Slideshow Time

We're back! I apologize for not posting for so long, but I have been busy with work and then my sister and James came into town. They came last week and stayed through the weekend. Most of their time was spent in Disneyland, but they stayed with us Sunday-Tuesday. Since I normally post a couple of select photos (usually the ones where I look the best--how selfish!), I decided to download all of the photos on a slideshow. Also included amongst the family photos are ones of Gizzy, of course. As Julie will attest, I am a crazy, obsessive mother. As for the family vacation, we went to the Getty Museum and the Griffith Observatory. ...I added music to the slideshow, let me know if it works...Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

ISU vs. Baylor = Unfortunate

One of my co-workers, Brianna Rasmussen, went to Baylor. When I first met her (almost a year ago) and found out she went there, I immediately thought about how ISU would play her team in hopes to have some sort of tick mark in the win column that season. With that in mind, I told her about this ISU alumni bar in Long Beach were we could watch the game. I figured we would win, so it wouldn't be a big deal for me to bring 1 Baylor fan to an ISU alumni game watching location. Wrong. To back up for a moment, I had been receiving alumni emails for the past 4.5 years. Recently, I decided to actually read one. It was worth it. They explained how the local ISU fans gather at a bar in Long Beach (about 30 min. north) to watch the games. Brad and I loved the thought of meeting up with more Iowa folks so we decided to finally take advantage of the alumni emails. Here is the Iowa representation yesterday: Boone, Spencer, Fort Dodge, Lehigh, Perry (myself), and Grimes (B-rad). There were also people from Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin who went to Iastate, but were not from Iowa. Go Cyclones! Anyway, we thought it was pretty exciting to know people from rural Iowa ended up with a similar life as us. End of story goes something like this...we lost. Again.

Here are some other updates:
1. I got summoned for Jury Duty.
2. My sister and James come into town next Wednesday.
3. Gizzy and Smokey are still not friends.
4. I colored my hair darker.
5. We are coming to Iowa for Christmas!


Brad and I

Brianna (Baylor's only fan) and Myself

While Smokey is Asleep

The Wagner's Farewell

Tessa worked with me at Gettys for over a year, and tomorrow she and her husband, Stephen, are moving back to Oregon. Tear. Today they had a little BBQ to send them off. We, I mean everyone but me, played croquet, ate yummy grilled food, and caught up with some great people. Let's go back to the croquet portion of the evening. I started on team "ballard," but I quickly felt the pressure of the game with the first swing. I realized--I'm not good! What is that all about? I'm always good at sports. Then, once I realized it is not a sport, I gave the mallet to Brad. When this happened, we were in last place. Once I was out of the picture, team "ballard" won! Here are some pictures of the victory. Oh, and there was also a cat from the neighborhood that became our croquet onlooker. Brad thinks his name should be Tiger, I'm going with Morris. Enjoy!


My First and Final Attempt

We Won!

Morris (I post, so I win)

Jeffrey

Tessa (left)

Angels Game

My friend and IIDA counterpart, April, invited me to go to game 1 of the Angels playoffs game (vs. Red Sox) this past Wednesday. I didn't know if I wanted to go on a weeknight, but then Brad let me know how cool it was, so I accepted. She works for Allsteel, which is a furniture manufacturing company out of Muscatine, IA. We had 3rd row seats right next to 3rd base. After the game we went to a local bar where we met Craig Sager. He is a sports announcer for TNT. April has those pictures on her camera, so I will post them later. Here are some pictures of the evening from my camera.


From Our Seats

April and Myself

April and I Leaving

Race for the Cure

This past weekend I ran race for the cure with my co-worker, Amanda, and her step-daughter Alex. I run this race no matter where I live or the weather conditions. I find it extremely gratifying in many ways. I ran with Aunt Vicki and Aunt Linda in mind (Brad's side), and with their names on the front of my shirt. There were about 12,000 runners on Sunday! I do have to question--with this same event in almost every part of the country, why do we not have a cure? I am hoping it is not too far away.

So this is how the day went: The race started at 9:45, and I live about 10 minutes away from the event. Amanda and Alex where here at 9:08, we got in the car, quickly got to the turning lane to enter the parking garage (our standard spot), but then we waited in line to park. And we waited. And we waited. Finally, we got to the area, and it's blocked off; of course the garage is full. We ended up parking far away (looking back, I could have gone around the long line of waiting cars). So as we were walking toward the starting line, we saw everyone already running. Yikes! How am I supposed to know my official time? Like good Midwesterners, we walked all the way to the start line before starting. It just makes sense. By the time we started to run, we were already in the "walkers" pack. That means I am running on the grass, maneuvering around fathers with strollers, and ducking when women are telling a funny stories and have to use their arms. It took me so long to run out of the pack of walkers. The race is 3.1 miles, and I ran the whole time (I don't walk, I can't walk--it's an ego thing). Though the course is very hilly, I felt much more prepared this time around as I trained for about a month. After the race, we walked around to the vendor stations and got our free nutri-grain bars, waters and bananas and headed home. It was a successful day! After I got home, I decided to eat my whole grain rice with a "pinch" of garlic. To preface this story, I really really enjoy: garlic, driving distances, getting the mail, kitties, and responding quickly to emails. That is me. This particular day I thought why would I put 1 clove of garlic in a serving of rice when I could use 3? Using 1 means I don't taste the garlic, so I figured 2 would mean I would kinda taste the garlic. Solution: 3 cloves of garlic. OH, and a 1/2 of an onion. Let's just say I'm surprised you cannot smell my breath from here. I learned my lesson...2 max! I know that garlic is known as the "wonder drug," so I made sure to tell Brad that my choice on Sunday to eat 3 cloves of garlic meant I would outlive him. He seems so excited to hear that news :) After this little experiment, I somehow found the only mint in our house, which I'm sure was taken from one of those candy jars from a hostess stand. That didn't work. I drank a lot of water. That didn't work. I even ate the chocolate syrup in the refrigerator. Poor choice. Lastly, I took a shower (we all know this is not typical for me on a weekend--I find them meaningless). Needless to say, the solution for eating too much garlic is time. Finally today I cannot smell it on my breath or on my hands. Lesson learned.
So that's our exciting weekend. I hope you enjoy the picture of the race. Also, please note I am restricting kitty pictures this week. It's hard, but I'm doing it for the readers. All 2 of them. Perhaps there will be a new posting mid week with updates of the furballs. Stay tuned!


Alex, Amanda, Myself

The Soup Field Trip

So I was lucky enough to go to the taping of The Soup on E! network! My friend, Amanda, has a friend who knows Joel McHale, so she was able to get us in the door and meet him before and after the show. It was so much fun! Here are some pictures of the evening with the cast. It is very interesting to see how they cut scenes, entertain the audience, and produce the show in 1.5 hours. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!


Amanda and I with Joel McHale

Us with Mankini (A Frequent Character)

Green Screen

Model: Victoria Silvstedt

Joel Watching the Show

Dragon Fruit Attempt

So I work next to a shopping center that has many interesting stores. One of them is a supermarket. How is that interesting, you ask? It is called Mother's Market (we call it Mom's House), and it's a great source for exotic fruits, tofu turkey (in California we call it Tofurkey), multivitamins made from natural and organic weeds (more of an exaggeration...), Orange County housewives, etc. etc. This past week, I caved to the fruit display. Who wouldn't? It was perfectly placed right in the front door, and the fruit is PINK! C'mon, any girl with a long work day would have caved. So, I brought it back to work, showed it to the girls, and saved it for Brad and I that evening. Brad is a fruit lover, and I am more of a veggie girl, so I thought it would be a perfect "present" for him. As I was cutting it open, I browsed back at the receipt to realize I had paid $9.18. For one. It had better be good. What is this fruit, you ask? Well, it's called dragon fruit. Brad thought it was that expensive because it was actually made from dragons. Nice try--it is actually from a cactus plant. I took some pictures for my own pleasure, so here they are. The fruit tastes similar to kiwi, but less sweet. Was it worth the big bucks? Not really. Am I glad I made the attempt? Yes. Maybe it will come up in conversation some day and I will be able to join in. Wishful thinking.

I am also posting more pictures of the cats. I have an addiction...


Dragon Fruit: Interior and Exterior, Respectively

Sleepy Peanut...

Don't be Fooled...She Bites

A Smokey Close Up