I stink as a blogger....

Sorry I haven't posted in ages, my only excuse is that it has been a busy, crazy and fun summer so far.

To recap, we went here:


Stayed in these condos on Lake Travis:



And had a ton of fun doing things like this:

University of Texas

The Alamo

Texas State Capital

Water skiing & Tubing

Waterpark

Barton Springs

Capital Dome

Duck Tour

San Antonio River Walk

Congress Street Bridge Bats

Austin City Limits Tour

LBJ Presidential Library


We went to a wedding of a lifelong friend (Congrats Pete & Amy!):



We had a blast for my birthday at the San Diego zoo:






We celebrated the 4th with family and fireworks:
Ed & Char


Mom and Dave

All of us with Sparklers


After that my best friend's son turned 2 and we celebrated with a big party at the park:
Blowing out his candles

Pinata!

Birthday Boy

The birthday boy's little brother


And last but certainly not least, we went to Comic-Con in San Diego and got into the LOST panel! It was such an amazing experience, we are certainly planning on going back next year. Here are some highlights:

The LONG line to get into the LOST panel


The full Panel

Jon Favreau

Gene Simmons

The Husband and The Sister

The Simpsons Panel

The Husband and Bumblebee

Fringe Panel

True Blood Panel!


Superhero Costumes


Best costume of the day


Last weekend we were in Palm Springs for our annual weekend getaway thanks to my parents timeshare. We always have a great time just relaxing by the pool. This weekend was our first real weekend with down time, so we stayed home for the most part and got lots of chores completed around the house. Last night we had dinner with my Family at Peppinos, and this morning we had brunch with The Husband's family at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, which is always super yummy. And filling. Yes, I feel like I may explode. My eyes were MUCH bigger than my stomach!

That pretty much catches me up to speed. I will try to be a better blogger, though I make no promises!! Next weekend is the Kings of Leon concert, and I cannot wait. Hopefully I will be able to take pictures!

Prop 8 Upheld :(

I figured this was coming but it still royally sucks. All I can say is 2010 here we come. We are not backing down until we have equality for ALL.

A Long Time Coming

So I have been a huge blog slacker. I know I said that LAST time I posted, but I couldn't help it. life has been busy as heck fire. For the most part it has been "good busy" though.

We have done a ton in the last few weeks lots of movies, a couple concerts, some awesome day trips and great family time.

The Husband and I went to see Rufus Wainwright with Lucy Wainwright Roche a few weeks ago. It was awesome! The House of Blues in Anaheim is a great little venue and the performances were great. Plus the people in the audience were a blast as well. We were really excited to see Rufus, but we were even MORE excited when we realized that his dad, Louden Wainwright, was there as well. We are big fans! Here are a couple really crappy cell phone pics from the night.

The other concert was Jimmy Buffet last night. Shannon, my Dad, the Husband and I gave the tickets to my Mom for mothers day this year, and we had a great time. How can you not at a JB concert? :) We had a real "girls night out" too, it was just my Mom, Shannon and myself. I do have to say that the parking lot looked like a tornado had gone though when we left. I do not envy whoever has to clean up the following day...

Here are a couple pics from the concert:

We went to the Nixon Library last weekend. What an amazing place! I can't believe we had lived so close to it an never been.  My husband and I aren't exactly big Nixon fans, but it didn't matter. All the history that they had there appeals to anyone who enjoys history (and politics!). Here are a few pics from the Library:

My Grandma (Mom's Mom) had major surgery this week, and I am happy to report that she came through with flying colors. She exceeded all the doctors expectations! For a 84 year old, that is amazing. The doctors were able to remove all of her cancer, so we are so relived that we will be able to have her around for hopefully many many many more years to come. A couple days before her surgery The Husband and I went to brunch with my family at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach. YUM.

We also saw Wolverine (blech) and Star Trek (Awesome!), had a trip to the Grove up in LA and spent some great time with friends. Whew!

OK, so I think I am basically caught up. I swear to try and update more often!

Happy Earth Day!

Wow, I am slacking big time on the blog front. Life has been busy! Last weekend The Husband was out of town visiting his grandparents, so I kept myself busy with various things. Friday night I hung out with my best gal pal and her two adorable sons. We had pizza and beer and watched Wife Swap and Super Nanny...a perfect Friday night. Saturday I was invited to a bridal shower for a family friend I have known my whole life. It was a really nice to visit with the family friends and also spend time with my Mom and Sister. That afternoon I took on the task of organizing our office. I cleared out the room, added decorative details and built a huge new bookshelf. It took me 6 hours, but I LOVE the results.

Sunday was the annual Earth Day Fair at Balboa Park in San Diego. I went down with my Mom, Sister and my Sisters friend Katie. It was an amazing day! The fair was incredible and I highly recommend it to anyone living in the area. It took up the entire park and there were thousands of people there. I took a lot of pics, here is a sampling:

Hippie Bus 

Just what Jesus would have done...

Katie and Shannon getting in the fountain to cool off. It was HOT!

It was very crowded, but fun :)

They were singing "Heal the Gyre"

Bamboo Bus!

Love the old architecture

My Mama and Obama!

Katie and Shannon

Then we headed to the Del Coronado Hotel. It was a beautiful day to be by the beach in a gorgeous landmark:

So Monday was back to reality. My boss is on vacation this week which means a LOT of work for me and mucho added stress. Plus I have 2 midterms and a paper due next week. :sigh: So that means back to studying for me!

I don't have an artistic gene in my body...

but my sister has enough for the both of us. She recently just posted some of her artwork on facebook, and I had to share with the blogging world. It is just incredible! She is only 15 and she kicks some serious booty. 

Since I don't have much to say right now, I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

The artist herself:

I love you Sis!

Frustrating, Upsetting friday

This past Friday was a really crappy day.  There were more layoffs at work and unfortunately my closest "work friend" was let go along with one of our most productive title officers. I am heartbroken and upset for my friend, as she was one of the best employees that we had. It is always sad when someone is let go, but when it is someone that excels at their job and is a huge asset to the company, it is even harder. We were already slammed at work due to all the cutbacks, and this is just going to make it that much worse. I was approved to work overtime, which is great, but also stressful. I know that it is going to be pretty much a necessity now. 

I am venting, but I have to say, I feel incredibly lucky to still be employed in the industry I work in. It is really rough out there right now, and I need to make sure I take a moment to count my blessings. Work may be stressful, but at least it is work.

Since Friday was such a craptastic day, I said screw my diet and The Husband and I went out for Italian food and drinks at Peppino's. Peppino's is a locally owned Italian restaurant that is spectacular. I dinned on some Pizza Margherita and The Husband had veal, lobster, shrimp and pasta.  The owner's father was even there checking on the customers and chatting with people, which was a great personal touch, esp. since he is an elderly Italian man, complete with accent and boisterous personality.

After dinner we went and saw Adventureland, which was great. It was sweet and heartwarming while also being very very funny. Plus it had a great soundtrack of 80's hits, which really makes any movie that much more fun. So I would definitely recommend Adventureland :)

As far as my diet is concerned, I have lost 7lbs so far, so that scale is moving in the right direction. As my Mom likes to say, I will get in that thong bathing suit yet!