California

Nate did such a good job for Valentine's day- a trip to Santa Monica! We stayed at a beautiful hotel on the beach, next to the Santa Monica Pier and Muscle Beach. The water was very cold but it was still so pretty. We spent most of our time just sitting on the beach and listening to the sound of the ocean
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The Santa Monica Pier

Loew's Hotel in Santa Monica

We spent a day in Hollywood and finally experienced In-and-Out Burger- very very good! We saw the Chinese Theatre where stars have left their handprints and footprints in the cement. We even took a picture with Johnny Depp! HA! We saw the Kodak Theatre where the Oscars were held and the famous Hollywood sign.

He talked like Johnny Depp, He walked like Johnny Depp.....so he must be Johnny Depp!

We spent 2 days in Beverly Hills. It was amazing to see so many luxury cars, especially the Rolls Royce's and Bentley's! We window shopped on Rodeo drive and devoured Cheesecake Factory. It was also neat to see the Wilshire Hotel where Pretty Woman was filmed.

A street in the Beverly Hills neighborhood. The houses were HUGE, most were gated and had immaculate landscaping.

Bella

Bella is our 2 year old scottie. She thinks she owns the house, the couch, and the bed. She has an obsession for hiding her bones in rather clever places... under the covers, between couch cushions, in the fireplace.

Not long ago, I had thrown away a box of individually wrapped corn dogs. Bella thought it would be a wonderful idea to hide all 7 in her secret places. A month later, I was still finding the packaged corn dogs. Bella would get so excited each time I'd find one that she would wimper and jump and beg for me to finally open it and let her have the treat!

When she's not being her mischievous self, she's rather sweet. Soon, we'll have Bindi. She'll be 13 weeks when we get her and it should be pretty interesting to see Miss Royalty have to share!

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Each week on Wednesday afternoon, I get to be a kid again. As a volunteer for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, I was matched with such a great "Little Sister." During our meetings, we often play games, draw on the sidewalks with chalk, paint with watercolors, cut out snowflakes, and have puppet shows. Its my job to mentor this little girl and provide support for her during tough times; but after 9 meetings, I'm realizing how much she is teaching me. For starters, I've learned that structure and formality aren't all that important. Sometimes, we don't even worry about staying inside the lines =) She's also taught me that "things" in life are exactly that, things. She's opened my eyes on how fortunate I have been to grow up having, almost never wanting. But one of the greatest things of all that I've learned is how easily your heart can open up to a stranger... how a bond can form almost instantly....how you feel yourself wanting to do more. She's taught me that we all have something to give....

A box is a funny thing...

A box is a funny thing.....I'm sure most of us don't event give it the full recognition it surely deserves. Besides storing old Halloween decorations or transporting our invaluable online purchases to our doorstep, the box is greatly unappreciated....except by the toddler.






It's a simple truth really and quite ironic. Most children would rather play in the box their toy came in than the toy itself. A cute coincidence? No, but the simplest form of the imagination at its best.

Ashlyn's Christmas pictures

It's always a good day when Ashlyn, our niece, comes to visit. On this occasion, she's dressed as cute as a little girl can be with her new Christmas dress on. We're going to take pictures in front of our Christmas tree, which can pose some challenges for a 2 year old. But as always, we get some pretty cute pictures and only had to use a candy bribe once or twice :)





This one is my favorite....she's wanting to hold Bella and is being so good and has the sweetest look on her face.

Beauty in the details

Flowers have always made me smile. Here are a few that will hopefully make you smile too.

Pictures

Hello to all. This is my first time blogging so please be patient. I have decided to take up photography as my new hobby (because I am just overwhelmed with spare time=) Here are some pics I've taken over the past week. Feel free to comment! ENJOY!