Oregon

So about a week after I got back from visiting Bear and Breanna, I headed back to the airport and hopped on a plane to visit Dana in Oregon. Again, I do not have as many pictures from the weekend as I would have like to have and some of the few didn't even get transfer to my computer (bummer!) but I had the most amazing time. Dana was the perfect hostess. Poor thing had to wait forever for me to get there. My flight was delayed two hours because I had a lay over in San Francisco and everything in and out of that airport was delayed because of the wildfires in Northern California. But once I got there, we had so much fun. We went to P.F. Changs, I saw here law school (which was amazing), watched one weird movie ("My Mom's New Boyfriend"), went to Portland to their Saturday Market (great craft fair where you can buy almost anything and I did), found a cute street with a ton of cute boutiques, and went to the most amazing sushi restaurant that I could eat at everyday if I lived there, and people watched down by the harbour. It was a super fast trip but i had some much fun and I can't wait to go back for round 2. Thanks Dana for an awesome weekend!

At the sushi restaurant

Canadian geese feeding by the harbor

The Harbor

The beautiful sunset on the way back from Portland to Salem.

San Jose

Yet again I am trying to catch up from our most recent activities. A couple of weeks ago, I went up to San Jose to visit Bear and Breanna, see their new place, and their new addition. I only got to stay for a couple days but we had a blast and I'm bummed I only have 4 pictures from the entire trip. The first night we went to one of their favorite pizza places and had the most amazing deep dish pizza with soy cheese and everything. It is probably the best pizza I have ever had (see picture below). Within the next two days we hit Santa Cruz, Capitola, and San Francisco, all of which were amazing. Santa Cruz had one of the best farmer's market where Bear and Breanna bought some great fruits and veggies. We headed to Capitola and had dinner at Margaritaville. San Francisco was great. We ate at the best vegan Japanese restaurant and then went to one of their favorite bars where we played cars and got the best tamales from the tamale lady. Can't wait to go visit them again and take Josh with me. 

Pickle, the new addition.

Santa Cruz

Amazing pizza!

Bear and Breanna

Palomar Mountain

Today after I got home from class Josh and I and our faithful companions, Matt and Angela, plus their dog Buddy headed up to Palomar Mountain for a day of fishing, BBQing, and relaxing. We also thought it would be cooler up in the mountains since it was in the high 90's here in Temecula and we didn't want to stick around to see if it would get hotter than that. After a long and VERY windy road we reached Doane Pond at almost the top of Palomar Mountain. 

Here is where we set up camp. We could have used a little more shade but it was nice with two picnic tables and a BBQ.

Here is Matt, baiting his line and chewing on some straw (I think it's straw or maybe a weed)

Buddy couldn't wait to get out of the truck.

Angela taught me how to rummy which I ended up winning ("Beginner's luck", Angela said)

Josh grilled us an awesome lunch/dinner. I'm still full as I type this tonight.

The big catch of the day (and the only catch of the day).

The pond had these huge bullfrogs all around the edge of the water and they made these hilarious noises that echoed in the whole canyon. It sounded like they were all burping.

This was the only picture that Josh and I took and he is making the most ridiculous face. You can also see where we missed a few spots with the sunscreen. Oops! It was such a fun day but we were exhausted by the ended of the day. Being in the sun for five hours really drains you. I slept the whole way home and didn't even notice the VERY windy road (which was great because I almost got sick on the way there).

Sleepy Heads

The other day I got home from work and was greeted with this. Two sleepy heads on the couch. This is Josh's favorite spot on the couch and Buddy loves to curl up with him. I was cracking up. Seriously, what cat lays like this? Eventually my laughing woke both of them up which I don't think either one was too happy about. 

Balloon and Wine Festival 2008

Last Friday, my parents, Matt and Angela, and Josh and I headed over to the Balloon and Wine Festival that is held every year out at Lake Skinner. This was the 25th year and we hadn't been since I was like in 3rd grade (16 years ago). Blake Shelton was performing that night so we thought it would be fun to do some wine tasting (beer tasting for Matt and Josh) and listen to some country music. My dad had never been to an actual concert so that made it even more fun.

This was a motorcycle that was made for Wilson Creek's Almond Champagne (which I must say is the BEST champagne ever). I don't know if it was actually for sale or just for looks. 

On the way out, we passed a booth with a bunch of motorcycles and the boys were in awe. My dad said he wants this one. Uh-oh, watch out! All in all, it was a very fun night. The concert was a blast and I had forgotten how many songs Blake Shelton sings. Even sitting in traffic for an hour while trying to get out of the parking was fun (thanks to 3 "lively" passengers I had a long for the ride: Dad, Mom, and Josh).

Crazy Weather Day!!!!

Today I definitely did not feel like I lived in Southern California. This morning when I looked out my window as I do every morning to check the weather ( so I can dress accordingly) I saw something similar to this:

Sort of overcast but the kind of overcast that will clear up by noon so you just had to wear a sweater in the morning. So i left the house wearing a t-shirt, 3/4 sleeve sweater, capris, and flip flops. I went about my morning and met with another supervisor around 10:30. Half way through our meeting at Starbucks, we started seeing lightning and hearing thunder. Next thing you know, we look out the window and saw this:

Pouring rain and a hail storm. There was no way to get to my car without getting wet, so Sunday and I made a dash for it. In a matter of thirty seconds, I was drenched, dropped my folder in a puddle, and my shoe fell off. I could not see as I was driving to my parents and the streets were already flooded. You could not see the tires on some of the cars. Then it was over in about an hour. After it had cleared up and was relatively safe to drive, I headed home to dry off and get ready for a second time that day. I went to another one of my case and went back to my parents for dinner before heading to my last meeting for the day. Once I get to my parents my dad tells me that there is a tornado at March Air Force Base, approximately 25 minutes north of us and is heading towards. It caused a semi truck to overturn and derailed a train! So Temecula had a tornado watch! Crazy, huh! Well, my last meeting was cancelled because none of us wanted to drive. So once the warning had been lifted and I felt like it was safe enough to drive, I headed home in the pouring rain. Here is a picture of the tornado:

What a crazy, crazy day. It is never this cold around Memorial Day but of course the weekend that I don't have school and had planned to go to the beach, I get this kind of weather. Oh well, what can you do about it? You can't control Mother Nature. Hopefully, Southern California weather will come back to us soon because I definitely miss it. 

Beach Cruisers and Sea World

So, last weekend Matt, Angela, Josh and I headed down to San Diego to take advantage of the free tickets to Sea World that are avalable to military personal and their dependents. I couldn't wait because I had just gotten home from my Saturday class and was not a happy camper (did I mention SATURDAY class during the SUMMER, the worst idea ever). It was the perfect day weather wise, a little bit overcast, not to hot. Before we made it to Sea World though, we stopped at a bike store that sells beach cruisers at a pretty reasonable price. Since Josh got me mine for my birthday, we have been trying to find him one so we can ride together. Hereare some pics of Matt and him testing some out.

Unfortunaltey, there were so many to choose from that Josh had a hard time making a final decision. So we are still on the hunt for the perfect beach cruisers that does not cost a gazillion dollars. So after about an hour at the bike store we finally made it Sea World. Let me tell you, we had a blast!

this was at the sea lion and otter show. None of us had ever seen it and it was hilarious. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the sea otter because he was adorable.

I loved this guy. He was definitly all about posing for the crowd and the "Paparzzi". Next we headed to the Shark Encounter. It was a little creepy seeing these guys so close up especially after the recent shark attacks here on the West coast. 

Would NOT want to see the size of the shark these teeth came from. 

Here we are at the doplhin show. It never ceases to amaze me how high these animals can jump and all the amazing tricks they can perform.

Here we are at the Penguins. They are my absolute favorits animal at Sea World. Josh knows we have to see them before we leave or it will not be a fun ride home (Just Kidding). By the time we got to them it was dark out so I do not have any good pictures of the penguins. 

I had the best ice cream sunday towards the end of the night and Josh tried to steal it from me. The results of that are shown below. 

Last but not least, good 'ol Shamu. I still can not believe that people go swimming with these animals let alone let them push them up into the sir. Crazy!

It was such a fun day that ended with us watching fireworks on the beach. I can't wait to go back when so we can take Matt and Angela's baby to enjoy all the fun things too.