Trip to Fish River Trees

We went Christmas tree hunting today: 

It was 75 degrees and sunny (don't let the clouds fool you), 

Kenny had a ball, 

And Curtis got to go all Paul Bunyan on this Murray Cypress ... 

 And get it back to the car. 

We will decorate tomorrow :-) 

Stanford vs. UCLA, Part II

Stanford is going to the Rose Bowl! Curtis ordered me these flowers to celebrate, he is such a good sport about it :-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Stanford vs. UCLA, Part I

The two of us and our parents went to the UCLA-Stanford game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.  Sadly, we will not be in attendance for Part II this Friday, which is the game that will determine who goes to the Rose Bowl.  But we will be watching and one of us will be happy on Saturday. 

The weather was amazing. 

This one made the Christmas Card.

Thanksgiving 2012

Can you tell we're related?

We had a nice low-key Thanksgiving in SoCal this year, which was fitting with all the loss we have had as a family this year.  There were 7 of us, both our parents and Christine's brother Jonathan.   The food was, as always, delish. I'm still looking for the picture of Curtis carving the "roast beast." 

Lakers-Rockets Game with Jackie

When I decided to fly out to California the Friday before Thanksgiving to attend Aunt Julie's memorial service, I knew that I had to work in something fun with my new found time in California.  I'm usually only there for a few days with enough time to see family and friends and maybe go to one favorite restaurant.  With 10 days, I knew I had a rare opportunity to do something extra, and something to take my mind off of why I was in town early.  

With the Lakers coaching change and the additions of Steve Nash (who was injured) and Dwight Howard, I thought a Laker game would be fun, and it was. 

Seats were pretty good :-) 

Jackie and I met up for dinner at the Yard House (one of my faves) at LA Live before the game, and watched a great Lakers game against the Rockets and Jeremy Lin/James Harden.  Very fun outing and well worth it - I'm just sorry I don't have a picture of Jackie and I :-(. 

Fall 2012: Pet Walk

Curtis and Kenny met up with Stephanie and Brandy on Saturday, November 17th to do a 2 mile pet walk to benefit a local animal shelter/rescue organization.  It was exciting for these two dogs to finally meet and from what I understand they got along really well!

Fall 2012: Election Night

It was just Kenny and I, but he kept me entertained: 

Fall 2012: Kenny's Halloween Costume

It really needs no explanation: 

Fall 2012: Doggy Date in New Orleans

In Mid-October, the three of us drove to New Orleans to meet up with our friends Samantha, her mom Carolyn, and Sam's puppy Maggie at a dog park. 

Kenny was excited about the road trip.  Although when we hit bad traffic and were stuck on the freeway for  awhile, all he wanted was to be on my lap - he didn't like being stuck in the back. 

Kenny & Maggie

She's so pretty.

Kenny and Maggie hit it off okay, they were fine in the park but back at Carolyn's house Kenny got a little scared for a bit so we had to keep them separated.  But after awhile they both calmed down and were able to co-exist while we had a nice dinner together.  It was a fun visit :-). 

Fall 2012: Stanford Homecoming

I attended my 5* year reunion at Stanford, which was very fun and totally worth the trip.  All pictures except for last one were shamelessly stolen from friends:

We had a girls' dinner at Reposado, in downtown Palo Alto, before the Class Party

beautiful fall game day and tailgate

Awesome seats - thanks Juls! 

* technically it has been 6 years since I graduated a year early but I opted to stay with class of '07 for reunions since I know more people from that class.

Fall 2012: Louis's Visit in September

*this is the first in a series of brief recaps from our Fall - 
backdated to correspond with the time the events took place*

In September Louis came to visit and go to an Alabama football game with us, against Ole Miss.  It was a fun, albeit very tiring day trip to and from Tuscaloosa, along with a visit with Kenny and meals at Cracker Barrel, Moe's and Waffle House.  

For the two of us, it was great to have a visitor from home and a close friend to catch up with for an entire weekend. We were sad to see him go - but perhaps he will come back for Mardi Gras! (hint, hint) 

Obviously, someone was happy to see Uncle Louis.

We pre-gamed at the Houndstooth, one of the big bars in T-Town. 

Our seats were pretty good, not cheap, but good.

Kenny was sad to see him leave.  Louis was probably less sad, since he had an allergic reaction to him  on Sunday.

It's Official

Curtis sent his deposit in for the MBA@UNC program. He's starting Business School next Spring! 

Paint and Pals

Last night Curtis and I went on a triple-date with some of his work friends and their significant others. We went to Paint and Pals, which is a place where you get to paint on a canvas based on whatever you want. Once a month they have a date night where you BYOB and guys get to paint for free. After painting we went to dinner and then over to one of the houses to hang out.

Anyway, we were happy with our work, it was very fun :-)







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hurricane Issac

I like to think that Issac was a good dress rehearsal...




Our new weather radio. It can be powered by a re-chargable battery, AA batteries, a cell phone, or a hand crank.
The first thing to understand about Hurricanes is that you really don't know where it is headed until about 48 hours before. But that doesn't mean that you're not preparing for it to hit you in advance of that.
Issac hit landfall on Tuesday/Wednesday of last week, but we were preparing for it the Saturday before. On Sunday morning the projected landfall was right at Mobile, Alabama. Three hours later, it was already heading west of us into Mississippi and Louisiana, which is where it in fact landed.
But that doesn't mean we were not affected. WE bought supplies in the event of a power outage, made extra ice, and brought all of our patio furniture into the house. Curtis was off Monday-Wednesday, and I took Tuesday off and worked a half day Wednesday.

We did not lose power but the Causeway that lies on the Bay flooded, as well as parts of downtown Mobile during high tide, including outside of my office building.




Louisiana got hit pretty bad and I'm glad it didn't come here. It was nevertheless a good exercise in getting everything organized so that we were ready.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New license plate

Old:


New:


Even Kenny came out to watch





Curtis doing the deed


Done! (go Stanford)


Time to play!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A goal set in January pays off in July.

In January when we both started Weight Watchers (again), we set a goal, lose 50 pounds (between the two of us, not individually) and we would get massages.

Many months of aching backs later, we hit the weight last Saturday, and yesterday had our day of relaxation.  We each had a 80 minute massage and Christine had a 30 minute express facial, and our bodies are grateful.

We both still have some weight to lose, but we're happy that we hit this milestone. On to the next!

4th of July

We had a fun, low key 4th of July here in Baldwin County.  We slept in, went to the gym, watched the crazy thunderstorm outside and enjoyed the day off, but then around 5:30 pm or so we drove to Target, picked up some camp chairs, and went down to the Fairhope pier... 

where we ate from a picnic (Mom - we used the UCLA cooler, worked great!) and listened to the Baldwin Pops (a wind ensemble) play mostly patriotic music, with a Star Wars medley thrown in.  There was also this fantastic piece with an awesome xylo solo that made me miss the instrument.  The Pops also provided the background music for the fireworks, and I was pleased to hear the John Phillip Sousa march with a decent (albeit not great) rendition of the piccolo part.  We even got to say to high to friends of ours who were also there. 

Best part? We got to bring the Kennster. 

Kenny on the Scotland Fleece Blanket.  Who knew that blanket would find itself in Alabama!? 

How did he do? Aside from barking at a few folks who came too close, he did really well.  He even slept through the fireworks.  But before he crashed, he loved taking everything in. 

We were weary of going out after all of the rain earlier in the day, but it was actually unusually pleasant outside that evening and we were glad that we went, it was very fun and relaxing. 

Fun Kenny Stuff

Yesterday was a fun Kenny day. We were on our way to Petsmart when we discovered that some of the sprinklers were on. Here's what ensued:

Here's the Kennster after his fun in the sprinklers:




So we toweled him off and went to his store, where he promptly found the birdcage:

Happy doggy :-)






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad