The kiss!
Husband and wife!
Chris, Ninah and baby Violet!
Zac and I with the happy couple!
Boys will be boys...
What a fun night! Congrats, Chris and Karla! :)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Chris and Karla Get Hitched!
Our good friends Chris and Karla got married on Saturday, May 1st. What a wonderful celebration. We are so happy for you guys! Congratulations!
The kiss!
Husband and wife!
Chris, Ninah and baby Violet!
Zac and I with the happy couple!
Boys will be boys...
What a fun night! Congrats, Chris and Karla! :)
The kiss!
Husband and wife!
Chris, Ninah and baby Violet!
Zac and I with the happy couple!
Boys will be boys...
What a fun night! Congrats, Chris and Karla! :)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Arizona!
At the end of April, my dog and I set off for a road trip to visit my parents in Arizona! I rented a car (to get some good MPGs!), packed up some stuff, and set off very, very early on the morning of April 16th. The trip turned out to be very relaxing, and quite fun! As usual, I tried taking a many pictures as I could... Enjoy a few!
Parker is such a great dog in the car. He mostly naps, or sticks his head out the window. However, this would be the longest car trip I have taken him on thus far. I expected the drive to be about 12-ish hours (which was why I left around 5:30am in the morning!), including a quick stop for lunch in the Pasadena area with my good friend, Amanda. What I didn't expect was to be rear-ended! About ten minutes after we had gotten back on the road after lunch, we were driving along heading east on Hwy 210... and all of a sudden another car slammed into the back of mine. My initial reactions were to take my foot off the brake... check on Parker... and get to safety! Of course, everything happened rather quickly. A young teenager was driving the car that hit me - and truth be told, he was pretty tore up about the incident. We exchanged info, waited on the side of the road for the CHP to provide a police report... and a "quick" 45 minutes later, I was back in my car headed toward the next highway exit in order to calm down a bit, and get some shade and fresh air so that both Parker and I could cool off. Luckily, there was very minimal damage to my rental car, and surprisingly, the rental company said I could keep the car if I wanted, or drop into a rental location to exchange for another. Since there was only a few scratches on the back bumper, I decided to keep the car - it was a 2010 Mazda 3 - and thus far, was driving very well, giving me great gas mileage, and I was packed and in the middle of a long drive! (The car that hit me was probably totaled --- front end completely smashed in, and not drive-able.) So, Parker and I hit the road! Unfortunately, with the time delay, we were then stuck in "LA traffic" for a couple hours before things finally cleared up. We arrived at my parents house at about 8:15pm (just under 3 hours past my expected arrival time), but still, not bad!
Parker and I pulled off the road more than I would if I had been by myself.
We woke up very early Saturday morning because my parents friend, Jill, would be arriving at our house so that we could all make our way over to ASU to participate in Pat's Run. It is a 4.2 mile (in honor of Pat's jersey 3) run/walk in honor of Pat Tillman.
On Monday afternoon we had the nice opportunity to meet up with my cousin before she flew home. Rachel had been in Tuscon visiting a friend from college for the weekend. They were flying out on Monday evening from PHX, so we met up with them for an afternoon iced-coffee! It was definitely fun getting together with Rachel and her friends.
My parents and I took Parker on quite a few walks near their house. There is a nice area with walking paths and a few lakes that my Dad and I went to a couple times. I was worried about Parker getting too hot, or his feet getting too hot on the Arizona pavement... so in the lake he went! Of course, Parker does not like being in the water, but once he realized it was cooler being wet, he quit putting up too much of a fight and stood in the shallow water.
There was one family of geese, and about 8 or 9 families of ducks! All the ducks and geese in the area were extremely worried about Parker, but he did not care about them at all.
I love the desert landscape.
On Tuesday night, we went to an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game. It was such a nice evening that they had the roof open on the stadium.
On Wednesday we decided to visit Queen Creek Olive Mill for a tour of their olive farm, a nice lunch, and of course, shopping in their great shop! None of us had been here before and we had a very enjoyable time.
Where the tour begins (with some olive trees in the background).
The patio where we ate lunch after our tour of the mill.
There is a group of estates near where my parents live that have all sorts of animals on their properties, including horses, chickens, ostrich, one of the biggest bulls I have ever seen... The first day that my day and I walked Parker through this area, these guys were super curious about Parker and came running over to see him. He got very worried about them that day, but of course, I didn't have my camera. The second day we went walking through there, they again came running over to see Parker, but he did not care at all.
The next day we went to visit the Phoenix Art Museum to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. We had a very delicious lunch in the restaurant at the museum, Arcadia Farms, and got a guided tour by a docent of the Ansel Adams exhibit.
The day after that we went for a day trip up to the Grand Canyon. We took Parker along for the ride, and got to the Grand Canyon for a couple good hours of viewing before the snowy weather took over and viewing the canyon was no longer possible. It was a beautiful, and fun day. Turns out, we were visiting during National Park Week!
There is a very big grassy park (a couple football fields in size) in the community that my parents live, and luckily the entrance is just a short walk outside their front door! We let Parker run around off-leash in the field several times a day. He was in heaven.
He would run around and then find a nice spot to relax.
My parents and I got together with a few of their friends from college! What a fun night... BBQ and board games. We played two games that I had never played before.. including betting.. for nickels! :)
Parker made a new friend named "Buddy"
On my last day there, we went on a day trip up to Sedona, where we enjoyed a nice lunch and a beautiful day.
We stopped at a Farmer's Market to walk around and saw 3 little goats. One of the goats kept head-butting Parker through the fence. The little girl in with the goats offered to let Parker in the fenced off area with the goats, but we decided that probably wasn't the best idea.
On the way home, we stopped at Montezuma Castle National Monument and Montezuma Well (a unit of Montezuma Castle), both located near Camp Verde, Arizona.
Ruins from an old structure, possibly a home near the well.
Although the sun was setting on the wall where the Montezuma Castle was built, it was still a magnificent sight. We made it just in time before the visiting hours were over, and were able to walk around for about 20-30 minutes. We will have to make another stop here for longer next time.
Before we knew it, our visit was over! The week went by very fast. It was so nice to be able to take a good amount of time to visit in Arizona with my parents. Parker and I packed up and hit the road about 5:15am... and ended up making it home around 5:15pm! Talk about good timing.
What a trooper! Parker toward the end of the drive:
Mom and Dad, Thanks so, so much for having us!! Can't wait to visit again! :)
Parker is such a great dog in the car. He mostly naps, or sticks his head out the window. However, this would be the longest car trip I have taken him on thus far. I expected the drive to be about 12-ish hours (which was why I left around 5:30am in the morning!), including a quick stop for lunch in the Pasadena area with my good friend, Amanda. What I didn't expect was to be rear-ended! About ten minutes after we had gotten back on the road after lunch, we were driving along heading east on Hwy 210... and all of a sudden another car slammed into the back of mine. My initial reactions were to take my foot off the brake... check on Parker... and get to safety! Of course, everything happened rather quickly. A young teenager was driving the car that hit me - and truth be told, he was pretty tore up about the incident. We exchanged info, waited on the side of the road for the CHP to provide a police report... and a "quick" 45 minutes later, I was back in my car headed toward the next highway exit in order to calm down a bit, and get some shade and fresh air so that both Parker and I could cool off. Luckily, there was very minimal damage to my rental car, and surprisingly, the rental company said I could keep the car if I wanted, or drop into a rental location to exchange for another. Since there was only a few scratches on the back bumper, I decided to keep the car - it was a 2010 Mazda 3 - and thus far, was driving very well, giving me great gas mileage, and I was packed and in the middle of a long drive! (The car that hit me was probably totaled --- front end completely smashed in, and not drive-able.) So, Parker and I hit the road! Unfortunately, with the time delay, we were then stuck in "LA traffic" for a couple hours before things finally cleared up. We arrived at my parents house at about 8:15pm (just under 3 hours past my expected arrival time), but still, not bad!
Parker and I pulled off the road more than I would if I had been by myself.
We woke up very early Saturday morning because my parents friend, Jill, would be arriving at our house so that we could all make our way over to ASU to participate in Pat's Run. It is a 4.2 mile (in honor of Pat's jersey 3) run/walk in honor of Pat Tillman.
On Monday afternoon we had the nice opportunity to meet up with my cousin before she flew home. Rachel had been in Tuscon visiting a friend from college for the weekend. They were flying out on Monday evening from PHX, so we met up with them for an afternoon iced-coffee! It was definitely fun getting together with Rachel and her friends.
My parents and I took Parker on quite a few walks near their house. There is a nice area with walking paths and a few lakes that my Dad and I went to a couple times. I was worried about Parker getting too hot, or his feet getting too hot on the Arizona pavement... so in the lake he went! Of course, Parker does not like being in the water, but once he realized it was cooler being wet, he quit putting up too much of a fight and stood in the shallow water.
There was one family of geese, and about 8 or 9 families of ducks! All the ducks and geese in the area were extremely worried about Parker, but he did not care about them at all.
I love the desert landscape.
On Tuesday night, we went to an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game. It was such a nice evening that they had the roof open on the stadium.
On Wednesday we decided to visit Queen Creek Olive Mill for a tour of their olive farm, a nice lunch, and of course, shopping in their great shop! None of us had been here before and we had a very enjoyable time.
Where the tour begins (with some olive trees in the background).
The patio where we ate lunch after our tour of the mill.
There is a group of estates near where my parents live that have all sorts of animals on their properties, including horses, chickens, ostrich, one of the biggest bulls I have ever seen... The first day that my day and I walked Parker through this area, these guys were super curious about Parker and came running over to see him. He got very worried about them that day, but of course, I didn't have my camera. The second day we went walking through there, they again came running over to see Parker, but he did not care at all.
The next day we went to visit the Phoenix Art Museum to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. We had a very delicious lunch in the restaurant at the museum, Arcadia Farms, and got a guided tour by a docent of the Ansel Adams exhibit.
The day after that we went for a day trip up to the Grand Canyon. We took Parker along for the ride, and got to the Grand Canyon for a couple good hours of viewing before the snowy weather took over and viewing the canyon was no longer possible. It was a beautiful, and fun day. Turns out, we were visiting during National Park Week!
There is a very big grassy park (a couple football fields in size) in the community that my parents live, and luckily the entrance is just a short walk outside their front door! We let Parker run around off-leash in the field several times a day. He was in heaven.
He would run around and then find a nice spot to relax.
My parents and I got together with a few of their friends from college! What a fun night... BBQ and board games. We played two games that I had never played before.. including betting.. for nickels! :)
Parker made a new friend named "Buddy"
On my last day there, we went on a day trip up to Sedona, where we enjoyed a nice lunch and a beautiful day.
We stopped at a Farmer's Market to walk around and saw 3 little goats. One of the goats kept head-butting Parker through the fence. The little girl in with the goats offered to let Parker in the fenced off area with the goats, but we decided that probably wasn't the best idea.
On the way home, we stopped at Montezuma Castle National Monument and Montezuma Well (a unit of Montezuma Castle), both located near Camp Verde, Arizona.
Ruins from an old structure, possibly a home near the well.
Although the sun was setting on the wall where the Montezuma Castle was built, it was still a magnificent sight. We made it just in time before the visiting hours were over, and were able to walk around for about 20-30 minutes. We will have to make another stop here for longer next time.
Before we knew it, our visit was over! The week went by very fast. It was so nice to be able to take a good amount of time to visit in Arizona with my parents. Parker and I packed up and hit the road about 5:15am... and ended up making it home around 5:15pm! Talk about good timing.
What a trooper! Parker toward the end of the drive:
Mom and Dad, Thanks so, so much for having us!! Can't wait to visit again! :)
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
SHP Swim Team Trip & Disneyland!
When I got back from Yosemite, I had an email asking if I would help chaperone for Sacred Heart's swim team trip to Southern California. The trip would consist of swim practices, a swim meet, and a day at Disneyland! How could I resist? Not only was I happy to be able to help out the swim team with chaperoning, but I also was able to get a few days of that wonderful Southern California sunshine in... and of course, a day at Disneyland!! The trip was short, but sweet. We drove down to Orange County in a chartered bus... and stopped in Westlake Village on our way down to practice at a school called Oaks Christian. Oaks Christian has developed an impressive athletics program in the ten short years it has been in existence. While the swim team practiced, I walked around the campus, and read all the news boards for each of the sporting programs. A number of professional football players have graduated from Oaks Christian, as well as the sons of Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky and actor, Will Smith. Their girl's soccer team has won a number of championships over the past decade, too. Quite impressive!
I liked this wall in the athletic building of their logo and mascot, the lion. At the top of the wall it said, "Pursuit of academic excellence, athletic distinction, and Christian values."
They had a very nice pool and aquatic facility, which I took a few pictures of.
Scanning from my seat, from right to left:
We stayed at Oaks Christian and practiced for about two hours. It was the second practice of the day for the team.
After that, we drove to our hotel in Irvine. The next day we would be practicing early in the morning and then spending the rest of the day at Dissneyland.
The hotel we stayed at had only been open for 3 months! I normally do not take pictures of hotel rooms, but I was quite impressed with how "new" the hotel was, and the more, modern decor/features that were in the room.
Apple's new iPad [pictured on the desk] came out less than a week before our trip... it turned out to be the perfect device to have while on the bus or hanging out, or for whenever I had a minute to surf around the internet.
I had a hotel room all to myself, but was graced with two beds!
A nice little coffee maker, fridge and microwave set-up. I think the hotel is mostly a business hotel during the week.
There were two separate bathrooms... one with a shower/tub and sink, and another with a toilet and sink.
Toilet & sink bathroom:
Shower & sink bathroom:
There was a light in the center of the mirror, which was an interesting design.
A picture of the whole room.
I got up very early the next morning in order to beat the crowds at breakfast - after all, I was traveling with a team of about 35 high school kids. I was surprised to find a few boys actually beat me to the breakfast room around 6:00am (we weren't leaving until 7:00am)... turns out they had the same ideas as me! After breakfast, we piled into the bus and headed off to morning swim practice. We held this practice in Newport Beach at Newport Harbor High School from 8am-10am. I took the opportunity to take a morning walk around the campus and enjoy the beautiful weather.
The campus was very nice. The buildings reminded me a bit of the buildings at my college, LMU.
Of course, I had to take a couple pictures of this huge statue of their mascot, the sailor!
This cute logo was on most of the trash bins.
Along one of the walls surrounding the pool area, there was a big mural of tiles. It included tiles of the swimmers and water polo players who went to Newport Harbor High and went onto become Olympians and All-American Athletes. Other tiles included sponsers from local business or families. I took pictures of some of the tiles because I thought they would be neat to show to my FMIL [future-mother-in-law], who was an Olympic Gold Medalist for swimming.
And, some pictures of their pool:
After practice finished, we were off to Disneyland! It was quite a fun day. One of the swim coaches had not been there since he was a very young kid, so it was basically his first trip where he would be able to truly remember the experience. The other coach and I made sure to take him on all the big rides and highlights of going to Disneyland. For both lunch and dinner, we left the park and went to eat at Downtown Disney, which was fun.
Whenever I ride on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, I compete with my past scores, and try to set new personal bests. [You are able to email the picture of yourself with your score to anyone you want after the ride... in true geek-style, I have a saved folder of all of my pictures on my computer.] Well, as luck would have it, this trip was a new high record! When I realized how high my final score was, I quickly whipped out my camera to record it in fear that the computers would be broken when we exited the ride. Turns out, the computer worked just fine when I went to email myself the picture.. but, better safe, than sorry!
In the late-afternoon, we hung out at Walt and Mickey's statue in front of the castle so that all of the students could come check in with us. We hung out there for about a half an hour, and I noticed all these fun statues along the fence surrounding that area.
And last, but not least... Walt & Mickey!
A little love for the castle...
I seemed to be the only who was taking a picture from this angle... but I like it!
In the morning, our first stop was to pick up a Fastpass for Space Mountain. Later that evening, it was our turn to ride it!
We also rode on the Monorail.. in the front car! I had not ridden in the front car in a long time, so this was a nice treat!
We stayed until just after the fireworks, and then headed back to the hotel. The next day would be another early wake-up for the swim meet. The next morning, I got up early, finished up packing and went downstairs to eat.
Each time I stay in a hotel that provides a breakfast, I am always impressed when they have a nice waffle maker where you can make your own waffles. It is so easy to use, and the waffle comes out perfect! I've decided that this product will have to be a "must-add" to Zac's and my wedding registry when we register!
Alrighty, 7:15am... and we were off to Santa Margarita Catholic High School for the swim meet! The swim meet warm-ups were to be from 8-9, with the swim meet "kick-off" at 9:00am. Kicking off? Well, I guess it wasn't soccer.. but I still had a great time! I sat at the coaches bench with Kevin and Sidd. It was fun watching our swimmers compete with the other two schools [there ended up being only 3 schools there, when Kevin had expected nearly a dozen!] For each "event" I would write down how fast our swimmers did, just so I could keep involved.. with lots of cheering of course! Toward the end, I made sure to take some pictures of the pool [since I had taken pictures at each of the other schools we visited].
Needless to say, it was a great trip! The swimmers were a great group of kids, and I'd be more than happy to help them out whenever they may need it again! [And if they happen to be going to Disneyland again, all the better!]
I liked this wall in the athletic building of their logo and mascot, the lion. At the top of the wall it said, "Pursuit of academic excellence, athletic distinction, and Christian values."
They had a very nice pool and aquatic facility, which I took a few pictures of.
Scanning from my seat, from right to left:
We stayed at Oaks Christian and practiced for about two hours. It was the second practice of the day for the team.
After that, we drove to our hotel in Irvine. The next day we would be practicing early in the morning and then spending the rest of the day at Dissneyland.
The hotel we stayed at had only been open for 3 months! I normally do not take pictures of hotel rooms, but I was quite impressed with how "new" the hotel was, and the more, modern decor/features that were in the room.
Apple's new iPad [pictured on the desk] came out less than a week before our trip... it turned out to be the perfect device to have while on the bus or hanging out, or for whenever I had a minute to surf around the internet.
I had a hotel room all to myself, but was graced with two beds!
A nice little coffee maker, fridge and microwave set-up. I think the hotel is mostly a business hotel during the week.
There were two separate bathrooms... one with a shower/tub and sink, and another with a toilet and sink.
Toilet & sink bathroom:
Shower & sink bathroom:
There was a light in the center of the mirror, which was an interesting design.
A picture of the whole room.
I got up very early the next morning in order to beat the crowds at breakfast - after all, I was traveling with a team of about 35 high school kids. I was surprised to find a few boys actually beat me to the breakfast room around 6:00am (we weren't leaving until 7:00am)... turns out they had the same ideas as me! After breakfast, we piled into the bus and headed off to morning swim practice. We held this practice in Newport Beach at Newport Harbor High School from 8am-10am. I took the opportunity to take a morning walk around the campus and enjoy the beautiful weather.
The campus was very nice. The buildings reminded me a bit of the buildings at my college, LMU.
Of course, I had to take a couple pictures of this huge statue of their mascot, the sailor!
This cute logo was on most of the trash bins.
Along one of the walls surrounding the pool area, there was a big mural of tiles. It included tiles of the swimmers and water polo players who went to Newport Harbor High and went onto become Olympians and All-American Athletes. Other tiles included sponsers from local business or families. I took pictures of some of the tiles because I thought they would be neat to show to my FMIL [future-mother-in-law], who was an Olympic Gold Medalist for swimming.
And, some pictures of their pool:
After practice finished, we were off to Disneyland! It was quite a fun day. One of the swim coaches had not been there since he was a very young kid, so it was basically his first trip where he would be able to truly remember the experience. The other coach and I made sure to take him on all the big rides and highlights of going to Disneyland. For both lunch and dinner, we left the park and went to eat at Downtown Disney, which was fun.
Whenever I ride on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, I compete with my past scores, and try to set new personal bests. [You are able to email the picture of yourself with your score to anyone you want after the ride... in true geek-style, I have a saved folder of all of my pictures on my computer.] Well, as luck would have it, this trip was a new high record! When I realized how high my final score was, I quickly whipped out my camera to record it in fear that the computers would be broken when we exited the ride. Turns out, the computer worked just fine when I went to email myself the picture.. but, better safe, than sorry!
In the late-afternoon, we hung out at Walt and Mickey's statue in front of the castle so that all of the students could come check in with us. We hung out there for about a half an hour, and I noticed all these fun statues along the fence surrounding that area.
And last, but not least... Walt & Mickey!
A little love for the castle...
I seemed to be the only who was taking a picture from this angle... but I like it!
In the morning, our first stop was to pick up a Fastpass for Space Mountain. Later that evening, it was our turn to ride it!
We also rode on the Monorail.. in the front car! I had not ridden in the front car in a long time, so this was a nice treat!
We stayed until just after the fireworks, and then headed back to the hotel. The next day would be another early wake-up for the swim meet. The next morning, I got up early, finished up packing and went downstairs to eat.
Each time I stay in a hotel that provides a breakfast, I am always impressed when they have a nice waffle maker where you can make your own waffles. It is so easy to use, and the waffle comes out perfect! I've decided that this product will have to be a "must-add" to Zac's and my wedding registry when we register!
Alrighty, 7:15am... and we were off to Santa Margarita Catholic High School for the swim meet! The swim meet warm-ups were to be from 8-9, with the swim meet "kick-off" at 9:00am. Kicking off? Well, I guess it wasn't soccer.. but I still had a great time! I sat at the coaches bench with Kevin and Sidd. It was fun watching our swimmers compete with the other two schools [there ended up being only 3 schools there, when Kevin had expected nearly a dozen!] For each "event" I would write down how fast our swimmers did, just so I could keep involved.. with lots of cheering of course! Toward the end, I made sure to take some pictures of the pool [since I had taken pictures at each of the other schools we visited].
Needless to say, it was a great trip! The swimmers were a great group of kids, and I'd be more than happy to help them out whenever they may need it again! [And if they happen to be going to Disneyland again, all the better!]
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