She's All Ours

With much anticipation this past week, we picked up Cali from the vet. As we entered the vet's office we were warned that we had a "vocal" one. Apparently she barked from the moment she arrived there until we picked her up. (A good 8 hrs.) Of course this was a shock to us because she was the one in the pound that didn't bark once the entire time we were there. So we took her home and she was obviously in pain from being spayed. She whined the entire first night, so loud we could hardly hear the tv. There was no consoling her. Needless to say, we were a little worried about what kind of dog we had chosen. Upon waking up on Day 2, she was a completely different dog. She was really mellow, just followed us around everywhere, and slept. She has been like that for the past 4 days and we are loving her. Nothing like the first night! I think her pain meds have something to do with this because she is finally starting to be a little more playful today. So far her favorite things are chasing birds during walks, chewing on her bone, and sleeping.

Meet Cali!

We just couldn't resist this face as we walked the aisles of the SLO animal shelter. The newest addition to the Romano family is this loveable yellow lab retreiver. During summer lonesomeness while Tim works all day, I have been searching for dogs. I realized that I had an exact dog in mind and wouldn't give up until I found her. We can't wait to get her out of the pound, and out from behind bars to bring home. She has to get spayed first so we will have her on Tuesday. She is about 2 or 3 yrs old, so hopefully the puppy stage is mostly over. (Especially since I found the dog 3 days before I have to start school again) We have never been to a pound to see the dogs, let alone rescue one, but it was definitely a rewarding feeling knowing that we saved her from the kill shelter. I'm sure there will be lots more pictures of her to come as soon as they let her out of that cage!

Steve and Cole

Introducing....Mr. and Mrs. Shipley! Cole and Steve tied the knot at the Dana Powers house in Nipomo. It was absolutely beautiful! Cole and I lived together for two years. The weather was great, sushi for appetizers, and exquisite strawberry shortcake pastries for dessert. I realized that I have a new dream to someday own a beautiful Victorian house such as this, garden all day, and host weddings on this weekends. Wouldn't that make a great day job? Now we just have to start looking for that beautiful home on property. (I guess I can dream right?) I was just excited to be able to attend as this was one of my first outings after sinus surgery a week ago.

The Midstate Fair

Every year we head to the Midstate Fair to see a concert, eat some fair food, and this year ride the ferris wheel! Much to my shock, Tim has never in his life ridden a ferris wheel. I think it is one of those things in life that he had to do before he turned 30. As for the concert, we didn't exactly pay to see one this year. We watched Matchbox 20 play as we sat on top of the 15 ft. Colossal Gelato Machine (which our friend owns) while of course enjoying all the free gelato we could stomach after munching down Old West Cinnamon Rolls.

My Mom, the Green Thumb!

After months of watching Tim struggle to grow tomatoes here in San Luis, he finally picked his first and only one this week. You would never know that our tomato plant wasn't thriving in the backyard by its size. It has climbed over the 5ft fence and is about 4ft wide. I have never seen a plant so large with no tomatoes on it. As many nurturing things that Tim has tried to get it to fruit, I just don't think it is warm enough here to grow. I headed home to Fresno this week to see my parents where the tomatoes are definitely ripe on the vines. They get some serious sun. My parents have oranges, plums, apricots, nectarines, avacados, strawberries, squash, tomatoes, and probably more things than I am remembering in their backyard. And to me, there is nothing like valley fruit in the summertime. I got so spoiled growing up, I will not buy an orange in the grocery store here. So Tim made sure to remind me numerous times to bring back tomatoes from my parents. There is nothing like a good bacon and tomato sandwich in the summertime!

Winetasting

The day after the 4th we all decided to go wine tasting in the Paso Robles area. We visited Castoro, Clautiere, Meridian, and Eberle wineries. My favorite was the distinct style of Clautiere. We walked in and they had tons of wigs and hats to try on while you tasted. (This place gave me a lot to do as I was the designated driver) The scenic pictures are from Castoro with all the vines. It was very hot in Paso, so it felt great hopping from one air conditioned winery to the next.

4th of July

This year everyone decided to come to SLO to celebrate the 4th, so we got to hang around town and play host for the festivities. The 4th all started with a little lunch at Firestones, then some walking around downtown where the boys (Tim and Joe) felt the need to get patriotic. The local craft store actually has a section called "husband waiting area." In this section they have medieval costumes, hats, swords, etc. The sign on the window says, "don't forget to pick up your husband before you go." Pretty funny. After we got the boys out of there, we headed to the mission to watch the Sugar Daddy Swing Kings perform. Then it was off to the Barker's house where we played some croquet and ate some great food. To end the evening, we walked down to watch the firework show on the dunes with millions of other people.