First Few Days On The Cruise

For those of you who have been on a cruise...you know how many random things are offered as forms of entertainment...and for those of you who haven't...just wait- it is a kick in the pants!

The four of us were intrigued by a newlywed game show offered in one of the lounges so off we went, naive and excited to possibly be part of the action. Justin and I raised our hands in excitement to join the game, but unfortunately were not chosen from the 8 couples in our category based on our acting skills :) I am pretty sure those who know me could have guessed that...J and I are not actors! As we went back to our seats, a little bummed, we had no idea what was in store for the other couples...all I have to say is, thank the Lord we were not chosen. They asked questions like, "if you could make something smaller and bigger about your wife what would it be." What a horrible question eh! One husband, but not a smart one, replied with, "I would make her brain larger and her attitude smaller." I mean, really? The questions just went downhill from there and my goodness are we glad we were just observers in the end. I think I will be weary of all newlywed games or marriage-related games from here on out.

Poor quality, but this is Justin and I on stage acting out our "scene."

Here we are ever so thankful to be enjoying the game show.

Justin and Murray getting a kick out of the game show.

Okay, so moving in the complete opposite direction from the inappropriate game show, the next day we did spa treatments-it was a great way to kick off our vacation. The picture above was the relaxation waiting room, and that is just what it was. The ten minutes I waited were ever so peaceful. The view was amazing and like nothing I had ever experienced (obviously ;))

My Mom and Murph enjoying one of our first relaxing evenings.
More to come...I promise my next story won't be as long. Hehee!

Mexican Cruise: Embarkation Day

Justin and I went on a Mexican Riviera Cruise with my parents the day after Christmas. I had never been on a cruise nor to Mexico and was really looking forward to a vacation! We cruised on Norwegian Cruise Lines out of LAX. It was a 7 night cruise with stops in Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. The pictures below are from our first day on the ship. We boarded around 12:00 and enjoyed exploring the ship for the majority of the day.

The boys being silly in one of the shops :)

Gotta love safety drills with a couple thousand people...we all know it would have been complete madness had anything actually happened.

Thank you so much Mom and Murph for the wonderful experience and company!

More pictures coming soon...

Foggy Morning

Justin went for a short ride this morning up Los Alamos Road and took some neat pictures once he was out of the fog...gotta love Sonoma County.

Justin's New Planes

My husband has been flying two of his planes across the street in the church parking lot. He recently bought two different planes that are electric, therefore they are very quiet and perfect for flying in nearby empty lots, etc. Today I went with him and took some video clips of him flying. He absolutely loves flying and he gets so excited when he shows me all that the airplane can do. When you watch the clips sometimes the plane disappears for a moment, but don't worry...it will return. One plane is a lot smaller than the other, therefore is harder to see.

Geek out for a moment and enjoy!

FYI: There was a man cleaning the church path and his water sprayer made a loud noise. The noises you hear in the video are mainly from the water sprayer.

Thanksgiving in Sandpoint, ID

For Thanksgiving this year Justin and I went to Idaho to be with his family. We spent the holiday in Sandpoint where his sister lives. Sandpoint is home to the second largest lake in the U.S. as well as Lighthouse dressings (just a few trivia facts). While in Sandpoint we did a number of fun family activities. We spent some time indoors together playing games and painting pottery. One night we were able to go to a wine bar in Sandpoint while Kasten enjoyed an evening of Mac N' Cheese and a babysitter (I totally remember getting to have Mac N' Cheese as well when I had a babysitter as a child :)). We took professional family photos one chilly morning, followed by brunch at a local restaurant. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day together that was a combined effort by all. Each of us took about 2 recipes and made them for Thanksgiving dinner. I was in charge of stuffing and butternut squash-just writing this makes me want Thanksgiving dinner all over again. Kasten was about 6 months older than when we had last seen him, and wow, how children change. Not that I didn't know this...but not until I was with him did I realize what a little man he is. He is so sweet and loves spending time with family. We had an awesome trip and look forward to the next one! A shout out to Nichole, Jeremy, and Kasten for hosting Thanksgiving as well as a house full of guests! Another shout out to Justin's parents for driving all the way from MT and for being so generous!

A picture taken from our hike.

We drove up to the ski mountain as there was no snow in actual Sandpoint. It was fun and so very pretty!

I know, I know...what a random picture, but these rocks were just so pretty.

He loves legos!

Tympano Night

A few weeks ago (I know, I know...I am behind in my posts) my parents along with some friends hosted a Tympano Party. Tympano is an Italian dish that takes many hours to prepare. It has a pastry crust with layers of Italian meats, pastas, vegetables, etc. inside. My parents moved their dining table into the living room and has somewhere around 15 people over. It was very festive and a great Pre-Thanksgiving. We also had a suckling pig that was so moist and full of flavor. This party was "fashioned" after the movie Big Night, which I sadly have not seen and do not know much about. I'll be honest, the pig was a little weird to see, but quite a sight at the same time. My mom made her amazing cheesecakes: triple chocolate, and lemon curd. After a filling dinner we all felt the need to have a piece of each...once again, it was a great warm-up for Thanksgiving.

I know, it's not a great picture, but it was the best one.

Halloween Party at our 'New' Home

On Halloween we decided to have a few close family and friends over to celebrate. We hosted a costume party (which I have always wanted to do) and passed out candy to the children in our neighborhood. Because of where we live, I figured we would get buses of children, but we ended up getting a pretty small amount compared to what I had in mind (thus the large basket of candy that resides in our living room...and yes I pick from it! :) We had fun watching Ryan scare the older children with his wolf mask and Justin scare them by laying half under the car stiff as a board as they walked up our path-silly, I know, but we have some hysterical photos! All in all it was a fun and relaxing evening with friends!

A shout out to:
My Mom for helping with the decorations-they were adorable!

Melissa for the wonderful photography and scrumptious dip

Jaime and Jared for being good sports and dressing up in Friends theme with us

Meredith and Ryan for making yummy drinks and supplying us with wine for our next event-the cookie party-yeah!

Photos courtesy of Melissa Morelli

http://www.melissamorelliphotography.com/

The four of us were inspired by a Friends episode...the one where Chandler is a pink bunny (Justin) and Monica is cat woman (Me) , Ross is Sputnik aka "space duty" (Jared) and Rachel is a "girl who bought a very expensive dress and won't be able to fit in it soon." It was one of those ideas that just came about from casual conversation, and before you know it you're actually doing it! It was very fun and I must say, I was very impressed with Jared's costume. I know, I know...I do not look much like cat woman...I tried to pull it off last minute because the thought of cat woman, aka spandex, did not spark much interest. Nonetheless, we had great fun and played the friends episode in the background...good times!

This picture just cracks me up!