Thursday, December 27, 2007

Merry Christmas

Kenny was home for Christmas this year and we were able to spend 4 days hanging out and having fun.

Saturday we went out on a date to see Sweeney Todd (we enjoyed it, but we are weird like that!)

We spend the rest of the weekend doing a few projects at home and just enjoying not having to work.

For our Christmas dinner we cooked up some King Crab... yum!


Please note the lovely TV trays. Yep... I am a domestic goddess :) Hey, at least we had the Yule Log on TV... that adds a touch of class don't ya think?!?


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We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a great 2008!




Merry Christmas!

Done with Christmas

This year we packed up our Christmas stuff sooner than most years... maybe because we decorated the day after Thanksgiving, maybe because our Christmas tree was a poster child for the "Fire Hazzard: Live Trees Ruin Christmas" campaign (seriously... one stray spark and our whole house was toast!) or maybe we were just taking our cue from Pilot... apparently he wanted us to know he was tired of the decorations and if we didn't take them down, he would do it for us...




How soon do you take down Christmas decorations? We know a little puppy dog who would love to help.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Kenny's 30th

As you all know, last weekend was Kenny's 30th Birthday!

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early, jumped in the Prius and headed up to Hollywood.

Our first stop were the La Brea Tar Pits. I hadn't been there since the 4th grade when I was "researching" for my science project... "Trapped in Tar... Fossils from the Ice Age" (yeah, I won 1st place... I was a nerd!) Kenny had never been there so it was fun to walk around and check out the fossils and try to avoid the pits :)


Next we headed over to the Walk of Stars and had a look around before we jumped back in the car and drove Sunset Blvd through Beverly Hills and Bel Air to the Santa Monica Pier.


The Pier has this cute little Aquarium. The people working there were so nice and were very informative about all of the sea animals. We got to touch starfish, sea cucumbers and sea urchins. For such a little place, it was quite fun.


Just about he time we finished at the aquarium, the sun started to set. What a gorgeous sunset over the ocean!


After enjoying the sunset, we headed back to Hollywood and over to Grauman's Chinese Theater. We spent a while looking at the footprints of the old movie stars before we headed into the theater to see "I am Legend" with Will Smith. The movie was great... it could be because we were so excited to see it in this huge, beautiful theater. If you ever get a chance you have to go see a movie there... it was sooo cool!


The next morning we headed over to Starbucks then made our way to the Griffith Observatory. Besides having spectacular views of the city and the Hollywood sign, the Observatory has a great Planetarium and a show that really puts into perspective how amazing and gigantic the universe really is. What an amazing God we have to create such wonders!


We stopped by Palomar Airport on our way home so Kenny could fly the Citation Jet with one of the owners. I even got to ride along on the flight! It was so much fun to see Kenny up there flying... it was my first time ever seeing him fly the CJ. He is a great pilot!

Later that night we met Danny & Tonita for dinner at a local Mexican place. Service was terrible, but the food was yummy! We even splurged for Kenny's birthday and got a giant margarita (we all shared!).


We, of course, also watched Survivor that night with Danny & Tonita!

What a fun weekend full of experiencing new things and spending time with people we love!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

I turned 30

I turned thirty this past weekend. Only a handful of you can truly appreciate this. If you are more than a year away from turning thirty, then the gravity of actually transitioning from your youthful twenties into your true adulthood thirties is lost. If you have hit thirty already and are looking at thirty-five or forty or more, the gravity is again lost because you look back and say, “well, it isn’t that bad, at least you’re not turning forty” or something along those lines. It is small band of companions that I have here; a select few that can truly appreciate this feeling.

Last year, when I hit twenty-nine, Jen gave me a present. It was my “30 before 30” list. She had me list thirty things that I wanted to do before I was thirty. Seems easy enough right? Not for me. I took it very seriously you see. I could not put something on the list that was small and insignificant, nor could I put some monumental task that would most likely go undone. It was tough – even knowing that Jen really would let me do whatever I put on the list.

I will admit, I never came up with a full list of thirty things (I think I only had about twenty-four items) and not all the things on the list were completed. Some things were easy things, but still things that I truly wanted to do within the next 365 days, for example, go sailing, eat at new restaurants, visit Hollywood and see the Walk of Stars. I had a few big ticket items too: visit another foreign country, fly a jet as pilot in command, and summit Mount Whitney.

A few things came to the wire. This weekend, Jen and I tied up the loose ends on the “30 before 30” list.

Looking back, this weekend ended up being a great summation of the thirty years that I have spent here.

There are several things that I love doing, and might even say that they partially define me. I love doing new and exciting things and going to new and exciting places. I love flying and instructing. I love hanging out with friends and eating. I love Survivor.

And that is what I did this weekend. I closed out thirty years doing what I do.

But this weekend showed me more than just a summation of things I do. It showed me that, both for the weekend and my life, I am content. No, I am even better than content. Paul said we need to learn to be content in whatever situation we are placed, and I am pretty sure he was more meaning on being content when we find ourselves in a less than desirable situation. I am definitely better than content. This is due to many things much greater than myself – the biggest being: God, my parents and my wife.

These three, and countless others, have been there for me, helping me, directing me and loving me unconditionally. I cannot ask for more. I have lived thirty years and was never alone, hungry or wanting. Like I said, I am more than content – thanks everyone for the past thirty years!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Another Giveaway

So, I am once again being featured on Bloggy Giveaways!

Go check it out and see all the nice things they say about me. Yeah, they just want to win the giveaway, but it still makes me happy :)

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

New Website!

Check out my newly designed site at:

Blue Yonder Design


Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season and a Merry Christmas!

-Jen


P.S. Know a friend that could use a new website or blog design? Maybe for a Christmas present (hint, hint!)

Get up to $20 for referring a friend (or up to $20 off your next purchase for yourself!)