Painting

Hello friends!

I got a Groupon a few weeks ago for one of those painting and wine classes! My amazing neighbor, Cindy,  has a birthday coming up (as do I!), so I got the 2 for 1 Groupon for Paint n Vineyard (www.paintnvineyard.com). It's something that I've wanted to try for a while now, but I was always a little hesitant to do it because of my lack of artistic ability!



My very first painting!



 I had never painted before, so I was a little nervous. The teacher made everything so easy though! She went through each step and explained everything so well that it was easy to keep up and to add a little personality to the painting.

It was really cool to see how different everyone interpreted the painting! They all were so different! 

Cindy's painting is on the left.

Unfortunately we were not able to have wine during our class due to some permit issues, but we didn't mind.  

We are so proud of our work! I have mine displayed in my bedroom :).

I had such a great time that I decided to do it again on my birthday! We're going to try a new place that is a little more centrally located and where we can have some wine while we paint.

I'm so grateful to have friends who like to try new things with me, and encourage me to keep trying new things!  

Until next time my friends!

t.Don











Road Trip!!

Hello, strangers!

I'm back afer a far too long!

I just got home from an 1,080 mile road trip to move my bestie from San Diego up to Portland! We had such a great time! 

We left on Friday morning (Jessie's 28th birthday!) and drove up to her Nanny's house to say goodbye. Nanny is quite the character! She made sure to check on Jessie through every leg of our trip! 

After we left Nanny's, we headed up to Rancho Cucamunga for breakfast with Jolee and her grandma, then packed up the car and headed north.

Lucky for us, Jolee loves to drive! She drove the entire way to San Francisco to Jessie's Auntie Randi's house. We had a great time playing car games, having dance parties and yelling at cows! 

We had a very nice dinner at The Mexican with Auntie Randi, her husband and a couple of their friends! Auntie Randi made sure Jessie was a princess- complete with a special birthday crown!  

We left early Saturday morning to head into the city before our long leg of the drive. Jolee is getting married this year (yay!!!) and there is a Jessica McClintock outlet store that we wanted to check out. We didn't have any luck finding a wedding dress, but she did get a great dress for her bachelorette party! If you are ever in SF and need a great party dress, check out this outlet! They have some amazing dresses for as little as $10!!



Driving over the Bay Bridge!

 After that, we were back on the road. I had never driven through northern CA, and it is absolutely beautiful! We made one long stop in Corning, CA at a place called Olive Pit. We had the BEST time there! They have all kinds of olives, stuffed olives and pickled veggies. Best of all (and the reason we stopped!) was for their wine and beer tasting! After our flights, we went to try out their famous habinero stuffed olive. It was quite delicious and had a nice kick to it! We ended up having lunch there as well. The burgers weren't anything to write home about, but the condiment bar was amazing! We also got 2 milkshakes to share- black raspberry and banana... Both of which were out of this world good! We stayed there for almost 2 hours, but it was a much needed break :).

After that was just a LOT of driving. We saw some snow near Mt. Shasta, stopped in Weed, CA just to say we did, enjoyed the last few moments Jessie had in California before crossing the Oregon border, drove through some heavy fog, stopped for gas and had the attendant pump it for us (!!!) and finally at 11:30PM we made it to our final destination!

400 miles to go!

Beautiful Mt. Shasta









Getting gas!

Needless to say, we all slept well Saturday night!

I had never been to Portland before, so Sunday morning we took in some sights. We had a delicious brunch a cute little cafe, then went into downtown to Powell's Books. I don't think I've ever seen so many books in my life! After that we got to go see Jessie's new apartment and meet her roommate, then it was time to say goodbye to Jolee. Jessie and I were very proud of ourselves for not getting lost on our way back! It was Super Bowl time after that, then time to go home.

I am so excited and happy for my bestie to begin this next chapter in her life! I am so glad I got to spend some good, quality time with her before she left. I definitely miss having her so close, but I know she has good things going for her in Portland :).





Hula hooping

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Work has been extra stressful for me the last month or so. I really do not like myself when I'm stressed! I get cranky, mean and just plain unpleasant to be around. 

Oh, and lets not forget the worst part,
I cry!  

Luckily it has not come to tears quite yet, and I can see a light at the end of the tunnel thanks to the addition of a wonderful new assistant and some great, patient and quick learning doctors!

I have never been the person to train someone. In my mind, I can get the job done faster and with no mistakes, so I should just do whatever it is in the first place. It's hard for me to let go of that "I'll just do it" mentality and delegate duties to other people because if they do it wrong, I'll end up doing it anyways!

Despite, or maybe even because of all the craziness at work, I've been pushing myself the go ahead to go out a little more than I usually do.

Nothing crazy (although, I did have a couple crazy nights that are a little fuzzy!), but fun things to get out of the house, or to make me not go stir crazy in the house! 

I've been taking my 2 little monsters on some nice walks around the neighborhoods. I usually take them to Mission Bay, but you can't walk there with dog's until 6:00PM. By that time, I've lost all motivation!

I've been working in the garden a lot more. Our grapes are growing in like crazy and they are oh so delicious!

I've been learning how to crochet! I made my friend a crochet hanger for her wedding dress, and now I'm hooked! Thank goodness for YouTube and Pinterest! I've noticed more and more that my family likes to be doing things with their hands. Be it crocheting, embroidering, playing a hand held game, playing on a phone, eating... We can't just sit and watch tv, we have to be doing something! 

My first flower that actually looks like a flower!


I went hiking for the first time in months! My girlie and I made pretty good time too! Only 1 rest stop going up, a 10 minute break at the top and we jogged down. It took us an hour! Yay us! That explains why I'm walking like a 90 year old woman 2 days later ;).

My hunny and I went to our friends little housewarming gathering up in Del Mar last weekend. He moved into this HUGE old house and he has 6 or 7 roommates (they all have their own rooms and there is MORE than enough space for everyone in this house!) so he had a few friends over for a little party. This house has a billiard room, a gigantic kitchen, a Smush room (guest bed tucked into a cute little nook!) and the coziest living room complete with a bed full of fluffy pillows and HULA HOOPS!!!!

(I can actually remember the last time I hula hooped. It was in 1998 on an 8th grade field trip to Knotts Soak City.)

I didn't think I'd still be able to do it! I guess it's like riding a bike though :). All the girls had so much fun!

It took a minute, but she finally got it!!

We totally got this :)

I'm down 15 pounds!! Woo hoo!!

How's that for getting your mind off work :).

I hope you all are having a wonderful start to your week! Until next time my friends!

t.Don



A great week of firsts!

This past week and a half or so has been so busy for me and the hubs!

We went to our first Padre's game together <3

I love going to baseball games, I don't really care who's playing! It's just fun to be there with the crowd, doing the wave, eating GIANT ice cream cones and cheering on our home team.

I was finally able to take our newest addition, our handsome sweet heart Milo, to get groomed for the first time! We brought him home over a month ago already, and the poor thing was so sick with kennel cough that we couldn't get him all beautified until just last week. He got his nails done, hair cut and smells absolutely divine!

I went SUPing!!! That's stand up paddle boarding, just in case you aren't in the know ;). What an awesome time that was! I had so much fun paddling around Mission Bay with out a care in the world. It was so relaxing, but such a great workout at the same time! I was sore for 2 days after!!

I went to my beautiful brides first wedding dress fitting. In true t.Don fashion, I cried when I saw her in her dress! I am so happy to be a part of her big day!

Because of a mistake by the dress shop, my bride lost a very sentimental hanger she had for her dress. I have taken on the challenge of learning to crochet to attempt to make my dear friend a new one. I know it will in NO way make up for the one she lost, but I hope it will at least make her smile! Like Kristi always says, a pretty dress needs a pretty hanger!

I got to have a fun, spur of the moment bestie afternoon with the bestie and her sweet little man! We had a nice lunch at BJ's and a fun stroll around the mall. I also got spit up on BIG time for the first time! Hahaha! I was covered and so was poor Liam! I didn't mind, and my hubby didn't even notice a smell when I got home ;). How could you get mad at this sweet face! He was such a good boy for our entire bestie afternoon :).

The hubs and I got to try a new restaurant yesterday with our awesome neighbors. It's called the Linkery. You may (or may not!) know that we are attempting to follow the Paleo diet to try and achieve a healthier lifestyle. I found this great restaurant by googling best paleo restaurant in San Diego.

It was so good! The atmosphere was so laid back, the widows were all the way open and the food was amazing! I had the poblano link on a board (basically a la carte). All the meats and fruits and veggies this place serve are from local farms! As an amature gardener, I appreciate things that are home grown so much more!

A not so great first (and second!) this week were the awesome parking tickets I got! Yes, TWO!!! What a drag to have to pay almost $100 just for parking in the wrong place :/. Oh well. Hopefully I got THAT out of my system and won't have another one any time soon! 



I've been in great spirits lately and I'm so excited for some super fun things coming up in August! I hope you all are cheering on Team USA! I know I am!!

Until next time my friends!

t.Don

Life Decisions.

As you probably know, my hubby and I have been trying to have a little one of our own.

It's been 19 long months of trying.

Back in March, I was referred by my doctor to see an infertility specialist to do more fertility specific testing to try and understand why we have not gotten pregnant. After loads of blood work (and a quite unpleasant dye test) I found out I have hypothyroidism and need to take one little pill every day now for the rest of my life.

My initial reaction to this:

Great.

I'm 27 years old and to take this pill for the rest of my life. Whoopee.

Can you feel my sarcasm? 

At least there was a reason for not getting knocked up seeing as all the hub's tests (you know, that one easy one he had to do ;)) came back normal.

I spoke with the specialist again in May, and he told me that all of our test results were good (now that I'm on my medication), and that our next step will be an IUI (google it). The only bad thing about that is there is a nice long list of people ahead of us for this procedure, so expect a call sometime in July to schedule the procedure.

June came and went so fast.

When July was right around the corner, the hubby tells me that he'll be leaving for some work trips the next couple months. The first thing I thought of was this stupid IUI, and I had an epiphany!

Why am I letting this rule my thoughts? He's going to be gone for a few weeks each month until at least September.

Why not .just. wait.

What a concept, huh ;)

It was like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders!

Just wait!

For how long?

At this point, who cares!

I have such an amazing husband, I'm healthy, I have 2 sweet dogs (yes 2!!), a nice home, 2 jobs that I enjoy, an amazing family and some equally amazing friends. I have a wonderful life! I don't need to dwell on what I don't have. I have so much more than so many others. I need to be more aware and thankful for all I DO have!

I came across a quote soon after this, I had seen it before, but it really hit home for me this time.

"If something is not happening for you

it doesn't mean it's never going to

happen.

It means

you're not yet ready for it".

I must have some growing as a person to do before I can bring another beautiful life into this world.

On a positive note, thanks to the thyroid medication (plus a healthier diet AND the addition of some braces!) I am back at my wedding weight! Yay! 

I am really going to try to be better about writing here! Our laptop kicked the bucket when Sadie chewed through the charger a few months ago. All we have now is an ancient (you know, from 2005!) laptop with no wireless connection.

Until next time!

~ t.Don

Update!

So apparently I'm horrible at keeping my blog updated!

I have been SO busy the last couple months that I haven't been able to sit down and write.

I can't believe that it's already May. Where has the year gone!

March seems so long ago, but that's where I last left off!

I helped plan my best friends baby shower. It went off without a hitch and baby Liam was more than spoiled!!

I used my yearly free pass into Sea World. I really should go more often, but then I would have to pay for it!

I went to Washington for a week! I had the BEST time with my Ludy family! We explored Seattle, toured the Tacoma Glass Museum, partied at Chopstix and fought off water buffelo at the Olympia Game Reserve!!

Sadie was spayed.

I went to the midnight showing of Hunger Games. P.S. I'm way too old to be doing that!

Went rock climbing for the Down Syndrom Climb to New Heights fundraiser at Vertical Hold and won free tickets to go back!

I started a new part time job!

April was just as busy.

I finally got to see a specialist (more on that later).

The fam went camping in San Onofre, with the puppy! She did not enjoy the tent!

Went to Pantages Theatre in Los Angelas to see Mama Mia!

Ran (well, walked mostly!) the Gladiator Rock and Run. I still have bruises, just FYI!

 Went to 2 local Pacific Beach restaurants with my bestie. We have so many amazing local restaurants in our neighborhood so we decided to try them out!

I learned how to steam milk and how to pull a perfect shot of espresso.

My best friend had her baby!!!!!!!!!!

Went to a Padre game with my new job. In a limo!

I worked... A lot :/

May is starting out just as crazy as the last couple months.

Today marked 18 straight days working. Thankfully I have the next 2 days off! I get to spend all day Friday with my widdle baby Liam and his beautiful mommy!

Tonight I am snuggling with my puppy and vegging out on the couch and enjoying EVERY minute of it!

I promise to be beter about updating! Until next time!!

~ t.Don

Catch up!

Can you believe it's almost the middle of March already? Where has the year gone!

I've been meaning to write more (as I usually do), but I get so busy and don't think about sitting down to write until the most inconvienient times. Like say when I'm washing the dishes (anything to put that off!) or as I'm falling asleep!

Here's my update :)

I hiked up Cowles Mountain for the first time EVER in February! I love hiking, and I can't believe I hadn't been up there before. I have beem trying to go at least once a week, but you know how that goes. Life happens, and there's a week you don't get out there. The puppers loves it too! She has this quirk where she has to be the "leader" as you walk up. I know it's a dominance issue and I shoulden't let her do that, but when I try to make her heel, she pulls on the leash so hard and dosn't enjoy herself. I want our outings to be pleasant for both of us, so if that means she walks ahead a little bit and isn't pulling, I'm ok with that! You gotta pick your battles, right?

Speaking of my sweet puppy, I finally set up an appointment to have her spayed. I am so nervous about it! The thought of putting her under and having her cut open makes me so sad! I know it's the best thing for her, but that dosn't take my mommy worry away! AND I think she would have the cutest puppies! I don't want her to have puppies, but if she did they would be beautiful! I know I sound crazy, but she's my baby. I don't want her to be in pain!

We've had quite a few puppy play dates recently. She got to meet her BFF Levi up in Temecula. They had lots of fun at the dog park and fighting over a yummy bone!

She also got to go to Crest to play with her auntie Tucker and Uncle Henry and Waltzing Matilda (Maddie!). She absolutly loves it up there. The lovely Miss Kate has a beautiful big yard complete with fruit trees and tonns of space for 4 crazies to run! Sadie even got to meet 2 alpacas! She dosn't know what to think of them yet, but I'm sure she'll learn to love them.

Sadie and I also like to spend as much time as we can at dog beach. She LOVES chasing other dogs, and being chased! She will actually steal another dogs toy to get their attentition so they will chase her. It's very cute! She will go into the water, up to about her elbows, but isn't really fond of swimming. She can swim, but she preferrs not to! She'd rather run!

As you can see, lot's of my time is spent trying to tire out my dog! I really think a tired dog is a happy dog. Anthony and I knew when we got a puppy, especially such a high energy breed, that we'd be spending a lot of time exercizing her.

I do get some people time too ;).

I've been obsessed with Pinterest lately, and I've been putting that obsession to good use! I have made some super delicious recipes that I find there. I've also found some really cute hair styles that I can actually recreate on my uncooperative hair. Anthony has been loving my new passion for cooking! I love that there are so many delicious, easy recipees that I can't screw up!

We've had quite a few visitors recently as well. The beautiful Mrs. Kippers graced us lucky diva's with her presence this past week! It was so nice to see her, and to catch up! She was only here 1 night, but we were all just happy to see her!

The Kotz family come down from Ventura to visit this weekend! We had such a great time (as usual of corse!) with all of them.

Us girls spent Saturday afternoon showering my very best friend, Julie,  in love and gifts for her baby shower! Baby Liam will be here so soon! I can not wait to hold him! Jessie and I hosted the shower along with Julie's sister, Amber, and niece, Elena. It was a great success. Amber did an amazing job with the decorations. Elena's games were a hit. Jessie was the brains of the whole operation, and I bought the prizes. Easy day for me ;). It was a great party, and Julie got just about everything she needs for Liam. What baby dosn't need 5 bath tubs? Haha!

That brings us to today! I spent the day with the Kotz family at Sea World. What a great day it was! The shows are all so much fun. Our favorite is Pet's Rule :). I still can not believe you can train a cat! It's amazing what they do with the animals. Especially since most of the performers are rescue animals! It's so much fun for me to go with the kids :). I appreciate everything so much more seeing it through their eyes. I can't wait to have days like today with my kids some day!

Such a busy bee I've been! I'm also still working 3 days a week, so it's been a fun whirlwind of a couple of weeks. I do have some relaxation planned this week. I'm heading up to Washington for a long weekend with my Ludy family! I'm so excited to see them!

I'll try to be better with my updates, I promise!

Until next time!

~ T.Don