New Design: Ovolina

Ovolina means little mozzarella in Italian which is appropriate because Anita is Italian and has six children! Anita is originally from Rome Italy and has her own radio show. She is also a wonderfully sweet lady who was very easy to work with.

I went with an old-world Italian feel for her site and incorporated her six little ones in the design. We are still working on uploading all of her work, magazine articles and videos, but thought I'd share the site with you all anyway :)

S.O.S.

I had just left Jen’s office and was on my way to wash our fuel efficient Prius (yes, in these days of four plus dollars a gallon for fuel, we are happy to say that we are averaging just over 50 mpg).

I was south-bound on Cuyamaca, when I noticed (I use that word in the most understated sense) a large Chevy Silverado stalled in the left lane. Now this ain’t your off-the-lot, normal pick-up truck. This was your double cab, long bed, 12” lift kit, 38” tires, gas-guzzling, he-man-woman-haters-club kind of truck. Of course, it was, at this point in time, being pushed, or at least attempting to be pushed, by a five foot, three inch women wearing a black pant suit and stiletto high heels.

I courteously make a u-turn and pull back around to help this poor lady out. I bravely dash across several lanes of speeding traffic and tell her to get in and steer while I push. I briefly entertained the idea of having me steer and her push, but the Catalde moment quickly passed…thank you Tonita.

We finally manage to get “the beast” to the curb, only after three angry honks and one person showing us their tall finger.

I ask the lady if she knew why the truck died and if she needed any help. She proceeds to tell me that, and I swear this is the honest truth, that she and her husband had just bought a new Toyota Camry from the local dealer and she was on her way to meet her husband there. As part of an incentive to get them to buy the new car, the salesman enticed them with two free tanks of gas for their cars. Well, who wouldn’t drive their 3 mpg truck with a 39 gallon tank to the very bottom of its tank in hopes of eeking out every last ounce of free gas? (and yes, I borrowed her owner’s manual to look confirm the tank size).

So, I drove her down the street to the gas station where she purchased a seven dollar gas can and four dollars and thirty-five cents worth of gas. Yes, a single gallon.

I told her that if she ran out of gas again on her way to the dealership, she was on her own.

Flappin' Fish

In moving into the sixth stage of my grieving process, hope, I decided to wander back into the pet store in hopes of finding a replacement for my dear lost friend, Fiddle.

You may remember my tragic story of loss with Fiddle, details of which I am not yet comfortable with, nor able to recount at this time… dramatic pause and moment of silence before moving onto next paragraph please.

I slowly worked my way past the cute hamsters and creepy reptiles, working on my courage to brave into the aquarium section. After fifteen minutes, I finally mustered up the cahones to stop looking at the horny toads and ball pythons and decided to turn the corner into the fish department.

As I rounded the end cap, a rush of emotions filled my soul: loss, sorry, and maybe even… anticipation? I did have a good run with Fiddle, and maybe, just maybe, I could love again.

As the enormous wall of aquariums and their aquatic guests stared down at me, my attention was immediately diverted when the teenage employee lifted a five gallon clear plastic bag from a shopping cart.

The bag held in it several hundred gold fish… for about three seconds!

As the girl lifted the bag from the cart, the bottom seam split open and 300+ tiny gold fish and five gallons of water introduced themselves to the floor.

The girl turned to me, a clear look of panic on her face. I calmly reached into the “employees only” area and withdrew two little green fish nets and offered them to the girl along with my assistance. She gladly accepted both.

We started scooping and plopping. More scooping, more plopping. Fish after net-full of fish. Finally, some backup arrived and we had some help cleaning up the floor of all those flappin’ fish.

Looking back, I am proud to say that I single-handedly rescued over 150 fish that day. Fish that will be eagerly purchased by mom and her 6 year old daughter. Fish that will all die next week in the small bowl left too close to bedroom window in the heat of summer.

Some would call me a hero, but not me. I would call my self, well, angry. Angry because all I really want is some free fish from the pet store. Is that too much to ask from a hero?

New Design: Espresso His Love

A few months ago I did web designs for Not-so-Deep Denise and In the Grip of Grace Tammy. Last week I received an email from them wanting me to revamp their women's group blog... Espresso His Love

These ladies are so funny and great to work with. They wanted a site that was fun with a header picture that had characitures of all five of them!

I absolutely love the way it turned out and had a great time working with all of them.



P.S. Denise is the second from the right with the fun reading glasses and Tammy is the one on the far right with the red hair :)

Need a little romance?

I just did two sites for romance authors/ publishers. Now, I personally don't read romance novels... except for the rare Christian romance (I still remember when I read my first Janette Oke book... Love Comes Softly... ahh) but these two ladies I worked with were so sweet and I am very happy with their sites, so I figured I'd show them off here :)

REWARD: Missing Crab

MISSING: Crab
Answers to the name "Fiddle"
Escaped from tank
May have been eaten by a little black dog (AKA "Pilot")

Last night after Kenny got back from a weekend trip to Aspen, we shot over to Walmart and picked up a cute new addition to our fish tank. Fiddle settled right in and didn't even seem to mind the fish. This morning when we checked on the tank we noticed we were missing the newest member of our aquatic family.

Kenny searched the house high and low, but Fiddle is officially gone. Hopefully we don't find him in a few days... after wondering why our house smelled like rotten sea food...

Goodbye Fiddle, we hardly knew you :(

Notes from Kenny

Kenny was gone this last week in Dallas for training. Here are a few funny notes he sent me while he was gone... As you can tell, he really doesn't like flying commercial :)


On his way there... in the airport...

Arg!

"Son of a freaking monkey, stinky perfume lady with huge stinkin hat sitting next me. And she brought half of all her personal belongings to store at her... and my feet."

***

"Oh No!

Now she has a cd player and is humming to it. That will stop real soon I guarantee."

On his way home... waiting for his flight...

"Ah Dallas in the summer!

There is a thunderstorm nearby and they had a bolt hit the ground within 10 miles of the airport so the ramps are frozen till it passes.

Gotta love DFW in the summer."

***

"Ah Man!

This lady is popping "it" out cause her kid is hungry. And yes, he is way too old for that!"

***

"Yeah!

The plane is in the terminal!

Should leave in 15 to 20 minutes they say!

We'll see." (He actually didn't leave until about 2 hours later)

We got home that night around 10:00pm... it was supposed to be 6:00pm. At least he is home and won't have to go back for training for another 6 months :)

New Design: Mary R Snyder

Christian author and speaker, Mary R. Snyder, just had me redesign her website and blog. She wanted something fun and retro. Her new book comes out early next year... check her out!

Jen Rocks! Armed with only my rambling ideas, she created this amazing website and it's perfect. Anyone who sees this will think of me. I can't believe with only a few words, some color ideas and a couple of pictures that Jen could create exactly the site I'd been looking for. (Believe it's one of a kind!) Her talent, creativity and sweet spirit make her a joy to work with.

Awww ;)

New Design: Jillian, Inc.

Jill over at Jillian, Inc. wanted something bright and fun... I think we got it, don't you? :)

Day 2....

Well, they have me working again, but I guess it ain't that bad...

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Requiescat in Pace

Well, it is the beginning of the end. I am a real, full-time, salaried slave....er, "employee" as of today, Tuesday, July 1, 2008.

I took the plunge and am now flying my jet job as a full-timer and not as a contractor anymore. Good news, I get paid when I don't work. Bad news, they don't like it when you don't work.

I was really hoping that I would not have to work on my first day, but I got the call and had to fly to New Mexico. Left at 7am, back by 1pm. I guess I cannot really complain about having to fly a jet on my first day!

Jen knew of my struggle to accept becoming a lowly employee rather then being the boss and decorated the house appropriately for my return - black balloons, black streamers and a sympathy card which read "Much sympathy...thinking of you during this difficult time."

I have the coolest wife ever! (no offense to you other wives out there.)

Kabobs!

I meant to post this like a month ago, but I am lame. Sorry :(

Last month... I think for the Survivor finale... Danny & Tonita brought over kabob fixins and we had fun putting together and even more fun eating them. YUM!

Imperial? That is a bit overstated.

Where do I start?

I am in Imperial, California. It is over 100 degrees. It is hot and sticky and smells bad.

Me and my co-pilot are in our uniforms; charcoal dress slacks, starched white shirts, shiny grey epaulets, fancy blue ties.

The Imperial Airport FBO is slightly… well let’s just say not the nicest one I have visited. Anyway, we need to use a crew car to run into “town” to grab some lunch and some catering. They generously offer (and by generously I mean like pulling teeth without novacaine) the mechanic’s old white full-size Chevy pick-up truck; doors won’t open from the inside, more dents than a golf ball (what?), and the coolest seat cover I have ever seen (please note sarcasm).

We cruise into town with our sweet wheels and decide hit Carl’s Jr. for a quick bite. We may have been over dressed for the occasion, but I honestly think that there must have been a prison break down the road and all the former inmates were craving burgers now that they were on the outside. Kinda scary. We manage to grab our burgers and fries without getting knifed and continue on to get some catering.

In this one horse town of Imperial, we figure Von’s is our best bet. We casually exit our vehicular transportation and stroll into directly into Von’s alcohol section. What did you think I met by “catering”?

I grab a six-pack of some nice imported beer and Scott grabs a ten pound bag of ice and we head for the check-out. Of course, we manage to attract some attention. Maybe because two pilots hoofing a six-pack and some ice is something these yocals have never seen, or maybe we are just snappy dressers.

We find the checkout stand and get the customary alcoholic pilot jokes… yeah yeah ha ha.

Now, the cool thing about Von’s is that when you buy something sometimes the receipt machine prints you out some extra coupons. Very hit or miss, kind of like a slot machine. Well today we hit it big… coupons!

The computer in all its wisdom saw two pilots buying beer and ice and felt we needed coupons for “Meet the new line of baby products created by moms, for moms. Mom to Mom brand Kiddie Ups, Supreme Baby Wipes and Rash Cream!” Yep, we needed baby supplies and we needed them at a discount.

We took our beer and ice and left.

New Design: Princess Ruby

Jamie- AKA "Princess Ruby"- was the winner of the giveaway held over at Joyfully Living. She decided to upgrade to a full design and we ran with the princess, girly vibe.

Thank you so much Jen for my new look!!! I LOVE it!!! If any of you want a new look, you should head on over to her site. She does great work and is FAST!

-Jamie

New Design: Joyfully Living

Chelsey over at Joyfully Living just had me give her blog a little summer makeover.



This is the third design I have done for Chelsey. She is so much fun to work with and is too sweet...

Thanks so much Jen - as usually you have out done yourself! :) You are great!!! I'll leave you alone for a while - ha!! I'm excited though even now to see what ideas you will have for a fall design :) Heh-heh!

I DO really love this design though - I have gotten so many compliments on it!!!

-Chelsey

Giveaway!

Chelsey over at Joyfully Living is hosting a giveaway for a free blog header custom designed by yours truly!

Check it out :)

New Design: Lily's Life is Great

I just finished a new Blogger design for Lily's Life is Great!

Lily is an 8 year old who has Down Syndrome. She just got a part in a new movie called "The Jerk Theory".

I had so much fun designing a fresh and whimsical site for Lily. I hand drew the lilies of the valley and all the other elements in the design.



After I installed the design, Lily's mom emailed me:

"Lily just saw the site squealed and giggled an excited giggle when she really likes something. Thanks!"

Awww! That totally made my day :)

New Design: Hope has a Voice

I just finished another design yesterday for Hope has a Voice

I love doing designs for Blogger and Dana Hope was so much fun to work with :)

New Design: T. Suzanne Eller

I just finished a new design :)

This time I was doing a redesign for Christian author and speaker T. Suzanne Eller

She wanted a warm and welcoming living room feel with pictures linking to her other blogs.



Suzanne was very sweet and easy to work with. She also has a wonderful testimony.
Go check out her site.

P.S. I did this site as a designer for Swank Web Style in case you were wondering :)

Cinco de Quatro!

Cinco de Quatro (May 4th*)

Kenny was home all day Sunday! We had a relaxing morning and made Chorizo and Eggs for breakfast in honor of the upcoming holiday. So yummy!

Later on that morning we said goodbye to a new, but dear friend :(

That afternoon we met up with Chadd and his girls at the beach. Sierra and Haven dragged us into the water with them and begged us to bury them in the sand so that they could "stay warm". We were more than happy to oblige them since we weren't the ones who had to get all that sand off of them later on :)


Chorizo and Eggs... YUM!


Chadd & his girly girls


Kenny & Haven


We had a great cinco de weekend :)

Another one bites the dust

Kenny chooses bad fish. I am convinced of this.

His bad fish talked my good fish into some kind of murder suicide pact.

That's right, my sweet innocent fish left us this morning. I went to feed him and he was gasping for air. I tried fish CPR, but to no avail. He was not long for this world.

It has been a sad week.

Fishing in Georgia

I left my honey again to go explore!

This time my mini paid vacation has taken me to the lake community of Sebastion Cove in Eatonton, Georgia. The other pilot's parents live here and have all the cool retirement toys, including a pontoon boat which is the local preferred method for taking anglers to the many large mouth bass hiding in Lake Oconee.

While I have fished quite a bit in my life, I have only fished for bass once and only for a few hours in San Vicente Reservoir in San Diego. The end result of that attempt was that I caught one fish on my bass rig, a nice trout! Go figure.

Well, expectations were high yesterday. We had the pontoon boat, we were in the the South, and the fish were jumping. We hit the water about 2 pm and started fishing.

To keep the story short, I got one! It might not be a trophy fish, but I sure can't complain, any fish is better than no fish. I did manage hook a few others, including a baby catfish that checked in about 8" and 1/2 pound. A record breaking day indeed.

On a side note, I met two authentic Southerns, drawl and all. I had a conversation with Larry their next door neighbor. Let me re-phrase that. I spoke to Larry and he understood. Larry spoke to me and I, well, I just nodded. Have you seen "King of the Hill?" Yeah, it was like that, I caught about one of every ten words. A little later, we met Floyd. Again...."Uh what did he just say?" Funny thing is Floyd was a high powered, super rich (still super rich) engineer type guy who traveled the world doing his engineering thing! Maybe his French is a little more clear.

Cinco de Tres!

Cinco de Tres (May 3rd*)

Saturday Kenny had to fly to Oregon so Danny & Tonita once again rescued me from a day of sheer boredom.

Around noon I headed over to their house and the three of us went down to the trolley station and bough tickets to Old Town San Diego.

It was D&T's first time on the Trolley and I think the people around us thought we were weird for taking pictures and listening to Tonita exclaim "Oh! It is so pretty from up here!"

When we got to Old Town some really nice people were there giving out energy drinks (which we really needed after the long night we had had the night before!) This was my first energy drink and I have to say that although it tasted good, I didn't feel all that energized.

What was energizing was the Cinco de Mayo celebration going on in Old Town! There were a handful of bands all playing music and tons of fun booths and stuff to look at. We had such a good time!


Our tickets for the trolley!


I am so energized!


Cousins :)


Low-Ri-Der

Danny showing his heritage


More tomorrow...

Cinco de...

Cinco de Dos (May 2nd*)

Friday night Danny & Tonita came over to have Mexican food and watch "Dragon Wars."

Here is the description of the movie...

"Meet Baruki, the vicious, 200 meter long, Imoogi serpent from ancient Korea. His army includes giant lizard with missile launchers, flying dragons, soldiers bred for evil, and mega-intelligent dinosaurs."

Doesn't that sound like the BEST MOVIE EVER?!? No? Come on. We are talking MEGA-INTELLIGENT DINOSAURS... what could be better?!? Semi-intelligent dinosaurs can't even hold a candle to the awesomenesses of MEGA-intelligent dinosaurs.

Don't even get me started on the soldiers bred for evil. They aren't just born evil... they were bred for it. If that doesn't say great screenplay writing, then I don't know what does.

We had such a fun night eating, laughing and making fun of the giant lizards with missile launchers!




Celebrating Cinco de Dos!

YUM!


There is nothing like homemade guacamole!


Danny had too much fun!


More on our Cindo de weekend tomorrow :)


*Don't correct me. I know that Cinco de Dos means 5 of 2 and not May 2nd. Nonetheless, it was dubbed "Cinco de Dos" by D&T and we like it :)

The one that got away...

I have been reading Big Mama for a little over a year and let me tell you, if you haven't seen her site, go check it out because she is hilarious!

Anyway, she has a little daughter Caroline who is what I imagine our daughter will be like. This recent video cracked me up...

http://thebigmamablog.com/index.php/2008/05/04/the-one-that-got-away/

R.I.P. Zippy

Well, Kenny's new fish Zippy swam off to fish heaven yesterday afternoon. So sad.

That makes two of his fish that haven't faired well swimming alongside my fish. Either my fish keeps killing his or he just picks out sickly fish to begin with.

Good thing he didn't get the 100 gallon tank!

Say again...?

So, I am starting to blog funny things I hear on the radio while flying. Here is that latest laugh, I will keep the story short...

A student and I had just taken off from one of Gillespie's two runways. Just as we took off from runway 27R, another student (from the competition) crashes on the other runway, 27L. He manages to smash the small Cessna 152 into the ground so hard it bursts into flames. As one can image, it is no longer advisable to land on a runway which is occupied by a flaming Cessna.

Tower Control now has their hands full in that there were about 5 airplanes all doing touch-n-go's on runway 27L and another 4 planes doing them on 27R. Tower Control remains calm and starts directing all the touch-n-go traffic to land on 27R, the non-flaming runway. Well, one ever so eager student, amidst the flames and smoke, after given his clearance to land, complains, "Tower, Cherokee 25Yankee, I requested touch-n-go's!?!"

Okay, picture this. About 10 airplanes, one active runway, one flaming runway, and everyone wanting to see the spectacle, and this guy feels the need to continue his landing practice.

Tower Control, in his most polished voice, "Uh, 25Yankee, negative. You need to land."

Zippy

Well, ever since Jen killed my fish two days after we got him I have longed for a replacement of my finned companion.

This particular story began with a simple run into Walmart to get Pilot a new leash. Of course, I had to walk past the fish tanks to find his leash. Being the ADHD-oh-look-at-the-pretty-fish person that I am, it was all down hill from there. In less than 15 minutes, I had a new aquarium picked out along with the 27 different fish that I could not live without.

In a rare moment of weakness, I showed some self restraint, and put it all back. I did not really need a 250 gallon fish tank and half of the marine life of the Pacific Ocean in my living room.... or did I?

Unfortunately, Walmart did not have any leashes in stock. So the fish gods forced us to drive over to Petsmart. Now if what Walmart had was considered a small fish section, then Petsmart had an enitre city of fish. I could have both species from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans...and all in a 350 gallon tank. Hooray for me!

I swear the moon, Venus, Pluto and the North Star were aligned, because I showed another amazing feat of self restraint and managed to pick out a tiny single gold fish for 99 cents. Yep, and his name is Zippy.

Protect your children, people.

So I admit it. I have watched Hannah Montana. I actually kind of liked it. It is cute and innocent and easy to watch on a Saturday morning when Kenny is off flying.

Needless to say I was bummed by the recent pictures of Miley Cyrus for Vanity Fair. It seems as if another child has been sold out by their parents and is destined to go the way of many other child "stars".

DaMomma, a blogger that I read, just wrote a great post about the situation...

http://forums.parenting.com/blogs/parenting-post/posts/gateway-porn

She wrote...
"Adolescents are hypersexual because they do not yet have the maturity, wisdom, experience to control or protect themselves. Until they reach the age of consent, that responsibility falls on the adults in their communities. It is wrong for adults to engage children as sexual beings -- no matter what those children claim to want."

It is so sad when parents refuse to be parents. Miley is only 15 and her parents and other adults in her life should be looking out for her... not selling her to the highest bidder or letting her make life altering decisions on her own.

I am so thankful for parents who loved me enough to protect me and help me make the right decisions. They weren't crazy overprotective and still let me make my own choices, but still did their job as parents. Thanks Mom & Dad :)

Team Guess

Guess what?!?

Chris and Mihaela are getting ready to go back to Romania as full-time missionaries!

They just launched their new website... http://www.teamguess.com/

If just 66 people team up and give, they can be on their way. We all know money is tight so there are other fun ways to get involved including giving stuff from around the house and... um... raising a cow! Come on... who wouldn't want to raise a cow?!? :)

Most of you know that Kenny and I went to Romania back in 2000 (along with Chris and a team from SMCC). It is an amazing place. While we were there we teamed up with local churches and met some wonderful people. Chris went back to Romania the follow year where he met (and married) Mihaela. They truly have a desire to serve the Lord and support the people in Romania... their goal is to "help strengthen local churches through a variety of ministries in order for them to be able to plant other churches." Very cool.

A few months ago our friend Pat made us a DVD of our 2000 trip to Romania. I will try to post a few clips in the coming months :)

Anyway, Go check out Team Guess and see about getting involved!

Giveaway!

I am attending a conference all week so I won't be online much, but I promise to update the blog next week...

Stuff to look forward to...

• Pictures & fun stuff from our impromptu trip to Colorado
• Easter pictures (I know, I know... I am so slacking on the bogging)
• Kenny's New York pictures
• Flight school news
• New blog designs

For now, check out Andria & Co for a blog header design giveaway by yours truly :)

UPDATE: Winner of the free blog header was JelliPants :)

Call Her Blessed

I just finished up with another design :)

Check out Call Her Blessed

Daiquiri wanted to use some of her photography in the header and wanted a welcoming and warm feel for the site. I used her photo of a poppy and drew a poppy icon in Illustrator to use as a favicon and in the posts.

Daiquiri was so much fun to work with and is very sweet. Right now she is hosting a giveaway on her site open to anyone who leaves a nice comment about the design I did... awww! So head on over, leave a comment and maybe you can win some note cards with her amazing photography :)

Anyway, I know I haven't been posting much lately. I will try to be better. I will at least update here more often whenever I finish a new site.

Easter Fun

David, Jamie and Jeffrey came down for Easter last weekend and we had a blast. I am working on getting all the pictures uploaded, but for now this just about sums up how much fun we had...

And it's all true...I swear by my tattoo!

I heard this on the radio tonight while out flying. I always here stuff like this and will try to bring you the best of the best!


Airplane: "Gillespie Tower, Cessna 757 Charlie Mike, uh, how do you read?"

Tower (without missing a beat): "Cessna 7 Charlie Mike, Left to right."

He is a bit crazy

The other day we tried to post the video of Pilot after his bath. After 3 days of trying, Google video finally worked. So, without futher ado.. here is our little guy going a bit crazy after his bath...






Yeah. After we clean him, we always have to clean the house.

Kenny was home all weekend!

Yippee!!! This was the first weekend in a long time that Kenny was home both Saturday and Sunday. It was so nice to have him home and have nothing that had to be done.

Saturday we went shooting and then caught a movie.

On Sunday we decided to go hiking to check out the waterfalls up in the mountains. This year we have had so much rain and everything is green. The rivers are flowing more than they have in years and we figured we'd better seize the moment to check out the waterfalls before everything dried up again.

The falls were beautiful and Pilot had the time of his life. We are convinced that he is part spaniel, part antelope... a spanielope, if you will :) He was going crazy running and jumping over boulders along the trail.



Although the hike was fun, we found several ticks hiding on our clothes, so our poor little puppy had to get a bath. Doesn't he look miserable?



Here he is after the bath. He hates baths and they make him go a little crazy...

It's just a made-up day

Leap Year Day is a stupid day that shouldn't exist. Last week I had bought into the hipe of getting an extra "free" day. I was excited that it was Leap Year and couldn't wait for February 29th. We planned on taking the day off.. since it was an extra day after all... and go to Disneyland. Well, Friday came and we both ended up going to work instead. Big mistake.

February 29th was a cursed day.

Kenny forgot his uniform dress shows and accidentally showed up at his jet job wearing grungy old Vans... a definite no-no.

Then 15 minutes before his flight was to leave for Mexico he realized he forgot his passport at home! He pushed back the flight and called Tonita and pleaded in his most desperate voice for her to drive it up to the airport (45 minutes away). Poor Tonita hit every red light and got behind every bad driver and couldn't make it up there (She did get it to another airport and thankfully Kenny didn't end up in a Mexican prison)

I had a terrible day at work. Nothing went right. It was just plain bad.

A lady from my office had her tire blow out on the freeway. A guy from my office got a black eye and was pooped on by a bird through his sunroof!

Oh... and Danny blew the head on his 4Runner on his way to work.

Ya. Bad day.

Next Leap Year... I think I'll just stay in bed.

Just Because...

Awww... Isn't Kenny sweet?!?

I'm LOST

Allison sent me this today from a blog she reads. It cracked me up...

"LOST... I am in an abusive relationship with this show.

I can't seem to break away from the horrible hold it has on me.

If it were a boy, my dad would forbid me to date it.

Lost is that horrible good looking guy that was mean to his girlfriend but told her just enough of what she wanted hear that she kept coming back for more.

I know I need to cut my losses and walk away, but I can't..I'm not strong enough."

From Snow to Surf

San Diego is the coolest place to live... ever! And trust us, we have been all around the world.

On Sunday we loaded up the Explorer and headed up to the mountains 20 minutes away. There was still snow and Pilot had a great time playing in it. It was so deep in some places he would fall in if he landed too hard!

After spending some time in the mountains we stopped at home and swapped out the cars and headed to the beach for a little surf, sand and seafood.

We had a great crab and shrimp dinner and then went for a walk on Crystal Pier.

Yep, San Diego is the best. Where else can you spend the day playing in the snow, watching dolphins play in the ocean, and walk on the beach... and in 72 degree temperatures the entire time. We love this town!


Snow







Surf

It's been a while

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to post... I know you all missed me.

If you are bored, check out the recent sites that I have been working on. It is their fault I was so busy :)

Four Angel's Momma

Gray Matters

Sitting on Top of the World

Not So Deep Thoughts

QKG Tallahassee

Quirky Kitsch Girl

Story of a Lifetime

Right now I have three more sites I am working on this week... crazy, but so much fun!

I promise I'll try to post more this month. Love you all!

Happy Birthday Jamie!

The Bucket List?

Okay, Jen and I went to see the movie, “The Bucket List.” This post is not a commentary on the movie, I will leave that to the experts, but about, well, just keep reading.

The movie, as you may know, is about two old guys that are soon to “kick the bucket” and want to do crazy stuff.

I had a slow day and Jen was able to get off work early, so we caught the 4:45 showing on this nice Thursday afternoon. We made it just in the nick of time and raced into the theatre.

To our surprise, everyone in the theatre had just finished their early bird dinners and were catching a “late show!” Yes, the theatre was filled with a lot of really old people – possibly looking for some kind of weird divine movie-going inspiration. To say that Jen and I were well under the average age of the other movie goers by 30 years would be generous.

While the movie left something to be desired, the experience of the old ladies carrying their own microwave popcorn into the show, old men laughing and carrying on about the funny lines, and the smell of Ben-Gay made the day!

A small confession (which proves that the old adage “you get what you pay for” really is true):

Jen and I used the automated teller in the front of the theatre to buy the tickets. It is really great. Never any line, you just walk up and choose the day, choose the movie, choose the time, and choose which type of ticket…Adult, Student, Senior. Yeah, we chose Senior. The machine does not know and plus Senior tickets are a buck cheaper! And you know the acne-ridden teenager manning the ticket ripping station ain’t gonna care.

Yep, we bought the Senior tickets.

Irony?

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Party like its 1999

I was going through my old documents stored on my old computer (new computer story coming soon!) and guess what I came across... a Christmas letter written by Kenny to his friends and family in 1999. It made me smile. Since we are all friends and family here, I thought I'd share it...

Well, what a year 1999 was! I managed to keep incredibly busy. Let’s do a month by month replay of what I managed to squeeze into last year:

January – I started my second semester at Christian Heritage College (CHC) in San Diego, CA. I am a junior majoring in Aviation Flight Technologies (a pilot). I am taking 28 units this semester (12 being a full load). I have two jobs; I am the janitor for my dorm building and I am also an Admissions Counselor for my college. I am playing on two volleyball teams, a basketball team, and an indoor soccer team. I am also on a Precision Flight Competition Team. I meet a girl named Jennifer Aceves in my volleyball class – one of three girls who actually knew how to play volleyball out of the 20 other girls in the class. My normal schedule is get up at 6:00 am and go to bed between 2 or 3 am, if at all! My time is filled with classes, homework, flying, and having way too much fun, probably more fun than is allowed *.

February – I got my Private Pilot’s License on the 14th – yes Valentine’s Day, because I love to fly! I am still way too busy. Oh yeah, I am in the school play, “Cave Dwellers.”

March – I compete in the PCIFA Precision Flight Competition at Castle Air Force Base (now decommissioned). Our team had never competed in it before and with only a month and half’s worth of practice, we came in fourth place, placing in the top ten in every event in which we entered! We also won the Sportsmanship award and were elected Treasurer of the PCIFA (Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Flight Competition). On second Tuesday of this month, I talked to the aforementioned young lady for 2 or 3 hours after lunch. Hmmmm…she seems like the kinda girl I want to marry!?!? I also made several trips down to Mexico for tacos and cheap souvenirs. Plus, I have a friend whose folks live down in Rosarito, so we visited them a few times over the semester as well.

April – We do five performances of our masterpiece play. The semester is almost over with finals in the last week of the month. I get a job with AiRepair as an apprentice airplane mechanic at Gillespie Airport, the same airport out of which I fly. I also stayed up for over 90 hours (that’s four days) without sleep watching the amazing meteor showers that we had every night. I saw on one night over 100 meteors in one hour!

May – School is finally out! I managed to pull off 28 units with a straight A average. I am now working at AiRepair full time for the summer and living in an apartment here in San Diego with two good friends, Chris Jacobson and Chadd Mertz. I will spend my summer working, flying, and having as much fun as possible. I also meet a guy who will become one of my best friends, Dustin Radford. Dustin lives on a boat in San Diego Bay and works with me at AiRepair. He went to CHC two years ago. Oh yeah, remember Jen? She is staying here in San Diego for the summer too. She is an intern for the church’s high school group, so she will be going on all their summer mission trips. She is staying in the dorms, so she has no way to cook for herself. I think I will invite her over to my apartment so she can be able to eat! *

June – What a crazy month! I worked 60+ hours a week at AiRepair. I love it! I also see a lot of that Jen girl. People keep teasing me that I should date her or marry her. Come on now, we’re just friends right? We spend all our free time together. We also almost got her car towed for parking in the wrong spot…a story to be told at a later time. I even drove to her house one weekend with my roommate and we (the three of us and Jen’s sister Jamie) all went to Magic Mountain. We watch movies, eat dinner, stay out, fly around, goof off together, but hey, we’re just really good friends! I also got to go sailing with Dustin on his boat. He, along with Jen, accompanied me on my many adventures this summer! I also spent much time with another guy and good friend, Sam Meier, also a pilot. Together, he and I flew all over CA, NV, AR and NM. We flew to Havasue, Phoenix, Catalina, Palmdale (that’s were Jen lives), and a dozen other places. My roommate Chris’s mom moves into the apartment with us, no complaints here since she is paying the rent.

July – Jen and I start dating on July 1. Yeah, so we said we were “just friends,” now we’re dating, so back off *. Sam, his fiancé and I fly from San Diego all the up to Salem, OR in a Cessna 172. I took us ten hours one way, making a stop in Galt on the ways up and back. First time mom and dad got to see my fly a plane.

August – Cannot stand living in the apartment any longer. Move out one Thursday afternoon, unfortunately had nowhere to go, so I lived in my car for two weeks! Even slept in a cemetery a couple of nights. Hey it was nice and quite and there was always a cool breeze coming off the grass. What more could one ask for? Still working full time plus at AiRepair, flying around, and still having too much fun.

September – I start my senior year of college. I cut back to only 24 units this semester – still two full loads worth. I got an apartment, so no more car living. I am taking Bible classes, aviation classes, and Greek. I am working part time at AiRepair. Still dating Jen. I am the captain of the Flight Team for this year. I am on student senate. I am also on staff with the high school ministry group at my church, yes, along with Jen. In this ministry, I coach a student-led Bible study and Jen and I and another guy are organizing a mission trip to Romania this upcoming spring break.

October – Myself and four other pilots flew three airplanes across Arizona and New Mexico into Texas, landing only 12 miles shy of the Oklahoma border. We made it there and back in three days! That’s over 2000 miles. I also got my motorcycle stolen and then harassed by the cops about it. The cops thought me and several other CHC students had formed a motorcycle gang and were stealing other motorcycles. Yeah, Kenny the hardened criminal. I am still too busy to breath.

November – On the 15th, I asked Jen to marry me, and she actually said yes. I don’t remember anything else about this month. As for the wedding, look for an invitation to follow in the next few months, but the date is going to be June 23, 2000 at Hume Lake, California, about an hour east of Fresno in the mountains.

December – I completed my next to last semester of college, with straight A’s. For Christmas break, I took advantage of being a pilot and flew from San Diego to Palmdale to Galt to Palmdale to Galt to Palmdale to San Diego. Over 40 hours of driving condensed into 13 hours of flying.

January – I am in my last semester of college, yeah!!! Only 12 units, yeah!!! Nine of the units are go fly the airplane and I have only one classroom class, yeah!!! I went to Hawaii, yeah!!! The plans for the Romania trip are in full swing – we will be going April 12-22. Jen, Chris Guess, and myself will be leading 30-40 students with 10-12 staff. I am also building a small “honeymoon cottage” as my parents call it. It is a small granny flat on top of our youth pastor’s garage who is building he and his wife’s dream home. Jen and I designed the floor plan and have done most of the work on it ourselves. It should be done by this summer when we get married.

Well, that was 1999, and part of 2000. If you have any questions feel free to write, call, email, come visit me.

Love,
Kenny Shepherd

Subway, Eat Fresh!

It was a dark and stormy night, actually it has been all weekend. So what do we do on a dark and stormy Sunday night?

Well, let’s go back a few days…. we had purchased a bag of potatoes because wanted to have baked potatoes for dinner one night and everyone knows that you can buy two potatoes by the pound which runs you like $2.00 or you can commit and buy way more than you really need and get the 5 pound bag for only $2.98! (gluttony and overspending – we are good Americans!)

We have two of the five hundred potatoes that we bought as bakers, so what do you do with the rest?

It was a dark and stormy Sunday night and we were going to make potato salad. Its easy right? Potatoes, eggs, mayonnaise, mustard….stir!

We got half way through when we realized we had a mayo shortage. ARG, and we only needed four ingredients! Curses. Now we need to make a store run, and we have to do it fast because potato salad is best when it is still warm. Me, Jen and Pilot hop into the Prius to run down to the grocery store about a mile and half away. Just before we get to the stop light, Jen remembers the mini-mart on the corner not barely 100 yards from the house. We make the left turn and we are there.

Jen and I scour the aisles in the mini-mart and all we come up with is Miracle Whip. While I am not even quite sure what mayo is…what the heck is Miracle Whip? That will not work.

But wait! There is a Subway inside the mini-mart. They have mayo right? I get into line.

“Uh yeah, I’d like a cup of mayo please…?”

“Umm, mayo?”

“Mmm, yeah, mayo, you see….”

Other Subway employee girl, “Just give him some mayo.” (Okay, make the crazy man happy so he does not kill us all.)

“How much?”

“A cup or so.”

A two dollar tip and I was back in the car.

PS – the potato salad was good.