A few of my favorite things...

These were taken during a recent shopping trip to Fashion Valley.

Somehow this mall just doesn't scream...It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." Oh well...So Cal for you!
Cassi's feet were killing! Beauty before comfort!
I love this shopping shot of her!!

I love the Christmas lights!

Christmas is my absolute favoritist time of year. Since I was a kid I have always loved this holiday more than any other. Now when I was younger it was because it also coincided with my birthday but seeing how we choose not to dwell on that anymore...December is still my favorite month!

Christmas is a favorite of mine...

I love everything about the holiday. The music...the shopping...the hustle and bustle..the lights...the crowds...the tree...the shopping...the decorations...the weather...I could go on and on!!!!

I love traditions...

I have tried to instill traditions into my daughters head because the traditions we had growing up still mean so much to me. Every year...

Mom overshops (yes...a tradition I totally uphold!)
We end up at the local WalMart or Target (used to be ToysRUS) at least once at midnight
My parents cut down a tree and Mom loves the tinsel!
We watch all the classic cartoons (Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown, etc...)
When Cassi was younger she LOVED Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Jingle All the Way" and it cracks me up to know he is our Governor now. So we watch that at least 5 times each year!
We take pictures with Santa and I take the SAME pose each year.
I take Cassi to Disneyland for all of the Christmas decorations. This year we had plans to go with Geri and family and I was surprising Cassi. She surprised me that day by ending up with a pretty bad flu and we didn't get to go! I haven't planned a makeup day yet but will have to see when our passes allow us to go!
We go to Christmas mass
My Dad bakes batches and batches of fudge
We go to my parents house Christmas morning and they have mounds and mounds of presents for everyone to open
We drive around looking for lights and on Christmas eve...looking for Rudolph

These are some of the things we do each year and I love it!

Another favorite of mine is the snow.

Someday I want to know what it is like to be snowed in somewhere with nothing to do but light a fire, turn on music and read a book. I told the girls today that when I am old and gray (no...not next week!) I want to live in a mountain cabin, work in some tourist trap like dressing people up and taking old time photos and talk about the weather with all of the locals!

San Diego had snow in the local mountains this weekend and chains were required and the crowds were crazy up there so we decided to go today instead. After Cassi and MacKenzie got out of school we drove about 40 minutes east of our house to the Laguna Mountains and played in the snow for a couple of hours. It was enough time for the girls to get soaking wet, freezing cold, and have a blast!!

After the snow we went to another favorite place of mine...Viejas.

I love that place. I can't help it but I love the sounds of the machines, the thrill of winning (when I win!), the little old ladies banging on the machines, the Quick hits...

but I didn't go there for that.

We went to the Outlets and did a little bit of shopping and watched the "Ice Princess" show they have going on each night. It was really really cold but the music was fabulous and it got us in a Christmasy mood.

Then we went to a neighborhood in Santee that we have been going to for years that has all of the homes decorated. Most of them have a cartoon theme and they get better each year! One family sells Kettle corn and another hot chocolate.

In true San Diego style, I take the top down on the convertible and we drive through enjoying the lights.

I think I have written a novel tonight and I hope you enjoy this time of year too!!

Had to share!!!

As most of you know...Saturday is my 40th birthday and I am heading into it kicking and screaming! I just found this little article and being one of the "older ones"...it brings tears to my eyes to say when I read this...I totally concur!!!

Enjoy!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways.yadda, yadda, yadda!

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it! I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! There was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter ...with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ's usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!>

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids' and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little square! You actually h ad to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE.

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel;

and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire..... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot. That's exactly what I'm talking about!

You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled!!!!!!!!!> You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980! Oh yeah, and a seat belt was Mom throwing her arm across your chest every time she hit the brakes.

Regards, The over 30 Crowd

I hope you got a chuckle out of that...

Now...if you can think of any other way kids are spoiled today...add it to the comment section below!!

Tickets books at Disneyland with only one E ticket ride is one I can think of!

Now go add yours!!!

The magic of Christmas

Here is my all time favorite Santa picture of Cassi. This is a scan so excuse the quality. After Cassi was terrified and this picture was taken, it was time for Santa to eat lunch ...(milk and cookies of course) and while he was eating Cassi had the opportunity to spend some time with him. And she slowly started to warm up to him.

I knew he was the real Santa when I left them alone for a little bit and came back into the room and he was holding Cassi's hands and dancing around the room with her. Of course I had Mommy tears (WAY different than "man tears" Cindy!!!) and I knew I would ALWAYS believe in Santa forever and ever. I saw the magic of Christmas that day. When I tell Cassi that Santa is real...I believe it with my whole heart.

This is a scan so excuse the quality but I LOVE THIS OF HER!!! We used this for out Christmas card when she was two.
THE REAL SANTA!
Geri took this one of Cassi for me.
This is when Cassi was 7. I don't have the last few years on my hard drive and will have to find my discs to share them.

Since we have the real Santa, he is the BEST Santa out there and I love that he takes the time to visit us personally every year.

ON ANOTHER SANTA NOTE...

I was given a link to this news site and laughed my butt off (yes...I wish!!!). But it wasn't the kids that made me laugh but all of the Santa Clauses...check them out!!!

Some of them are hysterical!!!

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/holiday/sfl-scaredofsanta-ugc,0,7181908.ugcphotogallery

Enjoy these!

In memory of those who died at Pearl Harbor

The names on this box are servicemen who survived Pearl Harbor but wanted to be buried after their death along with their shipmates at the Memorial.

In honor of "The day that will live in infamy" I am posting some images from our visit to the USS Arizona Memorial on Oahu. It was truly a moving experience being aboard the memorial and I am glad we had the chance to spend some time at Pearl Harbor.

It is such a tribute to all those who gave their lives that day for our Country.

RIP.

White elves CAN dance...

Geri sent me this link and I love it!!!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1114693102

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!!

Where I was when the sun went down today...

La Jolla Shores

I love how golden the sand appeared as the sun set tonight. The texture was amazing!!!

All it takes is a sunset like tonight to remind me how lucky I am. Lucky to live here in San Diego...lucky to do a job I love...Lucky to have all the good things in my life. Thought I'd share how beautfiul it was tonight in La Jolla.

Enjoy!

More Hawaii for you!!!

I lag getting these images posted but still want to share them with you! There are a ton more to share so please be patient with me! This is an image of Wailua Falls. The recent rains made the flow of the water really strong. We viewed this waterfall twice and the second time there was not as much water flowing over the cliff. It is a beautiful sight. One of the last episodes of one of Amazing Race was filmed here in this location.
I find cemeteries to be especially beautiful. I love the history behind each grave marker. There is something so beautiful and peaceful to me about graves and their headstones. You can ask anyone who travels with me, cemeteries are a favorite of mine. When we visited Hawaii, the Day of the Dead had just occurred and it was very obvious that Hawaiians cherish their loved ones and visit often.

This is a lookout point on our way to go to Waimea Canyon. I was amazed at how brilliant the colors were here.

On our way to Waimea Canyon, I read on the map about a beach that supposedly had sand that barked like a dog when you walked on it. The map said 6 miles to this beach (Polihale State Park). What the map did not say was there was 5 miles of dirt road you needed to take to actually get to the beach. Grandma was freaking out about the dirt road and we had no clue that we would be traveling so long on the road...we just thought the beach was "just around the next bend". The girls were having a blast over the bumps and divots in the back of the minivan (yes...we drove a rental minivan on the road you see above which is why rental cars in Hawaii are shipped to the mainland for sale. NO ONE will buy a rental car in Hawaii!!!). I know we were all wondering if we should turn around but are soooo glad we didn't.
The end of the road brought us to the most amazing beach I have ever been on in my entire life. There was only two other people (honeymooners) on this beach for miles...either way you looked. It was incredible to stand on such a large expanse of beach and enjoy it just for us. It would NEVER happen here in San Diego.
One direction of beach...
The water straight ahead...
The beach in the opposite direction! Amazing!!!

Along the dirt road...we came across Steven's next car. He decided to take it for a test drive while we were there. Depending on how big your computer screen is...Steven's tshirt even says "Rusty" on it...hmmmmm

Waimea Canyon...the Grand Canyon of the Islands was really cold and windy while we were there. It started pouring rain so we didn't get to spend much time there although a local vendor sold the best pineapple I have ever tasted while we were there.

I hope this shows the scale of how enormous this canyon is.

Local flora.
That night we attended a luau at the Kilohana Estates. The luau is put on mainly for the cruise ships that travel around the islands so it was an older crowd for the kids. We had many Mai Tai's and blue Hawaiians while we tasted the local food. They also put on an amazing show about the local history and even had fire dancers. We had a blast!
All of us decked out in our Hawaiian leis and outfits.
More of the beautiful colors you find throughout Hawaii.

Steven had his picture taken with some of the locals. Notice the blue Hawaiian in his hand, but it wasn't the drink making him smile in the second picture!

They have a ceremony when roasting the pig and also said blessings for their good fortune.
Steven and one of his many Blue Hawaiians.
This guy was incredible with fire. If you look closely you can see netting that they put around him so he doesn't throw the fire out into the crowd. The speed and skill he used to work with the fire was unbelievable. The luau was such a great experience and a neat way to learn more about the islands.

I still have many, many pictures to share with you and will, in the next coming weeks.

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and is getting into the swing of Christmas. This is my absolute most favorite time of the year (even if I do turn 40 in the middle of it!) and I hope everyone enjoys the preparation as much as the celebration! I love the hustle and bustle the next month brings and have made a promise to Cassi that we will experience different things around the city this year that we haven't experienced before. Maybe start some new traditions even!

Enjoy!

Chargers...baby?!!

I was on my way to bed (after midnight of course!!!) and went to check on Cassi and thought the site was hysterical so I had to photograph it, download it, change it to websize and here I am to share it with you all.

Cassi has obviously given up worrying about what happened to the Chargers today (although she fell asleep still in her Charger jersey!). Her baby, on the other hand, is wide awake...downing her 'bottle' wondering what the hell happened. I bet she is not the only one sucking down bottles of liquid wondering about today's loss.

Thought I'd share!!!

Enjoy