Finally a few pictures from the wedding I was in last weekend.  

The beautiful bride and the hansom groom on their get away.

Some Seattle Christian friends

We were a little excited about the wine, and our feet were hurting from the 4 1/2" heels, so we killed two birds with one stone...

The bridal room was freezing

The beautiful bride and me

It wasn't supposed to be posed, but it kinda looks like that...

Karin was absolutely stunning, and it was an amazing wedding.  It was so good to see everyone.  It actually kind of made me miss Seattle... and I never thought that would happen.  

Back in Cali...

Well, Sunday night I flew back to reality.  It was a great trip to Washington though.  The first three days were spent with some of my closest friends from high school.  We got to celebrate Chris and Karin getting married and it was a gorgeous wedding.  

Wednesday after I arrived Katie and I got to hang out and just catch up.  It was great.  Oh, and I got to experience the renovated version of South Center.  What a difference.  Then we met up with the bride only to go meet up with the rest of the bridal party to get manicures and pedicures.  Two of my favorite things to do.  Then the girls hit the town for Karin's bachelorette party.  So fun.  Well, minus the dress in the freezing cold weather.  One of the highlights from the day: we were driving, it was about 50 degrees outside and Karin thought it was warm enough to turn on the air conditioner.  Call me crazy, but that is no where near air conditioner weather.  

Thursday was the start of another busy day.  Katie and I ran lots of errands in the afternoon.  Then we had the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.  By the end of the meal Katie and I both had sore fingers from trying to crack all the crab.  I actually punctured my finger at one point and saw blood.  We then headed to Issaquah (where Katie and he husband live) for the night.  Upon arrival Kasey asked us what we wanted to do, we both looked at him and said "VEG!"  

Friday was another early morning.  Considering I wake up at like 5:45 every day I don't know why anything is ever considered early, but it is.  Katie and I attempted to get ready before heading to the hotel to meet the bridal party.  Let's just say that about an hour and a half later we both had our hair pinned back.  It looks so easy, but do not be fooled.  The twist and pin combination is not easy.  Then back to Seattle we went.   And yet again we headed out into the cold in dresses to take pictures.  I am not sure why people in Seattle think this is okay.  And to top it off, the grooms men were complaining about being cold.  HA!  Oh, and that their feet hurt.  Given, I love love love heels.  But by the end of the night after wearing 4 1/2 inch heels my feet were killing me.  But it was so worth it, they looked so cute!  

After the wedding I hitched a ride to Federal Way where I spent the night at my cousin's house.  I have not slept that soundly in a very long time.  I am actually not sure how I even made it into bed, but let's just say that I hit the bed, realized there was no pillow, said "oh well" and promptly fell asleep.  Saturday I got to hang out with my best friend Shannon.  We just laid low as she had homework and I was still trying to re cooperate from the events of the wedding.  

And to end the weekend on a high note, I got to drive to Bellevue (which I do not highly recommend doing if you can avoid it... I got a bit claustrophobic on the 405 freeway.  How do people drive with only 2 lanes and when all the drivers are barely going 60?)  But in Bellevue were my precious nephews, and of course my sister and her husband.  I could seriously hold those boys for days!  On another high note, they come to Cali tomorrow.  I jokingly tease Kim that once they get here they won't get to hold the boys, but I am kinda serious.  

With them coming to Cali there will be lots of fun events, from Disneyland, to a hockey game, to hopefully being able to go to the beach.  If only we could get back to where it was a month ago where it was in the upper 80's.  Now that is my kind of weather.  

Scott was there as well.  It was really good to see him, it has been forever.  

Cullen is in the tan and Jackson is in the white.  

                                                  We are pretty much the best aunt and uncle ever, hands down!

The best photo of Cullen ever!

                                                                                 

Photos are courtesy of Kim and Brandon and their shnazzy new camera.  All in all, it was a great trip, only to be followed by a great week of being home.  Given I am a little tired, but it all has been worth it.  And now for Kim, Brandon and the twins to arrive!

Here I come

So in about a day and a half I get to leave for Seattle.  I am soo excited.  One of my best friends from high school, Karin, is getting married.  So not only do I get to go to one of my favorite events ever, a wedding, but I get to hang out with some of my best friends. 

 A few of my fears of the week/weekend:  THE WEATHER.  I am seriously trying to figure out how to wear dresses and be dressed up and still be warm.  I guess that might be my only fear, but it is pretty much consuming my thoughts.  I am seriously not sure how it is going to work because it is in like the 60's here during the day and I am freezing ALL the time.  The only advice I have been given is to wear a peacoat.  Well what about my exposed legs?  So that is my current dilemma.  

Also, how to possibly get all the clothes and shoes I need to Washington for this trip.  And then there is the added drama of possibly having to go to New York straight from Seattle.  As for when I will find out, could be that day.  We will just have to wait and see.  

Oh, and Kimmy and the boys come in like 9 days!  What more could I possibly want?  A wedding with some amazing friends, and then all four of us girls get to be reunited.  Prepare yourselves.  

Cookies

So I found this new recipe for some Valentines Day cookies, and I made them about two weeks ago and sent them to Jon in Iraq, and Renee and Anna could not keep their hands off of them.  Renee kept trying to convince me that Jon would want her to have one.  Anna tried to join that bandwagon, it so did not work with me.  So I decided to be a nice sister and make them again, this time for them.  

I also found this recipe for this "healthier version" of rice krispie treats.  It is made with yogurt burst cheerios and white chocolate.  They were pretty tasty.  But by far the jam cutouts had the most positive feedback.  

Well, it is Superbowl Sunday, and I guess technically I am watching the game, although unless I look at the TV I don't think I could tell you who was playing  :-) Other than vegging on the couch while the game has been on, I have had a pretty productive day.  

This morning I went to church, which was an amazing sermon on 1 Corinthians 1.  It is a great series thus far, and we are only 3 weeks in.  After church Anna, Grandma and I went to In and Out.  It was pretty good, except for the fact that the closest one is 15 minutes away.  Then we dared to venture to the pool.  But by the time we got there most of the pool was shaded so we only got to lay in the sun for about 45 minutes, but I will count my blessings and be thankful considering the weather most of the US is facing.  I believe it was last Thursday that Orange County was considered the hottest place in the country.  Pretty crazy, but I loved every minute of it.  After the pool I started to make the Valentines Day cookies that I am sending to Jon.  Pictures will come, the dough is still in the chilling stage.  

Now I am trying to motivate myself to get up and pack.  I leave tomorrow afternoon to go to San Francisco with the family that I nanny for.  It should be pretty fun, I have not been there in like 10 years.  But getting up the energy to head into the city with an 8 month old is pretty hard  and rare.  

But today is the first day of February which marks the month that Kim and Brandon and the babies come to visit.  It is only like a little over three weeks till they come.  And while they are here we are celebrating Grandma's 70th birthday.  Which always brings out relatives which calls for a good time.  Yesterday two of my grandma's cousins and their spouses were here to visit her.  We went out to eat at the Claim Jumper and they thought we were hilarious.  I have yet to figure out why people find us so funny.  I would not mind being an outsider and watching the interaction once. My sisters and I have this endearing quality where we all try to speak over the other.  So it tends to get rather loud when we are all together.  Luckily they had us in a private banquet room so we did not have to fear about disturbing the other customers.  It was a great lunch.  Hopefully everyone will come out for my grandma's birthday.  If not, at least it will be my sisters and I together again which always calls for some good times.  And now we have the added blessing of the babies.  Which by the way Kim, I would just like to say I told you so, because today when we were at the pool Renee kept pulling the "well I have not seen them yet" card.  She is like I should get to pick them up from the airport, I should get to do this, I have not seen them yet. Blah blah blah.  Anyways, my point is that I TOLD YOU SO.  Well, on that high note, I really need to get motivated and go and pack.  Thankfully it is a short trip which means that I don't have to pack all that much.  

Meeting the nephews

So I got back late last night from one of the most amazing trips of my life.  I got to meet my nephews for the first time.  And I am convinced that they are the cutest babies I have ever met.  I know I am biased, but I mean come on, they are absolutely perfect.  

I dare you to disagree.  

Anyways, I took a red eye flight out Wednesday night.  As great as that sounded originally, I flew out at 9:30 pm and landed in New York around 5 am.  I had a 2 hour layover, which I am sure is needless to say was a pretty sleepless night.  Then I flew out of there to DC and landed at 8:30.  I could seriously hardly wait to get in the car.  I had a pleasant surprise awaiting me in the car, yup, you guessed it, the boys were with Kim.  I instantly fell in love.  It took everything for me not to crawl through the car to the back seat to be with those boys.  The instant we walked through that front door, I don't think I put whichever baby it was that I was holding down for a good 5 hours.  Kim and I each had one baby and took a nap on the couches.  It was absolutely perfect.  It was a perfect first day with the boys.  Mrs. O'Malley was there as well.  It was a perfect weekend.  After all the relaxation on Thursday, we decided to be adventurous and take the boys to Mount Vernon.  We walked around and just enjoyed the "great" weather, which was in the 30's.  Not really my idea of great weather  considering I left California when it was in the 70's.  But oh well, I sucked it up and we had a lot of fun.  After walking around Mount Vernon we went to Old Town Alexandria.  Probably my favorite town that I have ever seen.  It is just so cute and quaint.  We had lunch at a great little french bistro.  Then we headed home.  Another great but very long and tiring day.  Who would have thought two such tiny babies could be so much work.  Saturday we decided to attempt to go to a museum.  We made it through one exhibit (The First Ladies exhibit- which was not even finished) and then we had to head home to feed the babies.  Those little things can eat like I have never seen.  Other than that it was a pretty mellow trip.  I only had to do two midnight feedings, and I was lucky because Mrs. O'Malley was there right by my side.   Sunday was a sad day because it meant leaving those amazing boys behind.  The only helpful thing is that I know I will get to see them in like a month.  Until that day I will continue to stalk them via Kim's blog and Brandon's facebook.  

                             

So it is official, I am going to New York for in like 2 1/2 weeks, but the bonus to that deal is that they are sending me to DC first to visit my nephews. It is a part of my compensation for the long hours that I will be working while I am in New York. By long hours, we are talking like waking up at 8am (at the latest) eastern time when Kimberlee has to go into the office. And then, being with the baby all day till she gets back from the office. We are talking like 12 hour days at the least. The point in all that is to say that I get to go to DC to see my nephews. And I am ecstatic. Other than that, today has been an interesting day. Taking care of grandma hit its climax when Renee dropped her off at the nursing home to find it completely inadequate. Little things like not having pillows on the beds to not having a channel changer. Now my grandma is pretty self sufficient when it comes to being able to be left alone for like an hour at a time, but hello, what is she supposed to do without a channel changer? Do they expect the handicapped to just start walking around so they can change the channel whenever they desire? Doesn't sound like the smartest thing I have ever heard. Anyways, Renee got home from the gym at like 8ish, and had just gotten off the phone with my grandma. Let's just say it wasn't pretty. And her true feelings definitely came out. She left pretty quickly to go pick my grandma up and take her home, seeing as how they had not given her medicine since she got there. Poor Renee. She is so stressed out about this. And the point in putting my grandma there was because all three of us have to work the next few days. So now we are frantically trying to find a new nursing home. So that was a bit of added drama. Other than that, it was kinda mellow. I got off work almost half an hour late because Kimberlee had to run to the grocery store, which was fine. Then I had to go to Balboa Island where I was supposed to clean two hot tubs. Well they weren't home. So I turned around and headed home. I attempted to pick up the bake at home kind of pizza from the store, but I was so distracted I picked up the wrong kind, so Anna and I had to go back to the store and exchange the pizza. I thoroughly embarrassed Anna (not entirely sure how) which was kinda fun. Since we have been watching The Biggest Loser and vegging on the couch. It is always a nice treat to just be able to relax, seeing as how I don't get to do too much of it during the days. I love my job, and I can not wait to be a mother, but at times one of the best parts of my job is being able to leave and come home to peace and quiet every night. Anyways, all my excitement lies in the fact that in 2 weeks from tomorrow I will be leaving to fly to DC where I will FINALLY get to meet my nephews. The joy is beyond words.

So Friday I found out that I will most likely be going to New York again for work in like three weeks. The lady that I nanny for is a lawyer and her law firm is in Rockafeller Center, and she got a call on Friday that she will be working on some big deal that requires her to be in the office that week. It shall be an interesting trip as well. We went almost two months ago, and the trip was a lot of fun. I spent my days with the baby, roaming about the city. I got to walk through Time Square, I only got to go to one museum, but we took walks in Central Park, and of course did a few of the typical touristy things. The only bad part was the weather. I thought it was cold then, but last week when I was watching the New Years Eve special, it was like 1 degree. I am so not okay with that. The 60's are cold to me. I don't think there are enough clothing layers in the world to keep me warm. This results in a problem because now I have even more of an excuse to shop. Oh well, I will try to work on that.

Love

So I have fallen in love (with my nephews) and I have not even met them.  I am definitely am a very biased aunt.  I think they are pretty much the cutest babies ever.  And the idea of not meeting them for like a month and a half is pretty much unbearable!  Currently I am thinking of ways to get time off of work to fly out there.  I have been working 50 hour weeks, so getting time off is quite difficult.  But even if it is only for like 3 days, I would totally go just so I could have the chance to cuddle with my nephews.  I have never checked two websites (facebook and Kim's blog) more in my life.  To even get a glimpse of them is pretty much the highlight of my day.  Now comes the more serious plotting of getting to DC sometime this month.  And or just convincing Kim to come to Seattle when I am there for my friend Karin's wedding.  Although it is not much, seeing them a week earlier seems like eternity right now.  Even though I know Kim is the only person who reads this, here are some of my favorite photos of my nephews that I have stolen from their websites.  

Jackson David

Cullen Scott

Anyways, other than being an internet junkie and stalking my nephews, I have been working quite a bit.  But over the holidays I have been blessed with getting some time off.  Which has come in quite helpful with trying to beat this cold.  Last week I had Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and even the day after Christmas off.  This week I had New Years day off, and I even get to go in late tomorrow, the day after New Years day.  It will be rather nice to get to go to bed early AND get to sleep in.  On top of work, this week my sisters (Renee and Anna) and I get to take care of my grandma so that my mom can be in DC with the babies and Kim and Brandon.  It is nice for her, but it does add a bit of stress to our week.  Not because we don't want to take care of her, but because all three of us work, and coordinating our schedules is a bit of a challenge.  Tomorrow will be the hardest day.  Anna and I both start work at 10, and Renee at 12:30, but that leaves at least a 2 hour gap until Anna gets off that no one is able to take care of grandma.  So we are attempting to get a nurse to be there during that time.  Hopefully it will all work out.  If not, grandma thinks she can be alone that long, but it is a bit scary for us to leave her there alone that long.  (Kim, you better appreciate all of our hard work, we are only doing this for you)  Anyways, tomorrow will be a challenge, but grandma does want to take the three of us out to PF Changs for dinner, so that is a positive.  

Anyways, I have spent enough time away from staring at my nephews, I better return to what I have made my temporary job.  

Well, today was an exciting day.  It started out rather slow, (as I prefer my days off to be) and hit it's climax right around 5:30.  So, after eventually getting grandma showered and out the door, which was quite the feat, Renee, mom, grandma and I headed to the mall.  Anna was having a lazy morning so she decided to meet us there later for lunch.  Oh, and she hates the hustle and bustle of the day after Christmas sales.  Anyways, we got a bit side tracked trying to find the post office, then mom, with her great sense of direction kept going the wrong way in an attempt to get to the mall, which literally was a block away!  Anyways, it turned out beneficial as we found a Burlington Coat Factory and decided to hit our first after Christmas sale.  Which Renee grumbled about all the way in the door, then ended up spending more money than mom and I combined.  SHHH, don't tell Jon that Renee has a shopping problem.  After that little excursion, which took about 45 minutes to check out, we were famished and decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory.  Nothing too exciting to report there, besides, it is only about 4ish, and the climax isn't until 5:3o.  So after lunch/dinner, Anna took grandma back to the apartment while Renee, mom and I shopped a little more.  It was maybe 5 stores in when we got the phone call.  Grandma has asked for the fire to be lit, and Anna listened, but we were trying something new, and rather than just burning the natural gas, we had put a duraflame log on it.  Well, the house started to fill with smoke.  Anna was frantically fanning the fire alarm while calling us.  Earlier in the day, dad was over and critiqued us for burning the fireplace with just the natural gas, he said we were running up the electric bill or something.  So he went out and bought those logs.  Well he never informed us to open up the thing to the chimney.  So poor Anna was just doing what she was asked to do by grandma, and thought she was going to set the house on fire.  Which, luckily the tile around the fireplace will recover.  Anyways, we frantically left the mall, called Aunt Debbie who lives closer than we were and dashed home.  We pulled up to the parking lot smelling like a bonfire, and Aunt Debbie inside saving the day.  She had opened the chimney, and started the air conditioner to circulate the air.  Everyone made it out alive, poor Anna just had a headache all night which I am pretty sure is thanks to smelling smoke for so long.  Anyways, the night was pretty uneventful after that.  Renee and I went to Wal-mart and Lowes.  Oh, but we did start our first of 6 nights of dog sitting.  It shall be interesting seeing as how I do not like dogs, and these ones feed off of LALA and are all insane.  Prepare yourself for some future stories of me wanting to kill them.  Anyways, we are still counting down the days and anxiously awaiting the babies!  We miss you and love you Kim.  Wish you could have been here for all the excitement.  

Christmas

Well, today was an interesting Christmas if there ever was one.  With Kim and Brandon being in D.C., and Jon being in Iraq, it was bitter sweet.  Renee, Anna and I tried to hold down the Christmas traditions though.  The first to be broken was not having a stocking at our feet when we woke up.  Instead I woke up to Renee being ridiculous and vacuuming at 8:30 in the morning.  Which I thank my wonderful father for because he ticked her off last night when he bagged on her for having a dirty house.  Oh the day when Jon comes home and puts her back in line will be a wonderful day!  Then I had the privilege of making breakfast. I was rather proud of myself.  The only down side was the lack of home-made biscuits.  Then came present opening and dad complaining as usual.  What would Christmas be if he actually liked what we got him?  It was a wonderful morning minus those few flaws.  Then I decided to clean my room (it was much needed as I have no time during the week).  It looks amazing if I do say so myself.  I was even ambitious enough to hang up a few more things: some things in memory of my Grandpa Chuck, a mirror and a bulletin board in hopes of being more organized.  I even changed my sheets (thanks to Kim and Brandon getting me new satin sheets).  Then I was really bored so I painted my nails Christmas red. Of course ruining a few.  And last but not least of the big events was Christmas dinner.  Complete with prime rib, yorkshire pudding, veggies and potatoes.  It was wonderful!  Now there is talk of playing a game, and going to a movie, but I am pretty sure the movie will get vetoed as I have yet to change from my pajamas.  There are really no great stories from Christmas yet.  The highlights have been dressing LALA (Renee and Jon's dog) in reindeer ears and making her dance, Renee feeding McGraw (my mom's dog) off of a fork in honor of Kim, Anna freaking out about a Jonas Brothers magazine, and Renee suggesting we pick up the needles from the tree with our hands because we would break her vacuum if we vacuumed them up.  Anyways, we dearly missed you Kim, Brandon and Jon.  Next year is anxiously awaited when we all WILL be together.  Love you!

Oh, and photos will come soon for your viewing pleasure!

Christmas is coming!

So yesterday was the beginning of Christmas traditions, we spent the day making tamales.  It was quite the feat.  It all began Friday afternoon when I realized that this weekend was my last free time before Christmas.  So, I decided to drive to Santa Ana when I got off work at 5:30 to go to La Grande (the Mexican store that my Grandma Ortiz has always shopped at).  This was a bad decision on my part first because the 55 freeway at that time of night is like a parking lot.  Secondly, because I did not know where I was going.  Let's just say that by the time I found a store (La Grande closed at 2:30 in the afternoon) and bought all the ingredients for the tamales, and got to my mom's house to drop everything off, it took over 3 hours.  After the night of stressful events I indulged myself in 2 pieces of Mexican bread and felt much better.  Moving on to Saturday, we started the assembly around noon.  About 3 hours later we had made about 150 tamales.  For the most part it was just Anna and I, until Renee showed up and demanded that she wanted to spread the masa.  That was short lived, she did not even make it through one when she decided to switch to the easier part of the assembly and added the meat.  Fyi, since I know Kim is the only one who reads this, if you get tamales without olives, that is ALL Renee.  So sorry about the bad luck she is sending your way.  Other than that, it was a great (long) day of tamale making, only to end in a defeating trip to the mall where I bought not a single Christmas present.  Skipping all the unpleasant details of the night and moving on to Sunday morning, Anna and I went to church (which was a great service), treated ourselves to some In and Out, and then off to attempt the Christmas shopping task again.  Once again, SHOT DOWN.  We went to Color Me Mine which is a ceramics shop to realize that painting a coffee cup would have cost more than $30!  Ridiculous.  Off to Nordstroms Rack, yet again, nothing.  We gave up after that, and headed home.  All in all, it was a good yet defeating day.  But the night got better as Alyssa Fenton arrived and brought her usual cheery spirit.  Not much later Anna's friend Rachel arrived.  We have a full house for the night, but it is quite welcomed.  We do love visitors.  By the way Kim, we are fighting mom for part time custody of you and the babies when you come in February.  We simply stated we have a nicer apartment and that it was not fair.  She did not put up too much of a fight.  We will see how it goes as the time grows closer.  Anyways, enclosed is a picture of the tamale assembly process (thanks to mother's great photography skills).  You were greatly missed Kim!  Although I doubt you would have been able to reach the table to help much!  

What a day!

So today was one of the longest days of babysitting I have ever had.  The first half of the day was good.  We started the day at the pool.  We were there for about three hours, then we went over to the beach, tough day I know... then we went back to the pool.  After this is when if got hard.  I went to babysit the neighbors, and well I have come to the conclusion that their oldest son who is 8 is the spawn of satan!  I spent more of the time disciplining him than anything else.  After a total of 12 hours of babysitting, and one killer headache, I am off.  

One of the other good parts of the day was fining a cooking magazine and flipping through it to find some amazing recipes.  I can not wait to try them out.  And what better reason than the upcoming baby shower for my sister?  Only a week left till we find out if they are boys, girls, or a boy and a girl.  How exciting.  And 11 days till Anna moves back home, and 12 or 13 days until Kim flies out to celebrate with us.  What more could I possibly want to happen in these next 3 weeks?  

A Convert

So considering that I am one of my sister's most diligent readers, I figured I would join in the fun.  I have yet to figure out what I am going to write about, but it should be fun regardless.  So now on to the fun of this thing called blogging.  

Hopefully tomorrow will be a more eventful day so that I have something worth writing about.