Happy New Year

Tim and I spent a quiet New Year's Eve in Paso this year with just the two of us. It had been a while since we had gone on an actual date, so we decided that New Year's Eve would be as good a night as any. We went out to dinner at Villa Creek downtown where we had some very tasty food. We have a whole new set of restaurants downtown that we have yet to try. I had a delicious winter squash soup and porkchops while Tim had butternut squash enchiladas. It definitely made me want to cook more with winter squashes. After dinner we came back to the house, made chocolate chip cookies, and watched a movie. It always seems like there is a big expectation to do something grand on New Year's Eve. I will probably still conjure up big ideas for next year like that posh cabin in the snow with all your friends around, or that rooftop villa to ring in the New Year, but I must say that I rather enjoyed spending time with Tim this year.
As for resolutions, I'm usually not the type to make them or if I do they last about a month. So my goal is that I have decided that I would like to be less lazy this year. This probably encompasses many resolutions in one. Of course that means excercising more. (actually using my gym membership) Reading my bible more consistently. And not relying on Tim to do so many things for me because it is convenient. (For example, "Tim I think the dog wants to go outside, maybe you should let her in the backyard" Meanwhile I sit two feet from him asking him to do this simple thing for me)
Tim is usually the one to have many resolutions. However, this year the roles are reversed. He did say that he intends to finish my Christmas present sometime this year. He is making me an entertainment center for tht tv. For Christmas I bought him a saw that he wanted and he had the idea of making me the tv stand. Can't wait for the finished product.

Christmas

This year we celebrated Christmas with the Richards family in Watsonville. It was the first time that all of the siblings and husbands/fiances were able to get together. If you were wondering if we were having some sort of costume party, that answer is a no. Tim was quite festive this year sporting his Dad's Jesus vest on Christmas eve and Rudy (Debra's sister's husband)was in and out as he was one duty and getting calls left and right. There was never a dull moment between all the family and the three dogs. The Richards family dog Kirby is 14 and super old, Cali the Romano dog was constantly in the kitchen begging for food, and Nikko (Deanna's and Rudy's 9 month old German Shepard) was generally just out of control.

Strange Happenings in the New Neighborhood

I'm sitting on the couch like any other week night grading stacks upon stacks of papers for school when I start to hear tons of police sirens in our neighborhood. I start to think this is a little odd because our neighborhood is one of those sleepy neighborhoods past 7pm where you don't see a lot of cars, people, or cops for that matter. Keep in mind I am home alone as Tim is out at a bachelor party all night. I am trying not to start the typical worst case scenario thoughts that I always think, when I feel the need to investigate the situation. I go to the back of the house and can see the reflection of lights from all of these cop cars on the houses. Weird... some of the neighbors are starting to gather outside. Weird... So I thought this might be a good time to meet neighbors since we never see any around. I grab my coat while trying not to alarm the dog in a frenzy and head outside. I am feeling very brave for actually walking outside. Normally I run around locking all doors. The sirens havn't stopped and it is progressively getting louder. I walk across the street and ask what is going on. The neighbors then inform me that Santa is coming on his sleigh! (Escorted by 5 screaming cop cars of course) What on Earth! So sure enough about 10 min. later the parade makes it to our house where all the neighborhood kids have gathered, including howling dogs, to greet Santa on his sleigh who is giving out candy canes. A neighborhood doesn't get much better than this! (Next year I will remember this and try not to freak out)

I tried to get some pictures but didn't have the best camera for the job.

Happy 31st Birthday Tim!

This year for Tim's birthday we went to Disneyland. They are doing the "get in free for your birthday" promotion and we couldn't pass it up. They gave Tim special treatment from the moment we arrived. He recieved a Happy Birthday button with his name on it at the gate, so everywhere we went everyone was constantly telling him Happy Birthday. Even during the Christmas parade, Santa Claus looked down and yelled out Happy Birthday. We had a great day riding just about every ride twice (We managed to hit up the Matterhorn 4 times) The lines were very short, we waited at the most for 20 min. on just a few rides. To top it off, Tim even got free chocolate mousse with dinner including mickey sprinkles. It was so much fun to see Disneyland all decorated for Christmas. It even snowed during the firework show. (well, fake snow of course)

Home Sweet Home

Sorry for the delay, but we have finally gotten back on track with life it seems. After about a month we finally have internet access again and are reconnected with the world. Here are some pics of the house. We still have some painting to do, but other than that we are pretty much settled. Debra's favorite about the house is central heating. Having an automatic thermostat is amazing. A luxury we are loving until we get the first heating bill. Tim's favorite includes the garage. It is so great not to chip ice off the car windows in the morning before work. We have space we just don't know what to do with yet. Sorry we forgot to take a picture of the front of the house. It's raining outside, so we will definitely post the front next time. In the meantime, come visit us.

We're moving...

I have been putting off blogging about our move because it doesn't quite seem real yet. Tim and I have been talking about moving to north county for quite a while now and finally decided to put the house up for sale. With the interest rates so good right now as well as the housing market, we are able to get so much more for our money in north county. So we put our house on the market to test the waters. Well, it sold the first day with a full price offer! We were in complete shock. I prayed that the Lord would open up doors if he wanted us to move, and sure enough we were answered quite quickly. We did not have any home in particular that we were hoping to move into and now we were looking at having to leave our home with a 45 day escrow. The next week it started to fall into place as a house became available in Paso Robles for a bank owned price we couldn't turn down. We will have plenty of room to grow into this house someday. (No, I'm not pregnant) So things have happened quite quickly and we are in escrow on the house in Paso now, and will probably be moving at the end of this month. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind to say the least.

Shopping cart wheelies

If you haven't done it yourself, I know you've seen someone else doing it. Riding down the aisle in the grocery store on the back of their shopping cart. This works great when there are lots of heavy items in the cart, but what happens when the cart is empty?

I was rolling through home depot as i so often do, and hopped on the back of my cart for a quick ride. This time, I thought, I'll go big. This time I pushed myself up onto the cart, chest forward, and kicked my feet back superman style. I was impressed at how smoothly I glided along through the garden section... until I tried to put my feet back down.

The empty cart was only balanced as long as my weight was forward. Once I shifted my legs down and chest back, the cart immediately popped into a wheelie. I was completely unprepared for this and subsequently tumbled onto the concrete, the cart rolling on ahead of me.

Immediately I jumped up and looked around to see who was watching. I didn't see anyone but there happened to be a sliding glass door right behind me and who knows who was looking through the glass and laughing. I did the only thing I could do - pretend like nothing happened and mosey into the next aisle to get my pavers.

Like most husbands would do, I opted not to tell Debra about this fumble when I got home. But when she asked how my ankle got scraped and bloody, the cat was out of the bag. She was quite thankful it happened when she wasn't with me to suffer the embarrasment of being identified with the 30 year old who still hasn't quite grown up when it comes to shopping carts and wheelies.