2010

New Years Eve. How did this happen? A decade has passed. 10 years ago I was in Santa Clara CA, .com capitol of the world waiting for Y2K to give us a freaking day off. You see I worked at eBay and the pace we were growing at was KILLING me. My life changed a lot after that NYE, and I’ve never looked back.

In the last decade I moved from the bay area to San Diego after a not so nice divorce, to be near my BFF, my brother, and the water. I ate carne asada, went to a lot of Chargers and Padres games, walked on the bay, and had lunch every Sunday with Val. Those 4 years were great. I went on some good dates, and some terrible dates. I won’t even mention the guy that wore the "save the whales" t-shirt and asked me to play star trek monopoly. Awesome.

I moved to Texas, 5 years ago. I came here for a job that lasted 4 weeks but have managed to find several others. Met some amazing friends, that I’m happy to say are still my friends. I fell in love, got a dog, bought a condo, joined a church, got engaged, we bought a house, got married. I’ve also managed to get half my family to move to this crazy state, and have a job I love. Not a bad 10 years.

This past year was interesting. I think that's the word I would use to sum it up. We worried about our jobs at least half of the year. Survived layoffs, then got to put in massive amounts of overtime. We joined the Wed night group, had our house broken into, and were able to celebrate 1 year of marital bliss with a vacation.

We also became Aunt Sassy and Uncle Cap to this little guy. Everett.


And added a new in-law to the family. Crystal & Joel.


I’m looking forward to 2010. We have some big goals, and some small ones. Plans have a funny way of changing, so I try not to be set in having “plans”. The main goals would be to love my husband, family and friends the best that can, try to keep doing a good job at work (even with my authority issues), and not take things so seriously.

Wed Night Crew

For the last nine months Chris and I have been hanging out with our Foundation Group every other Wednesday night. It’s 6 couples from church, all married the same year as us, and none with kids (yet), and one leader couple. We hang out, we drink, we discuss finance, sex, and communication. All the easy stuff right? It’s been a fun experience and we've made some great friends. Even though the group ends in May, I know some will be friends for a very long time. At least that’s my prediction. I wanted to introduce you to them. (photos above couple)


Steven & Yoshi. Steven is a serious snowboarder, and Yoshi is serious at everything she does, but she is passionate about golf. She is happiest when she can play 36 holes in a weekend. They have a French bulldog named Elvis that we love, and he has a wheels you attach so he can run because his back legs are paralyzed. He’s precious.


Kyle & Wendy (baby 2010). She is sweet and sensitive and works with pregnant teens and teens that are parents in the school system. Kyle loves to hunt and has one of the best trained hunting dogs in the state. They have a pool and I plan on harassing them all summer to use it.


Jim & Crystal. We see these 2 regularly for dinner dates, and the guys like to golf. The're the world travelers of the group and spent Thanksgiving week in China. We're talking about a joint trip to Buenos Aires in May, if I can talk Chris into it.


Matt & Emily. They work…a lot. They both have 2 full time jobs, and Emily’s photography business they do on evenings and weekends. He went to A&M but I try not to hold that against him. I’m happy to say he doesn’t sport the ring. Whew. Emily would spend her life savings at Anthropologie or “anthro” as she calls it. The financial planner didn’t see that being an option.


Josh & Erin (baby 2010). The comedy of the group. I dare anyone to spend 5 min with Josh and not crack up. He’s that funny. He is WAY into movies. Like seen every movie, probably more than once. Erin has a day job, and is a fabulous makeup artist for brides in her free time. They just bought their first house and move in next week.


Ryan & Helen. Our fearless leaders. They have 2 adorable boys that we all love to spend time with. Those kids are so well behaved I’m going to hire them to raise any of my kids. Ryan loves the water, skiing, being on a boat. You name it. Helen likes to run…this I will never understand about anyone. She is also a domestic goddess, and gave us all hand painted ornaments for Christmas. Hand painted!

Thank you Charlotte!

I'm back from a quick and cold trip to Charlotte. Land of NASCAR and Colleen. The temps topped out at 35ish degrees but I was able see her new place in a fun part of the city called Chantilly, I got to meet her new dog Jake, and I was able to shop in the store that Texas needs most: TRADER JOE's. Seriously when are we getting one?
We had great sushi, did some shopping and drank beer in the same garage as the last time. I had some quality time with Jon, and we all watched the Panthers game with a few of her friends. Let's not even discuss the amounts of wine and food consumed. No crazy stories from this trip. We were well behaved and low key.
Most importantly I will kick her sorry behind if she forgets that really knowing her is more important to me than expecting her to be perfect. 20 years of knowing her has led to more memories than some people have in a lifetime. Who else would remember that those sheets on your bed were purchased in 1997 in Santa Barbara at the Eddie Bauer Home Store? Me. Because I was with you, and I always will be :)

Next Stop: Charlotte

I'm heading to Charlotte to see Colleen this weekend. No clue what we will be doing, but it's a much needed catch up. We usually have a few stories so I might have one to share when I return. Last time she had me at some garage party huddled around a burn barrel at 11pm drinking with a bunch of cops. Awesome. She also has strong opinions on what pics I can post of her on this blog, even though she NEVER actually leaves any comments.