gurgle. Layla is obsessed with the gurgling noise and does this many, many times a day. She's a strangle ... but adorable ... little kitty cat.

04.23.09

Dead again

For the past few months I've had some serious car problems. It's been to numerous mechanics & to the VW dealer several times. Each time they "think" they have discovered the problem & "fixed" it --- but each time it has ended up dead again just a few days later. On this morning we were convinced that it was finally fixed ... only to end it having it be dead when I went to start it to leave for work :(

04.22.09

Cucumber seeds sprouting

04.21.09

Pea Pesto

I made Pea Pesto for dinner on this day using our new food processor that we got as a wedding gift from my dad & step-mom! It turned out really, really good.

You can see the recipe here.

04.20.09

Round-Up progress ~ the killing of the plants in the flood zone!

04.19.09

My zucchini seeds starting to spourt

04.18.09

Day one of our backyard project

Today, along with a ton of other things, we worked on our backyard. Posted here you will see what we call the "flood plane" aka "garden area". That tree in the back right corner is mostly dead and is going to be cut down in the coming weeks by my father - so Jon and I have started a mission to get all of the vegetation out of this area, dig up and cap off the sprinklers, and get it ready to be rototilled, leveled, and a french drain installed. This dirt you see is very deceiving. It's not dirt. It's clay. I don't know how anything is growing in there. And, under all that dry cracked clay is a ton of ants. Every time Jon dug up another plant - another ant hill was distrubed and ants would start crawling everywhere. Those plants in the back by the almost dead tree - hydrangeas. They are almost as tall as me and they have a root system that is like 2-3 feet deep. Trying to dig all of this out was very difficult and very time consuming. We made some progress then decided the next day to buy some Round Up and just kill it all first.

You can read more about our backyard project here.

04.17.09

Pedicure

Today after work I indulged in a pedicure (along with getting my nails filled) and let me tell you ... what a wonderful way to start the weekend. And what a fun spring/summer color! I'm so ready for the warm weather!!!

04.16.09

Our current DVR list

I almost forgot to get a photo today and realized just as we were sitting down to start trying to catch up on some of our shows. As you can see we are a little behind in quite a few series. It shows that we have 63% available - but we have a HD DVR & that thing holds A LOT. We have something like 4 pages and each of the other series have just as many episodes recorded also. We sure will have lots to watch over the summer :)

04.15.09

Flowers from our yard

I've been watching flowers start blooming all over our yard ever since we got back from our honeymoon and I've been dying to get out there and start clipping some to have fresh flowers in our house. These irises are growing in our front yard, along with our rose bushes, and right after work today I went out there to clip some. I promptly brought them back inside and put them in this vase and took a photo! Then I noticed that our flowers were infested with aphids so I put them in a plastic cup with some water & rocks (to weigh the cup down - it's still pretty windy here) and moved them outside onto our picnic table. Now I need to research how to get rid of those little buggers. Got any suggestions???

04.14.09

Wind chime

You can't really tell in this picture by it was really windy today! When I was in the bathroom in the wee hours of the morning getting ready for work I heard a strange new noise and asked my husband what he thought it was. We both stood there for a second listening and then realized it was my brand new bamboo wind chime blowing in the wind! We got the wind chime over the weekend at Big Lots and its hanging out back off our covered patio! I love it. When I got home from work the wind was blowing like crazy and my wind chime was chiming away!

04.13.09

Catching some rays

Back in January I started tanning at a local tanning salon near my home/work for our wedding. The week before the wedding I stopped tanning I was hoping to work on my tan while we were in Maui but the weather did not cooperate with that plan (cloudy & windy) so over the last weekend we bought some lawn chairs & on this day after work I got out a beach towel and grabbed my book and laid out in our backyard for a little while to start working on my tan! I'm very much looking forward to this becoming a regular occurrence this summer!

04.12.09

Easter Sunday

Lipstick Hibiscus Tree

On Saturday afternoon, the day before Easter, we spent some time at Lowe's picking out some flowers & seeds & this tree to plant in our yard. On Easter Sunday we got to work and started planting everything. This Lipstick Hibiscus Tree is already blooming & we are looking forward to watching it continue to bloom all summer ... and hopefully for many years to come.

04.11.09

Farmers Market

This morning was our first trip to the farmers market this year! I'm a big fan of the farmers market and before we bought our house I was going every single Saturday morning to get fresh, local fruits and vegetables. Jon & I eat a lot of fruit & veggies and I like to support the local farms & our local farmers market. On this day we got a bag of oranges & some asparagus.

04.10.09

Lucky the Kitty

Today was our first day back on the mainland. We were delayed out of SFO into SAC and didn't get home until 3am but we still managed to get up at a decent hour and get some errands taken care of (a trip to the social security office & DMV to get my name legally changed). We finished off the day watching American Idol and movies. I had taken a few different pictures throught the day, but once I saw Lucky laying in Jon's arm's like this - I knew this had to be my photo for the day. Lucky is our cat. I've had him since he was about 8 weeks old. He is going to be 11 this year. He has moved more times than I have. He is affectionate and loveable. He is also very goofy and we often find him sleeping around the house in very funny positions like the one in the photo above (you'll notice that his legs are straight up in the air, he is laying on his back & his paw is between his legs much like Al Bundy on Married with Children).

04.09.09

The Hyatt Regency Maui

This is the view from outside the main entrance to the resort. The Hyatt is absolutely amazing and I'm so glad we stayed there! We had an amazing time in Maui on our honeymoon!!!

04.08.09

Banyan Tree – Maui

This was our last full day in Maui & we didn't have any adventures or excursions planned so we drove around the island & pretty much just had a lazy day by the pool and ended our trip with a really great dinner at the resort. While we were out driving around in our rented Dodge Charger we stopped in Lahania on our way to Wailea to see the Banyan Tree.

04.07.09

Beach in Maui at the Hyatt

The resort really is this close to the beach! This was the view while we were in line for the Drums of the Pacific Luau at the Hyatt. Considering the bad weather in the morning on this day, the afternoon & evening turned out beautifully!

04.06.09

Golfing in Maui

Jon golfed - and I paid a much smaller fee to just "ride along". I like golfing, Jon even bought me my own clubs a couple of years ago - but I'm no good and I didn't want to hold up the foursome & pay the $200 per round so I opted to ride along and take photos. It was a gorgeous morning (even thought it started out cloudy) and the wind played havoc on some of the holes - but we had a good time & enjoyed the amazing views!

04.05.09

The view from our room

2nd night in Maui – sun setting through the clouds

As I mentioned in my previous post, we were upgraded from a "no view" room to a "partial ocean view" room upon arriving in Maui at the Hyatt. This was the view from our room! The was just starting to set and we were just getting ready to leave our room to watch it set down on the beach!

04.04.09

First night in Maui

When we checked into our hotel the lady assisting us at the front desk asked if we were in Maui celebrating anything - which we responded with "we're on our honeymoon"!!! She said, "you're staying in a no view room ... let me see if I can find something better for you." She upgraded us to a partial ocean view AND gave us a free bottle of champagne. In the picture above, my husband is pouring our free champagne as we enjoyed dinner on our first night in Maui at the Hyatt Regency resort.

04.03.09

Wanting to go with

Once I moved these two fully packed suitcases into the hallway tonight the kitties decided to gather around and make their pleas for us not to leave! Those two suitcases are two of three we are bringing along with two carry-ons and one golf bag! You'd think we were going to Maui for a month ... but alas its only going to be 6 wonderfully amazing day! I can't wait to post pictures from the honeymoon when we get home! I'll miss you kitties.

04.02.09

Packing for the honeymoon

Today I started packing for our honeymoon. I'm one of those people who always over packs even though I know that I won't wear 1/2 of what I bring --- I'd just rather have too much instead of not enough. So far I've got my bathing suits & cover-ups along with some skirts & shorts & tank tops & tube tops in there. I need to do some laundry before I can finish up! I'm very excited for our honeymoon!

04.01.09

The Red Truck

This here is what I like to call The Red Truck. For the past several weeks I've had some trouble with my car and its been in and out of the shop. On and off I've been driving this beast of a truck to and from work ... and occasionally to run an errand or two (like to my hair appointment in Folsom). This beast is dirty. It's smelly. The radio doesn't work. It's big. BUT it got me to and from work while my not-so-trustworthly car couldn't SO I'm grateful for The Red Truck and for my father-in-law who kept letting me borrow it.

03.31.09

Thank You Cards

Today we started writing our thank you cards for our wedding. We only got a small handful of them done ... but it felt good to get them started. I had originally planned to get them all done before we left for our honeymoon but that just was not the case. They'll be there, waiting for me, when we get home from Maui!

03.30.09

Messy Garage

Today after work I started cleaning up our house and unpacking all our wedding gifts --- both things I had planned on doing on Sunday until my awful hangover had me stuck in bed most of the day. After I finished unpacking everything --- this is what 1/2 of our garage looked like. What a mess! We are sure going to be able to fill our recycling bin for the next several weeks!

03.29.09

Lazy day in bed

After drinking way too much the night before, I spent this Sunday laying in bed watching movies on the other new TV we recently purchased and snuggling with my kitties, Lucky & Layla --- and my husband, too! I actually think I watched 4 movies back-to-back on TBS (the current movie on the screen was Monster-in-Law). Late in the afternoon I started feeling better but I spent the better part of the day laying in bed ... hungover :(

03.28.09

Shaken, not stirred

I love me a good martini & I'm lucky that Jon's best friend, Ryan, knows how to make them just like I like them. This day was our 1 weekaversary (yes, its a word - in the urban dictionary. Don't believe me? Google it) of being married & we celebrated with dinner & drinks at a downtown Sacramento pub where Jon's best friend is working. We had such a good time! We were just hanging out in the practically empty bar when a pub crawl came in --- let's just say, I'm sure it was a night to remember, but I can't. Too many martini's ... and shots ... and martini's ... and shots! I can't drink like I'm 21 anymore ... especially since I'm inching my way towards the big 3-0!

03.27.09

New Haircut

What photo would be better to follow up my "last long haired self photo in the mirror" than my new hair cut! I love it! I prefer my hair to be short ... above my shoulders, above my collar line, and in a slight A line style. Which is exactly what my amazing stylist did for me on this day! I was so happy & relieved to get my hair cut off AND I was able to cut off 11 inches to donate to Locks of Love!!!

03.26.09

Goodbye long hair

This is not a very flattering photo of myself - but I wanted a "last" photo of my long hair before I chopped it all off to donate to Locks of Love. Say goodbye to my too-long-and-annoying-long-hair-that-I-hated and hello to a new, fun, short style! Woo-hoo!!! And, not a moment too soon ... much longer of this and I would have chopped it all off myself :)

03.25.09

My Mii

Jon's best friend's Ryan (the best man at our wedding & the person who introduced us) & Mike (a groomsmen) got us a Wii as a wedding present! How awesome is that?!? Today we took a trip to Best Buy & purchased a 2nd controller & then spent the evening developing our Mii characters! I think we are really going to enjoy this wedding present a lot!!! Thanks to two great guys :)
PS - that is our totally awesome new 50" plasma TV we purchased just about a month ago --- we love it too :)

03.24.09

My desk

Today was my first day back to work after the wedding --- that makes it sound like I had a lot of time off, but I only took the Monday after the wedding off so this was Tuesday, err my Monday. Okay, that's just confusing! Anyways --- I wasn't really wanting to be at work. That Monday that I was off after the wedding our service center switched computer systems and I basically had no idea how to do my job anymore so I spent the entire day getting caught up from having a couple of days off for the wedding. My desk is very crowded! You'll notice I already had a wedding photo printed and hanging on my little bulletin board --- luckily we kept giving our camera to friends & family at our reception and we ended up with over 400 photos! Woo-hoo!!!

03.23.09

Our marriage license

I had this day off work & since my car was in the shop (again) my friend Zach (who was in town from Florida for our wedding & a little vacation) took me to downtown Sacramento to turn in our marriage license and get a certified copy of the certificate! Now all I need to do, once we get home from the honeymoon, is go to the dreaded social security office & DMV to start the process of getting my name changed!!!

03.22.09

Leftover Wedding Cake

The day after our wedding we hosted a luncheon at our home for our parents, siblings & some family members. After lunch we opened our gifts, said our goodbyes, and did some errands --- including helping Jon's sister & her fiancé take a few loads over to their new home they recently purchased. Later that evening, alone in our home on the day after our wedding, we enjoyed a slice of top layer of our wedding cake --- which we had decided not to keep. Our cake was so yummy --- we actually got to enjoy the top layer for several days :)

03.21.09

My Wedding Dress

I decided to start my Project 365 on 03.21.09, my wedding day!  I thought it would be a great way to chronicle being a newlywed & our first married year!  I’m hoping most of the photos will turn out this great & then I can create a photo book at the end of the year.  I don’t have the best camera, but I enjoy taking photos & I always carry my camera with me.  I’m excited to see what I can capture in the next year!

Project 365

Project 365: Take a Photo a Day, Every Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way.

I actually stumbled across this photo project about a year ago (before I had started blogging) and had considered starting it but then I got caught up in wedding planning & life just got busy & in the way. Fast forward until about a month ago and a fellow blogger, Stefanie, started her own Project 365 on her birthday and it got me thinking about the project again. I mulled it over and then decided that I wanted to start my own Project 365 too! I picked a date, 03.21.09, and started taking photos.

I originally started posting my photos on my other blog, Journey Through Life, but decided that I needed a separate place to put these so I moved them over here.

Journey along with me as a captured a photo a day for our first married year.