Joys of Home Ownership

The joys of home ownership...

Spent my day today weeding the front yard...
But I wouldn't have it any other way. There are so many more good things (plus I like being outside even if it does mean pulling weeds!)... like my Columbines! A little taste of Colorado...

And the excitement of seeing our first Calla Lily bloom!

Christmas Village

Ever since I was little I wanted my very own miniature Christmas village. With a little help from my mom and as a gift from my parents, this is what I have so far...
The little houses even light up!

Looking forward to adding to my village through the years.

A Christmas Surprise

The night after Thanksgiving Sarah and I were surprised by our wonderful husbands and taken to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas concert.
Mom and dad came too. Way to keep the surprise guys!

Not your typical Christmas concert, but it was a lot of fun. Christmas music/story meets Rock and Roll meets laser lights and fire... what's not to like.



Jade isn't known for surprises, so it was great when he told me it was time to take a shower and get ready to go out... I had no idea where we were going. Thanks babe!

Thanksgiving Day

We had our first Thanksgiving in our new house, and our first time hosting Thanksgiving. Luckily, we had some help...

Dad and Jade putting the turkey in the paper bag, getting ready for the oven. Mom peeling potatoes!
Sarah was a bit skeptical of the paper bag theory, but was convinced soon after...

Michael having fun playing with his tools and hanging with Uncle Jade and Chloe!

The Michael's cruising and watching football!

Jade snuggling up with his girls ;-)

It was fantastic spending Thanksgiving with such wonderful family and friends. Thank you all for coming to celebrate with us and we are so lucky (and thankful) to have you in our lives... we are also thankful for all our wonderful friends and family that could not be with us on this night, you were in our thoughts.

Michael's First Birthday Luau!

Yesterday was a celebration for my wonderful nephew who will be 1 year old on November 23rd!

After a much needed nap, he made his appearance...

I can't believe it was already one year ago...
There was a life size cut out greeting everyone at the door and helping to pass out the beautiful yarn leis his great-grandma Pauline made and sent to the party. Wouldn't be a real luau without leis sent from Hawaii!

Michael enjoyed some cake...
Then it was time to take a spin on the new radio flyer trike from Uncle Jade and Aunty Mahea (we're so happy it was a hit)! I thought it would take him a little while to grow into it, but I guess I underestimated what a big boy he really is. Say good-bye to the baby... here comes toddler-hood!
So thankful that we were able to be a part of the celebration and that we are here to watch the little man grow up.

Success at the Supermarket

As some of you already know, I have recently begun couponing thanks to my wonderful friend Becca. I have always been too overwhelmed by the idea and never really thought I would be able to save that much anyway... seemed to me that I just spend money on stuff I don't need... I am beginning to find out how wrong I was!

Last week Becca took me on my first couponing outing to Rite Aid (she says to start with one store- such as Rite Aid, CVS, etc. because then it's less overwhelming and they have lots of good deals every week). First things first... you gotta know where to look... both for coupons (Sunday paper and mailings-- that I always used to throw out before looking at them) and for the weekly deals (lots of people blog about this stuff-- it's crazy!). So anyway, off we went to Rite Aid...

I was quite happy with my purchases... all stuff that I will use (even if I don't need them right at this moment).

I walked out of Rite Aid spending just over $13, but getting $9 to spend on my next purchase (have to make it a weekly outing to really have it pay off). We will be going again tomorrow and if it works out as planned I should get some pretty good stuff and not have to pay more than $1... I will update on how I did!

However, I got a call yesterday from Becca saying Ralphs (Kroger) was doing a huge sale. All the coupons are doubled ($1 off coupon becomes a $2 off coupon) and if you buy 10 participating items you get an extra $5 off! So, again we met up and here's how I did. How much do you think I spent...?

My grand total was $33.60!!! A total savings of $136.36! I would say there is some definite money to be saved in the couponing thing! The thing is, it's definitely time consuming at first. I am hoping to get good at it now while I have the time, that way when I am busy with work and kids and things in the future it will be second nature.

Here's a closer look at the goods...

Thanks Becca for bringing me into the world of couponing... and for holding my hand through the learning process! :) And thanks Heather for sending your coupons every week and saving us even more!

A Baby Shower!

Saturday I co-hosted a baby shower for my friend Lori with her mom, Becky and another friend, Ashley. We had a good time, I hope Lori did too, and we are so excited to meet Lincoln Russel in January!

Jade helping decorate...

Lori with her parents, Richard and Becky who flew in from DE...

The girls... Ashley, Lori and I...

Some decorations and the cake!

Chocolate bars covered with cute, personalized wrappers just for Lori and Lincoln...

A really cute quilt that Becky made...

An amazing rocking horse that Richard made...

Oh yeah, it was a couples shower. The boys were very excited during present time...

Jade trying to figure out how to put the stroller together... he finally got it! Now he should be well trained for the future! ;-)

Window Shades!

We have window shades!!!

I even got my top/down, bottom/up cordless shades!

Josh Groban!

Mom took me to a Josh Groban concert at the Balboa Theater in downtown San Diego! We have both loved Josh for quite some time and were so excited to get tickets to this intimate concert (that sold out in 3 minutes)!!!

Mom and I waiting for the concert to begin!

Josh singing! AMAZING! He had the stage set up like a living room, he chatted with the audience and even let people up on stage to hang out with him... I just wish I was one of them. After the concert I overheard one of the security saying that Josh would be coming out to say hi to people... unfortunately the line was so long he left before we got even close. :( Oh well, guess we will just have to try again another time!

Another first

Today Jade got to cut his grass for the first time!

I know what you're all thinking... a push mower... really? But it was cheaper, low maintenance, and we have a small yard ;-)

Sunday Activities

I was feeling a little less than festive with Halloween quickly approaching. I have been busy with setting up the new house and job hunting, but I was wanting to do some fun Halloween activities. So, I gathered up Sarah and Jade and we had a fun fill Sunday afternoon!

Sarah, mine and Jade's Wicked Witch cupcakes (not exactly how they looked on the Martha Stewart website, but fun none the less)!

Sarah and I cleaning out our pumpkins!

Finished products: Jade's, Sarah's, Mine

I even baked some pumpkin seeds!

Thanks for humoring me guys... I'm feeling much more in the spirit now, and I'm ready for those trick-or-treaters! Hope we get some this year!

SMORES!

I LOVE having a fire pit in my backyard! Here are some pictures from last weekend's marshmallow roasting...

Matt, Luna, Sarah, Jade and Heather getting their marshmallows together

Luna and Sarah, two crazy girls

Matt trying to catch a marshmallow in the air... but it's hard to tell which is the marshmallow and which are rain drops!

Little Reunion

2 weeks ago we had a little HPA reunion in San Diego. Most of those in attendance were quite a bit older than us (graduated in the 80's and 90's), but 2001 had a decent showing!

Me, Laura, Chris and Michael

So happy to have friends from High (and middle and elementary) School still in my life and living in the same city!

Excitement from the last couple days

We have a new washer and dryer! The dryer still isn't hooked up, because we have to have the gas valve installed, but hopefully it will be up and running soon!

Chole is beginning to understand that the backyard is her hang out...

But I'm not sure what crazy dog would rather sleep on the rocks than on the nice soft grass!