Happiness - Guest Post

Today's guest blogger is one of my greatest friends from high school.
She and I have been through a lot together.
We get each other!
She is passionate, kind, & beautiful and I'm lucky & proud to call her my friend!

----

Happiness is knowing your God-given purpose and value on this earth. 

1) Purpose can bring happiness.

The human race is full of thinkers, designers, explorers, joke-tellers, artists, teachers, engineers, manual workers, and so on...(it is also full of drug dealers, alcoholics, murderers, etc., but we won't get into that now…haha). The gist is, we are all made to create or do something, and we each have a choice how to use that ability.

I went to Ireland on vacation this past summer, and I had a great time. Though, nearing the end of the trip, I was very ready to go home. I thought that I was crazy for thinking that I wanted to go home. Here I was in Ireland; I was seeing a beautiful countryside that some people dream of seeing their whole life! Yet, there was valuable purpose missing in my trip. Now don't get me wrong, vacations are great and can be very purposeful, but part of me wanted to get back to "real life" and accomplish things. That is because I find a level of purpose in what I do. 

Likewise, I believe La Tache has found purpose in this blog. She has found one of her gifts and this is an avenue in which she outlets that gift. She is sharing her life, her stories, and her beautiful pictures! By doing so, she is bringing happiness to others and herself. I bet if I asked her, she would say that blogging, overall, brings her happiness. Therefore, her purpose (blogging) is bringing her happiness.

I have heard the saying that "work is just a means to an end", and that "we work to live", and in in a literal monetary sense, I would agree. However, overall, I think our outlook is backwards. More so, I believe We LIVE TO WORK (create). We are "working beings" created to produce good things on this earth, but some just choose to produce bad things or nothing at all.

Have you ever met a retired (and I mean truly retired) person who is grumpy, lonely, or bored? I certainly have! It could be a combination of many things, but I think one main reason is they feel as though they have lost their sense of purpose. They are no longer contributing to society, no longer working, creating, accomplishing, developing, etc., and that can be depressing! They may not of even liked what they did pre-retirement, but they were doing something, and that contributing something brings purpose, which can equate to happiness. 

2) Value can bring happiness.

There are 206 bones in the adult human body. Some bones support, some allow movement, some protect. Some are huge, some are tiny, but they all have wonderful and important value. Take the little toe for example; it seems pretty small, probably a little ugly and unimportant, but it helps greatly with our balance. Could we live without it? Yes, of course. Would the body be the same without it? No, very different and at a disadvantage. The body would function much better with all ten toes! Each has great value, and together, even more.

Sometimes we think that our minuscule life has little value, and that we are just the "little toe", but that is just false. The human body and the bone structure is proof that we have value, no matter how big or small we are.

With that said, I think we can get caught up scaling our value against whether or not we are a "little toe" or a "big femur bone". We tend to think our value comes from doing something "amazing" like discovering the cure for cancer. We can base our value on our salary level, or think, "well, that person is just a mechanic" (sorry to all those mechanics, I had to pick something). However, if we didn't have mechanics, we would all be walking to work! If we didn't have waste management employees, then we would all be in a world of poo (literally!). The point is, it doesn't necessarily matter what you do (especially since the latest study reports the average person has about 7 careers in their lifetime), but that you are doing it, and doing it well; with a great attitude and bettering the world and others. We will all do many things throughout our 100~ years, so the main importance is that we do it right. It would be silly and inefficient for the little toe to try and function as the femur bone, and vice versa…

We are all made in the image of God; and, in the beginning, what did God do? He created... it is no wonder why the human race is full of people who create too!  We all have unique gifts to share, and if we are able to find them and share them with others, I think we would all be a lot happier!

Therefore, True happiness, in my opinion, is knowing your purpose and value in life, and especially knowing the creator who gave it you.

By: Caitlin Lynch

January 13, 2013

Happiness - Guest Blogger

Today's guest blogger is a high school friend!

She writes over at Life as Griki about her life as a newlywed to her husband whom we also went to high school together! She writes about love and life!

Check it out!

---

Happiness is my husband.

I am so lucky to have him in my life and he makes everything better! We’re both

type A personalities and we have so much fun together. My favorite nights are the

ones where we snuggle up and watch a great movie (preferably although not usually

something with Julia Roberts or Meg Ryan). No outside distractions or influences,

just the two of us.

Happiness is California.

We’ve got California in our blood. Sunshine will always be better than snow. Fog is

the best way to cool off at night. Earthquakes are better than tornadoes (who really

wants to sit around in a closet all day waiting for a natural disaster to hit). And who

doesn’t love a great loaf of sourdough bread?

Happiness is our family and friends.

We don’t get to go home that often, so when we do it feels like a mad rush to try and

squeeze everyone we want to see in! And we’ve made some really great friends

through the Army. It’s nice to have people who can laugh about the chaos of our

daily life. Weekly walks, coffee dates, dinners with conversation cards, baking, video

games, and golfing are just a few of the things that remind us of all the people we

love in our life.

Happiness is our home.

I hate Clarksville. Tennessee is really pretty and we like Nashville, but two years

here is enough for us. But I love our apartment and will be so sad to leave when

we move! Thankfully, our furniture and things will all be coming with us so our

new place will basically look the same. But this is the first home we’ve ever shared

together and it feels like us. In the midst of this crazy Army life we’re living, our

apartment has always been the place where we can get away from it all. It’s calm

and peaceful. It’s beachy and screams California. It’s our space and that’s enough.

Happiness is all the little things.

I could be happy without the little things. But life is so much more fun with cozy

socks, warm blankets, puzzles, bucket lists, lazy days, homemade pizza, great books,

mango mojitos, and of course the San Francisco Giants.

What makes you happy?

Cute video!

You've probably seen this... But in case you haven't, I wanted to share!

Too cute!

forgiveness

via

via

via

via

via

Sometimes you just need to forgive.

Time - Guest Post

This post is written by one of my oldest friends!

It is funny because I remember sitting, in the gym in high school, right behind her, during an assembly. I thought she looked super cool, so I tapped her on the shoulder and asked her if she wanted to hang out.

We exchanged phone numbers so we could hang out and have a sleepover that weekend - you know how girls do ;-)

And I remember, distinctly, writing her phone number on my hand, calling her and having the best sleepover!

(Funny as I wrote that the entire memory came flooding back....I had a boyfriend at the time, and I remember I broke up with him, over the phone, at her house! BAHAHAHA - oh high school drama)

--- 

La Tache and Lauren at La Tache’s bachelorette party wine tasting. 

When La Tache asked me to have my grand debut on her blog and write something about the topic of “Time,” my immediate reaction was:  1. “Cool!” 2. “Uh oh, what am I going to write?” and 3. “When will I find the time?”

Let’s be honest.  I’m your classic over achiever – Type A – color coding – Martha Stewarting perfectionist. In college I worked full time, took a full school load, was the VP of countless organizations, and an all around “yes” woman.  Need brownies for a meeting? “Yes.”  Need someone to type up the group project? “Sure.”  Need someone to cover your shift? “You got it!”

I’m not sure what prompted this habit, but as a result, I was run down constantly and not taking care of myself. 

As boring as it sounds, it was a college professor who suggested I read a Steven Covey book called First Things First for a presentation when I finally realized that THIS HAD TO STOP.

Some call it a prioritization book. Others call it time management. Me? I call it self help.  The idea is to spend the most time doing the most important things in your life.   So… which is more important:  Spending another 4 hours on that paper to move it from a B to an A? Or using those 4 hours to sleep so that you’re less sleep deprived the next day, more likely to eat a healthier breakfast, and more likely to be at the top of your mental game at work? Your top priorities may be different than mine, but for me, in order, they’re: family, happiness, health, financial security.

You will note that making brownies for the next meeting and pleasing others by saying “yes” are not on that list.

Are you doing things that make you happy? That keep you driven? That keep you moving toward your goals and make you want to wake up each and every day?  I’m a perfectionist. Do I do this perfectly? Heck no.  I’m still that over achiever buying a house at 24, working full time, and studying at night and on the weekends for my MBA. So no… the over achiever in me hasn’t left.

But that gentle reminder to put first things first does help me plan out my days so that I’m spending more time doing things that are important to me:  like spending at least an hour a day in the same room as my husband not sleeping (studying for grad school in the same room does count here), having a date night once a week just the two of us, seeing my family whenever I can, cooking delicious and healthy meals every day, working out when I can, playing with my (12 year old) puppy, and working on our new (109 year old) Craftsman house.

In order to save time during the busy week and avoid expensive take out bills, Lauren prepares and chops veggies for week night meals over the weekend.  (more time with family – check, health – check, happiness – check, financial security- check!)

I also know that priorities will change… once we have baby Davises running around, I know I’ll put a little less time toward working on the house and those weekly date nights, and lot more time toward helping them learn to be happy, healthy kids and eventually to be valuable contributing members of their community.

But for now… I’m enjoying being a DINK (dual income, no kids). Traveling the world. Fixing up our old house. And spending as much time as I possibly can with the man I’ve chosen to spend the rest of my life with.  I can already picture us running around from soccer practice to dance practice to piano recital, and remembering the good old spontaneous days when we could decide on the way home from work to meet up for sushi, take a last minute trip to SLO, or sleep in until 10.  So I’ll admit… we’re taking advantage.  And I hope you are too. Do you put your first things first? What are your first things?

Heath - Guest Post

The lovely Melissa S has volunteered to guest blog for me today about Health and what it means to her.

She has posted for me in the past, about health, here & here and will be posted again during my blogging hiatus. 

I read her post and have to thank you for her candidness and how "authentic" (as she puts it) she was!

I appreciate it and believe that you all well do the same!

---

I always get so excited when La Tache asks me to blog for her. I love her blog. She is fun, positive,

and above all, real or as I like to call it authentic (just ask my friends, it’s literally my favorite word.)

Authenticity and health are both very near and dear to my heart, so what I want to share with you is my

story and what health means to me, as authentically as I possibly can.

I was to be married in August of 2009. It was your typical ultra-romantic military proposal from afar,

swoon. But, it was such a stressful time, just like every girl experiences. My love was away for another

deployment as I planned our wedding stateside, and alone. I had always exercised, but nothing crazy.

My motto has always been “doing something is better than nothing”. Meaning a twenty minute walk

or a few push-ups, crunches and squats are better than checking in on Facebook again. Well, I decided

I should jump on the bandwagon and start doing boot camp and lots of it as a stress release and way

to get it tip top bridal shape. Well, I will say, it worked, but I was uber stressed and being woke up

in the middle of the night by my blue eyed darling’s phone calls leading to lack of shut eye or at least

extremely screwed up sleep cycles. I wasn’t aware at the time, but this was breaking y system down,

fast. I had also started to realize that flour wasn’t agreeing with me and kind of half cut it out. Well, fast

forward to my sweet pea coming home and a whole new set of stressors. Military wives, you know what

I am talking about!!

Next, we moved across the country away from my So Cal paradise….eek!!! More stress. And some

family stuff began to hit the wall, as often happens during weddings. But as you can see, we’re

developing a repetitious and ugly pattern here and its name is stress!! Slowly, I felt like I couldn’t get

out of bed in the morning. I kept getting sinus infections and became intolerant to my beloved pinot,

grrr. I also could not stand the smell of cologne, perfume and smoke. All of the sudden recurrent UTI’s

kicked in, which also really put a damper on the newlywed fun. Within a few months of the wedding, I

was knockdown; drag out sick three weeks out of four each month. My skin had always been fantastic,

but not anymore. I was also always cold, intolerant to heat, would kill if my next meal didn’t come in

time, I was achy everywhere constantly, was sick if I did a real booty busting workout and to top it off,

I now had acne that would not let up. Oh and I forgot to mention, my hair wouldn’t grow and about

half of it fell out ….holy heck!! I was constantly on this antibiotic, taking this spray, popping that over

the counter reliever, scheduling with this specialist, writing another check my ass couldn’t cover for

that Doc. I was sick, depressed and beginning to feel pretty hopeless. I was doing everything the MD’s

told me and getting worse. I even told my husband I understood if it was all too much for him to take.

This was certainly no newlywed fairytale! I was honestly waiting for a diagnosis of the worst kind. Mrs.

Schollaert....you have “X” amount of time left on this earth because of this cancer (or insert any other

crazy syndrome/disease/condition you can imagine!) I know that sound dramatic, but I was barely thirty,

this was craziness!!!

A bit of time goes by, I’m fighting the fight, and then I get the news. You have to have surgery.

Your right ear drum has been eaten away. It’s gone. We “simply” have to cut open your head, take

bone out of your skull and make a new ear drum. And all at the bargain price of about $30k!! This was

all under my stellar medical care and prescription meds!! WTF, I mean seriously! So that was it. After

much prayer and searching, and being down right pissed off at my shotty situation, I began working

with a terrific Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor. Turns out I had severe vitamin deficiencies, a low

thyroid, candida, and heavy metal toxicity, hormones in the trash, several food allergies, severe adrenal

fatigue, and loads of inflammation. We began the long process of slowly healing. But, I tell you in just 3

days on the upgraded organic and natural route, I was feeling a noticeably better.

Health became defined differently to me after my experience. Health was no longer skinny,

the new cool detox, workout class, or newsstand advice. Health became organic eating, a clean and

chemical free home, stress reduction and management, meditation and spirituality on a new level.

Health is loving myself and others honestly and authentically. Health is learning to say no to others,

yes to green juice and way higher grocery bills. Health now includes seeing things as I never did

before. Meals are sacred and slow, and if an animal is involved, I know where it came from, how it was

treated and it is honored before entering my body. Yoga is now regular and boot camp extremely rare.

Supplements get my shoe money now and packaged foods have no place in my home. There is literally

a sign on our front door with a big X through the word stress.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned was to be highly selective about anyone involved in

my health. If it isn’t covered by insurance, but feels right, it’ll work itself out. Our family lives on far less

financially than we once did, we spend more on self-care and top quality food and supplement’s, and

somehow it feels like we have more. The universe honors us when we honor ourselves.

My experience was horrible; I am in fact still recovering. I have taken my recovery time to

learn everything I can and whole heartedly believe I went through this process to help others. I have

dedicated my life to helping others achieve their happiest, healthiest life possible. I am now a Holistic

Health and Nutrition Counselor and I founded Real Nutritious Living last year. I currently do private and

group counseling, corporate wellness programming, grocery store tours, cooking classes and in-home

intensives. My new office in the not for profit Maple Center opens February 1 and you can visit me

during my monthly Whole Foods cooking class free. Skype and phone counseling is always available.

I would love to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing me to share my story with

you. My hope is that some part of it spoke to you and you have learned something from my awful

experience. I would also love to personally invite you to sign up for my monthly newsletter and better

yet, why not spend a half hour or so speaking with me about your health and wellness goals? It would

be a free consultation where we would talk about your goals and what you want for your life. And it

would give you an idea of how I could support you to your happiest, healthiest, and most energetic life

possible. Above all, I would truly love to meet you! Simply email realnutritiousliving@yahoo.com or call

Melissa at 916-792-4281

Don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/realnutritiousliving

Let’s connect on twitter too! https://twitter.com/realnutritious

Like Pix? We’re on Instagram: http://instagram.com/realnutritiousliving

Ok…almost done we just can’t leave out Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realnl/

“Spread love wherever you go, let no one ever come to you without leaving happier”- Mother Teresa

Adventure - Guest Blogger

The post today is by one of my longest life friends.

She is beautiful, inside & out and I am so proud and honored to call her my best friend!

---

This year I’ll turn 26, with little money, slim job prospects, and a fair amount of self-doubt (lingering stubbornly, as it does, in the twilight of youth). 

I don’t own much.  Not even a coffee pot, let alone a car. 

But believe it or not, I am wealthy.  My pockets overflow with conquered fears, far-off friendships, and priceless souvenirs – French, for “memories.”  I have lived a life rich in adventure.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As I enter my next quarter-century, I hope you’ll allow me to give you what little advice I can:  Take risks.  Step outside your comfort zone.  Live your own life, not the life everyone expects of you.  Say yes to chance, to opportunity, to adventure. 

My past five years have been nothing if not adventurous.  I fell in love in Paris in the summertime.  I let my tender heartstrings be stretched thousands of miles for months on end.  I flew to Europe for a ball.  I sipped rum punch in Belize.  I wrote a thesis.  I told a man I loved him.  I moved across the country with no apartment and no job.  I lived in places I was not permitted to live.  I played house in Germany, spent Christmas in Rome, and got a New Years kiss in the flooded streets of Venice.  I quit one job and almost got fired from another.  I accepted a marriage proposal in Hong Kong.  I moved to London.  I sang chansons on the steps of Sacré Coeur.  I ate haggis and fought horizontal rain in Scotland.  I joined a choir.  I bought a wedding dress and danced ‘til dawn in Madrid.  Soon, I’ll wander the dusty, ancient streets of Istanbul, and I’ll write another thesis.  Somewhere along the way, I’ve squeezed in unforgettable friendships and a whole lot of learning, both inside and outside the classroom.

I can’t claim to have become adventurous all on my own.  I learned it from my father, who in my childhood led me into the rust-red canyons of Utah and up the marble-streaked mountains of Tuscany, who strapped me into the fastest sports cars and the tallest roller coasters.  And from my big brother, who held my hand the whole way and made me brave.  And from my friends, who never settled for “safe.” And from Bill Watterson (“It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy.  Let’s go exploring!”).  And from my fiancé, who dares me to challenge myself every single day.  And from my mother, who will always be “home,” no matter how far I wander or how scraped up I get. 

disney photo-ops

I have also been extremely fortunate.  Not everyone can experience the luxuries I have enjoyed.  Not everyone can afford to make the mistakes I have made. 

But adventure does not have to be exotic, far-off travel, or even a cross-country move.  Adventure does not require a childhood of camping trips and Calvin and Hobbes.  An adventure is anything that takes you out of your comfort zone, anything that needs you to be brave, to stick your chest out and declare, “I can do this.” 

So, take the plunge.  Learn a new dance.  Sing to your father on his birthday.  Accept a job in another state.  Spend a holiday with a different family.  Buy the third wedding dress you try on.  Try haggis – I promise it’s delicious.  Fall in love, or find the courage to walk away.  Better to live out a few rollercoasters or wrong turns than to die wondering, “What if?”

On paper, I may appear lost.  But in my heart, I have no regrets.  I don’t own a map to the road ahead, but I’m confident I’ll find my way.  We all will, if we are brave enough to take the first step. 

Be brave.  It’s a magical world.  Let’s go exploring!

we met up in milan - this was right before dawn after dancing the night away!

Friendship - Guest Blogger

As I mentioned here, I am enlisting some of my "in real life" friends as well as my blogging buddies to help me out!

---
The lovely Tracy is using my little blog today to talk about Friendship.
I guest posted for her a few months ago and now she is returning the favor :-)

Alright, it's all you, Tracy!
---


Friendship.

It's something we learn from a very early age.  It happens before most of us know how to read a book, do a math problem, or build a sand castle.  And I think the fundamentals of friendship are based on what we learn when we are very young.

I met LaTache while we were in college.  I remember enjoying her company and always being in awe of her inner and outer beauty.  She taught me the importance of one very large piece of friendship...

Trust.

It's a little word that has so much core strength in all of our relationships.

At one of our first gatherings with the sorority, LaTache told us all a story - and she told us in faith that we would all know that key word... trust.

A few girls didn't (luckily not myself) and that trust was ruined.

I will never forget how LaTache handled the situation... with grace & class, like she always does.   I remember talking to her and her telling me she was disappointed that some people didn't value trust like she does.

I learned right then and there that this girl is someone I could trust.  She also made me have a desire to be a trustworthy friend to others.

I am so lucky to have her in my life still.  I know the miles will keep us apart and years will fill before our eyes, but she will always be a dear friend to me.  And one that I will always trust. :)

Source: hollymathisinteriors.com via Tracy on Pinterest

Family - Guest Blogger

As I mentioned here, I am enlisting some of my "in real life" friends as well as my blogging buddies to help me out!

---

Take it away, R!

When the lovely La Tache asked me to guest blog for her of course I agreed! Hers is one of the first blogs I can remember following. Then she asked me write about family and I got a bit of a panic feeling in my stomach.

How the heck am I supposed to write about family when I come from such a dysfunctional one? My parents are divorced. Dad remarried while mom decided to come out and say she was interested in women as well as men. Sister is divorced. I'm married and living 9 hours from my new husband. I grew up in the Navy so we weren't surrounded by grandparents and cousins and such. Heck, my uncle and his family didn't even come to Sisters wedding! We aren't exactly the living embodiment of a good family. Or at least that is how it seems as first.

My family is there for each other. Divorces, bad decisions, elopements, military career choices, relationship choices. We stand up for each other. When I had trouble enlisting my Uncle Batman stepped in and got things moving. My family all stood by me as it took 2 years to drop the weight the Navy required and took on every road block I came to in the process. They are there now when I am frustrated with how schooling is going and when I wonder if I made the right choice.

My family loves each other. Growing up my nana always said Sister would be my best friend someday and we thought she was crazy! Little did we know how right she would be. When someone launched an attack on Sisters character it didn't matter if I wasn't supportive of her choices, she was my sister and no one was going to be able to do that. I'm allowed to pick on her, no one else is! We give each other a hard time but under it all we know we love each other more than words can say.

My family isn't all blood related. Sure you are born into a family. But my family at church means just as much to me as those I spend all the holidays with. They are the ones who cried when I left for boot camp and who have been praying for me since I first stepped into the chapel. Their kids were my babies from youth group who I miss every week. It's my family there I call when I need some extra support.

My family is just starting. Recently I eloped. I married a man only half my family has met and whos family I have yet to meet. Yet when we made the calls to everyone there was so doubt from anyone. There were tears of joy. Screams of congrats. His family already calls me one of them and my family has taken him in as one of us. My mother even flew him to Chicago to surprise me on Thanksgiving. He is now my family. He is the one who I will have children with. Who I will grow old with.

So no, my family might not be so perfect on paper. But it's a good family. It's one I'm learning to be proud to be a part of.

---

R is the author of a very real blog that I enjoy reading!

She is honest and raw and I always enjoy reading her blog!
Thank you for your candid post!

2013 Book List

Last year I read a lot of books between the summer and winter.

I love to read, so I wanted to keep it going.

I enlisted my facebook friends to help me put a list of books together.

Then I searched them, read the reviews & previews and created a list for myself.

I have already read one of the books on my list.

The Art of Racing in the Rain.

I absolutely loved it!

1 The Art of Racing in the Rain Garth Stein

2 Redeeming Love Francine Rivers

3 The Psycopath Test John Ronson

4 11/22/1963 Stephen King

5 Gone Girl Gillian Flynn

6 State of Wonder Ann Patchett

7 Dear Life Alice Munro

8 The Outlander Series Diana Gabaldon

9 The Last Song Nicholas Sparks

10 Book Thief Markus Zusak 

11 Delirium: The Politics of Sex in America Nancy L. Cohen

12 Under the Dome Stephen King

13 The Tiger’s Wife Téa Obreht 

14 Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand

15 No Reservations Anthony Bourdain

16 Women Charles Bukowski

17 Persuasion Jane Austen

18 Good Omens Terry Pratchett

19 Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro

20 What it is like to go to war Karl Marlantes

21 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/best-articles-2012-women-required-reading_n_2166577.html

22 Life of Pi Yann Martel

My library card will get some good mileage out of it by the end of 2013!

Wish me luck!

New Years Day

On New Years Day our friends invited us to see the Rose Parade Post Parade!

After the Rose Parade is over, all of the floats park along a street in Pasadena for all of the people who didn't want to brave the parade crowds!

It was amazing to see all of the floats up close and smell all of the flowers!

We parked our car and took a shuttle to the main drag.

It is seriously amazing how much work goes in to these floats!

They are constructed by volunteers who collectively spend 18 million labor hours building them!

Some take an entire year to make and can cost anywhere from $50,000-$150,000!

What is great about the floats is that they must be made from only organic materials!

I loved the Trader Joe's Float!
Can you tell what it is??

On the right is a coffee/espresso maker, in the middle are cheese graters, on top of the cheese graters is a cook book, on the left is a potato masher and a blender and the wheel on the outside of the boat is made of spatulas & spoons!

How cool is that?!

Loved this one too!
The world landmarks!

And of course, the LAX Float was spectacular!

We couldn't pass up taking a picture in front of the trolley car!

And we loved these bears!
The golfing bear and the football player!

Dr. Seuss is my all time favorite, so of course I loved the signs!

We got to see this float in action!

I really liked the Organ Donor float with all of the hearts!

There were marines & other service members with their dogs at the parade as well!
I loved the tagline - Canines with Courage

I have always wanted to go to the Rose Parade!
But I think it would be hard to get there in the morning and also to see all of the floats from street level.
So this was the next best thing and I am soo glad we were able to go!

And it was pretty cheap too!
It was $3 ea for the shuttle and $10 ea to get in the gate!
Not a bad way to celebrate the first day of 2013!

NYE 2012-2013!

Our New Years Eve was awesome!

We had fondue, like last year, but this year Rich and I were joined by the most awesome company!

Our friends moved on Friday, so we had one last WhoooRahhh before they headed out!
It was so much fun!
I mean, who doesn't like to play with their food??

We kissed and toasted champagne to bring in the New Year!
It was great!

Group Shot!
Thank goodness for the gorilla pod!

I hope you all had a fun & safe New Years Eve Celebration!

UCLA at the Holiday Bowl

Yes, yes, I know I am late with these....

I have been super busy at work!

---
Before I get to deep in to this post....
Please like Joy Zipper on Facebook!
They are a great band full of great people!

They are trying to get a "Listen" button on their page but Facebook requires that you have 5000 likes.
So they need your help!
You may have heard their songs on Grey's Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Fifa, Home Goods & Cigna commercials or from me!

Please check them out!!
Thanks, in advance!

---

The Thursday before the New Year, we headed down to San Diego to watch UCLA (get whooped) at the Holiday Bowl!

We had such a blast!

I worked a 1/2 day and Rich picked me up and we drove down.

We headed straight for Rich's cousin's house and then, with Rich's high school friend we went to lunch and started boozin ;-)

We took the trolley to Qualcomm and met up with a coworker of mine were we did some more boozin and then headed to the game for kickoff.

Basically, UCLA got their butt's kicked....

But we had an awesome time!

We were sitting 14 rows back from the field at the 15 yard line on the Pac12 side - it was crazy!!

After the game we took the trolley to downtown San Diego, where we got food and had some more drinks.

We had such an awesome time!

It was great that the game was so close and we were able to go!

LSAT Update

So right now, Rich is finishing up his undergraduate degree.

While he has been doing that he has also been studying for the LSAT.

He took the test at the beginning of December and since then we have been in the terrible state of waiting.

Waiting to get the score back.

Waiting to think about what schools to apply to.

Waiting to apply to schools.

Waiting for what is to happen/come next in our lives.

Well on Wednesday Night, we finally got the score.

And Rich did awesome!

Better than he expected 

(but not me, because I knew he would rock the LSAT's world!)

So now we have moved on to applying to schools!

I am so excited I cannot even contain myself!

I am so proud of my sweet hubster!

He is smart and has so much to offer!

Like my mom always says: "The world is his oyster!"

I feel like this is the most fitting/perfect phrase for this post!

I am so proud of him!

I can't wait to see what this will bring us!

Christmas at the Beach - Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

After the Mission, Rich, my parents & one of my brothers and I needed to get some air so we decided to get lunch and see a movie!
We had a great time and were sad to not have had my other brother with us!
We saw Life of Pi.
I hadn't read the book, but had heard wonderful things about it!
The movie was good, I would definitely recommend it!

We got home, had dinner and two of my cousins arrived!
We hit the hay early because we were all pooped!!

Christmas morning Rich and I woke up very early, showered and got ready and then walked over to see the ocean before we headed up to my parents room to celebrate Christmas morning.

Hey Santa!

We opened our gifts and then headed to the main house to get breakfast started.

I offered to make breakfast for everyone.

I made french toast with Panetone bread.

My cousin Carina's birthday is Christmas Day, so we also celebrated her birthday with Champagne and Cake!

After we had breakfast and lounged around chatting, we took some group shots.

missing two cousins...

Some friends stopped by to spread their Christmas Cheer!

Another beach walk was a must!

We all got a great family picture!

(It was windy, don't mind my awesome hair...)

Rich and I skyped with his parents and sister and then we ate dinner!

After dinner, we had the most beautiful sunset, I have ever seen!

There were a lot of people in one spot, but it was so nice to have the family all together (minus a husband, another aunt & uncle & two cousins)

We had a magical Christmas!

I hope you all did as well!